| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09549940B2 |
Sustained-release formulations of topiramate
Pharmaceutical compositions of topiramate for once-a-day oral administration are provided. The formulations comprise a sustained-release component and an optional immediate-release component, the compositions of which can be selectively adjusted, respectively, to release the active ingredient along a pre-determined release profile. Method of treating or preventing pathological disorders in mammalian subjects comprising the administration of the novel formulations disclosed herein is also provided. |
| US09549939B2 |
Lipid-based compositions of antiinfectives for treating pulmonary infections and methods of use thereof
A system for treating or providing prophylaxis against a pulmonary infection is disclosed comprising: a) a pharmaceutical formulation comprising a mixture of free antiinfective and antiinfective encapsulated in a lipid-based composition, and b) an inhalation delivery device. A method for providing prophylaxis against a pulmonary infection in a patient and a method of reducing the loss of antiinfective encapsulated in a lipid-based composition upon nebulization comprising administering an aerosolized pharmaceutical formulation comprising a mixture of free antiinfective and antiinfective encapsulated in a lipid-based composition is also disclosed. |
| US09549937B2 |
Composition containing phospholipid-DHA and folate
Described herein are manufactured dietary supplements that contain a phospholipid extract and the extract contains two forms of phospholipid-docosahexanoic acid. One form of phospholipid-docosahexanoic acid is phosphatidylcholine-docosahexanoic acid, and another form of phospholipid-docosahexanoic acid is phosphatidylethanolamine-docosahexanoic acid. The manufactured dietary supplement also contains L-methylfolate. |
| US09549936B2 |
Method for preparing dry powder for inhalation formulation comprising salmeterol xinafoate, fluticasone propionate and tiotropium bromide
Disclosed are a dry powder for inhalation formulation comprising salmeterol xinafoate, fluticasone propionate and tiotropium bromide, as pharmaceutically active ingredients, and a carrier, and an inhalation formulation comprising same and a method for preparing the same. The inventive dry powder inhalation formulation having good content uniformity and showing small changes in the aerodynamic size distribution in accordance with the flow rate changes can effectively deliver said pharmaceutically active ingredients to a target site upon administration, and thus can be useful in the prevention or treatment of respiratory diseases, particularly asthma and COPD. |
| US09549935B2 |
Methods and compositions for treating migraines using noribogaine
This invention provides methods and compositions for treating or preventing migraine headache and/or symptoms thereof in a subject. The method comprises administering to the subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of noribogaine, noribogaine derivative, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. |
| US09549931B2 |
Aryl- or heteroaryl-substituted benzene compounds
The present invention relates to aryl- or heteroaryl-substituted benzene compounds. The present invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds and methods of treating cancer by administering these compounds and pharmaceutical compositions to subjects in need thereof. The present invention also relates to the use of such compounds for research or other non-therapeutic purposes. |
| US09549927B2 |
Heteroaryl compounds and uses thereof
The present invention provides compounds, pharmaceutically acceptable compositions thereof, and methods of using the same. |
| US09549919B2 |
Positive allosteric modulators of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
The present invention relates to compounds useful in therapy, to compositions comprising said compounds, and to methods of treating diseases comprising administration of said compounds. The compounds referred to are positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of the nicotinic acetylcholine α7 receptor. |
| US09549910B2 |
Pyrazolopyridazines and methods for treating retinal-degenerative diseases and hearing loss associated with usher syndrome
Compounds, compositions and methods for the treatment of retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, Leber's congenital Amaurosis, Syndromic retinal degenerations, age-related macular degeneration and Usher Syndrome, and hearing loss associated with Usher Syndrome are described herein. |
| US09549909B2 |
Method for the treatment of dravet syndrome
A method of treating and/or preventing Dravet Syndrome in a patient such as a patient previously diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, by administering an effective dose of fenfluramine or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt to that patient. Dravet Syndrome patients are typically children under the age of 18 and are treated at a preferred dose of less than about 0.5 to about 0.01 mg/kg/day. |
| US09549903B2 |
Transdermal delivery system comprising buprenorphine
The invention relates to transdermal therapeutic system for the transdermal administration of buprenorphine, comprising a buprenorphine-containing self-adhesive layer structure comprising A) a buprenorphine-impermeable backing layer, and B) a buprenorphine-containing pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on said buprenorphine-impermeable backing layer, the adhesive layer comprising a) at least one polymer-based pressure-sensitive adhesive, b) an analgesically effective amount of buprenorphine base or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and c) a carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid, levulinic acid and mixtures thereof, in an amount sufficient so that said analgesically effective amount of buprenorphine is solubilized therein to form a mixture, and the carboxylic acid buprenorphine mixture forms dispersed deposits in the said pressure-sensitive adhesive, wherein said buprenorphine-containing pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is the skin contact layer. |
| US09549902B2 |
Transdermal patch
A transdermal patch suitable for the administration of nitroglycerin. |
| US09549900B2 |
Controlled-release melatonin compositions and related methods
A method of treating a human subject in need of melatonin therapy includes administering to a human subject a compressed tablet comprising melatonin, citric acid, and a cellulosic polymer. The melatonin, citric acid, and cellulosic polymer combine after ingestion to form an acidic hydrogel that dissolves the melatonin and is effective to provide a first release dose of melatonin for assisting in inducement of sleep and a subsequent sustained release dose of melatonin for assisting in sustaining sleep while in the human subject's gastrointestinal tract. |
| US09549897B2 |
Transmucosal hormone delivery system
The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for sublingual or buccal administration of actives with low to poor aqueous solubility, e.g. the hormone estradiol, which contains a solution of the active in a pharmaceutically acceptable solvent adsorbed or absorbed onto particles of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and methods of preparing and using the pharmaceutical composition. |
| US09549895B2 |
Methods and compositions for preserving the viability of photoreceptor cells
Provided are methods and compositions for maintaining the viability of photoreceptor cells following retinal detachment. The viability of photoreceptor cells can be preserved by administering a neuroprotective agent, for example, a substance capable of suppressing endogenous MCP-1, a MCP-1 antagonist, a substance capable of suppressing endogenous TNF-alpha, a TNF-alpha antagonist, a substance capable of suppressing endogenous IL-1 beta, an IL-1 beta antagonist, a substance capable of inducing endogenous bFGF, exogenous bFGF, a bFGF mimetic, and combinations thereof, to a mammal having an eye with retinal detachment. The neuroprotective agent maintains the viability of the photoreceptor cells until such time that the retina becomes reattached to the underlying retinal pigment epithelium and choroid. The treatment minimizes the loss of vision, which otherwise may occur as a result of retinal detachment. |
| US09549893B2 |
Compositions and kits for the removal of irritating compounds from bodily surfaces
The invention provides compositions, methods and kits for the removal of harmful or irritating substances from bodily surfaces. Kits may include a composition containing capsaicin and a capsaicin-cleansing composition, e.g., a composition in which capsaicin is soluble. |
| US09549892B2 |
Compositions based on polyester in an oily phase and uses thereof
The present invention relates to a cosmetic make-up or care composition including an oily phase comprising at least one liquid polyester obtained by condensation of unsaturated fatty acid dimer and/or trimer and diol, said composition being free from lipophilic gelling agent or comprising at the most 10 wt. % thereof, relative to the weight of the composition. The present invention also relates to a method of make-up of the face and body with the the composition. |
| US09549890B2 |
Rinse-off skin care compositions containing cellulosic materials
The compositions and methods of this invention relate to a rinse-off skin care composition containing hydrophobic, linear cellulose particles having an average length of from about 1 to about 1000 μm, a particle aspect ratio from about 1000 to about 2 and a thickness of from about 1 to about 500 μm; at least one cleansing agent selected from the group consisting of a saponified fat and a surfactant; and a cosmetically acceptable carrier. |
| US09549889B2 |
Rinse-off skin care compositions containing cellulosic materials
The compositions and methods of this invention relate to a rinse-off skin care composition containing hydrophobic, linear cellulose particles having an average length of from about 1 to about 1000 μm, a particle aspect ratio from about 1000 to about 2 and a thickness of from about 1 to about 500 μm; at least one cleansing agent selected from the group consisting of a saponified fat and a surfactant; and a cosmetically acceptable carrier. |
| US09549882B2 |
Gel volume mascara
Inventive embodiments disclosed herein relate to gel volume mascara. The mascara includes water in a concentration of at least about 45% by weight; disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate; Polysorbate 20; Black iron oxide; One or more waxes selected from the group consisting of beeswax, Cera Carnauba/Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax/CIRE de Carnauba, and paraffin in a concentration of 15-20% by weight; and a synthetic layered silicate, insoluble in water, in a concentration effective for forming a colloidal dispersion with the water. |
| US09549880B2 |
Resin reinforced zinc polycarboxylate temporary cement compositions and related kits and methods
Dental cement compositions (including two-part compositions), kits, and related methods are used for bonding a dental prosthetic appliance to a tooth. A first part includes an amine activator component and a zinc oxide reactive filler, while a second part includes a polymerization initiator (e.g., benzoyl peroxide) and a polymerizable component having a structure including at least one acrylate or methacrylate group at one end and a carboxylic acid group at another end. A temporary cement composition advantageously exhibits reduced compressive and/or bonding strength relative to permanent cement compositions, which provides sufficient strength to facilitate normal use of the teeth while the provisional appliance is in use, while also facilitating easy removal of the provisional appliance for replacement with a permanent appliance at a later time. |
| US09549876B2 |
Device for introducing filling material into capsules
The present invention relates to a device for introducing filling material (21) into capsules (22), comprising a filling device (25) for feeding filling material (21) to the capsules (22), a capsule holder (30) with at least one row of seats (31) in which the capsules (22) that are to be filled are arranged, a station arrangement with several stations arranged one after another, wherein the station arrangement comprises at least one filling station (5) and a synchronously operating drive, and a movement device which, at the capsule-filling station (5), executes a relative movement between the filling device (25) and the capsule holder (30), wherein the filling device (25) adopts, relative to the capsule holder (30), at least a first filling position for filling a first capsule and a second filling position for filling a second capsule. |
| US09549875B2 |
Safety drug handling device
A drug mixing system including at least one receptacle port adaptor adapted to be inserted into a port of a fluid receptacle, at least one syringe adaptor adapted to be attached to a syringe and to the at least one receptacle port adaptor and at least one vial adaptor adapted for connection to a vial containing a drug and adapted for connection to the at least one syringe adaptor, the system being characterized in that at least one of the receptacle port adaptor, the at least one syringe adaptor and the at least one vial adaptor being vented to the atmosphere in a manner which prevents release to the atmosphere of possibly harmful contents of the vial in a liquid, solid or gaseous form. |
| US09549871B2 |
Lighted jets for bathing installations
A lighted jet assembly for through hole mounting to a panel in a bathing installation. In an exemplary embodiment, the assembly includes a jet body configured for mounting in a hole formed in the bathing installation panel. A light receptacle is formed with the jet body, the light receptacle configured to receive a light source element. A jet barrel assembly includes a hollow barrel structure configured for insertion into the jet body channel through the open second end of the jet body. A blind structure includes a hollow cylindrical portion having at a first end a flange portion extending over a limited angular extent, and a second end configured to be secured within the open interior region of the jet barrel structure. The blind structure is fabricated of an opaque material, and configured for rotation with the jet barrel assembly relative to the jet body. |
| US09549870B2 |
Smart joint care
A system that applies vibration to a desired region of a human body including a plurality of vibratory stimulators installed in a flexible material; a programmable control unit (PCU) connected to each said vibratory stimulator a plurality of sensors to collect biofeedback data; a set of programs for the operation of the PCU; a biomechanical database stored in a computer and being populated by the biomechanical data collected by the sensors after application of each said predefined pattern of vibration; and an algorithm to analyze and rank said patterns of vibration according to a ranking factor, wherein a user can choose a pattern of vibration that has a higher ranking factor. |
| US09549868B2 |
Lip enhancement and enlargement device
A lip enhancement and enlargement device includes a suction element and a lip shaper coupled to the suction element. A lip shaper may include one or more features that allow the device to shape and contour lips. A lip shaper may include one or more contouring elements that change the shape of an upper lip, for example. A lip shaper may also include shaping and contouring elements that form a fuller, unitary lip lobe or two fuller, lip lobes. Lip enhancement and enlargement kits and methods are also disclosed. |
| US09549850B2 |
Partial venting system for occlusion surge mitigation
A surgical system comprises a hand piece, an irrigation conduit in fluid communication with the hand piece to carry fluid toward a surgical site, an aspiration conduit in fluid communication with the hand piece to carry fluid away from the surgical site, a pump interfacing with the aspiration conduit, the pump to create a vacuum pressure in the aspiration conduit to draw fluid through the aspiration conduit, a vacuum relief valve in fluid communication with the aspiration conduit to relieve the vacuum pressure in the aspiration conduit, a pressure sensor to detect a pressure associated with the surgical site, a controller in communication with the vacuum relief valve and the pressure sensor to control the vacuum relief valve to decrease the vacuum pressure in the aspiration conduit when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor is less than a first pressure threshold. |
| US09549844B2 |
Altering temperature in a mammalian body
The present application relates to systems and methods for altering temperature in a mammalian body. Optionally, the systems and methods can be used to lower or raise core body temperature of a mammalian subject. Optionally, the systems and methods can be used to lower or raise the temperature of glabrous skin of a mammalian subject. |
| US09549841B2 |
System and method for delivering a therapy and sensing a biological activity in the mouth
Methods, devices, and systems are disclosed for controlled delivery of a therapy, such as a stimulant, to a mouth of a subject via an oral device positioned in a secured configuration in the mouth. At least one of a tongue position stimulator (TST) and tongue position sensor (TSE) is provided, according to certain aspects. According to another aspect, a stimulus is delivered to the mouth and/or tongue via a mouthpiece secured to the subject's teeth. In another regard, a stimulus is delivered that generates a natural response to eliminate or reduce sleep disorders, such as for example at least one of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. |
| US09549838B2 |
Medical device for erectile dysfunction and joint immobilization
An erection-facilitating sleeve for counteracting the effects of erectile dysfunction. The erection-facilitating sleeve includes two open ends at each distal end spaced apart by a plurality of inflatable, semi-rigid passages that extend in a braided, or crisscross, configuration from the base to the top of the sleeve. The sleeve is inserted onto the penis and is made of a resilient material that wraps tightly around the sex organ of a user. The semi-rigid passages are of a predetermined material and thickness so that a user's sex organ maintains at least partially erect even while suffering from erectile dysfunction. |
| US09549837B2 |
Brace with elongated fenestrations
A brace has a plurality of elongated beams that extend in parallel along the length of the brace. The adjacent beams are coupled to posts that extend around the circumference of the brace in a staggered pattern and hold the beams in place around the brace. The beams and posts define a plurality of elongated fenestrations. The configuration of the beams and fenestrations allow the brace to be strong in compression and bending and also provide elastic radial expansion. |
| US09549835B2 |
Catheter system and methods of using same
A modular catheter system including a sheath projecting distally from a delivery catheter having a main body module An inner core module carrying a stent thereon, the inner core being axially movable through the main body of the delivery catheter and the delivery catheter sheath, a handle member supported by the main body of the delivery catheter, the handle member being selectively axially engageable with the inner core such that the handle member and the inner core move together in an axial direction when the handle member is engaged with the inner core; and an adjustment member supported by the main body, the adjustment member being configured such that rotation of the adjustment member causes the adjustment member to move axially along the main body by either axially sliding the handle member relative to the main body or by rotating the adjustment member. |
| US09549833B2 |
Stent delivery, repositioning, and removal system
A system for the delivery, repositioning, and removal of a stent is provided that utilizes inherent properties of stents, such as wire woven helical stents, including foreshortening. The stent can be radially constrained to reduce its diameter by applying a tensile force along its proximal and distal ends to collapse the stent permitting the delivery, repositioning, and removal of the stent. |
| US09549831B2 |
Apparatus and methods for conduits and materials
The present invention provides apparatus and methods for a conduit, such as an implantable conduit for a vessel. The conduit may comprise a main member and a side branch member. The conduit may be implanted with the side-branch member initially disposed within the main member. When positioned, the side-branch member may then be extended from within the main member and into a vessel side-branch, The materials for the conduit may include circumferentially distensible and/or low recoil materials. |
| US09549826B2 |
Sigmoid notch implant
A sigmoid notch resurfacing prosthesis for application to the sigmoid notch of the distal radius. The sigmoid notch prosthesis generally includes a saddle and a radius portion for attachment to the distal radius. The saddle may be formed from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene or another durable self-lubricating material. The saddle includes an at least partially concave contoured depression having rounded edges that is securable to the radius portion. The saddle may be secured by a sliding notch snap fit design. The prosthesis may be adapted for articulation with the natural head of the ulna or with an ulnar head prosthesis that has replaced the ulnar head. |
| US09549825B2 |
Insertion instrument for intervertebral implants
An insertion tool for positioning intervertebral spacers into disc spaces. The insertion tool has a proximal end and a distal end, a T-handle secured to the proximal end and a pair of alignment rails extending to the distal end. The insertion tool includes a handle secured to the proximal end of the guide rails, and a shaft that extends through the handle, whereby the shaft has a threaded portion that extends to the T-handle. The insertion tool also includes a blocker that is secured to the distal end of the shaft. The blocker includes stop arms that guide the blocker through the guide rails and toward the distal end of the shaft. The blocker may be provided in a plurality of different sizes corresponding to the sizes of the implants to be inserted into a disc space. A lock is provided for locking the implant to the shaft. |
| US09549824B2 |
Expandable spinal implant and flexible driver
Expandable spinal implants and drivers connected by a bendable joint are disclosed. The flexible connector allows the implant and driver to move to different angular orientations with respect to each other, and to apply rotational force or torque from the driver to the implant and its expansion mechanism. During insertion of an implant into the desired position, the driver may be oriented in the same or different direction than the long axis of the implant. After the spinal implant is placed in the desired position, the driver is used to expand the implant in selected dimensions. |
| US09549823B2 |
Programmable implant having curved or arced struts
Various embodiments of implant systems and related apparatus, and methods of operating the same are described herein. In various embodiments, an implant for interfacing with a bone structure includes a web structure, including a space truss, configured to interface with human bone tissue. The space truss includes two or more planar truss units having a plurality of struts joined at nodes. Implants are optimized for the expected stress applied at the bone structure site. |
| US09549821B2 |
Vertebral body spacer
A vertebral body spacer of the present invention is used by being inserted between a vertebral body and a vertebral body (intervertebral space). The vertebral body spacer has a block body constituted of titanium or a titanium alloy as a main component thereof, and provided with a pair of contact surfaces to be made contact with the vertebral body and the vertebral body. The block body includes needle parts formed into a needle shape having both end portions and a porous part having through holes passing through the porous part in a thickness direction thereof, and a porosity of at least a surface of the porous part is larger than a porosity of each of the needle parts. The needle parts are inserted into the through holes so that the both end portions are projected from the contact surfaces. |
| US09549820B2 |
Glenoid implant with synthetic labrum
A prosthetic glenoid component for replicating the behavior of a patient's natural glenoid includes a rim that replicates the patient's natural glenoid labrum. |
| US09549819B1 |
Preformed cranial implant
A surgical fixation device is provided, including a preformed cranial mesh configured to generally conform to a predetermined averaged geometry. The cranial mesh includes a preformed flexible mesh body having opposed inner and outer surfaces, and a plurality of apertures that extend through the mesh body from the outer surface to the inner surface, each of the plurality of apertures extending along a respective central axis from the outer surface to the inner surface. The mesh body is configured as-manufactured to contact the predetermined averaged geometry at least at three spaced apart locations, such that 1) no portion of the mesh body crosses the predetermined averaged geometry in a first direction from the outer surface toward the inner surface, and 2) no location on the inner surface of the mesh body is spaced from the predetermined averaged geometry a distance greater than a select distance along the first direction. |
| US09549817B2 |
Devices, systems and methods for repairing lumenal systems
The disclosure provides systems and related methods for delivering a prosthesis to a target location. The system includes a tether delivery catheter and a prosthesis delivery catheter, and also can include a lock delivery catheter or knot pusher, as desired. Various embodiments of useful valve prostheses are also disclosed. |
| US09549816B2 |
Method for manufacturing high durability heart valve
An improved heart bioprosthetic device having a metal frame wireform or stent having an outer external surface. The metal frame has a bond layer coating at least a portion of the external surface and a coating layer disposed on at least a portion of the bond layer. The bond layer comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of: chromium, titanium, zirconium, aluminum, platinum, palladium, and niobium. The coating layer is selected from the group consisting of: a metal nitride, a metal oxide, a metal carbide, and combinations thereof. The coating layer may have a thickness of about 10 μm or less and a grain size of about 10 nm to about 15 nm, and may be characterized as polycrystalline with randomly-oriented grains with both cubic and orthorhombic phases. In one embodiment, the bond layer comprises chromium and the coating layer comprises chromium nitride. |
| US09549813B2 |
Inserter cap and related features
A cap configured and dimensioned to sweep or fold one or more haptics when removed from an insertion device. The cap may further have a pin, one or more snaps and/or one or more locks. The cap may also have one or more ports and/or one or more windows. An insertion system having a handpiece, a cartridge, and a cap configured and dimensioned to sweep or fold one or more haptics when the cap is removed from the insertion system. The cap is configured and dimensioned to couple with the distal end of the cartridge. |
| US09549810B2 |
Graft introducer
An instrument for placing a graft into a bone tunnel comprises an elongated shaft having a forked distal end comprising a pair of tines. A suture spans a space defined between the tines whereby the graft may be positioned between the tines and against the suture so as to be manipulated into the bone tunnel. The tendon folds about the suture, the suture having a releasable tension such that the instrument can be removed from the bone, leaving the tendon behind without the tendon hanging up on the suture. |
| US09549809B2 |
ACL prosthesis and anchor therefor
An interarticular ligament prosthesis is formed from a plurality of high strength high modulus polymeric fibers. The fibers are independent and free from intrinsic inter-fiber shear coupling found in braided or bonded fibers. The ligament prosthesis is installed with tubular, bone screw anchors. The fibers of the ligament prosthesis pass through the central hole of the anchors and are knotted at one end. The exit holes of the anchors include ceramic eyelets with polished edges. The edges are rounded to a defined radius for desired fatigue life of the prosthesis. |
| US09549807B2 |
Tube with modified inner wall surface using plasma and a preparation method thereof
The present invention relates to a preparation method of a tube and a transplantable polymer tube prepared by such method, which includes modifying the inner surface of a tube using plasma. A preparation method of a tube may include preparing a tube, modifying the inner surface of the tube using microplasma so as to have reactivity, forming a thin film layer on the modified surface of the tube to prevent aging or impart adhesiveness, and modifying the surface of the thin film layer using microplasma so as to enhance cell adhesion thereon. |
| US09549804B2 |
Nonaugmentive mastopexy
Disclosed are methods and devices for minimally invasive mastopexy, or other soft tissue suspension, which may be accomplished with our without augmentation. |
| US09549799B2 |
Surgical kit for securing an implantable sling in a pubic region
Surgical procedures, kits and implants for alleviating human incontinence, and particularly providing improved methods and apparatus to secure a urethral sling (30) to pubic bone (24, 26) to support the urethra and alleviate incontinence are disclosed. Bone anchors (64) are driven into pubic bones with elongated bone anchor sutures (84) configured to be passed through openings of a urethral sling. Suture retainers are applied to the sutures to apply retentive force to the urethral sling to maintain the fixation of the urethral sling proximate to the pubic bone. |
| US09549798B2 |
Apparatuses for the amelioration of urinary incontinence in females
An apparatus for treating urinary incontinence with a support section adapted for providing urethral support; an anchoring section for resisting movement of the apparatus; an insert, a portion of which is adapted to be positioned where the support section attaches to the node; and, wherein the insert urges the support section radially outwards from a central axis of the apparatus. |
| US09549797B2 |
Dental paste dispensing device and method of use
A dental paste dispensing device having a modified dispensing end for atraumatic contact with soft tissue is disclosed. The dispensing device has a needle with an attachment end adapted to be attached to a capsule containing the dental paste and a dispensing end with a terminal edge for dispensing the dental paste to a location in a patient mouth containing soft tissue, wherein the dispensing end includes an atraumatic modification. The modification is a plastic tip member over the dispensing end having a flattened static position and a rounded dynamic position. |
| US09549794B2 |
Method for manipulating a dental virtual model, method for creating physical entities based on a dental virtual model thus manipulated, and dental models thus created
A 3D virtual model of an intra oral cavity in which at least a part of a finish line of a preparation is obscured is manipulated in virtual space by means of a computer or the like to create, recreate or reconstruct finish line data and other geometrical corresponding to the obscured part. Trimmed virtual models, and trimmed physical models, can then be created utilizing data thus created. The virtual models and/or the physical models may be used in the design and manufacture of copings or of prostheses. |
| US09549789B2 |
Orthodontic bracket and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed is an orthodontic bracket and a method of manufacturing the same in which a bonding pattern is formed by irradiating a laser beam onto a base face of the orthodontic bracket that a machining process has been completed, and the bonding pattern formed on the base face is coated with an adhesive for attachment to teeth, thereby allowing the adhesive for attachment to teeth to firmly hold the orthodontic bracket on, and at the same time significantly reducing the processing time that takes to process the base surface for enabling for the adhesive to hold the orthodontic bracket on thereby enabling the mass production of the orthodontic bracket of high quality. |
| US09549786B2 |
Method of manufacturing surgical template positioning device
A surgical template positioning device is provided, and has a template and a dental mold. The template has a first surface formed with at least three spherical recesses, a second surface, and a guiding hole. The dental mold has at least three spherical portions partially embedded in the at least three spherical recesses and an implanted hole having an axis the same as the guiding hole. The at least three spherical recesses have three spherical centers as being three vertices of a triangle, the axis passes through the triangle, and the at least three spherical portions have spherical centers corresponding with the three vertices of the triangle. A method of manufacturing the surgical positioning device is also provided. |
| US09549784B1 |
Sharps disposing system and method
Systems, methods, and modes for automatic disposal of sharps in a medical environment via a pneumatic tube system and without a dedicated carrier from one of a plurality of dispersed sending stations to a secured central location. The system comprises a plurality of sending stations, a receiving stations routably connected to the plurality of sending stations via the pneumatic tubing and comprising a receiving container configured for storing sharps received via multiple deliveries, and a pump configured for creating a pressure differentiation within the pneumatic tubing for transmitting the sharps from one of the sending stations to the receiving station. The receiving container may be replaced by another receiving container when the receiving container is full. |
| US09549781B2 |
Multi-force sensing surgical instrument and method of use for robotic surgical systems
A multi-force sensing instrument includes a tool that has a tool shaft having a distal end and a proximal end, a strain sensor arranged at a first position along the tool shaft, at least one of a second strain sensor or a torque-force sensor arranged at a second position along the tool shaft, the second position being more towards the proximal end of the tool shaft than the first position, and a signal processor configured to communicate with the strain sensor and the at least one of the second strain sensor or the torque-force sensor to receive detection signals therefrom. The signal processor is configured to process the signals to determine a magnitude and position of a lateral component of a force applied to the tool shaft when the position of the applied force is between the first and second positions. |
| US09549779B2 |
High-strength microwave antenna assemblies
Various high-strength microwave antenna assemblies are described herein. The microwave antenna has a radiating portion connected by a feedline to a power generating source, e.g., a generator. The antenna is a dipole antenna with the distal end of the radiating portion being tapered and terminating at a tip to allow for direct insertion into tissue. Antenna rigidity comes from placing distal and proximal radiating portions in a pre-stressed state, assembling them via threaded or overlapping joints, or fixedly attaching an inner conductor to the distal portion. The inner conductor is affixed to the distal portion by, e.g., welding, brazing, soldering, or by adhesives. A junction member made from a hard dielectric material, e.g., ceramic, can be placed between the two portions and can have uniform or non-uniform shapes to accommodate varying antenna designs. Electrical chokes may also be used to contain returning currents to the distal end of the antenna. |
| US09549773B2 |
Method and apparatus for dermatological hypopigmentation
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide method and apparatus for effecting (e.g., lightening) an appearance of skin by cooling or freezing small separated surface regions of the skin to produce regions of local hypopigmentation. The width of the regions can be, for example, smaller than about 1 mm or 0.5 mm, and a distance between these frozen regions can be greater than about 3 times the width of the regions. An exemplary apparatus can be provided that includes a plurality of spatially-separated thermally conductive arrangements that can be affixed or otherwise coupled to a base. For example, the conductive arrangements can be regions of conductive material provided in or proximal to a thermal insulator, or thermally conductive protrusions affixed to the base. The conductive arrangements can be cooled and then contacted with the skin surface to produce the small regions of hypopigmentation. |
| US09549772B2 |
Selective delivery of cryogenic energy to intervertebral disc tissue and related methods of intradiscal hypothermia therapy
The present invention relates to devices and methods for altering the tissue in and around an intervertebral disc through localized hypothermia therapy to restore function of the disc and reduce pain. Hypothermia therapy is defined as the reduction of tissue temperature to below that of the equilibrium temperature. Target therapeutic temperatures and times are varied according to the desired treatment effect. Intended effects of hypothermia of the intervertebral disc include cellular disruption leading to cell death and or structural and chemical denaturation within the anulus fibrosus, nucleus pulposus, or nerve fibers, temporary or permanent deadening of the nerves within or surrounding the disc, induction of a healing response, angiogenesis, or accelerated degeneration and/or drying of the nucleus pulposus and/or anulus fibrosus. Various effects can be achieved by reaching different temperatures for differing periods of time or by the proximity of the hypothermia therapy device to the treatment target. Accordingly, it is an object of one or more the embodiments of the invention to provide hypothermic therapy to selected locations within an intervertebral disc utilizing a flexible and guidable cryogenic device. |
| US09549770B2 |
Vacuum indicator system that avoid release without the proper vacuum level
A device for storing and mixing bone cement components. The device includes a housing, a safety device, and a vacuum indicator. The housing defines a mixing chamber configured to store a first bone cement component therein. In a first safety position, the safety device prevents contact between the first bone cement component and a second bone cement component in the mixing chamber. In a second safety position, the safety device permits contact between the first and second bone cement components in the mixing chamber. The vacuum indicator restricts movement of the safety device from the first safety position to the second safety position when in a first vacuum indicator position. The vacuum indicator permits movement of the safety device from the first safety position to the second safety position when in a second vacuum indicator position. |
