最新美国发明专利第2015-08-25期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

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US09119329B2	Ducted exhaust equipment enclosure An electronic equipment enclosure includes a frame structure at least partially enclosed by a plurality of panels defining a compartment in which one or more electronic components are mounted and an exhaust air duct that is adapted to segregate hot air being exhausted from the compartment from cool air entering the compartment, thereby improving thermal management of the enclosure. The exhaust duct includes a lower duct section extending upward from the top panel of the compartment and an upper duct section telescoping upward from an upper end of the lower duct section. Each duct section includes four panels connected together by hinged corner fittings such that the section is collapsible. The upper duct section includes an outwardly flared portion.
US09119327B2	Thermal management system and method A thermal management system/method allowing efficient electrical/thermal attachment of heat sourcing PCBs to heat sinking PCBs using reflow/wave/hand soldering is disclosed. The disclosed system/method may incorporate a combination of support pins, spacer pads, and/or contact paste that mechanically attaches a heat sourcing PCB (and its associated components) to a heat sinking PCB such that thermal conductivity between the two PCBs can be optimized while simultaneously allowing controlled electrical conductivity between the two PCBs. Controlled electrical isolation between the two PCBs is provided for using spacer pads that may also be thermal conductive. Contact paste incorporated in some embodiments permits enhanced conductivity paths between the heat sourcing PCB, a thermally conductive plate mounted over the heat sourcing PCB, and the heat sinking PCB. The use of self-centering support pins incorporating out-gassing vents in some embodiments allows reflow/wave/hand soldering as desired.
US09119325B2	Heat exchanger for an electronic display A cooling assembly for an electronic image assembly having an open and closed gaseous loop. A closed gaseous loop allows circulating gas to travel across the front surface of an image assembly and through a heat exchanger. An open loop allows ambient gas to pass through the heat exchanger and extract heat from the circulating gas. An optional additional open loop may be used to cool the back portion of the image assembly (optionally a backlight). Ribs may be placed within the optional additional open loop to facilitate the heat transfer to the ambient gas. The cooling assembly can be used with any type of electronic assembly for producing an image.
US09119322B2	Wiring board and method for manufacturing the same A wiring board includes a substrate having an opening portion, electronic components positioned in the opening portion of the substrate and including first and second electronic components, and an insulation layer formed over the substrate and the first and second components. The first component has first and second electrodes having side portions on side surfaces of the first component, the second component has first and second electrodes having side portions on side surfaces of the second component, the first electrode of the first component and the first electrode of the second component are set to have substantially the same electric potential, and the first component and the second component are positioned in the opening portion of the substrate such that the side portion of the first electrode of the first component is beside the side portion of the first electrode of the second component.
US09119321B2	Assembly method for converting the precursors to capacitors A method of assembling a packaged semiconductor device includes dropping a pre-formed capacitor precursor and an integrated circuit on a surface of a substrate. A pair of vias are formed in the pre-formed capacitor precursor if they don't already exist. The vias are filled with an electrically conductive material to form a chip capacitor. The filling of the vias provides an electrical contact between capacitor plates of the chip capacitor and electrically conductive contact regions on the substrate.
US09119320B2	System in package assembly A printed circuit board assembly is disclosed, including a printed circuit board including at least one opening, and a system in package assembly, wherein the system in package assembly includes a system in package module and a lead frame bonded to the system in package module. The lead frame includes a plurality of pins. The system in package assembly is embedded into the opening of the printed circuit board.
US09119313B2	Package substrate with high density interconnect design to capture conductive features on embedded die Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards techniques and configurations for interconnect structures embedded in a package assembly including a bridge. In one embodiment, a package assembly may include a package substrate, a bridge embedded in the package substrate and including a bridge substrate, and an interconnect structure including a via extending through the package substrate into a surface of the bridge substrate and configured to interface with a conductive feature disposed on or beneath the surface of the bridge substrate. The interconnect structure may be configured to route electrical signals between the conductive feature and a die mounted on the package substrate. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09119312B2	Support device and system A support device with a connector configured to be selectively connectable to a first sized portable device and a second sized portable device, a first support surface configured to support the first sized portable device, and a second support surface configured to support the second sized portable device and having a second inclination relative to a horizontal surface different than a first inclination of the first support surface.
US09119311B2	Electronic device having waterproof structure An electronic device includes a housing including an opening-portion and an annular-projection provided in the vicinity of the opening-portion from the housing, the annular-projection projecting so as to surround a periphery of the opening-portion, a frame member including a tubular-portion having an outer surface that faces the annular-projection to be fitted with the annular-projection, a top plate exposed from the opening-portion with the tubular-portion fitted with the annular-projection, an extension-portion extending from the outer surface of the tubular-portion, the tubular-portion being expanded toward the annular-projection when a pressing force is applied to a surface of the top plate exposed from the opening-portion with the annular-projection and the tubular-portion fitted with each other, and an O-ring that contacts entire peripheries of the outer surface of the tubular-portion and an inner surface of the annular-projection.
US09119307B2	Housing for a portable electronic device An injection molded housing for a portable electronic device is provided. The housing contains a thermoplastic composition that includes a polyarylene sulfide melt processed in the presence of a disulfide compound and a filler. Without intending to be limited by theory, it is believed that the disulfide can undergo a chain scission reaction with the starting polyarylene sulfide to lower its melt viscosity, which can lead to decreased attrition of the filler and thus improved mechanical properties. Due to this ability to reduce viscosity during melt processing, the present inventors have discovered that relatively high molecular weight polyarylene sulfides can be fed to the extruder with little difficulty.
US09119303B2	Curvature varier and display device comprising the same Disclosed is a display device having reduced noise during curvature varying. The display device includes a display module configured to display an image and a curvature varier configured to change a shape of the display module to a plane shape or a curvature shape with respect to a front surface of the display module. The curvature varier changes the shape of the display module to the plane shape or the curvature shape according to a shape change caused by a temperature.
US09119302B2	Flexible circuit board A flexible circuit board includes a base film formed by a metallic material, a first protective film formed on a first surface of the base film, and a circuit pattern adhered to the first protective film through an adhesive film. Projections and recesses for heat release are formed on a second surface that is a surface on the opposite side of the first surface of the base film.
US09119290B2	Display device A display device comprises a rear cover, a display panel, a drive device, an upper end guide frame, a lower end guide frame, a first adhesive member, and a second adhesive member, the rear cover including a bottom wall, an upper end sidewall and a lower end sidewall; the rear cover further includes an upper end coupling portion, an upper end support portion, a lower end coupling portion and a lower end support portion; the upper end guide frame includes an upper end panel support portion and an upper end guide sidewall, the first adhesive member bonding the upper end panel support portion to the upper end of the display panel; the lower end guide frame includes a lower end guide sidewall and a lower end panel support portion, the second adhesive member bonding the lower end panel support portion to the lower end of the display panel.
US09119286B2	Cover assembly and electronic device using the same A cover assembly for covering a pivot of an electronic device is disclosed. The pivot connects a first component and a second component of the electronic device. The cover assembly is disposed at one side of the pivot, and the cover assembly includes a first covering element and a second covering element. A first end of the first covering element is connected to the first component, and a second end of the first covering element includes a first limit part. A first end of the second covering element is connected to the second component, and a second end of the second covering element includes a second limit part. The first covering element is overlapped with the second covering element. When the pivot rotates, the first limit part and the second limit part move correspondingly.
US09119285B2	Conductive gaskets with internal cavities Electronic devices may be provided with conductive structures such as displays and conductive housing walls. Conductive gaskets may be used to form electrical paths between opposing conductive structures in an electronic device. During device assembly, a conductive gasket may be compressed between opposing conductive structures. The conductive gasket may be formed from a conductive gasket wall structure. The conductive gasket wall structure may surround and at least partly enclose an air-filled cavity. Conductive gasket wall structures may be formed from conductive fabric, dielectric sheets coated with metal, or other conductive wall materials. The interior of a conductive gasket may be hollow and completely devoid of supporting structures or may contain internal structures for biasing the conductive gasket wall outwards. Planar gaskets and gaskets with other cross sections may be provided.
US09119283B2	Chamber matching for power control mode Systems and methods for performing chamber matching are described. One of the methods for performing chamber matching includes executing a first test within a first plasma chamber to measure a variable and executing a second test within a second plasma chamber to measure the variable. The first and second tests are executed based on one recipe. The method further includes determining a first relationship between the variable measured with the first test and power provided during the first test, determining a second relationship between the variable measured with the second test and power provided during the second test, and identifying power adjustment to apply to the second plasma chamber during a subsequent processing operation based on the first and second relationships. The power adjustment causes the second plasma chamber to perform the processing operation in a processing condition determined using the first plasma chamber.
US09119277B2	Passive charge neutralization system for mitigating electrostatic discharge in space A charge-neutralization system is provided. The charge-neutralization system includes a reservoir, a plasma generator and a flow-restricting transfer line. The reservoir is configured to hold matter to be ionized under pressure. The plasma generator is configured and arranged to create a neutral energy plasma on a vehicle from the matter to be ionized. The flow-restricting transfer line provides a fluid communication between the reservoir and the plasma generator.
US09119272B2	Organic electroluminescent element and organic electroluminescent lighting device Disclosed are an organic electroluminescent element with a light-transmitting electrode having reduced resistivity and emitting a uniform amount of light from the surface, and an associated lighting device. The organic EL element includes: a light-transmitting electrode layer provided on a light-transmitting substrate; an electrode layer forming a pair with the light-transmitting electrode layer; an organic layer between the electrode layers, containing an organic electroluminescent substance; a light-blocking auxiliary electrode formed on the light-transmitting electrode layer in contact with a part of the light-transmitting electrode layer; and an insulating coating film covering the auxiliary electrode. The auxiliary electrode has a low resistivity layer formed from a low resistivity material with a low specific resistance relative to the light-transmitting electrode layer and a coating layer formed from a high melting point material with a higher melting point than the low resistivity material.
US09119271B2	Lighting device to produce preferable preception of skin color A lighting device is provided with a lighting unit including a light emitting element and fluorescent bodies, which emit light of different wavelengths when excited by light from the light emitting element. When a peak output value of emitted light is 100% in a range of 440-465 nm, the lighting unit emits light having an output value at 500 nm that is 35%-55%, an output value at 550 nm that is 45%-80%, an output value at 600 nm that is 45%-75%, and an output value at 640 nm that is 50%-80%. The lighting unit emits light having a color temperature of 4500-5500 K and with the output value at 640 nm in a range of 100%-120% relative to the output value at 600 nm and in a range of 85%-130% relative to the output value at 550 nm.
US09119268B2	Driver with isolation and surge signal protection Drivers for driving light circuits with light emitting diodes include an isolation circuit with a primary part and a secondary part and a guiding circuit for guiding common mode surge signals to a reference potential. The isolation circuit may be configured to guide a first part of the common mode surge signal away from the light circuit, and the guiding circuit may be configured to guide a second part of the common mode surge signal away from the light circuit, the second part being smaller than the first part. The guiding circuit may include one or more capacitors for connecting one or more terminals of the secondary part to the reference potential, where the value(s) of the one or more capacitors is/are larger than values of a parasitic capacitance of the isolation circuit.
US09119262B2	Boost and linear LED control A light emitting diode (LED) lighting system includes a switching power converter having an input for coupling to an alternating current (AC) power source, an output, and a switch. The LED lighting system also includes an LED lighting subsystem coupled to receive power from the output of the switching power converter. The LED lighting subsystem includes a current source for one or more LEDs, and the current source has a control node and a sense node. The LED lighting system additionally includes a switch state controller coupled to the switching power converter and coupled to the LED lighting subsystem. The switch state controller controls switching of the switch and varies a control current provided to the control node of the current source based on at least a parameter sensed from the sense node.
US09119258B2	Current split circuit for equally splitting current between parallel connected LED luminaire strings A system and method for equally splitting the current supplied to parallel connected strings of LEDs. The system and method includes a current splitting circuit such as a mirror circuit that divides the current substantially equally between two or more parallel connected strings of LEDs. The current splitting circuit ensures that illumination levels of the strings of LEDs are uniform without requiring the strings of LEDs to be binned. The current splitting circuit also allows the strings of LEDs to be dimmed in both pulse width modulation (PWM) and continuous modes.
US09119257B2	Dimming device and dimming method thereof A dimming method is provided. The dimming method includes steps as follows: determining whether a duty ratio of a first pulse width modulation signal is larger than a threshold duty ratio; when the duty ratio of the first PWM signal is smaller than the threshold duty ratio, the first pulse width modulation signal is transformed to a second pulse width modulation signal by a frequency conversion and a phase shift according to a pulse information signal, when the duty ratio of the first pulse width modulation signal is larger than the threshold duty ratio, adjusting a predetermined dimming current according to the pulse information signal, wherein the threshold duty ratio is set according to a number of the channel and the predetermined dimming current.
US09119256B2	LED actuation for running light flashers A light-emitting diode chain comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LED1 . . . LED4) connected in series and fed by a current source, in which each light-emitting diode is assigned a control circuit (5), which has a series connection, connected in parallel with the light-emitting diode, between a reference voltage sink (D1) of the voltage (Uref) and a controlled switch (Q) and is designed to compare the control voltage (Ust) at a control line (4) common to all control circuits, measured against is base point of the LED series circuit, with the voltage at the connection between the switch and the subsequent LED in the chain or the base point, and to close or to open the switch if the control voltage (Ust) falls below a predefined value or rises above a predefined value respectively.
US09119250B2	Dimmable multichannel driver for solid state light sources Systems and methods for driving solid state light sources are provided. A first drive circuit is configured to generate a drive current to cause a first solid state light source load and a second solid state light source load to illuminate. A feedback and control circuit is configured to receive feedback from the first solid state light source load and to control the drive current through the first solid state light source load based on the feedback. A second drive circuit is configured to control the drive current through the second solid state light source load. A master controller is configured to provide a first input to the feedback and control circuit to control the drive current through the first solid state light source load and a second input to the second drive circuit to control the drive current through the second solid state light source load.
US09119249B2	LED device, LED driving circuit and method A light-emitting diode (LED) driving circuit includes an LED control circuit and a power stage circuit. The LED control circuit shifts an input pulse width modulation (PWM) signal toward a higher frequency direction in a frequency domain to generate an output PWM signal having a duty cycle substantially the same as a duty cycle of the input PWM signal. The power stage circuit outputs an LED driving current according to the output PWM signal.
US09119248B2	Method for controlling a light emitting device in a cooktop appliance Systems and methods of variably controlling a driver signal to a light emitting device located proximate to a burner assembly of an appliance are provided. The driver signal can be adjusted based on a signal indicative of a temperature in a region proximate the light emitting device. The signal indicative of a temperature of the burner assembly temperature can be generated by a temperature sensor or the signal can be based on an anticipated temperature profile of the burner assembly. The driver signal can be adjusted based on the signal indicative of the temperature of the burner assembly temperature using pulse width modulation.
US09119247B2	Lighting system with thermal management system Lighting systems having unique configurations are provided. For instance, the lighting system may include a light source, a thermal management system and driver electronics, each contained within a housing structure. The light source is configured to provide illumination visible through an opening in the housing structure. The thermal management system is configured to provide an air flow, such as a unidirectional air flow, through the housing structure in order to cool the light source. The driver electronics are configured to provide power to each of the light source and the thermal management system.
US09119245B1	LED driving system for switched dimming control and dimming method using the same A light emitting diode driving system with precise timing switched dimming control used for driving light emitting diode elements is provided, which comprises a power detection unit, a timer control logic, a light emitting diode dimming driver, and a power supply unit being able to overcome different conditions of power source, switch leakage, and system elements to design the timer dimming with steady and precise working status, and solve problems of each of the independent systems which are not synchronized due to imprecisely timed under power-off condition, while providing various dimming mode for users, and a dimming method using aforementioned LED driving system.
US09119244B2	Illuminating display systems An exemplary system comprises a power regulator and an emitting apparatus. The emitting apparatus is typically attached to or integrated with a display object, such as a merchandise package or container. A support structure, such as a point of purchase display, typically contains or supports one or more power regulators and display objects. The power regulator comprises a controller and a primary inductor, and the controller is adapted to provide a voltage or current to the primary inductor to generate a first primary inductor voltage. The emitting apparatus comprises an illumination source and a secondary inductor coupled to the illumination source. The illumination source is adapted to emit visible light when the power regulator is in an on state and when the secondary inductor is within a predetermined distance of the primary inductor. In exemplary embodiments, the first and second inductors are substantially planar.
US09119242B2	Systems and methods for providing power to high-intensity-discharge lamps System and method for igniting one or more high-intensity-discharge lamps. A system includes an ignition controller configured to generate one or more signal pulses for a pulse signal during a first predetermined time period and to cause one or more voltage pulses to be applied to the one or more high-intensity-discharge lamps, the pulse signal changing between a first logic level and a second logic level during the first predetermined time period, each of the one or more signal pulses corresponding to a pulse period, the pulse period being no larger than the first predetermined time period. The ignition controller is further configured to, if the one or more high-intensity-discharge lamps are not successfully ignited after the first predetermined time period, stop generating any signal pulse for the pulse signal for a second predetermined time period, the second predetermined time period being equal to or larger than the pulse period.
US09119238B2	Method and apparatus for LED driving and dimming, and illumination system A method for driving an LED connected to a power switch is provided. The method includes: determining a duty cycle of a pulse sequence for controlling the power switch according to a present current and a predetermined operating current of the LED; generating the pulse sequence according to the duty cycle and according to at least one of a randomized period sequence and a randomized pulse position sequence; and controlling switching operation of the power switch by the pulse sequence, so as to drive the LED. An apparatus for driving a light emitting diode, an apparatus for dimming a light emitting diode and illumination systems are also provided.
US09119236B1	Monitoring system control technology Systems and techniques are described for providing control of a monitoring system. In some implementations, a monitoring device is located in a building and is configured to monitor at least a portion of the building based on output from one or more sensors. A monitoring server is located remote from the building and is configured to communicate with the monitoring device. The monitoring server may be configured to translate one or more parameters received from a client device into an interpreted monitoring script and a trigger that causes performance of the interpreted monitoring script. The monitoring device may include an interpreter configured to determine that the trigger has been met and initiate performance of the interpreted monitoring script to evaluate a monitoring rule in accordance with one or more configurable parameters.
US09119235B2	LED backlight source and liquid crystal display device The invention provides LED backlight source, including: a boost converter, for boosting input voltage and outputting boosted voltage; N parallel LED strings, wherein each LED string including a plurality of series LEDs and receiving boosted voltage; a backlight driving IC, for controlling connection/disconnection of boost converter and determining whether to shut down LED strings other than specific LED string based on voltage at negative terminal of specific LED string; and N control circuits, wherein each control circuit controlling voltage at negative terminal of corresponding LED string not to become zero so that backlight driving IC unable to shut down LED strings other than corresponding LED string. When an LED string becomes open, backlight driving IC cannot shut down LEDs strings other than the open LED string to avoid turning off all LED strings. The invention also provides liquid crystal display with LED backlight source.
US09119233B2	Travel mug for microwave oven A travel mug that is made of metal materials and can be used for microwave oven, including a container having a double-layered structure with an inner shell and an outer shell. The inner shell and said outer shell are joined by a joint in such a way that a cavity is provided therebetween, and a heat transfer medium is filled to at least part of said cavity. A microwave-heating plate is provided between the inner and outer shells. A handle is formed on one side of said outer shell. A pressure release device is provided at one side of said outer shell.
US09119227B2	Network array, forwarder device and method of operating a forwarder device A network array (100) comprises a first network (101) having a plurality of first nodes (103, 104, 109), comprises a second network (102) having a plurality of second nodes (106, 109), and comprises a forwarder node (109). The forwarder node (109) constitutes one of the first nodes (103, 104, 109) and constitutes one of the second nodes (106, 109) to form a communication interface between the first network (101) and the second network (102). The forwarder node (109) has an implemented data transmission scheduling management function capable of distinguishing between data to be transmitted between the first network (101) and the second network (102) and data to be transmitted within the first network (101) or within the second network (102). The forwarder node (109) is adapted to communicate with the first network (101) using a first operation frequency and is adapted to communicate with the second network (102) using a second operation frequency which is different from the first operation frequency.
US09119225B2	Centralized access control system and methods for distributed broadband access points A method includes automatically sending a request from a wireless access point to a configuration server during a power-up procedure for the wireless access point. The method includes receiving virtual private network tunnel parameters at the wireless access point from the configuration server in response to the request. The virtual private network tunnel parameters identify an access gateway. The method also includes establishing a virtual private network tunnel between the wireless access point and the centralized access gateway during the power-up procedure based on the virtual private network tunnel parameters. The virtual private network tunnel enables the wireless access point to provide one or more wireless devices access to a wide area network.
US09119224B2	Wireless device with WLAN and WPAN communication capabilities A wireless device which operates according to a first protocol specification in active durations specified by the first protocol, and according to a second protocol specification in the idle durations specified by the first protocol specification. In an embodiment, the first protocol specification corresponds to IEEE 802.15.4 standard and the second protocol specification corresponds to IEEE 802.11 family of standards.
US09119220B2	Methods and apparatus for communicating backlog related information Methods and apparatus for efficient communication of backlog information, e.g., backlog information indicating amounts of uplink traffic waiting to transmitted by a wireless terminal are described. Delta backlog reports are used in addition to absolute backlog reports, thus reducing control signaling overhead, at least some information communicated in a delta backlog report being referenced with respect to a previously transmitted backlog report. A base station uses received backlog information from wireless terminals in determining scheduling of uplink traffic channel segments In some embodiments, the absolute backlog report uses a first fixed size report format, while the delta backlog report using a second fixed size report format, said second size being different from said first fixed size.
US09119216B2	Method and network entity for resource allocation in mobile radio communication networks This invention proposes a method for assigning resources in the downlink based on the CQI parameter reported by the UE compatible with the LTE standard. The method looks for saving signalling resources when conditions are such that no major advantage can be obtained from frequency selective scheduling. The method is divided into two processes, a non real time process used to determine whether the conditions for its application are present; and the new assignment procedure. For the latter, the method defines different assignment procedures based on whether the CQI value reported by the UE is higher or not of a given threshold whose calculation is also defined. A new parameter, the MAB, is defined for the assignment in case of CQI higher than the threshold, while frequency distributed scheduling is used if it is lower. The proposed method is believed to improve the LTE spectral efficiency with reduced complexity.
US09119210B2	Calculated graphical frequency coverages based on aircraft position Concepts described herein may provide available RCO information that may be used when moving from one RCO to another RCO. Range rings for the available RCOs may be calculated and adjusted based on current flight conditions. The range rings may be prioritized to provide a prioritized list of available RCOs.
US09119202B2	Methods and user equipments for device to device communication A method in a first user equipment for communicating with a second user equipment over a D2D radio link in a D2D radio network is provided. The first user equipment and the second user equipment are comprised in the D2D radio network. The first user equipment is further comprised in a cellular communications network. The first user equipment obtains (301) information of an upcoming occasion. The occasion is related to a communication in the cellular communications network. The first user equipment then sends (302) a message to the second user equipment over the D2D radio link. The message indicates the upcoming occasion and that communication from the second user equipment to the first user equipment over the D2D radio link shall be prohibited (303) during the occasion.
US09119201B2	Method and apparatus for signal strength based connection parameters adjustment A method, apparatus and computer program product are disclosed to allow for proximity detection in a manner that advantageously balances power consumption and latency. In the context of a method, the presence of a communication device is detected and a wireless link is caused to be established to provide a connection, such as a session description protocol (SDP) connection, with the communication device. The method may also detect the proximity of the communication device based upon signal strength of one or more signals communicated via the established wireless link. The method may also adjust one or more connection parameters of the established wireless link based at least upon the signal strength of the one or more signals communicated via the link. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed.
US09119199B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting downlink signal in a MIMO wireless communication system A method and apparatus for transmitting a downlink signal in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless communication system is disclosed. A method for receiving a downlink signal from a base station to a user equipment in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system, which supports dual layer transmission based on first and second antenna ports, comprises receiving downlink control information (DCI) through a downlink control channel; and receiving downlink data through a downlink data channel, the downlink data including one or more of a first transport block and a second transport block, wherein the downlink control information includes a new data indicator (NDI) for each of the first and second transport blocks, and if the first transport block is disabled and the second transport block is enabled, the new data indicator for the first transport block indicates an antenna port through which the second transport block is received.
US09119198B2	Method for transmitting control information, and method for generating codeword for the same A method for transmitting downlink control information and a method for generating a codeword for the same are disclosed. In generating a long code having a low code rate, a basic code of which minimum distance between codes is maximized is repeated by a prescribed number of times and bits of the repeated code are adjusted. Therefore, a minimum distance condition between codes of a long code is satisfied and simultaneously the code be simply generated.
US09119194B2	Mobile communication system, base station, mobile station, and wireless communication method A base station (12) performs communication to and from a mobile station via at least a part of a plurality of radio channels. The base station (12) includes: a channel allocation section (30) for allocating a radio channel having an allocation effective period of two or more frames to the mobile station; and a channel notification section (34) for notifying the mobile station of a radio channel newly allocated by the channel allocation section (30) in response to an expiration of the allocation effective period of the radio channel which has been allocated by the channel allocation section (30). The mobile station uses the radio channel notified from the base station (12) for communicating to and from the base station (12) until an allocation effective period of the new radio channel expires.
US09119193B2	Channel rank updates in multiple-input multiple-output communication systems Embodiments of the disclosure provide a system and method for providing channel feedback information (CFI) from a user equipment device to a base station. CFI is transmitted from the user equipment device on first and second communication channels. The user equipment device is operable to measure the channel rank of a downlink channel and to select a preferred channel rank that is used to configure the CFI that is transmitted to the base station. The base station is operable to use the preferred channel rank to interpret the CFI transmitted by the user end device.
US09119189B2	Control signal aggregation in a multi-carrier WCDMA system Methods and apparatus are disclosed for transmitting data to a remote node via each of two or more transmitted carrier signals, wherein a distinct outbound packet data traffic channel is mapped to each transmitted carrier signal. In an exemplary method, aggregated control channel data is formed by combining control channel data corresponding to each of two or more received carrier signals, simultaneously transmitting traffic channel data to the remote node on each of the two or more outbound packet data traffic channels, and transmitting the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to a first one of the transmitted carrier signals. In particular, these methods and apparatus may be applied to a multi-carrier High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) system.
US09119188B2	Method, apparatus and communication system for requesting resource The present invention discloses a method of requesting resource from a resource allocating apparatus by a request requesting apparatus, a resource allocating apparatus, a resource requesting apparatus and a communication system. The method comprises the following steps: sending a resource request message from the resource requesting apparatus to the resource allocating apparatus; after receiving the resource request message, if resource cannot be allocated within a set time interval with respect to the resource requesting apparatus, sending an acknowledgement for the resource request message from the resource allocating apparatus to the resource requesting apparatus; and if the resource is allocated to the resource requesting apparatus within the set time interval, not sending the acknowledgement for the resource request message from the resource allocating apparatus to the resource requesting apparatus. Utilizing the method and structure of the present invention, the resource allocating apparatus sends additional acknowledgement message only if needed, therefore overhead is reduced much more. Moreover, since the solution of the present invention does not change any signaling exchanged between the resource allocating apparatus and the resource requesting apparatus, it is able to meet the requirement of backward compatibility.
US09119185B2	Power-saving hub messages in wireless body area networks A time division multiple access (TDMA) media access control (MAC) protocol is provided for wireless body area networks (BANs). In particular, in some embodiments the described network devices utilize a reservation-based power saving polling (RESP) MAC protocol for communication. The RESP MAC can be configured to provide methods for emergency event handling of both bursty data and streaming data.
US09119183B2	Method and apparatus for allocating bearer resources The invention discloses a method and apparatus for allocating bearer resources, and relates to LTE system in the communication field. The method comprises: when a network side receives a bearer resource allocation request initiated by a user, if the number of currently activated EPS bearers has reached or exceeded a set upper limit, the network side searching the currently activated EPS bearers according to a QCI carried in the bearer resource allocation request, and if an EPS bearer corresponding to a QCI consistent with the QCI carried in the bearer resource allocation request is found, performing a proprietary bearer modification operation on the found EPS bearer to respond to the bearer resource allocation request.
US09119181B2	Methods and apparatus for enabling CID reuse in LTE based D2D communications A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in connection with minimizing D2D RTS/CTS signaling overhead resource usage. In one example, a WAN entity is equipped to receive one or more channel gain values from a plurality of UEs, determine that a CID can be reused by multiple D2D links based on the received one or more channel gain values, and transmit information indicating that the CID may be reused. In another example, a UE is equipped to measure a direct power signals and an inverse power echoes on a CID used for a link formed between a third and fourth UE, and determine that the CID may potentially be reused by a link formed with a second UE for D2D RTS/CTS signaling, based at least in part on the measured direct power signals, measured the inverse power echoes, and a SIR threshold.
US09119180B2	Transport independent architecture A system for automating connection management in a manner that may be transparent to any actively communicating applications operating in a Network on Terminal Architecture (NoTA). An application level entity, such as an application node, may access another node by making a request to a high level communication structure via a high level interface. The high level structure may then interact with a lower level structure in order to facilitate a connection to a programmatic element on another device, for example, via a wireless communication transport.
US09119178B2	Efficient transmission parameter selection Devices and methods for efficient transmission parameter selection are disclosed. A transmission parameter is for use by a wireless communication device (WCD) in a process that includes obtaining a propagation value that is indicative of a radio link between first and second WCDs and obtaining a set of one or more weather values that indicate a weather state at or near the first WCD. In some embodiments, a control unit determines: (1) whether the propagation value satisfies a predetermined propagation condition; and (2) whether the weather state satisfies a predetermined weather condition. The control unit then performs a first transmission parameter selection procedure in response to determining at least that the propagation value satisfies the predetermined propagation condition and the weather state satisfies the predetermined weather condition.
US09119176B2	Network access method and apparatus A network access method and an apparatus are provided. The Machine to Machine (M2M) terminal in one M2M terminal group determines an access resource according to an identifier of the M2M terminal group which the M2M terminal is a member of, and The M2M terminal of the M2M terminal group uses the determined access resource to conduct network access on behalf of the M2M terminal group. The method and apparatus can ensure that numerous M2M terminals can successfully access the network at the same time.
US09119166B1	Interpersonal communication and interactive information system An interpersonal communication and an interactive information system is disclosed, through which a user can access a wireless local area network within a facility from a compatible mobile device, obtain information specific to the user's location and communicate with other mobile devices in the facility location through the wireless local area network. The user can establish communications through the network by reading a tag specific to the facility using the mobile device, and locations of the mobile device within the facility are established by reading other tags using the mobile device, by reading radio-frequency signals, or through a GPS system.
US09119164B2	Generating access point beacons at different power levels An access point generates beacons at different power levels at different times to provide an acceptable tradeoff between coverage area associated with the beacons and outage experienced at nearby access terminals. For example, a femto access point may transmit beacons at a relatively low power for a relatively long period of time to reduce interference at nearby access terminals that are being served by a macro access point. The femto access point may then transmit beacons at a relatively high power for a relatively short period of time to enable nearby access terminals to receive the beacons. Also, a given transmit chain may be used to provide frequency hopping of high and low power beacons.
US09119154B2	Opportunistic carrier aggregation for dynamic flow switching between radio access technologies Systems and methods for opportunistic cross radio access technology (RAT) bandwidth allocation are disclosed. The system comprises wireless wide area network (WWAN) radio configured to be used as a primary cell (PCell) to communicate with a dual mode mobile wireless device on a licensed band and a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio integrated with the WWAN radio and configured to be used as a secondary cell (SCell) to provide additional wireless connectivity to the dual mode mobile wireless device in an unlicensed band that is controlled by the PCell. The PCell provides network access and mobility control for the dual mode mobile wireless device and also supports an opportunistic cross carrier bandwidth allocation through a cross RAT coordination module in the downlink and uplink of the SCell in the unlicensed band.
US09119153B2	Methods and apparatus for improving power consumption in a wireless network Methods and apparatus for power optimization in e.g., a wireless mobile device. In one embodiment, the optimization is effected via intelligent idle mode current drain management. In an exemplary LTE cellular network context, the user equipment (UE) only powers on its transceiver for a subset of Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycles based on e.g., the quality of the radio environment, power considerations, location, etc. For example, if a UE has not moved, and its radio reception quality is good, the UE is likely to successfully receive a paging notification (i.e., without multiple attempts). Consequently, the UE configures itself to receive only a single paging indication.
US09119149B2	Method and apparatus of sensor network supporting bidirectional event detection A communication method of a coordinator in a bidirectional event transmission sensor network comprising a sensor node and the coordinator is provided. The method includes sensing, in an uplink section, whether a signal having energy greater than or equal to a predetermined magnitude is received, the signal indicating occurrence of an uplink event detected by the sensor node, and transmitting, to the sensor node in a downlink section, a synchronization packet that is used for receiving the uplink event or for transmitting a downlink event in response to the coordinator detecting the downlink event or sensing the signal having energy greater than or equal to the predetermined magnitude in the uplink section. The bidirectional event transmission sensor network has a structure of a super frame that includes at least one standby slot (SS) including the uplink section and the downlink section.
US09119138B2	Flexible communication systems and methods A method of initiating a telecommunication session for a communication device include submitting to one or more telecommunication carriers a proposal for a telecommunication session, receiving from at least one of the one or more of telecommunication carriers a bid to carry the telecommunications session, and automatically selecting one of the telecommunications carriers from the carriers submitting a bid, and initiating the telecommunication session through the selected telecommunication carrier.
US09119136B2	Distributed mobility anchoring for wireless networks A method and an information handling system configured to select a mobility anchor point for a mobile device in a distributed mobility anchor point network may comprise collecting information about movement behavior or data transfer behavior of the mobile device, or tunneling overhead of two or more base stations. A mobility anchor point associated with a first base station may be assigned to the mobile device if the mobile device is connected to the first base station for at least a predetermined amount of time, if the mobile device transfers at least a predetermined amount of data via the first base station, or device if a tunneling overhead of the first base station is less than a predetermined level. In some embodiments, a centralized mobility anchor may be assigned to the mobile device if the mobile device is highly mobile and there is no identified base station to which the mobile device is frequently connected.