| US09549768B2 |
Medical implant system for securing bone fragments
A medical implant system includes a bone plate including a groove, a dynamic connector positioned within said groove of said bone plate, and an elongate flexible member. The dynamic connector includes a tip end having a through-hole, a tension spring having an end coupled to the tip end, and a head coupled to an opposing end of the tension spring. The elongate flexible member extends through the through-hole of said tip end and is secured to the head. |
| US09549764B2 |
Occipital plate assemblies with polyaxial head connectors
Occipital plates and assemblies combining occipital plates with one of several types of spinal rods or cervical plates in a procedure to fuse a portion of a skull to a portion of a spine. An array of different occipital plates are disclosed, including options for making adjustments to the occipital plates by bending thinned portions of the occipital plates. The spinal rods engage polyaxial connector assemblies that are rotated posterior of the bony attachment section that provides an array of screw holes for affixing the occipital plate to the skull using at least one non-angled and non-articulated instrument. One or more holes for securing tensioning cables are provided in the occipital plates. Additional variations of these concepts are disclosed. Methods of using the disclosed components in surgical procedures are disclosed. |
| US09549761B2 |
Endoscopic foreign body retrieval
The present application discloses endoscopy systems and devices for use therewith, wherein such systems and devices are designed for use in foreign body retrieval procedures. Moreover, the present application discloses methods of retrieving foreign bodies using the provided systems and devices. In one exemplary embodiment, a foreign body retrieval device capable for use with an endoscope is provided. The retrieval device comprises a housing and a capture tool disposed within and movable relative to the housing. The housing has a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one cavity. The proximal end of the housing is configured for attachment to the distal end of an endoscope and the distal end comprises an opening for at least partially receiving a foreign body in the at least one cavity. The capture tool defines an at least partially closeable aperture. |
| US09549760B2 |
Reduced extravasation of bone cement
The risk of bone cement extravaation can be reduced by delivering a calcium-dependent polymerizing sealant into a bone structure prior to delivery of bone cement into that structure. The polymerization of the sealant in response to the calcium within the bone structure can fill cracks and any other potential cement leakage paths, thereby minimizing the potential for subsequent extravaation. The benefits of the use of a calcium-dependent polymerizing sealant can be provided in any procedure involving the use of bone cement, such as spinal fixation, vertebroplasty, and kyphoplasty, among others. |
| US09549759B2 |
Single port device with multi-lumen cap
A surgical access apparatus includes an access member defining a longitudinal axis and having a longitudinal passageway for reception and passage of a surgical object and an access housing mountable to the access member. The access housing includes a diaphragm mounted thereto. The diaphragm is adapted for rotational movement about the longitudinal axis relative to the access housing. The diaphragm defines at least one internal pocket and has a seal assembly disposed within the internal pocket. The seal assembly has an interface seal member adapted for establishing a fluid tight seal about the surgical object. The seal assembly is adapted for selective movement within the pocket about multiple axes in response to manipulation of the surgical object. |
| US09549758B2 |
Surgical access assembly with adapter
A surgical access assembly is disclosed, including a resiliently compressible access port defining a longitudinal axis and having proximal and distal ends. At least one lumen extends from the proximal end to the distal end of the access port and is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis. The surgical access assembly includes a resiliently compressible adapter having proximal and distal ends, an opening at the proximal end, and a passage for receipt of the access port. The adapter has a diameter at its distal end different from the diameter of the distal end of the access port. The adapter has at least one opening in its distal end to allow an object to exit the at least one lumen. The surgical access assembly may also include a sleeve positionable through an opening in tissue. |
| US09549757B2 |
Catheter with remotely extendible instruments
A method for performing a surgical procedure within lungs of a patient. The method comprising the steps of providing a plurality of surgical instruments and providing a housing. Attaching a flexible, elongated shaft with distal and proximal ends to the housing. Engaging at least one working end to the distal end of the housing, the working end including a plurality of tubes disposed therein that define a corresponding plurality of working channels for housing a corresponding plurality of surgical instruments. Controlling an actuator to engage at least one of the corresponding plurality of surgical instruments, wherein rotation of the working end with respect to a longitudinal axis of the elongated shaft engages at least one of the plurality of surgical instrument with the actuator to deploy the at least one surgical instrument to the lung as needed during a surgical procedure. |
| US09549750B2 |
Surgical devices with articulating end effectors and methods of using surgical devices with articulating end effectors
Methods and devices for using surgical devices with articulating end effectors are provided. Surgical devices with articulating end effectors can provide rotary driven pivoting of the end effector. In some embodiments, the device can include a handle, a first and a second tube extending from the handle, the second tube disposed within the first tube, and an end effector that includes a pair of distal jaws configured to move in response to rotation of the first tube about a longitudinal axis thereof and rotation of the second tube about a longitudinal axis thereof. The jaws can move in two different ways depending on whether the first and second tubes are rotating in a same direction as one another or in different ways than each other. The jaws can open/close and articulate using the same mechanical mechanism. The device can be powered, or the device can be non-powered. |
| US09549749B2 |
Surgical forceps
A forceps includes an end effector assembly having first and second jaw members disposed in parallel orientation relative to one another. One or both of the jaw members is movable along a first axis relative to the other jaw member between a spaced-apart position and an approximated position for grasping tissue therebetween. The first and second jaw members are configured to maintain the parallel orientation therebetween upon movement of the jaw members between the spaced-apart and approximated positions. A drive bar is coupled to one or both of the jaw members. The drive bar is selectively movable along a second axis that is different from the first axis between first and second positions for moving the jaw members between the spaced-apart and approximated positions. |
| US09549746B2 |
Delivery device and method
A microprotrusion array for use in transport of a material across a biological barrier, wherein said array comprises a plurality of microprotusions composed of a swellable polymer composition. |
| US09549745B2 |
Delivery devices and systems for tools used in medical procedures
A device and method of delivering a medical tool which may be a memory resector, cutter, probe, or the like, including a memory blade compacted in a small diameter state which expands in a relaxed memory state is disclosed. Said delivery may include using a hollow sheath to pre-compact or preload a memory blade into a compact position, transferring said compacted memory blade into a cannula, and deploying said memory blade from the distal end of said cannula whereby the memory blade returns to its normal expanded memory state. |
| US09549742B2 |
Devices and methods for knee arthroplasty
The present invention provides, in certain embodiments, a device for positioning and orienting the femoral cutting block. The present invention also provides a device for setting rotation of sagittal resection for unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. The present invention further provides methods for setting the rotation of the tibial implant by kinematic measurements. |
| US09549740B2 |
Device and method for filling of aneurysm or body cavity
The invention relates generally to embolic agents and embolic delivery systems more specifically it relates to a device and method for filling of aneurysm or body cavity. In various embodiments, segmented and monolithic embolic agents provide the operator with the ability to select and detach the length of embolic agent, either extracorporeally or intracorporeally as desired by the operator, for implantation into the aneurysm or body cavity. Linking elements and detachment elements may be utilized by the operator to connect and detach variable lengths of embolic agents either extracorporeally or intracorporeally utilizing electrolytic, chemical, and mechanical detachment mechanisms. Embolic delivery systems are disclosed providing for constant and steady propulsion of the embolic agent. |
| US09549737B2 |
Methods and devices for performing gastroplasty
A gastroplasty method involves a staple line that terminates prior to reaching the gastroesophageal junction such that the bypassed portion of the stomach does not require resection. Additionally, bougies are taught that assist a physician in following the improved staple line of the present invention. |
| US09549735B2 |
Fastener cartridge comprising a firing member including fastener transfer surfaces
A fastener cartridge can comprise a cartridge body including a plurality of fastener cavities and a plurality of fasteners removably stored therein. The fastener cartridge can further comprise a firing member including a first ramp surface and a second ramp surface which can be configured to co-operatively lift and eject the fasteners from the fastener cavities. The first ramp surface can initially lift the fasteners. The second ramp surface can then complete the lift of the fasteners. In such circumstances, the fasteners can be transferred from the first ramp surface to the second ramp surface of the firing member. In various circumstances, the first ramp surface and/or the second ramp surface can directly engage the fasteners. In other circumstances, the fastener cartridge can include fastener drivers which are directly lifted by the first ramp surface and/or the second ramp surface. The fastener cartridge can further include an anvil. |
| US09549733B2 |
Surgical stapler with cartridge-adjustable clamp gap
An exemplary surgical apparatus for treating tissue may include an anvil; a jaw pivotally connected to the anvil; and a first cartridge detachably connected to the anvil, holding staples of a first size; where a first clamp gap between the anvil and first cartridge is set by the connection between the first cartridge and jaw. An exemplary cartridge for a surgical stapler may include a cartridge housing; a plurality of staples held within the cartridge housing; and a sled slidable within, and retained by, the cartridge housing, including a central platform, at least one wedge connected to the central platform, and a knife rotatable relative to the central platform. |
| US09549725B2 |
Tissue repair device
The present disclosure relates to a tissue repair device. The device includes a handle, a knob coupled to the handle, and a needle coupled to the handle. The needle includes a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end including a slot, wherein a first anchor is housed within the distal end and a second anchor is housed within the slot and located proximal to the first anchor. An actuator disposed within the needle and operatively coupled to the knob, wherein advancement of the knob allows for engagement of the actuator with the first anchor and subsequent advancement of the first anchor via the actuator. A method of tissue repair is also disclosed. |
| US09549724B2 |
Adaptor for surgical retractor blades
An adaptor for removably engaging surgical retractor blades to a retractor frame has a recess with a latch mechanism at its proximal end for removably securing the adaptor to the rail of a retractor frame, and a spring-loaded locking jaw mechanism at its distal end for removably engaging a retractor blade. |
| US09549721B2 |
Surgical retractor with impactor
A surgical retractor comprising a retractor body having a site portion and handle portion, and an impactor body on the retractor body. The impactor body is positioned and configured for use in impacting the site portion of the surgical site. An impaction axis of the impaction body is preferably substantially aligned with an axis of the site portion of the impactor body. The impactor body is preferably attached to the retractor body at a junction between the site portion and the handle portion of the retractor body. In one embodiment, the impactor portion is configured to selectively mate with an impactor extension member to thereby optionally receive direct impaction on the impactor portion or indirect impaction through the impactor extension member. |
| US09549710B2 |
Methods for updating 2D/3D registration on movement and computing device
Methods for updating a 2D/3D registration between a three-dimensional image data set corresponding to a target area subjected to a movement and a plurality of two-dimensional projection images of the target area include: selecting a plurality of contour points along a contour, the contour being visible in a first projection image and a three-dimensional image data set registered therewith, the plurality of contour points being associated with a rigid object in the target area; determining a displacement of each contour point of the plurality of contour points between the first projection image and a successively captured second projection image; obtaining movement information for each contour point of the plurality of contour points based on the determined displacement, the movement information describing a movement of the rigid object; and updating the registration based on the obtained movement information. |
| US09549709B2 |
Integrated multi-mode mammography/tomosynthesis X-ray system and method
A system for multi-mode breast x-ray Imaging which comprises a compression arm assembly for compressing and immobilizing a breast for x-ray imaging, an x-ray tube assembly, and an x-ray image receptor is provided. The system is configured for a plurality of imaging protocols and modes. |
| US09549707B2 |
System for orientation and display of ultrasound imaging data
A system orientates and displays intra-vascular ultrasound imaging data using an acquisition processor and an image data processor. The acquisition processor acquires, during navigation of an ultrasound catheter through a vessel, for multiple individual intra-vascular ultrasound images comprising an image sequence, data representing an individual image and orientation data associated with the individual image indicating orientation of the catheter and individual image with respect to a reference position external to patient anatomy. The image data processor aligns the multiple individual intra-vascular ultrasound images with respect to the external reference position by rotating individual images of the image sequence as necessary to have substantially the same orientation with respect to the external reference position in response to the orientation data. |
| US09549706B2 |
Cradle drive mechanism, a table, and a patient imaging and carrying apparatus
A cradle drive mechanism, a table and a patient imaging and carrying apparatus are provided. The cradle drive mechanism includes: a first portion, which is arranged on a main base and has a belt drive structure, wherein the belt drive structure is used to connect a cradle and drive the cradle to make a reciprocating motion; a second portion, which is arranged on a secondary base and has a secondary supporting and rotating member, wherein the second portion and the first portion form a gap therebetween, and the secondary supporting and rotating member is used to support the cradle; and two guiding and rotating members, which are arranged on the second portion and/or the first portion for guiding the cradle to move linearly. The present application can simplify the structure by adoption of the belt drive structure. Further, the gap between the second portion and the first portion does not attenuate the X-ray additionally, so the dose of the X-ray emitted can be decreased. |
| US09549704B1 |
Neural interface methods and apparatus to provide artificial sensory capabilities to a subject
Embodiments of neural interfaces according to the present invention comprise sensor modules for sensing environmental attributes beyond the natural sensory capability of a subject, and communicating the attributes wirelessly to an external (ex-vivo) portable module attached to the subject. The ex-vivo module encodes and communicates the attributes via a transcutaneous inductively coupled link to an internal (in-vivo) module implanted within the subject. The in-vivo module converts the attribute information into electrical neural stimuli that are delivered to a peripheral nerve bundle within the subject, via an implanted electrode. Methods and apparatus according to the invention incorporate implantable batteries to power the in-vivo module allowing for transcutaneous bidirectional communication of low voltage (e.g. on the order of 5 volts) encoded signals as stimuli commands and neural responses, in a robust, low-error rate, communication channel with minimal effects to the subjects' skin. |
| US09549699B2 |
Polymer membranes for continuous analyte sensors
Devices and methods are described for providing continuous measurement of an analyte concentration. In some embodiments, the device has a sensing mechanism and a sensing membrane that includes at least one surface-active group-containing polymer and that is located over the sensing mechanism. The sensing membrane may have a bioprotective layer configured to substantially block the effect and/or influence of non-constant noise-causing species. |
| US09549698B2 |
Method of and system for stabilization of sensors
A blood glucose sensing system includes a sensor and a sensor electronics device. The sensor includes a plurality of electrodes. The sensor electronics device includes stabilization circuitry. The stabilization circuitry causes a first voltage to be applied to one of the electrodes for a first timeframe and causes a second voltage to be applied to one of the electrodes for a second timeframe. The stabilization circuitry repeats the application of the first voltage and the second voltage to continue the anodic-cathodic cycle. The sensor electronics device may include a power supply, a regulator, and a voltage application device, where the voltage application device receives a regulated voltage from the regulator, applies a first voltage to an electrode for the first timeframe, and applies a second voltage to an electrode for the second timeframe. |
| US09549697B2 |
Hydrogel composition
An electrochemical sensor system comprises an electrochemical sensor and a hydrogel composition. The electrochemical sensor has at least a counter electrode and a working electrode. The hydrogel composition contacts the working electrode. The hydrogel composition comprises a first monomer, a second monomer, a cross-linking agent, and a solvent. The first monomer has hydrophilic characteristics. The second monomer has hydrophobic characteristics. The ratio of the first monomer to the second monomer is from about 0.1:99.9 to about 99.9:0.1. |
| US09549691B2 |
Wireless monitoring
A monitoring system includes a Doppler radar formed with an IEEE 802 protocol transmitter and an IEEE 802 protocol receiver to detect motion, wherein frequency waves are transmitted by the IEEE 802 protocol transmitter and reflected waves are received by the IEEE protocol 802 receiver; and an analyzer to perform Doppler operations using the IEEE 802 protocol transmitter and receiver, wherein the analyzer calibrates a training Doppler radar signal during a training phase to develop a model and wherein the analyzer applies the model with the Doppler radar signal during an operational phase to determine position. |
| US09549687B2 |
Patient transport apparatus with integrated subsystems for use in magnetic resonance imaging
A patient transport apparatus having a table configured to support a patient, a base attached to the table, a docking system attached to the base, the docking system configured to couple to a mating docking system of an MR imaging system, and a plurality of bays formed in the base, with each bay configured to receive a patient care module therein. The patient transport apparatus further includes a control system configured to be electrically coupled to each patient care module received within the plurality of bays and configured to centrally control each patient care module. |
| US09549685B2 |
Apparatus and display methods relating to intravascular placement of a catheter
An integrated catheter placement system for accurately placing a catheter within a patient's vasculature is disclosed. In one embodiment, the integrated system comprises a system console, a tip location sensor for temporary placement on the patient's chest, and an ultrasound probe. The tip location sensor senses a magnetic field of a stylet disposed in a lumen of the catheter when the catheter is disposed in the vasculature. The ultrasound probe ultrasonically images a portion of the vasculature prior to introduction of the catheter. ECG signal-based catheter tip guidance is included in the integrated system to enable guidance of the catheter tip to a desired position with respect to a node of the patient's heart. Various aspects for visualizing and manipulating display of the ECG signal data acquired via the present system, together with aspects of various ECG sensor configurations, are also disclosed. |
| US09549681B2 |
Matrix-based patient signal analysis
Disclosed herein is a framework for facilitating patient signal analysis. In accordance with one aspect, the framework generates a signature cycle matrix corresponding to a single cycle of the patient signal data by segmenting the patient signal data into multiple portions. The signature cycle matrix may further be segmented into sub-matrices corresponding to different levels. Properties of the sub-matrices may then be determined to generate diagnostic results. |
| US09549677B2 |
Seizure detection methods, apparatus, and systems using a wavelet transform maximum modulus algorithm
Methods for detecting a seizure, by use of a wavelet transform maximum modulus (WTMM) algorithm applied to body data. A non-transitive, computer-readable storage device for storing data that when executed by a processor, perform such a method. |
| US09549676B2 |
Differentiating decompensation detection based on co-morbidities in heart failure
This document discusses, among other things, a system comprising a sensor signal processor configured to receive a plurality of electrical sensor signals produced by a plurality of sensors and at least one sensor signal produced by an implantable sensor, a memory that includes information indicating a co-morbidity of a subject, a sensor signal selection circuit that selects a sensor signal to monitor from among the plurality of sensor signals, according to an indicated co-morbidity, a threshold adjustment circuit that adjusts a detection threshold of the selected sensor signal according to the indicated co-morbidity, and a decision circuit that applies the adjusted detection threshold to the selected sensor signal to determine whether an event associated with worsening heart failure (HF) occurred in the subject and outputs an indication of whether the event associated with worsening HF occurred to a user or process. |
| US09549674B2 |
Method and device for estimating a myocardial performance parameter
An implantable medical device applies an electric signal to at least a portion of a heart in a subject. A resulting electric signal is collected from the heart and is used together with the applied signal for determining a cardiogenic impedance signal. The impedance signal is processed in order to estimate an isovolumetric contraction time, an isovolumetric relaxation time and an ejection time for a heart cycle. These three time parameters are employed for calculating a Tei-index of the heart. The Tei-index can be used as myocardial performance parameter in heart diagnosis and/or cardiac therapy adjustment. |
| US09549669B2 |
System and method for measurement of refractive error of an eye based on subjective distance metering
The method include: (a) displaying at least one dynamic target image of at least one sign over a display area; (b) receiving subjective feedback from the subject indicating that the subject is positioned at a maximum distance of best acuity (MDBA) from the target image, wherein the MDBA is the maximum distance in which the subject recognizes the sign; (c) measuring one or more parameter associated with distance, during the time the subject has reached the MDBA distance, using at least one sensor; (d) estimating the MDBA by estimating the distance between the eye of the subject and the display area in which the target image is displayed by using the sensor data and (e) calculating the refractive error of the eye according to the estimated MDBA and characteristics of the target image. |
| US09549664B2 |
Medical instrument with a window
A medical instrument includes a housing with an aperture, a window component that comprises a transparent material and closes off the aperture, and a thin-walled area that surrounds the aperture. |
| US09549663B2 |
Teleoperated surgical retractor system
A minimally invasive surgical system includes a guide tube and a telemanipulatively controlled surgical retractor instrument that extends through the guide tube. The portion of the retractor instrument that extends beyond the distal end of the guide tube includes several links that can be steered. In some aspects, joints between the links provide degrees of freedom in the same direction of movement. In some aspects, a grasping end effector is coupled to the end of the retractor instrument, and in further aspects the grasping end effector is coupled by a passively rotating wrist mechanism that rotates as the retractor instrument is moved while the end effector grasps tissue. |
| US09549657B2 |
Dishwasher with multi-piece tub
A dishwasher for automatically executing a cycle of operation for treatment of dishes includes a tub having multiple walls at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving dishes for treatment wherein at least one of the multiple walls is thermoformed from sheet material and a method of making a tub for a dishwasher. |
| US09549655B2 |
Hot cleaning system for surfaces
An apparatus for the hot and moist cleaning of floors is disclosed, having an elongate body including a handle at a proximal end thereof and a water reservoir; and a cleaning head flexibly disposed at a distal end of the elongate body and having a heating plate and a cleaning pad, wherein the heating plate forms a planar underside of the cleaning head and includes a heating element to heat the planar underside. The water reservoir is adapted to moisten the cleaning pad when the planar underside is above 85 C. The cleaning pad is removably attached against and in thermal communication with the planar underside such that the cleaning pad is moistened and heated to a temperature between 85 C and 100 C, inclusive. And the heating plate does not substantially heat water from the water reservoir prior to the moistening of the cleaning pad. |
| US09549653B1 |
Toy gathering and storage device
A toy gathering and storage device for gathering and storing toys includes a rake that has a handle which comprises an exterior section and an interior section, such that the handle is extendable. A top edge of a slat is coupled to a bottom end of the exterior section. A plurality of claws is coupled to and extends from a bottom edge of the slat. The device includes a collector that has a rod which comprises an inner section and an outer section, such that the rod is extendable. A bracket is coupled to and extends from a bottom terminus of the outer section. A pan is pivotally coupled to the bracket. A bag, which is flexible, is positionable around the pan and the bracket. The bag is couplable to the bracket. |
| US09549652B2 |
Steam cleaning device and accessory
A steam cleaning accessory for use with a steam generator comprises a flexible body comprising a front wall, a rear wall and base extending there between. At least one steam conduit is connectable to the steam generator and is arranged to be in fluid communication therewith. The steam conduit comprises at least one steam outlet for ejecting steam. The at least one steam outlet is mounted on an underside of the base which is configured to be adjacent to a surface to be cleaned. A flexible pocket is mounted on the flexible body and arranged to receive a user's hand. A barrier projects from the flexible body which is engageable with the surface to be cleaned. The barrier is located on a rear wall side of the at least one steam outlet. |
| US09549645B2 |
Sudz-Bath-Cloth
The SUDZ-BATH-CLOTH use standard length and width of two typical bath cloths, which are 10 inches to 12 inches. There are for corners that are threaded together to create a firm and long lasting hold of the two cloths materials from opening apart. The inside insert is created to purposely produce thousands of tiny bubbles.The insert has four arms that can be measured diagonally, from tip to tip, that will measure 12.5 inches. The perimeter from tip to tip as measured in say a (square) shaped object will be 8.75 inches. There are four triangle shaped designed patterns next to each arm. Two sides give a measurement of 7.50 inches tip to tip. The other two sides measured north to south, tip to tip gives a measurement of 5.5 inches. The insert is 1.0 inches thick, but can exceed with raised topping. |
| US09549641B1 |
Portable spice storage case
Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a portable container for storing, organizing, and transporting bottles. The portable container being a case having an outer shell made of two openable halves having an interior and a back wall; a rear retainer attached to the back wall and running along the width of the interior, the rear retainer including a plurality of rounded grooves, each configured to accommodate a bottle; and a sliding bracket positioned within each interior, the sliding bracket being attached to the respective half but spaced away from the back wall, the sliding bracket having a plurality of rounded grooves, each configured to accommodate the bottle, such that when the sliding bracket is in a closed configuration, each bottle is sandwiched between the rear retainer and the sliding bracket. |
| US09549638B1 |
BBQ oven with controllable level position of charcoal chamber and inserts
The present BBQ oven with controllable level position of charcoal chamber and inserts generally comprises a truncated spherical body including a thermometer and recesses for barbecuing food and/or insert holding rods in the upper portion of body, and the first necks (for control of the level position of the burning charcoal chamber, comprising a plate for charcoal), second neck (for an air flow control), sleeve and clamping member in the lower portion of the body. |
| US09549631B1 |
Self-contained bracelet attaching device and bracelet containing same
Disclosed is a combination of a bracelet and a device for assisting in attaching a bracelet of the type having a clasp at one end and a receiver at the other end and being flexible between such ends. The device comprises a dangling member attached to the bracelet, which dangling member is of sufficient length so that at least one finger of the wearer's involved hand can engage the dangling member against the involved hand and thereby position said receiver at or near the wrist while the wearer's other hand manipulates the clasp at the other end of the bracelet so as to bring such clasp into proximity with the receiver and then so as to attach the bracelet. In another embodiment of the invention, a detachably attachable dangling member is disclosed that can be retrofitted to a typical bracelet. In another embodiment of the invention, the dangling member is permanently attached near one end of the bracelet and is detachably attachable elsewhere on the bracelet. |
| US09549630B2 |
Hanger
A hanger including a hanger body, a hook assembly and an attachment assembly. The hanger includes a hanger body and a hook assembly. The hook assembly includes a body and a hook member. The attachment assembly is structurally configured to couple the hook assembly to the hanger body while facilitating relative rotation thereof, and, comprises a first coupling component and a second coupling component. The first coupling component includes a central post having an outer surface and locking tabs at a distal end thereof. The second coupling component has a central bore with a rear annular surface. The central post extends through the central bore, with the locking tabs interfacing with the rear annular surface so as to substantially preclude axial movement of the central post within the central bore, while allowing rotation about an axis that extends through the central post. |
| US09549619B2 |
Cushion for co-sleeping
Flexible cushions include structures configured to secure to a mattress or other sleeping surface, permitting cushion re-shaping to divide or otherwise configure a sleeping space. Cushions join to the mattress via an L-shaped plate that seats against a side an under a bottom of the mattress. The cushion is supported by the L-shaped plate, which may extend inside the cushion or otherwise mate with a flexible shaping pipe in the cushion. The flexible pipe in the cushion allows the cushion to be shaped in any fashion with sufficient human force while retaining its shape when slept on. The L-shaped plate is joined to an opposite latch plate that secures to an opposite side of the mattress by an adjustable belt that runs between the L-shaped plate and latch plate. The belt may run under the mattress and join to any number of structures. |
| US09549618B1 |
Folding bed and filing cabinet
The present invention is a folding bed that is embedded into a filing cabinet. The folding bed comprises of three folding sections pivotably connected to each other to be sized to fit vertically into the compartment of the filing cabinet. The folding bed including a pull-push assembly to pull the folding bed out of the cabinet and a rotation system to rotate the folding bed from a vertical position into a horizontal position and reverse. When the door, which looks like a combination of two drawer doors, is opened, the folded bed is easily slid out of the cabinet and rotated to the right or left direction depending on the position of the cabinet proportional to a wall or other obstruction and opens the foldable bed in a horizontal position and retracts the foldable legs to support the bed on the floor. |
| US09549616B2 |
Accessory holder
An accessory holder that includes an arcuate holding element having a mounting arm that is operatively attached to mounting foot where the mounting foot can be disposed onto a lawn or beach chair having woven strips of material under which the mounting foot can be inserted to temporarily retain the accessory holder such that the accessory holder can be used for storage of items such as drinks, jewelry, and other loose items while a person is resting upon the lawn or beach chair. |
| US09549613B2 |
Methods of mounting brackets and associated components for drawer and tray slides in cabinetry
A bracket for attaching a drawer slide to a cabinet wall includes: main panel having front and rear surfaces, upper and lower edges, and opposed side edges; an L-shaped upper flange mounted to front surface of the main panel; an L-shaped lower flange mounted to the front surface of the main panel substantially parallel to the upper flange; a recess in the main panel positioned between the upper flange and the lower flange; an access ramp extending between one of the side edges and the recess; and means for mounting the main panel to the cabinet wall so that the rear surface confronts the rear wall. The upper and lower flanges are configured to capture the upper and lower edges of a panel of a mating bracket attached to a drawer slide. The recess is configured to receive and capture a nub extending from the panel of the mating bracket. |
| US09549610B1 |
Picnic table storage system
A picnic table storage system includes a collapsible table that has a deck and a system of collapsible legs. A frame is provided and the frame may be suspended from a vehicle. A box is slidably coupled to the frame such that the box may be positioned beneath the vehicle. The collapsible table is insertable into the box such that the collapsible table is stored within the box. |
| US09549608B1 |
Paint edger devices
An edger for a paint roller, comprising: a roller frame; a roller cover, having lateral edges, the lateral edges being outside a painting width of the paint roller and being configured to glide against a surface without marring the surface; a displaceable mount, configured to have a first position in which a roller cover is fully engaged over the paint roller and a second position in which the roller cover is disengaged from the paint roller; and at least one auxiliary brush, located on at least one lateral edge of the roller cover, configured to provide painting coverage adjacent to an edge of the roller. A paintbrush edger comprising a linked pair of selectively deployed shields, separated by a wicking space, having tips which glide in a corner, protecting a from contact with paint, while withdrawing paint which seeps into the corner into the wicking space. |
| US09549607B2 |
Oral care implement
An oral care implement including a head, a gum massaging element extending from proximate a peripheral side of the head, and a plurality of tooth cleaning elements positioned on the head. The plurality of tooth cleaning elements including a side tooth cleaning element positioned inwards and adjacent the gum massaging element. The gum massaging element provides transverse support to the side tooth cleaning element during brushing. |
| US09549601B2 |
Mini brake for hair color placement foils and its method of use
A hair folding and creasing brake device for creating pre-folded and creased triangular hair foils for dimensional hair color placement has a hinged sheet which is hinged so that foil sheets placed on its surface can be clamped and then bent to form a crease in the foil. A hair coloring foil is prepared by placing a foil or a pack of foils onto the device which is then folded over the foil to clamp the foil and then folded again to bend the foil to impart a crease to the foil. |
| US09549600B2 |
Folding box for a timepiece
Folding, flat storable box including a foldable inner container, formed by a first longitudinal band closed on itself and forming a first deformable prism unfoldable between a flat position and a deployed position, and secured to a second transverse band secured, on a base, to a third longitudinal band deformable between a flat position and a folded position where the third band closed on itself surrounds the inner container which can be folded over, when the inner container is in a deployed and folded down position, in abutment on the main base, where the base includes at least one projecting indexing element for holding the inner container in a single particular deployed position of the first prism on the base, when the inner container is in the position folded over onto the base. |
| US09549597B2 |
Luggage case structure with protruding lower portion
A luggage article having a lower portion supporting a pluralities of supports and including a plurality of walls forming a luggage case structure defining an interior cavity and having a front wall, back wall, opposing side walls, and a bottom wall, at least one support assembly being mounted on a lower portion adjacent the front wall, the lower portion of the front wall has a protruding ledge structure extending at least partially laterally across the front wall, front edges of the opposing sidewalls being offset rearwardly from the front edge of the protruding ledge structure to enhance stability. |
| US09549593B2 |
Slide fastener with separable bottom end stop
The slide fastener has a separable bottom end stop, and the separable bottom end stop has at least an insert pin and a box pin. The insert pin has an escape portion provided with an inclined surface or a curved surface along which the thickness dimension of the insert pin decreases in the direction of the tape width toward the side edge that faces the box pin, the escape portion being positioned in the front-end corner portion of a first-surface of the insert pin, the corner portion being positioned along the edge that faces the box pin. This allows the escape portion of the insert pin to function as an interference prevention means, efficiently prevent chain failure in an element row when the slide fastener is bent into a U-shape, and maintain stable engaging. |
| US09549592B2 |
Tightening device for footwear and footwear provided with such tightening device
A tightening device is provided for footwear, in particular, for sports footwear of the kind comprising a substantially rigid outer element and a substantially flexible inner element. The tightening device comprises a strap element and the strap element is configured so that—when it is tensioned—it is capable of applying pressure directly both onto the outer element and to the inner element, whereby the pressure is applied more efficiently and uniformly and the user's comfort is thus increased. In addition, the strap element has a substantially continuous surface, which increase the stability of the tightening device and eliminates the risk of an incorrect positioning also in the case of high stresses during sports practices. |
| US09549589B2 |
Composite sole structure
Embodiments relating to a lightweight sole structure are disclosed. In some embodiments, the sole structure may include a lobed member having a protruding portion associated with a cleat member. In some embodiments, the sole structure may include a chambered member located in an indention in an intermediate member. In some embodiments, the sole structure may include a cleat member having an outer layer, an intermediate layer, and an inner layer. In some embodiments, a method of making a sole structure may include injecting a chambered member in between an upper member and an intermediate member. In some embodiments, the sole structure may include a plurality of zones having varying degrees of flexibility. In some embodiments, the sole structure may include cleat members having penetrating portions for penetrating into the ground surface. |
| US09549581B2 |
Belt adjustment system
Disclosed are belt adjustment systems, particularly for wearing around a user's waist, that permit a continuum of belt loop sizes or a larger selection of belt loop sizes. The belt adjustment system includes an elongate belt member having a first end, a second end and a series of teeth positioned on an inner surface near the second end and a fixation member having first and second adjustment elements. |
| US09549574B1 |
Halo shirt
Apparel, clothing and methods of using clothing tops with a wider front and rear necklines for patients wearing halo braces. The wider necklines and adjustable ties with slit opening allow the clothing top to be worn and removed without the patient being in pain while the brace is attached to the patient's head and body. It makes the patient look presentable as well as comfortable. It will allow individuals both men and women to be well dressed for physical therapy and any other outings. |
| US09549568B2 |
Low sodium salt composition
The present invention relates to a low sodium salt composition and the methods used to make it. The low sodium salt composition includes sodium chloride and a modified chloride salt composition. The modified chloride salt composition includes a homogenous amalgamation of chloride salt, food grade acidulant, and carrier, which does not contain sodium chloride. The modified chloride salt composition may be combined with sodium chloride to form a low sodium salt composition. The modified chloride salt composition may be enhanced to increase particle size. |
| US09549567B2 |
Method for obtaining aromatics
The invention relates to a method for obtaining aromatics. |
| US09549558B2 |
Herbicidal azines
The present invention relates to azines of formula (I) wherein the variables are defined according to the description, processes and intermediated for preparing them, compositions comprising them and their use as herbicides, i.e. for controlling harmful plants and a method for controlling unwanted vegetation which comprises allowing a herbicidal effective amount of at least one azine of the formula I to act on plants, their seed and/or their habitat. |
| US09549553B2 |
Active compound combinations having insecticidal properties
The present invention relates to novel active compound combinations comprising at least one known compound of the formula (I) in which X, R1 to R4, A, n, Y, and m are as defined in the description, and at least one further known active compound from the class of the pyrethroids, which combinations are highly suitable for controlling animal pests such as insects and unwanted acarids. |
| US09549550B2 |
Method and composition for long acting bacterial suppression on skin
The present disclosure relates to methods and compositions for suppressing the growth of microorganisms on selected areas of the skin for an extended period of time, such as one hour, twenty four hours, seventy two hours, or longer. An area of the skin is selected for the suppression of the growth of microorganisms and a microorganism growth suppressing agent is topically applied to the selected area of the skin. The microorganism growth suppressing agent may be comprised in a pharmacologically acceptable vehicle such as an emulsion or soap. The microorganism growth suppressing agent comprises free conjugated fatty acid such as conjugated linoleic acid. |
| US09549547B2 |
Regeneration of antimicrobial coatings containing metal derivatives upon exposure to aqueous hydrogen peroxide
This invention relates to regenerable antimicrobial coatings with long-lasting efficacy for use in medical applications including implants, medical instruments or devices, and hospital equipment. The same coatings would also have broad utility in the consumer, industrial, and institutional markets. The coating technology would be based on sequestration of hydrogen peroxide (HP) by zinc oxide binders incorporated into the coatings. |
| US09549545B2 |
Hunting stand and firearm rest therefor
Firearm rests for hunting stands are provided. A firearm rest includes a first arm and a second arm. The second arm is spaced apart from the first arm along a lateral direction. The first arm and second arm each include a body extending between a first end and a second end, the body including a fixed portion and a rotational portion that is rotational between an extended position and a retracted position. The firearm rest further includes a cross-beam extending generally along the lateral direction between the first arm and the second arm. The cross-beam is coupled to the first arm at the first end and coupled to the second arm at the first end. The cross-beam has a position along a vertical direction in the extended position that is above a position of the cross-beam along the vertical direction in the retracted position. |
| US09549541B2 |
Fishing reel having a fishing line guide that guides a fishing line wound on a spool
A fishing reel according to an embodiment includes a spool rotatably supported between a left side plate and a right side plate of a reel body, and a fishing line guide having a first portion and a second portion. The first portion has a first through hole, the second portion has a second through hole, the first through hole guides a fishing line to be wound on the spool, and the second through hole has a width in a left-right direction larger than the first through hole and being continuous with the first through hole. A front surface of the first portion is angled to a rear side with respect to a perpendicular line extended from a center of a rotational axis of the spool to an extending direction of the fishing line. |
| US09549540B2 |
Dual-bearing reel
A dual-bearing reel includes a reel body, a spool, a spool shaft, a one-way clutch, and an operating lever. The spool is rotatable relative to the reel body. The spool shaft is configured to integrally rotate with the spool. The one-way clutch comprises an outer ring that is rotatable relative to the reel body and a rolling body configured to transmit rotation of the spool shaft in the casting direction to the outer ring, the one-way clutch being attached to the spool shaft. The operating lever is attached to the reel body, extends in a radial direction, and is configured to adjust a braking force that brakes rotation of the outer ring. |
| US09549539B2 |
Lobster trap stabilizing system
A lobster trap stabilization system having one or more hinged fins, each fin enclosed in a containment structure located in a lobster trap opposite the weighted side of the trap, whereby the fins provide increased drag to a trap descending to the ocean floor while the trap is in an improper orientation relative to the ocean floor, thus facilitating trap rotation to achieve proper trap orientation, and provide little to no drag to a descending trap while it is in its proper orientation. |
| US09549537B2 |
Top-fill hummingbird feeder with float valve base closure mechanism
A top-fill hummingbird feeder is provided having a liquid container with a liquid flow opening at a lower end and a removable cap at an upper end, a feeding basin positioned below the liquid container, and a sealing mechanism associated with the liquid flow opening and the feeding basin. The sealing mechanism includes a bottle seal assembly configured for removable coupling with a base of the feeding basin, and a float valve captured by said bottle seal assembly to prevent rotation thereof while allowing the float valve to move upwardly and downwardly with changing nectar levels in the feeding basin. The feeding basin is filled by gravity feed of the liquid in the container through the liquid flow opening when the sealing mechanism is open. When the feeding basin reaches a full position, the liquid nectar raises the float valve which, in turn, acts to close the liquid flow opening. |
| US09549533B2 |
Organically based animal litter and manufacturing process
The present disclosure provides a lightweight hybrid clumping animal litter made from organic core particles combined with small amounts of clumping agent, and methods for making the litter. |
| US09549530B2 |
Milking apparatus and a method for presenting a teat cup for attaching to an animal
A rotary milking platform (1) comprises a plurality of apparatus, each of which comprises a platform (11) which forms a segment of the rotary platform (1). The platforms (11) define respective animal accommodating locations (3) for animals to be milked. A communicating opening (20) in each platform (11) is closed by a pair of closure plates (25) which are pivotal upwardly into an open state for separating the hind legs of an animal. A carriage (14) which is slideably carried beneath the platform (11) of each apparatus (10) in the directions of the arrows A and B. A teat cup carrier (15) is pivotally mounted in the carriage (14) of each apparatus (10) and is pivotal from a first state with teat cups (16) in the carrier (15) in a protective state extending horizontally and a second state with the teat cups (16) in a ready state extending vertically upwardly and ready for manual placement onto the teats of an animal. The carriage (14) is urgeable into a first position with the teat cup carrier (15) in the first state and with the teat cups (16) sealably engaged in plug elements (45) which include jetters (47) for use in rinsing and washing the milking system. The carriage (14) is moveable from the first position to a second position with the teat cup carrier (15) substantially aligned with the udder of an animal so that when the teat cup carrier (15) is urged into the second state, the teat cups (16) can be manually urged upwardly by hand and attached to the teat of the animal. |
| US09549521B1 |
Sorghum inbred PHA4OZQKE
A novel sorghum variety designated PHA4OZQKE and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a plant that comprise crossing sorghum variety PHA4OZQKE with another plant. Methods for producing a plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PHA4OZQKE through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the sorghum seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid sorghum seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the sorghum variety PHA4OZQKE or a locus conversion of PHA4OZQKE with another sorghum variety. |
| US09549519B1 |
Soybean variety XBP46007
A novel soybean variety, designated XBP46007 is provided. Also provided are the seeds of soybean variety XBP46007, cells from soybean variety XBP46007, plants of soybean XBP46007, and plant parts of soybean variety XBP46007. Methods provided include producing a soybean plant by crossing soybean variety XBP46007 with another soybean plant, methods for introgressing a transgenic trait, a mutant trait, and/or a native trait into soybean variety XBP46007, methods for producing other soybean varieties or plant parts derived from soybean variety XBP46007, and methods of characterizing soybean variety XBP46007. Soybean seed, cells, plants, germplasm, breeding lines, varieties, and plant parts produced by these methods and/or derived from soybean variety XBP46007 are further provided. |
| US09549518B1 |
Soybean variety XBP37012
A novel soybean variety, designated XBP37012 is provided. Also provided are the seeds of soybean variety XBP37012, cells from soybean variety XBP37012, plants of soybean XBP37012, and plant parts of soybean variety XBP37012. Methods provided include producing a soybean plant by crossing soybean variety XBP37012 with another soybean plant, methods for introgressing a transgenic trait, a mutant trait, and/or a native trait into soybean variety XBP37012, methods for producing other soybean varieties or plant parts derived from soybean variety XBP37012, and methods of characterizing soybean variety XBP37012. Soybean seed, cells, plants, germplasm, breeding lines, varieties, and plant parts produced by these methods and/or derived from soybean variety XBP37012 are further provided. |
| US09549516B1 |
Maize inbred PH24VK
A novel maize variety designated PH24VK and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH24VK with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH24VK through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid maize seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the variety PH24VK or a locus conversion of PH24VK with another maize variety. |
| US09549514B1 |
Maize inbred PH269H
A novel maize variety designated PH269H and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH269H with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH269H through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid maize seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the variety PH269H or a locus conversion of PH269H with another maize variety. |
| US09549513B1 |
Maize inbred PH2T99
A novel maize variety designated PH2T99 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH2T99 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH2T99 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid maize seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the variety PH2T99 or a locus conversion of PH2T99 with another maize variety. |
| US09549512B2 |
Bean variety SV1545GA
The invention provides seed and plants of the bean line designated SV1545GA. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of bean line SV1545GA, and to methods for producing a bean plant produced by crossing a plant of bean line SV1545GA with itself or with another bean plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of bean line SV1545GA, including the pods and gametes of such plants. |
| US09549507B2 |
Method for cultivating plant
A plant-cultivating method is provided which comprises a step (A) of irradiating a plant with a red light and a step (B) of irradiating a plant with a blue light, and a step (C) of irradiating a plant with a light predominantly comprised of far-red light wherein the step (A), the step (B) and the step (C) are independently and separately carried out for a predetermined period of time. The light irradiated at each of the steps (A), (B) and (C) has at least 60%, based on the total emission intensity of the light, of an emission intensity ratio of red light, blue light or far-red light. |
| US09549506B2 |
Harvester with rear active bottom floor
A harvester assembly has a feeder assembly, a bottom floor assembly, and a crop collection channel. The rear portion of the bottom floor assembly is capable of variable movement to facilitate the passage of crop material through the crop collection channel with a reduced risk of clogging or plugging of the channel. |
| US09554495B2 |
Electro-optic displays, and materials and methods for production thereof
An electro-optic display is produced using a sub-assembly comprising a front sheet, an electro-optic medium; and an adhesive layer. An aperture is formed through the adhesive layer where the adhesive layer is not covered by the electro-optic medium, and the sub-assembly is adhered to a backplane having a co-operating member with the aperture engaged with a co-operating member, thus locating the sub-assembly relative to the backplane. In another form of electro-optic display, a chip extends through an aperture in the electro-optic medium and adhesive layer. In a third form, the aforementioned sub-assembly is secured to a backplane and then a cut is made through both backplane and sub-assembly to provide an aligned edge. |
| US09554494B2 |
Transparent electromagnetic interference shield
A transparent electromagnetic interference shield includes a first transparent substrate and an electromagnetic interference shielding layer. The electromagnetic interference shielding layer includes a transparent conductive polymer film which is formed on the first transparent substrate, and a plurality of metallic warp and weft lines which are laid on the transparent conductive polymer film. The warp lines and the weft lines cross one another. |
| US09554492B2 |
Power converter
A power converter is provided. The power converter includes a heat sink provided with a holding unit, a plurality of semiconductor devices disposed on the heat sink, and a fixing assembly pressing each of the semiconductor devices toward the heat sink to fix the semiconductor device. The fixing assembly includes a lower push unit disposed on the semiconductor device, and an upper push unit disposed on the lower push unit to press the lower push unit downward, the upper push unit being coupled to the holding unit. The upper push unit includes a central bent part that partially protrudes downward, an insertion part disposed on each of both ends of the central bent part in a left/right direction, the insertion part having a left/right distance therebetween that gradually increases upward, and a fixing bar inserted into the insertion part. |
| US09554490B2 |
Apparatus and method of environmental condition management for electronic equipment
A control system for providing thermal management of electronic equipment housed in a cabinet enclosure. The system can include a plurality of sensors in proximity to the cabinet enclosure for monitoring a temperature, a pressure and a humidity associated with the electronic equipment; and a controller in communication with the sensors for receiving data from the sensors, where the controller adjusts the temperature, the pressure and the humidity associated with the electronic equipment. |
| US09554489B2 |
Systems for simplifying a detector head
Various methods and systems are provided for a detector head for an imaging system. The detector head comprises a detector module comprising at least one detector element for detecting radiation and detector electronics, and a shaft to which the detector module is coupled, the detector module configured to rotate more than 360 degrees about the shaft in at least one direction. |
| US09554487B2 |
Microchannel heat transfer with liquid metals
A apparatus for controlling heat transfer between portions of a substrate is provided. The apparatus includes a substrate including at least part of a hydraulic circuit, the hydraulic circuit including a plurality of microconduits, the plurality of microconduits including a first microconduit and a second microconduit. The apparatus further includes a liquid metal flowing through the hydraulic circuit and a magnetic field configured to selectively direct the flow of the liquid metal between the plurality of microconduits. The flow of the liquid metal through the hydraulic circuit transfers heat between a first portion of the substrate and the liquid metal. |
| US09554483B2 |
Electronic device having a housing for accommodating electronic components, preferably of a process transmitter
An electronic device having a housing for accommodating electronic components, preferably electronic components forming a process transmitter. The housing has two chambers, in which electronic components and user interfaces and/or connection elements for cable are arranged. The electronic components are arranged in a first chamber. In the case of a process transmitter, which is simple to maintain, electronic components are arranged exclusively in the first chamber, while user interfaces of the electronic components and/or connection elements for cable are positioned exclusively in the second chamber. |
| US09554481B1 |
Bay RAM Five
Bay RAM Five is a very high-speed solid-state data storage device with 4 independently controlled banks of 4 DDR3 SO-DIMM sockets per bank, 4 industry-standard SATA data connectors, and one 12V input DC power connector, all housed within an enclosure compatible with 5.25″ drive bays found in common PC chassis. The 4 controllers are independently switched with jumper blocks, allowing backward- and forward-compatibility with SATA chipsets and add-on controllers transmitting data at various speeds. A separate jumper switches the device's firmware from the 8 b/10 b “legacy frame” to the 128 b/130 b “jumbo frame” now in the PCI-Express 3.0 specification. The 5.25″ enclosure has room for 3 40×40 mm cooling fans, either 20 mm or 10 mm thick: fans are powered by 3 fan headers integrated onto the PCB, or a separate power supply installed in the PC chassis. |
| US09554477B1 |
Tamper-respondent assemblies with enclosure-to-board protection
Tamper-respondent assemblies and fabrication methods are provided which incorporate enclosure to circuit board protection. The tamper-respondent assemblies include a circuit board, and an electronic enclosure mounted to the circuit board and facilitating enclosing at least one electronic component within a secure volume. A tamper-respondent electronic circuit structure facilitates defining the secure volume, and the tamper-respondent electronic circuit structure includes a tamper-respondent circuit. An adhesive is provided to secure, in part, the electronic enclosure to the circuit board. The adhesive contacts, at least in part, the tamper-respondent circuit so that an attempted separation of the electronic enclosure from the circuit board causes the adhesive to break the tamper-respondent circuit, facilitating detection of the separation by a monitor circuit of the tamper-respondent electronic circuit structure. |
| US09554473B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing an embedded structure and for providing an electro-optical device including the same
An apparatus for providing a patterned structure includes a deposition facility for depositing an electrically conductive material on a cylindrical surface of a transfer roll, a supply facility for providing a flexible substrate with a carrier layer, a press-roll for pressing the flexible substrate with the carrier layer against the surface of the transfer roll, the press-roll being positioned in the rotation direction of the transfer roll with respect to a position where the first deposition facility deposits the substance on the transfer roll, and being arranged for embedding the deposited substance in said carrier layer, wherein the adhesion between the printed substance and the cylindrical surface of the transfer roll is less than the adhesion between the printed substance and said carrier layer, a transport facility for releasing the flexible substrate with the carrier layer embedding the substance as the patterned structure from the transfer roll. |
| US09554472B2 |
Panel with releasable core
Generally discussed herein are systems and apparatuses that can include a releasable core panel. The disclosure also includes techniques of making and using the systems and apparatuses. According to an example a technique of making a releasable core panel can include coupling an inner foil to a substantially rectangular base, situating an outer conductive foil situated on the inner foil, or coupling, using a connective material, the inner foil and the outer conductive foil near edges of the outer conductive foil and the inner foil. |
| US09554471B2 |
Structure with several cavities provided with access channels of different heights
A packaging structure including: a cover secured to a first substrate and forming first and second distinct cavities between the cover and the first substrate, first and second channels formed in the first substrate and/or in the cover and/or between the first substrate and the cover, the first channel including a first end leading into the first cavity and a second end leading off the first cavity via a first hole passing through the cover, the second channel including a first end leading into the second cavity and a second end leading off the second cavity via a second hole passing through the cover, a height HA of the first channel at its second end is lower than a height HB of the second channel at its second end. |
| US09554469B2 |
Method of fabricating a polymer frame with a rectangular array of cavities
An array of chip sockets defined by an organic matrix framework surrounding sockets through the organic matrix framework and a method of fabrication, the chip sockets are characterized by being rectangular with smooth walls that meet at corners that have radii of curvature of less than 100 microns thereby facilitating a close fit of each socket to the intended chip size, enabling compact chip packaging and miniaturization. |
| US09554466B2 |
Printed circuit board and method of manufacturing the same
A printed circuit board and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The printed circuit board includes an insulating layer including a first resin layer and a second resin layer, circuit layers disposed on upper and lower surfaces of the insulating layer, and a via configured to connect the circuit layer formed on the upper surface to the circuit layer formed on the lower surface, and the second resin layer extends from an upper surface of the first resin layer to a lower surface of the first resin layer by passing through the first resin layer as to contact a side surface of the via. |
| US09554465B1 |
Stretchable conductor design and methods of making
A stretchable interconnect includes a plurality of electrically conductive traces formed as a complex pattern on an elastic substrate. The form of the electrically conductive traces is such that when the elastic substrate is in a relaxed, or non-stretched, state each of the electrically conductive traces forms a tortuous path, such as a waveform, along the elastic substrate. The tortuous path of the electrically conductive traces provides slack such that as the elastic substrate is stretched the slack is taken up. Once released, the elastic substrate moves from the stretched position to the relaxed, non-stretched position, and slack is reintroduced into the electrically conductive traces in the form of the original tortuous path. |
| US09554460B2 |
Reflective conductive composite film
A process for the manufacture of a reflective conductive film comprising: (i) a reflective polymeric substrate comprising a polymeric base layer and a polymeric binding layer, wherein the polymeric material of the base layer has a softening temperature TS-B, and the polymeric material of the binding layer has a softening temperature TS-HS; and (ii) a conductive layer comprising a plurality of nanowires, wherein said nanowires are bound by the polymeric matrix of the binding layer such that the nanowires are dispersed at least partially in the polymeric matrix of the binding layer, said process comprising the steps of providing a reflective polymeric substrate comprising a polymeric base layer and a polymeric binding layer; disposing said nanowires on the exposed surface of the binding layer; and heating the composite film to a temperature T1 wherein T1 is equal to or greater than TS−HS, and T1 is at least about 5° C. below TS-B. |
| US09554459B2 |
Microfluidic delivery system for releasing fluid compositions
A microfluidic refill includes a reservoir having a hollow body and an opening; a transport member in fluid communication with the reservoir; and a lid enclosing the opening of the reservoir. The lid is in fluid communication with the transport member. The lid comprises a rigid microfluidic delivery member. The rigid microfluidic delivery member includes a die and electrical traces that are in electrical communication with the die, wherein the electrical traces terminate at electrical contacts, wherein the electrical traces are disposed on only one plane. The die has a fluid chamber in fluid communication with the transport member at an inlet of the fluid chamber and with an orifice at an outlet of the fluid chamber and. |
| US09554454B2 |
Devices and methods to reduce differential signal pair crosstalk
Generally discussed herein are systems, apparatuses, and methods that relate to reducing crosstalk in a differential signal pair. According to an example, a device may include a first pair of differential signal lines comprising a first signal line and a second signal line proximate the first signal line, the first signal line and the second signal line separated from each other along a first line, and a second pair of differential signal lines comprising a third signal line proximate a fourth signal, the third signal line and the fourth signal separated from each other along a second line generally perpendicular to the first line. |
| US09554447B2 |
Head-wearable user interface device for lighting related operations
A wearable user interface device provides a display (e.g. an augmented reality display) for a user/wearer. The device includes a camera or other optical sensor and wireless communication capability. The camera or sensor provides an input to detect and possibly communicate with a lighting device or system. The communications and display capabilities allow the device to obtain and present lighting-related information to the wearer. For example, before installation, the device may identify a light fixture and communicate with a server to obtain information about fixture installation or configuration. As another example, the user can operate the device to identify and communicate with an installed fixture, to configure the fixture into a system (e.g. as part of a lighting group) or to check or repair fixture or system firmware. Hence, the device provides a wearable, interactive user interface for a variety of lighting-related functions. |
| US09554446B2 |
Calibration operation of a lighting device
A controller comprising: presence detection logic, calibration logic, and an input for receiving a reading from a light sensor representing a sensed light level. The presence detection logic is for detecting presence events based on a presence sensor, and is configured to indicate a set-point to operate at least one lighting device in dependence on a positive detection of presence. The calibration logic is for performing a calibration operation, which is performed by causing a light output of the lighting device to change between a first, lower level and a second, higher level, and by and calibrating the set-point based on the reading from the light sensor under influence of the first and second levels. The calibration logic is configured to trigger this calibration operation in response to the positive detection of presence. |
| US09554443B2 |
Metal-based particle assembly
There is provided a metal-based particle assembly comprising 30 or more metal-based particles separated from each other and disposed in two dimensions, the metal-based particles having an average particle diameter of 200 to 1600 nm, an average height of 55 to 500 nm, and an aspect ratio of 1 to 8, wherein the metal-based particle assembly has in an absorption spectrum for a visible light region a maximum wavelength of a peak at a longest side in wavelength, and the maximum wavelength shifts toward a shorter side in wavelength in a range of from 30 to 500 nm as compared with that of a prescribed reference metal-based particle assembly. The metal-based particle assembly can have in an absorption spectrum a maximum wavelength of a peak at a longest side in wavelength, and the maximum wavelength is in a range of from 350 to 550 nm. |
| US09554441B2 |
Current balancing for light-emitting-diode-based illumination systems
A system includes first, second, and third sets of LEDs. The first set of LEDs generates ultraviolet light and converts the ultraviolet light to blue light using a phosphor coated on the first set of LEDs. The second and third sets of LEDs generate blue light and convert the blue light to green, yellow, and red light using phosphors coated on the second and third sets of LEDs. The second set of LEDs outputs less red light than green light. The third set of LEDs outputs less green light than red light. A combination of the blue, green, yellow, and red light output by the first, second, and third sets of LEDs produces white light. |
| US09554439B2 |
Lighting device, lighting arrangement comprising lighting device and method for operating a lighting device
A lighting device comprising a plurality of components (2) provided for generating radiation, a plurality of row lines (Z1, Z2) and a plurality of column lines (S1, S2, . . . , S5) is specified, wherein the components are in each case electrically conductively connected to a row line and to a column line and the lighting device is provided for the simultaneous operation of at least two components. A lighting arrangement comprising such a lighting device and a method for operating a lighting device are furthermore specified. |
| US09554438B2 |
Lighting integration into video and power stream
Methods, devices, and apparatuses are disclosed. A device may receive display data and lighting data as a single signal, determine whether to display content associated with the display data, and determine whether to output the lighting data to a lighting element. The device may provide the display data to another device after determining to not display the content associated with the display data. The device may provide the lighting data to another device after determining to not output the lighting data to the lighting element. The display data and lighting data may respectively include data destined for different types of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The data destined for the different types of LEDs may be sourced from different sources. |
| US09554437B2 |
Decorative light string switchable between different illumination states
A system and method of creating a steady ON and a special effects light effect from a bulb without providing any special wiring thereto. In one embodiment, the bulb contains an illumination element and a controller which produces the special effect in the element. By interrupting the flow of current to the controller periodically, the controller is initialized to its initial steady ON condition. A plurality of steady ON pulses at a high frequency will appear as a steady ON light, instead of pules, thereby producing a steady ON appearance without special wiring. When the current is allowed to flow continuously, the controller produces the special effect. A second embodiment uses parallel polarized light element which produce different effect when power is applied in opposite polarities, thereby providing two effects with no special wiring. |
| US09554432B2 |
Systems and methods for dimming control using system controllers
System and method for dimming control. The system includes a system controller, a transistor, and a resistor. The system controller includes a first controller terminal and a second controller terminal. The transistor includes a first transistor terminal, a second transistor terminal and a third transistor terminal. The resistor including a first resistor terminal and a second resistor terminal. The first transistor terminal is coupled, directly or indirectly, to the second controller terminal. The first resistor terminal is coupled to the second transistor terminal. The second resistor terminal is coupled to the third transistor terminal. The system controller is configured to receive an input signal at the first controller terminal and to generate an output signal at the second controller terminal. The transistor is configured to receive the output signal at the first transistor terminal and to change between a first condition and a second condition. |