US09119135B2	Accessibility of private base station A user terminal receives at least one signal with information depending on a location of the user terminal. The user terminal processes the at least one signal for providing data related to the location while it is in a cell of an accessible private base station and saves the data as a reference data. After that, the user terminal receives at least one signal with information depending on the location of the user terminal and a broadcast from a private base station. The user terminal processes the at least one signal for providing data related to a location of the user terminal and compares the data and a reference data with each other. The controller enables a contact to the private base station if the data and the reference data match each other and, otherwise, disables a contact to the private base station.
US09119127B1	Backhaul link for distributed antenna system A distributed antenna and backhaul system provide network connectivity for a small cell deployment. Rather than building new structures, and installing additional fiber and cable, embodiments described herein disclose using high-bandwidth, millimeter-wave communications and existing power line infrastructure. Above ground backhaul connections via power lines and line-of-sight millimeter-wave band signals as well as underground backhaul connections via buried electrical conduits can provide connectivity to the distributed base stations. An overhead millimeter-wave system can also be used to provide backhaul connectivity. Modules can be placed onto existing infrastructure, such as streetlights and utility poles, and the modules can contain base stations and antennas to transmit the millimeter-waves to and from other modules.
US09119125B2	Method for managing handover of a user equipment Methods and arrangements (600) in a first network node (120-1) for managing handover of a user equipment (110) from the first network node (120-1), to a second network node (120-2). The method and arrangement (600) comprises transmitting (501) a handover message to the user equipment (110), which handover message is triggering the user equipment (110) to perform the handover, and to establishing (502) a limit related to the amount of retransmissions to be made. Further the method and arrangement (600) comprises interrupting (503) scheduling of resources to the user equipment (110) and inhibiting further retransmissions of the handover message, when either the established limit is reached, or an indication that the user equipment (110) has left the first cell (130-1) is received. Also, methods and arrangements (800) in a in a second network node (120-2) are disclosed.
US09119123B2	Method and apparatus for performing Wi-Fi offload without interrupting service A network node receives a first connection request from user equipment to join a broadband network at a first interface. A mobility manager in the network node accepts the first connection request. The mobility manager sends data from a core network addressed to the user equipment and receives data from the user equipment through the first interface. The mobility manager receives, from a local area network, a second connection request sent from the user equipment. The second connection request is for the user equipment to communicate with the broadband network via the local area network. The mobility manager accepts the second connection request and offloads data transmitted to and received from the user equipment to a second interface on the network node. The second interface is configured to send data to and receive data from the user equipment via the local area network.
US09119119B2	1×RTT and HRPD neighbor list support over LTE Devices and methods are provided for supporting single carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT) and High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) neighbor lists over LTE, thereby enabling efficient scans for 3GPP2 neighbors with minimal interruption to the LTE operations both when idle or when in-traffic. In one embodiment, the method may involve accessing a neighbor list, each neighboring system in the list being prioritized based at least in part on whether the access terminal (AT) supports a hybrid mode. For example, the method may involve selecting the 3GPP2 system to handin to based at least in part on the neighbor list.
US09119113B2	Handover method, handover system, and apparatus for a UE attaching to a local IP network With the deployment of home NodeB or home eNodeB, a user can access both operator's core network and Local Internet (IP) Access (LIPA), e.g. to home based network or general Internet, on the same device at the same time. However, existing mechanisms do not allow an efficient way of LIPA mobility support, especially when there are multiple home NodeBs or home eNodeBs serving the same LIPA domain. The present invention provides a solution that can achieve seamless mobility among different home NodeBs or home eNodeBs without interruption to LIPA service. The LIPA traffic for the terminal can be contained within the local domain during the handover process. It also provides support of the relocation of the gateway that provides the LIPA access to the mobile terminal.
US09119111B2	Method and apparatus for controlling wireless uplink sessions A video session management capability is disclosed. The video session management capability enables management of potential and/or established video sessions of mobile devices of a cellular sector (e.g., for supporting dynamic changes to the transmission bit rates of established video sessions in a cellular sector). In response to an indication of a condition associated with the cellular sector, a manager determines, for each of a plurality video senders of a respective plurality of uplink video sessions of the cellular sector, a modified transmission bit rate for the video sender for the uplink video session and propagates, toward the video sender, a message for instructing the video sender to use the modified transmission bit rate for its uplink video session.
US09119103B2	Managing media distribution based on a service quality index value A method includes receiving first measurement data from a first device. The first device may be a first element of a communication path. The first measurement data may correspond to a first measured parameter associated with performance of the communication path. The method further includes receiving second measurement data from a second device. The second device may be a second element of the communication path. The second measurement data may correspond to a second measured parameter (distinct from the first measured parameter) associated with performance of the communication path. The method further includes determining a first service quality index value corresponding to performance of the communication path based on the first measurement data and the second measurement data.
US09119102B2	Radio network node and method for using positioning gap indication for enhancing positioning performance A wireless communications network is described herein in which positioning measurements (e.g., inter-frequency OTDOA measurements and inter-frequency E-CID measurements) may be performed on different frequencies and measurement gaps may be requested for such measurements. In one embodiment, a radio network node (e.g., eNodeB, responsible node) is described for configuring a measurement gap for positioning to be used by a user equipment (UE).
US09119096B2	Method of performing a minimization of drive test (MDT) in wireless communication system Disclosed is a wireless communication system and terminal for providing a wireless communication service, and more particularly, a method of UE effectively perform an operation of MDT (Minimization Driving Test) for specific parameter of each cell in an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) evolved from a UMTS, Long Term Evolution (LTE) System or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system.
US09119089B2	Multi-carrier communication systems employing variable symbol rates and number of carriers A multi-carrier communication system such as an OFDM or DMT system has nodes which are allowed to dynamically change their receive and transmit symbol rates, and the number of carriers within their signals. Changing of the symbol rate is done by changing the clocking frequency of the nodes' iFFT and FFT processors, as well as their serializers and deserializers. The nodes have several ways of dynamically changing the number of earners used. The selection of symbol rate and number of earners can be optimized for a given channel based on explicit channel measurements, a priori knowledge of the channel, or past experience. Provision is made for accommodating legacy nodes that may have constraints in symbol rate or the number of carriers they can support. The receiver can determine the correct symbol rate and number of earners through a priori knowledge, a first exchange of packets in a base mode that all nodes can understand, or an indication in the header of the data packet which is transmitted in a base mode of operation that all nodes can understand.
US09119082B1	Reference signal design for interference measurement A method includes, in a mobile communication terminal, receiving signals from a group of cells in multiple time-frequency Resource Elements (REs). The signals include a desired signal component and an interfering signal component. A subset of the REs, in which the cells are known deterministically to transmit at least part of the interfering signal component and to not transmit the desired signal component, is identified in the terminal. An interference caused by the interfering signal component to the desired signal component is estimated in the terminal, by measuring the signals in the REs in the subset.
US09119078B2	Mobile terminal apparatus A mobile terminal apparatus checks if a user is a proper user based on the operation of the user and, if the result of authentication is negative, uploads predetermined data, which is part of data stored in a memory, to a predetermined server. After the transmission is completed, the mobile terminal apparatus erases the uploaded data from the memory. It is also possible to instruct the mobile terminal apparatus to upload and erase data from an external source using an electronic mail or a telephone tone signal sequence. This may protect data contained in mobile terminal apparatus that has been lost, from a person who improperly attempts to access the data.
US09119071B2	Methods controlling extended range areas in heterogeneous networks and related network nodes A method may provide wireless communications in a network including a first base station and a second base station, with the first base station operating within a coverage area of the second base station. The method may include providing soft-cell communications in an extended range area of the first base station, with the extended range area being outside a primary range area of the first base station. A number of wireless devices in the extended range area connected and/or communicating with the first base station may be tracked. Responsive to the number of wireless devices in the extended range area connected and/or communicating with the first base station exceeding a threshold (Threshold_N), the extended range area over which soft-cell communications are provided may be reduced.
US09119065B2	Authentication in secure user plane location (SUPL) systems A particular method includes receiving, at a secure user plane location (SUPL) server, an indication from a mobile device of one or more transport layer security (TLS) cipher suites supported by the mobile device; determining whether the one or more TLS cipher suites include a TLS pre-shared key (TLS-PSK) cipher suite that is supported by the SUPL server; in response to determining whether the one or more TLS cipher suites include the TLS-PSK cipher suite that is supported by the SUPL server, performing a generic bootstrapping architecture (GBA)-based authentication process to authenticate the mobile device, or determining whether the SUPL server supports a certificate-based authentication method; and in response to determining that the SUPL server supports the certificate-based authentication method, performing the certificate-based authentication method that includes sending a server certificate to the mobile device and receiving a device certificate from the mobile device.
US09119060B2	Service continuity during local breakout in a femtocell Service continuity is provided when a user equipment (UE), employing local breakout mechanisms at a femto access point (FAP) for a communication session, moves out of the femto coverage area. In particular, a network change detection component can be employed to detect when the UE, attached to the FAP, changes its connection from the femto network to the macro network. Further, an active communication session can exist between the UE and a device/service/application on a local Area network (LAN) connected to a FAP, and/or the Internet, which utilizes local breakout at the FAP. When the UE moves out of the femto network, a context management component can be employed to seamlessly resume the communication session, via the macro network.
US09119055B2	Grouping ambient-location updates In one embodiment, a method includes receiving location data from a mobile device associated with a user. The location data includes one or more location readings sent automatically and without manual input from the user. The method also includes representing the location data as one or more geo-location data points based at least in part on a distance between the location readings and the geo-location data points; and grouping one or more of the geo-location data points into one or more geo-location clusters based at least in part on a distance between each geo-location data point and a geo-location centroid of each geo-location cluster.
US09119053B2	Methods and apparatus for use in switching user account data and operations between two different mobile communication devices A host server is configured to switch communications associated with an account between first and second mobile devices. The server stores a mapping of the account to a first PIN which identifies the first mobile device, and communicates messages via a wireless network based on the stored mapping using the first PIN for data synchronization therebetween. The server then receives a request for device switching. In response, the server switches the mapping of the account to a second PIN which identifies a second mobile device, and communicates messages via the wireless network based on the switched stored mapping using the second PIN for data synchronization therebetween. The mapping of the account to the first PIN may be maintained even after switching the stored mapping to the second PIN, for a subsequent request for switching back to the first mobile device for the account.
US09119049B2	Voice notification to the destination of a text message that is engaged in a voice call Systems and methods are disclosed that provide a voice notification to an end user while the end user is on an active voice call, where the voice notification includes information on a text message that was received. A system in one embodiment includes a message delivery system that receives a text message intended for a destination, and initiates delivery of the text message to the destination. The system also includes a message notification system that detects that the destination is engaged in an active voice call during the delivery of the text message, identifies information for the text message, converts the text message information into voice data to generate a voice notification, and initiates transmission of the voice notification to the destination to be played during the active voice call.
US09119047B2	Method for transmitting dual tone multi frequency and electronic device thereof A method for transmitting a dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) and an electronic device thereof. In the method, a number input event is detected during communication. When the number input event is detected, a numerical keypad is displayed. At least one number is received via the numerical keypad. The received at least one number is stored in a buffer. When a transmission event is detected, at least one DTMF corresponding to the number stored in the buffer is transmitted to a base station.
US09119044B2	Method for sending a data message during a telephone call A method of sending data from a first party participating in a telephone call to a second party participating in the telephone call, comprising, in the terminal of the first party, storing, as a consequence of the telephone call, identifier data that identifies the second party; using the stored identifier data to determine automatically a destination address for a data message; and sending, during the telephone call, the data message with the automatically determined destination address. A method for sending data from a first party participating in a telephone call to a second party participating in the telephone call, comprising, in the terminal of the first party: providing, while the telephone call is on-going, a user selectable option to transfer data to another party participating in the telephone call without user specification of a destination address.
US09119039B2	Method and apparatus for connection context aware radio communication management with predictive mobile path An information handling system includes a wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless link and a storage device for storing a spatial-temporal user profile comprising wireless device usage trend data for a location where the information handling system is operating. The information handling system further includes positional detector and an application processor that determines a trajectory estimation during a future time interval. The application processor correlates the wireless device usage trend date for a location in or near the trajectory estimation.
US09119038B2	Systems and methods for comparative geofencing The present disclosure describes systems and methods for time-based geolocation queries, with designated planned arrival and/or departure times or event start/end times. The number of queries can be drastically reduced to reduce battery, bandwidth, and processing requirements; or the rate of queries can be increased within a specified time frame, providing much higher resolution of geolocation information. Geolocation information may be monitored via notifications from portable devices to identify demographics of users within identified regions and subregions, allowing real-time, dynamic comparison of demographic information between locations, such as restaurants, clubs, or events.
US09119037B1	Locating a nearby mobile device without using GPS A method, system, and medium are provided for locating a lost mobile device utilizing a radio frequency signal associated with the lost mobile device. One embodiment of the method includes activating a signal on a lost mobile device. An identifier associated with the lost mobile device allows a locating mobile device to receive the signal from the lost mobile device and filter out interference. The strength of the signal is determined and a location of the lost mobile device is communicated to a user based on the strength of the signal.
US09119034B2	Method and apparatus for determining a probability for a geo-fence A method, computer-readable storage device, and an apparatus for determining a probability for a particular geo-fence in a wireless network are disclosed. For example, the method receives a mobile identification, a location record, and an accuracy level, identifies a bin in a database of record, identifies one or more geo-fences in which the bin is located, identifies one or more geo-fences that are pre-associated with the mobile user endpoint device, determines an intersection of: the one or more geo-fences that are identified as being pre-associated with the user endpoint device, and the one or more geo-fences that are identified as being geo-fences in which the bin is located, and determines for each particular geo-fence in the intersection, the probability of being in the particular geo-fence, wherein the probability of being in the particular geo-fence is determined in accordance with the accuracy level associated with the location record.
US09119026B2	Enhanced pilot signal Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment, a method of transmitting signals is provided. Signal waveforms are transmitted from at least two respective sectors. The at least two respective sectors are from at least two different sets of a superset of sectors. The transmitted signal waveforms include signal waveforms at least nearly mutually orthogonal at least along a particular signal dimension. An advantage of such an embodiment, for example, is reduced signal interference.
US09119013B1	Satellite based tracking and data device with multi-function radio frequency interface A remote monitoring device is described that includes a microprocessor, a location determination unit connected to the microprocessor and operable to determine a location of the remote monitoring device. One or more interfaces connect the microprocessor to one or more sensors, wherein the one or more interfaces includes a multi-function radio frequency interface to communicate with wireless sensors. A radio frequency identification (RFID) interface interacts with RFID readers using the multi-function radio frequency interface, and a configuration interface to allow a user to configure the monitoring device also uses the multi-function radio frequency interface. The monitoring device uses a transmitter to transmit the location, status and collected information.
US09119010B2	Implantable sound transmission device for magnetic hearing aid, and corresponding systems, devices and components Various embodiments of systems, devices, components, and methods are disclosed for a magnetic hearing aid system comprising an implantable sound transmission device configured for implantation in a patient's skull. The sound transmission device is configured to receive acoustic signals generated by an EM transducer in a magnetic hearing aid that are transmitted through the patient's skin, and to transmit the received acoustic signals to the patient's cochlea via one or more sound-transmitting metal members. According to some embodiments, the sound transmission device is curved to permit optimal placement of the hearing aid and corresponding magnetic implant behind a patient's ear.
US09119007B2	Method of and hearing aid for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener A method for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener is disclosed. The method for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener includes receiving an input sound, increasing or decreasing the energy of the high frequency section and then lowering the frequency of the high frequency section, and then combining the low high frequency section with the high frequency section of which the energy was increased/decreased and the frequency was lowered.
US09119005B2	Connection diagnostics for parallel speakers Connectivity of a pair of parallel electroacoustic transducers is determined by applying a first test signal on the output line at a frequency where the impedance of the transducers in parallel is less than the impedance of the higher-frequency transducer alone, and observing whether a clip signal is received. If the clip signal is not received, an error indication is output. A second test signal is applied at a frequency where the impedance of the transducers in parallel is less than the impedance of the lower-frequency transducer alone. If the clip signal is not received, the error indication is output. A third test signal is applied at a frequency where the impedance of the transducers in parallel is higher if both transducers are operational than if the higher-frequency transducer is internally short-circuited. If the clip signal is received, a third error indication is output.
US09119004B2	Wireless device A wireless device capable of reliably detecting a tone squelch signal in a short time is provided. The wireless device which detects a tone squelch signal contained in received baseband signals is provided with: a frequency shifting unit (quadrature demodulation unit (503)) which shifts the received baseband signal in the negative frequency direction by a preset frequency of a tone squelch signal; LPF (504-1, 504-2) for eliminating unnecessary frequency components from the output of the frequency shifting unit; and an assessment unit (510) which assesses presence/non-presence of the tone squelch signal on the basis of the output from the LPF (504-1,504-2).
US09119001B2	Electronic device having loudspeaker module An electronic device includes a housing, a mounting sheet, a circuit board mounted to the housing and the mounting sheet, and a loudspeaker module mounted on the mounting sheet. The housing defines a first receiving chamber and a second receiving chamber communicating with the first receiving chamber at one end of the housing, and a first sound hole corresponding to and communicating the first receiving chamber. The loudspeaker module includes a first loudspeaker which is received in the first receiving chamber. The first receiving chamber communicates the second receiving chamber to form a resonant cavity for the first loudspeaker. The sounds emitted by the first loudspeaker transmit to the outside of the housing by the first sound hole.
US09118997B2	Speaker device and filter coefficient generating device therefor To provide a speaker device that can form a substantially uniform sound field over a range from a long distance to a short distance without significantly increasing a calculation load. A plurality of FIR filters 21 to 2n perform delay control of respective speakers so as to increase a delay time difference between adjacent speakers 51 to 5n in a line array speaker 5 toward one end of the line array speaker 5, and thereby over a wide range from a long distance to a short distance, a sound filed 12 is formed. Also, by adding a common shift delay time Dc to filter coefficients for the FIR filters 21 to 2n, the delay time difference between adjacent speakers 51 to 5n is made less than a sampling period of a sound signal to form a wide and uniform sound field 12.
US09118995B1	Earpiece auditory devices having improved ear tips Systems, devices and methods relating to auditory devices having an ear tip with a neck portion configured to extend beyond the end of a speaker assembly when assembled are provided. Embodiments provide for an ear tip with enhanced flexibility for insertion and removal and while the ear tip is in use. Additionally, embodiments may provide for a fastening means that allows the ear tip to be easily detachable from a speaker assembly, while also providing sufficient securing force for the ear tip to secure the tip to the speaker assembly while the tip is subjected to forces resulting from insertion, removal or otherwise normal use of the auditory device.
US09118991B2	Reducing head-related transfer function data volume A device may store a subset of a plurality of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) for emulating stereo sound from a source in three-dimensional (3D) space, each of the HRTFs corresponding to a direction from which the stereo sound is perceived to arrive, by a user hearing the stereo sound. The device may also obtain a first direction from which first stereo sound is perceived to arrive, by the user and determine whether the subset of the plurality of HRTFs includes a first HRTF corresponding to the first direction, wherein the plurality of HRTFs include the first HRTF. Further, the device may select two HRTFs in the subset of the HRTFs, wherein directions that are associated with the two HRTFs are closer to the first direction than directions of other HRTFs in the subset of the HRTFs.
US09118989B2	Noise mitigating microphone attachment Methods, systems and apparatus are described for mitigating noise during sound recording. A noise mitigating microphone attachment comprises a foam structure. A first cavity extending from a first opening at a surface of the foam structure and into the foam structure. A microphone is inserted into the first cavity with sound receiving elements of the microphone fully installed in the structure. A second cavity extending from a second opening at the surface of the foam structure and into the foam structure is configured to receive sound from a sound source. The first cavity is fluidly connected to the second cavity within the foam structure so that a junction is formed between the first cavity and the second cavity. The junction, the sound cavity, and the sealing of the microphone work to shield the sound receiving elements of the microphone from sound other than received through the second opening.
US09118987B2	Motor vehicle active noise reduction A device and method that is configured to operate an active noise reduction system for a motor vehicle, where there is an active noise reduction system input signal that is related to the vehicle engine operation, and where the active noise reduction system comprises one or more adaptive filters that output noise reduction signals that are used to drive one or more transducers with their outputs directed to reduce engine noise. The engine harmonic noise level is estimated from the input signal that is related to the vehicle engine operation, and the output of the transducers is limited based on the estimate of the engine harmonic noise level.
US09118983B2	Ring in ring passive optical network system for providing fiber to the home with reduced number of fibers A mini-optical line termination (OLT) includes at least one management card for providing control and management functions. A plurality of network cards having a predetermined number of ports are configured to support a predetermined number of subscribers by providing a gigabit passive optical network to the subscribers. At least one network device is coupled to an upstream device and the plurality of network cards. The at least one network device is configured to control the forwarding of data between the upstream device and the subscribers.
US09118982B2	Optical line terminal (OLT) optical module adapted to perform optical unit network (ONU) functionality An optical line terminal (OLT) is operable in a passive optical network (PON). The OLT comprises a plurality of optical network units (ONUs), an electrical module for generating continuous downstream signal and processing received upstream burst signals according to a communication protocol of the PON and an optical module for transmitting continuous optical signals over a first wavelength and receiving burst optical signals over a second wavelength. The optical module further includes an ONU traffic processing module is electrically coupled to the optical module and the electrical module. The ONU traffic processing module is configured to emulate one of the ONUs of the PON. An interface is used for interfacing between the electrical module and the optical module.
US09118976B1	Tuning efficiency and delivery of content In accordance with one configuration, in response to receiving a request from a client device, a server resource tunes to a corresponding channel to retrieve content conveyed on the corresponding channel. While tuning, the server resource obtains a network address of the server resource from which content in the corresponding channel will be available for retrieval by the client device subsequent to the server resource successfully tuning to the corresponding channel and buffering a portion of the content. The server resource forwards the network address to the client device for subsequent retrieval of the content.
US09118974B2	Satellite television antenna system The satellite television antenna device scans the sky and locks onto a first satellite candidate by measuring microwave radiation. The antenna acquires identification (ID) of a first satellite candidate from a set top box (STB), if possible. Then, the antenna moves to a second satellite candidate and acquires the corresponding ID from the STB, if possible. Antenna dish orientation information is stored in memory for at least all satellites that were identified as corresponding to a user's television programming package. The antenna can switch directly between two or more stored dish positions in response to the user changing channels on the STB. The antenna can be powered solely by the STB. A two-way communication conduit can be established between the STB and the antenna via a single cable. The communications conduit can also be used to transmit power to the antenna.
US09118973B1	Aircraft digital media entertainment systems, device, and method employed therein A novel and non-trivial aircraft digital media entertainment system, device, and method employed therein are disclosed. A content controller is configured to receive first data initiated through a media player application installed in a first portable device configured with a mobile operating system; retrieve and stream second data responsive to the first data to the first portable device; receive third data initiated through a remote control application installed in a second portable device configured with the mobile operating system; retrieve and stream fourth data responsive to the third data to a channel processor for subsequent distribution to one or more displays; receive fifth data initiated through a cabin channel control application installed in a cabin channel controller configured with an aircraft system operating system; and retrieve and stream sixth data responsive to the fifth data to a channel processor for subsequent distribution to one or more displays.
US09118972B2	Scheduler apparatus employing a gopher agent for use in a television receiver In a television system in which at least program title information for programs which are to be transmitted in the future is transmitted in advance to form a channel guide listing, apparatus is provided for searching the listing for specific user-entered information, and upon successful conclusion to the search, the apparatus schedules the tuning of the desired program, or in the alternative, notifies the viewer of the availability of the program. In those instances where descriptive text accompanies the program listing, apparatus of the invention performs a search of the text for a particular text string which may relate to the title, the star, the director, or the context of the program, among other search criteria.
US09118971B2	Method and apparatus for automatic recording according to user preferences A method and apparatus searches a program for automatic recording according to user preferences, which include entries entered by a user and entries automatically added by the apparatus according to a recording habit of the user. A user can assign a priority to a user entered entry and the apparatus can assign a priority to an automatically entered entry, but the priority of an automatically entered entry can be modified by the user. The apparatus searches program information of programs in an electronic program guide having a match to any of the entries and selects a matched program for automatic recording.
US09118969B2	Methods for distributing content in multi-room environment A method enables a user to pause or stop content reproduction in one viewing room, and resume content reproduction in another viewing room according to a timing condition. According to an exemplary embodiment, the method is used in a system including first and second video devices, and includes steps of: receiving by the first video device while playing back a program, a first control signal to interrupt the playback; enabling display of a message by the second video device for a predetermined time interval asking a viewer whether to continue playback of the program by the second video device; receiving by the second video device a second control signal within the predetermined time interval to continue playback of the program; and enabling playback of the program by the second video device in response to the second control signal.
US09118968B2	Method for user session transitioning among streaming interactive video servers A method by which a streaming interactive video user session is handed off from one streaming interactive video server to another without noticeable disruption to the video stream or the user interactivity.
US09118967B2	Channel changer for intelligent television A system, method, and computer instructions is provided to render an on screen channel changer on a television. A request is received from a user to activate the on screen channel changer. An on screen channel changer for an Intelligent TV may include a display of a number bar, miniature (mini) electronic program guide (EPG), a dynamic EPG, and a program preview. The EPG information comes from EPG information sources including EPG information embedded in a content feed from a cable provider and EPG information from an internet source. The EPG information displayed can include a schedule of past, current, and upcoming TV programs. The on screen channel changer may be displayed on top of a TV program currently being viewed. The user changes the channel by making a channel number selection using the on screen channel changer.
US09118966B2	Enforcing software independent content protection in an electronic device during transcoding A Set Top Box (STB) or client computer includes a communication interface operable to receive digital messages and digital content, memory, a transcoder, a central processing unit, and security processing circuitry. The security processor (or other components of the STB) is operable to identify protected digital content of the digital content that is to be isolated from the central processing unit during transcoding and to isolate the protected digital content from the central processing unit during the transcoding. The CPU may be denied access to a protected portion of the memory during the transcoding in which the transcoder stores non-scrambled protected digital content. The protected portion of the memory may be buffer memory accessible by the transcoder and not accessible by the central processing unit. The protected digital content may be identified from the digital message.
US09118965B1	Virtual video channels Embodiments are configured to populate one or more virtual channels with accessible video content from disparate sources. Users are oftentimes overwhelmed with an abundance of available video content. Embodiments of the present invention may be utilized to generate an index of all video content to which a user has access from various video content providing systems and cross-match the index of video content with tagged video metadata. The cross-matched video content may be processed through various filters and mapped to one or more classifications. One or more virtual channels may be generated according to the one or more classifications and populated with the cross-matched video content. The virtual channels are customized to the user based on the availability of the content to the user and on user preference data.
US09118958B2	Systems and methods for coordinating interactive and passive advertisement and merchandising opportunities Systems and methods for providing enhanced advertising and merchandising opportunities are described. Advertisements may be provided for passive programming such as television programs, commercials, pay-per-view programs, passive video products, or other suitable passive programming. Interactive advertisements may be provided in interactive applications such as interactive television program guides, web browsers, home shopping applications, operating systems, or other suitable interactive applications.
US09118954B2	Module coping with conditional access broadcasting, digital broadcasting receiving system, and method of controlling module coping with conditional access broadcasting A module configured to cope with conditional access broadcasting includes an interface that is detachable from a receiver, the receiver being configured to receive digital broadcasting including conditional access broadcasting, and the interface being configured to acquire a transport stream produced based on the digital broadcasting, a descrambler configured to descramble data included in the transport stream, a loudspeaker configured to output sound, and a controller configured to detect emergency warning information included in the transport stream and control the loudspeaker to output sound related to the emergency warning information in response to the detection of the emergency warning information.
US09118952B2	Methods and apparatus that facilitate controlling multiple devices Methods and apparatus for controlling a home alarm and supporting various control functions including STB recording functions are described. In some embodiments, e.g., where the STB is a DOCSIS capable device, communications between the control panel and STB is through a gateway and/or server which allow the IP based control panel to interact with the STB via a communications network and other devices located external to the customer premise where the control panel is located. In embodiments where the STB supports IP capability, communication between the control panel and STB is via a home network. In some embodiments upon selecting an alarm activation option a user is provided an opportunity to select at least one of: recordings, which are scheduled for deletion, to be preserved, or suggestions for programs for recording. Upon alarm deactivation, a list of new recordings made in user's absence and a missed call log is presented.
US09118948B2	Client-server based interactive guide with server recording An interactive television program guide system is provided. An interactive television program guide provides users with an opportunity to select programs for recording on a remote media server. Programs may also be recorded on a local media server. The program guide provides users with VCR-like control over programs that are played back from the media servers and over real-time cached copies of the programs. The program guide also provides users with an opportunity to designate gift recipients for whom programs may be recorded.
US09118945B2	Interrelated multiple screen advertising In multiple screen environments, an advertising server and a media server can interact with the multiple screens to ensure that advertisements are acknowledged by a viewer. In one example, a main or first screen is obscured to some extent until a viewer acknowledges the advertisement on one or more secondary devices. The extent of obscuring the main screen can be varied as well as the frequency of displaying the advertisement. This allows the user's viewing behavior to be modified based on the method of advertisement placement.
US09118943B2	Video on demand processing A device may include a communication interface configured to receive a request from a client device, where the request identifies a first video on demand (VOD). The device may also include logic configured to identify capabilities associated with the client device, the capabilities including at least one of a decoding capability of the client device, a content protection scheme supported by the client device, or a transport protocol via which the client device can communicate, and forward the request for the VOD to a service provider associated with providing the first VOD. The logic may also be configured to receive a media stream from the service provider, the media stream corresponding to the first VOD, process the media stream in accordance with the identified capabilities, and forward the processed media stream to the client device.
US09118936B2	Apparatus systems and methods for securely sharing content with a plurality of receiving devices Various embodiments facilitate secure content sharing between a plurality of receiving devices, such as set-top boxes. One embodiment is a system with a distribution server communicatively coupled via a satellite communication system to a plurality of set-top boxes that are located at different customer premises. The distribution server is operable to provide access control information via the satellite communication system to a first set-top box and a second set-top box of the plurality, with the access control information enabling the first set-top box to securely share content of the first set-top box with the second set-top box. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
US09118935B2	Media profile based optimization of media streaming systems and methods An exemplary media streaming system 1) maintains media profile data representative of a plurality of media profiles supported by technical specifications of access devices included in a population of access devices, 2) defines, based on a statistical distribution of the access devices across the plurality of media profiles, a subset of the plurality of media profiles as benchmark media profiles, 3) maintains, for only the subset of the plurality of media profiles defined as the benchmark media profiles, media content data representative of different versions of a media content program, the different versions of the media content program corresponding to the media profiles included in the subset, and 4) uses the media content data representative of the different versions of the media content program corresponding to the media profiles included in the subset to stream the media content program. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.
US09118931B2	Method and device for optimizing encoding/decoding of compensation offsets for a set of reconstructed samples of an image The present invention provides a method and a device for coding and decoding at least a part of an image comprising a plurality of samples, each sample comprising at least two components, and the encoded image comprising at least one filtering parameter. The filtering comprises using at least one filtering parameter as a common filtering parameter for filtering both the first component and the second component of a reconstructed sample.
US09118929B2	Method for performing hybrid multihypothesis prediction during video coding of a coding unit, and associated apparatus A method and apparatus for performing hybrid multihypothesis prediction during video coding of a coding unit includes: processing a plurality of sub-coding units in the coding unit; and performing disparity vector (DV) derivation when the coding unit is processed by a 3D or multi-view coding tool or performing block vector (BV) derivation when the coding unit is processed by intra picture block copy (IntraBC) mode. The step of performing DV or BV derivation includes deriving a plurality of vectors for multihypothesis motion-compensated prediction of a specific sub-coding unit from at least one other sub-coding/coding unit. The one other sub-coding/coding unit is coded before the corresponding DV or BV is derived for multihypothesis motion-compensated prediction of the specific sub-coding unit. A linear combination of a plurality of pixel values derived from the plurality of vectors is used as a predicted pixel value of the specific sub-coding unit.
US09118928B2	Method and system for providing single view video signal based on a multiview video coding (MVC) signal stream A method and system for producing a single view video signal based on a multiview video coding (MVC) signal stream. A MVC signal stream representing multiple spatially related views of a scene, including a base view and at least one dependent view, is decoded to provide multiple decoded video signals representing the spatially related views, with respective portions of the MVC signal stream representing one of multiple temporally adjacent video frames, and the MVC signal stream representing multiple sequences of spatially adjacent video frames. The decoded video signals are processed to provide a processed video signal representing one of the spatially related views using image information from more than one of the decoded video signals. As a result, more image data is used during processing, thereby improving the spatial and temporal image quality.
US09118925B2	Efficient rounding for deblocking The present disclosure relates to deblocking filtering which is applicable to smoothing the block boundaries in an image or video coding and decoding. In particular, the deblocking filtering is either strong or weak, wherein the clipping is performed differently in the strong filtering and the weak filtering.
US09118921B2	Image encoding/decoding method and device The present disclosure relates to a video encoding/decoding apparatus and method, in which skip information indicating whether a block is a skip block is encoded, partition information of the block and skip motion information of the block are encoded or prediction information of the block containing the partition information of the block and intra prediction mode information or motion information are encoded according to the skip information, residual signal information of the block is predictive-encoded based on the prediction information and the transform information, and an encoded signal is reconstructed. The method and the apparatus can improve the video compression efficiency by efficiently encoding the encoding information used for the video encoding and selectively using various encoding methods and decoding methods in encoding the video.
US09118917B2	Image coding method, image coding apparatus, and imaging system The image coding method according to the present invention includes the following steps. At a histogram calculation step, a histogram of pixel values included in a block image is calculated. At a plane region detection step, a size of a plane region included in the block image is detected. At an orthogonal transformation size selection step, (i) a first processing size is selected as a processing size of orthogonal transformation for the block image when the histogram is bimodal and the size of the plane region is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, and (ii) a second processing size greater than the first processing size is selected as the processing size, when that the histogram is not bimodal or the size of the plane region is smaller than the first threshold value.