| US09554428B2 |
Low-flicker light-emitting diode lighting device
An LED lighting device driven by a rectified AC voltage includes a luminescent device, a charge storage unit and a current controller. The charge storage unit is configured to turn on the luminescent device when the rectified AC voltage is still insufficient to turn on the luminescent device. The current control unit is configured to allow the LED lighting device to have constant luminance regardless of the level of the rectified AC voltage, thereby improving flicker phenomenon. |
| US09554427B2 |
Radio transmission between modules in a potential-separated LED converter
The invention relates to an operating unit (1) for lamps, in which a galvanic isolator (4) between a primary side, which comprises at least one circuit (2), and a secondary side, which comprises at least one circuit (3), is bridged by a radio channel (5). The lamps are supplied on the secondary side with respect to the galvanic isolator and the primary side is designed for connection to a voltage supply, in particular a mains voltage. The primary-side circuit (2) and the secondary side circuit (3) have a respective radio interface (2A, 3A) for establishing the unidirectional or bidirectional radio channel (5). The radio channel (5) lies preferably within a preferably metal housing (6) of the operating unit (1). Communication from the primary side to the secondary side and vice versa can be effected via radio through the radio channel (5). |
| US09554423B2 |
Induction heating system
A tuning system for controlling a voltage controlled oscillator is described herein. The tuning system makes use of a dual edge phase detector. |
| US09554422B2 |
Systems and methods using external heater systems in microfluidic devices
The present invention relates to methods and systems that result in high quality, reproducible, thermal melt analysis on a microfluidic platform. The present invention relates to methods and systems using thermal systems including heat spreading devices, including interconnection methods and materials developed to connect heat spreaders to microfluidic devices. The present invention also relates to methods and systems for controlling, measuring, and calibrating the thermal systems of the present invention. |
| US09554421B2 |
Oven appliance having resistive touchscreen and method for operating same
Oven appliances and methods for operating oven appliances are provided. An oven appliance includes a cooking assembly, the cooking assembly including a heating element. The oven appliance further includes a user interface panel, the user interface panel comprising a resistive touchscreen operable to transmit electrical signals. The oven appliance further includes a controller in communication with the resistive touchscreen and the heating element. The controller is operable to receive the electrical signals, select a calibration set based on a temperature-related operating condition, and interpret the electrical signals based on the selected calibration set. |
| US09554418B1 |
Device for topology hiding of a visited network
A system for hiding an internal topology of a network having plurality of client and server entities is provided herein. The system comprises a topology hiding node that coordinates communication between systems in two distinct networks: Home Public Land Mobile and Visited Public Land Mobile. The topology hiding node includes long term storage and a short term storage which includes a change list.A real identity of one system entity is represented by at least one virtual identity allocated from a group of at least two virtual identities, when communicating with the other system entities, and the relation between the virtual identities and the real identities of a current communication session is recorded in the change list and stored in short term storage and the relation between the virtual identities and the real identities of a previous communication sessions is stored in the long term storage. |
| US09554417B2 |
Optimized header for efficient processing of data packets
Methods, apparatus, and computer program products for processing an RLC PDU having an RLC payload and an RLC header, wherein the RLC payload comprises a plurality of at least partially ciphered SDUs, each of the SDUs being either a partial or complete SDU, and wherein the RLC header comprises a separate count for each of the SDUs, each of the counts being configured to support deciphering of the corresponding SDU. Each SDU is a PDCP PDU having a PDCP payload and a PDCP header, wherein the PDCP payload comprises a plurality of IP packets, and wherein the PDCP header comprises a length indicator for at least one of the IP packets. |
| US09554416B2 |
Shared spectrum reassignment in a spectrum sharing context
The techniques introduced here provide for efficient mass handover from a shared-spectrum wireless communication system (e.g., Licensed Shared Access, Authorized Shared Access, Cloud Spectrum Services, or the like) to a target system (e.g., 3GPP LTE, or the like). The techniques further provide for efficient handling of transitions from one shared-spectrum allocation period to the next shared-spectrum allocation period. Additionally, the techniques provide for efficient handling of multi-operator transitions to re-licensed or re-negotiated shared-spectrum allocations. |
| US09554413B2 |
Case-based radio platform for wireless network
One aspect of an apparatus for wireless communications is disclosed. The apparatus includes a controller, a first transceiver, and a second transceiver. The first transceiver is configurable by the controller to support first communications through a cellular network to at least one of a packet-based network and a circuit-switched network. The second transceiver configurable by the controller to operate with the first transceiver to support first communications through the cellular network in a first mode and support second communications through an access point to the packet-based network in a second mode. In an aspect, the second transceiver is further configured to switch from the first mode to the second mode by moving its wireless connection from the cellular network to the access point while maintaining a network-layer connection to the cellular network. |
| US09554409B2 |
Communication terminal apparatus, communication control system, and communication control method
A communication terminal apparatus includes: an assigning part configured to assign a usage right of a first subframe, from among a plurality of subframes included in a frame, to a base station, in a case where terminal-to-terminal communication is performed by transmission and reception of the frame directly with a different communication terminal apparatus, based on frequency information reported from the base station; and an acquiring part configured to acquire, during the terminal-to-terminal communication, information from the base station from the first subframe. |
| US09554408B2 |
Device discovery management using peer device relationships for device-to-device (D2D) communication
In a macrocell wireless communication system that supports device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless communication devices 104, 106 identified as peer devices are monitored for an occurrence of a trigger event 122 related to the quality of the D2D radio path between the peer devices. In response to the trigger event, information 118, 120 is sent to at least one peer device to invoke a search for the other peer device. Wireless communication devices may be identified as peer devices based on, for example, call history and contents of a contacts list of at least one of the wireless communication devices. The quality of the D2D radio path 114 may be based on, or at least estimated using, the geographical positions of the wireless communication devices. |
| US09554407B2 |
Linking method between communication devices and related machine readable medium
A linking method employed by a first communication device includes: transmitting a first network domain information to a second communication device before/after a link with the second communication device is established; receiving a second network domain information from the second communication device before/after the link with the second communication device is established; and when the first communication device is decided to be a group owner before/after the link with the second communication device is established, determining a network domain address of the link according to the first network domain information and the second network domain information. |
| US09554404B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting frame in wireless local area network (WLAN) system
A frame transmission method, for receiving data in a wireless local area network. A destination station establishes a direct link with a source station. The destination station receives a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) from the source station via the direct link. The destination station receives a second PPDU from a relay station via a relay link. In addition, the second PPDU is received by the relay station from the source station and is forwarded by the relay station to the destination station. Furthermore, the first PPDU includes a sequence field indicating that the second PPDU is to be transmitted via the relay link. |
| US09554403B2 |
Selecting a radio node for data traffic offloading
A technology that is operable to select a radio node on a communications network is disclosed. In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is configured with circuitry configured to determine when to offload data traffic of the UE to a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) in a multi-radio access technology (RAT) communications network based on radio access network (RAN) assistance information communicated via the operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) system. A status is identified of one or more WLAN APs in the multi-RAT communications network using the RAN assistance information. A radio node is selected in the cell of the multi-RAT communications network for communication based on selected criteria. |
| US09554391B2 |
Method for mitigating interference when changing use of dynamic resource in wireless communication system, and device therefor
The present application discloses a method whereby a base station transmits/receives signals to/from user equipment in a wireless communication system. More specifically, the method comprises the steps of: applying one of at least one candidate resource setting as a resource setting for the signal transmission/reception; and transmitting/receiving signals to/from the user equipment in accordance with the applied resource setting, the method being characterized by: decreasing transmission power for a downlink signal if the downlink signal is transmitted, in a resource designated for uplink signal reception from the user equipment according to a predetermined reference resource setting, to the user equipment according to the applied resource setting; and increasing transmission power for an uplink signal or decreasing the coding rate of the uplink signal if the uplink signal is received, in a resource designated for downlink signal transmission to the user equipment according to the reference resource setting, from the user equipment according to the applied resource setting. |
| US09554388B2 |
Method and apparatus of resource sharing for device-to-device and cellular communications
The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus of resource sharing for D2D and cellular communications. The method may comprise: determining a cellular user set containing potential cellular users that may share resources with a D2D pair; and determining transmit power of the D2D pair on a frequency band of at least one cellular user in the cellular user set and transmit power of the at least one cellular user through maximizing throughput of the D2D pair with a quality of service (QoS) constraint and a power budget constraint of each of the potential cellular users and a transmit power constraint of the D2D pair. With embodiments of the present disclosure, it may provide a non-orthogonal resource sharing solution in which a D2D pair can reuse resources of the cellular users as more as possible while the QoS of all the cellular users are guaranteed, whereby the performance of the D2D user may be improved greatly. |
| US09554387B2 |
Power headroom calculation apparatus and a power headroom calculation method
Provided are a power headroom (PHR) calculation apparatus and method that can preclude the recognition mismatch in which the reference formats of different UL grants are recognized between a wireless communication terminal apparatus and a wireless communication base station apparatus. For the PHR calculation of a PUSCH in a CC in which no UL grant is present, a UL grant, which was used for calculating the PHR in another CC having the same subframe number as the PUSCH, is used. For example, as to a subframe number=#1, the UL grant of CC #0 is used for calculating the PHR of CC #2 in which no UL grant is present. |
| US09554386B2 |
Component carrier activation and deactivation using resource assignments
This invention relates to a proposal of an uplink resource assignment format and a downlink resource assignment format. Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of the new uplink/downlink resource assignments in methods for (de)activation of downlink component carrier(s) configured for a mobile terminal, a base station and a mobile terminal. To enable efficient and robust (de)activation of component carriers, while minimizing the signaling overhead, the invention proposes a new uplink/downlink resource assignment format that allow the activation/deactivation of individual downlink component carriers configured for a mobile. The new uplink or downlink resource assignment comprises an indication of the activation state of the configured downlink component carriers, i.e., indicate which downlink component carrier(s) is/are to be activated or deactivated. This indication is for example implemented by means of a bit-mask that indicates which of the configured uplink component carriers are to be activated respectively deactivated. |
| US09554383B2 |
Method and apparatus for enabling transmission in a slotted radio data communication system by pausing data reception
Apparatus, and an associated method, that facilitates communication of data in a radio communication system that utilizes a slotted communication scheme. Multiple successive time slots are allocable upon which to communicate data to a receiving communication station. At selected intervals, a controller causes the mode of operation of the receiving communication station to be changed to pause operation in a receive mode and, during the pause, to cause operation of the receiving communication station to transmit data, such as control acknowledgments or other responses. |
| US09554379B2 |
Method and network node for link adaptation in a wireless communications network
A method in network node for selecting a downlink modulation and coding scheme is provided. The network node obtains information comprising a first uplink signal strength of a transmission from the terminal in the first cell. The network node further obtains information comprising a second uplink signal strength of a transmission from the terminal in the second cell. The network node also obtains scheduled downlink transmission information for the respective first cell and second cell. The network node then selects a downlink modulation and coding scheme for transmission from one or more of the access point serving the first cell and the access point serving the second cell to the terminal. The selection is based on the obtained information comprising the first uplink signal strength, the obtained information comprising the second uplink signal strength, and the obtained scheduled downlink transmission information for the respective first cell and second cell. |
| US09554376B2 |
Apparatus and method for generating and transmitting reference signal in radio communication
It is possible to provide a radio communication terminal device and a radio transmission method which can improve reception performance of a CQI and a reference signal. A phase table storage unit stores a phase table which correlates the amount of cyclic shift to complex coefficients {w1, w2} to be multiplied on the reference signal. A complex coefficient multiplication unit reads out a complex coefficient corresponding to the amount of cyclic shift indicated by resource allocation information, from the phase table storage unit and multiplies the read-out complex coefficient on the reference signal so as to change the phase relationship between the reference signals in a slot. |
| US09554374B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting control information in a wireless communication
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for transmitting acknowledgement/negative ACK (ACK/NACK) in a wireless communication system which supports carrier aggregation, and to an apparatus for the method. A method in which a terminal transmits ACK/NACK in a wireless communication system that supports carrier aggregation comprises the following steps: receiving one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs); and transmitting ACK/NACK for said one or more PDSCHs via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). A PUCCH format for transmitting ACK/NACK is selected by taking the type of the carrier in which said one or more PDSCHs are received into account. |
| US09554367B1 |
Systems and methods for determining an access node for a wireless device
Systems and methods are described for determining an access node for a wireless device. An increased signal level for a first signal and an adjustment value based on the increased signal level may be determined. An indication of the adjustment value and the first signal may be transmitted from a first access node. A wireless device in communication with the first access node may transmit signal information comprising a first signal level associated with the first access node and a second signal level associated with a second access node, where the signal information is transmitted in response to a reporting event triggered at the wireless device based on the adjustment value and at least one of a received signal level for the first signal and a received signal level for the second signal. Based on the signal information, one of the first access node and the second access node may be selected for communication with the wireless device. The wireless device may be instructed to communicate with the selected access node. |
| US09554364B2 |
Communication system, mobile station and communication method
Provided are a communication system, a mobile station and a communication method that can suppress the increase of processing loads of an IP-CAN accompanying trials made by mobile stations to connect to the IP-CAN via a wireless access network that does not support any services on the IP multimedia core network subsystem (IMS). For example, a UE (100) receives, from an SGSN via the 3G, service non-supporting information indicating that the 3G does not support any services on the IP multimedia subsystem, and, when having received the service non-supporting information, stops the transmission of an Activate PDP Context Request via the 3G. |
| US09554363B2 |
TDMA-based communication method and system with enhanced clock drift resilience
A TDMA-based communication method for enabling communication between a base station and a client, the base station and the client each comprising a clock for synchronizing communications, the method comprising: allocating a TDMA channel to said client; causing a transceiver of the client to operate in a communication mode during client timeslots making up said allocated channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; causing a transceiver of said base station to begin operating in a communication mode with said client on said channel in advance of each said client timeslot and/or to continue operating in a communication mode with said client after each said client timeslot. |
| US09554362B2 |
Method and system for controlling the operation of movable wireless networks
A movable wireless network includes one or more wireless communication devices. The movable wireless network further includes a detector configured to detect a network event. The movable wireless network further includes a controller configured to change an operational state of the movable wireless network by changing at least one of a mobile country code and a mobile network code of the movable wireless network to be different from that of another wireless network, responsive to detection of the network event by the detector. The changed operational state corresponds to changing from a state of coordinated operation of the movable wireless network and the other wireless network to a state of independent operation of the movable wireless network and the other wireless network. |
| US09554360B2 |
Apparatus and method for improving data throughput of a tune-away operation in a wireless communication system
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication devices and methods configured to operate with multiple communication protocols in tune-away operations. Some aspects of the present disclosure may improve the legacy tune-away operations at an access terminal. An access terminal establishes a call utilizing a first communication protocol, tunes away from the call to receive cell signaling utilizing a second communication protocol, and tunes back to the call utilizing the first communication protocol. Following the tuning back, during a first predetermined number of subframes and if the size of a reverse link (RL) packet is smaller than a first packet size and larger than a second packet size, the access terminal forces the RL packet to be a low latency (LoLat) packet. |
| US09554357B2 |
Method of providing a service on a downlink shared channel
A method of receiving a service from a network in a mobile communication system in accordance with the present invention comprises receiving static scheduling information from a network, the static scheduling information including information on radio resources associated with combining reception, receiving dynamic scheduling information from the network, the dynamic scheduling information including control information for receiving the service, and receiving the service by combining downlink shared channels transmitted from a plurality of cells based on the static scheduling information and the dynamic scheduling information. |
| US09554356B2 |
Personalized reminders
Personalized reminder notifications are provided regarding communication-related events. The reminders correspond to missed communications or events that are unaddressed by a user, and may be determined based on sensor data provided by a user device. Further, an urgency level for the unaddressed event and a user availability model for responding to the event also may be determined. The model may include a set of scores corresponding to the user's capability for carrying out tasks associated with responding to the unaddressed event, such as composing email or initiating a call. Additionally, reminder notification content may be generated based on information about availability and the unaddressed event, and used to provide notification(s). The notification content may include a recommendation to present a notification to the user at a future time determined likely to be convenient for the user to respond to the event or where the user likely will have capacity to respond appropriately. |
| US09554352B1 |
Multi-channel mesh enhanced mobile radio handset
A mobile radio has more than one channel, each channel corresponding to a programmable transceiver circuit. The mobile radio also includes at least one high gain antenna coupled to at least one of the programmable transceiver circuits. A location determining circuit is configured to determine the location of the mobile radio. A processor is coupled to the transceivers and to the location determining circuit. The processor runs a program logic that is configured to identify whether the mobile radio is in a location that enables the mobile radio to extend the reach of the network both due to its location and due to the use of the at least one high gain antenna. The processor also runs a program logic to carry out spectrum sensing to identify available spectral resources based on communication traffic on various frequency bands. |
| US09554349B2 |
Mobile radio communications signaling
The present invention relates to a mobile radio communications network device operative to transmit a non-access stratum (NAS) signal to a mobile radio communications device after a failed attempt by said mobile radio communications device to access a mobile radio communications network via said network device, said network device being arranged to include within said NAS signal information indicating to said mobile radio communications device which one of: (i) an existing NAS signalling connection; or (ii) a new NAS signalling connection, said radio mobile communications device should employ to attempt re-establishment of connection with said network device. The present invention also relates to a NAS signal to be employed by such a network device, a mobile radio communications device for exchanging signalling with the network device and related methods of such devices. |
| US09554342B2 |
Method and apparatus for early termination of transmission
A method for early termination of transmission is disclosed. The method includes: receiving downlink (DL) data from a DL channel during a transmission time interval (TTI); attempting to decode the received DL data before receiving all DL data of the TTI; and transmitting an early termination indicator (ETI) in an uplink (UL) slot of a UL radio frame to terminate transmission of the DL data during the TTI based on a successful decode, wherein at least one symbol of the UL slot is replaced by the ETI. |
| US09554336B2 |
Terminal device, method, and integrated circuit
A terminal device configured to communicate with a base station device using one cell. The terminal device is configured to: set transmission power for transmission of a physical uplink shared channel on a subframe belonging to a first subframe set, based on a first parameter relating to power control adjustment; set transmission power for the physical uplink shared channel on a subframe belonging to a second subframe set, based on a second parameter relating to the power control adjustment; and calculate a value of the first parameter by accumulating a correction value indicated by a transmit power control command corresponding to the first subframe set, in a case that accumulation is enabled; calculate a value of the second parameter by accumulating the correction value indicated by the transmit power control command corresponding to the second subframe set, in a case that accumulation is enabled. Thus, the base station device and the terminal device can efficiently perform the transmit power control. |
| US09554335B2 |
Method and system for self-optimized uplink power control
A method for optimizing uplink power control settings in a wireless network, the method comprising generating a first gene pool comprising a set of parent genes, wherein each parent gene comprises a set of first generation power control solutions for a set of base stations in the wireless network. The method may further include performing natural selection on the first gene pool to generate a second gene pool comprising selected ones of the set of parent genes, wherein the selected parent genes are chosen by probabilistically selecting some of the parent genes based on fitness values assigned to the parent genes. The method may further include evolving the second gene pool into a descendent gene, wherein the descendent gene comprises a set of local power control solutions for the set of base station in the wireless network. |
| US09554334B2 |
RSRP mobility state estimation for cellular device
Generally discussed herein are systems and apparatuses that can implement a Mobility State Estimation (MSE) of a User Equipment (UE) and techniques for using the MSE algorithms. According to an example technique to determine the MSE of a UE can include determining, using the UE, a maximum Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) within a cell, determining, using the UE, a minimum RSRP within the cell, determining, using the UE, a difference between the maximum and minimum RSRP, and determining, using the UE, an MSE of the UE as a function of the determined difference. |
| US09554333B2 |
Method for controlling transmission power of wireless device
A method for controlling transmission power of a wireless device is provided. A WiFi link is established to a communication device. A data rate of data packets transmitted to the communication device is monitored. Information from the communication device is obtained in response to the transmitted data packets. A transmission power of the wireless device is decreased when the data rate of the data packets reaches a highest data rate and the first information satisfies a specific condition. |
| US09554330B2 |
Wireless communication device
A wireless communication device 81 operates in either a ROD mode or a non-ROD mode. The non-ROD mode sets the state of the device to an active state that the device can perform wireless communication compliant with a first communication scheme with a communication destination device 82. The ROD mode: sets the state of the device to either the active state or a sleep state that the device can receive an activation instruction signal compliant with a second communication scheme requiring smaller electric power to receive a signal than the first communication scheme and cannot perform wireless communication compliant with the first communication scheme with the communication destination device; sets the state of the device to the sleep state when a predetermined sleep condition is satisfied; and sets the state of the device to the active state when the device receives the activation instruction signal. |
| US09554328B2 |
Vehicle-based small cell base stations
Certain embodiments herein are directed to vehicle-based small cell base stations. A vehicle-based base station may include at least one antenna; at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one antenna; at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor in communication with the transceiver and configured to access the at least one memory. The processor may be configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to receive data associated with a user device from a base station; receive data from the base station; establish connection with the user device based at least in part on the data received from the macrocell base station; and transmit the data received from the base station to the user device. |
| US09554324B2 |
Fast initial link setup (FILS) frame content for a wireless network
A wireless network access point generates a fast initial link setup (FILS) discovery frame for broadcast to one or more wireless stations. The wireless network access point supports many operating channels including a primary channel. The FILS discovery frame includes a data field populated with an identification of a channel number for that primary channel of the wireless network access point. The FILS discovery frame includes another data field populated with a primary channel operating class identification. The broadcast FILS discovery frame further includes data indicating whether indicating whether multiple BSSIDs are supported. An FD capability field of the FILS discovery frame includes sub-fields indicating one or more of operation channel width, PHY type of the wireless access point, number of spatial streams supported by the wireless access point and multiple BSSIDs support provided by the wireless access point. |
| US09554322B2 |
Transmission control method and communication apparatus using the same for vehicular ad hoc network system
A transmission control method for a vehicular ad hoc network system having a plurality of mobile nodes is provided. The mobile nodes include a source node, a destination node, and a plurality of relay nodes. The source node transmits a data packet to the destination node through the relay nodes. The method includes each mobile node capturing mobility information being periodically broadcasted from neighboring mobile nodes to correspondingly update the connection state table thereof, wherein the connection state table records the coverage remaining time between the mobile node and neighboring mobile nodes; when any of relay nodes determines that the coverage remaining time between the relay node and the subsequent mobile node is less than a predefined threshold, the relay node transforms into a proxy node, stores the data packet, and establishes a reliable sub-connection between the proxy node and a next proxy node or the destination node. |
| US09554321B2 |
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. |
| US09554318B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing seamless call handoff between networks that use dissimilar transmission methods
Call handoff from an 802.1x network to a cellular network, and vice versa. A wireless device that has both cellular and 802.1x capability detects the strength of a cellular signal and of an 802.1x signal. If a call is taking place over the 802.1x network and the strength of the 802.1x signal drops below a particular level and the strength of the cellular signal is above a certain level, the call is handed off from the 802.1x network to the cellular network. If a call is taking place over the cellular network and the cellular signal strength drops below a certain level while the 802.1x signal strength is above a certain level, the call is handed off from the cellular network to the 802.1x network. In addition, the user of the wireless device can manually initiate the handoff by actuating a handoff selector of the wireless device. |
| US09554311B1 |
Resource management in first network based on service within second network
A method and corresponding system to help manage resources in a wireless communication system. When a first access network has allocated a resource for use in serving a UE and the UE has then transitioned from being served by the first access network to being served by a second access network, a determination may be made that (i) the UE has then moved into particular coverage of the second access network and (ii) the first access network does not have a coverage area that corresponds with that particular coverage area of the second access network. In response, the first access network may then release the resource that it had allocated for use in serving the UE. In a scenario where the first access is configured to normally release the resource upon expiration of a resource-release timer, the release in response to the determination may advantageously occur before the timer expires. |
| US09554310B2 |
Random access method, evolved Node B, and terminal equipment
A random access method and an evolved Node B (eNB) is described. The method includes: receiving, by a target evolved Node B (eNB), a handover request message including information of multiple target component carriers selected by the source eNB; determining, by the target eNB, whether to allow the multiple target component carriers selected by the source eNB; sending, by the target eNB, a handover request acknowledgement message including information about at least two determined target component carriers for the UE. If the multiple target component carriers selected by the source eNB are allowed by the target eNB, the at least two determined target component carriers include the multiple target component carriers selected by the source eNB. Otherwise, the at least two determined target component carriers include one or more newly configured target component carriers configured by the target eNB. |
| US09554309B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting indicator in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus for transmitting an indicator in a wireless communication system is provided. According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a source eNodeB (eNB) initiates handover for a user equipment (UE), it informs a target eNB about whether the handover is to avoid in-device coexistence (IDC) interference problems or not. Alternatively, according to another embodiment of the present invention, an eNB, which the UE reestablished, informs an eNB, which radio link failure (RLF) of the UE occurred, about that the cause of UE's RLF was IDC interference. |
| US09554306B2 |
Method and system for transitioning between radio access technologies (RATS)
A method in a wireless communications device having a first protocol stack for use with a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second protocol stack for use with a second RAT, the first protocol stack comprising a reordering component associated with a first layer of the first protocol stack and arranged to implement a data reordering queue, the method for transitioning from the first RAT to the second RAT, the method comprising: determining that the device should transition from the first RAT to the second RAT; in response to determining that the device should transition, determining that data is present in a reordering queue implemented by the reordering component; sending the data present in the reordering queue to a second layer which is higher than the first layer; and attempting transitioning from the first RAT to the second RAT. |
| US09554304B2 |
Scalable media access control for multi-hop high bandwidth communications
A scalable medium access control (“MAC”) module is provided that avoids conflict resource reservation so that network performance does not degrade as the number of hops or nodes in a wireless network increases. The MAC also provides different access schemes for traffic with different quality of service (“QoS”) requirements such that QoS is guaranteed and network resources are efficiently utilized. Furthermore, the resource allocation scheme determines the routing path as resources is allocated for data traffic, thereby achieving more robust layer-2 routing at the MAC layer. Finally, the scalable MAC is compliant with both WiMedia MAC and IEEE 802.15.3 MAC. |
| US09554303B1 |
System and method for communicating using bandwidth on demand
A system and method for dynamically changing the quality of service (QoS) for a subscriber of a cellular radio system. Bandwidth-on-Demand (BoD) enables the subscriber to dynamically switch to higher bandwidth and to enable a higher throughput. This may be for a limited time or amount of data, for example. The initiation may be by the subscriber, carrier, sponsor, or automatically by an application. The QoS increase may be dynamically priced in a kind of auction. The wireless device may contact the policy servers of a multiple network operator (MNO), which in turn contacts the Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server in the MNO's core network. The policy server contacts the scheduler on the serving basestation which then determines whether to allocate more resources (i.e. bandwidth in the form of subcarriers, resource blocks, resource elements, timeslots) to the subscriber. The initiation may start a timer or data counter. |