US09118915B2	Method and apparatus for encoding video by using deblocking filtering, and method and apparatus for decoding video by using deblocking filtering A method and apparatus for encoding video by using deblocking filtering, and a method and apparatus for decoding video by using deblocking filtering are provided. The method of encoding video includes: splitting a picture into a maximum coding unit; determining coding units of coded depths and encoding modes for the coding units of the maximum coding unit by prediction encoding the coding units of the maximum coding unit based on at least one prediction unit and transforming the coding units based on at least one transformation unit, wherein the maximum coding unit is hierarchically split into the coding units as a depth deepens, and the coded depths are depths where the maximum coding unit is encoded in the coding units; and performing deblocking filtering on video data being inversely transformed into a spatial domain in the coding units, in consideration of the encoding modes.
US09118913B2	Image encoding method and device, and decoding method and device therefor A video encoding method and apparatus and a video decoding method and apparatus. In the video encoding method, a first predicted coding unit of a current coding unit that is to be encoded is produced, a second predicted coding unit is produced by changing a value of each pixel of the first predicted coding unit by using each pixel of the first predicted coding unit and at least one neighboring pixel of each pixel, and the difference between the current coding unit and the second predicted coding unit is encoded, thereby improving video prediction efficiency.
US09118912B2	Object-aware video encoding strategies A method of object-aware video coding is provided that comprises the steps of: receiving a video sequence having a plurality of frames; selecting at least two frames; determing total area of at least one object of interest in each of the at least two frames; comparing the total area to a threshold area; classifying each of the at least two frames as being a low object weighted frame or a high object weighted frame, low object weighted frames being frames having the total area exceeding the threshold area and high object weighted frames being frame having the total area not exceeding the threshold area; and encoding each low object weighted frame according to one encoding mode and encoding each high object weighted frame according to a different encoding mode.
US09118911B2	Variable disparity three-dimensional (3D) display system and method of operating the same A variable disparity three-dimensional (3D) display system and method of processing a variable disparity three-dimensional (3D) image shown on a display to reduce motion sickness of a person viewing the display. The system includes a motion detector configured to determine a motion value that characterizes motion of a display, and an image processor configured to adjust incrementally a disparity amount of a 3D image shown by the display based on the motion value in order to reduce motion sickness of a person viewing the display. The method includes determining a motion value that characterizes motion of a display, and adjusting a disparity amount of a 3D image shown by the display incrementally based on the motion value in order to reduce motion sickness of a person viewing the display.
US09118910B2	Three-dimensional image glasses and electronic equipment There are provided 3D image glasses which are ready for a plurality of methods (output patterns of a timing signal) different from one another and moreover which are adaptable for various types of 3D image display devices. A ROM 6 stores a plurality of output patterns, and a plurality of command signals corresponding to the output patterns. A microcomputer 5 selects from the ROM 6 an output pattern coincident with an output pattern of a timing signal received from the 3D image display device, and moreover, by a command signal of the selected output pattern, controls opening and closing of right-eye and left-eye liquid-crystal shutters in synchronization with the received timing signal.
US09118909B2	Stereoscopic image display and driving method thereof A stereoscopic image display device includes a liquid crystal display panel on which frame data is addressed, a frame rate conversion unit that divides 3D input data into left eye image data and right eye image data, and inserts reset frame data including black grayscale data between the left eye image data and the right eye image data, and a luminance difference compensation unit that generates compensation values for compensating a luminance difference depending on positions in a screen of the liquid crystal display panel, wherein a compensation value added to the left eye image data and the right eye image data to be displayed on an upper part of the screen of the liquid crystal display panel is higher than a compensation value added to the left eye image data and the right eye image data to be displayed under the upper part of the screen.
US09118906B2	Three-dimensional imaging device and autofocus adjustment method for three-dimensional imaging device An autofocus adjustment method for a three-dimensional imaging device, includes: a step of, when a first lens position is not found during search operation of a first focus lens of a first imaging optical system within a first search range, allowing a second focus lens of a second imaging optical system to perform search operation within the first search range, and during the search operation, searching for a second lens position at which the second focus lens focuses on the subject based on a second viewpoint image from the second imaging unit; a step of allowing the second focus lens to move to the second lens position; a step of calculating the first lens position based on the second lens position and a focus position displacement amount preliminarily stored in a storage; and a step of allowing the first focus lens to move to the first lens position thus calculated.
US09118905B2	Multiplane panoramas of long scenes Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for generating a panoramic image of a long scene are disclosed. These include, fitting planes to 3D points associated with input images of portions of the long scene, where respective planes are fitted to a ground surface, a dominant surface, and at least one of foreground objects and background objects, and where distances from the 3D points to the fitted planes are minimized. These also include, selecting, for respective pixels in the panoramic image, an input image and a fitted plane such that a distance is minimized from the selected the fitted plane to a surface corresponding to the pixels and occlusion of the pixels is reduced in the selected input image, and stitching by projecting the selected input image using the selected fitted plane into the virtual camera.
US09118901B2	Imaging apparatus, imaging method and imaging system An imaging apparatus is adapted to shoot a subject at two or more different viewpoints to obtain a right viewpoint image and a left viewpoint image, or multi-viewpoint images, with parallax that are to be merged together into a 3D image. The apparatus includes a monitor for displaying the image to be taken upon shooting; an input device for inputting an indispensable output area which an user wants to be included in the 3D image outputted; and a control unit for causing the indispensable output area and an area out of mergence, which is unable to be included in the 3D image in accordance with the amount of parallax between the right viewpoint image and the left viewpoint image, or between the multi-viewpoint images, to be merged together into the 3D image, to be indicated in the image to be taken.
US09118899B2	Selective coding distortion removal between two adjacent transform blocks based on their locations An image encoding and decoding apparatus includes an image encoder for encoding an input image and an image decoder for decoding a variable length coded signal. The image encoder includes a coding unit, a first decoding unit, a first coding distortion removing unit, a first storage unit, and a variable length coding unit. The image decoder includes a variable length decoding unit, a second coding distortion removing unit, and a second storage unit. In the encoding and decoding apparatus, a block size of a motion compensation block is smaller than a block size of the macroblock, a block size of a motion compensation block is larger than a block size of a transform block, and a coded motion compensation error of each of two adjacent motion compensation blocks located inside the same macroblock is zero.
US09118896B2	Digital contents receiver, digital contents receiving method and digital contents transmitting and receiving method In a digital contents receiver for receiving transmitted digital contents, the digital contents include at least component information indicating an element which constitutes a program of the contents. When the component information indicates that the received digital contents are a 3D component, it is determined whether a display part corresponds to display of the 3D component. If the display part corresponds to display of the 3D component, the received digital contents are displayed in 3D.
US09118893B2	Display control apparatus, display control method, and program An image processing apparatus according to the present invention that displays a stereoscopic image to a viewer, includes an input unit that inputs image data related to the stereoscopic image, a detection unit that detects a change of a projection amount of the stereoscopic image from the image data input by the input unit, a generation unit that generates the image obtained by suppressing high-frequency components from the stereoscopic image when the change of the projection amount is detected by the detection unit, and a display control unit that displays a video image generated by the generation unit in a display apparatus.
US09118891B2	Video encoding system and method A video processing method for a video image consisting of a plurality of units includes: generating a plurality of information types of at least a first unit and a second unit neighboring the first unit; and storing the plurality of information types of the first unit in a first continuous address space in a buffer and storing the plurality of information types of the second unit in a second continuous address space in the buffer, wherein the first continuous address space is adjacent to the second continuous address space. The plurality of information types of the first and second units are required for coding a specific unit, and the order of the stored plurality of information types of the first and second units is manipulated in each of the first and second continuous address spaces.
US09118889B2	Video signature extraction device A video signature extraction device includes an each-picture feature extraction unit which extracts a feature of each picture, which is a frame or a field, as an each-picture visual feature from an input video; a time axial direction change region extraction unit which analyzes an image change in a time direction with respect to predetermined regions in a picture from the video, obtains a region having a large image change, and generates change region information which is information designating the region; an each-region feature extraction unit which extracts a feature of the region corresponding to the change region information as an each-region visual feature from the video; and a multiplexing unit which multiplexes the each-picture visual feature, the each-region visual feature, and the change region information, and generates a video signature.
US09118888B1	News production system with integrated display An example news production system includes a scheduling system, a composite display, and a camera. The scheduling system accesses a news program schedule that specifies a sequence of actions to be performed by the news production system. The scheduling system reads entries from the news program schedule, identifies actions associated with each, and sends signals to cause the actions to be performed. The news production system may cause the composite display to render video content in accordance with a specified layout. A camera can capture video of a field of view that includes at least a portion of the composite display while the specified video content is rendered thereon. The news production system may also cause an output video stream to be based, at least in part, on the captured video.
US09118887B2	Communication apparatus, control method therefor, and storage medium In a communication apparatus to which a recording medium is attachable, a display unit displays, in a case where a recording medium attached to the communication apparatus includes a wireless communication function not included in a wireless communication unit in the communication apparatus, an item related to a wireless communication function included in the wireless communication unit in the communication apparatus and an item related to a wireless communication function not included in the wireless communication unit in the communication apparatus from among wireless communication functions included in the recording medium.
US09118886B2	Annotating general objects in video A method for annotating general objects contained in video content is provided. The method sends video data to a client device and receives a first annotation from the client device defining a boundary around a portion of a first frame of the video data. Then, the first annotation is tracked through multiple frames of the video content. Other annotations determined to be associated with annotation that match the first annotation within a threshold are determined where the other annotations are received from other client devices and located in the first frame or other frames from the first frame. The method combines the other annotations and the first annotation into an object track and associates a tag with the object track. The tag is input by at least one of the client devices.
US09118885B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program A communication apparatus notifies existence of content data in a recording medium of an image processing apparatus to an external apparatus according to a request from the external apparatus. When the content data in the recording medium includes the content data having a first format, the communication apparatus notifies existence of the content data having the second format corresponding to the content data having the first format.
US09118884B2	Methods, systems and computer program products for local DVR scheduling conflict management This disclosure details the implementation of methods, systems and computer program products for local DVR scheduling conflict management (hereinafter, “SCM”). SCM systems allow for automatic organization, prioritization, and conflict resolution for multiple scheduled recording specifications. Conflicting scheduled recordings may be re-organized based on single-stage and/or multi-stage conflict resolution procedures. Embodiments of SCM systems may also implement weighted conflict resolution, wherein user preferences and/or prioritizations may be assigned to scheduled recordings and considered in the re-organization of conflicting recordings. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed, comprising: receiving a new scheduled recording instruction comprising at least a new program identifier and a new time; comparing the new scheduled recording instruction to an existing recording schedule to determine if a recording conflict exists; performing a conflict resolution for an existing conflict to yield a new recording schedule; and storing the new recording schedule in a scheduling database.
US09118881B2	Imaging data correction system and method Methods and systems for use in calibrating imaging data, are provided that include using a calibration array to generate a test pattern. The calibration array can emit a test pattern having geometric, temporal, and electromagnetic characteristics. The collected data can be compared with the geometric, temporal and electromagnetic characteristics to determine an error factor that can then be used in analyzing the collected data.
US09118878B2	Image processing apparatus that corrects for chromatic aberration for taken image, image pickup apparatus, method of correcting for chromatic aberration of magnification therefor, and storage medium An image processing apparatus which is capable of accurately correcting for chromatic aberration of magnification in an area peripheral to a taken image using the taken image. Areas including edges in image data are extracted, and the amount of chromatic aberration of magnification is calculated as the amount of area chromatic aberration of magnification in each area with respect to each color component. Based on lens design values, chromatic aberration of magnification in each area is calculated as the amount of lens chromatic aberration of magnification. By using the amount of area chromatic aberration of magnification and the amount of lens chromatic aberration of magnification in adjacent areas next to an indefinite area matching predetermined conditions, the amount of lens chromatic aberration of magnification relating to the indefinite area is corrected to determine the amount of area chromatic aberration of magnification relating to the indefinite area.
US09118877B2	Signal transfer apparatus A signal transfer apparatus includes a plurality of input connectors to which a plurality of signals are input from a first electronic device; and a single output connector which is connected to the plurality of input connectors and transfers the plurality of signals to a second electronic device. The length of a plurality of cables connecting the single output connector and the plurality of input connectors differs from each other so that the plurality of input connectors do not overlap each other.
US09118873B2	Imaging device, image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image reading method An imaging device includes photoelectric conversion elements arranged unidirectionally for each color of light to be received, and performing photoelectric conversion of reflected light from an approximately same position of an object for the each color sequentially pixel by pixel; and a black correction unit that corrects a black level of the object with respect to a pixel group including some photoelectric conversion elements in a way that an output result of the photoelectric conversion of reflected light by a photoelectric conversion element for a pixel, independent of the reflected light, is subtracted from another output result of photoelectric conversion of reflected light by the photoelectric conversion element for the same pixel.
US09118872B1	Methods and apparatuses for image enhancement Embodiments of a method and apparatus for image enhancement are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the method includes accessing two or more sets of first pixel data representative of two or more images of a physical object. The method can further include transforming the two or more sets of pixel data to generate two or more sets of frequency domain data. The method can further include upsampling each of the two or more sets of frequency domain data to generate a set of upsampled frequency domain data. The method can further include re-transforming the set of upsampled frequency domain data to generate two or more sets of second pixel data. The method can further include combining two or more sets of second pixel data to generate an enhanced image of the physical object. Other example methods, systems, and apparatuses are described.
US09118869B2	Vertically oriented program guide for media content access systems and methods An exemplary system includes a media content processing subsystem configured to provide a program guide graphical user interface having at least a first viewing pane and a second viewing pane to a display for presentation to a user, provide a selector object within the first viewing pane, and provide a list of content channels within the first viewing pane. When one content channel of the list of content channels is located within the selector object, the media content processing subsystem is further configured to provide within the second viewing pane a vertically oriented time axis and a vertically oriented list of at least one media content instance entry corresponding to at least one media content instance available via the one content channel during a time period represented by the time axis.
US09118867B2	Digital radio producing, broadcasting and receiving songs with lyrics A system and means for the proprietary data stream format encoding of songs with lyrics in a digital radio broadcasts in a produced data stream that can be individually distributed to terrestrial and satellite digital radio broadcasters. The proprietary pre-encoding of song information with possible PAD data (Program Associated Data), song and lyrics (EISL) where the proprietary encoding allows the bit rate to be sized by the Producer to fit the fixed bit rate of the channel's Data Service, while sound and video quality is still maximized. The EISL can be converted to analog for simultaneous transmission (only audio received in analog mode). The digital radio Broadcasters do not have to make significant expenditures to broadcast the EISL data stream. There can be various different digital radio/receiver configurations to adapt to the listener/customer's needs/budget to receive the EISL transmission. The digital receiver with channel decoder, EISL source decoder with video and audio component extractor, plus amplifier/speakers and display screen(s) can be one unit or separate components of the EISL digital receiving system. EISL transmissions can be received by non-EISL enabled digital receivers and songs heard and PAD data displayed on the channel/mode display. Non-EISL digital radio song transmissions can be received and song heard and PAD data displayed.
US09118866B2	Aural indication of remote control commands A disclosed set top box or other multimedia receiver suitable for use in a multimedia distribution network includes a remote control interface operable to receive a signal from a remote control device and extract a remote control command from the signal, a processor coupled to the remote control interface and operable to detect the remote control command, and a machine readable storage resource containing computer executable instructions operable to: invoke an aural indication application that returns an audio stream suitable for processing by an audio output device, wherein the audio stream, when processed by the audio output device, causes the audio output device to produce an audibly detectable signal indicative of a function corresponding to the remote control command. The application may generate the audio stream by invoking a speech synthesis module or by retrieving an audio file. The application may retrieve electronic programming guide (EPG) data associated with a remote control command and incorporate at least some of the EPG data in the audibly detectable output.
US09118864B2	Interactive channel navigation and switching An intelligent television and methods for interactive channel navigation and channel switching are disclosed. Specifically, an input may be received at the intelligent television that prompts the display of a channel information card layout to a viewing area of an intelligent television. The display of the layout may depend on the input received. The layout may include at least one channel information card that can visually represent broadcast content available on a channel via an image, without tuning to a channel to retrieve the image. Upon receiving a navigational input, an alternate channel information card may be displayed in the channel information card layout or selection area. Upon receiving a selection input, the television tunes to the channel that is associated with a specific displayed channel information card.
US09118860B2	Image forming apparatus capable of drawing stamp on recording sheets, and image forming method An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes pane information calculating portion, stamp drawing information calculating portion, and stamp drawing portion. Pane information calculating portion calculates pane information including recording sheet number information and drawing position information that indicate recording sheet number of recording sheet and drawing position in recording sheet at which an image of each page of obtained print data is to be formed. Stamp drawing information calculating portion calculates stamp drawing information including recording sheet number information and drawing position information that indicate recording sheet number of recording sheet and drawing position in recording sheet at which predetermined stamp is to be drawn in correspondence with pane information calculated by pane information calculating portion. Stamp drawing portion draws predetermined stamp at drawing position in recording sheet indicated by stamp drawing information calculated by stamp drawing information calculating portion.
US09118856B2	Sensor, data processing system, and operating method An image sensor includes a unit pixel including a plurality of color pixels with a depth pixel. A first signal line group of first signal lines is used to supply first control signals that control operation of the plurality of color pixels, and a separate second signal line group of second signal lines is used to supply second control signals that control operation of the depth pixel.
US09118854B2	Methods and apparatus for providing optical black compensation of added images An imaging apparatus for the present invention comprises an image sensor which repeatedly reads out image data, an OB calculating unit which calculates a representative value of OB output levels read from the image sensor; and a memory which stores the representative value of OB pixel output levels calculated by the OB calculating unit in a manner of dividing into a part for subtraction (a integer part) and a part for carrying-over (a decimal part); and an image synthesizing unit which sequentially adds the image data read from an effective pixel region in the image sensor and generates an added image, wherein the above-described image synthesizing unit subtracts the part for subtraction of the representative value of OB pixel output levels stored in the memory (OB subtraction part) from either the generated added image, or the image read from the effective pixel region, and, when a next OB value for addition after second addition is calculated, the OB calculating unit adds the carrying-over (decimal) part to the representative value of OB output levels stored in the memory for the representative value of OB output levels calculated using the image data read from the OB pixel regions.
US09118850B2	Camera system with multiple pixel arrays on a chip A camera system uses one or more image sensor IC chips each having multiple pixel arrays on the same semiconductor substrate (i.e., “multiple pixel arrays on a chip”). In one embodiment, such a camera system includes: (a) optical components that create multiple images in close physical proximity of each other (e.g., within a few millimeters or centimeters); and (b) a single sensor substrate (“chip”) containing multiple 2-dimensional pixel arrays that are aligned to capture these multiple images, so as to convert the multiple images into electrical signal. The pixel arrays can be manufactured using a CCD or a CMOS compatible process. For manufacturing reasons, such a chip is typically two centimeters or less on a side. However, large chips can also be made. Optional electronic components for further signal processing of the captured images may be formed either on the sensor chip (i.e., in a “system-on-a-chip” implementation), or in a separate back-end application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In addition, digital storage components, display elements, and wired or wireless communication links may also be included in any suitable combination to allow review and further processing of the captured images.
US09118849B1	Two source active sensor system for three-dimensional vision Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for determining a ranges from sensor pixels to corresponding scene points.
US09118848B2	Image data combining apparatus and method An image data combining apparatus combines m lines (m is an integer equal to or greater than 2) of pixel data that have been output from a reading unit. An access unit accesses a memory. A determination unit determines an upper address used for accessing the memory, based upon first data that relates a position, along a height direction, of the m lines of stored pixel data, and determines a lower address used for accessing the memory by the access unit, based upon second data that relates a position of the width direction in the m lines of stored pixel data. The lower address includes values in which a portion of a plurality of bits constituting the second data are interchanged. P items (an integer equal to or greater than 1) of pixel data output from each of the m lines of pixel data are successively extracted from the memory.
US09118847B2	Dustproof structure of image generation device, and projection display device The present invention includes: LCDs (47, 48, 49) corresponding to red, green, and blue, respectively; an air duct for red, an air duct for green, and an air duct for blue provided to blow cooling air to the LCDs (47, 48, 49), respectively; air filters (43, 50) provided in each of the air duct for red, the air duct for green, and the air duct for blue; and air filters (41, 42) provided in at least one air duct of the air duct for green and the air duct for blue and having filter mesh size smaller than that of the air filters (43, 50).
US09118846B2	Apparatus for generating an image with defocused background and method thereof Provided are an apparatus and method for generating an image with a defocused background. According to various aspects, a preview image is used as the basis for extracting a background distribution and a defocused background is generated based on the extracted background distribution. Accordingly, it is not necessary to photograph two or more images to generate a defocused background effect.
US09118840B2	Image processing apparatus which calculates motion vectors between images shot under different exposure conditions, image processing method, and computer readable medium An image processing apparatus obtains a motion vector between at least three images including first, second, and third images obtained through continuous shooting under different exposure conditions and computes a first motion vector between the first and second images and a second motion vector between the first and third images in a plurality of positions on the first image. A reliability level of the motion vector is determined, and an estimated motion vector between the first and second images is computed for the first motion vector having low reliability based on the second motion vector computed in the corresponding position and the shooting interval between the images. In a case where the second motion vector computed in a position corresponding to that of the first motion vector having low reliability has high reliability, the first motion vector having low reliability is substituted with the estimated motion vector.
US09118839B2	Personal identification system A personal identification system, which uses a vein pattern of a finger, optimizes the amount of light of a light source based on a captured finger image and emphasizes the vein pattern during image processing for identification.
US09118838B2	Exposure controller for on-vehicle camera An exposure controller for an on-vehicle camera mounted on a vehicle is capable of performing exposure control such that a predetermined subject such as a lane marker can be imaged with a constant contrast regardless of variation of peripheral brightness and directions of the variation. An exposure controller images information imaged by an imaging part based on a second exposure property having linearity, the second exposure property being obtained by converting a first exposure property having non-linearity, calculates a target density value with which pixels in a window set in the image are to be imaged based on brightness values corresponding to density values of the pixels in the window, sets a third exposure property for obtaining the calculated target density value, and performs imaging with the set third exposure property.
US09118837B2	Imaging apparatus The imaging apparatus holds an imaging element that converts a subject image that has been formed by an imaging optical system to an electric signal by a holding member. An optical member is disposed more toward the subject side than the imaging element and is installed on the holding member. A sealing member that is formed by an elastic material encloses the light receiving surface of the imaging element as a countermeasure for dust protection. A position restricting member provided on the sealing member carries out positioning by being inserted between the outer peripheral edge portion of the optical member and the holding member in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging optical system.
US09118833B2	Portrait image synthesis from multiple images captured on a handheld device A hand-held digital image capture device (digital camera) has a user-selectable mode in which upon engaging the mode the device detects a face in the field of view of the device and generates a face delimiter on a camera display screen, the delimiter surrounding the initial position of the image of a the face on the screen. The device is arranged to indicate thereafter to the user if the device departs from movement along a predetermined concave path P with the optical axis of the device pointing towards the face, such indication being made by movement of the image of the face relative to the delimiter. The camera captures and stores a plurality of images at successive positions along the concave path.
US09118828B2	Imaging device and control method for imaging device An imaging device of the present invention comprises an image sensor provided with phase detection pixels for focus detection at some of its pixels, a contrast information detection section for detecting contrast information of a formed image from pixels, among pixel data output from the image sensor, positioned close to the phase detection pixels, a phase detection pixel correction determination section for determining whether or not to correct data of the phase detection pixel based on the detected contrast information, a weighting determination section for determining a weighting for neighboring pixels to the phase detection pixels based on the detected contrast information, a pixel correction section for carrying out weighted correction of the phase detection pixels based on the determined weighting, and a color conversion processing section for carrying out conversion processing for display of the image data or to create an image for storage, after the pixel correction.
US09118826B2	Dual sensor camera A dual sensor camera that uses two aligned sensors each having a separate lens of different focal length but the same f-number. The wider FOV image from one sensor is combined with the narrower FOV image from the other sensor to form a combined image. Up-sampling of the wide FOV image and down-sampling of the narrow FOV image is performed. The longer focal length lens may have certain aberrations introduced so that Extended Depth of Field (EDoF) processing can be used to give the narrow FOV image approximately the same depth of field as the wide FOV image so that a noticeable difference in depth of field is not see in the combined image.
US09118824B2	Prompting apparatus The invention provides a prompting apparatus comprising a prompting box and a mounting and adjusting assembly. The prompting box houses a two-way mirror and the lens of the camera. The prompting box includes a shell frame and a coupling means which enables a user to slide in a tablet device. The tablet device runs a prompting software application and the pre-designed text is displayed on the screen at a speed that the speaker feels comfortable to read.
US09118818B2	Endoscope apparatus, reproducing apparatus, displaying method and inspection report generating apparatus An endoscope apparatus includes: an image processing portion that performs image processing on a signal of an image picked up by an image pickup device provided at a distal end portion of an endoscope insertion portion to generate an endoscope image; a gravity direction detecting portion that detects information about a gravity direction of the distal end portion; a gravity signal processing portion that performs predetermined signal processing on a signal of the information about the gravity direction detected by the gravity direction detecting portion to detect gravity information. The recording medium reading/writing portion of the endoscope apparatus stores data of the endoscope image generated by the image processing portion and data of the gravity information detected by the gravity signal processing portion in two AVI files and records the files on a recording medium.
US09118814B2	Set-top box peer-assisted video-on-demand A peer-to-peer (P2P) video-on-demand (VoD) system or method use a plurality of LP-enabled VoD set-top box (STB) peers in a pool for providing video content data to a requesting client peer in the pool. One other peer in the pool can be designated as a parent peer for downloading high priority playback content that is substantially immediately needed for playback display. Low priority pre-fetch content can be downloaded to the requesting client peer from another peer in the pool other than the parent peer. Bandwidth at the requesting client peer that is not used by the playback module for downloading the high priority playback video content data can be allocated for downloading the pre-fetch content. Using the requesting client peer, video content data can be served, for the playback display on a video monitor, wherein such served video data content can comprise the playback content and the prefetch content.
US09118813B2	Method and apparatus for using internet protocol television service based on application received in multicast session Provided is a method and apparatus in which information about a multicast session which provides an application associated with a predetermined Internet protocol television (IPTV) service is received and the application is received in the multicast session established based on the received information.
US09118812B2	Audience server Delivery of content such as advertisements to audience members. Profile data is collected regarding audience members to whom advertisements may be delivered, such that a given audience member has an established profile data. Upon receiving a request to serve an advertisement to an audience member, a recognition that the target of the request is the given audience member is made. Then it is determined that a particular advertisement should be served to the given audience member. The determination includes recognition of the given audience member and corresponding selection advertisements optimized for the recognized audience member. A configurable delivery decision making mode allows pre-optimized as well as delivery time factoring for determining advertisements. Performance criteria and revenue allocation based upon data provider participation are also provided.
US09118810B1	Systems and methods for videophone identity cloaking A system, method, and computer-usable medium are disclosed for masking the identity of a human agent by transforming a live video transmission into a persona video transmission. A request is received from a user for a videoconference with a human agent. A persona is selected and associated with a human agent. The videoconference is then conducted, using data associated with the persona to transform the live video transmission of the human agent into a persona video transmission, which is correlated to the live video transmission.
US09118809B2	Methods and systems for multi-factor authentication in secure media-based conferencing Methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, are described for multi-factor authentication of media-based (e.g., video and/or audio) conferencing between a plurality of end point devices. The methods and apparatuses provide for analysis of an end point media stream using a matrix of authentication factors, where the authentication factors include at least two of: user-specific facial recognition attributes, user-specific audio recognition attributes, acoustic environment attributes, visual environment attributes, user gesture attributes, technical attributes of the end point device, and technical attributes of the media stream, to determine an authentication score for the first end point device.
US09118798B2	Method for processing a multimedia stream, corresponding communications terminal, server and computer program product A method is provided for processing at least one multimedia stream pertaining to a real event, which is being acquired or has been acquired by a communications terminal. The method includes sub-dividing the stream into a plurality of consecutive sequences, on the basis of at least one distribution characteristic associated with each of said sequences. The step of sub-dividing is activated by distribution of the first stream by the communications terminal.
US09118797B2	Method and system for robust and flexible extraction of image information using color filter arrays Methods and systems for robust and flexible extraction of image information using color filter arrays. Methods are provided comprising receiving a sample set of data generated by transforming and sampling an optical property of an original color image in a spatial basis, wherein the transformation effected is substantially local in the spatial basis and has partially overlapping spectra. A generalized inverse of the transform augmented with regularization constraints is applied to the sample set of data to infer original image data. According to one approach the generalized inverse does not use variational minimization or assume constant color ratios. According to an alternative approach regularization can take the form of predetermined spectral constraints applied to the sample set of data to infer the original image data. According to another alternative approach regularization can promote spectral sparsity. Methods are also provided for creating an optical color filter array, for sampling an image, for reducing noise in an image, and for computing a sparse representation of an image signal. Systems for carrying out these and other methods are also provided.
US09118796B2	Polarization color image capture device A polarization color image capture device includes: a polarization color filter plate including a first area configured to transmit light that is polarized in a first direction and that falls within a first wavelength range, a second area configured to transmit light that is polarized in a second direction and that falls within a second wavelength range, and a third area configured to transmit incoming light at least partially; an image sensor in which a plurality of unit blocks, each including first, second and third photosensitive cells and first, second and third polarization filters that are arranged to face the first, second and third photosensitive cells, respectively, are arranged on an imaging area, the polarization transmission axis directions of the first, second and third polarization filters being different from each other; and an optical lens that produces an image on the imaging area of the image sensor.
US09118792B2	Image forming apparatus and control method therefor In an image forming apparatus, a first detection portion includes a pyroelectric sensor and detects the upper half of the human body. A first signal generation portion generates a first signal whose level varies according to the output value of the pyroelectric sensor. A second detection portion includes a pyroelectric sensor and detects a lower area than the first detection portion. A second signal generation portion generates a second signal whose level varies according to the output value of the pyroelectric sensor. A storage portion stores discrimination data including data defining, with respect to the waveforms of the first and second signals, a condition for recognizing a human moving toward the image forming apparatus and a condition for recognizing a human crossing a detection area of the pyroelectric sensors. A recognition portion recognizes the direction of movement of a human.
US09118791B2	Image processing system, image processing apparatus, control method of image processing apparatus, and program In an information processing apparatus, when a receiving unit receives data from an external device, a power control unit returns a power state of the apparatus from a power saving state and a transmitting unit transmits a start instruction to a connected image forming apparatus, and when a power supply switch becomes on according to a user's operation, the power control unit returns the power state of the apparatus from the power saving state but the transmitting unit does not transmit the start instruction to the image forming apparatus. Thus, it is possible to achieve both a linkage start and an individual start for an external image processing controller and the image forming apparatus, in an image processing system including the information processing apparatus, the external image processing controller and the image forming apparatus capable of performing an image process in cooperation with others.
US09118786B2	Image capture-display device An image capture-display device includes: a light source that emits a light beam falling within a first wavelength range; an optical system arranged on the optical path of the light beam falling within the first wavelength range emitted from the light source and configured to reflect the light beam falling within the first wavelength range and transmit a light beam falling within a second wavelength range; a display panel arranged on the optical path of the light beam falling within the first wavelength range emitted from the light source and reflected by a dichroic mirror and configured to transmit the light beams falling within the first and second wavelength ranges; and an imaging device arranged opposite from the display panel with respect to the optical system and configured to receive the light beam falling within the second wavelength range transmitted through the display panel and the optical system.
US09118784B2	Scanner and process for detecting a scan lid open condition A scanner and process for detecting a scan lid open condition. The scan lid open condition is detected by aligning two scan bars with one another, illumining one of the scan bars with a predetermined illumining pattern and during the illumining, scanning the illumined scan bar with the other scan bar. The response of the scanning scan bar is compared with an expected response for the illumining pattern with the scan lid closed. If a positive comparison occurs, the scan lid is closed. If a negative comparison occurs, the scan lid is open.
US09118781B1	Call redirect via centralized bridges A system for redirecting a call via centralized bridges comprises a first conferencing platform based in a first country, a second conferencing platform based in a second country, and a third conferencing platform based in a third country, wherein the first conferencing platform dials the second conferencing platform and the third conferencing platform to provide a conference call between the second conferencing platform and the third conferencing platform.
US09118772B2	Method and apparatus for use in displaying content on a consumer electronic device Some embodiments provide portable handheld devices comprising: first and second displays; a controller; and a first display casing secured within the first display and a second display casing secured within the second display, the second display casing is moveable to move between closed and an open positions; wherein, when in the closed position, at least a majority of the second display is not visible; wherein, when in the open position, both the first display and the second display are visible and configured to display the graphical content; and wherein the controller is configured to cooperatively utilize both the first display and the second display when in the open position such that the graphical content is cooperatively displayed on both the first display and the second display.
US09118770B2	Remote headset configuration Systems and methods for modifying mobile communication device settings are disclosed. The method generally includes providing a server at the headset, transmitting headset settings from the server to a client device, receiving modified settings, and implementing the modified settings.
US09118767B1	Communication device audio control to combine incoming audio and select outgoing audio destinations A user communication device establishes a first call with a first caller. During the first call, the user communication device receives a call alert for a second call from a second caller. In response to receiving the call alert during the first call, the user communication device presents an option to the user to combine the first caller audio with second caller audio and to transfer the user audio for delivery to the second caller and not to the first caller. The user communication device receives an instruction from the user, and in response, receives and transfers the user audio for delivery to the second caller and not to the first caller. The user communication device receives and plays the first caller audio and the second caller audio.
US09118761B1	Computing device assistance for phone based customer service representative interaction Systems and methods for computing device assistance for phone based customer service representative interaction are described herein. One or more systems include a number of customer service representative computing devices having processors and memory thereon for the storage of executable instructions and data, wherein the instructions are executed to allow at least one of the number of computing devices to control a customer's computing device such that the customer service representative or executable instructions can select information, related to a phone based customer service representative interaction, to display on the customer's computing device and display the selected information on a display of the customer's computing device.
US09118756B2	Recording method, recording device, and electronic device Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a recording method, and, corresponding to the recording method, a recording device and an electronic device. The recording method of the embodiments of the present invention is applicable in a first electronic device, where the first electronic device comprises a voice communication unit. The recording method comprises performing a voice communication with a second electronic device via the voice communication unit; during the voice communication, receiving a record command from a user; on the basis of the record command, performing a content recording and generating record data; generating communication identity information on the basis of the voice communication; when the content recording is completed, generating a record file via the record data, and correlating the communication identity information to the record file.
US09118755B2	Portable radiotelephone for automatically dialing a central voice-activated dialing system A portable radiotelephone can be shifted between a first condition wherein the radiotelephone does not receive or transmit voice communications by radiotelephone transmissions over radiotelephone channels and a second condition wherein the radiotelephone receives and transmits voice communications by radiotelephone transmissions over radiotelephone channels. The radiotelephone automatically calls a central voice-activated phone dialing system remote from the portable radiotelephone in response to producing the second condition in the radiotelephone. The radiotelephone includes a switch for producing the first and second conditions.
US09118753B2	Autonomous systems for remote control of handheld devices A system for testing a communications network includes a controller having a computing device with a controller application and an operator having a microcontroller and a device interface module controlled by the microcontroller. A handheld communications device is operatively connected to the operator through the device interface module and adapted to communicate over the communications network being tested. The controller and the operator are connected by an out-of-band wireless control link to allow communication therebetween outside of the communications network being tested. The operator is adapted to receive commands from the controller over the out-of-band control link and, upon receipt of a command from the controller over the out-of-band control link, to initiate in-band communication on the handheld communications device over the communications network through the device interface module.
US09118748B2	Voice loopback method, gateway and loopback node in VoIP network A voice loopback method, a gateway and a loopback node in a VoIP network and a network are provided. The voice loopback method in a VoIP network includes: sending, by a gateway, an internet control message protocol ICMP message, where a destination address of the ICMP message is an address of the loopback node, and the ICMP message includes a voice packet to be detected; and receiving a response message of the ICMP message sent by the loopback node, where the response message includes a loopback voice packet, and the loopback voice packet is obtained by the loopback node according to the voice packet to be detected that is included in the received ICMP message. Through application of the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention, voice loopback in a VoIP network is achieved.
US09118745B2	Remote access to a device in an IMS system with a second media access channel Remote access of content in an IMS system is described. A first IMS channel is established between, for example, a user terminal and an IMS Gateway (IG) for control signaling. A second IMS channel is established between, for example, the user terminal and the IG for conveying the content being remotely accessed. Due to limitations in the network, Quality of Service (QoS, or bandwidth) reservations are handled differently on the originating and terminating sides. For example, on the originating side, a single QoS reservation is used for both the first and second IMS channels, whereas on the terminating side separate QoS reservations can be used for the first and second IMS channels.
US09118744B2	Replacing lost media data for network streaming In one example, a device includes one or more processors configured to determine that data for at least a portion of a segment of media data has been lost after a remaining portion of the segment has been received via a network transmission in accordance with dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH), based on the determination, prior to decoding the media data, add default data to the segment to replace the data that has been determined to be lost to form a replacement segment, and output media data of the replacement segment.
US09118742B2	Delivering a video stream Delivering a video stream is disclosed. A request for the video stream is received. A past portion of the video stream is delivered to a client. The past portion has a marker time that precedes a current time by an interval that corresponds to a buffer length in a client buffer. Receiving a video stream is also disclosed. A request for the video stream is transmitted. A past portion of the video stream is received. The received past portion has a marker time that precedes a current time by an interval that corresponds to a buffer length in a client buffer.
US09118739B2	System for exchanging messages between customer devices and servers Systems (1) for exchanging messages (10-13,40-55) between customer devices (2) such as customer premises equipment and servers (3) such as auto configuration servers at several layers comprising a first layer such as a hyper text transfer protocol layer and a second layer such as a simple object access protocol layer are made compliant to web services toolkits by, at the second layer, allowing the customer device (2) to be a requesting party only and the server (3) to be a responding party only, for so-called server method applications as well as for so-called customer device method applications. At the second layer, the server (3) is never a requesting party and the customer device (2) is never a responding party. As a result, the development of management appliances no longer needs to be done manually and the system (1) according to the invention can be used in combination with firewalls.
US09118737B2	Avatar integrated shared media experience A method and system are disclosed in which a group of people are able to replicate the physical world experience of going with a group of friends to pick a movie, watch the movie together, and provide commentary on the movie itself in the virtual world on a virtual couch while each user is sitting in different physical locations. Additionally, the virtual representation of the destination that the group of people are watching the movie together in can be themed to allow users to watch movies in different locations pivoting on special events or by the users choice.
US09118733B2	Multilevel routing A communication system comprising a plurality of nodes that are capable of establishing a communication connection between two or more clients, the plurality of nodes being arranged in a hierarchy in which a node comprised in one level of the hierarchy is more likely to be reachable by a client trying to establish a communication connection with another client than a node comprised in a lower level of the hierarchy, the communication system being arranged such that, when a client determines that a node is unreachable for establishing a communication connection between it and another client, that communication connection is instead established by a node comprised in a higher level of the hierarchy than the unreachable node.
US09118731B2	Ad hoc social networking An Ad Hoc social networking environment enables information and device access management between social networking groups and social networking members with or without access restrictions and anonymity. Contact and access information can be exchanged and updated on the fly without requiring users to notify other contacts or contacting devices and can support underlying contact information changes, enable extemporaneous termination or modification of contact access, enable temporary access, and the like. Ad Hoc social networking can utilize unique identifiers, proxy elements, or the like to support various levels of membership anonymity and Ad Hoc social networking. Proxy elements enable SNET tear down or dissolution by retracting the proxy service from a member. Storing social group contact information in shared databases can enable sharing and updating of contact information without the need to inform affected contacts. Some social networks can include various specialized devices and related services.
US09118730B2	Efficient data delivery method and apparatus A method of delivering data to user terminals connected to an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network, IP-CAN, wherein the IP-CAN implements a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, architecture. The method comprises caching data within an IP-CAN cache server upon a decision made by a Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF, of the PCC architecture. The cached data is then identified to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, PCEF, of the PCC architecture. At the PCEF, data requests made by user terminals are monitored and a determination made as to whether or not a request relates to cached data. If a request does relate to cached data, then that cached data is delivered from the IP-CAN cache server to the requesting user terminal.
US09118728B2	Method and system for determining physical layer traversal time Aspects of a method and system for determining physical layer traversal time are provided. In this regard, duration of a time interval may be determined in the PHY of a network device, where the time interval corresponds to an amount of time that occurs between a first time instant at which information is input to the PHY and a second time instant at which corresponding information is output by the PHY. Communication of data to and/or from the network device may be managed based on the determined duration of the time interval. The duration of the time interval may be determined utilizing one or more counters within the PHY. The determined duration may be stored in one or more registers within the PHY. An amount of data that is processed by the PHY during the time interval may be determined within the PHY.
US09118726B2	Network device, and control method and storage medium therefor A network device capable of performing auto-negotiation at a proper communication speed. In the network device, a cable speed setting unit decides, based on LAN cable category information, a maximum communication speed that can be guaranteed by a LAN cable connected to a physical layer circuit of the network device, and a speed decision unit compares the maximum communication speed notified from the cable speed setting unit with each of communication speeds that can be set for the physical layer circuit and decides an upper limit communication speed for use when a communication speed is decided by auto-negotiation.
US09118725B2	User activity tracking system In one embodiment, sensor signals corresponding to motions of a client computing device are received. The sensor signals are associated with activity periods, each activity period also being associated with a geographic location of the client computing device. For each activity period, one or more activity types are determined for the client computing device based on the sensor signals for the activity period and one or more signal parameters. A reference of the activity type and activity period is sent to the client computing device, and an indication is received regarding whether that reference is correct. The signal parameters may be adjusted based on the received indication.
US09118721B1	Socket-based internet protocol for wireless networks Systems and methods for assigning unique network identifiers in a packet-switched wireless network are provided. A request for a unique network identifier for a wireless device is received. A socket-based unique network identifier, including an IP address and one or more ports, is assigned to the wireless device. The unique network identifier is created by combining an IP address and one or more ports. This allows multiple unique network identifiers to be created from a single IP address, where each unique network identifier consists of the same IP address combined with a different group of one or more ports.
US09118720B1	Selective removal of protected content from web requests sent to an interactive website A method and apparatus for selectively removing a data element that triggers a policy violation from a web request to an interactive website. In one method, the method identifies a policy for protecting source data, having a plurality of data elements. The method further evaluates a web request sent to an interactive website as part of a web-based application, and determines that the web request includes at least one data element triggering a violation of the policy. The method determines the data boundaries of the web request, and selectively removes data content within the data boundaries containing the at least one data element that triggered the violation to allow the web request to be processed by the interactive website as if it were the original web request containing the at least one data element.
US09118716B2	Computer system, controller and network monitoring method The computer system includes: a controller; a switch configured to perform, on a received packet complying with a flow entry set by the controller, a relay operation regulated by the flow entry; and a host terminal configured to be connected to the switch. The switch notifies the controller of transmission source address information of a received packet which does not comply with a flow entry set for itself. The controller judges, when legal address information of a host terminal does not coincide with the transmission source address information, that a transmission source address of the received packet is spoofed.
US09118711B2	Anti-vulnerability system, method, and computer program product A system, method, and computer program product are provided for displaying, via at least one user interface, a plurality of techniques of different technique types including a first technique for setting or modifying a policy for mitigating a first occurrence, and a second technique for dropping packets in connection with at least one networked device for mitigating the first occurrence. Based on user input selecting the first technique for setting or modifying the policy for mitigating the first occurrence, the first technique is automatically applied for setting or modifying the policy for mitigating the first occurrence. Based on the user input selecting the second technique for dropping packets in connection with the at least one networked device for mitigating the first occurrence, the second technique is applied for dropping packets in connection with the at least one networked device for mitigating the first occurrence.
US09118710B2	System, method, and computer program product for reporting an occurrence in different manners A system, method, and computer program product are provided for identifying operating system information associated with at least one of a plurality of networked devices, and an occurrence in connection with the at least one of the networked device. It is also determined whether at least one vulnerability capable being exploited by the occurrence is relevant to the at least one networked device based on the operating system information. To this send, the occurrence is reported in a first manner, if it is determined that the at least one vulnerability capable being exploited by the occurrence is relevant to the at least one networked device based on the operating system information. Further, the occurrence is reported in a second manner different from the first manner, if it is determined that the at least one vulnerability capable being exploited by the occurrence is not relevant to the at least one networked device based on the operating system information.
US09118708B2	Multi-path remediation A system, method, and computer program product are provided for a database associating a plurality of device vulnerabilities to which computing devices can be subject with a plurality of remediation techniques that collectively remediate the plurality of device vulnerabilities. Each of the device vulnerabilities is associated with at least one remediation technique. Each remediation technique associated with a particular device vulnerability remediates that particular vulnerability. Further, each remediation technique has a remediation type are selected from the type group consisting of patch, policy setting, and configuration option. Still yet, a first one of the device vulnerabilities is associated with at least two alternative remediation techniques.
US09118707B2	Methods and systems for mitigating attack traffic directed at a network element An exemplary method includes an attack traffic mitigation system 1) identifying a range of ports left open by a firewall for a network element to receive network traffic provided by a computing device, 2) designating a subset of one or more ports included in the range of open ports as being included in a legitimate port range configured to receive legitimate network traffic provided by the computing device, and 3) directing the network element to drop network traffic provided by the computing device and received by each port included in the range of open ports that is not included in the legitimate port range. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.
US09118701B2	System and method for remote asset management A remote asset management system comprising a network of programmable wireless modules, each having an antenna and an identification module and configured to communicate via a radio communication protocol. The system further includes a plurality of assets each linked to one of the wireless modules and configured to be managed by the linked wireless module. A remote system server service platform is configured to receive remote asset data from the wireless modules, pass the remote asset data to and from the wireless modules, send messages to at least one of the wireless modules, monitor the wireless modules by requesting and receiving current mode information, and remotely program the wireless modules. A data processing module located within the wireless module(s) and configured to process messages received by the wireless module, authenticate said message, analyze authenticated messages, and carry out asset management instructions included in the message.
US09118699B2	Communications methods and apparatus for use in communicating with communications peers Methods and apparatus related to the determination of the trustworthiness of information communicated in a message and/or the exchange of trust information are described. Various described methods and apparatus are well suited to peer to peer wireless communications in an ad-hoc network. At a given time, a communications device may have a trust relationship with a first set of devices. A first communications device determines trustworthiness of a received message from a second device, which is not a member of the first set of devices, based on information received from a third device which is a member of the first set of devices. The first communications device makes an informed decision as to whether or not to act upon the first message based upon its trustworthiness determination.
US09118686B2	Per process networking capabilities Per process networking capability techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a determination is made as to whether access to a network capability is permitted for a process that is executed on the computing device based on a token that is associated with the process. The token has one or more security identifiers that reference one or more network capabilities described in a manifest. The access to the network capability is managed based on the determination.
US09118679B2	Analytics data collection with low integration cost for dynamic message passing systems A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product which capture and use analytics data relating to the internal activity of software programs executing in a message-passing runtime environment, such as that provided by Objective-C. The invention exploits the well documented interfaces of these environments together with their dynamic runtime capabilities to insert data collection and analysis code into an application without modification of the target application.
US09118677B2	Meta-app to depict cloud environment dependencies to faciliate a service environment rebuild In some examples, a method for rebuilding a source provider service environment in a target provider environment is described. The method may include identifying, using a service meta-app describing a service in a source provider environment, an internal direct dependency of the service. The method may also include accessing a dependency meta-app describing the internal direct dependency. The method may also include building the internal direct dependency according to the dependency meta-app in a target provider environment. The method may also include fetching an image of the service. The method may also include installing the image of the service in the target provider environment. The method may also include configuring the installed image of the service to depend from the internal direct dependency according to the service meta-app.
US09118669B2	Method and apparatus for voice signature authentication A scalable voice signature authentication capability is provided herein. The scalable voice signature authentication capability enables authentication of varied services such as speaker identification (e.g. private banking and access to healthcare account records), voice signature as a password (e.g. secure access for remote services and document retrieval) and the Internet and its various services (e.g., online shopping), and the like.
US09118668B1	Authenticated remote pin unblock This invention provides a simple and secure PIN unblock mechanism for use with a security token. A set of one or more passphrases are stored on a remote server during personalization. Likewise, the answers to the passphrases are hashed and stored inside the security token for future comparison. A local client program provides the user input and display dialogs and ensures a secure communications channel is provided before passphrases are retrieved from the remote server. Retrieval of passphrases and an administrative unblock secret from the remote server are accomplished using a unique identifier associated with the security token, typically the token's serial number. A PIN unblock applet provides the administrative mechanism to unblock the security token upon receipt of an administrative unblock shared secret. The remote server releases the administrative unblock shared secret only after a non-forgeable confirmatory message is received from the security token that the user has been properly authenticated. The administrative unblock shared secret is encrypted with the token's public key during transport to maximize security.
US09118666B2	Computing device integrity verification An integrity verification process is performed by an integrity verification module of a client computing device. When the computing device is powered-up, but before an operating system is booted, the integrity verification module performs an integrity check of the computing device and gathers integrity verification information to ensure that the system is secure. If the system passes the integrity check, the system boots to a browser session which is capable of communicating with a cryptographic module. In response to a request from a service provider, the computing device retrieves the integrity verification information and signs the integrity verification information using a private key from the cryptographic module and forwards the signed data to the service provider. The integrity of the computing device may then be verified using a known public key of the cryptographic module that is accessible from a trusted third party.
US09118661B1	Methods and apparatus for authenticating a user using multi-server one-time passcode verification Methods and apparatus are provided for authenticating a user using multi-server one-time passcode verification. A user is authenticated by receiving authentication information from the user; and authenticating the user based on the received authentication information using at least two authentication servers, wherein the received authentication information is based on a secret shared between a security token associated with the user and an authentication authority that provides the at least two authentication servers. For example, the authentication information can comprise a passcode comprised of a tokencode from the security token and a password from the user. The user can be authenticated only if, for example, all of the at least two authentication servers authenticate the received authentication information.
US09118660B2	Method and system for providing access to encrypted data files for multiple federated authentication providers and verified identities The embodiments herein disclose a method and system for providing access to an encrypted data file by separating the concerns of Authentication, Identity Resolution and Authorization from Encryption thereby allowing for multiple federated authentication providers and verified identities. The method comprises of creating an encrypted data file, embedding a file usage policy to the data file, sharing the encrypted data file with an identity of an intended content recipient and an allowed authentication provider specified in the file usage policy, activating a client application installed in a user device to open the encrypted data file, fetching and updating the data file usage policy from an application server, prompting the user to authenticate with the allowed authentication provider, authenticating the user with a specified authentication provider, verifying if the authenticated user is allowed to open the data file, opening the data file on successful verification and enforcing the file usage policy.
US09118659B2	Method and apparatus for authenticating location-related messages A method and an apparatus protect location-related messages which are transmitted from a provider to a plurality of temporally changing recipients and receiver devices in a plurality of localities in each case. The method and apparatus are distinguished by the fact that key certificates for signed messages are issued only in a location-related manner and are thus valid only in a particular defined local environment.
US09118658B2	Methods and apparatuses for access credential provisioning Methods and apparatuses are provided for access credential provisioning. A method may include causing a trusted device identity for a mobile apparatus to be provided to an intermediary apparatus. The intermediary apparatus may serve as an intermediary between the mobile apparatus and a provisioning apparatus for a network. The method may further include receiving, from the intermediary apparatus, network access credential information for the network. The network access credential information may be provisioned to the mobile apparatus by the provisioning apparatus based at least in part on the trusted device identity. Corresponding apparatuses are also provided.
US09118654B2	Methods and systems for compliance monitoring in secure media-based conferencing Methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, are described for compliance management of media-based (e.g., video and/or audio) conference sessions. A compliance module of a server computing device joins a conference session between a first end point device and a second end point device, wherein the first device is associated with a first entity and the second device is associated with a second entity. The compliance module determines compliance profiles associated with the first device and the second device. The compliance module monitors the conference session to identify session content to be archived according to the first compliance profile and the second compliance profile. The compliance module transmits the session content to data stores associated with the first entity and the second entity.
US09118653B2	System and method of secure sharing of resources which require consent of multiple resource owners using group URI's In accordance with various embodiments, services gatekeeper systems and methods allow mapping and protecting communication services APIs with OAuth and group access to user information. Such a system can include a plurality of applications, executing on one or more application servers. The services gatekeeper is operable to define a group of members using a group URI, intercept requests for access to communication services APIs, obtain authorization from a group owner for access to a specified communication services API for each member of the group, and enable access to the specified communication services API of each member of the group in accordance with the scope authorized by the group owner.
US09118651B2	Control unit for in-vehicle ethernet and method for controlling thereof The present invention relates to communication within a vehicle, and particularly relates to an in-vehicle Ethernet, and the vehicle comprising thereof. A physical layer device (PHY) according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a first pin receiving a power-on signal from exterior; a second pin which can be set as a first mode or a second mode; a decision unit which determines the mode in the second pin when the power-on signal is received at the first pin; and an operating preparation unit which initiates a communication by applying a predetermined value based on the mode in the second pin which is determined by the decision unit.
US09118645B2	Distributed authentication using persistent stateless credentials Techniques and tools are described for performing distributed authentication using persistent stateless credentials. Distributed authentication can be performed during egress by obtaining a principal identifier, generating an expiration time, obtaining a secret key identifier that identifies a secret key, generating an initialization vector, encrypting the principal identifier and the expiration time to produce a ciphertext, creating a credential, and providing the credential for persistence at a client device. The credential comprises the ciphertext, the initialization vector, the secret key identifier. Distributed authentication can be performed during ingress by obtaining a credential, extracting a ciphertext, an initialization vector, and a secret key identifier from the credential, obtaining a secret key identified by the secret key identifier, decrypting the ciphertext to produce a principal identifier and an expiration time and authenticating the credential using, at least in part, the principal identifier and the expiration time.
US09118643B2	Authentication and data integrity protection of token In deriving a cryptographic key from the response message in a challenge-response message in a challenge-response authentication, a checksum for the related response is calculated after receiving a challenge message and before the related response has been transferred. A cryptographic key is derived from the response, which is used to determine the cryptographic checksum. The cryptographic checksum is transferred in a first time period after receiving the challenge message. The response message is transferred during a later, second time period. The duration of validity of the key derived from the response message ends before the response message is transferred. A theoretical attacker who can overhear and manipulate the communication will not know the response message until a point in time when the cryptographic key which can be derived therefrom is already no longer valid.
US09118640B2	Method and system to transmit data Methods and systems for transmitting data are disclosed. In one embodiment a portable electronic device comprises a processor-implemented user interface module to cause the presentation of a first information field to a user as part of a graphical user interface in the portable electronic device, and to receive information entered or data identification in the first information field. A data transmitting module commences transmitting the information entered or the data identified over a network in response to the user interface module detecting that the user has navigated away from the first information field.
US09118639B2	Trusted data processing in the public cloud Generally, this disclosure describes a system and method for trusted data processing in the public cloud. A system may include a cloud server including a trusted execution environment, the cloud server one of a plurality of cloud servers, a cloud storage device coupled to the cloud server, and a RKM server including a key server module, the RKM server configured to sign the key server module using a private key and a gateway server configured to provide the signed key server module to the cloud server, the trusted execution environment configured to verify the key server module using a public key related to the private key and to launch the key server module, the key server module configured to establish a secure communication channel between the gateway server and the key server module, and the gateway server configured to provide a cryptographic key to the key server module via the secure communication channel.
US09118638B2	Content delivery using multiple sources over heterogeneous interfaces Provided is a system for the distribution of data, comprising a data server comprising a processor, a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the data server, a plurality of proxy servers, each with a plurality of network interfaces, a file of digital content, comprising a plurality of chunks, wherein copies of each chunk are stored on two or more of the proxy servers and the digital server; and logic, stored on the computer-readable storage medium and executed on the processor, for receiving a request for the digital file from a client device, for generating a proxy list for each chunk, comprising information identifying the two or more proxy servers on which the copies of the chunks are stored, and information corresponding to network interfaces associated with the two or more proxy servers on which the copies are stored; and for transmitting the proxy list to the client device to enable the client device to select two or more proxy servers on which the copies are stored and simultaneously download the two or more of the chunks utilizing two or more proxy servers and two or more network interfaces.
US09118636B2	Data transfer control system and method Transfer of data files, such as large files for digital media, is performed through the intermediary of a gateway communication manager (GCM) that resides in an interface zone between external clients and an internal network. The external clients are registered with the GCM and request transfer of data files to the internal network. The GCM identifies a transfer agent to handle the transfer, and allocates a portion of shared bandwidth. If insufficient bandwidth is available or transfer agents are unavailable, the requested transfer may be placed in a queue and transfer occurs when bandwidth and agents can accommodate the request. The GCM may prioritize and re-prioritize transfers, such as based on the sender, content, and so forth. Multiple GCMs may manage transfers for external clients, and shared logs may be maintained to permit flexibility in management by the GCMs.
US09118635B2	Medical imaging system An autonomous medical imaging system includes at least one autonomous imaging subsystem and at least one autonomous detection subsystem. The autonomous detection subsystem is configured to communicate with the autonomous imaging subsystem, and the autonomous imaging subsystem is configured to communicate with the autonomous detection subsystem.
US09118634B2	Dynamic encryption of a universal resource locator A system including a computer and a computer readable hardware storage device containing instructions which, upon being executed by the computer, implements a method for restricting access to information transmitted over a computing network. A resource request for a resource to be located is received. The resource request contains a universal resource locator (URL). The URL is evaluated to determine whether encryption of none, part, or all of the URL is required. It is determined that the requested resource is available and in response, the requested resource contained in the resource request is located. It is determined whether encryption is required for none, part, or all of a return URL of the requested resource that is to be returned to a location of the resource request.
US09118633B2	Topic protection policy for publish-subscribe messaging system Exemplary embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and system for securing a message published to a topic by a publisher in a publish-subscriber messaging system with a topic policy for the topic. In a step, an exemplary embodiment establishes a topic policy for a topic. In another step, an exemplary embodiment associates a message published to the topic with a topic policy. In another step, an exemplary embodiment signs a message published to the topic by a publisher with a private key of the publisher if the topic policy directs. In another step, an exemplary embodiment provides a public key of a subscriber if the topic policy directs that the subscriber receive a message in encrypted form. In another step, an exemplary embodiment encrypts a message for a subscriber specified in a topic policy to receive the message encrypted with a public key of the subscriber.
US09118629B2	Method and system for generating a secure message as a URL message A method for generating and delivering a message via a web service is provided. A message for a recipient is converted to a URL and sent. A request is received from a sender having a first type of security to send a message also having the first type of security to the recipient having a second type of security. A URL message is created in response to receiving the request to send the message to the recipient and the URL message is sent to the recipient. A URL message response is received from the recipient and provides a landing message to the recipient in response to receiving the URL message response. The landing message includes a hint requesting an answer from the recipient. An answer is received from the recipient and the message is sent to the recipient using the second type of security in response to receiving the answer.
US09118626B2	Systems and methods for the automatic registration of devices Systems and methods for providing registration at a remote site that may include, for example, a monitoring module that may communicate with a remote site. A registration protocol may be used by the monitoring module and the remote site in generating the messages communicated during the registration process. The monitoring module may gather and generate various identification information to be included in the registration protocol messages. The registration information provided by the monitoring module may be stored at the remote site in a database server having a database. A confirmation message may be communicated from the remote site to the monitoring module that may either acknowledge successful registration or report that an error occurred during the registration process.
US09118625B2	Anti-malware system, method of processing data in the same, and computing device Provided are an anti-malware (AM) system, a method of processing data in the AM system, and a computing device including the AM system. The AM system includes a hardware-based AV engine configured to perform hash matching on data for AV scanning of the data, and an AV function module configured to determine whether or not the data includes a virus pattern on the basis of a result of the hash matching.
US09118620B1	Hardware-based packet editor Hardware-based packet editor receives a packet editing script which includes script entries indicating modifications to a data packet and a data block with data for the modified data packet. For a script entry in the packet editing script, the packet editor copies data in the data block at a block location and with a block length identified in the script entry into a packet buffer. The packet editor repeats the copying for the remaining script entries for the modified data packet. The packet editor then generates the modified data packet with the data in the packet buffer. The packet editing script is generated such that a script entry is created for data to be included in the modified data packet and data to be inserted into the modified data packet. Creation of a script entry is omitted for data to be removed.
US09118618B2	Hardware-based packet editor Hardware-based packet editor receives a packet editing script which includes script entries indicating modifications to a data packet and a data block with data for the modified data packet. For a script entry in the packet editing script, the packet editor copies data in the data block at a block location and with a block length identified in the script entry into a packet buffer. The packet editor repeats the copying for the remaining script entries for the modified data packet. The packet editor then generates the modified data packet with the data in the packet buffer. The packet editing script is generated such that a script entry is created for data to be included in the modified data packet and data to be inserted into the modified data packet. Creation of a script entry is omitted for data to be removed.
US09118616B2	Method and system for controlling session for interworking in converged IP messaging service A session control apparatus and method are provided in a converged IP messaging (CPM) server for supporting a CPM session between a first client subscribing to a CPM service and a second client not subscribing to the CPM service. After the CPM session is initiated between the first and second clients through the CPM server and an interworking function (IWF), a session modification request message including specific media is received from the first client. The session modification request message including the specific media is sent to the IWF through the initiated CPM session. A response message is received from the IWF. The response message including a reason for rejection when the specific media is unsupported by the IWF.
US09118614B1	Notification manager A method to provide notifications to a user. The method includes using a software notification manager in the background to listens, according to user subscriptions, for notification messages sent through one or more messaging networks from multiple network applications. Accordingly, the notification manager gathers notifications and displays them in one place. As a result, the user is no longer required to sift through lots of notifications from his/her email folders or other message windows.
US09118610B1	Network information processing and methods thereof Method and system for a network device having a plurality of queues for receiving information from another device is provided. The device determines if all requests for transferring frames from the plurality of queues have been sent to an arbitration module that arbitrates and selects requests for transmitting frames associated with the selected requests. When all requests have not been selected, then selecting a tag having information regarding a next frame, when a destination of the next frame or a transmit queue of the next frame does not match a destination or a transmit queue of any other frame for which a request has been sent to the arbitration module.
US09118605B2	Link bundle co-routed VCAT via RSVP message bundling Multiple RSVP messages are used to separately signal components of co-routed VCAT to enable the separate components to be implemented on different physical fibers of a link bundle. To enable the PATH messages to be handled as a group, the multiple PATH messages are grouped together and sent out in a RSVP bundle message. When a RSVP bundle message containing multiple PATH messages is received at a network element, such as an ENNI, where the route for the PATH messages needs to be expanded, the route is expanded collectively and the expanded route is inserted into each individual PATH message. The modified PATH messages are then passed through the RSVP finite state machine one at a time to enable resources to be reserved for the connections of the VCAT. Thus, a single LSP may be created for each channel, and channels may be co-routed even where route expansion is required.
US09118599B2	Network testing using a control server A system may receive a test signal from a first server; monitor network activity associated with the device; determine when the device is in an idle state based on the network activity associated with the device; generate a first packet based on receiving the test signal and based on determining when the device is in the idle state; provide the first packet to a second server; receive a second packet from the second server based on providing the first packet to the second server, the second packet authorizing the device to perform the network test; communicate with a third server, associated with the second packet, to perform the network test independently of the first and/or second server; generate test results based on performing the network test; and provide the test results to the second server, the second server being capable of generating performance data based on the test results.
US09118595B2	Graceful failover of a principal link in a fiber-channel fabric In one embodiment, detecting a failure mode of a first communication link on a first port, selecting a second communication link on a second port associated with the first port, and transmitting a profile information associated with the second port are provided.
US09118594B2	Lossless connection failover for single devices The WAN optimization devices delay ACK until the ACK is actually received from the target while opening up the TCP window. When the ACK is received and forwarded, the TCP window is reduced in size. If there are mirrored WAN optimization devices, the original WAN optimization device sends the datagram across the WAN and at the same time sends the datagram to the mirroring WAN optimization device. When the mirroring WAN optimization device ACKs the mirrored datagram, the original WAN optimization device ACKs the host. When the ACK across the WAN is received, the mirroring WAN optimization device gets the ACK forwarded and deletes the mirrored datagram. On a loss of a device, the TCP connection transitions to the mirroring WAN optimization device, which closes the LAN TCP window and transmits all un-ACKed data. Then upon success the mirroring WAN optimization device reopens the LAN TCP window.
US09118592B2	Switch and/or router node advertising A first of a plurality of intermediate routing devices is operable to advertise to and/or receive status information from remaining one(s) of the intermediate routing devices. The intermediate routing devices may store and/or analyze the advertised and/or received status information and may make routing decisions based on it. The first routing device may advertise status information for itself and/or for one or more other intermediate routing devices. Data may be routed based on type of data, service level and/or priority associated with the data. The advertised and/or received status information comprises current status information, predicted status information and/or past status information which may be based on one or more of port status, CPU utilization, memory utilization, quality of service (QoS), bandwidth utilization, bandwidth availability, traffic load, congestion, number of connections handled and capability to provide a particular level of service.
US09118590B2	VLAN support of differentiated services The two types of virtual local area networks (VLANs) may be defined: p-bits-Inferred-scheduling class VLAN (p-VLAN); and VLAN-10-Only-Inferred-scheduling class VLANs (v-VLAN). As such, upon receipt of an Ethernet frame, the type of VLAN associated with the Ethernet frame may be determined. The type of VLAN provides the receiving node with an indication of a method of determining a scheduling class. A p-VLAN supports multiple scheduling classes. For a p-VLAN, the scheduling class and drop precedence for the received Ethernet frame may be determined based on a “service map” that describes the relationship between the p-bits and forwarding treatment. A v-VLAN supports a single scheduling class. As such, the scheduling class for a received Ethernet frame may be determined based on the VLAN-10 of the received Ethernet frame. The described VLAN QoS information may be configured or signaled across the network. Advantageously, the methods may be applied in connectionless, connection-oriented and path-oriented Ethernet networks.
US09118589B2	System and method for rapid VLT connection failure handling A system and method for rapid virtual link trunk connection failure handling includes receiving a packet at a first network switching unit where the packet is to be forwarded to a second network switching unit, detecting a failure in a network connection between the first network switching unit and the second network switching unit and associated with a first LAG of the first network switching unit, determining a second LAG associated with an inter-chassis link (ICL) as a failover LAG for the first LAG, redirecting the packet to the second LAG, altering the packet to set a redirection status bit to a logic value, and forwarding the altered packet using the ICL.
US09118588B2	Virtual console-port management Techniques are providing for managing and optimizing the configuration of network devices. At a management device in a network, a message is received from a first network device via a wireless link or a power line communication link between the management device and the first network device. The new network device is classified as belonging to one of a plurality of network device zones based on evaluating the message. A response message is then sent to the new network device via the wireless link or the power line communication link to ensure secure access to a virtual console-port is provided for the management device and the network devices in the network device zones.
US09118585B2	Resizing existing traffic flow in optical transport network In an optical transport network a traffic flow comprises data grouped into a number of resizable data units, encapsulated by optical transport frames, each having a frame overhead. A rate of the traffic flow is changed by changing the data unit overhead and changing at the source node the frame overhead to indicate a change in rate of an optical signal carrying the traffic flow. An optical transmission part is tuned to transmit at the new rate, and at any intermediate nodes along the route the indication of the change in rate is detected in the frame overhead so that the traffic flow on a next optical link is transmitted at the new rate. Thus optical bandwidth allowed for enlarging the data units, can be saved, and electrical processing of data units at the nodes can be simplified, reducing power consumption.