| US09554302B2 |
QoS based buffering while TTI bundling is enabled
QoS based uplink data buffering while TTI bundling is enabled by a wireless user equipment (UE) device. The UE may establish a packet-switched connection with a network via a wireless link. The UE may receive, at a media access control (MAC) layer, an indication to enable TTI bundling. The UE may selectively buffer uplink data at an application layer based on the indication to enable TTI bundling. The uplink data may be buffered selectively based on Quality of Service (QoS) considerations. Uplink transmissions may subsequently be performed using TTI bundling. |
| US09554299B2 |
Method and device for aperiodically reporting channel state information in wireless connection system
A method for aperiodic channel status information (CSI) reporting in a wireless access system, and a user equipment (UE) for performing the method are discussed. The method is performed by a user equipment (UE) and includes receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message configuring one or more CSI measurement sets. Each of the one or more CSI measurement sets includes one or more subframes. The method includes receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) including a CSI request field triggering the aperiodic CSI reporting; and reporting a CSI on a subframe ‘n’. The CSI has been measured on a subframe ‘n-nCQI_ref’. ‘nCQI_ref’ is a value which makes the subframe ‘n-nCQI_ref’ to be included in a valid CSI measurement set which is closest from the subframe ‘n’. |
| US09554298B2 |
Method and apparatus for measuring interference in a wireless communication system
Provided are a method and apparatus for measuring interference in a wireless communication system. A terminal receives, from a base station, a zero-power channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) indicator that indicates whether or not to estimate interference using a zero-power CSI RS signal, and, according to the zero-power CSI RS indicator, measures interference on the basis of the zero-power CSI RS. |
| US09554292B2 |
Methods and systems for performance monitoring for mobile applications
The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for performance monitoring for mobile applications. In an embodiment, a method of monitoring performance of a mobile application is provided. A mobile application is operated on a wireless mobile device. A progress indicator being displayed on a display screen of the mobile device during operation of the mobile application on the wireless mobile device is automatically detected. Data indicative of a time duration of the progress indicator is obtained. The data indicative of the time duration is communicated to a centralized server. |
| US09554289B2 |
Management method, apparatus, and system for coverage optimization
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a management method, apparatus, and system for coverage optimization. The method includes obtaining measurement reports of a coverage optimization target region, and determining an actual value of a coverage optimization target within the coverage optimization target region according to the measurement reports. Coverage optimization processing is performed on the coverage optimization target region when the actual value of the coverage optimization target is smaller than a preset expected value of the coverage optimization target. According to the embodiments of the present invention, automatic determination is implemented to determine whether the coverage optimization processing needs to be performed on the coverage optimization target region, thereby improving management efficiency of coverage optimization. |
| US09554287B2 |
System and method for reducing interference
A mobile communications system comprises a first group of one or more base stations which are arranged to communicate signals with mobile units via a wireless access interface by transmitting and/or receiving radio signals within a first frequency band; a second group of one or more base stations which are arranged to communicate signals with mobile units via a wireless access interface by transmitting and/or receiving radio signals within a second frequency band; and a controller. The controller is arranged in operation to determine an amount of interference in the first frequency band to radio signals for a first type of traffic where the interference is caused by radio signals for a second type of traffic in the second frequency band, wherein: the radio signals for the first type of traffic are to and/or from a first base station of the first group; and the radio signals for the second type of traffic are to and/or from to a second base station of the second group; and to, in response to the determined interference, generate instructions to influence the second group in respect of the transmission of the radio signals for the second type of traffic in the second frequency band, wherein the instructions are generated based on at least a priority for the first type of traffic and a priority for the second type of traffic. In one example, the first group of one or more base stations may be providing communications services to human to human communications (H2H), whereas the second group of one or more base stations may be providing communications services supporting machine type communications (MTC), where H2H communications are prioritizes over machine type communications. The second group of one or more base stations is therefore instructed to take action to reduce the interference caused by the mobile unit. |
| US09554286B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting a location of a wireless device
In at least one embodiment, an apparatus for determining a location of a portable wireless device in relation to a vehicle is provided. The apparatus comprises a first base station that includes a first transceiver for being positioned about a vehicle. The first transceiver is configured to operate at a first operating frequency for transmitting and receiving at least one first signal to and from the portable wireless device to provide a first distance of the portable wireless device with respect to the vehicle. The first operating frequency generally corresponds to a distance accuracy value and the first distance generally corresponds to an actual distance of the portable wireless device from the vehicle that is adjusted by the distance accuracy value. |
| US09554280B2 |
Method for managing data communication between a communication device and another device and communication device
A method for managing data communication between a communication device (102) and another device (112) in a communication network, comprises providing (500) data for transmission by the communication device (102), and controlling by at least one secure management element (300, 304) operating in a secure environment (218) in the communication device the transmission of the provided data by the communication device so as to manage data transmitted by the communication device. The step of controlling may include at least one of controlling an amount of data transmitted, controlling a time of transmission of data and controlling a periodicity of transmission of data. A communication device and a method of managing data received by a communication device are also described. |
| US09554273B1 |
User identification on a touchscreen device
Embodiments of the present invention may involve identifying a user of a touchscreen device. A touchscreen device may receive a user input. One or more features of the user input on the touchscreen device may be identified. The one or more features of the user input may include, for example, geometric patterns, swiping motifs, a pressure, a spatial orientation, or any combination thereof. A user profile comprising the one or more features of the user input may be generated. The touchscreen device may receive a second input from an unknown user. A statistical evaluation may be performed comparing one or more features of the second input with one or more features of the user input in the user profile. A probability that the unknown user is the user may be determined. If a low probability is determined, the unknown user may be locked out of the touchscreen device. |
| US09554270B2 |
Enhanced security for direct link communications
A method and apparatus for secure direct link communication between multiple wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) are disclosed. The WTRUs may exchange nonces that are used for generating a common nonce. Group identification information may be generated from at least the common nonce and is forwarded to an authentication server. The authentication server may generate a master key from the group identification information to match WTRUs as part of a key agreement group. The common nonce may be a session key and be refreshed during communication with the second WTRU. A group key encryption key (GKEK) and a group key confirmation key (GKCK) may also be generated based on the common nonce and used to encrypt and sign the master key so that base stations do not have access to the master key. A first WTRU may generate a group direct link temporal key (GDLTK) for communicating with the second WTRU. |
| US09554267B2 |
Techniques to associate user data with a mobile device
Techniques to associate user data with a mobile device are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a service support component and a storage component. The services support component may be operative to receive a data package request from a service, the data package request comprising a network identifier for a mobile device associated with a user, and exchange a data package with the service in response to the data package request. The storage component may be operative to access the data package associated with the user based on the network identifier. Other embodiments are described and claimed. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09554265B1 |
Methods and systems for facilitating data communication
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, methods and systems for facilitating data communication are presented. Requests to communicate data are received that include data indicative of a location of a target remote mobile computing device. A location to be searched for a target devices is determined, and location-based data of mobile devices is accessed. Potential target mobile devices are identified and data consistent with the request is sent to one or more potential targets. |
| US09554260B2 |
System and method for distributed messaging among members of a community
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a user may receive various information via a personal electronic device (“PED”), based in part on the individuals or contacts with whom the user associates and based in part on the activities, events, or locations with which the user has affiliated. In certain embodiments, the user may receive notifications to the user's PED without preselecting contacts, activities, events or locations. In other embodiments, the user may receive notifications relating to any one of the contacts, activities, events or locations that the user has preselected. Systems and associated methods for implementing and practicing the present disclosure are also described. |
| US09554259B2 |
Methods for handling a service request procedures, and apparatuses using the same
A method for handling a service request procedure by a mobile communication device is provided. The method includes the steps of: starting a back-off timer associated with a service request procedure in response to the service request procedure for a normal service having been failed for a maximum number of retries, and initiating another service request procedure for an emergency bearer service before the back-off timer expires. |
| US09554257B2 |
Automatic call synchronization system and method
An automatic call synchronization system and method, in which a mobile terminal (101) transmits, when receiving an incoming calling signal and determining that an automatic call synchronization function is turn on, to a wireless signal transponder (104) a call synchronization request carrying the identification information of the mobile terminal (101) and the call information; the pattern recognizer (103), which is connected with the wireless signal transponder (104), authenticates the mobile terminal (101) according to the identification information of the mobile terminal (101), and transmits to a fixed terminal (102) a call access request carrying the identification information of the mobile terminal (101) and the call information through the wireless signal transponder (104) after the authentication is successful; the fixed terminal (102) calls the user of the mobile terminal (101) according to the identification information and the call information, and transmits, when the call is answered by the user using the fixed terminal (102), to the wireless signal transponder (104) a call access response and implements the conversation through a fixed phone operation network matched with the fixed terminal (102). In this way, the call charge may be saved, and automatically performing the call synchronization has flexibility and convenience, thus bringing convenience to the user. |
| US09554255B2 |
System and method for providing USSD services using cross-operator number
A computer-implemented method and system for providing Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services is provided. The computer-implemented method comprises the steps of configuring a cross-operator USSD module for receiving one or more service requests sent to a cross-operator number by one or more communication devices associated with one or more telecommunication service providers. The cross-operator USSD module further processes the one or more service requests for generating one or more interactive USSD menus based on information retrieved from the one or more service requests and one or more pre-defined rules. Furthermore, the cross-operator USSD module renders the one or more interactive USSD menus on the one or more communication devices, wherein the one or more interactive USSD menus facilitate one or more users of the one or more communication devices to avail the USSD services. |
| US09554254B2 |
Communication apparatus, control method of communication apparatus, and program
A communication apparatus forms a new network for executing a first communication service according to a partner apparatus for the first communication service in a case where the communication apparatus starts the first communication service while the communication apparatus and a partner apparatus for a second communication service are executing the second communication service. |
| US09554253B2 |
Locating method, drive test terminal and hand-held terminal
The present invention provides a locating method, a drive test terminal and a hand-held terminal. Herein, the locating method comprises: a first terminal receiving an included angle value between a current advancing direction of a user and a due north direction, which is sent from a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is provided with a gyroscope, the second terminal is used to calculate the included angle value of the included angle between the current advancing direction and the due north direction according to the current advancing direction input by the user and a due north direction indication diagram, and send the included angle value to the first terminal; and the first terminal using the included angle value to correct an output angle of the gyroscope, so as to locate the first terminal. By the present invention, the directional angle may be accurately determined without using a magnetometer. |
| US09554250B2 |
Place-specific buddy list services
An information service provides search and notifications to inform when certain people (e.g., friends, family, business contacts, etc.) are nearby so as to facilitate communications with those people. Users may define lists of people whose locations may be tracked by positioning equipment based on personal communications/computing devices carried by the people. The information service processes this people and place data to identify those of the listed people that are in the user's vicinity, and provide notifications and user-initiated search results informing the user such as via the user's personal communications/computing device. |
| US09554238B2 |
Methods and systems for forming a wireless communication link
An example method performed by a first computing device executing an operating system includes receiving a request to form, with a second computing device, a wireless communication link, and sending, to the second computing device, a first message representing the request to form the wireless communication link. The method also includes prior to the operating system providing to the application a notification that the wireless communication link has been formed, sending, to the second computing device, a second message representing a request to receive data via the wireless communication link to confirm that the wireless communication link has been formed. The method also includes receiving, from the second computing device, the data confirming that the wireless communication link has been formed, and based on receiving the data, sending via the operating system to the application, the notification indicating that the wireless communication link has been formed. |
| US09554237B2 |
Method and system for transferring address book based on bluetooth
A method and system for transferring an address book based on Bluetooth are provided. First, address book information stored in a terminal and a SIM card of a first mobile terminal is transmitted to the second mobile terminal. A second mobile obtains the address hook information in the first mobile terminal. The method and system provided by the present invention make the transfer of the address book information more convenient and efficient, not only improving a user's experience of the mobile terminal but also providing convenience for the user's daily life. |
| US09554235B1 |
Identifiying one or more cargo devices for communication
A method, system, and medium are provided for connecting wireless devices to a wireless network. The system includes at least one base station and wireless devices that are part of a wireless network. The base station is configured with a database that stores metrics for each wireless device. The base station may identify one or more wireless devices that are suitable to communicate data for each of wireless devices based on the stored metrics. The identified suitable wireless devices proxy communications for other wireless devices over the wireless network. The wireless devices are part of a package delivery truck. |
| US09554229B2 |
Amplifying audio-visual data based on user's head orientation
One or more devices may receive, from a media presentation device worn by a user, sensory data comprising at least information describing orientation of the media presentation device. The one or more devices may also determine an approximate direction of a gaze of the user in a three dimensional audio space based on the information describing the orientation of the media presentation device, identify a sound source at which the user gazes based on the approximate direction of the gaze of the user in the three dimensional audio space, obtain audio data associated with the sound source based on an identity of the identified sound source, determine an action to perform on the audio data associated with the sound source, and perform the determined action. |
| US09554226B2 |
Headphone response measurement and equalization
An apparatus for evaluating performance of a headphone assembly is provided with a base and a support having a proximal end extending from the base. The support includes a distal end that is adapted for supporting a headphone assembly, and the support includes a pair of opposing sides that are laterally spaced apart. The apparatus also includes a pair of plates and at least two microphones. Each plate is mounted to one of the opposing sides of the support, and includes a central portion with at least two apertures formed therein. The central portion is sized for receiving a headphone of the headphone assembly. Each microphone is disposed within one of the apertures and arranged such that an outer surface of the microphone is oriented substantially parallel to an outer surface of the plate and adapted for receiving sound emitted from the headphone. |
| US09554223B2 |
Devices for enhancing transmissions of stimuli in auditory prostheses
A resilient element is used to bias a vibration element of an auditory prosthesis towards the skin of a recipient. This helps improve transmission of vibration stimuli to the recipient. Additionally, the resilient element helps reduce feedback caused by the vibration element vibrating in close proximity to sound processing components contained within the auditory prosthesis. |
| US09554221B2 |
Speech processor cases
Apparatus and methods for converting one type of speech processor unit into another type of speech processor unit. |
| US09554216B2 |
Bone-sealed audio device having insertion part with adhesive and phase-changing material
An audio device with an insertion part being adapted to be inserted into an ear canal of a user. The insertion part comprises pressure means and a resilient surface. The resilient surface comprises an adhesive, which is adapted to adhere to a skin portion of a bony portion of an ear canal of a user. The pressure means are adapted to provide a force to press the adhesive against the skin portion. The pressure means include a phase-changing material, which is adapted to cause a reduction in the force, when heat is supplied to the phase-changing material. |
| US09554215B2 |
Earphone
The disclosure relates to an earphone. The earphone includes a housing, a first speaker located in the housing and configured to play a first sound in a high frequency range, and a second speaker located in the housing and configured to play a second sound in a low frequency range or a middle frequency range. The first speaker includes a thermoacoustic device unit including a sound wave generator including carbon nanotube structure. The second speaker is an electric loudspeaker, electromagnetic speaker, or capacitive speaker. |
| US09554214B2 |
Signal processing platform in an acoustic capture device
A microphone includes a base, a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) device disposed on the base, and a front end processing apparatus disposed on the base and coupled to the MEMS device, the front end processing apparatus being configured to convert analog signals received from the MEMS device into digital signals. The microphone also includes a DSP apparatus, the DSP apparatus being a digital programmed device with a computer memory, the DSP apparatus configured to process the digital signals received from the front end processing apparatus. The MEMS device, the front end processing apparatus, and DSP apparatus are enclosed within a single microphone enclosure or assembly. During operation the DSP apparatus generates DSP noise. The DSP apparatus includes a noise reduction structure that substantially prevents the DSP noise from reaching or interfering with the operation of the MEMS device or the front end processing apparatus. |
| US09554207B2 |
Offset cartridge microphones
Offset cartridge microphones are provided that include multiple unidirectional microphone cartridges mounted in an offset geometry. Various desired polar patterns and/or desired steering angles can be formed by processing the audio signals from the multiple cartridges, including a toroidal polar pattern. The offset geometry of the cartridges may include mounting the cartridges so that they are immediately adjacent to one another and so that their center axes are offset from one another. The microphones may have a more consistent on-axis frequency response and may more uniformly form desired polar patterns and/or desired steering angles by reducing the interference and reflections within and between the cartridges. |
| US09554204B2 |
Mobile terminal device, computer-readable recording medium, and computer data signal
Even if an external output device like an earphone is disconnected during outputting of reproduced recorded contents, the recorded contents can be consecutively output at the time of subsequent reproduction. When an earphone connection detector detects that an earphone is disconnected during the reproduction operation of reproducing and outputting audio and image information in a recording section with the earphone being connected, a CPU performs control in such a manner as to stop the reproduction operation. When the earphone connection detector detects that the earphone is connected while the reproduction operation is stopped, the CPU resumes reproducing the audio and image information in the recording section at the stop position. |
| US09554199B2 |
Media processing methods and arrangements
The present technology concerns cell phones and other portable devices, and more particularly concerns use of such devices in connection with media content (electronic and physical) and with other systems (e.g., televisions, digital video recorders, and electronic program directories). One particular aspect of the technology concerns complementing primary content viewed on one screen (e.g., a television screen) with auxiliary content displayed on a second screen (e.g., a cell phone screen). Different auxiliary content can be paired with the primary content, depending on the profile of the user (e.g., age, location, etc.). Some embodiments make use of location information provided by the primary screen device. Other embodiments make use of content identification data provided by the primary screen device. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed. |
| US09554192B2 |
Information terminal system
When a user selects a topic tag included in a posted article on a display of a timeline obtained from an SNS server, an SNS client looks up an information channel related word table registering correspondence between a TV channel and a term related to the TV channel, searches a TV channel registering correspondence with a term and the topic tag, and causes the TV control to receive the searched TV channel and display and output the received program. |
| US09554187B2 |
Smart television system and turn-on and turn-off method thereof
A smart television, and a turn-off method and a turn-on method for the smart television system are provided. The smart television system includes a remote controller and a smart television. The smart television includes a remote control module, a main chip, a memory chip and a memory chip. The turn-off method includes: when a remote control signal is received from the remote controller, quitting all operating interfaces of the television system; executing a television main program, which enters a wait status after completing loading a database and a program link process; storing a status of the main chip, and causing the memory chip to stay in a self-refresh operating mode; disconnecting power supplied to modules other than the remote control module and the memory chip, and the smart television system entering a turn off status. |
| US09554179B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data using HDMI
A method for switching mode of a source device that uses a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) according to an embodiment of the present invention may include connecting to a sink device through the HDMI; transmitting +5V signal to the sink device; receiving a Hot Plug Detect (HPD) signal from the sink device; receiving EDID information including a first Sideband mode support information representing that the sink device supports a Sideband mode through a Display Data Channel (DDC) channel that operates in a DDC mode; transmitting a second Sideband mode support information representing that the source device supports a Sideband mode to the sink device; receiving instruction to perform an operation mode switching of the DDC channel from the sink device; and switching the operation mode of the DDC channel from the DDC mode to the Sideband mode. |
| US09554170B2 |
Method and system to confirm co-location of multiple devices within a geographic area
A method and system to confirm co-location of multiple devices within a geographic area, while filtering spurious alarms, is provided. An example method comprises processing first GPS data obtained from a first GPS sensor and second GPS data obtained from a second GPS sensor. A sensing data evaluator compares a sensing error from the first GPS data and a sensing error from the second GPS data. Based on the result of the comparing, the sensing data evaluator determines whether the sensing errors are to be ignored. An approach where an alarm that otherwise would be generated is disabled or canceled may be termed as filtering spurious alarms. |
| US09554168B2 |
Methods and systems for sample recovery in AVB networks
Embodiments are disclosed for a system for detecting and recovering from missing samples in an audio/video stream. In some embodiments, a system comprises a processor and a storage device storing instructions executable by the processor to determine that a first sample, of a plurality of samples in an audio/video data stream, was not received by a listener device in an audio video bridging system and allocate a first entry in a time slotted buffer for the first sample, wherein the first entry corresponds to a timestamp associated with the first sample. The instructions are further executable to fill the first entry in the time slotted buffer with a second sample immediately preceding the first sample in the audio/video data stream. |
| US09554165B2 |
Minimal decoding method for spatially multiplexing digital video pictures
Multiple video picture frames are combined into a spatial multiplex video picture frame that may be fully decoded and displayed. The video display of the spatial multiplex video picture frame is a composite combination of all of the video picture frames that have been combined, and may have an appearance such as a mosaic. Multiplexing the video picture frames involves removing picture headers, creating a picture header for the spatial multiplex video picture frame, and altering the headers of individual components of each video picture frame. The new header for the spatial multiplex video picture frame indicates a slice format frame, and headers of the individual components are altered to provide a slice format based picture position for each video picture frame. The headers of the individual components are altered to become slice based, such as in accordance with the ITU-T H.263 video standard, prior to establishing the slice based picture position if the frames are not already of the slice format. |
| US09554162B2 |
Apparatus for transreceiving signals and method for transreceiving signals
The present invention relates to an apparatus for transreceiving signals and a method for transreceiving signals. One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting signals comprising the steps of: encoding video data; generating signaling information including video configuration metadata information, which can output the encoded video data as a plurality of video sampling formats; and multiplexing the encoded video data and the signaling information and then transmitting the multiplexed video data and the signaling information. |
| US09554160B2 |
Multi-angle video editing based on cloud video sharing
A solution for composing a multi-angle video from videos captured from different angles is disclosed. A request to compose a multi-angle video is received from a target user, requesting composing a multi-angle video using a video captured by the target user and videos captured by other users nearby the target user. A plurality of videos captured by nearby users are identified based on metadata associated with the captured videos, e.g., geolocation and timestamps of the videos, and presented to the target user. A video sequence including two or more videos from the plurality of videos captured by nearby users is received and the multi-angle video is composed based on the received video sequence. |
| US09554151B2 |
Method and apparatus for variable accuracy inter-picture timing specification for digital video encoding with reduced requirements for division operations
A method and apparatus for performing motion estimation in a digital video system is disclosed. Specifically, the present invention discloses a system that quickly calculates estimated motion vectors in a very efficient manner. In one embodiment, a first multiplicand is determined by multiplying a first display time difference between a first video picture and a second video picture by a power of two scale value. This step scales up a numerator for a ratio. Next, the system determines a scaled ratio by dividing that scaled numerator by a second first display time difference between said second video picture and a third video picture. The scaled ratio is then stored calculating motion vector estimations. By storing the scaled ratio, all the estimated motion vectors can be calculated quickly with good precision since the scaled ratio saves significant bits and reducing the scale is performed by simple shifts. |
| US09554149B2 |
Inter-layer prediction method and apparatus using same
The present invention relates to an inter-layer prediction method and an apparatus using same. The inter-layer prediction method comprises: a step of inducing inter-layer motion information from a reference layer; and a step of performing a prediction on the current block in the current layer using the inter-layer motion information. The inter-layer motion information may include an inter-layer motion vector induced from the reference layer. |
| US09554147B2 |
Image coding method, image decoding method, image coding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, and image coding and decoding apparatus
An image coding method includes: writing, into a sequence parameter set, buffer description defining information for defining a plurality of buffer descriptions; selecting one of the buffer descriptions for each processing unit that is a picture or a slice, and writing buffer description selecting information for specifying the selected buffer description, into a first header of the processing unit which is included in the coded bitstream; and coding the processing unit using the selected buffer description, and the buffer description defining information includes long-term information for identifying, among a plurality of reference pictures indicated in the buffer descriptions, a reference picture to be assigned as a long-term reference picture. |
| US09554145B2 |
Re-encoding image sets using frequency-domain differences
Approaches to re-encoding image sets using frequency-domain differences, along with corresponding approaches to reversing the re-encoding of the image sets. For example, a re-encoding tool computes frequency-domain differences between (a) quantized coefficients for a block from encoded data in a first format and (b) quantized coefficients for a prediction of the block. The re-encoding tool entropy codes the frequency-domain differences, producing encoded data in a second format for the compressed images. Such re-encoding can significantly reduce storage cost for previously compressed images, compared to the storage cost for the previously compressed images in the first format, without hurting image quality. Subsequently, the previously compressed images in the first format can be recovered from the encoded data in the second format. Or, the encoded data in the second format can be decoded to reconstruct the images. |
| US09554144B2 |
Method for inducing a merge candidate block and device using same
The present invention relates to a method for inducing a merge candidate block and a device using same. An image decoding method involves decoding motion estimation region (MER) related information; determining whether or not a predicted target block and a spatial merge candidate block are included in the same MER; and determining the spatial merge candidate block to be an unavailable merge candidate block when the predicted target block and the spatial merge candidate block are included in the same MER. Accordingly, by parallely performing the method for inducing a merge candidate, parallel processing is enabled and the computation amount and implementation complexity are reduced. |
| US09554138B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding video by using block merging, and method and apparatus for decoding video by using block merging
Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding a video by using block merging and a method and apparatus for decoding a video by using block merging. The method of encoding includes: determining an encoding mode indicating a current data unit for encoding of a picture and an encoding method including prediction encoding performed for the current data unit; determining an occurrence of merging with at least one neighboring data unit based on at least one of the encoding mode and a prediction mode; and determining prediction mode information, merging related information, and prediction related information, and determining encoding information of the data unit including the prediction mode information, the merging related information, and the prediction related information. |
| US09554135B2 |
Method, medium, and system compressing and/or reconstructing image information with low complexity
A system, medium, and method compressing and/or restoring images. Such a data compression method may include selecting a mode from among a plurality of modes for compressing current data, according to predetermined criteria, and calculating a difference between the current data and reference data, according to the selected mode, and compressing the current data, or truncating a part of the current data and compressing the current data. Accordingly, it is possible to significantly lower the complexity of an image encoder/decoder system and exactly meet a picture-based CBR required by LCD DCC devices/systems. |
| US09554131B1 |
Multi-slice/tile encoder with overlapping spatial sections
Roughly described, pictures are divided into multiple spatial sections to be encoded by multiple section encoders. To address discontinuities of compression decisions across section boundaries, the multiple section encoders encode overlapping regions in a picture. |
| US09554129B2 |
Extension data handling
A length indicator (23) associated with an encoded representation (20) of a slice (3) is parsed. The length indicator (23) is indicative of a length of an extension field (24) present in a slice header (21) of the encoded representation (20). A decoder (40) can then determine to ignore, during decoding of the encoded representation (20), any value of the extension field (24) in the slice header (21) where these values are identified based on the length indicator (23). As a consequence, extension fields (23) can be added to slice headers (21) and still enable legacy decoders (40) to correctly decode the encoded representations (20). |