US09118582B1	Network traffic management using port number redirection A first request is received from a device over a network. It is determined that the first request should be redirected, based at least in part on information included in the first request. A redirect message is sent to the device over the network. A second request is received that includes the address and the port number. Responsive to determining that the port number is on the predetermined list of port numbers, modifying the second request by removing the port number. The modified second request is sent to the address.
US09118580B2	Communication device and method for controlling transmission priority related to shared backup communication channel A communication device includes a processor that is operative to perform actions, including, determining whether a failure occurs in a regular communication channel to transmit a packet to another communication device, selecting, upon determining that the failure occurs in the regular communication channel, a backup communication channel for transmitting the packet, determining, upon selecting the backup communication channel, whether the backup communication channel is shared by the regular communication channel and another regular communication channel, changing, upon determining that the backup communication channel is shared, a priority assigned to the packet transmitted from the regular communication channel to the backup communication channel, and controlling the transmission of the packet in accordance with the changed priority.
US09118578B2	Systems and methods for group bandwidth management in a communication systems network An embodiment is a method of managing bandwidth, performed by a computing system. The system receives user-selected connection parameters associated with a subscriber device. The system associates a network identifier of the subscriber device with a group bandwidth policy, based on the user-selected connection parameters. The system stores, in computer-readable storage media, parameters associated with the group bandwidth policy, in association with the network identifier of the subscriber device. The system receives, at a gateway device, network communication data from the subscriber device. The system limits, at the gateway device, bandwidth available to the network communication data, based on the stored parameters associated with the group bandwidth policy.
US09118577B2	Automatic method for setting up mLDP LSP through P2P tunnel An apparatus comprising a processor configured to send a first notification message to a first label switch router (LSR) to discover the upstream multipoint Label Distribution Protocol (mLDP) LSR, wherein the apparatus is configured to couple to the first LSR, and wherein the first LSR is not an mLDP LSR, receive a second notification message from the upstream mLDP node, and in response to receiving the second notification message, establish an mLDP Label Switch Path (LSP) to the upstream mLDP node via the first LSR.
US09118576B2	Network device with a programmable core In network device, a plurality of ports is configured to receive and to transmit packets on a network. A packet processing pipeline includes a plurality of hardware stages, wherein at least one hardware stage is configured to output a data structure comprising a field extracted from a received packet based on a first packet processing operation performed on the packet or the data structure, wherein the data structure is associated with the packet. A configurable processor is coupled to the at least one hardware stage of the packet processing pipeline. The configurable processor is configured to modify the field in the data structure to generate a modified data structure and to pass the modified data structure to a subsequent hardware stage that is configured to perform a second packet processing operation on the data structure using the field modified by the configurable processor.
US09118572B2	Redundancy for inter-AS L2VPN service with optimal forwarding In one embodiment, a particular autonomous system border router (ASBR), in a control-plane media access control (MAC) learning (CPML) network, discovers other ASBRs in the CPML network, the particular ASBR and other ASBRs interconnected with respective ASBRs of a data-plane MAC learning (DPML) network. The particular ASBR calculates one or more internal shortest path first (SPF) trees rooted respectively at each of the other ASBRs in the CPML network, and upon receiving a MAC advertisement route for a given MAC address with a given next-hop IP address, it may determine a distance from the particular and each other ASBR in the CPML network to the given IP address based on the internal SPF trees. In response to the distance from the particular ASBR being shorter than the distance from each other ASBR, the particular ASBR is designated as a designated forwarder (DF) for traffic sourced from the given MAC address.
US09118571B2	Methods of operating load balancing switches and controllers using matching patterns with unrestricted characters A load balancing system may include a switch coupled with a plurality of servers and a controller. A flow table may include default flow entries with each default flow entry including a different match pattern. At least one of the default flow entries may include a match pattern with an unrestricted character so that the match pattern having the unrestricted character is satisfied by a plurality of data flow identifications. Each of the default flow entries may include an action to be performed for data packets having data flow identifications that satisfy its match pattern. A data packet including a data flow identification for a data flow may be received from a client device. A default flow entry having a match pattern that is satisfied by the data flow identification is identified, and the data packet is processed in accordance with the action for the identified default flow entry.
US09118562B2	Method and device for generating the clock of the output stream from the input stream The present invention relates to the field of video stream transport. The invention specifically relates to a method for generating a clock signal controlling the transmission rate of an output signal device transmitting a stream from an input stream.The invention describes a method for generating the clock of the output stream from a measurement of the clock of the input stream. Said measurement is permanently adjusted in order to increase the accuracy of the measurement as well as to monitor possible drifts of the input stream clock. Said decorrelation between the clock of the input stream generates a regular output clock, even when the clock of the input stream is irregular.
US09118558B2	Software upgrades of network elements in telecommunications network A method of upgrading software in network elements of a telecommunications network where operation of a plurality of network elements of a first type depends on operation of a network element of a second type. The method comprises receiving upgrade packages by the network element of the second type and at least part of the network elements of the first type. At least part of the network elements of the first type entering a waiting state and starting their upgrade when start of the upgrade of the network element of the second type is detected.
US09118553B2	Monitoring of availability data for system management environments A method and system for monitoring availability data of a system management (SM) environment. A connection configuration associated with the SM environment is retrieved from a central repository, wherein the SM environment is coupled to a SM portal server that includes the central repository, and wherein the SM environment includes one or more terminal systems. In response to determining that the retrieved connection configuration properly establishes communication between the SM portal server and the SM environment, availability data pertaining to availability of resources at endpoints of the one or more terminal systems is collected. The collected availability data recorded in the central repository.
US09118546B2	Data forwarding method and router A data forwarding method and a router are provided. The router includes: forwarding engines FEs, physical interface cards PICs, a first switch device and a second switch device, where the first switch device includes a primary first switch device and a standby first switch device, all the FEs are connected with each other via the first switch device, the FEs are connected to the PICs via the second switch device, the number of the FEs is at least two, the number of the PICs is at least two, and the number of the FEs is equal to the number of the PICs. Embodiments of the present invention could improve reliability of a system.
US09118541B2	Interior gateway protocol summarization preserving internet protocol reachability information In one example embodiment, a system and method is illustrated that includes receiving connectivity data for at least one network device, the connectivity data describing a connection to the at least one network device within an area. The system and method further includes processing the connectivity data to obtain a routing update for distribution to another network device outside the area. Additionally, the system and method includes a routing summary in the routing update, the routing summary including an address prefix. Further, the system and method includes reachability information in the routing update, the reachability information including an address for the at least one network device.
US09118540B2	Method for monitoring a plurality of rack systems A method for monitoring a plurality of rack systems is provided, which includes the following steps. The rack systems are provided, in which each rack system includes an integrated management module (IMM) and a plurality of servers. The IMM is communicatively connected to the servers in each rack system and manages and controls the servers. The rack systems are distributed into at least one rack group, and one of the IMMs in each rack group is selected to serve as a primary IMM, in which the IMMs in each rack group are communicatively connected to each other. The primary IMM monitors other IMMs than the primary IMM in the corresponding rack group. When an anomaly occurs in one of the other IMMs, the primary IMM sends a warning message including the abnormal IMM.
US09118537B2	Reception apparatus, communication apparatus, transmission apparatus, receiving method, and transmitting method A reception apparatus includes a receiver configured to receive a packet including a label and quality information indicating communication quality for the packet. The reception apparatus also includes a processor configured to allocate a priority to the received packet based on a combination of the label and the quality information included in the received packet and a transmitter configured to supply the packet to which the priority is allocated to a switch that performs transfer control to a packet based on its priority.
US09118531B2	Method of generating random access preambles in wireless communication system A method of generating random access preambles includes receiving information on a source logical index and generating random access preambles in the order of increasing cyclic shift from root ZC sequences with the consecutive logical indexes from the beginning of the source logical index until a predetermined number of the random access preambles are found, wherein the consecutive logical indexes are mapped to root indexes of the root ZC sequences.
US09118530B2	Methods and apparatus for WLAN transmission In a method for generating a PHY data unit for transmission via a communication channel, a modulation scheme is selected from a plurality of modulation schemes, information bits are encoded to generate encoded data using one or more encoders, and an interleaving parameter NCOL is selected using the selected modulation scheme. NCOL varies for different modulation schemes. The encoded data is interleaved, which includes entering the encoded data into NROW rows and reading the encoded data out in NCOL columns. The payload information of the PHY data unit is modulated according to the modulation scheme, and a plurality of OFDM symbols is formed based on the modulated payload information.
US09118523B2	Signal receiving apparatus and signal receiving method A signal receiving apparatus, applicable in a wireless system calibrating direct current offset, includes: an adjusting circuit arranged to receive an receiving signal having a first DC (Direct Current) signal, and adjust the first DC signal to generate the receiving signal having a second DC signal according to an adjusting signal; a first arithmetic circuit arranged to generate an error signal according to the second DC signal and a target DC signal; and a second arithmetic circuit arranged to calculate an error signal slope according to the error signal, and update the adjusting signal according to the error signal slope and the error signal.
US09118521B2	Method and apparatus for controlling an SCTP protocol instance A network node including a first Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) protocol instance providing redundancy of an SCTP endpoint. The first SCTP protocol instance connects to a peer SCTP protocol instance via an SCTP connection. The first SCTP protocol instance also connects to a further SCTP protocol instance providing redundancy of the SCTP endpoint via a consistency protocol for providing state consistency between the first SCTP protocol instance and the further SCTP protocol instance. The first SCTP protocol instance also connects to the further SCTP protocol instance via a connection for forwarding messages addressed to the further SCTP protocol instance to be processed by the first SCTP protocol instance or vice versa.
US09118518B2	Transmission system with ISI channel and method of operating thereof There is provided a transmission system and method of operating thereof. The method comprises: dividing a data sequence to be transmitted into a plurality of data blocks; encoding one or more data blocks with one or more linear systematic cyclic codes thus giving rise to encoded data blocks; transmitting said encoded data blocks over an ISI transmission channel; upon receiving, applying a linear integer-forcing (IF) equalization to the received data blocks; processing the output of the IF equalization thereby detecting for each encoded data block a valid codeword with maximal likelihood of decoding; and reconstructing the data blocks using the respective detected valid codewords.
US09118516B1	Differential transmission line with common mode notch filter A differential transmission line with a common mode notch filter includes adjacently arranged, repeating differential transmission line pair sections. The sections have lengths that are each equal to half of an electric wavelength of a lowest frequency of a common mode electromagnetic wave to be suppressed during transmission of an electric signal over the differential transmission line. Each section includes a pair of conductors separated from one another by a spacing. The width of each conductor and the spacing between the conductors of each section vary over the length thereof according to a same pattern such that at every point over the length of each section a differential mode impedance of the differential transmission line is identical. A common mode impedance of the differential transmission line changes periodically in accordance with the lengths of the sections.
US09118513B2	Adaptive digital receiver The present invention provides a high-performance adaptive digital receiver with adaptive background control that optimizes the performance in rapidly changing signal environments and provides 3.6 GHz instantaneous bandwidth, SFDR>90 dB, SNR=66 dB, with dynamic digital channelization. The receiver takes advantage of several levels of adaptivity that conventional approaches do not offer. In addition to a dynamic digital channelizer that is adaptively tuned based on detected signals, the present invention employs a powerful software reconfigurable digitizer that is adaptively optimized for the current signal environment to control important receiver parameters such as bandwidth, dynamic range, resolution, and sensitivity.
US09118507B2	Techniques for message waiting indication support across different protocols Techniques and systems for inter-working between different protocols are disclosed. In one embodiment, a protocol inter-working system can include: (i) a first server that can connect to a first gateway, where the first server and the first gateway can operate in a first protocol; (ii) a second server that can connect to a second gateway, where the second server and the second can operate in a second protocol; and (iii) a controller that can connect to the first and second gateways, where the controller can translate a first indicator in the first protocol to a second indicator in the second protocol. The first and second protocols can include H.323 and session initiation protocol (SIP), for example. The first and second indicators can each include a message waiting indicator (MWI), for example.
US09118504B2	Method for generating a load sharing vector The invention relates to a method for generating a load sharing vector indicating a plurality of communication targets for load sharing in a communication network. The method comprises providing (101) a target distribution vector comprising a first number of entries indicating a first communication target, and comprising a second number of entries indicating a second communication target, and generating (103) the load sharing vector upon the basis of active entries of the target distribution vector, the active entries indicating the communication target of the first or the second communication target which is available for load sharing in the communication network.
US09118496B2	Subscriber access network architecture A subscriber network architecture includes a packet processing node that communicates with a network backbone and with a plurality of access nodes. The access nodes also communicate with a plurality of subscriber devices. The packet processing node controls Quality of Service (QoS) levels for the subscriber devices, routes user data to subscriber devices based on downstream communication channels of the access nodes and QoS levels, and receives data from subscriber devices (via the access nodes) for forwarding across the network backbone.
US09118492B2	Method and apparatus for authorizing a transactional service by a policy and charging control architecture The present invention faces the issue of authorizing transactional services by a Policy and Charging Control system. To this end, the present invention provides for an apparatus carrying out a method of authorizing transactional services and comprising: an authorization requester for submitting a transactional service authorization request with a user identifier and a transactional service identifier, and an authorizer for receiving the transactional service authorization request. This authorizer comprises: a PCRF server for authorizing the transactional service based on subscription and service data, an OCS for authorizing the transactional service based on credit authorization, and a decider for deciding service authorization for the transactional service based on the authorizations respectively made by the PCRF server and OCS. The authorizer of this apparatus is also arranged for submitting a transactional service authorization response to the authorization requester with a decision on service authorization for the transactional service.
US09118490B2	Free market based pricing for bandwidth and network usage The disclosed embodiments include a system and method for establishing a price for communicating over a communications network. In one embodiment, the system includes a plurality of network nodes configured to communicate over the communications network and a primary network edge node configured to provide network access to a plurality of end user devices. The primary network edge node is configured to initiate a bandwidth occupancy query message to at least one of said network nodes along a traffic path to which an end user device is communicating, determine a highest bandwidth occupancy of said network nodes along the traffic path, and compute a current price for the end user device communicating over the traffic path based on the highest bandwidth occupancy.
US09118482B2	Fault tolerant apparatus and method for elliptic curve cryptography A fault tolerant apparatus and method for elliptic curve cryptography. For example, one embodiment of a processor includes one or more cores to execute instructions and process data; and fault attack logic to ensure that the execution of the instructions and processing of the data is not vulnerable to memory safe-error attacks after a fault is injected by hiding any correlation between processor behavior and secret bits in a secret key.
US09118478B2	Fault-tolerant data transmission system for networks with non-full-duplex or asymmetric transport In a data transfer method and system for networks having gateway-mediated asymmetric transport, data and feedback channels are established between sender and receiver, along with a gateway feedback channel between gateway and sender. Cohorts of datagrams are transformed using fault-tolerant coding to create chapters whose size correspond to the asymmetric transport's timing. The sender transmits chapters in chunks at a rate to keep the gateway at an optimum fill for maximal throughput without transmit-end packet drops. The receiver reconstructs complete cohorts of original datagrams from a received subset of the transformed datagrams. The receiver acknowledges successfully recovered cohorts and identifies missing or corrupt datagrams of a chapter whenever recovery is unsuccessful. The sender resends sufficient lost datagrams to allow cohort recovery. The sender self-tunes its transmission rate based upon gateway fill, network latency and datagram loss rate to keep datagram loss rate below an upper bound.
US09118474B2	Uplink control information transmission on backward compatible PUCCH formats with carrier aggregation A method for reporting uplink control information (UCI) on a user equipment (UE) is described. A number of bits for a channel quality indicator and/or a precoding matrix index and/or a rank indication (CQI/PMI/RI) is obtained. A number of component carriers with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) reporting is also obtained. A total number of HARQ-ACK bits is further obtained. A number of HARQ-ACK bits that can be carried on the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is determined. Bundling is performed on the total number of HARQ-ACK bits to be reported to fit the total number of HARQ-ACK bits to be reported into the number of HARQ-ACK bits that can be carried on the PUCH. A backward compatible PUCCH format is used to simultaneously carry the CQI/PMI/RI bits and the HARQ-ACK bits.
US09118473B2	Efficient multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for combining the data (e.g., the channel station information (CSI) and the block acknowledgment (BA)) from one or more stations (STAs) capable of multi-user (MU) transmission in an effort to reduce the number of frames involved in a MU frame exchange. For certain aspects, the BA frames may be moved before a MU transmission and combined with the CSI frames, thereby effectively acknowledging a prior MU transmission. By reducing the number of frames involved, the efficiency of MU exchanges may be increased.
US09118469B2	Reducing electromagnetic interference in a received signal Embodiments of methods and apparatus for reducing electromagnetic interference of a received signal are disclosed. One method includes receiving a signal over at least two conductors, extracting a common-mode signal from the at least two conductors, processing the common-mode signal, and reducing electromagnetic interference of the received signal by summing the processed common-mode signal with the received signal.
US09118468B2	Asynchronous time division duplex operation in a wireless network Techniques for supporting communication in an asynchronous TDD wireless network are described. In an aspect, downlink transmissions and uplink transmissions may be sent on different carriers in an asynchronous TDD wireless network to mitigate interference. In one design, a station (e.g., a base station or a UE) may send a first transmission on a first carrier in a first time period and may receive a second transmission on a second carrier in a second time period. The station may only transmit, or only receive, or neither in each time period. In one design, allocation of carriers for the downlink and uplink may be performed when strong interference is detected, e.g., by a base station or a UE. When strong interference is not detected, the first and second carriers may each be used for both the downlink and uplink.
US09118466B2	Method, device and system for backhaul link communication in a TDD system The present invention provides a method, device and system for backhaul link communication in a TDD system. Wherein, the method includes: a base station allocating an uplink subframe for uplink transmitting of the backhaul link and a downlink subframe for downlink transmitting of the backhaul link, and notifying subframe allocating information to a relay node; and the base station communicating with the relay node by the uplink subframe and the downlink subframe of the backhaul link. The solution allocates the uplink subframe and the downlink subframe of the backhaul link according to certain rules, performs related HARQ operation based on the allocated uplink subframe and downlink subframe, and ensures the availability and reliability of backhaul link communication.
US09118464B2	Set of servers for “machine-to-machine” communications using public key infrastructure A set of servers can support secure and efficient “Machine to Machine” communications using an application interface and a module controller. The set of servers can record data for a plurality of modules in a shared module database. The set of servers can (i) access the Internet to communicate with a module using a module identity, (ii) receive server instructions, and (iii) send module instructions. Data can be encrypted and decrypted using a set of cryptographic algorithms and a set of cryptographic parameters. The set of servers can (i) receive a module public key with a module identity, (ii) authenticate the module public key, and (iii) receive a subsequent series of module public keys derived by the module with a module identity. The application interface can use a first server private key and the module controller can use a second server private key.
US09118462B2	Content sharing systems and methods Systems and methods are described for peer-to-peer sharing of electronic content. In one embodiment, if a license associated with a content item permits a sharing peer to share the content item with a receiving peer, the sharing peer rebinds a cryptographic key associated with the content item to the receiving peer and generates a sharing license for the content item. The sharing peer sends the sharing license and the content item to the receiving peer for consumption.
US09118459B2	Wireless communication device and activation method of the wireless communication device A wireless communication device includes a BBIC for performing baseband signal processing, an RFIC for performing radio-frequency signal processing, and a quartz resonator. The RFIC has a storage unit which stores an adjustment value for adjustment of a clock frequency that is based on an oscillation frequency of the quartz resonator, and outputs the adjustment value when its resetting active state is canceled; a frequency adjusting unit for adjusting the clock frequency according to the adjustment value; and an RF signal processing unit which operates based on the clock signal and performs the radio-frequency signal processing.
US09118458B1	Clock phase alignment A clock generation circuit is operative to disable and enable a plurality of output clock signals while maintaining predetermined phase relationships between the clock signals. A reference clock signal is divided by a factor of at least two, to generate a master clock signal. A plurality of phase circuits, each independently enabled, generates a plurality of output clock signals by dividing the reference clock signal. The output clock signals have predetermined phase relationships relative to each other. Each phase circuit is enabled synchronously to a synchronization edge of the master clock signal. A synchronization circuit associated with each phase circuit ensures synchronization with the master clock signal by outputting a phase circuit enable signal only upon the conditions of a clock enable signal associated with the output clock being asserted and the receipt of a predetermined number of master clock signal synchronizing edges.
US09118457B2	Multi-wire single-ended push-pull link with data symbol transition based clocking System, methods and apparatus are described that facilitate transmission of data over a multi-wire data communications link, particularly between two devices within an electronic apparatus. A sequence of data bits is converted into M transition numbers, which are then converted into a sequence of symbols. The sequence of symbols is transmitted received over N wires. A clock signal may be effectively embedded in the transmission of the sequence of symbols. Each of the sequence of symbols may be selected based on a corresponding one of the M transition numbers and a value of a preceding one of the sequence of symbols.
US09118452B2	Method for transmitting an uplink signal, method for receiving an uplink signal, user equipment, and base station The invention relates to a method comprising classifying user equipment (UE) cells, to which carrier aggregation is applied, into a plurality of time advance groups. Uplink-time synchronization is managed using the time synchronization of a primary cell (Pcell) in the time synchronization group to which the primary cell belongs. For other time synchronization groups, the uplink time synchronization is managed using the time synchronization of a secondary cell (SCell) that is particularly set in the relevant time synchronization group. Thus, the plurality of time synchronizations can be effectively managed for the UE and a base station (BS).
US09118451B2	Receiver circuit and receiving method A receiver circuit includes: an input ADC configured to convert an input data signal to sample data in accordance with a clock; a boundary phase computation circuit configured to determine the boundary phase of the input data signal based on the sample data; an eye pattern computation circuit configured to compute a maximum amplitude phase of an eye pattern of the input data signal based on the sample data and the boundary phase; and a determination circuit configured to determine a value of the input data signal in the maximum amplitude phase based on the sample data and the maximum amplitude phase.
US09118450B2	Method and apparatus for protecting a primary service in WLAN system A method and an apparatus for protecting a primary service as an unlicensed device in a regulatory domain where a licensed device and the unlicensed device are permitted to operate are disclosed. For protecting a primary service by a station as an unlicensed device in a regulatory domain where a licensed device and the unlicensed device are permitted to operate, the unlicensed device acquires a list of identified available channels for the operation of the unlicensed device and maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels from a regulatory domain database system; generates a white space map (WSM) comprising the list of identified available channels and the maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels; updates the WSM when the station acquires information that a primary service signal is detected on a specific channel which is indicated as available in the WSM; and transmits the updated WSM to another station such that the another station moves to another channel if the another station is operating on the specific channel.
US09118449B2	Method of transmitting and receiving acknowledgment signal in a wireless communication system A method of receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) signal from at least one access terminal (AT) in a wireless communication system is disclosed. More specifically, the method includes transmitting at least one packet via a packet data channel from an access network (AN), receiving at least one ACK signal from the at least one AT using same channelization resources, wherein each AT is assigned a code specific to each AT, and identifying the ACK signal corresponding to the transmitted packet from the received at least one ACK signal.
US09118446B2	Methods and user equipment in a wireless communication network A user equipment (UE) and a method are presented. The UE comprises a receiver unit and a processing circuit, and is configured for receiving wireless signals. The processing circuit is arranged for performing pre-detection of the received signals providing an initial estimation of transmitted signals. The processing circuit is also arranged for splitting the transmitted signal into disjoint subgroups, each one covering a subgroup of all layers used for the transmitted signal such that the subgroups together cover all the layers. The processing circuit is also arranged for interference cancellation performed on the subgroups of transmitted signals based on the initial estimation of the transmitted signals. The processing circuit is also arranged for detection of the subgroups of transmitted signals by utilization of an MLD algorithm, wherein the subgroup of layers within each one of the subgroups of transmitted signals is detected simultaneously.
US09118444B2	Physical layer (PHY) link signaling for cable networks Embodiments include systems and methods for enabling a physical layer (PHY) link signaling channel between a network termination modem and a cable modem in a cable network. The PHY link signaling channel is embedded within the same multi-carrier channel as the data and enables PHY link up between the network termination modem and cable modem without involvement of higher layers (e.g., MAC). The PHY link signaling channel can be implemented in the downstream (from the network termination modem to the cable modem(s)) or in the upstream from a cable modem to the network termination modem. Embodiments are applicable to any known cable network, and particularly to cable networks implementing the DOCSIS and EPoC standards.
US09118439B2	Receiver for imbalanced carriers Techniques for using one or multiple downconverters to receive multiple transmissions sent on multiple carriers are disclosed. In an exemplary design, an apparatus includes first and second downconverters. The first downconverter downconverts a first radio frequency (RF) signal when it is selected. The second downconverter downconverts a second RF signal when it is selected. Each of the first and second RF signals includes multiple transmissions sent on multiple carriers to a wireless device. The first downconverter is selected to perform downconversion for the multiple transmissions when at least one criterion is not met. The first and second downconverters are selected to perform downconversion for the multiple transmissions, based on different mixing frequencies, when the at least one criterion is met. The at least one criterion may relate to imbalance between the multiple carriers, received power of a received RF signal, etc.
US09118437B1	Spatially segmented anti-jam antenna The present invention includes providing a multidirectional antenna unit including a plurality of directional antenna elements configured to spatially segment an operational theatre into a plurality of segmented regions, receiving radio frequency signals via the plurality of directional antenna elements from the plurality of segmented region, identifying a directional antenna element having the highest signal-to-jamming ratio, and connecting the directional antenna element having the highest signal-to-jamming ratio to a multifunction information distribution system terminal.
US09118432B2	Systems and methods for real time media consumption feedback Systems and methods for providing users with a real time or near-real time indications of media channels or programs that are currently receiving the most usage or consumption within a defined population of users are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method receives media usage data for currently airing media while the media is being aired and creates an ordered list of media channels or programs for presentation, based at least in part on the media usage data. The method then presents the ordered list of media channels or programs while the media is being aired. In an embodiment, a system further provides the ability to easily select and tune one of the indicated channels or programs in an interactive interface. In an embodiment, the selected media channels or programs are sold on demand or as part of a service upgrade if they are not included in a user's current subscription.
US09118429B2	Interactive content delivery system and apparatus with global reach capability In a method for providing a content service to a recipient (20) in communications, a service center (14) receives information on a recipient identification and on service terminals (16) assigned, in a sender device (38), for the content. The service center (14) uploads the content to the assigned service terminals (16). The service terminal (16) receives information on a location of a transmitter device (34) of the recipient (20). The service terminal (16) compares the received location information with location information on the service terminal (16). Based on the comparing, if the service terminal is in a close proximity of the transmitter device (34) of the recipient (20) the service terminal (16) activates a first display content for inviting the service terminal (16) to display the uploaded content on a monitor of the service terminal (16). When the recipient acknowledges the first display content, the service terminal may take actions related to a second display content.
US09118424B2	Optical network unit (ONU) having controllable optical output and method of controlling the optical output of an ONU An optical network unit (ONU) includes an optical interface, a detector producing an output signal based on a characteristic of an optical input received via the optical interface, a radio-frequency (RF) interface, an opto-electrical (O/E) converter in a first path from the optical interface to the RF interface, an electro-optical (E/O) converter in a second path from RF interface to the optical interface and a controller operatively connected to the detector, the controller being configured to adjust an optical output of the ONU based on the characteristic, where the characteristic may be a level of the received signal. Also a method of adjusting an optical output of an ONU based on a characteristic of a received signal.
US09118423B1	Optical conversion system and method with multiple amplitude processing A photonic processor can include a first input for an amplitude-modulated optical pulse signal, a second input for an optical reference signal, and a plurality of stages. Each stage is configured to receive the amplitude-modulated optical pulse signal and a version of the optical reference signal. The version is amplitude attenuated in accordance with a position of the stage. Each stage is comprised of a reference path, a signal path, two couplers and a balanced photo detector. The first coupler receives the pulse signal and provides as stage pulse signal to the signal path coupled to a first input of the detector. The second coupler receives the version and provides a stage optical reference signal to the reference path coupled to a second input of the detector. The detector provides an electronic output signal corresponding to an amplitude relationship.
US09118419B1	Digitizer for use in an overlay system with digital optical transmitter for digitized narrowcast signals Methods and apparatuses are provided to digitize an analog multi-channel RF narrowcast signal in an overlay system by dividing the signal into a plurality of subband signals and digitizing each subband signal using practical A/D converters.
US09118413B2	Apparatus and a method An apparatus including: addition circuitry configured to receive simultaneously a probe signal that has passed through a channel having a complex transmission and a reference signal and configured to produce at least: a plurality of weighted additions including an addition of the probe signal and the reference signal with different relative phase rotations between the probe signal and the reference signal for each weighted addition; and processing circuitry configured to use at least two of the plurality of weighted additions to determine a first quantitative parameter for the channel dependent upon the complex transmission for the channel.
US09118411B1	Method and apparatus for detection and correction of channel failure in an optical transceiver system In some embodiments, an apparatus includes an optical transceiver system that includes a set of optical transmitters and a backup optical transmitter. In such embodiments, each optical transmitter from the set of optical transmitter can transmit at a unique wavelength from a set of wavelengths. The backup optical transmitter can transmit at a wavelength from the set of wavelengths when an optical transmitter from the set of optical transmitters associated with that wavelength fails. In other embodiments, an apparatus includes an optical transceiver system that includes a set of optical receivers and a backup optical receiver. The backup optical receiver can receive at a wavelength from the set of wavelengths when an optical receiver from the set of optical receivers associated with that wavelength fails.
US09118410B2	Limited feedback method and apparatus for two-way wireless relaying channels with physical network coding A limited feedback method and apparatus for two-way relay channels with physical network coding are disclosed. An embodiment of the invention provides a method of providing parameters as feedback to two terminals according to channel conditions by a relay for two-way communication in a two-way relaying system using PNC (physical network coding). This method includes: (a) quantizing phase difference information of two-way channels of the two terminals in consideration of whether or not a ratio of a minimum distance between constellation points is periodic according to modulation level; and (b) transmitting feedback information, which contains at least one of the phase difference information and the power control information of the two terminals, as a limited number of bits to the two terminals. Here, the number of bits for the phase difference information or the number of bits for the power control information is determined according to the modulation level.
US09118401B1	Method of adaptive interference mitigation in wide band spectrum A filter for a radio receiving device doubles a sample size of a digital baseband signal to form an enhanced data set and after widowing performs a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to facilitate calculation of instantaneous magnitude values and average magnitude values for each of a plurality of frequency bins. A noise floor is calculated based on the average magnitude values of a plurality of the frequency bins, and the noise floor is then used to identify frequency bins which contain an interfering signal. If it is determined that a frequency bin contains spectral energy associated with an interfering signal, then the instantaneous magnitude value of the frequency bin is selectively reduced, after which an inverse FFT operation and inverse window operation is performed.
US09118398B1	Switch configured to control a transceiver and a radio frequency system comprising the switch A circuit comprises a transmitter port; a receiver port; an antenna port configured to transmit a signal from the transmitter port to antenna port and receive a signal at antenna port and pass to the receiver port; and a switch configured to switch whether the transmitter port or the receiver port is communicatively coupled to the antenna port. The switch comprises a plurality of NMOS FETs configured to switch between the transmitter port and the receiver port.
US09118388B2	Raman crosstalk mitigation in a multi-wavelength system utilizing an optical equalizing signal modulated with composite bandwidth-limited data sources A network element comprising a phase matched or phase controlled interconnect configured to receive a data signal sample, a Raman equalization transmitter, and a Raman crosstalk equalization conditioning circuit configured to generate a Raman mitigation signal using the data signal sample to be transmitted by the Raman equalization transmitter. Included is a method comprising multiplexing incoherent data signals with a video signal and a Raman mitigation signal to be co-propagated on a single optical fiber, wherein the Raman mitigation signal is selected to destructively interfere with Raman crosstalk noise induced on the video signal. Also included is a system comprising a video signal component configured to transmit a video signal, data stream signal components configured to transmit a data stream signals, a Raman crosstalk equalization system configured to transmit a Raman mitigation signal, and an optical multiplexer configured to multiplex the signals for co-propagation onto a single transmission fiber.
US09118383B2	Telecommunication network A network for establishing RF links between a main ground station connected to a NOC center and ground terminals via a multispot satellite, the network being composed of a coverage area composed of a plurality of cells in which terminals are located, each cell being associated with at least one link spot beam with the satellite to which a frequency band is allocated, the center including a determination module to determine the transmission parameters characteristic of the position of terminals in the coverage area, the parameters covering the entire coverage area and a transmitter to transmit all parameters to each of the terminals. Each of the terminals includes a storage device to store at least part of all the parameters, a positioning device to determine its geographic position in the coverage area and a processor to determine, from the parameters and its geographic position, the transmission parameters to be utilized.
US09118381B2	Mobile communication system, radio relay apparatus, mobile communication apparatus, and radio communication method A base station apparatus includes a first generating unit that generates first broadcast information for use in processing by a mobile communication apparatus that connects to the base station apparatus and in processing by another mobile communication apparatus that connects to a radio relay apparatus, and a first transmitting unit that transmits the first broadcast information. The radio relay apparatus includes a second generating unit that generates second broadcast information for use in processing by the other mobile communication apparatus, and a second transmitting unit that transmits the second broadcast information. The other mobile communication apparatus includes a receiving unit that receives the first broadcast information and the second broadcast information, and a control unit that controls radio communication performed via the radio relay apparatus, using the received first and second broadcast information.
US09118380B2	Repeater with positioning capabilities This disclosure is directed to a repeater (14) of a wireless communication system (6) that includes a positioning unit (4), such as a GPS receiver, in order to calculate the location of the repeater (14). In addition, various techniques are described that exploit the positioning information generated by the repeater (14) in order to improve the wireless communication system (6).
US09118376B2	Carrier aggregation front end architecture Radio frequency (RF) front end circuitry includes a notch diplexer. The notch diplexer includes a high pass filter coupled between a high band port and an antenna port, and a low pass notch filter coupled between a low band port and the antenna port. The high pass filter is adapted to receive a high band receive signal having a high band carrier frequency at the antenna port, and pass the high band receive signal to the high band port. The low pass notch filter is adapted to receive a low band transmit signal having a low band carrier frequency at the low band port, and attenuate distortion in the low band transmit signal about a notch stop band before passing the low band transmit signal to the antenna port. According to one embodiment, the notch stop band includes the high band carrier frequency.