| US09554127B2 |
Display apparatus, method for controlling the display apparatus, glasses and method for controlling the glasses
A display apparatus for providing a multi view mode along with glasses is provided. The display apparatus includes a communicator which communicates with the glasses, a display which displays multiple contents respectively, a screen telephony performer which performs screen telephony with another display apparatus, and a controller. The controller controls the communicator to transmit a user's voice received from the another display apparatus to the glasses, when the screen telephony with another display apparatus is performed, and which controls the display to display screen telephony images received from the another display apparatus and one content from among the multiple contents in a multi view mode. |
| US09554125B2 |
Wide field-of-view stereoscopic projection system
Disclosed embodiments relate to a stereoscopic projection system and methods. An exemplary disclosed projection system includes an optical component disposed between the lenses of a lens arrangement. An exemplary lens arrangement includes a first power group, a second power group, and an aperture stop. In an embodiment, the optical component is disposed between the first power group and the aperture stop. In an exemplary embodiment, the optical component is proximate to the aperture stop. By disposing the optical component closer to or proximate to the aperture stop in the lens arrangement, various benefits may be realized, including improved contrast uniformity. |
| US09554124B1 |
Image display with full-depth viewing
A full depth display for use in three dimensional (3D) imaging has an array of optical emitters on a first plane, an aperture array having a plurality of apertures on a second plane separated from the first plane, and an optional set of corrective lenses which direct the image to a slightly divergent path about the z axis. The optical emitters are organized in left/right pairs. The aperture array contains periodic structures which direct optical energy from the array of apertures to an observer's left and right eyes to create the effect of a full depth image. |
| US09554123B2 |
Cooperative photography
Imagery from two or more users' different smartphones is streamed to a cloud processor, enabling creation of 3D model information about a scene being imaged. From this model, arbitrary views and streams can be synthesized. In one arrangement, a user of such a system is at a sports arena, and her view of the sporting event is blocked when another spectator rises to his feet in front of her. Nonetheless, the imagery presented on her headworn display continues uninterrupted—the blocked imagery from that viewpoint being seamlessly re-created based on imagery contributed by other system users in the arena. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed. |
| US09554121B2 |
3D scanning apparatus and method using lighting based on smart phone
A 3D scanning apparatus and method using lighting based on a smart phone. The 3D scanning apparatus includes: an image capturing unit for capturing the image of a 3D object using a camera and a lighting apparatus installed in a terminal; an image processing unit for generating a color-enhanced image corresponding to the light emitted by the lighting apparatus; and a scanning unit for scanning the 3D object in 3D by extracting a scan area from the color-enhanced image based on the light and by extracting position information corresponding to the scan area. |
| US09554117B2 |
System and method for non-invasive patient-image registration
A system for non-invasive registration between a patient and a three-dimensional (3D) medical image includes a near infrared 3D camera 110 which extracts a 3D blood vessel image I2 of a patients registration target area during surgical operation; a camera position tracer 120 which traces a position of the near infrared 3D camera 110 and calculates a real world coordinate system of the 3D blood vessel image I2; a controller 130 which extracts a first blood vessel pattern from a 3D medical image I1 of the registration target area, extracts a second blood vessel pattern from the 3D blood vessel image I2, and performs position registration between the patient and the 3D medical image I1 through the extracted first and second blood vessel patterns; and a display 140 which displays a registration result calculated by the controller 130. |
| US09554114B2 |
Depth range adjustment for three-dimensional images
A system is provided for generating a three dimensional image. The system may include a processor configured to generate a disparity map from a stereo image, adjust the disparity map to compress or expand a number of depth levels within the disparity map to generate an adjusted disparity map, and render a stereo view of the image based on the adjusted disparity map. |
| US09554110B1 |
Methods and controllers for controlling a data storage device and data storage device comprising the same
A method of controlling a data storage device comprising a storage medium using a storage device controller. The method may comprise receiving and providing data to be written to and read from the storage medium over a first interface of the data storage device; receiving and providing data to be written to and read from the storage medium over a second interface of the data storage device; and selectively processing at least data received and provided over the second interface through at least one of an audio codec and a video codec provided within the data storage device controller. The first interface may comprise, for example, a SAS/SATA interface and the second interface may comprise, for example, an HDMI or other high data rate interface. |
| US09554105B2 |
Projection type image display apparatus and control method therefor
An image display apparatus betters adjustment precision in the multi-projection in which two projection images are combined so that the images partially overlap each other. A display apparatus configuring an image projection system configured to project an image by combining on a screen a plurality of projection images so that the images partially overlap each other, includes a transformation unit configured to perform a geometrical transformation on a projection image, and a setting unit configured to set a parameter of the transformation by the transformation unit based on a relation between a position of an overlap region in a projection image obtained before the transformation by the transformation unit is performed, and a position of the overlap region in the projection image obtained after the transformation is performed, wherein an amount or value of the transformation is changed according to the position of a vertex of the overlap region. |
| US09554102B2 |
Processing digital images to be projected on a screen
An embodiment relates to a method for converting a digital image from a first color space to a second color space. The first color space is associated with an electronic source device, and the second color space is associated with a projection apparatus of digital images on a screen and coupled to the source device. The method includes: performing a first conversion on a first triad of parameters associated to the first color space by a first conversion matrix to map such a first triad in a third triad of parameters; the third triad is representative of a color space independent from the first and the second color spaces; performing a second conversion on the third triad of parameters by a second conversion matrix to map such a third triad of parameters in a second triad of parameters representative of the second color space. An embodiment of the step of performing the second conversion includes a step of computing the coefficients of the second conversion matrix based on at least one first piece of information representative of a variable distance between the projection apparatus and the screen. |
| US09554099B1 |
Multifunctional security surveillance and lighting device
A multifunctional security and surveillance and lighting apparatus which takes the appearance of a prior art conventional lighting apparatus to discretely observe an area. The device has an optical video camera, a computer, an infrared detector, a motion detector, and a speaker. The device communicates the output of its various sensors to a remote server. The device further has a high output lighting apparatus, which apparatus is smaller than prior art conventional high intensity discharge lamps, allowing the housing to store surveillance equipment while still appearing similar to a prior art conventional housing. |
| US09554098B2 |
Residue monitoring and residue-based control
A computer-implemented method and a control system are described for controlling operations involving residue. The method and system include analyzing residue on an agricultural field. A first image is captured with an image sensor of an area of the field that is ahead of or behind the implement. The first image is analyzed to determine an indicator of residue coverage on the field. A subsequent operation on the field is executed, one or more aspects of which are controlled based upon the determined indicator of residue coverage. |
| US09554097B2 |
Endoscope image processing device, endoscope system, and image processing method
An endoscope image processing device includes an image acquisition section and a boundary region correction section. The image acquisition section acquires image signals that form a front image corresponding to a front field of view and a side image corresponding to a side field of view as a single acquired image. A region within the acquired image that corresponds to the front field of view is referred to as a front region, and a region within the acquired image that corresponds to the side field of view is referred to as a side region. The boundary area correction section performs a process that causes at least one of an image of the front region and an image of the side region to overlap a boundary region that is a region that defines a boundary between the front region and the side region. |
| US09554096B1 |
Automated garment photography with fit adjustment
Apparatuses, systems, and methods for implementing a computerized garment photography system are described. A garment is placed on an exterior surface of the mannequin. The mannequin is controllable to assume a series of size combinations via one or more moveable portions of the robotic mannequin. One or more image capture devices capture a plurality of images of the mannequin as the mannequin assumes the size combinations. A fit adjustment mechanism adjusts a placement of the garment on the exterior surface of the mannequin during the automated photography process. |
| US09554092B2 |
System and method for providing incentive rewards to an audience tuned to a broadcast signal
A technique for offering a reward to an audience member tuned to a broadcast signal which is performed by reproduction equipment, the broadcast signal having commercial content, program content, and commercial content identification codes respectively corresponding to advertisements contained in the commercial content, wherein the audience member captures the commercial content identification codes from the performed broadcast signal and actuates storing of a segment of a program content from the performed broadcast signal. The technique identifies the program based on the segment thereof that was stored in response to the command, and offers the audience member a reward related to the identified program. |
| US09554082B2 |
Recording apparatus, recording method, and program
A recording apparatus is arranged to control a file name of recorded moving image file and a file name of the recorded still image file, so as to, after a recording stop instruction, in accordance with the file name of at least one of the moving image file and still image file recorded in a period of time from a recording start instruction to the recording stop instruction, change the file name of at least one of the moving image file and still image file recorded in that period so that the file names of the plurality of moving image files recorded in that period have consecutive file numbers corresponding to recording order of the moving image files and the file names of the plurality of still image files recorded in that period have consecutive file numbers corresponding to recording order of the still image files. |
| US09554078B2 |
Television base and flatscreen television
The application discloses a television base, comprising a supporting base fixedly connected with a television display screen and at least three supporting rods; the supporting base comprises rotating connection portions, the supporting rods are rotationally connected with the rotating connection portions, a surface of the supporting base provided with the rotating connection portions is located in a first plane, and the first plane is perpendicular to a plane where the television display screen is located; all the supporting rods relatively rotate around the supporting base in the first plane, when the supporting rods rotate to be opened, the supporting rods are positioned in the first plane to support a television shell; and when the supporting rods rotate to be folded, the supporting rods are positioned in the first plane and are perpendicular to the plane where the television displays screen is located. |
| US09554075B2 |
Image sensor and image capturing apparatus
An image sensor includes a plurality of pixels arranged in matrix, each pixel including a plurality of photoelectric conversion portions, and analog/digital converters configured to convert analog signals from pixels into digital signals provided by column. The analog/digital converter performs a first operation of converting an analog signal corresponding to the reset level into a digital signal, a second operation of converting analog signals obtained from some portions of the plurality of photoelectric conversion portions into digital signals, and a third operation of converting analog signals obtained from all the plurality of photoelectric conversion portions into digital signals. |
| US09554074B2 |
Ramp generator for low noise image sensor
A readout circuit for use in an image sensor includes a sense amplifier circuit coupled to a bitline to sense analog image data from a pixel cell of the image sensor. An analog to digital converter is coupled to the sense amplifier circuit to convert the analog image data to digital image data. A ramp generator circuit is coupled to generate a first ramp signal. The analog to digital converter is coupled to generate the digital image data in response to the analog image data and the first ramp signal. A first capacitive voltage divider is coupled to the ramp generator. The first capacitive voltage divider is coupled to reduce an output voltage swing of the first ramp signal coupled to be received by the analog to digital converter to reduce noise in the first ramp signal. |
| US09554071B2 |
Method and apparatus providing pixel storage gate charge sensing for electronic stabilization in imagers
An imaging device that stores charge from a photosensor under at least one storage gate. A driver used to operate the at least one storage gate, senses how much charge was transferred to the storage gate. The sensed charge is used to obtain at least one signature of the image scene. The at least one signature may then be used for processing such as e.g., motion detection, auto-exposure, and auto-white balancing. |
| US09554067B2 |
Solid-state imaging apparatus
The present invention provides a solid-state imaging apparatus that can significantly reduce kTC noise by using a negative feedback amplifying circuit. A solid-state imaging apparatus includes a pixel unit including a plurality of pixels arranged on a semiconductor substrate in a matrix, the pixel unit including, for each column, a source line and a column signal line, each of the plurality of pixels including: a photoelectric conversion unit that generates a signal charge corresponding to incident light; a storage unit storing the signal charge; a reset transistor; an amplifying transistor; and a cutoff transistor, wherein the amplifying transistor and the cutoff transistor form a negative feedback amplifying circuit. With this configuration, kTC noise can significantly be reduced. |
| US09554062B2 |
Video switching apparatus, video switching method, program, and information processing apparatus
A video switcher includes: a reception unit which receives video data within a range of a prescribed bandwidth via a network from video output apparatuses; a transmission unit which selects one or more pieces from among received video data, and transmits the selected one or more pieces to a video processing apparatus; a selection unit which dynamically sets a priority degree of each piece of video data, and selects video data to be received; and a control unit which controls a transmission and reception of video data. When a bandwidth necessary for a reception of new video data is insufficient, the selection unit selects video data for which reception is to be stopped from among video data being received based on the priority degree, and the control unit performs a control so as to stop a reception of selected video data and start a reception of the new video data. |
| US09554059B1 |
Exposure control system and associated exposure control method
An exposure-control system and an associated exposure control method are provided. The exposure-control system includes: an image capturing unit configured to capture a long-exposure image and a short-exposure image with a first exposure value and a second exposure value, respectively; and a processor, configured to calculate histograms of the long-exposure image and the short-exposure image, and calculate an exposure ratio according to the calculated histograms, the first and second exposure values, wherein when the exposure ratio is smaller than a first threshold, the processor switches a current exposure mode to a low dynamic range mode. When the exposure ratio is larger than a second threshold, the processor switches the current exposure mode to a high dynamic range mode. When the exposure ratio is between the first threshold and the second threshold, the processor does not switch the current exposure mode. |
| US09554058B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for generating high dynamic range image
There is provided a method of generating a high dynamic range (HDR) image, including obtaining an image sequence with similar exposure times, obtaining a plurality of still images with different exposure times, which temporally correspond to at least one image among the image sequence, and generating a matched image having an HDR from the plurality of still images by using the image sequence. |
| US09554057B2 |
Wide dynamic range depth imaging
Wide dynamic range depth imaging in a structured light device is provided that improves depth maps for scenes with a wide range of albedo values under varying light conditions. A structured light pattern, e.g., a time-multiplexed structured light pattern, is projected into a scene at various projection times and a camera captures images of the scene for at least the same exposure times as the projection times. A depth image is computed for each of the projection/exposure times and the resulting depth images are combined to generate a composite depth image. |
| US09554056B2 |
Method of and device for encoding an HDR image, method of and device for reconstructing an HDR image and non-transitory storage medium
The invention is made in the field of coding of images of high dynamic range.The invention is based on the concept of Frame Compatible format. The idea is to transport, in a frame, down-sampled LDR content together with additional information allowing reconstructing HDR content from the LDR content.Thus, it is proposed a method of encoding an HDR image of high dynamic range according to claim 1. Said method comprises down-sampling (DWN) an LDR image and additional data, the LDR image providing a lower dynamic range depiction of the HDR image content and the additional data allowing for reconstructing the HDR image from the LDR image. |
| US09554053B1 |
Method and photographing apparatus for controlling function based on gesture of user
A photographing apparatus including a sensor, a touchscreen, and a controller is disclosed. The sensor is configured to detect that a user approaches or comes within a predetermined proximity the photographing apparatus. The touchscreen is configured to display an image representing a state of the photographing apparatus and receive a gesture of the user. The controller is configured to enable a function of the touchscreen to detect the gesture based on a signal received from the sensor, and execute a function corresponding to the gesture. |
| US09554051B2 |
Display assembly
A display assembly includes an external electronic device in electrical communication with an external communications network. A housing is provided that has a back side, a front side and peripheral edge extending therebetween. The back side is coupled to a support surface such a user may stand proximate the front side. A viewing unit is coupled to the housing and the viewing unit records an image of a user wearing clothes. The image is viewable by the user thereby facilitating the user to critique the appearance of the clothes is worn. A remote unit is in electrical communication with the viewing unit and the remote unit actuates the viewing unit to record the image. |
| US09554044B2 |
Image quality adjustment apparatus, correction data generation method, and image quality adjustment technique using the apparatus and method
An image quality adjustment apparatus obtains correction data for correcting display unevenness of a display panel by capturing an image of the display panel using a camera, and includes a moire frequency control unit that performs a control to position the display panel and the camera at a predetermined relative angle with respect to each other, an unevenness measurement unit that measures the display unevenness of the display panel based on the image captured by the camera, and a correction data generation unit that generates the correction data based on the unevenness measured by the unevenness measurement unit. Arranging the panel and the camera at the predetermined relative angle shifts a spatial frequency component of a moire pattern occurring in the image captured by the camera out of a region where a spatial frequency component of the display unevenness is present, and removes an influence of the moire pattern. |
| US09554042B2 |
Preventing motion artifacts by intelligently disabling video stabilization
Digital video stabilization is selectively turned off in circumstances where it could actually decrease the quality of a captured video. A video camera includes a device for directly detecting physical motion of the camera. Motion data from the motion detector are analyzed to see if video stabilization is appropriate. If the motion data indicate that the video camera is stable, for example, then video stabilization is not applied to the video, thus preventing the possibility of introducing “motion artifacts” into the captured video. In another example, motion as detected by the motion detector can be compared with motion as detected by the video-stabilization engine. If the two motions disagree significantly, then the video-stabilization engine is probably responding more to motion in the captured video rather than to motion of the camera itself, and video stabilization should probably not be applied to the video. |
| US09554039B2 |
All-in-focus implementation
Various systems and methods for an all-in-focus implementation are described herein. A system to for operating a camera, comprising an image sensor in the camera to capture a sequence of images in different focal planes, at least a portion of the sequence of images occurring before receiving a signal to store an all-in-focus image, a user interface module to receive, from a user, the signal to store an all-in-focus image, and an image processor to fuse at least two images to result in the all-in-focus image, wherein the at least two images have different focal planes. |
| US09554035B2 |
Image pickup device, method of controlling image pickup device, and computer program for automatically achieving composition specified by user
There is provided an image pickup device including: a composition detection unit configured to calculate a time at which an object that is specified by a user and is included in a captured image achieves a composition specified by the user; a time calculation unit configured to calculate a time after start instruction of image pickup operation is issued but before an image is captured; and an image pickup control unit configured to start image pickup processing of the image in response to the start instruction of the image pickup operation. The composition detection unit issues the start instruction of the image pickup operation to the image pickup control unit the time calculated by the time calculation unit before the time at which the composition specified by the user is achieved. |
| US09554034B2 |
Lens device
The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the size of an image pick-up lens unit. A part of a bundle of rays representing subject optical images is deflected vertically downward by a polarization prism, and is further deflected forwards by a total reflection mirror. A bundle of rays totally reflected by the total reflection mirror is split in three directions by a tri-directional splitting prism. The bundle of rays, which is split in three directions, is incident on a first optical-path-length-difference image pick-up element, a second optical-path-length-difference image pick-up element, and a phase-difference image pick-up element included in a phase-difference AF optical system. Auto focus (AF) is performed on the basis of the optical path length difference from signals obtained from the optical-path-length-difference image pick-up elements, and AF is performed on the basis of the phase difference from a signal obtained from the phase-difference image pick-up element. Since the phase-difference AF optical system is disposed so as to be parallel to the axis of the light forming the subject optical images, the size of the image pick-up lens unit can be reduced. |
| US09554033B2 |
Focus detection apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium
A focus detection apparatus comprises a line sensor including a photoelectric conversion element and an integrating capacitor, a storage unit configured to store information concerning a defective pixel, a first comparison unit configured to compare a signal from the defective pixel with a predetermined threshold, a switching unit configured to switch between a first accumulation mode and a second accumulation mode, and a control unit configured to control the switching unit so as to set the line sensor in the first accumulation mode if the first comparison unit determines that a signal from the defective pixel is not more than the predetermined threshold and set the line sensor in the second accumulation mode if the first comparison unit determines that a signal from the defective pixel is larger than the threshold. |
| US09554025B2 |
Solid state image capturing apparatus, camera module and electronic device including anti-reflection plate
There is provided a solid state image capturing apparatus including an image capturing element for photoelectric converting an incident light; a light shielding filter for shielding a part of the incident light; and a metal plate partly having an opening for fixing the light shielding filter at a position for blocking the opening, an end of the opening of the metal plate being etched and antireflection treated. Also, a camera module and an electronic device are provided. |
| US09554024B2 |
Method of manufacturing an image sensor module
An image sensor module and an imaging device. An image sensor package includes a plurality of image sensor chips for generating image signals and a lower transparent board over the image sensor chips. An upper transparent board is positioned over the lower transparent board and includes a lens for focusing an external light to the image sensor chips. An adhesion member is interposed between the upper transparent board and the lower transparent board, and thus the upper and lower transparent boards are adhered to each other by the adhesion member such that the lens and the image sensor chips are aligned with each other. A dehumidifying agent is arranged in the adhesion member to absorb moistures from an interior of the image sensor module. Accordingly, the moistures are prevented from being condensed onto the surface of the image sensor module. |
| US09554020B2 |
Workflow for content creation and guided display management of EDR video
Video data with enhanced dynamic range (EDR) are color graded for a first and a second reference display with different dynamic range characteristics to generate a first color-graded output, a second color graded output, and associated first and second sets of metadata. The first color-graded output and the two sets of metadata are transmitted from an encoder to a decoder to be displayed on a target display which may be different than the second reference display. At the receiver, a decoder interpolates between the first and second set of metadata to generate a third set of metadata which drives the display management process for displaying the received video data onto the target display. The second set of metadata of metadata may be represented as delta metadata values from the first set of metadata values. |
| US09554018B2 |
Image forming apparatus and controlling method thereof
An image forming apparatus includes an image obtaining unit configured to obtain an image of a document, a document supplying unit configured to supply a document to the image obtaining unit, an image forming unit configured to form the image on a printing medium, a storing unit configured to store supply status information of the document, and a controller configured to perform a preparation for an image forming operation in response to at least one of the document being supplied to one of the image obtaining unit and the document supplying unit and an option setting command of the image forming operation being input. The controller, in response to the option setting command being input after the preparation for the image forming operation is stopped, is configured to perform the preparation for the image forming operation again based on the supply status information of the document. |
| US09554013B2 |
Arithmetic memories, image sensors including the same, and methods of operating the arithmetic memories
Arithmetic memories, image sensors including the arithmetic memories and methods of operating the arithmetic memories are provided. The arithmetic memories may include an input block to which a digital pixel reset signal and a digital pixel image signal are input and a plurality of unit cells configured to generate a digital difference signal. The input block may include first and second multiplexers to which the digital pixel reset signal and the digital pixel image signal are input and an inverter connected to the first multiplexer. The plurality of unit cells may include a first unit cell connected to the input block and a second unit cell through an N-th unit cell successively connected to the first unit cell. N may be two or greater. The first unit cell may include third and fourth multiplexers, a first flip/flop, and a first AND gate. |
| US09554002B2 |
Portable terminal and method
Provided is a portable terminal capable of efficiently storing untransmitted print object data as print data in a non-volatile storage unit, and restarting printing by the print object data. Included are a storage unit, a remaining battery capacity detection unit, a print data construction unit that constructs the print data in each [print unit size] from a data start position of the print object data and transmits the print data to an image forming device, and a data storage processing unit that performs a data storage process in which the print object data is stored in the storage unit in each [storage unit size] toward the data start position from a data end position of the print object data when a remaining battery capacity is smaller than or equal to a preset reference value during transmission of the print data by the print data construction unit. |
| US09553998B2 |
Sharing group notification
A method, computer program product, and apparatus are disclosed. The method includes determining whether a shared balance threshold has been breached, and notifying a member of a sharing group, in response to a determination that the balance threshold has been breached. The shared balance threshold is for the sharing group, which includes a number of members. |
| US09553996B2 |
Access point with controller for billing and generating income for access point owner
A modified end user network access point includes a switching module and a controller to track usage of the end user network access point by wirelessly connected end user devices. The tracked usage information is transmitted from the end user network access point to a remotely coupled data center. The data center collects usage information from a plurality of different end user network access points. The collected usage information is in turn transmitted from the data center to a network carrier. The network carrier uses the received usage information to bill users for accessing the end user network access points and using any services provided by the end user network access points. An owner of each end user network access point is compensated by the network carrier each instance that an end user device utilizes the end user network access point to access the network carrier's communications network. |
| US09553994B2 |
Speaker identification for use in multi-media conference call system
Methods for operating a meeting coordinator to detect which participant is speaking during a teleconference meeting using a teleconferencing system, having corresponding mobile electronic devices and computer-readable media, comprise: accessing calendaring information concerning the teleconference meeting, the calendaring information including a time of the teleconference meeting, a meeting location, identities of meeting invitees, and contact information for the meeting invitees; automatically setting up the teleconference meeting using the calendaring information to enable the teleconferencing system to connect remotely-located meeting invitees; generating a roster of meeting participants comprising at least some of the meeting invitees; tracking a participation status for the meeting participants; and accessing prerecorded unique digital voice signatures for the meeting invitees. |
| US09553993B2 |
Device and process for selecting one of a plurality of direct inward dialing numbers
Selecting one of a plurality of direct inward dialing numbers for dialing an international number preceded by a direct inward dialing number is disclosed. A destination phone number to be dialed by a wireless device is initially received at the wireless device. It is then determined that the destination phone number is an international destination phone number. In response to the determination that the destination phone number is an international destination phone number, one direct inward dialing number is selected from among a plurality of direct inward dialing numbers. The selected one direct inward dialing number connects the wireless device to a server. Next, the wireless device dials the one selected direct inward dialing number and determines that a connection between the wireless device and the server has been established. Finally, the international destination phone number is forwarded to the server. |
| US09553983B2 |
Data and call routing and forwarding
A system and method for determining an order in which to communicate with a list of numbers and/or addresses for a particular contact is disclosed. Each caller that communicates with the contact may specify a different order for the contact's various phone numbers and other addresses. A communication management system may then automatically dial the numbers or use messaging addresses to initiate data communications in the specified order when the initiating party attempts to communicate with the contact. The order may specify simultaneous and/or sequential use of numbers or addresses. Alternatively or additionally, the communication management system may dynamically and/or automatically determine the communication order or a portion thereof. The automatic determination of the order may be based on a communication history or communication receiving of the initiating party. In some arrangements, the order may be partially manually defined and partially automatically defined. |
| US09553982B2 |
System and methods for tamper proof interaction recording and timestamping
A system and method for securely recording voice communications, comprising an authentication server, further comprising at least a software components operating on a network-capable computing device, and a database, wherein an authentication server verifies the validity of voice communications and a database stores voice communication recordings. |
| US09553979B2 |
Bluetooth headset and voice interaction control thereof
Techniques for a personalized Bluetooth headset and a voice interaction control method thereof are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, the Bluetooth headset is caused to maintain a voice contact list. Each item in the voice contact list corresponds to a phone number associated with a set of audio data (e.g., a voice or a predefined audio). When a paired mobile device receives a call, the voice contact list is searched per the caller number. A corresponding audio is played back when an item is located in the voice contact list. As such a user of the Bluetooth headset knows who is calling and determines whether the call shall be answered or not. |
| US09553978B2 |
Application triggered media control in call centers
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving an input from a call center agent indicating a symptom of a quality of an electronic communication between the agent and a caller. Identifying a cause of the quality of the electronic communication based on the input. And, sending instructions to adjust the cause of the quality of the electronic communication. |
| US09553974B2 |
Media/voice binding protocol and related user interfaces
One or more media items can be bound to a voice call using a binding protocol. The binding protocol allows call participants to more easily transfer media items to other call participants using one or more user interfaces. A call participant can initiate a media transfer by selecting the media and a communication modality for transferring the media. The binding protocol can be active or lazy. In lazy binding, the call participant can select the desired media for transfer before the voice call is established, and subsequently mark the media for binding with the voice call. In active binding, the call participant can select and transfer the desired media item during the voice call, and the media item is automatically bound to the voice call. The media item can be transferred using a user-selected communication modality over an independent data communication channel. |