US09118372B2	Method and apparatus for downlink multiuser MIMO transmission in a wireless network A base station transmits to a number of relay stations in a wireless network using a beamforming matrix. The beamforming matrix is generated by first obtaining a column vector from a beamforming matrix associated with each of the relay stations. An intermediate matrix is then generated using these column vectors. A zero-forcing procedure is then utilized to process the intermediate network to generate the final beamforming matrix.
US09118370B2	Method and apparatus for impulsive noise mitigation using adaptive blanker based on BPSK modulation system A method for impulsive noise mitigation using an adaptive blanker based on BPSK modulation system includes estimating narrowband Middleton parameters of impulsive noise from signals received for a fixed time period; calculating a threshold using the estimated narrowband Middleton parameters; operating the first blanker to suppress impulsive noise from the signal received at a given point of time through the comparison of the SNR value of the received signal and the threshold. Further, the method includes operating the second blanker to suppress impulsive noise from the received signal through the comparison of the summation of the threshold and the SNR value with an absolute value of the received signal, when the SNR value is above the threshold.
US09118356B2	Data transport in portable electronic devices The described embodiments relate generally to a dielectric wave guide interconnect for an electronic device including a first routing circuit, a second routing circuit, and a dielectric wave guide coupling the first routing circuit to the second routing circuit. The interconnect may also include a first coupling element securing a first end of the dielectric wave guide proximal to the first routing circuit and a conductive element to insulate the dielectric wave guide from radio-frequency (RF) signals. In some embodiments, the first routing circuit is in a bottom portion of the electronic device; and the second routing circuit is in a top portion of the electronic device. An electronic device including a dielectric wave guide interconnect as above is also disclosed. A coupler for an electronic device including a first end adapted to receive an electrical signal and a propagating electromagnetic signal is also disclosed.
US09118348B2	Decoding apparatus, storage apparatus, and decoding method According to at least one embodiment, a decoding apparatus includes an error correcting module and a change module. The error correcting module decodes for correcting error of encoded data using a low-density party check code and likelihood information. The change module changes a value of the likelihood information if the value of the likelihood information is continuously smaller than a predetermined value.
US09118343B2	Delta-sigma modulator with high input impedance Measurement circuits having a delta-sigma modulator are disclosed. One example measurement circuit includes a low pass filter coupled to receive an input voltage, a switched-capacitor integrator circuit, and a switched comparator circuit. The measurement circuit may generate a digital output made up of a sequence of logic high and logic low levels that are representative of a scaled value of the input voltage output by the low pass filter circuit. Also, by virtue of its switched-capacitor configuration, the electric charge received by the switched difference amplifier circuit may be returned to the input in a manner such that the input to the delta-sigma modulator takes little to no average current from the voltage it measures. In other words, the delta-sigma modulator may have a high input impedance by virtue of its switched-capacitor circuit configuration.
US09118339B2	Companding M-digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for a pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC) The present disclosure provides for an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) which selectively compresses an analog input signal to improve noise performance and dynamic input range. The ADC selectively scales an analog input signal when it is closer to an expected value of one or more signal metrics more than when it is further from the expected value of the one or more signal metrics. For example, during the conversion process, the ADC amplifies the analog input signal when it is closer to a mean value μ by a gain factor while selectively adjusting the gain factor when the analog input signal is further from its mean value μ to selectively compress the analog input signal. This selective compression improves input noise performance and dynamic input range of the ADC when compared to the conventional ADC.
US09118337B2	Analog-digital converter A parallel-type AD converter includes: a plurality of comparators that receive comparison reference potentials different from one another and compare the comparison reference potentials and received analog input signals; an encoder that encodes outputs of the plurality of comparators to output digital signals; and a resistor ladder circuit that resistance-divides a reference voltage to generate the comparison reference potentials and supplies the comparison reference potentials to the comparators through output nodes each positioned between resistors, and is designed to supply a correction current corresponding to noise currents that the comparators generate to the output nodes of the comparison reference potentials in the resistor ladder circuit, and thereby the noise currents that the comparators generate are offset by the correction current, a bias current in the resistor ladder circuit can be decreased, and accuracy deterioration in AD conversion can be suppressed.
US09118332B2	Digital counter and method for measuring a period of time A method for measuring a period of time between a first event and a second event via a hardware counter 2 and of a software counter 3. A digital counter 1 using such a method is also described.
US09118331B2	Contact state detection apparatus A contact state detection apparatus which can accurately detect the pressed state of a contact body such as a probe against an object without damaging the contact body or the object includes a contact body approach section, a probe light source, an imaging device, and a computer unit. The contact body approach section holds a contact body in an inclined attitude with respect to a target contact surface of an object, and displaces the contact body toward the object. The probe light source irradiates light toward the contact body which is being displaced toward the object. The imaging device captures an image of the illuminated contact body and outputs contact body captured image information to the computer unit. The computer unit detects the state of the contact body being pressed against the object based on a change in the contact body captured image information.
US09118329B2	Touch screen panel fabrication method thereof Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a touch screen panel including: sensing patterns in a display region of a transparent base; and sensing lines in a non-display region positioned at an outer side of the display region and coupled to the sensing patterns. Here, the sensing patterns include: a plurality of first sensing cells in a plurality of first lines in a first direction; first connecting lines coupling the first sensing cells in corresponding first lines to each other; second sensing cells in a plurality of second lines in a second direction; and second connecting lines coupling the second sensing cells in corresponding second lines to each other, and the first sensing cells and the second sensing cells each have a stacked structure, and the first connecting lines are integral with an upper layer of the first sensing cells.
US09118328B2	Electronic circuit for optical control of a flip-flop An electronic circuit contains a flip-flop, a switch, a photodiode and a mode-locked laser. The mode-locked laser generates light pulses, which generate a photocurrent in the photodiode the switch transfers the photocurrent to one of two inputs of the flip-flop. The flip-flop outputs its status to at least one output.
US09118327B2	Boolean logic in a state machine lattice Disclosed are methods and devices, among which is a device that includes a finite state machine lattice. The lattice may includes a programmable Boolean logic cell that may be programmed to perform various logic functions on a data stream. The programmability includes an inversion of a first input to the Boolean logic cell, an inversion of a last output of the Boolean logic cell, and a selection of an AND gate or an OR gate as a final output of the Boolean logic cell. The Boolean logic cell also includes end of data circuitry configured to cause the Boolean logic cell to only output after an end of data signifying the end of a data stream is received at the Boolean logic cell.
US09118324B2	Driver IC chip and pad layout method thereof Provided is a driver IC chip of a liquid crystal display (LCD). The driver IC chip has a layout of power pads, which may uniformly apply an adhesive force on the entire adhesion surface of the driver IC chip, when the driver IC chip is mounted on a display panel according to a chip-on-glass (COG) technique.
US09118319B2	Reconfigurable circuit block supporting different interconnection configurations for rate-conversion circuit and processing circuit and related method thereof A reconfigurable circuit block includes a rate-conversion circuit, a processing circuit, a first asynchronous interface circuit, and a second asynchronous interface circuit. The rate-conversion circuit converts a first input signal into a first output signal. The processing circuit processes a second input signal to generate a second output signal. The first asynchronous interface circuit outputs a third output signal asynchronous with the first output signal. The second asynchronous interface circuit outputs a fourth output signal asynchronous with the second output signal. The controllable interconnection circuit transmits the third output signal to the processing circuit to serve as the second input signal when controlled to have a first interconnection configuration, and transmits the fourth output signal to the rate-conversion circuit to serve as the first input signal when controlled to have a second interconnection configuration.
US09118314B2	Adaptive body bias circuit and semiconductor integrated circuit including the same An adaptive body bias (ABB) circuit and a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) having the ABB circuit include: a logic circuit performing logic calculations, a clock line through which a clock signal is transmitted to the logic circuit, and at least one bias line through which a bias voltage is applied to the logic circuit, wherein the bias voltage is applied to a body of a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor constituting the logic circuit, and the bias line is arranged at a predetermined distance from the clock line to shield the clock signal from crosstalk due to other adjacent signal lines.
US09118312B2	On-die termination circuit An on-die termination circuit includes: a clock signal generation block configured to output a clock signal in response to a clock enable signal, a termination block configured to perform a termination operation on an input/output pad in response to the clock signal, a first termination control signal, and a second termination control signal, a first termination control block configured to generate the first termination control signal in response to the clock signal and a latency control signal, a second termination control block configured to control a latency of a second command and to generate the second termination control signal in response to the clock signal and the latency control signal, and a clock enable signal generation block configured to generate the clock enable signal in response to the first command, the first termination control signal, and the second command.
US09118310B1	Programmable delay circuit block A programmable delay circuit block includes an input stage having a cascade input and a clock input, wherein the input stage passes a signal received at the cascade input or a signal received at the clock input. The programmable delay circuit block further may include a delay block configured to generate a delayed signal by applying a selected amount of delay to the signal passed from the input stage and a pulse generator configured to generate a pulse signal having a pulse width that depends upon the amount of delay. The programmable delay circuit block also includes an output stage having a cascade output and a clock output. The output stage is configured to pass an inverted version of the pulse signal or the delayed signal from the cascade output and pass the signal received at the clock input, the inverted version of the pulse signal, or the delayed signal from the clock output.
US09118309B2	Shifter can avoid utilizing partial pulse A shifter that can avoid utilizing a partial pulse, comprising: at least one shifting stage, for receiving an external clock signal or a command triggering clock signal to generate sampling signals according a command signal; and a command triggering clock signal generating circuit, for generating the command triggering clock signal according to the command signal. The shifting stage utilizes the external clock signal to generate the sampling signal but does not utilize the command triggering clock signal to generate the sampling signal, if the command triggering clock signal may have a partial pulse for a cycle that the shifting stage generates the sampling signal.
US09118307B2	Method for generating PWM signals and a pulse width modulation power converter A method and an apparatus for generating PWM signals is provided. Upon detection of a load transient, a new PWM period is started if the load transient occurs during the off-time of a PWM signal and exceeds a specific magnitude.
US09118299B2	Piezoelectric vibration module Disclosed herein is a piezoelectric vibration module that includes a side damper between a vibration plate with a piezoelectric element and an upper case so as to ensure reliability against external shock applied to the side and narrows a spaced distance between the vibration plate and the upper case.
US09118298B2	High frequency module A multilayered high frequency module includes inductor conductor patterns each defined by a linear conductor having a coiled shape on intermediate insulator layers of a multilayer body. A first spiral inductor with its axis extending in the stacking direction is defined by the inductor conductor patterns on respective layers connected through conductive via holes. Overlapped portions of inner regions of the individual inductor conductor patterns within the coiled shape define an air core portion of the first inductor. A capacitor conductor pattern is provided on one layer lower than the insulator layers on which the inductor conductor patterns are provided. The capacitor conductor pattern is a flat plate and located at a position not overlapping with the air core portion when looking at the multilayer body in a plan view.
US09118293B1	Method for processing on mobile device audio signals of remotely executed applications A method and computer program product for running a remote desktop application on a mobile device without audio interference from the other desktop applications, so the remote user applications runs as if it were a native mobile device application. A remote host desktop has a number of applications running simultaneously and producing sounds. A mobile device user selects one application and launches it on his mobile device. The selected application runs on a mobile device and the sounds produced by all other desktop applications are filtered out by special audio control driver implemented on the host system.
US09118288B2	Digitally-controlled power amplifier with bandpass filtering/transient waveform control and related digitally-controlled power amplifier cell A digitally-controlled power amplifier (DPA) includes a radio-frequency (RF) clock input, an amplitude control word (ACW) input, and a plurality of DPA cells. The RF clock input is arranged for receiving an RF clock. The ACW input is arranged for receiving a digital ACW signal. The DPA cells are coupled to the RF clock and the digital ACW signal, wherein at least one of the DPA cells is gradually turned on and off in response to at least one bit of the digital ACW signal.
US09118282B2	Power amplifier and amplification method thereof Provided are a power amplifier and a method thereof. The power amplifier power amplifier includes: a main amplifying unit receiving power; an auxiliary amplifying unit connected in parallel to the main amplifying unit; and a Balun transformer combined with the main amplifying unit and the auxiliary amplifying unit. Respectively different bias voltages are applied to the main amplifying unit and the auxiliary amplifying unit.
US09118280B2	High voltage wide bandwidth amplifier A high voltage amplifier and a method of assembling and of operating a high voltage amplifier are described. The device includes a first metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) driven by a first gate drive circuit. The device also includes a second MOSFET driven by a second gate drive circuit and a first optocoupler coupled to the second gate drive circuit. The first MOSFET and the second MOSFET of the high voltage amplifier drive a first output voltage.
US09118277B2	Apparatus and methods for envelope tracking in radio frequency systems Apparatus and methods for envelope tracking are disclosed. In one embodiment, a power amplifier system including a power amplifier and an envelope tracker is provided. The power amplifier is configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal, and the envelope tracker is configured to control a supply voltage of the power amplifier using an envelope of the RF signal. The envelope tracker includes a buck converter for generating a buck voltage from a battery voltage and a digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) module for adjusting the buck voltage based on the envelope of the RF signal to generate the supply voltage for the power amplifier.
US09118272B2	Light trapping photovoltaic cells A light trapping photovoltaic cell comprising a plurality of cells connected with walls wherein the cells have a plurality of generally straight vertical walls and a bottom region adjacent the generally vertical walls. The bottom region of the cells is pitched toward the center of the bottoms. The light trapping cells provide a structure that allows for improved absorption of incident light. Optionally, a light trapping photovoltaic cell may further comprise a hydrophobic protective layer such as, for example, may be provided by a plurality of nano-sized bumps on the surfaces of the cell walls. Additionally, the cells may exhibit other properties including, for example, deicing, anti-fouling, and self-cleaning.
US09118267B2	Fan control circuit A fan control circuit includes a hardware controller, a rectifier circuit, first to third electronic switches, and a fan. When the hardware controller outputs a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to the rectifier circuit and the fan, the rectifier circuit transforms the PWM signal into a direct current (DC) voltage and outputs the DC voltage to the first electronic switch. The first electronic switch is turned on, and the second and third electronic switches are turned off. A rotation speed of the fan is controlled by the PWM signal received from the hardware controller. When the hardware controller does not output the PWM signal, the first electronic switch is turned off, the second and third electronic switches are turned on, a DC power supply supplies power to the fan through the third electronic switch, and the fan rotates at full speed.
US09118266B2	Synchronous energy source switching controller and method of operation thereof The present invention relates to a motor assembly, a method of operation thereof and a transport vehicle provided with the motor assembly. The motor assembly is provided with an energy source switching controller that is in synchronization with motor operation and provides an improved utilization of energy storage sources in an electric, hybrid electric, or fuel cell based motor vehicle drive train application.
US09118259B2	Phase-shifted dual-bridge DC/DC converter with wide-range ZVS and zero circulating current Disclosed is a family of new DC/DC converters and a new control method. The converter comprises two bridge inverters, two full-wave rectification circuits and a current-doubler filter. Each inverter is able to generate a symmetrical and isolated AC output voltage. Phase-shift control is employed to control the phase difference between the two bridge inverters. By shifting the phase, the converter changes the two inverters' output voltage overlapping area to regulate its output voltage. The bridge inverters always operate at 50% duty cycle, like an open loop Bus Converter, to achieve wide-range zero voltage switching and eliminate circulating current for normal operation. For low output voltage regulation and soft start, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control is used. The converters and the control method improve power conversion efficiency, maximize magnetic component utilization, reduce semiconductor stress and decrease EMI emission.
US09118258B2	Switching power converter and control method thereof A switching power converter with an input terminal configured to receive a first input voltage; an output terminal configured to provide an output current to a load, wherein the output current has a peak value and an average value; a power switch; a first loop coupled to the input terminal, wherein the first loop configured to generate a first output signal based on the first input voltage; a second loop configured to generate a second output signal based on the output current; a multiplier configured to generate a multiplying signal based on multiplying the first output signal with the second output signal; and a driving circuit configured to generate a driving signal based on the multiplying signal to control the power switch, so as to reduce the ratio between the peak value and the average value of the output current.
US09118257B2	LLC single stage power factor correction converter A single stage PFC LLC power converter is consist of two transformer, one forward transformer, one main transformer. The first winding of the forward transformer is connected with a capacitor in series then paralleled with another capacitor and this circuit is connected with the primary winding of the main transformer in series as primary load circuit in LLC power converter, the energy through the main transformer is transferred to the secondary circuit and the energy through the first winding of the forward transformer is transferred to the second winding of the forward transformer to correct the input current waveform.
US09118255B2	Flyback power converter and electronic apparatus A flyback power converter is disclosed. The flyback power converter includes a voltage transformer, a main switch, a synchronous rectification switch, a synchronous rectification control circuit, a sampling circuit and an operation circuit. A control end of the main switch receives a main switch signal so as to control the main switch. The synchronous rectification control circuit transmits control signal to control end of the synchronous rectification switch according to sensing signal received. The sampling circuit samples the state of the synchronous rectification switch so as to generate first logic signal and second logic signal. The operation circuit executes timing for charging/discharging according to the first and the second logic-signal, so as to output switch cut-off pulse signal to a voltage-dividing circuit. If voltage of the sensing signal is lower than predetermined threshold voltage, the synchronous rectification switch enters into cut-off state according to the control signal.
US09118252B2	Switching power source, power-supply system and image forming apparatus A switching power source includes: a transformer; a semiconductor switching element that is provided at a primary side of the transformer; a rectifying-and-smoothing circuit that is provided at a secondary side of the transformer; a switching controller configured to perform a switching control to turn on-and-off the semiconductor switching element, wherein the switching controller comprises: a stoppage circuit configured to perform a stoppage process to stop the switching control when a first-level control signal is input, a restart circuit configured to restart the switching control when a second-level control signal different in its level from the first-level control signal, and a limiting circuit configured to limit, at the time of a start-up of the switching power source, a performance of the stoppage process performed by the stoppage circuit until an output voltage of the switching power source increases to a target voltage.
US09118251B2	Power supply device A power supply device includes a control unit performing PFM control for a switching element, a voltage detection unit detecting an output voltage of a converter, and a signal generation circuit. The control unit calculates a first control command value based on the output voltage, calculates a new first control command value adjusting the output voltage to a target voltage, calculates a difference value therebetween, and outputs a voltage, which has a polarity corresponding to the difference value, for a first output period corresponding to the difference value. The signal generation circuit generates a pulse signal in which a frequency increases or decreases in accordance with a first command value voltage corresponding to a charged voltage at a storage element according to the new first control command value. The switching element is driven by the pulse signal that has a finer adjustment unit frequency.
US09118250B2	Power supply circuit for remotely turning-on electrical appliances A power supply circuit for an electrical appliance, including a turning-on stage configured for determining a transition from a turned-off state, in which the power supply circuit is off and does not supply electric power, to a turned-on state of the power supply circuit. The turning-on stage includes a transducer of the remote-control type configured for triggering the transition in response to the reception of a wireless signal. In some embodiments, operating power is transmitted from a remote controller to a control circuit of the electronic equipment, such that the electronic equipment can be turned on remotely but draws zero standby power.
US09118244B2	Power supply apparatus and image forming apparatus including the same A power supply apparatus controls an output voltage based on a difference between a predetermined reference voltage and a feedback voltage obtained from the output voltage. The power supply apparatus includes a feedback voltage adjustment circuit. The feedback voltage adjustment circuit is configured to gradually reduce or increase the feedback voltage by a predetermined amount, when a condition for increasing or reducing the output voltage to a target value is satisfied.
US09118242B2	Slab inductor device providing efficient on-chip supply voltage conversion and regulation A method is disclosed to operate a voltage conversion circuit such as a buck regulator circuit that has a plurality of switches coupled to a voltage source; a slab inductor having a length, a width and a thickness, where the slab inductor is coupled between the plurality of switches and a load and carries a load current during operation of the plurality of switches; and a means to reduce or cancel the detrimental effect of other wires on same chip, such as a power grid, potentially conducting return current and thereby degrading the functionality of this slab inductor. In one embodiment the wires can be moved further away from the slab inductor and in another embodiment magnetic materials can be used to shield the slab inductor from at least one such interfering conductor.
US09118233B2	Electric machine, insulating cap and method for forming an insulating cap The electric machine has a stator with windings connected to phase connections. An insulating cap protects the reciprocally connected portions of the phase connections and windings. The insulating cap has a box-shaped body with an opening for the introduction of a winding within it. The body defines a seat housing the phase connection. The seat is formed in one piece with the body.
US09118232B2	Electric machine cooling system A cooling system for an electric machine is provided. The cooling system includes an airflow restriction feature configured to provide airflow to a radial air channel of the electric machine.
US09118226B2	Heat engine system with a supercritical working fluid and processes thereof Aspects of the invention disclosed herein generally provide heat engine systems and methods for generating electricity. In one configuration, a heat engine system contains a working fluid circuit having high and low pressure sides and containing a working fluid (e.g., sc-CO2). The system further contains a power turbine configured to convert thermal energy to mechanical energy, a motor-generator configured to convert the mechanical energy into electricity, and a pump configured to circulate the working fluid within the working fluid circuit. The system further contains a heat exchanger configured to transfer thermal energy from a heat source stream to the working fluid, a recuperator configured to transfer thermal energy from the low pressure side to the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit, and a condenser (e.g., air- or fluid-cooled) configured to remove thermal energy from the working fluid within the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit.
US09118225B2	Coil with twisted wires and stator assembly of a rotary electric machine A rotary electric machine includes a stator having an open slot configuration and a plurality of stator poles with a coil positioned about each stator pole. Each coil has a plurality of electrically conductive wires defining a group of wires and the group of wires is wrapped generally around a stator pole to define a plurality of turns. At least a portion of the group of wires is twisted, and the portion of the group of wires has between approximately 1 and 5 twists per turn. A method of fabricating a stator assembly is also disclosed.
US09118221B2	Magnetic propulsion motor The present disclosure relates to a magnetic motor including a drive magnet, a motion magnet, and an acceleration field. The drive magnet includes magnetic shielding, typically on a portion thereof, altering the magnetic field of the drive magnet. In some embodiments, the motion magnet has a cross-section that is generally in the shape of a ‘V’ or ‘A’. The acceleration field is created by the interaction between the drive magnet and the motion magnet as the motion magnet is passed through the altered magnetic field of the drive magnet. The altered magnetic field of the drive magnet may often be near a first end of the drive magnet. In further embodiments, the motion magnet can be operably coupled to an output shaft and rotate around the central axis of the output shaft. The present disclosure, also relates to a device, including the magnetic motor, for generating energy from a turbine.
US09118219B2	Methods and systems for determining an association between nodes and phases via a smart grid Determining the number of loads associated with each phase in a three-phase electric power system. The loads can be associated with the consumption of electric power at a node, such as a metering device located at a facility. In one implementation, a central device that is connected to such nodes via a smart grid and a radio frequency mesh network can be leveraged to determine a phase in real time. For example, the central device can include a processor that executes one or more computer program modules which can cause a load tap changer having access to a distribution feeder in the smart grid to vary a voltage level supplied across each phase of the power system. Additionally, the central device can communicate with nodes in the mesh network to cause the nodes to perform voltage measurements and collect information related to such measurements.
US09118217B2	Portable computing device with wireless power distribution A core module for a portable computing device includes a wireless power receiver module, a battery power module, a power supply module, a processing module, and an RF link interface. The wireless power receiver module, when operable, receives a wireless power transmit signal and converts it into a supply voltage. The battery power module, when operable, outputs a battery voltage. The power supply module, when operable, converts the supply voltage or the battery voltage into one or more power supply voltages. The processing module is operable to select one of the battery voltage, the supply voltage, and one of the one or more power supply voltages to produce a selected voltage. The RF link interface outputs the selected voltage on to an RF link of the portable computing device for providing power to one or more multi mode RF units within the portable computing device.
US09118216B2	Parametric power multiplication In various embodiments, power multipliers and associated methods are provided that employ parametric excitation. In one embodiment, a ring power multiplier is provided that has a ring. A parametric reactance is associated with the ring that negates at least a portion of a physical resistance of the ring.
US09118215B2	High voltage energy harvesting and conversion renewable energy utility size electric power systems and visual monitoring and control systems for said systems A renewable energy, utility size electric power system is provided with a high voltage, renewable energy harvesting network connected by a direct current link to a centralized grid synchronized multiphase regulated current source inverter system. The harvesting network includes distributed renewable energy power optimizers and transmitters that control delivery of renewable energy to the grid synchronized multiphase regulated current source inverter system. A visual immersion monitoring and control system can be provided for a three-dimensional, visually-oriented, virtual reality display, command and control environment.
US09118212B2	Solar inverter for an extended insolation range and operating method An inverter system (1) for a photovoltaic solar installation for generating an AC voltage from a DC voltage of a solar generator (2) is provided which includes an additional energy storage device (38) which is arranged in an energy transfer path that can be activated when needed. A control arrangement (31, 39) for monitoring and controlling the operation of the inverter system (1) is designed to detect short-term energy peaks of the insolation at the solar generator and, upon a presence of insolation peaks, to activate the energy transfer path (36) in order to cause a transfer of energy from the solar generator (2) to the energy storage device (38). Also a method for the operation of an inverter system for a photovoltaic solar installation for the utilization of insolation peaks at the solar generator is disclosed.
US09118211B2	Power supply system, power-supply device and power-supply method A plurality of power-supply devices, in which power generated by solar energy is stored, are allowed to exchange power among themselves. Power generated by a solar panel connected to a first power-supply device is stored in a power storage section of the first power-supply device. Power supplied by the second power-supply device, which has a power storage section for storing power generated by the solar panel, is stored in the power storage section of first power-supply device. Power stored in the power storage section of the first power-supply device is supplied externally.
US09118209B2	Power generator device and portable electronic device employing the same A power generator device for a portable electronic device includes a main body, a magnet, and a winding. The main body defines a receiving space therein. The magnet is received in the receiving space, and is capable of sliding in the receiving space. The winding is coiled on the main body. When the magnet slides in the receiving space, the winding cuts magnetic force lines of the magnet, and induction current is generated in the winding to charge a rechargeable battery of the portable electronic device.
US09118206B2	Management of an electric power generation and storage system In one technique of the present invention, DC electric power from a DC bus is inverted to provide AC electricity to one or more electrical loads, and AC power from a power generating device is rectified to provide a first variable amount of electric power to the DC bus. This technique also includes determining power applied to the electrical loads, and dynamically controlling the amount of power supplied from the power generating device and an electrical energy storage device in response to the power applied to the loads.
US09118203B2	Systems and methods for induction charging with a closed magnetic loop Systems, methods, and computer program products for induction charging with a closed magnetic loop are described herein. In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless power transmission comprises a plurality of coplanar coils, each of the plurality of coplanar coils configured to be individually energized and produce a magnetic field. Further, the controller is configured to reverse polarity of the magnetic field of at least one of the plurality of coplanar coils based on a measure of coupling between coils and to select at least two of the plurality of coplanar coils for wireless power transmission based on the measure of coupling between coils.
US09118199B2	Universal try me module A universal module capable of being removably coupled to each of a plurality of distinct products for demonstrating a functionality is described. In the universal module an activation switch is operatively coupled to a DC power source. An external electrical connector is operatively coupled to the DC power source and the activation switch. An external electrical connector is configured to removably couple the universal module to an external circuit of one of the plurality of distinct products. The circuit has an integrated circuit that is operatively coupled to the DC power source, the activation switch and the external electrical connector. When the external electrical connector is coupled to the external circuit and the activation switch is activated, the integrated circuit outputs a voltage from the DC power source through the external electrical connector to enable a functionality of a coupled product for a predetermined period of time.
US09118198B2	Balancing of battery cells connected in parallel Systems and techniques for parallel battery balancing are described. A battery assembly comprises a first battery interface and a second battery interface; the first battery interface may connect to a first battery exhibiting a first voltage profile and the second battery interface may connect to a second battery exhibiting a second voltage profile. The battery assembly further comprises a current flow control mechanism to direct current flow to, from, and between the first battery and the second battery, with current directed to each battery being adapted so as to be compatible with the voltage profile of the battery.
US09118197B2	Charging control system A charging control system is configured to calculate an internal resistance line indicating a relation between a value of a charging current and a value of a voltage of a battery, which voltage occurs when the charging current has flown into the battery, to obtain a maximum inputtable value point SMAX corresponding to a maximum inputtable power/current and a currently-inputted value point SINP corresponding to a charging power/current currently inputted to the battery, these points existing on the calculated internal resistance line. The charging control system is also configured to calculate a point located between the maximum inputtable value point SMAX and the currently-inputted value point SINP, as a target point STRG corresponding to a target charging power/current point, and to set, based on the calculated target point STRG, a charging power/current for charging the battery.
US09118194B2	Configurable apparatus and methods for supplying power and data to electronic devices Embodiments of a system, topology, and methods for providing electrical power to electronic devices from various power sources are described generally herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09118193B2	Bidirectional wireless charging/discharging device for portable electronic device A bidirectional wireless charging/discharging device for the portable electronic device includes a logic control unit, a boost/buck unit, first and second reverse current suppressors, a control switch, and a receipt/transmission mode selection unit. The logic control unit includes an automatic mode selection resetting module. The reverse current suppressor provide function of reverse current prevention and switching. The boost/buck unit controls stepping up/down of voltage in a charging operation. The logic control unit detects if a load exists and controls the operations of the boost/buck unit and the reverse current suppressor and is used in combination with the control switch to control the performance of charging or discharging and is further used in combination with the receipt or transmission mode selection unit to select a desired mode of operation. The receipt/transmission mode selection unit is electrically connected to automatic mode selection resetting module.
US09118187B1	Vibrational energy harvester Some examples include an energy harvester for use in an electronic device to convert mechanical energy associated with vibrations of the electronic device into electrical energy. For instance, an energy harvester including rows of piezoelectric cantilevers may be arranged around a proof mass and may be utilized to convert the vibrations into electrical energy. In some examples, the energy harvester may include an electromagnetic energy harvester in addition to, or in place of the piezoelectric energy harvester.
US09118186B2	Multiple outlet sequenced power strip A multiple outlet sequenced power strip with only a specific number of outlets capable of running at any one time which is comprised of at least: a housing, input and output outlets, and a form of variable motor; thus allowing for the possible use of multiple high power devices on one wall socket and any breaker.
US09118182B2	Power curve correlation system A power curve correlation system is disclosed. The power curve correlation system includes a system including: at least one computing device configured to verify a forecast of a power network load for a component by performing actions including: obtaining a set of load data for the component in the power network over a period; identifying similar load patterns in the set of load data using a pattern recognition technique, independent of at least one of: a scale for a component load, a minimum component load value or a maximum component load value; grouping the identified similar load patterns into distinct groups; categorizing at least one of the distinct groups according to a recurring event associated with a load pattern in the at least one distinct group; and providing the categorized group for verifying the forecast of the power network load for the component using the at least one categorized group.
US09118181B2	Method of fault phase selection and fault type determination The present invention is concerned with a method for faulted phase selection and fault type determination in electric power lines applicable both to series compensated and uncompensated power lines. The method comprising a fault inception detection and an estimation of fault phase current signals, pre-fault current signals and zero-sequence current in order to receive the absolute value of incremental current signals and their maximum value from which real value indicators for phase to phase faults, real value indicators for 3-phase fault and a real value indicator for ground fault are determined. The method further comprises calculating the maximum of the value of all fault type indicators (Fflt), determining the fault type, which determines the fault type on the basis that the index (flt) means the specific type of fault indicated by the value of flt; and presenting the real fault type indicator (Fmax).
US09118179B2	Integrated circuit device and method for detecting an excessive voltage state An integrated circuit device comprising at least one analog to digital converter. The at least one ADC comprises at least one input operably coupled to at least one external contact of the integrated circuit device. The integrated circuit device further comprises detection circuitry comprising at least one detection module. The at least one detection module being arranged to receive at a first input thereof an indication of a voltage level at the at least one input of the at least one ADC, compare the received indication to a threshold value, and if the received indication exceeds the threshold value, output an indication that an excessive voltage state at the at least one input of the at least one ADC has been detected.
US09118178B2	Traction motor drive system for a locomotive A traction motor drive system may include a plurality of armatures arranged in parallel with each other. The traction motor drive system may also include a plurality of field circuits arranged in series with one another, where each field circuit is associated with a respective one of the armatures. The plurality of field circuits may be arranged in parallel with the plurality of armatures. The traction motor drive system may also include a field isolation system. The field isolation system may include a shunt circuit associated with at least one of the field circuits. The shunt circuit may have a first and second shunt terminal. The field isolation system may also include a first field switch arranged in series with the plurality of field circuits. The first field switch may be configured to switch between the first shunt terminal of the shunt circuit and a first field terminal of at least one of the field circuits. The field system may also include a second field switch, arranged in series with the plurality of field circuits. The second field switch may be configured to switch between the second shunt terminal of the shunt circuit and a second field terminal of at least one of the field circuits.
US09118176B2	Radio frequency input circuit with ESD protection function There is provided a radio frequency input circuit including a first direct current blocking unit provided between an input terminal and an input circuit unit and blocking a direct current voltage introduced through the input terminal, a first ESD protection circuit unit provided in parallel with the first direct current blocking unit and forming a bypass path according to an ESD voltage introduced through the input terminal, and a ground circuit unit provided between a first connection node between the first direct current blocking unit and the input circuit unit, and a ground, and forming a ground path according to the ESD voltage.
US09118174B2	GFCI with voltage level comparison and indirect sampling A circuit interrupting device having an auto-monitoring circuit for automatically testing various functions and structures of the device. The auto-monitoring circuit initiates an auto-monitoring routine which, among other things, establishes a self-test fault during either the positive or negative half-wave, or both, of an AC power cycle and determines whether the detection mechanisms within the device properly detect the self-test fault. An early detection signal indicates that the self-test fault was properly detected without interfering with the normal operation of the detection circuitry and without causing a false trip within the device. Additional functionality of the auto-monitoring circuit permits automatic verification that the device is properly wired, that is, not miswired, and determines whether the device has reached the end of its useful life.
US09118173B2	Digital Protection control system and digital protection control apparatus Disclosed are a digital protection control system and a digital protection control apparatus, wherein the digital protection control apparatus can easily be made to have more terminals, even when the number of terminals of a power transmission line increases. The digital protection control system has, as terminal stations thereof, a reference station that is to become the reference point for the sampling time at which power grid current information is to be taken in, tail-end stations that take in power grid current information from the power grid system, and intermediate stations that are connected between the reference station and the tail-end stations via transmission paths. The intermediate station is provided with an uplink transmission unit that is connected to a transmission path at the reference station side thereof, and a plurality of downlink transmission units that are connected to transmission paths at the tail-end station side thereof. The intermediate station also has the time thereof to be subordinate to the time of the terminal station connected to the uplink transmission unit thereof, and the time of the terminal stations connected to the downlink transmission units thereof are made to be subordinate to the intermediate station, with the time thereof used as reference time.
US09118171B2	Electrical cable seal and method of making A flame sensor apparatus and a cable assembly apparatus are provided for use in sensing characteristics of a flame within a combustion chamber. The flame sensor apparatus includes an electrical assembly remote from a sensor assembly. A cable assembly extends between the sensor assembly and the electrical assembly. The cable assembly includes two cable ends and a housing that defines an internal volume. Cable fittings are connected to the cable ends through a first seal. An electrical cable is inserted through cable fitting openings in each cable fitting and the internal volume of the housing. A second seal is located in the annular spaces between the electrical cable and each cable fitting opening, configured to prevent moisture and contaminants from passing through the cable fitting opening. Additionally, a method of sealing an electrical cable and a flexible conduit is provided.
US09118166B2	Tuning rare earth ion emission wavelength in phosphate based glasses using cerium oxide The invention relates to a Nd-doped (and/or Yb-doped and/or Er-doped) phosphate laser glass having a peak emission wavelength that is shorter than 1054 nm. Cerium oxide (CeO2) is incorporated into a phosphate glass host system, preferably in replacement of lanthanum oxide, to shift the peak emission wavelength to a wavelength shorter than 1054 nm. The invention further relates to a laser system using mixed-glass arrangement and phase compensation, wherein one of the glasses of the mixed glass system is an Nd-doped (and/or Yb-doped and/or Er-doped) phosphate laser glass having a peak emission wavelength that is shorter than 1054 nm, and a method of generating a laser beam pulse using such a laser system.
US09118164B1	Composite laser gain medium A composite laser gain medium is comprised of a first rare-earth element doped core; and a second rare-earth element doped cladding, at least partially, adjacent to the core. A portion of the lasing by the cladding at one wavelength within the composite laser gain medium is absorbed by the core so as to cause lasing of the core at a different wavelength. At least two distinct rare earth element pairs may be used in embodiments: (1) thulium (Tm) as a cladding rare-earth dopant and holmium (Ho) as the core rare-earth dopant; and (2) ytterbium (Yb) as a cladding rare-earth dopant and erbium (Er) as the core rare-earth dopant. Other rare earth element pairs are also believed possible. The laser composite gain medium may be configured to have a slab, or a cylindrical geometry.
US09118162B2	Composite semiconductor light source pumped by a spontaneous light emitter A composite light source includes a substrate having a top surface, and a first vertical light source formed in the substrate. The first light source includes least a lower mirror, a first active region above the lower mirror, wherein the first active region has a thickness sufficient when electrically pumped to emit predominantly a spontaneous vertical emission from the first active region towards the top surface having an angular range of at least (≧) 30°. A second light source is formed in the substrate above the first active region including a second active region. The spontaneous vertical emission is at a first wavelength λ1 that optically drives said second active region to provide an emission at a second wavelength λ2, wherein λ2>λ1.
US09118161B2	Laser diode with internal air cooling The invention relates to a laser diode (2) comprising a plurality of individual emitters (EE) constructed on a substrate (8), said laser diode (2) comprising a housing which consists of a first contact part (13), a second contact part (15), an optical element (19b), a backplate (12) and two side pieces (11), with a plurality of first spacers (9o) being arranged between the substrate (8) and the first contact part (13) and a plurality of second spacers (9u) being arranged between the individual emitters (EE) and the second contact part (15). Incisions (17a) through which a cooling medium can flow are formed between each of the individual emitters (EE). The invention also relates to a device comprising at least one laser diode (2) of this type.
US09118160B2	VCSEL and manufacturing method of the same Provided is a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The VCSEL includes a silicon substrate, a lower reflective layer disposed on the silicon substrate, a light generation laser disposed on the lower reflective layer, and an upper reflective layer disposed on the light generation layer. The lower reflective layer, the light generation layer, and the upper reflective layer may include a III-V semiconductor light source-active layer monolithically integrated on a first impurity layer by wafer bonding.
US09118157B2	Electrical connector An electrical connector is to be connected to a mating electrical connector in a connecting direction. The electrical connector includes a terminal; and a housing for holding the terminal. The terminal includes a board connecting portion to be connected to a board; a holding portion fixed to the housing; a contact region for contacting a mating contact portion of the mating electrical connector; a contact piece capable of elastically deforming; and a contact portion formed at a distal end portion of the contact piece. The housing includes an inner piece portion and an outer piece portion. The contact piece is disposed between the inner piece portion and the outer piece portion. The outer piece portion includes inner piece holding portions at both sides thereof. The inner piece holding portions are away from each other by a distance greater than a width of the inner piece portion.
US09118156B2	Coaxial connector A coaxial connector includes an inner tube, an outer tube, a center connector unit and a resilient member. The inner and outer tube each have a first/second body, and each of the first and second bodies has a semi-circular first/second tubular portion. A first flange extends outward from the front end of the first tubular portion. The outer tube has a first stepped portion formed in the inside of the front end of the second tubular portion thereof. The center connector unit is securely located in the first and second bodies. The resilient member has a curved body with two legs bent from two ends thereof. The curved body of the resilient member is engaged between the first flange and the first stepped portion. The legs extend beyond the first and second tubular portions. The coaxial connector is easily assembled and has lower manufacturing cost.
US09118152B2	Electrical connector An electrical connector includes an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals, and a metal shell. The insulative housing has a body portion, two tongues, and a polarizing portion, the body portion has a mating face and a rear end face opposite to the mating face, the two tongues are spaced apart from each other and protrude forwardly from the mating face and are arranged side-by-side along a horizontal direction. In an embodiment the metal shell surrounds the two tongues so as to define an inserting port and a polarizing portion is recessed downwardly from the top wall and is positioned between the two tongues, and a latching arm is bent from the bottom wall and is provided with a latching hole engaged with the retaining portion of the insulative housing. In an embodiment, the metal shell includes a strengthen tab protruding from the bottom wall.
US09118148B2	Flexible battery connector A battery connector including an electrical connector including a plurality of terminals, each mechanically and electrically connectable with a battery, the terminals being in electrical communication with each other and mechanically connected to each other with a joint member that permits flexing the batteries with respect to one another.
US09118147B1	Electrical connector An electrical connector includes a housing holding an array of contacts. The housing has opposite first and second sides and opposite first and second ends. The housing has a base. The housing has side walls extending from the base at the first and second sides of the housing with a cavity defined between the side walls. The contacts are arranged in the cavity. The cavity is configured to receive a mating connector along a mating axis in a vertical direction. The housing includes a first end wall at the first end of the housing extending between the opposite side walls. The housing includes a second wall at the second end of the housing extending between the opposite side walls. The second end wall may be vertically offset with respect to the first end wall.
US09118145B2	Latch assemblies for connector systems A connector system includes a base mount and a slider latch received in the base mount. The slider latch has a profiled groove configured to latchably receive a cam of a connector module. A faceplate is coupled to the base mount. The faceplate has an opening providing access to the slider latch. An ejector button is operatively coupled to the slider latch to move the slider latch from a latched position to an unlatched position. The slider latch is configured to eject the connector module as the slider latch moves between the latched and unlatched positions. A spring engages the slider latch and acts on the slider latch in a biasing direction. The spring forces the slider latch to return to the latched position after the ejector button is released.
US09118144B2	Multi-level connector and use thereof that mitigates data signaling reflections An improved electrical connector for connecting bus lines to a card such as a memory card or media card, including a multi-level connector comprising a latching device having a plurality of insertable latch positions that advantageously allows for selectively connecting or isolating an electrical path to an adjoining connector. The connectors of unpopulated DIMM slots are disconnected from the network along with the traces that would normally form a stub with associated undesirable signal reflections that would otherwise disturb the signal transmitted to the receiving end if not properly terminated. The contacts of the edge connector itself are used as a means to selectively connect or disconnect adjacent/downstream cards in a serially cascaded architecture. The burden of the stubs due to unpopulated card slots and the need to place one card at the far end of the network are thus eliminated.
US09118140B2	Chip card holder with protective cover for portable electronic devices A chip card holder includes a housing, a printed circuit board, a seat, a pivotable shaft, a protective cover, a receiving frame, and a tray. The housing defines an opening. The seat is slidably received in the housing. The protective cover is rotatably connected to the seat with the pivotable shaft configured for covering the opening. The receiving frame is mounted on the printed circuit board. The tray is positioned on the seat, and is slidably received in the receiving frame.
US09118139B1	Flip lid interlock A flip lid interlock that disables or locks out operation of non-GFCI duplex receptacles when, a generator is coupled to the wiring system of a building (and therefore is grounded). When the power cord that is interconnected with the building wiring system is engaged with the multipole locking receptacle, the flip lid is in an open position and prevents an electrical device from being powered by the generator using the duplex receptacles. When the power cord is not connected to the multipole locking receptacle, the flip lid is in a closed position and allows an electrical device to be powered by the generator using the duplex receptacles.
US09118131B2	Electrical terminal An electric terminal (1) made of sheet metal having a contact portion (3) including a top wall (7), a bottom wall (8), a first side wall (9) and a second side wall (10) and a contact spring arm (6) having: a contact beam (14) for achieving an electric contact with a complementary contact element and being integrally connected to the top wall (7) and a reinforcement beam (15), wherein the contact beam (14) and the reinforcement beam (15) together form an L-shaped cross-section, wherein the reinforcement beam (15) is only connected to the contact beam (14).
US09118129B2	Fuse unit, mold structure, and molding method using mold structure A mold structure includes a fixed mold and a movable mold to bury a bus bar having a main body circuit unit with a tuning-fork terminal along with molding of a resin molded product. The fixed mold and the movable mold being joined together are configured to nip a terminal base of the tuning-fork terminal between a terminal base receiving portion of the fixed mold and a terminal base abut portion of the movable mold in a state where the tuning-fork terminal is protruded outside a cavity which is formed by mold main body portions of the fixed mold and the movable mold being joined together and into which resin is injected.
US09118128B2	Electric connector having a reinforcement frame Provided is a technique for achieving a narrower pitch without causing any problem in terms of contact force and strength at each contact point. A socket includes a frame body including an outer peripheral frame and a plurality of elongated slit frames arranged in parallel with each other on the inside of the outer peripheral frame; a plurality of contact blocks inserted between the adjacent slit frames and held on the frame body; and a reinforcement frame formed separately from the frame body and mounted on the frame body so as to intersect the slit frames.
US09118127B2	Connector A connector includes: a housing including terminal accommodating chambers, and lances projecting into the terminal accommodating chambers and capable of withdrawing from the terminal accommodating chambers due to elastic deformation of the lances; terminals inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers and each including a terminal contact part formed on its leading side for contact with a mating terminal and an engagement part foamed for engagement with respective lance and a front holder fitted to a front part of the housing to move between a formal engagement position and a temporary engagement position to hold the terminal contact part. The housing is provided with an opening which exposes engagement points between the lances and the engagement parts in a direction generally perpendicular to an elastically-deformable direction of the lances.
US09118126B2	Power semiconductor package with conductive clip According to one disclosed embodiment, a power semiconductor package includes an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) residing on a package substrate, where the IGBT includes a plurality of solderable front metal (SFM) coated emitter segments situated atop the IGBT and connected to an emitter of the IGBT. The power semiconductor package also includes a conductive clip coupling the plurality of SFM coated emitter segments to an emitter pad on the package substrate. Additionally, the power semiconductor package includes a gate pad on the package substrate coupled to a gate of the IGBT, a collector pad on the package substrate situated under the IGBT and coupled to a collector of the IGBT, and an emitter terminal, a collector terminal and a gate terminal of the package substrate that are routed to the emitter pad, collector pad, and gate pad, respectively.
US09118123B2	Crimp terminal, crimp-connection structural body, and method for manufacturing crimp-connection structural body A crimp terminal includes; a crimping portion and a cover covering the conductor portion, the crimping portion is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape in cross section and has a first end portion and a second end portion opposite to the first end portion. The conductor portion is inserted into the first end portion in a longitudinal direction, and the second end is sealed. The second end portion at the opposite side is sealed by welding. The crimping portion, in which the exposed conductor portion is crimped, further includes a locking section locking the exposed conductor portion. A length between the first end portion into which the conductor portion is inserted and a portion, of the locking section, that is the closest to the first end portion is larger than a length of the exposed conductor portion of the insulated wire.
US09118118B2	Increased gain in an array antenna through optimal suspension of piece-wise linear conductors The present invention provides a high-performance and lightweight helical antenna element and array thereof for use in an aircraft communication system or the like, where stringent spatial restrictions and gain requirements generally apply. The RF performance of the array is enhanced by using ribs and sleeves to reduce the dielectric volume of the support structures of the antenna elements, and by providing apertures within the sleeves of the support structures and between the ribs thereof.
US09118117B2	Receiving and transmitting device for wireless transceiver A receiving and transmitting device for wireless transceivers is revealed. The device has been developed from a high isolation MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) antenna used for 2.45 GHz WLAN operation. The antenna is a dual-fed coupled monopole MIMO antenna that includes a dielectric substrate and a MIMO antenna. A grounding portion with two signal ends for feeding signals is disposed on the dielectric substrate. A T-shaped metal plate is extended from the grounding portion and located between two signal ends. A C-shaped parasitic element is arranged at the metal plate and there is a certain distance therebetween so as to adjust the isolation. The antenna is symmetrical for improving isolation and is suitable for USB dongles or small-sized wireless mobile devices.
US09118115B2	Interwoven spiral antenna An interwoven spiral antenna includes a non-inverted spiral section, an inverted spiral section, and an excitation region. The non-inverted spiral section has a spiral shape and the inverted spiral section has an inverted spiral shape. The excitation region is coupled to at least one of the non-inverted spiral section and the inverted spiral section, wherein, when excited, the interwoven spiral antenna has a circular polarization.
US09118114B2	Window glass for vehicle and antenna Window glass for vehicle may include an antenna conductor having electrodes provided on a surface of a dielectric on a side opposite from a conductive film. The conductive film may include a slot with a first end part that opens at a peripheral edge part of the conductive film. The antenna conductor may include a loop-shaped antenna element which electrodes serve as a feeding point, and projections of the electrodes onto a glass plate are located at positions not overlapping the conductive film, and a projection of the loop-shaped antenna element onto the glass plate forms a crossover part that crosses the slot.
US09118108B2	Antenna switching devices, methods, and systems This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus for antenna switching for simultaneous communication. In one embodiment, a wireless communication apparatus is provided. The wireless communication apparatus includes a plurality of antennas including a first antenna and a second antenna. The wireless communication apparatus further includes a plurality of receive circuits including a first receive circuit. The wireless communication apparatus further includes a controller configured to determine one or more performance characteristics of the first antenna over a plurality of sources. The controller is further configured to selectively switch the first receive circuit from receiving wireless communications via the first antenna to receive wireless communications via the second antenna if the one or more performance characteristics of the first antenna over the plurality of sources fall simultaneously. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.
US09118106B2	Variable orientation antenna platform An antenna platform may include a support structure having a plurality of junctions configured to receive and connect at least two of a plurality of supports. At least one inner support may extend inwardly with respect to the support structure from one of the junctions to a center support. The center support may have a post and a base wherein the post may be configured to receive the at least one inner support extending from the support structure. The base may include a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being fixed to the post and rotatable with respect to the second portion. Upon rotating the first portion, the support structure may also be rotated via the at least one inner support connected to the post.
US09118104B2	Oversized antenna flex This is directed to an antenna for use in an electronic device. The antenna can be constructed from a flex and printed trace, such that the flex is originally defined to be as large or nearly as large as possible to fit within portion of the electronic device dedicated to the antenna. This can allow the antenna trace to vary as the antenna is tuned without requiring a new flex having a different shape. In addition, this can allow the antenna design to be decoupled from the mechanical considerations related to mounting the antenna within the electronic device.
US09118101B2	Signal path for a small signal occurring in a magnetic resonance system A signal path for a small signal oscillating at a frequency of at least 20 GHz occurring in a magnetic resonance system has a signal source generating the small signal and a signal sink processing the small signal. The small signal is transmitted on a path from the signal source to the signal sink at least in a part section via a cable. The part section of the signal path, in which the small signal is transmitted via the cable, is embodied at least partly as a dielectric waveguide. The dielectric waveguide is disposed at least partly within an examination volume of the magnetic resonance system. The dielectric waveguide is delimited on a source side by a source-side mode converter and on a sink side, by a sink-side mode converter. The small signal is supplied to the source-side mode converter via a source-side electrical conductor and injected by the sink-side mode converter into a sink-side electrical conductor.
US09118099B2	Balun circuit using a defected ground structure Disclosed is a balun circuit using defected ground structure. The balun circuit using a defected ground structure includes: a substrate; a ground surface formed on one surface of the substrate, the ground surface being formed with defect structure in a previously set shape; and two transmission lines formed on the other surface of the substrate opposing the ground surface, and separated from each other, and the defect structure of the ground surface is configured to have open circuit impedance characteristics, and one of the two transmission lines is grounded. An even mode signal is removed by using the defect ground structure having the open circuit impedance characteristics, and termination of total reflection characteristics is performed by using the grounding of one of the transmission lines. Accordingly, a balun circuit can be obtained which is small in size, has little loss at high frequency, and shows little change in characteristics due to the process error.
US09118098B2	Coaxial waveguide converter and ridge waveguide Provided is a coaxial waveguide converter and a ridge waveguide that are insusceptible to manufacturing variances over a broad bandwidth. The coaxial waveguide converter includes a ridge waveguide (10) including a ridge (11) and a coaxial line (20). A projection (12) projecting toward a side of a waveguide space (13) is provided in the ridge (11), an amount of projection of the projection (12) decreases gradually from an end surface of the ridge waveguide (10) on a side of the coaxial line along a waveguide direction and an inner conductor (21) of the coaxial line (20) is inserted in the through-hole (14) at a position displaced from a center of the ridge waveguide (10) in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the projection (12) projects in the end surface of the ridge waveguide (10) on the side of the coaxial line.
US09118097B2	Differential mode transmission lines with weak coupling structure A differential mode transmission line with a weak coupling structure is presented. The differential mode transmission line with a weak coupling structure includes a first transmission line and a second transmission line. The first transmission line includes a first wiring portion, a second wiring portion, and a third wiring portion. The second transmission line also includes a first wiring portion, a second wiring portion, and a third wiring portion. The wiring portions of the present disclosure are connected through connection portions, and the connection portions are designed as a corner structure. Due to the characteristics of the corner structure of the present disclosure, a pitch between the second wiring portions is greater than that between the first wiring portions or the third wiring portions, thereby generating a weak coupling structure to suppress common mode noises.
US09118094B2	Battery pack structure for electric vehicles In a battery pack structure for electric vehicles that battery modules and a controller for battery management are mounted in a battery-pack-case internal space, a first one of clearances, ensured when the battery modules are mounted in the case internal space, which first clearance extends in a first direction, is configured as a first temperature-adjustment air passage, and the second clearance, located downstream of the first temperature-adjustment air passage and extending in a second direction different from the first direction, is configured as a second temperature-adjustment air passage. The controller is arranged at a position facing the second temperature-adjustment air passage. A harness for connecting between each detection line terminal from the battery modules and the controller, and one end of the harness, which harness end is configured as harness terminals connected to the respective detection line terminals, are wired along and arranged in the second temperature-adjustment air passage.
US09118090B2	Secondary battery A piezoelectric element layer is further formed as a package material of a secondary battery, so that the secondary battery can be self-charged using a voltage generated in the piezoelectric element layer according to vibration generated in an electronic device and vibration generated by movement of the electronic device itself. The secondary battery includes a battery case that accommodates an electrode assembly, the battery case having an outer coating layer and a piezoelectric element layer formed on an inner surface of the outer coating layer, and a protection circuit module mounted to an outside of the battery case and electrically connected to the electrode assembly. In the secondary battery, a voltage storage is provided to the protection circuit module, and the piezoelectric element layer converts absorbed vibration into voltage and then stores the voltage in the voltage storage so that the secondary battery is self-charged as occasion demands.
US09118088B2	Electrolyte solution and lithium ion secondary battery using the same The present invention provides an electrolyte solution and a lithium ion secondary battery which maintain for a long period high battery characteristics represented by the discharge capacity retention rate after the charge/discharge cycle, and simultaneously achieve also the high safety represented by the flame retardation. The present invention provides an electrolyte solution containing a nonaqueous solvent, an electrolyte, a specific compound having a perfluoroalkyl group in the molecule, and an additive having a fluorine atom and/or a phosphorus atom in the molecule.
US09118087B2	Electrode for lithium secondary battery Disclosed are an electrode for a lithium secondary battery which includes a metal substrate and a plated layer arranged on the metal substrate and bearing active material particles and resin particles embedded therein, in which a part of the active material particles and the resin particles has a protruding portion beyond the plated layer; and a lithium secondary battery using the electrode. The electrode helps the lithium secondary battery to be resistant to deterioration and property degradation at high temperature and allows the battery to have high input-output performance and to be suitable typically for hybrid electric vehicles.
US09118086B2	Electrolyte for lithium secondary battery and lithium secondary battery including the same An electrolyte for a lithium secondary battery, which includes a lithium salt, a nonaqueous organic solvent and at least one additive selected from the group consisting of vitamin G (vitamin B2, riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacinamide), vitamin B4 (adenine), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin H (vitamin B7, biotin), vitamin M (vitamin B9, folic acid), vitamin BX (4-aminobenzoic acid), vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), ascorbyl palmitate, and sodium ascorbate.
US09118080B2	Lead-acid battery A lead-acid battery of the present invention includes electrode plate units, each including a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and a separator. The positive electrode plate is a positive electrode grid filled with paste including powder of lead oxide as a main component. The negative electrode plate is a negative electrode grid filled with paste including powder of lead oxide as a main component, and including carbon black. The positive electrode plate faces the negative electrode plate. The separator is provided between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate. The positive electrode grid includes gates, each being generally diamond-shaped, and being more than or equal to 50 mm2 and less than or equal to 100 mm2 in area. The carbon black has a DBP oil absorption of more than or equal to 140 ml/100 g and less than or equal to 340 ml/100 g.
US09118076B2	Positive electrode active material for lithium ion battery, positive electrode for lithium ion battery and lithium ion battery The present invention provides a positive electrode active material for a lithium ion battery with excellent battery characteristics can be provided. The positive electrode active material for a lithium ion battery is represented by the following composition formula: LixNi1−yMyO2+α (in the formula, M represents at least one selected from Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Al, Bi, Sn, Mg, Ca, B, and Zr, 0.9≦x≦1.2, 00.1).
US09118074B2	Anode active material, lithium secondary battery employing the same, and method of preparing the anode active material An anode active material, a lithium battery including the anode active material, and a method of preparing the anode active material are provided. The anode active material includes an alloy containing silicon (Si), titanium (Ti) and nickel (Ni) elements, wherein the alloy includes a Si phase and an alloy phase, and a peak intensity ratio (I(111)/I(220)) of Si(111) to Si(220) plane in a X-ray diffraction spectrum of the Si phase is from about 1.0 to about 1.5.
US09118067B2	Battery pack A battery pack including secondary batteries, and a case accommodating the secondary batteries, the case including: an upper case; a lower case; and plates disposed on each of the upper case and the lower case and each of the plates having holes corresponding to ends of each of the secondary batteries, wherein support protrusions are formed on the holes of the case so as to align the secondary batteries.
US09118066B2	Method for preventing erroneous loading of component-to-be-loaded on main body side apparatus, component-to-be-loaded and battery pack A battery apparatus of the type having a length, a width and a height, top and bottom surfaces substantially perpendicular to the height direction. First and second side surfaces, that include curved surfaces, are disposed between the top and bottom surfaces, and front and rear end portions are disposed between the top and bottom surfaces and also disposed between the first and second side surfaces. A plurality of electric contact portions are exposed through terminal windows; and a battery cell is electrically connected to at least one of the electric contact portions. The front end portion includes first and second level surfaces, with the second level surface being lower than the first level surface; and wherein the terminal windows are disposed in the second level surface.
US09118062B2	Anode and method of manufacturing the same, and battery and method of manufacturing the same A coating on an anode active material that includes a metal salt with two or more sulfonates or a metal salt of oxocarbonic acid.
US09118058B2	Battery pack having a flat external shape and designed for smaller and lighter devices An embodiment of the present invention relates to a battery pack including a plurality of bare cells each having a cap assembly and a bottom positioned to correspond to the cap assembly; a protection circuit module mounted on the bare cells; a cover frame covering the bare cells and composed of a first frame and two second frames; and an enclosure member covering the bare cells.
US09118057B2	Battery pack attached to a cable An article comprising: (i) a handheld device including (a) a housing, (b) a powered element within the housing: (ii) a battery pack, wherein the handheld device is connected by an external cable to a functional system, wherein the battery pack is attached to the external cable, and wherein the battery pack supplies power to the powered element.
US09118053B2	Fuel cell system and method for performing maintenance on fuel cell system A fuel cell system according to the present invention comprises a hydrogen generator including a burner which is detachably accommodated in the hydrogen generator in a manner to allow the burner to be detached from and attached to the hydrogen generator through the top of the hydrogen generator, a stack configured to generate power by causing hydrogen generated by the hydrogen generator and an oxidizing gas to react with each other, and a main body package which includes at least a top plate and within which the hydrogen generator and the stack are disposed. Detachable piping, which is detachably configured, is provided above the hydrogen generator. Space that is formed above the burner when the detachable piping is removed from the main body package has a size larger than or equal to the size of the burner.
US09118051B2	Battery and method of manufacturing the same A battery includes a power generating element, a battery container containing the power generating element, a lid plate covering a top opening of the battery container, the lid plate including a metal plate and a baffling portion including an integral portion of the lid plate that extends from the lid plate, and an insulating member provided on the lid plate. Corners of the insulating member fit to corners of the baffling portion.
US09118047B2	Batteries utilizing cathode coatings directly on nanoporous separators Provided is a separator/cathode assembly for use in an electric current producing cell, wherein the assembly comprises a cathode current collector layer interposed between a first cathode layer and a second cathode layer and a porous separator layer on the side of the first cathode layer opposite to the cathode current collector layer, wherein the first cathode layer is coated directly on the separator layer. Also provided are methods of preparing such separator/cathode assemblies.
US09118042B2	Fluidic distribution system and related methods Embodiments of the present invention relate to a fluid distribution system. The system may include one or more electrochemical cell layers, a bulk distribution manifold having an inlet, a cell layer feeding manifold in direct fluidic contact with the electrochemical cell layer and a separation layer that separates the bulk distribution manifold from the cell feeding manifold, providing at least two independent paths for fluid to flow from the bulk distribution manifold to the cell feeding manifold.
US09118041B2	Direct liquid feed fuel cell system A direct liquid feed fuel cell system that includes a housing, a fuel cell stack in which air flow channels are formed, in the housing; and a fan that supplies air between the housing and a part of the air flow channels, wherein the fuel cell stack is obliquely mounted toward the fan. The fuel cell system can be arranged so that the airflow channels are substantially vertical, in order for air to be supplied between the housing and an upper part of the airflow channels, with the fuel cell stack downwardly obliquely mounted toward the fan. Furthermore, an outlet in the housing on an opposite side of the fuel cell stack from the fan can allow air that has passed through the air flow channels to be exhausted from the fuel cell system after passing through a space between a part of the fuel cell stack and the housing.
US09118033B2	Organic light-emitting diode and display device employing the same An organic light-emitting diode and a display device employing the same are provided. The organic light-emitting diode includes a substrate; a cathode disposed on the substrate; an electron injection layer disposed on the cathode, wherein the electron injection layer includes a low work function metal layer and a metal complex layer having carrier injection capability; a light-emitting layer disposed on the electron injection layer; and an anode disposed on the light-emitting layer.
US09118031B2	Organic light-emitting device, coating liquid for forming organic light-emitting device, material for forming organic light-emitting device, light source device using organic light-emitting device, and organic light-emitting device producing method An organic light-emitting device includes a lower electrode, an upper electrode, and an organic layer disposed between the lower electrode and the upper electrode, the organic layer including a charge transport layer and a mixed layer in contact with the charge transport layer, the mixed layer including a host, a first dopant, and a charge transporting material, the first dopant including a first functional group, the charge transporting material including a second functional group, the first dopant being drawn to a charge transport layer contact surface where the mixed layer is in contact with the charge transport layer, and the charge transporting material being drawn to the mixed layer surface other than the charge transport layer contact surface. With the present invention, the concentrations of the molecules contained in the mixed layer of the light-emitting layer and the charge transport layer can be easily controlled.
US09118029B2	Organic light emitting display and method of manufacturing the same An organic light emitting display includes a substrate, a first electrode disposed on the substrate, a pixel definition layer disposed on the substrate to partition a pixel area, a first common layer disposed on the first electrode, a protrusion pattern that includes a plurality of protrusions disposed on the first common layer and spaced apart from each other, a light emitting layer disposed on the first common layer in the pixel area, and a second electrode disposed on the light emitting layer.
US09118025B2	Light emitting device A light emitting device having a plastic substrate is capable of preventing the substrate from deterioration with the transmission of oxygen or moisture content can be obtained. The light emitting device has light emitting elements formed between a lamination layer and an inorganic compound layer that transmits visual light, where the lamination layer is constructed of one unit or two or more units, and each unit is a laminated structure of a metal layer and an organic compound layer. Alternatively, the light emitting device has light emitting elements formed between a lamination layer and an inorganic compound layer that transmits visual light, where the lamination layer is constructed of one unit or two or more units, and each unit is a laminated structure of a metal layer and an organic compound layer, wherein the inorganic compound layer is formed so as to cover the end face of the lamination layer. In the present invention, the lamination layer is formed on the primary surface of the plastic substrate, so that a flexible substrate structure can be obtained while preventing the substrate from deterioration with the transmission of oxygen or moisture content.
US09118022B2	Organic electroluminescent device The present invention relates to organic electroluminescent devices which comprise heteroaromatic compounds.
US09118020B2	Electroluminescent devices including organic eil layer An OLED device comprises a cathode, an anode, and has therebetween a light emitting layer (LEL) comprising a phosphorescent emitting compound disposed in a host comprising a mixture of at least one electron transporting co-host which is a benzophenone derivative with a spiro substituent and at least one hole transporting co-host which is a triphenylamine which contains one trivalent nitrogen atom that is bonded only to carbon atoms, at least one of which is a member of an aromatic ring, wherein there is present an electron transporting layer contiguous to the LEL (HBL?) on the cathode side comprising an anthracene or a fluoranthene and wherein there is present an election injecting layer comprising a phenanthroline or a lithium quinolate contiguous to the cathode.
US09118016B2	Organic light emitting diode display and manufacturing method thereof A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes forming a thin film transistor on a substrate; forming a first electrode electrically connected with the thin film transistor; forming a hole auxiliary layer on the first electrode; depositing an organic material on the hole auxiliary layer using a mask having an opening corresponding to the first electrode; forming an organic emission layer by partially eliminating the organic material through dry-etching, the dry-etching being performed to eliminate the organic material deposited outside of a boundary of the first electrode; forming an electron auxiliary layer on the organic emission layer; and forming a second electrode on the electron auxiliary layer.
US09118014B2	Donor substrate for organic light emitting diode display and organic light emitting diode display An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device the present invention includes a substrate, a thin film transistor formed on the substrate, a pixel electrode formed on the thin film transistor and electrically connected to the thin film transistor, a pixel defining layer formed on the pixel electrode and defining a pixel area, an emission layer formed on the pixel electrode and contacting the pixel electrode in the pixel area, and an intermediate layer formed on the pixel defining layer and contacting a portion of the emission layer.
US09118011B2	Langasite-type oxide material, method for producing same, and raw material used in the production method An oxide material having a langasite-type structure having a desired surface condition and a desired outer shape is obtained stably. By adding at least one selected from the group consisting of Ir, Pt, Au, and Rh to a raw material which is a composition used for producing a desired oxide material as an additive element, it is possible to control the wettability between a die portion at a bottom end of a crucible and a melt of the raw material, thereby implementing stable production of the oxide material while controlling the wetting and spread of the melt of the raw material leaked out through a hole of the crucible.
US09118010B2	Variable resistance memory device and method of fabricating the same According to an example embodiment, a variable resistance memory device includes a lower electrode that includes a spacer-shaped first sub lower electrode and a second sub lower electrode covering a curved sidewall of the first sub lower electrode. The second sub lower electrode extends upward to protrude above the top of the first sub lower electrode. The lower electrode includes an upward-tapered shape.
US09118007B2	RRAM with dual mode operation A two-terminal memory cell comprises a dual mode of operation in a unipolar mode and bipolar mode for a programming or On-state and for an erase or Off-state of the cell. The two-terminal memory cell is field programmable and can be flexibly designed or integrated into existing architecture. The two-terminal memory comprises a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer with a switching layer disposed between that has an electrical insulator material. A semiconductor layer is disposed between the switching layer and at least one of the first electrode or the second electrode. The switching layer generates a conductive path that is configured to be in a program state and an erase state, based on a bipolar mode and a unipolar mode.
US09118000B2	Method of manufacturing flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting device Provided are a method of manufacturing a flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting device using a piezoelectric composite, and a flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting device manufactured by the same. The method of manufacturing the flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting device includes: forming a first electrode layer on a first flexible substrate; spin-coating a piezoelectric composite layer on the first electrode layer, wherein the piezoelectric composite layer is produced by mixing piezoelectric powder with polymer; performing heat treatment on the piezoelectric composite layer to harden the piezoelectric composite layer; and bonding a second flexible substrate with a second electrode layer on the hardened piezoelectric composite layer. Therefore, it is possible to simplify a manufacturing process and manufacture a high-performance flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting device having various sizes and patterns.
US09117999B2	Piezoelectric vibration module Disclosed herein is a piezoelectric vibration module including: a piezoelectric element repeatedly extended and compressed according to application of external power to generate vibration force; a vibration plate having the piezoelectric element coupled to one surface thereof and repeatedly extended and compressed integrally with the piezoelectric element to transfer the vibration force of the piezoelectric element to an external component; a weight body having a central portion coupled to the other side of the vibration plate in order to increase the vibration force of the piezoelectric element; and a coupling member fixedly coupling the central portion of the weight body and the vibration plate to each other.
US09117998B2	Nonvolatile memory cells and methods of forming nonvolatile memory cells A method of forming a nonvolatile memory cell includes forming a first electrode having a first current conductive material and a circumferentially self-aligned second current conductive material projecting elevationally outward from the first current conductive material. The second current conductive material is different in composition from the first current conductive material. A programmable region is formed over the first current conductive material and over the projecting second current conductive material of the first electrode. A second electrode is formed over the programmable region. In one embodiment, the programmable region is ion conductive material, and at least one of the first and second electrodes has an electrochemically active surface directly against the ion conductive material. Other method and structural aspects are disclosed.
US09117995B2	Magnetoresistance element and magnetic memory A magnetoresistance element includes a first magnetic layer having first and second surfaces, a second magnetic layer, an intermediate layer provided between the first surface and the second magnetic layer, a first layer provided on the second surface, containing B and at least one element selected from Hf, Al, Mg, and Ti and having third and fourth surfaces, a second layer provided on the fourth surface and containing B and at least one element selected from Hf, Al, and Mg, and an insulating layer provided on a sidewall of the intermediate layer and containing at least one element selected from the Hf, Al, and Mg contained in the second layer.
US09117992B2	Apparatus for driving piezo actuator and method of driving the same There are provided an apparatus for driving a piezo actuator and a method of driving the same. The apparatus includes: a control unit generating a digital control signal and converting the digital control signal into an analog control signal; a driving unit amplifying and not inverting the analog control signal to generate a first driving signal and amplifying and inverting the analog control signal to generate a second driving signal, with respect to a predetermined common voltage, and applying the first and second driving signals to both terminals of a piezo actuator; and an offset determining unit determining an offset in the first and second driving signals based on a voltage according to a current flowing in the piezo actuator, wherein the control unit generates the digital control signal to have an intermediate level in a predetermined offset detection section.
US09117991B1	Use of flexible circuits incorporating a heat spreading layer and the rigidizing specific areas within such a construction by creating stiffening structures within said circuits by either folding, bending, forming or combinations thereof A method of and the device for making a LED assembly that contains regionally rigid structures that are made by bending, folding, or forming a flexible hybrid heat spreading laminate is provided. The hybrid heat spreading laminate comprises a thin heat spreader layer in the range of 100-150 micrometers. The hybrid heat spreading laminate has enhanced heat conductivity and thermal emissivity.
US09117985B2	Silicone resin composition and an optical semiconductor device One purpose is to provide a silicone resin composition which provides a cured product having a large Abbe's number and a high brightness. A silicone resin composition including (A-1) an organopolysiloxane having a three-dimensional crosslinked structure, at least two alkenyl groups, and at least one monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group bonded to a silicon atom, (A-2) a linear organopolysiloxane having alkenyl groups at at least both terminals of a molecular chain and at least one monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group bonded to a silicon atom, (B-1) a linear organohydrogen polysiloxane having at least one silphenylene skeleton in a molecular chain and hydrosilyl groups at least both terminals of the molecular chain, in an amount such that a ratio of the number of the hydrosilyl groups in component (B-1) to a total number of the alkenyl groups in components (A-1) and (A-2) is 0.5 to 2, and (C) a hydrosilylation catalyst in a catalytic amount.
US09117983B2	Two terminal packaging A solution for packaging a two terminal device, such as a light emitting diode, is provided. In one embodiment, a method of packaging a two terminal device includes: patterning a metal sheet to include a plurality of openings; bonding at least one two terminal device to the metal sheet, wherein a first opening corresponds to a distance between a first contact and a second contact of the at least one two terminal device; and cutting the metal sheet around each of the least one two terminal device, wherein the metal sheet forms a first electrode to the first contact and a second electrode to the second contact.
US09117980B2	Light-emitting device including sealing units with different phosphor concentrations A light-emitting device includes a light-emitting element, a first sealing unit that covers the light-emitting element and includes a light-transmissive resin, and a second sealing unit disposed on top of the first sealing unit and includes a light-transmissive resin. The light-transmissive resin of the first and second sealing units contain phosphor of the same type but at different levels of concentration.
US09117979B2	Phosphor sheet, LED and light emitting device using the same and method for manufacturing LED The present invention provides a phosphor sheet in which the optical properties thereof are not impaired and which exhibits excellent film thickness uniformity even when comprising large-sized phosphor particles in high concentration. In one embodiment, the invention provides a phosphor sheet in which the content of phosphor is 53 weight % or more of the total sheet, and in another embodiment, a phosphor sheet includes at least a silicone resin, a phosphor and silicone fine particles.
US09117976B2	Flexible light-emitting device It is an object to provide a flexible light-emitting device with long lifetime in a simple way and to provide an inexpensive electronic device with long lifetime using the flexible light-emitting device. A flexible light-emitting device is provided, which includes a substrate having flexibility and a light-transmitting property with respect to visible light; a first adhesive layer over the substrate; an insulating film containing nitrogen and silicon over the first adhesive layer; a light-emitting element including a first electrode, a second electrode facing the first electrode, and an EL layer between the first electrode and the second electrode; a second adhesive layer over the second electrode; and a metal substrate over the second adhesive layer, wherein the thickness of the metal substrate is 10 μm to 200 μm inclusive. Further, an electronic device using the flexible light-emitting device is provided.
US09117974B2	Light emitting element and method of making same A light emitting element that includes a Ga2O3 substrate; an AlxGa1-xN buffer layer (0≦×≦1) formed on the Ga2O3 substrate; an n-GaN layer formed on the AlxGa1-xN buffer layer; an p-GaN layer formed on a portion of the n-GaN layer; an n-electrode formed on a portion of the n-GaN layer; and an p-electrode formed on the p-GaN layer.
US09117973B2	Semiconductor light emitting element A semiconductor light emitting element includes a semiconductor multilayer structure including a first conductive type layer, a second conductive type layer and a light emitting layer sandwiched between the first conductive type layer and the second conductive type layer, a first transparent electrode formed on the second conductive type layer, a reflecting layer formed on the first transparent electrode, and including a smaller area than the first transparent electrode, a second transparent electrode formed on the first transparent electrode so as to cover the reflecting layer, and a pad electrode formed on the second transparent electrode and in a region above the reflecting layer.
US09117972B2	Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device The light-emitting device has a semiconductor layer including a p-layer, a light-emitting layer, and an n-layer, which are formed of a Group III nitride semiconductor, and an n-electrode on the n-layer. The device also has a device isolation trench which runs along the outer periphery of the semiconductor layer and which provides the semiconductor layer with a mesa shape; and an insulation film continuously provided on first to third regions, the first region being an outer peripheral region of the n-layer, the second region being the side surface of the trench, and the third region being the bottom surface of the device isolation trench. The n-electrode consists of two pad portions and a wire trace portion. The outer peripheral wire trace portion is formed as a frame completely contouring the periphery of the device.
US09117970B2	Silicon light emitting device and method of fabricating same A light emitting device (10) comprises a body (11) comprising a substrate (12) of a p-type semiconductor material. The substrate has an upper surface (14) and having formed therein on one side of the upper surface and according to a bulk semi-conductor fabrication process utilizing lateral active area isolation techniques: a first n+-type island (16) to form a first junction (24) between the first island and the substrate; and a second n+-type island (18) spaced laterally from the first island (16). The substrate provides a laterally extending link (20) between the islands having an upper surface. The upper surface of the link, an upper surface of the island (16) and an upper surface of the island (18) collectively form a planar interface (21) between the body (11) and an isolation layer (19) of the device. The device comprises a terminal arrangement to apply a reverse bias to the first junction, to cause the device to emit light. The device is configured to facilitate the transmission of the emitted light.
US09117967B2	Method of manufacturing glass substrate with concave-convex film using dry etching, glass substrate with concave-convex film, solar cell, and method of manufacturing solar cell [Problem] A problem is to provide a method of manufacturing a glass substrate with a concave-convex film using dry etching capable of giving a fine concave-convex structure precisely by dry etching, a glass substrate with a concave-convex structure, a solar cell, and a method of manufacturing a solar cell.[Means to Solve the Problem] In order to give a concave-convex structure to a glass substrate made of a plurality of oxides placed in different vapor pressures during dry etching, a subject film forming step and a concave-convex structure forming step are provided. The subject film forming step forms a subject film made of a single material on a flat surface of the glass substrate. The concave-convex structure forming step forms a periodic concave-convex structure in a surface of the subject film by dry etching. As a result, a fine concave-convex structure is formed precisely by dry etching.
US09117965B2	Method of manufacture of chalcogenide-based photovoltaic cells The invention is a method of forming a cadmium sulfide based buffer on a copper chalcogenide based absorber in making a photovoltaic cell. The buffer is sputtered in two steps the first being at low rates or relatively high pressures and the second at high rates or relatively low pressures. The resulting cell has good efficiency and according to one embodiment is characterized by a narrow interface between the absorber and buffer layers. The buffer is further characterized according to a second embodiment by a relatively high oxygen content.
US09117956B2	Method of controlling the amount of Cu doping when forming a back contact of a photovoltaic cell Methods for preparing an exposed surface of a p-type absorber layer of a p-n junction for coupling to a back contact in the manufacture of a thin film photovoltaic device are provided. The method can include: applying a treatment solution onto the exposed surface defined by the p-type absorber layer of cadmium telluride; and annealing the device with the p-type absorber layer in contact with the treatment solution to form a tellurium-enriched region in the p-type absorber layer at the exposed surface. The treatment solution comprises a chlorinated compound component that is substantially free from copper, a copper-containing metal salt, and a solvent.
US09117954B2	High efficiency nanostructured photovoltaic device manufacturing Photovoltaic and Light emitted diode devices comprise of epitaxial wafer of plurality of layers has been proposed. Quantum Dots are deposited onto the micro-nanostructure layer from the light incident direction to increasing light transmission to the active layer. Quantum dots deposited between the light source and the active layer, on the micro-nanostructure layer, to improve light excitation, since it can absorb wavelengths, which are not absorbed by the active layer, and the size and composition of quantum dots can determine its bandgap. A micro-nanostructured layer at the bottom of the PV wafer, which is produced by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), increases the internal light reflections in the active layer, which increases the efficiency of light absorption and that leads to a photocurrent enhancement.
US09117950B1	Nanoplasmonic cavity arrays for photovaltaic applications Nanoplasmonic cavities for photovoltaic applications include at least one transparent conductive substrate. A first plasmonic electrically conductive nanostructure layer is associated with the transparent conductive substrate. At least one photoabsorber layer is associated with the first plasmonic electrically conductive nanostructure layer. At least one electron transfer layer is associated with the photoabsorber layer. A second plasmonic electrically conductive nanostructure layer is associated with the electron transfer layer. Multiple nanoplasmonic cavities can be electrically connected to provide greater photovoltaic efficiency.
US09117948B1	Selenium interlayer for high-efficiency multijunction solar cell A multi junction solar cell is provided and includes multiple semiconducting layers and an interface layer disposed between the multiple semiconducting layers. The interface layer is made from an interface bonding material that has a refractive index such that a ratio of a refractive index of each of the multiple semiconducting layers to the refractive index of the interface bonding material is less than or equal to 1.5.
US09117943B2	Semiconductor package with through silicon vias A method of forming a light-emitting diode (LED) device is provided. The method includes steps of providing a first substrate, forming an LED structure on the first substrate, forming a porous layer on the first substrate after forming the LED structure, forming a conductive substrate on the LED structure, and separating the LED structure from the first substrate along the porous layer. The substrate has a doped layer. The forming of the porous layer includes a step of converting the dopes layer to the porous layer.
US09117938B2	Semiconductor devices with through via electrodes, methods of fabricating the same, memory cards including the same, and electronic systems including the same A semiconductor device includes a via electrode penetrating a substrate and a back-side molding layer covering a back-side surface of the substrate. The back-side molding layer contacts a sidewall of a back-side end portion of the via electrode, which is a portion of the via electrode that protrudes from the back-side surface of the substrate.
US09117926B2	Semiconductor devices and methods for manufacturing the same A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same is disclosed. In one aspect, the method comprises forming a first MOSFET having a first gate length in a semiconductor substrate, and forming a second MOSFET having a second gate length in the semiconductor substrate. Furthermore, the second gate length is less than the first gate length, and wherein the second MOSFET has a gate stack in the form of a spacer having a gate conductor and a gate dielectric isolating the gate conductor from the semiconductor substrate.
US09117925B2	Epitaxial process An epitaxial process includes the following steps. A substrate including a first area and a second area is provided. A first gate and a second gate are formed respectively on the substrate of the first area and the second area. A first spacer and a second spacer are respectively formed on the substrate beside the first gate and the second gate at the same time. A first epitaxial structure is formed beside the first spacer and then a second epitaxial structure is formed beside the second spacer by the first spacer and the second spacer respectively.
US09117922B2	Thin film transistor, thin film transistor substrate and method of manufacturing thin film transistor substrate A thin film transistor includes a gate electrode, a channel layer, a source electrode, and a drain electrode. The channel layer is made of an amorphous oxide semiconductor. The channel layer includes one high oxygen ion concentration region, or two high oxygen ion concentration regions one above the other. An oxygen ion density of each high oxygen ion concentration region is in a range of from about 1×1018 to about 1×1021 per cubic centimeter. A thin film transistor substrate and a method of manufacturing the thin film transistor substrate are also provided.
US09117918B2	Metal oxide TFT with improved source/drain contacts A method of forming ohmic source/drain contacts in a metal oxide semiconductor thin film transistor includes providing a gate, a gate dielectric, a high carrier concentration metal oxide semiconductor active layer with a band gap and spaced apart source/drain metal contacts in a thin film transistor configuration. The spaced apart source/drain metal contacts define a channel region in the active layer. An oxidizing ambient is provided adjacent the channel region and the gate and the channel region are heated in the oxidizing ambient to reduce the carrier concentration in the channel area. Alternatively or in addition each of the source/drain contacts includes a very thin layer of low work function metal positioned on the metal oxide semiconductor active layer and a barrier layer of high work function metal is positioned on the low work function metal.
US09117915B2	Thin film transistor, pixel structure and method for fabricating the same A thin film transistor (TFT) that includes a gate, an oxide semiconductor layer, a gate insulator, a source, and a drain is provided. The gate insulator is located between the oxide semiconductor layer and the gate. The source and the drain are in contact with different portions of the oxide semiconductor layer. Each of the source and the drain has a ladder-shaped sidewall that is partially covered by the oxide semiconductor layer. A method for fabricating the above-mentioned TFT is also provided.
US09117907B2	Semiconductor device A fabrication process of a semiconductor device is disclosed. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate with a first insulation layer formed on the semiconductor substrate and a fin formed on the surface of the first insulation layer, and forming a fully-depleted semiconductor layer on sidewalls of the fin, and the fully-depleted semiconductor layer having a material different from that of the fin. The method also includes forming a second insulation layer covering the fully-depleted semiconductor layer, and removing the fin to form an opening exposing sidewalls of the fully-depleted semiconductor layer. Further, the method includes forming a gate dielectric layer on part of the sidewalls of the fully-depleted semiconductor layer such that the part of the sidewalls of the fully-depleted semiconductor layer form channel regions of the semiconductor device, and forming a gate electrode layer covering the gate dielectric layer.
US09117906B2	Fin field-effect transistors and fabrication method thereof A method is provided for fabricating a fin field-effect transistor. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, and forming a plurality of fins with hard mask layers and an isolation structure. The process also includes forming a first dummy gate layer on the fins and the isolation structure, and polishing the first dummy gate layer until the hard mask layer is exposed. Further, the method includes removing the hard mask layer to expose a top surface of the fins, and forming a second dummy gate material layer on the first dummy gate material layer. Further, the method also includes etching the second dummy gate layer and the first dummy gate layer to form a dummy gate on each of the fins.
US09117904B2	Semiconductor structure having trimming spacers A semiconductor structure includes a substrate, a gate electrode disposed on the substrate, wherein the gate electrode has a first top surface. Agate dielectric layer is disposed between the substrate and the gate electrode. A silicon carbon nitride spacer surrounds the gate electrode, wherein the silicon carbon nitride spacer has a second top surface not higher than the first top surface. A silicon oxide spacer surrounds the silicon carbon nitride spacer.
US09117903B2	Semiconductor device A buried layer of a second conductivity type and a lower layer of a second conductivity type are formed in a drift layer. A boundary insulating film is formed in the boundary between the lateral portion of the buried layer of a second conductivity type and the drift layer. The lower layer of a second conductivity type is in contact with the lower end of the buried layer of a second conductivity type and the lower end of the boundary insulating film. The buried layer of a second conductivity type is electrically connected to a source electrode. A high-concentration layer of a second conductivity type is formed in the surface layer of the buried layer of a second conductivity type.
US09117902B2	Dual trench rectifier and method for forming the same A structure of dual trench rectifier comprises of the following elements. A plurality of trenches are formed parallel in an n− epitaxial layer on an n+ semiconductor substrate and spaced with each other by a mesa. A plurality of recesses are formed on the mesas. Each the trench has a trench oxide layer formed on the sidewalls and bottom thereof, and a first poly silicon layer is filled therein to form MOS structures. Each the recess has a recess oxide layer formed on the sidewalls and bottom thereof, and a second poly silicon layer is filled therein to form MOS structures. A plurality of p type bodies are formed at two sides of the MOS structures in recesses. A top metal is formed above the semiconductor substrate for serving as an anode. A bottom metal is formed beneath the semiconductor substrate for serving as a cathode.
US09117901B2	High voltage device and manufacturing method thereof The present invention discloses a high voltage device and a manufacturing method thereof. The high voltage device includes: a substrate, having an isolation structure for defining a device region; a drift region located in the device region, wherein from top view, the drift region includes multiple sub-regions separated from one another but are electrically connected with one another; a source and a drain in the device region; and a gate on the surface of the substrate and between the source and drain in the device region.
US09117900B2	RF LDMOS device and method of forming the same An RF LDMOS device is disclosed, including: a substrate having a first conductivity type; a channel doped region having the first conductivity type and a drift region having a second conductivity type, each in an upper portion of the substrate, the channel doped region having a first end in lateral contact with a first end of the drift region; a first well having the first conductivity type in the substrate, the first well having a top portion in contact with both of a bottom of the first end of the channel doped region and a bottom of the first end of the drift region; and a second well having the first conductivity type in the substrate, the second well having a top portion in contact with a bottom of a second end of the drift region. A method of forming such an RF LDMOS device is also disclosed.
US09117899B2	Device architecture and method for improved packing of vertical field effect devices A semiconductor field-effect device is disclosed that utilizes an octagonal or inverse-octagonal deep trench super-junction in combination with an octagonal or inverse-octagonal gate trench. The field-effect device achieves improved packing density, improved current density, and improved on resistance, while at the same time maintaining compatibility with the multiple-of-45°-angles of native photomask processing and having well characterized (010), (100) and (110) (and their equivalent) silicon sidewall surfaces for selective epitaxial refill and gate oxidation, resulting in improved scalability. By varying the relative length of each sidewall surface, devices with differing threshold voltages can be achieved without additional processing steps. Mixing trenches with varying sidewall lengths also allows for stress balancing during selective epitaxial refill.
US09117892B2	Semiconductor wafer with improved current-voltage linearity There is provided a high-performance compound semiconductor epitaxial wafer that has an improved linearity of the voltage-current characteristic, a producing method thereof, and a judging method thereof. Provided is a semiconductor wafer including a compound semiconductor that produces a two-dimensional carrier gas, a carrier supply semiconductor that supplies a carrier to the compound semiconductor, and a mobility lowering semiconductor that is disposed between the compound semiconductor and the carrier supply semiconductor and that has a mobility lowering factor that makes the mobility of the carrier in the mobility lowering semiconductor lower than the mobility of the carrier in the compound semiconductor.
US09117891B2	Compound semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same A compound semiconductor device includes: an electron transit layer formed of a compound semiconductor; and an electrode formed so as to overlie the electron transit layer with an insulating film interposed between the electron transit layer and the electrode, wherein part of the electron transit layer below the electrode are formed such that a first compound semiconductor having a first polar face and a second compound semiconductor having a second polar face are alternately arranged, and polarization charges in the first polar face have opposite polarity to polarization charges in the second polar face.
US09117890B2	High-electron mobility transistor and method of manufacturing the same According to example embodiments, a HEMT includes a channel supply layer on a channel layer, a p-type semiconductor structure on the channel supply layer, a gate electrode on the p-type semiconductor structure, and source and drain electrodes spaced apart from two sides of the gate electrode respectively. The channel supply layer may have a higher energy bandgap than the channel layer. The p-type semiconductor structure may have an energy bandgap that is different than the channel supply layer. The p-type semiconductor structure may include a hole injection layer (HIL) on the channel supply layer and be configured to inject holes into at least one of the channel layer and the channel supply in an on state. The p-type semiconductor structure may include a depletion forming layer on part of the HIL. The depletion forming layer may have a dopant concentration that is different than the dopant concentration of the HIL.
US09117889B2	3D nano-electro-mechanical multiple-state carbon nanotube device structures and methods of fabrication A 3D M-CNT structure with at least one tri-state CNT NEM switch comprising at least an electrode as a source, an electrode as a gate and an electrode as a drain, a conductive carbon nanotube which is able to take three positions depending on a voltage application to said electrodes.
US09117884B1	Conformal films on semiconductor substrates A layer of diffusion barrier or seed material is deposited on a semiconductor substrate having a recessed feature. The method may include a series of new deposition cycles, for example, a first net deposition cycle and a second net deposition cycle. The first net deposition cycle includes depositing a first deposited amount of the diffusion barrier or seed material and etching a first etched amount of the diffusion barrier or seed material. The second net deposition cycle including depositing a second deposited amount of the diffusion barrier or seed material and etching a second etched amount of the diffusion barrier or seed material. At least one of the process parameters of the first cycle differs from that of the second allows providing a graded deposition effects to reduce a risk of damaging any under layers and dielectric. A deposited layer of diffusion barrier or seed material is generally more conformal.
US09117883B2	Nanotube electronics templated self-assembly A fabricated substrate has at least one plurality of posts. The plurality is fabricated such that the two posts are located at a predetermined distance from one another. The substrate is exposed to a fluid matrix containing functionalized carbon nanotubes. The functionalized carbon nanotubes preferentially adhere to the plurality of posts rather than the remainder of the substrate. A connection between posts of the at least one plurality of posts is induced by adhering one end of the functionalized nanotube to one post and a second end of the functionalized carbon nanotube to a second post.
US09117876B2	Integrated circuit comprising an isolating trench and corresponding method An integrated circuit including at least one isolating trench that delimits an active area made of a monocrystalline semiconductor material, the or each trench comprising an upper portion including an insulating layer that encapsulates a lower portion of the trench, the lower portion being at least partly buried in the active area and the encapsulation layer comprising nitrogen or carbon.
US09117869B2	Chucking device and chucking method A chucking device is provided, the chucking device having low dusting characteristics and high detergent properties, and being capable of vacuum-sucking even a substrate having a large warpage, and a chucking method using the chucking device is also provided. The chucking device vacuum-sucks and holds a wafer. The chucking device includes a perforated plate having a plurality of through-holes and being mounted with a wafer, the through-holes penetrating through both sides of the perforated plate; a porous plate that supports a surface other than a mounting surface of the perforated plate, on which the wafer is mounted, transmits a vacuum state to the wafer through the plurality of through-holes, and has a pore to limit a flow rate; and a vacuum pump that exhausts an air through the pore of the porous plate.
US09117868B1	Bipolar electrostatic chuck for dicing tape thermal management during plasma dicing Methods of and apparatuses for dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a plasma etch chamber includes a plasma source disposed in an upper region of the plasma etch chamber. A bipolar electrostatic chuck is disposed below the plasma source. The bipolar electrostatic chuck is sized to support a substrate carrier having a tape and tape frame. The bipolar electrostatic chuck is configured to control a backside temperature of the substrate carrier prior to and during plasma processing.
US09117857B2	Ceiling electrode plate and substrate processing apparatus In a plasma processing apparatus, a ceiling electrode plate provided to face a substrate holding stage via a process space contacts and is supported by an electrode support by interposing a cooling plate, and a heat-transfer sheet is provided in a contact surface between the ceiling electrode plate and the cooling plate. The heat-transfer sheet has thermal conductivity of 0.5 to 2.0 W/m·K. The heat-transfer sheet is provided of a heat-resistant adhesive agent or a rubber including silicon, or the heat-transfer sheet is formed of a ceramic filler including oxide, nitride, or carbide. The ceramic filler of 25 to 60 volume % is contained in the heat-resistant adhesive agent or the rubber. A thickness of the heat-transfer sheet is in a range between 30 and 80 μm, and the heat-transfer sheet is not provided in a predetermined area around gas holes of the ceiling electrode plate.
US09117856B2	Substrate loader and unloader having an air bearing support A substrate separation chuck which is adapted to separate a substrate from an adhering surface. The substrate separation chuck has a support adapted to support the adhering surface. An air bearing surface is adapted to support the substrate, the air bearing surface axially moveable relative to the support. The air bearing surface has a first position adjacent the substrate with the substrate coupled to the adhering surface. The air bearing surface is moveable from the first position to a second position separating the substrate from the adhering surface without contact between the substrate and the air bearing surface.
US09117855B2	Polarity control for remote plasma Methods of controlling the polarity of capacitive plasma power applied to a remote plasma are described. Rather than applying a plasma power which involves both a positive and negative voltage swings equally, a capacitive plasma power is applied which favors either positive or negative voltage swings in order to select desirable process attributes. For example, the plasma power may be formed by applying a unipolar oscillating voltage between an electrode and a perforated plate. The unipolar oscillating voltage may have only positive or only negative voltages between the electrode and the perforated plate. The unipolar oscillating voltage may cross electrical ground in some portion of its oscillating voltage.
US09117854B2	Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method, and storage medium storing a computer program for performing substrate processing method A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a processing part configured to process a substrate; a chemical-liquid storing container configured to store a chemical liquid; a chemical-liquid supply driving part configured to supply the chemical liquid from the chemical-liquid storing container into the processing part; a circulation line configured to circulate the chemical liquid stored in the chemical-liquid storing container; and a mixture generating part provided on the circulation line. An inert-gas supply source is configured to supply an inert gas into the mixture generating part. The mixture generating part is configured to mix the chemical liquid supplied from the chemical-liquid storing container and the inert gas supplied from the inert-gas supply source with each other so as to generate a gas-liquid mixture.
US09117848B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method of manufacturing the same According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a fin structure stacked in order of a first oxide layer, a semiconductor layer and a second oxide layer in a first direction perpendicular to a surface of the semiconductor substrate, the fin structure extending in a second direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a gate structure stacked in order of a gate oxide layer, a charge storage layer, a block insulating layer and a control gate electrode in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions from a surface of the semiconductor layer in the third direction.
US09117842B2	Methods of forming contacts to source/drain regions of FinFET devices In one example, the method disclosed herein includes forming at least one fin for a FinFET device in a semiconducting substrate, performing at least one process operation to form a region in the at least one fin that contains a metal diffusion inhibiting material, depositing a layer of metal on the region in the at least one fin and forming a metal silicide region on the at least one fin.
US09117836B2	Silicon carbide semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof A SiC MOSFET has a subject that resistance in the source region is increased when annealing for metal silicidation is performed to a source region before forming the gate insulating film, the metal silicide layer of the source region is oxidized by an oxidizing treatment (including oxynitriding treatment) when the gate insulating film is formed. When a metal silicide layer to be formed on the surface of a SiC epitaxial substrate is formed before forming a gate insulating film interface layer (oxide film), and an anti-oxidation film for the metal silicide is formed on the metal silicide layer, it is possible to suppress oxidation of the metal silicide layer by the oxidizing treatment upon forming the gate insulating film interface layer and the resistance of the source region can be decreased without lowering the channel mobility.
US09117834B2	ESD protection device and method for producing the same An ESD protection device includes a first discharge electrode and a second discharge electrode arranged to oppose each other, a discharge supporting electrode formed so as to span between the first and second discharge electrodes, and an insulator substrate that retains the first and second discharge electrodes and the discharge supporting electrode. The discharge supporting electrode is constituted by a group of a plurality of metal particles each coated with a semiconductor film containing silicon carbide. This discharge supporting electrode is obtained by firing a semiconductor-metal complex powder in which a semiconductor powder composed of silicon carbide is fixed to surfaces of metal particles. Selection is made so that the relationship between a coating amount Q [wt %] of the semiconductor powder in the semiconductor-metal complex powder and a specific surface area S [m2/g] of the metal powder satisfies Q/S≧8.
US09117831B2	Seal ring structure for integrated circuit chips A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a circuit region and a seal ring region. The seal ring region surrounds the circuit region. A seal ring structure is disposed over the seal ring region. The seal ring structure has a first portion and a second portion above the first portion. The first portion has a width W1, and the second portion has a width W2. The width W1 is less than the width W2.
US09117830B2	Semiconductor structure for extreme ultraviolet electrostatic chuck with reduced clamping effect The present disclosure provides one embodiment of a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate having a front surface and a backside surface; integrated circuit features formed on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate; and a polycrystalline silicon layer disposed on the backside surface of the semiconductor substrate.
US09117828B2	Method of handling a thin wafer A method of handling a thin wafer includes forming a support structure at the edge of a thinned wafer that is encapsulated by a protection layer. The support structure can be an adhesive layer enclosing the protection layer, a dielectric-filled trench embedded in the thinned wafer and surrounding the protection layer, or a housing affixing the edge of the thinned wafer.
US09117821B2	Oriented crystal nanowire interconnects Interconnects for semiconductors formed of materials that exhibit crystallographic anisotropy of the resistivity size effect such that line resistivity in one crystallographic orientation becomes lower than the resistivity in the other directions and methods of fabrication and use thereof are described. A wire having a dimension that results in an increase in the electrical resistivity of the wire can be formed of a material with a conductive anisotropy due to crystallographic orientation relative to the direction of current flow that minimizes the increase in the electrical resistivity as compared to the other orientations at that dimension.
US09117819B2	Electrostatic discharge protection structure and method for forming the same Various embodiments provide electrostatic discharge protection structures and methods for forming the same. An exemplary structure can include a semiconductor chip including a through hole. The structure can further include a through silicon via (TSV) structure disposed within the through hole and passing through the semiconductor chip. The TSV structure can have a first surface and a second surface. The structure can further include a tunneling dielectric layer disposed on the first surface of the TSV structure. The tunneling dielectric layer can have a surface area covering a top view surface area of the TSV structure and a surface portion of the semiconductor chip surrounding the TSV structure. Yet further, the structure can include a metal material discretely dispersed in the tunneling dielectric layer, a first electrode disposed on the tunneling dielectric layer, and a second electrode disposed on the second surface of the TSV structure.
US09117817B2	Semiconductor devices including polar insulation layer capped by non-polar insulation layer Illustrative embodiments of semiconductor devices including a polar insulation layer capped by a non-polar insulation layer, and methods of fabrication of such semiconductor devices, are disclosed. In at least one illustrative embodiment, a semiconductor device may comprise a semiconductor substrate, a polar insulation layer disposed on the semiconductor substrate and comprising a Group V element configured to increase a carrier mobility in at least a portion of the semiconductor substrate, and a non-polar insulation layer disposed above the polar insulation layer.
US09117814B2	Semiconductor device This invention prevents a substrate of a semiconductor chip that has through-silicon vias collectively arranged in a specific area thereof from becoming cracked. When a direction in parallel with a long side of a first semiconductor chip is defined as a row direction and a direction perpendicular to the long side of the first semiconductor chip is defined as a column direction, each one of the first through-silicon vias is arranged on any one of grid points arranged in m rows and n columns (m>n). In addition, as viewed in a cross section taken along a short side of the first semiconductor chip, the center of a through-silicon via area, which is defined by coupling the outermost grid points arranged in m rows and n columns, is off center of the short side of the first semiconductor chip in a first direction.
US09117813B2	Integrated circuit package and method of making same A chip package includes a first die with an active surface having at least one die pad positioned thereon; a first adhesive layer having a first surface coupled to the active surface of the first die and a second surface opposite the first surface; and a first dielectric layer having a top surface. A first portion of the top surface of the first dielectric layer is coupled to the second surface of the first adhesive layer. A second portion of the top surface of the first dielectric layer, distinct from the first portion, is substantially free of adhesive.
US09117812B2	Semiconductor device and method of forming non-linear interconnect layer with extended length for joint reliability A semiconductor device has a substrate and first conductive layer formed over the substrate. An insulating layer is formed over the first substrate with an opening over the first conductive layer. A second conductive layer is formed within the opening of the insulating layer. A portion of the second conductive layer is removed to expose a horizontal surface and side surfaces of the second conductive layer below a surface of the insulating layer. The second conductive layer has non-linear surfaces to extend a contact area of the second conductive layer. The horizontal surface and side surfaces can be stepped surfaces or formed as a ring. A third conductive layer is formed over the second conductive layer. A plurality of bumps is formed over the horizontal surface and side surfaces of the second conductive layer. A semiconductor die is mounted to the substrate.

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