| US09553971B2 |
Portable device-enabled monitoring and security system
A portable device-based monitoring and security system has a docking device with a connector for connecting to a portable electronic device. The docking device has a plurality of sensors that are able to transmit to the portable electronic device signals representing measurement values acquired by the sensors. In one embodiment, the docking device is a base with a cradle and a plug connector for connecting with a jack of the portable electronic device. The base may be an externally powered unit, forming a charging station for the portable electronic device. The sensors may include a carbon monoxide sensor, an ambient light sensor, a sound sensor, a gas sensor, a smoke sensor, a motion sensor, and the like. In the case in which the docking device is a portable dongle or a protective case with a dongle, the sensors are advantageously CO sensors, TDS sensors, pH sensors, breathalyzer or UV sensors. |
| US09553966B2 |
Method and apparatus pertaining to the dynamic handling of incoming calls
A control circuit determines when a user of a corresponding portable communication device is presently driving a vehicle and then, in response to detecting this use state, automatically answer incoming calls and provide at least two contact options to the caller. One of these contact options can comprise the option to speak with the user during this call. Another of these contact options can comprise recording a voice message for the user and discontinuing the incoming call without the caller speaking with the user. The control circuit can determine whether the user is presently driving a vehicle by relying upon a direct acknowledgement of the user and/or by indirect means. |
| US09553965B2 |
Method and device for number display based on mobile terminal, and mobile terminal
The disclosure provides a method and device for number display based on the mobile terminal and a mobile terminal. The method includes: an International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI, automatic match function is enabled according to a user selection, IMSI information in a Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, card is read, the IMSI information is parsed to acquire Mobile Country Code, MCC, information; an MCC number format list is matched according to the MCC information to acquire and store a corresponding number display format; and when a user opens a dialling interface to input a number, the number is displayed according to the corresponding number display format. The disclosure solves the problem of not being adapted to a display style of the mobile terminal, and has the beneficial effects that an accustomed phone number display style of a corresponding country is automatically matched according to a phone number input by a user and the phone number is displayed according to the number display style, thereby enhancing system performance and improving user experience. |
| US09553958B2 |
System and method for full-duplex MAC timing modifications
A system, method, and computer-readable storage media for reducing monopolization of a frequency channel during full-duplex communications. The MAC layer of governing communications can be modified to reduce likelihood of monopolization by (1) in networks which are exclusively filled with full-duplex devices, configuring non-communicating devices to ignore data collisions of communicating devices, requiring the communicating devices to wait for an standard backoff time after the data transmission is complete; and/or (2) in mixed half-duplex/full-duplex networks, requiring a half-duplex nodes and/or a full-duplex node to wait an extended duration after the data transmission is complete, while the non-communicating devices do not wait an extended duration. |
| US09553955B2 |
Communications terminal, a system and a method for internet/network telephony
A communication terminal for Internet telephony is provided that handles and control communication of data in accordance with a standardized network protocol and exchanges data with a connecting unit connected to the Internet where the resulting data exchanged between the terminal and a connecting unit consist of packets in a standardized protocol data packet format embedded in a wireless format. This provides a communications terminal which uses a network or the Internet for the transfer of digitized speech, etc., thereby achieving great economic savings. Also, the flexibility is increased with respect to wireless communication with the network or the Internet without any need for specialized equipment and functionality. |
| US09553950B2 |
Communication control method and communication control apparatus
A communication control method includes: receiving data, acquired by respective terminals, through a communication network; accumulating the received data in an information recording medium; obtaining an intra-network transmission time, which is an estimated value of a maximum time taken for transmission from when the data are acquired by the respective terminals until the data are received through the communication network; determining, of the accumulated data, the data whose time from an acquisition time point when the data is acquired by the terminal until a current time is shorter than the intra-network transmission time; excluding, of the accumulated data, the data whose time is determined to be shorter than the intra-network transmission time from data used for predetermined processing; and executing the predetermined processing by using the data excluding the data whose time is determined to be shorter than the intra-network transmission time. |
| US09553945B2 |
Semantic data broker for dynamic association between devices and applications
In one embodiment, a broker device receives device-identifying data to identify a device in a computer network. An ontology associated with the device-identifying data is then identified by the broker device and in response to identifying the ontology, interpretation instructions related to the identified ontology are determined. The broker device receives data from the identified device and interprets the received data based on the interpretation instructions. |
| US09553943B1 |
Dynamic push notifications based on indoor micro-locations
A process for dynamic modification of push notifications based on indoor micro-locations includes receiving a selection for initial message parameters for a push notification. A push message is sent to a mobile device using the initial message parameters. The push message is received with the initial message parameters. The mobile device determines an access event including unlocking the mobile device or sensing a change in light. The mobile device substitutes the push notification initial message parameters with new message parameters based on the access event and real-time detection of one or more micro-locations in a particular venue. |
| US09553937B2 |
Collecting preference information
In order to allow a first presentation application to utilize tracked information collected by a second presentation application, the tracked information being how digital content is presented in user equipment, the information is collected by user equipment into a presentation application independent ratings data file. |
| US09553936B2 |
Targeting of digital content to geographic regions
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for improving geographic targeting of digital content. One of the methods includes receiving a targeting request that identifies a target geographic region; identifying one or more groups of geographic regions that each include at least two geographic regions, including the target geographic region, wherein the one or more groups of geographic regions are identified based on respective combined targeting accuracies, the respective combined targeting accuracy of each of the one or more groups being higher than a targeting accuracy for the target geographic region; and providing data describing the identified one or more groups of geographic regions in response to the targeting request. |
| US09553933B2 |
Method and apparatus for communication session-based initiation of networked terminals
An approach is provided for using one or more identification parameters of terminals associated with a communication session to initiate another communication session among the terminals. A communication platform determines one or more identification parameters associated with one or more terminals participating in at least one communication session. The communication platform further causes, at least in part, an initiation of at least one other communication session among the one or more terminals based, at least in part, on the one or more identification parameters. |
| US09553932B2 |
Method and system for providing IMS session continuity to a user equipment across a plurality of communication networks
A method and system for providing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) session continuity to a User Equipment (UE) across a plurality of communication networks is provided. The UE traverses from a first communication network to a second communication network. A public user identity associated with a private user identity of the UE is registered with the first communication network by using a first address. The method includes generating (404) a complimentary private user identity associated with the public user identity. The method also includes obtaining (406) a second address from the second communication network when the UE traverses from the first communication network to the second communication network. Moreover, the method includes registering (408) the public user identity associated with the complimentary private user identity with the first communication network by using the second address. |
| US09553930B2 |
DNS overriding-based methods of accelerating content delivery
An exemplary method accelerating content delivery via DNS overriding may comprise the steps of generating a routing table for a content delivery network (CDN), the routing table map one or more edge server IP addresses to each of one or more geographic regions, transmitting the routing table to one or more DNS server computers, receiving a request from a registrant of a domain name to subscribe the domain name to the CDN, and designating said domain name as subscribed to the CDN in a DNS zone for the domain name. |
| US09553922B1 |
Media event based social networking interfaces
A social networking system aggregates content related to the media events that have aired or are currently airing from a variety of sources, such as the entity broadcasting the media event and users that author content items referencing the media events. The social networking system generates multiple event interfaces that allow users of the social networking system to consume content, both user authored content and content curated from external sources, related to a media event. The interfaces include both content items that have a high correlation with the media events and visual representations of the user response to media event. Further, the interfaces include interface elements that allow users to easily navigate and interact with the information being presented as well as provide additional content related to the media events. |
| US09553916B2 |
Copy and paste between devices
Generally discussed herein are systems and methods for transferring content from one device to another device. In one more embodiments an apparatus can include a first module to detect a request to perform a copy operation has been issued, receive content that was selected at a time the request to perform the copy operation was issued, or automatically create a machine-decodable image of the selected content in response to detecting the request, wherein the machine-decodable image includes the selected content encoded therein. The apparatus can include a display coupled to the first module to show the machine-decodable image. |
| US09553909B2 |
System and method for assignment and switching of content sources for a streaming content session
Various embodiments of a system and method for assignment and switching of content sources for a streaming content session are described. Embodiments may include the generation and use of content source rankings for improving playback quality of content streams. In embodiments, a merchant system may collect and aggregate multiple quality metrics for different content streams that various content sources provide to various clients. The merchant system may utilize the quality metrics to generate rankings of content sources for clients. The merchant system may provide such rankings to clients to improve the content stream playback experience on the client. For instance, at content acquisition time, a client may request a content stream from a content resource ranked highest on a content source ranking provided by the merchant. If the content stream degrades, the client may source subsequent portions of the content stream from another highly ranked content source of the ranking. |
| US09553908B2 |
Wireless music playing method, wireless music playing system and wireless music player
The invention discloses a wireless music playing method, a wireless music playing system and a wireless music player, wherein the method includes the following steps. A digital media controller edits a play schedule and delivers the play schedule to a wireless music player, and the play schedule includes a playing time and corresponding location information of a music source. The wireless music player links to the corresponding location information of the music source to play music media data according to the playing time and the corresponding location information of the music source in the play schedule. The technical solution of the invention can simplify the operation of music playing and realize the automatically classified playing according to time. |
| US09553906B2 |
Method and system for synchronization of data streams
A method includes: while streaming video frames on a network toward a client device, detecting a loss of connectivity between the network and the client device; responsive to detecting the loss of the connectivity between the network and the client device, ceasing the streaming of the video frames toward the client device; subsequent to detecting the loss of connectivity, determining that the connectivity between the network and the client device has been re-established; responsive to determining that the connectivity between the network and the client device has been re-established, resuming the streaming of the video frames on the network toward the client device by transmitting an Instantaneous Decoder Refresh (IDR) frame on the network toward the client device without sending one or more frames corresponding to images chronologically prior to an image corresponding to the IDR frame. |
| US09553900B2 |
System and method for managing conferencing in a distributed communication network
Systems and methods for a conferencing system. Responsive to a new conference request received at a conference orchestration service, participants of the conference and participant regions for each determined participant are determined. A mixer topology is generated that specifies an assignment of each determined participant to at least one input channel of a plurality of mixers. A mixer state manager generates the mixer topology based on the determined participant regions and at least one regional association of a mixer. Media of each determined participant is routed to the assigned at least one input channel according to the generated mixer topology by using the conference orchestration service. The mixer state manager generates the topology responsive to a request provided by the conference state manager. The conference orchestration service receives the generated mixer topology from the mixer state manager via the conference state manager. |
| US09553899B2 |
Single pass load balancing and session persistence in packet networks
Methods and systems for performing load balancing and session persistence in IP (e.g., IPv6) networks are described herein. Some aspects relate to a destination options extension header that may be used to store load balancing session persistence option (LBSPO) data, including a client identifier and a server identifier for each of a client and a server. A load balancer for a server farm can perform session persistence and load balancing based on the LBSPO information. The server can include its own address in the LBSPO data when responding to an initial request from a client. The client device may then address subsequent packets to the server selected for that session, thereby bypassing the load balancer after the session is established, thereby freeing the load balancer to handle other requests. The LBSPO information may remain unchanged for the duration of the session. |
| US09553897B2 |
Method and computer device for monitoring wireless network
The present disclosure discloses a method and computer device for monitoring a wireless network. The method is implemented as follows. The computer device obtains configuration file information for accessing the wireless network after the computer device accesses the wireless network, wherein the configuration file information comprises an IP address and a subnet mask of the computer device. The computer device calculates an IP address range of the wireless network according to the IP address and the subnet mask of the computer device. The computer device searches for a device that accesses the wireless network and of which IP address is within the IP address range. |
| US09553896B2 |
System and method for controlling electronic communications
The approved email generation system described is capable of producing email communications between user and customer by using approved email templates and content that have been aligned with customer information regarding access to such content. The approved email template comprises data pulled from a record for a medical inquiry and a window for receiving free text responding to the medical inquiry. Once the approved email has been generated, the content may be verified again for accuracy and validity and the free text may be checked for any unapproved word before being delivered to the customer. |
| US09553893B2 |
Enhanced message security
A secure messaging system and method includes receiving an encrypted message, the message having been encrypted using a token of a corresponding pervasive device; wirelessly verifying the presence of the pervasive device; and, if the presence can be verified, decrypting the message using the token. The verification step can include the steps of establishing a wireless link with the pervasive device; and, querying the pervasive device over the wireless link. The establishing step can include the step of establishing a Bluetooth link with the pervasive device. Furthermore, the querying step can include the step of requesting geographic coordinates which locate the pervasive device. |
| US09553888B2 |
Systems and methods for dynamic protection from electronic attacks
Systems and methods for gathering, classifying, and evaluating real time security intelligence data concerning security threats presented by an IP address, and reporting in real time the degree and character of such security threats. |
| US09553887B2 |
Virtual machine compliance checking in cloud environments
One or more examples provide a method of transferring a virtual machine between a virtualized computing system and a cloud computing system that includes: establishing connection between a first resource in the virtualized computing system and a second resource in the cloud computing system to transfer files that implement the virtual machine from the first resource to the second resource; accessing, for transmission over the connection, data blocks on a storage device in the virtualized computing system that include the files; executing at least one compliance check on each of the data blocks using at least one compliance checker; and preventing each of the data blocks that fails a compliance check from being maintained in the cloud computing system. |
| US09553886B2 |
Managing dynamic deceptive environments
A deception management system to detect attackers within a dynamically changing network, including a deployment governor dynamically designating a deception policy that includes one or more decoy attack vectors, one or more resources of the network in which the decoy attack vectors are generated, and a schedule for generating the decoy attack vectors in the resources, wherein an attack vector is an object in a first resource that may be used by an attacker to access or discover a second resource, and wherein the network of resources is dynamically changing, a deception deployer dynamically generating decoy attack vectors on resources in the network, in accordance with the current deception policy, a deception adaptor dynamically extracting characteristics of the network, and a deception diversifier dynamically triggering changes in the deception policy based on changes in the network as detected from the network characteristics extracted by the deception adaptor. |
| US09553885B2 |
System and method for creation, deployment and management of augmented attacker map
A network surveillance system including a deception management server within a network, including a deployment module managing and planting decoy attack vectors in network resources, wherein an attack vector is an object in memory or storage of a first resource that may be used to access a second resource, and decoy servers accessible from resources in the network via decoy attack vectors, each decoy server including a forensic alert module causing a real-time forensic application to be transmitted to a destination resource in the network when the decoy server is being accessed by a specific resource in the network via a decoy attack vector, wherein the forensic application, when launched in the destination resource, identifies a process running within the specific resource that is accessing that decoy server, logs the activities performed by the thus-identified process in a forensic report, and transmits the forensic report to the deception management server. |
| US09553881B2 |
Security monitoring for optical network
Apparatus for an optical communications network has optical paths for optical traffic, and optical ports, one of which is an unused output port. A security monitoring system has a blocking part coupled removably to the unused output port to occupy it to prevent unauthorized access. An optical detector can detect optical signals passing through the unused output port to the blocking part, and there is alarm circuitry configured to output an alarm signal based on the detecting of the optical signals. This monitoring can help make the node more secure from interference or from eavesdropping. By blocking the port, the monitoring can be independent of the type of signals on the optical paths. The system can be passive or active, and does not require a change in the installed node configuration and so can be added easily to existing infrastructure. |
| US09553876B2 |
IOT device environment detection, identification and caching
A method and apparatus for controlling latency within a wireless system, and more specifically sharing, updating and storing status information between devices in a wireless network, is disclosed. An example method includes receiving, at a computing device, a communication including an indication that a mobile device is associated with a device on a network; transmitting stored status data, wherein the stored status data includes a status corresponding to the device, and wherein when the stored status data is received, the stored status data is used to display the status corresponding to the device; detecting updated status data corresponding to the device; updating the stored status data corresponding to the device using the updated status data corresponding to the device; and transmitting the updated status data, wherein the updated status data includes the updated status corresponding to the device, and wherein when the updated status data is received, the updated status data is used to display the updated status corresponding to the device. |
| US09553872B2 |
Method and system for providing zero sign on user authentication
An approach for receiving a request for an authentication code for presentation in an authentication user interface, wherein the request is from a relying party and wherein the authentication user interface is presented by the relying party at a first device. The approach further involves transmitting the authentication code to the relying party. The approach also involves authenticating a user with respect to the relying party by determining that a second device associated with the user has read the authentication code from the authentication user interface of the first device, wherein the second device is a previously authenticated device. |
| US09553867B2 |
Secure application access system
A proxy server receives a synchronization request from an application program resident on a user device. The proxy server determines that the user device requires removal of application program data and synchronizes the application program resident on the user device with a null account that is associated with application program. |
| US09553862B2 |
Communication system, management apparatus, communication method and computer-readable recording medium
In the present invention, a start request terminal transmits start request information including participation restriction information to a management system. A transmission/reception unit of the management system transmits participation authentication information for authenticating participation in an established session to a middle-of-conference participation terminal. A transmission/reception unit of a participation request terminal transmits, to the management system, participation request information for requesting participation of the participation request terminal in an established session and participation authentication information which is input with the terminal in accordance with the participation authentication information transmitted to the terminal. A participation determination unit of the management system compares the participation request information received from the participation request terminal and the participation authentication information corresponding to the participating terminal in a terminal management table, and determines whether to permit the participation request terminal to participate in the established session. |
| US09553859B2 |
Adaptive method for biometrically certified communication
A communication device and method for authentication of a message being transmitted from the communication device. The method includes receiving, by a messaging utility, content of a message provided for transmission from the communication device. Based on a determination that the message requires user authentication before the message is transmitted to a recipient, the method further includes selecting, based on contextual data, one or more biometric capturing components of the communication device; triggering at least one selected biometric capturing component to capture a corresponding biometric input from a user of the communication device; and transmitting the message when the biometric input as belonging to an authorized user of the communication device. In one embodiment, a clearinghouse service authenticates a biometric input from a user of the communication device in order to certify the user and/or the message. |
| US09553858B2 |
Hardware-based credential distribution
This document describes various techniques for distributing credentials based on hardware profiles. A resource access request including a hardware profile is transmitted to a remote entity having access to a previous hardware profile and a credential useful to access a resource is received if at least a portion of the hardware profile matches the previous hardware profile. |
| US09553857B2 |
Communication system, communication apparatus, communication method, and computer program
Content is transmitted within a range of the user's legitimate use while limiting the number of equipment to which the content is transmitted at the same time.A content using apparatus periodically transmits an exchange key and the corresponding key ID using a command. Only while receiving the key ID at predetermined reception cycles, a content providing apparatus maintains the corresponding exchange key. When not periodically receiving the key ID, the content providing apparatus destroys the corresponding exchange key. After that, when receiving a command including the key ID, the content providing apparatus returns a response including information indicating that the exchange key has become invalid. |
| US09553852B2 |
Secure connection between a data repository and an intelligence application
Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, methods and computer program products for establishing a secure connection between a data repository and an intelligence application. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, from a user device and using a processing device, a request from the intelligence application, the request communicated from the intelligence application through a data virtualization application and for obtaining access to the data repository; responding, using the processing device, to the request comprising preparing and sending an authentication request through the data virtualization application to the intelligence application; receiving authentication credentials from the intelligence application through the data virtualization application, the authentication credentials associated with one or more users of a plurality of users authorized to access the data repository; determining that the authentication credentials are valid; and providing device, access to the data repository in response to validating the authentication credentials. |
| US09553848B2 |
Secure conditional access and digital rights management in a multimedia processor
Methods and systems for processing video data are disclosed herein and may comprise receiving within a single mobile multimedia processor chip integrated within a mobile device, a secure key from an off-chip device integrated within the mobile device. The secure key may be decrypted within the single mobile multimedia processor chip, utilizing an on-chip key. The decrypted secure key may be stored within the single mobile multimedia processor chip. The received encrypted data may be decrypted within the single mobile multimedia processor chip, using the stored, decrypted secure key. The on-chip key may be stored within a one-time programmable (OTP) memory in the single mobile multimedia processor chip. The stored on-chip key may be retrieved from the OTP memory for the decrypting. The stored decrypted received secure key may be encrypted utilizing the on-chip key stored within the single mobile multimedia processor chip. |
| US09553845B1 |
Methods for validating and testing firewalls and devices thereof
A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and traffic management computing device that obtains one or more parameters for a packet. Firewall policies each corresponding to a logical firewall are applied to the parameters for the packet. A policy log for each of at least a subset of the firewall policies or a hit count for one or more of rules in an access list of each of the subset of the firewall policies is generated. The policy log includes an indication of one or more actions corresponding to at least one rule in the access list of each of the subset of the firewall policies, wherein the at least one rule matches one or more of the parameters of the packet. At least one of the generated policy log or hit counts for one or more of the at least a subset of the firewall policies is output. |
| US09553843B1 |
Service directory profile for a fabric network
Methods and systems for obtaining service directory information for a remote service including sending a service endpoint query to a remote service requesting a directory of locations within the service. In response to service endpoint query, obtaining the service directory information includes receiving a service endpoint response from the remote service in response to the service endpoint query when the service endpoint query is successful. The service endpoint response includes a directory length field that indicates a number of directory entries. The service endpoint response also includes one or more directory entries indicating one or more locations with the remote service as numerically limited by the directory length field. |
| US09553840B2 |
Information sharing system, server device, display system, storage medium, and information sharing method
An example of an information sharing system includes at least one processor configured to: accept posting information on a content posted by each of a plurality of users; display the accepted posting information on a first screen; and display, on a second screen, the posting information, which is to be displayed on the first screen and which is posted by one of the plurality of users whose status satisfies a condition on usage of the content. |
| US09553832B2 |
Techniques to interact with an application via messaging
Techniques to interact with an application via messaging are described. An apparatus may comprise an application support component and a communication component. The application support component may be operative to generate an image representing a state of an application and to update the state of the application according to a text command. The communication component may be operative to transmit the image to a client device via a messaging system as an image attachment to a first message and to receive a second message from the client device via the messaging system, the second message comprising the text command. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09553829B2 |
Apparatus and method for fast search table update in a network switch
A network switch comprises a plurality of packet processing units configured to process a received packet through multiple packet processing stages based on search result of a table. The network switch further comprises one or more memory units configured to maintain the table to be searched and provide the search result to the packet processing units. The network switch further comprises a table managing unit configured to accept a plurality of rules on bulk update to the table specified by a control unit, and perform the bulk update on the table based on the rules specified by the control unit without the control unit accessing the table directly for the bulk update. |
| US09553828B1 |
System and method for collision detection and avoidance for network communications
A system and method for collision detection and avoidance that converts a probabilistic, packet based communications system into a deterministic packet based communications system. The system and method operates in packet, frame, or datagram based network environments that support different levels of forwarding priority, for example, IP networks and Ethernet networks. |
| US09553823B2 |
Process migration method, computer system and intermediate computing resources
A process migration method comprising executing a computer program on current computing resources, in a current partition of computations to parallel processes, each parallel process carrying out at least one computation; communicating current partition data to intermediate computing resources; using the intermediate computing resources to calculate new partition data including a new allocation of computations to processes for use on changed computing resources; and migrating the process execution to the changed computing resources by communicating the new partition data to the changed computing resources. |
| US09553822B2 |
Constructing virtual motherboards and virtual storage devices
Described herein are various technologies pertaining to a computing system architecture that facilitates construction of virtual motherboards and virtual storage devices. A computing system includes a plurality of computing nodes and a plurality of storage nodes, where the computing nodes are disaggregated from the storage nodes. The computing nodes include respective system on chip modules. The computing nodes and the storage nodes are communicatively coupled by way of a full bisection bandwidth network, where each storage node is allocated network bandwidth that at least matches the maximum input/output speed of the storage node. Responsive to receipt of a client request, computing nodes are allocated to the client and exposed to an application of the client as a motherboard. Likewise, storage nodes are allocated to the client and exposed to the application of the client as a larger storage device. |
| US09553820B2 |
Maintaining packet order in a parallel processing network device
A plurality of packets that belong to a data flow are received and are distributed to two or more packet processing elements, wherein a packet is sent to a first packet processing element. A first instance of the packet is queued at a first packet processing element according to an order of the packet within the data flow. The first instance of the packet is caused to be transmitted when processing of the first instance is completed and the first instance of the packet is at a head of a queue at the first ordering unit. A second instance of the packet is queued at a second ordering unit. The second instance of the packet is caused to be transmitted when processing of the second instance is completed and the second instance of the packet is at a head of a queue at the second ordering unit. |
| US09553818B2 |
Link biased data transmission
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for implementing biased bonding. In one aspect, a method includes estimating an offered load. Data are transmitted over a first communications link of two or more different types of communications links while the estimated offered load is less than or equal to a specified amount. A determination is made that the estimated offered load has exceeded the specified amount. In response to the determination data are transmitted over both of the first communications link and a second communications link of the two or more different types of communications links in response to determining that the estimated offered load has exceeded the specified amount. |
| US09553817B1 |
Diverse transmission of packet content
Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for dividing packet content for transmission over diverse wireless links. In a particular embodiment, a method provides generating a packet for transmission to a destination and examining the packet to determine if content within the packet qualifies for transmission over diverse wireless links comprising a first wireless link and a second wireless link. The method further provides, if the content qualifies for transmission over the diverse wireless links, generating a first alternate packet that contains a first portion of the content and a second alternate packet that contains a second portion of the content. The method further provides transferring the first alternate packet over the first wireless link for delivery to the destination and transferring the second alternate packet over the second wireless link for delivery to the destination. |
| US09553816B2 |
Optimizing mobile network traffic coordination across multiple applications running on a mobile device
A system with distributed proxy for reducing traffic in a wireless network to satisfy data requests made by a mobile application is provided. The system includes a mobile device having a local proxy for intercepting a data request made by the mobile application. The local proxy simulates application server responses for the mobile application on the mobile device for data requests where responses are available in the local cache. A proxy server is coupled to the mobile device and an application server to which the data request is made. The proxy server is able to communicate with the local proxy. The local proxy forwards the data request to the proxy server for transmission to the application server for a response to the data request. The proxy server queries the application server independent of activities of the mobile application for any changes to the data request. |
| US09553814B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling data flow by using proxy server
A method for controlling data flow by a proxy server connected between a User Equipment (UE) and a content server is disclosed. The proxy server estimates a first amount of data reception indicating an amount of data received by the UE and calculates a second amount of data reception indicating an amount of data received by the proxy server from the content server. The proxy server delays transmission of acknowledgement (ACK) on data received by the proxy server from the content server and waits until a time allowed for the transmission, if the second amount of data reception is greater than the first amount of data reception by a predetermined threshold. The resent disclosure may prevent a waste of network load and unnecessary resources by the proxy server controlling download data rate from the content server. |
| US09553813B2 |
Selectively employing dynamic traffic shaping
In one embodiment, a device in a network identifies a set of one or more destination addresses for which traffic shaping is to be performed by controlling the data rate at which traffic is sent to the one or more destination addresses. The device sends the traffic to one of the destination addresses along a communication path in the network and at a particular data rate. The device identifies a change in a performance characteristic for the communication path. The device adjusts the data rate at which the traffic is sent along the communication path, in response to identifying the change in the performance characteristic for the communication path. |
| US09553812B2 |
Interest keep alives at intermediate routers in a CCN
One embodiment provides a system that facilitates an intermediate node to handle a potential timeout event. During operation, the system receives, by an intermediate node, a keep-alive control packet which indicates a name for an Interest message, an indicator to keep alive a Pending Interest Table (PIT) entry, and a time period for which to keep the PIT entry alive. The intermediate node determines whether the keep-alive control packet corresponds to the PIT entry based on the name, and, responsive to determining that the keep-alive control packet corresponds to the PIT entry, updates a timeout value of the PIT entry based on the time period indicated in the keep-alive control packet. Responsive to determining one or more interfaces specified in the PIT entry from which the Interest message is received, the intermediate node forwards the keep-alive control packet to the one or more interfaces. |
| US09553807B2 |
Batch processing of packets
Some embodiments provide a method for a managed forwarding element. The method receives a set of packets for processing by the managed forwarding element. For each of several packets in the set, the method associates the packet with one of several groups of other packets in the set. Each group of packets shares a set of characteristics. For each group of packets the method identifies a set of actions to perform and executes the specified set of actions on all of the packets in the group together. |
| US09553802B2 |
Layer 2 VPN service advertisement from access nodes to a core network
A method, system and computer readable medium for advertising and interoperating Layer 2 VPN services from an access node to a core network. The method can include executing, using one or more processors, a routing protocol on an access node to establish adjacency with a core network node in an access mode. The method can also include mapping, using the one or more processors, an access network Layer 2 service identifier to a core network service identifier. The method can further include advertising, using the one or more processors, a mapping for the L2VPN service to the core network node. The method can also include sending, using the one or more processors, network traffic from the access node to the core network node without core network encapsulation. |
| US09553801B2 |
Network device
A network device may comprise storage media configured to store traffic, instructions for a lookup engine, a map manager, a traffic forwarder, and a map. The map may comprise rules associating IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The traffic forwarder may be configured to forward outbound traffic to the second device. The lookup engine may comprise instructions to cause the processor to check the map to determine whether the map comprises a rule associating the second address of the second device and the first address of the first device. If so, the instructions may cause the processor to forward the inbound traffic from the second device to the first device. If the map does not comprise this rule, the instructions may cause the processor to send a query to a second network device asking whether the second network device comprises a rule associating the first and second address. |
| US09553799B2 |
System and method for client communication in a distributed telephony network
A system and method for regional routing of internet protocol based real-time communication that includes registering a set of client application endpoint routes, comprising registering at least a first client gateway route of a first endpoint in a first region; receiving a communication invitation of the first endpoint; processing a set of communication instructions associated with the communication invitation and identifying a set of communication resources and at least a second endpoint; querying the client application endpoint routes and identifying a client gateway route of the second endpoint; and dynamically directing signaling path and media path of the communication according to the regional availability of the communication resources, the client gateway route of the first endpoint, and client gateway instance route of the second endpoint. |
| US09553792B2 |
Secure media address learning for endpoints behind NAPT devices
A first media packet from a first endpoint of an access network behind a NAPT device is received by a media device between a core network and the access network. The first media packet includes a first source IP address and port combination identifying the first endpoint. An UPDATE request or a reINVITE request is transmitted by the media device. A second IP address and port combination for the media device to receive future media packets from the first endpoint is negotiated. The media device compares a first IP address of the first source IP address and port combination to a second IP address of a second source address and port combination for a second media packet received on the second IP address and port combination. If the first and second IP addresses match, the media device relays media packets from the core network to the first endpoint. |
| US09553790B2 |
Terminal apparatus and method of controlling terminal apparatus
A terminal apparatus included in a contents centric network and a communication method thereof are provided, the communication method including receiving an interest packet regarding a specific content from an external terminal apparatus, adjusting a window size of the interest packet based on at least one of a requesting frequency of the specific content corresponding to the interest packet and a communication status, and after adjusting the window size, transmitting the interest packet to surrounding terminal apparatuses. |
| US09553785B2 |
Smart migration of overperforming operators of a streaming application to virtual machines in a cloud
A streams manager monitors performance of a streaming application on a physical machine, and determines operators that are underperforming and operators that are overperforming. When the performance needs to be improved, the streams manager automatically modifies the flow graph to deploy one or more operators of the streaming application that are overperforming to a virtual machine in a cloud. Moving the overperforming operators off of the physical machine to a VM leaves additional resources for the underperforming operators that are left on the physical machine to improve performance of the streaming application. |
| US09553784B2 |
Selection of message passing collectives in presence of system noise
Consideration of system jitter in selecting a “message passing collectives algorithm” used in a message passing interface. A set of multiple message passing collectives algorithms are ranked against each other with at least some consideration of relative jitter-related performance as between the algorithms. The consideration of jitter includes consideration of “system jitter” (OS jitter and/or network jitter). In some embodiments, multiple rankings are performed for different levels of system jitter. |
| US09553783B2 |
Spam flood detection methodologies
A computer-implemented method analyzes a website to determine whether the website represents a potential source of spam, and, in response to the analyzing, flags content of the website as spam content. The determination can be made by computing a total number of content items associated with the website, calculating a publication frequency of the content items, and determining whether the website in its entirety represents spam content based on the total number and the publication frequency. The determination could also be made by generating a signature of a webpage containing a content item, obtaining an occurrence count for the generated characterizing signature, and, when the obtained occurrence count is greater than a threshold count, identifying the content item as spam. |
| US09553775B2 |
Displaying information in a hierarchical structure
Methods and systems for displaying information in a hierarchical structure are disclosed. An embodiment provides a method for displaying HFC network monitoring information and alarms in a hierarchical, topological fashion within a network monitoring system. |
| US09553773B2 |
Learning machine based computation of network join times
In one embodiment, techniques are shown and described relating to learning machine based computation of network join times. In particular, in one embodiment, a device computes a join time of the device to join a computer network. During joining, the device sends a configuration request to a server, and receives instructions whether to provide the join time. The device may then provide the join time to a collector in response to instructions to provide the join time. In another embodiment, a collector receives a plurality of join times from a respective plurality of nodes having one or more associated node properties. The collector may then estimate a mapping between the join times and the node properties and determines a confidence interval of the mapping. Accordingly, the collector may then determine a rate at which nodes having particular node properties report their join times based on the confidence interval. |
| US09553770B2 |
Method for controlling software defined network and apparatus for the same
Disclosed are a method for SDN based network management and an apparatus performing the same. A method for network management, performed in a central control apparatus, may comprise receiving a path request message indicating a request to configure a path from a terminal; generating path list information including information about at least one configurable path, and providing the terminal with the path list information; receiving information about a specific path selected in the path list information from the terminal; and transmitting information about at least one detail function included in each of at least one node constituting the selected specific path to the terminal. Therefore, a path optimized for user's requirements may be easily configured, and so service quality may be enhanced. |
| US09553768B2 |
Determining, without using a network, whether a firewall will block a particular network packet
A determination is made regarding whether a firewall will block a network packet. The network packet indicates a set of one or more characteristics. A test packet is generated that indicates the set of characteristics. The test packet is sent to the firewall without using a network. A test result is received from the firewall. The test result is stored. |
| US09553766B2 |
Determined configuration update for edge components
A method, device, system, and computer program product that relate to configuration of an edge component and subcomponents to adapt data from a Device to a readable form and to communicate the adapted data to a Network End Environment. The Network End Environment includes a user interface by which a user requests that the edge component is updated to have a configuration version stored at a source. The system processes the request and updates the edge component configuration. The edge component is updated to a source configuration at a predetermined time interval according to one of a full configuration refresh or a delta configuration. Data received and processed by the edge component can thereafter be pushed to the Network End Environment for storage and/or use in a Network application. The edge component is described as a Connector, and the subcomponents of the edge component are described as Connector components. |
| US09553764B2 |
Migration of guest bridge
A system and method for migrating a guest bridge are provided. An example method includes maintaining at a guest bridge a set of forwarding tables including a set of mappings from a network address to at least one virtual network interface of a set of virtual network interfaces. The method includes receiving at the guest bridge a notification that the guest bridge has migrated to a target host machine. The target host machine includes a set of physical network interfaces, and each physical network interface of the set of physical network interfaces is coupled to a network. The method further includes responsive to the notification, updating the set of forwarding tables. |
| US09553763B2 |
System and method for automated DCB configuration of access switches
A system and method of automated Data Center Bridging (DCB) configuration of an access switch includes a control unit, a memory, and a port configured to couple the access switch to a peer device. The control unit is configured to operate the port according to a state machine including a DCB disabled state, a DCB downstream state, and a DCB upstream state. When the port is in the DCB disabled state, the control unit exchanges network traffic on the port without any DCB extensions. When the port is in the DCB upstream state, the control unit exchanges network traffic on the port using DCB extensions based on the DCB configuration and receives the DCB configuration from the peer device. When the port is in the DCB downstream state, the control unit exchanges network traffic on the port using the DCB extensions and transmits the DCB configuration to the peer device. |
| US09553760B2 |
Method, device, and system for dual-uplink tangent ring convergence
A method, device, and system for dual-uplink tangent ring convergence, where ports on a network device are classified into conjugate ports and non-conjugate ports. When receiving an entry update packet from a first port or perceiving a state change of a first port, when it is determined that the first port of the network device is a conjugate port, the network device clears a media access control (MAC) entry and an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) entry that use the first port as an outbound interface and clears all MAC entries that use a non-conjugate port as an outbound interface, in a MAC table and an ARP table of the network device. In this way, traffic interruption can be avoided, wherein a failure of one dual-uplink tangent ring does not cause an entry of one or more other normal dual-uplink tangent rings to be cleared/updated. |
| US09553751B2 |
Demodulation device
A demodulation device for demodulating a base signal from a composite signal, which is composed of a carrier wave and a sensor modulation signal of the base signal. The demodulation device determines a difference between the composite signal of a former-half period and the composite signal of a latter-half period to be a pre-correction base signal. The former-half period is a one-half period of a sampling period starting at one of a local maximum and a local minimum of the carrier wave. The latter-half period follows the former-half period. The demodulation device determines a reference level from the composite signal and determines a signal level of a post-correction base signal based on a ratio between a signal level of the pre-correction base signal and the reference level. |
| US09553750B2 |
Transmitter, receiver, transmission method, and reception method
Provided is a transmitter which improves the flexibility of SRS resource allocation without increasing the amount of signaling for notifying the cyclic shift amount. In the transmitter, with regard to each basic shift amount candidate group having a basic shift amount from 0 to N−1, a transmission control unit (206) specifies the actual shift amount imparted to a cyclic shift sequence used in scrambling a reference signal transmitted from each antenna port, said specification being performed based on a table in which cyclic shift amount candidates correspond to each antenna port, and based on setting information transmitted from a base station (100). With regard to basic shift amount candidates for shift amount X, the table differentiates between an offset pattern comprising offset values for cyclic shift amount candidates corresponding to each antenna port and an offset pattern corresponding to basic shift amount candidates of X+N/2. |
| US09553749B2 |
Communication device and integrated circuit
Provided is a radio communication base station device which can suppress a use amount of an SRS communication resource. In this device, a correlation rule setting unit (102) sets a rule for correlating a preamble with an SRS transmission time interval so that the preamble transmission time band and the SRS transmission time band are in the same transmission time band. An SRS transmission band decision unit (103) decides a time interval of a transmission time band which can transmit the SRS according to the preamble transmission time interval inputted from a preamble transmission band decision unit (101) and the correlation rule setting unit (102). |
| US09553748B2 |
Synchronous demodulator electronic circuit for phase modulation signals
The synchronous demodulator electronic circuit for phase modulation signals includes, in a control loop, a discrete Fourier transform unit for receiving the phase modulation signal to be demodulated, and means of recovering the carrier frequency of the phase modulation signal, so that the discrete Fourier transform unit performs in combination the operations of mixing and low-pass filtering the sampled phase modulation signal with at least one frequency and phase adapted digital conversion signal to supply at least one demodulated signal at the output of the discrete Fourier transform unit. |
| US09553747B2 |
Systems and methods for switching quality factors during inductively coupled communications
A method for inductively coupled communications is described. The method includes applying a high loaded quality factor to a matching network of an active transmitter during an amplitude modulation (AM) high state. The method also includes switching to a low loaded quality factor for the matching network during an AM low state. |
| US09553745B2 |
High-speed signaling systems with adaptable pre-emphasis and equalization
A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate. |
| US09553743B2 |
Two-dimensional (2D) decision feedback equalizer (DFE) slicer within communication systems
A communication device (alternatively, device) includes a processor configured to support communications with other communication device(s) and to generate and process signals for such communications. In some examples, the device includes a communication interface and a processor, among other possible circuitries, components, elements, etc. to support communications with other communication device(s) and to generate and process signals for such communications. For example, the device's processor receives one or more signals from a communication channel. The processor then processes the one or more signals to generate 2D DFE soft slicer outputs and to decode the one or more signals based on the 2D DFE soft slicer outputs to generate estimates of information encoded within the one or more signals. The processor may process the 2D DFE soft slicer outputs to generate 2D DFE hard decisions and then generates other estimates of the information encoded based on the 2D DFE hard decisions. |
| US09553741B2 |
Adaptive demodulation method and apparatus using an artificial neural network to improve data recovery in high speed channels
A neural network demodulator is used within a receiver to provide Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) channel equalization and to correct for I/Q/phase imbalance. The neural network is trained with a single integrated training step to simultaneously handle the channel impairments of ISI equalization and I/Q phase imbalance as opposed to prior art methods of separately addressing each channel impairment in sequence. |
| US09553738B2 |
Migrating configuration information based on user identity information
Techniques are provided for the configuration of a home-networking system. Home-networking configuration information may be stored on a host system in a manner accessible to the home-networking system and migrated to a home-networking gateway or router that has not yet been configured. Wireless configuration information may be stored on a home-networking gateway or router and used to configure one or more wireless access points through the use of a physical connection, such as a wired communications pathway. One or more wireless home-networking devices may be configured based on wireless configuration information stored in a central repository on a host system or a home-networking system. The wireless configuration information may be accessible only through the use of a security code. |
| US09553736B2 |
Aggregating data traffic from access domains
According to one embodiment, a first message identifying a best root node of a spanning tree may be generated. The spanning tree may be implemented by an access domain. The message may be generated independently of a spanning tree protocol instance. The first aggregation node may transmit the first message to a plurality of access nodes of the access domain. Data traffic from the plurality of access nodes may be received. Each access node of the plurality of access nodes may implement a spanning tree protocol instance that selects the best root node as a root node of the spanning tree. The data traffic may be aggregated with other data traffic of a plurality of access domains, and the aggregated data traffic transmitted to an aggregation network. |
| US09553734B2 |
Delayed updating of forwarding databases for multicast transmissions over telecommunications networks
A switch (110R.3) uses a forwarding database (140F) to forward multicast packets. The switch participates in a multicast protocol (e.g. PIM) with other switches, and also uses a snooping database (e.g. for IGMP snooping) to learn about local group members, i.e. members for which the router serves as a local multicast router (e.g. the local members do not participate in the multicast protocol). When the switch learns of a local member of a multicast group, the switch updates the snooping database but may or may not install the snooping information in the forwarding database. Thus, the forwarding database is not necessarily provisioned for locally sourced data packets addressed to the group until receipt of a locally sourced data packet addressed to the group. If no such packets are received, the forwarding database is not provisioned for such packets, and therefore its size is reduced. Other features are also provided. |
| US09553732B2 |
Certificate evaluation for certificate authority reputation advising
In many information security scenarios, a certificate issued by a certificate authority on behalf of a domain is presented to a client in order to verify the identity of the domain. However, due to a decentralized structure and incomplete coordination among certificate authorities, the presence and exploitation of security vulnerabilities to issue untrustworthy certificates may be difficult for an individual client to determine. Presented herein are techniques for advising clients of the trustworthiness of respective certificate authorities by evaluating the certificates issued by such certificate authorities for suspicious indicators, such as hashcode collisions with other certificates and public key re-use. A trust level may be identified of respective certificate authorities according to the presence or absence of suspicious indicators in the certificates issued by the certificate authority, and a certificate authority trust set may be distributed to advise clients of the trustworthiness of certificates issued by the respective certificate authorities. |
| US09553730B2 |
Certificating authority trust evaluation
In many information security scenarios, a certificate issued by a certificating authority may be presented to a client in order to assert a trust level of a certificated item, such as a message or a web page. However, due to a decentralized structure and incomplete coordination among certificating authorities, the presence and exploitation of security vulnerabilities to issue untrustworthy certificates may be difficult to determine, particularly for an individual client. Presented herein are techniques for providing a certificating authority trust service that collects and evaluates certificates submitted to clients by certificating authorities, and advises the clients of a certificating authority trust level for respective certificating authorities (e.g., determined as a consensus of the evaluated certificates issued by the certificating authority). The clients may use a certificating authority trust set distributed by the certificating authority trust service to determine whether to trust a certificate issued from a particular certificating authority. |
| US09553729B2 |
Authentication method between a reader and a radio tag
A method for authenticating a reader to a radio tag includes the following steps, which are implemented by the tag: receiving a piece of information ciphered by a reversible operation, which is parameterized by an authentication coupon for the reader, and a data item allowing determination of an index for identifying the authentication coupon of the reader; calculating a current authentication coupon for the reader as a function of the index; deciphering the received piece of information ciphered by the reversible operation, which is parameterized by the calculated current authentication coupon; and checking the deciphered piece of information that is intended to verify that the calculated current coupon corresponds to the authentication coupon used by the reader in order to parameterize the reversible operation. |
| US09553726B2 |
Method for distributed identification of a station in a network
The present invention relates to a method for identifying and/or, authenticating, and/or authorizing a first radio station in a radio network, comprising the steps of (a) at the first radio station, transmitting to a second radio station a first radio station identifier computed from a set of identity parameters based on the identity of the first radio station, comprising at least one identity parameter, (b) at the first radio station, transmitting at least one identity parameter from the set of identity parameters, (c) at the second radio station, comparing an authentication identifier computed on the basis of the transmitted identity parameter to the first radio station identifier for enabling a subsequent communication between the first and second radio stations. |
| US09553722B2 |
Generating a key based on a combination of keys
A first key associated with a plurality of devices may be received. Furthermore, a second key associated with a single device may be received. The first key associated with the plurality of devices may be modified based on a device identification of the single device. Additionally, a primary key may be generated based on the modified first key and the second key. |
| US09553721B2 |
Secure execution environment communication
A of a method of securely transferring information between execution environments includes: receiving, at a crypto engine, original plaintext from a first execution environment; obtaining a first cryptographic key by the crypto engine, the first cryptographic key being retained in memory such that the first cryptographic key is associated with the first execution environment and a second execution environment that is not the first execution environment; encrypting the original plaintext by the crypto engine using the first cryptographic key to produce encrypted information, and storing the encrypted information in an intermediate storage location; obtaining, at the crypto engine, the encrypted information from the intermediate storage location; decrypting the encrypted information by the crypto engine using the first cryptographic key to produce reconstituted plaintext; and making the reconstituted plaintext available to the second execution environment by the crypto engine. |
| US09553720B2 |
Using key material protocol services transparently
An application that consumes key management information (e.g., keys and certificates) through a conventional keystore API is configured to recognize a new keystore type. In addition, the services of that API are pointed to a management server component associated with a key management protocol (e.g., KMIP), and a client component of the key management protocol is instantiated as a “semi-remote” keystore in association with the application. Once configured to use the new keystore type, the consuming application uses the keystore API in a conventional manner, but calls to the new keystore type are directed to the KMIP client. The client intercepts these calls and then interacts with the KMIP server on behalf of the consuming application, and without the application being aware of the interaction over the KMIP client-server API. This approach enables the consuming application to take advantage of the full benefits provided by the key management protocol transparently. |
| US09553719B2 |
Transmitting terminal, receiving terminal, ID numbering device, and key transmission method
Provided is a transmitting terminal capable of sharing an encryption key among a number of specific apparatuses using fewer resources and securely. A transmitting terminal (400) has an inquiry ID generation unit (420) which embeds an encryption key in logical results of an XOR between an ID of a receiving terminal and random blocks according to predetermined key embedding rules in order to generate an inquiry ID. The key embedding rules are stipulations for inverting the values of bit positions corresponding to each bit value of the encryption key, in the block position correspondence relationships between the bit positions of the encryption key and the positions of the blocks into which the logical result of the XOR have been partitioned and the bit position correspondence relationships between the bit values of the encryption key and the bit positions within the blocks, which have been predefined. |
| US09553711B2 |
Base station and cell assignment method
A counting unit of a base station counts the number of terminals located in an area covered by the base station for each of communication carriers corresponding to the terminals. An assigning unit assigns each of cells in a first group to any of the communication carriers, where each of the cells is a frequency band of the base station 10 and occupied by one terminal communicating with the cell. |
| US09553710B2 |
Methods and an apparatus for carrier aggregation
Provided herein is a method and apparatus for heterogeneous carrier aggregation, the method including calculating interferences regarding a plurality of interference paths between an adjacent cell and serving cell; determining weighted values for the plurality of interference paths in the serving cell; calculating an accumulated value (accumulated margin or accumulated interference) regarding the plurality of interference paths based on the weighted values in the serving cell; determining a component carrier to be used in the carrier aggregation based on the accumulated value calculated in the serving cell; and performing the carrier aggregation based on the component carrier determined. |
| US09553707B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving data in wireless access system and apparatus for same
Disclosed are a method for transmitting and receiving data in a wireless access system supporting relay nodes, and an apparatus for same. In particular, the present invention comprises: a broadcast phase for receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) signal from a first terminal and a negative acknowledgement (NACK) signal from a second terminal, after a base station transmits first data to the first terminal by using a first precoding vector (w1, B), and second data to the second terminal by using a second precoding vector (w2, B); a listening phase for receiving an ACK signal from the first terminal and a NACK signal from the second terminal, after the base station transmits second data to the first and second terminals by using a third precoding vector (wL); and a cooperative phase for the base station to transmit the second data to the second terminal, in cooperation with the first terminal, by using a fourth precoding vector (wC) which has been chosen for maximizing the transmission efficiency of the second terminal, wherein the first precoding vector, the second precoding vector, and the third precoding vector are chosen so that the total length of the rounds of all phases is minimized. |
| US09553704B2 |
Method and user equipment for receiving reference signals, and method and base station for transmitting reference signals
According to the present invention, a common reference signal is transmitted in a subframe configured to receive the common reference signal and/or a fixed subframe predefined to receive the common reference signal, from among a plurality of subframes within a frame. In the present invention, the common reference signal is transmitted in every subframe within a legacy frame duration. However, the common reference signal is transmitted in said configured subframe and/or said fixed subframe within a frame duration which is not a legacy frame duration. |
| US09553703B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting downlink hybrid automatic repeat request information in wireless communication system
A method and an apparatus and for transmitting downlink Hybrid Automatic Repeat request (HARQ) information in a wireless communication system are provided. In the method, at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) for transmitting a Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) signal is set among all PRBs forming an available frequency band. A PHICH resource is determined within the set at least one PRB. A PHICH signal is transmitted using the determined PHICH resource. |
| US09553691B2 |
Unidirectional multicast system
A system for transmitting a message from a source entity to a target entity, the system including an input unit connected to the source entity in order to transmit the message via an optical transmission device to an output unit re-directing the message to the target entity. The optical transmission device is configured to transmit the message unidirectionally from the input unit to the output unit; and duplicate an optical input system containing the message into at least two optical output signals each containing the message to be transmitted to the output unit. |
| US09553690B2 |
Passive optical network user terminal and method of power supply control and power supply state reporting for the same
The present disclosure discloses a method, wherein the method comprises generating a passive optical network (PON) protocol message, wherein the PON protocol message comprises an identifier of a PON user terminal and an action indication indicating that the PON user terminal intends to exercise a first power supply mode that is a power-saving mode. The present disclosure further provides a method for controlling the PON power supply and for reporting the power supply state. The present disclosure allows control of the energy usage of the PON user terminal to save power when a service in the PON user terminal is not used or when the user terminal uses a backup power source to supply power. |
| US09553689B2 |
Temperature insensitive DEMUX/MUX in silicon photonics
A temperature insensitive DEMUX/MUX device whose wavelength does not change by environment temperature is provided for WDM application. The temperature insensitive DEMUX/MUX device includes a waveguide-based delay-line-interferometer configured to receive an input light bearing multiplexed wavelengths and output a first output light bearing the same multiplexed wavelengths but with a shifted intensity peak position. The first output light is transmitted into a DEMUX device through a first free space coupler and a grating fiber or waveguide to be demultiplexed for forming a plurality of second output lights each bearing an individual wavelength. The DEMUX device includes a second free space coupler for refocusing each second output light to corresponding output channel. The shifted intensity peak position of the first output light is tunable to make each second output light free from any temperature-induced drift off corresponding output channel. |
| US09553687B1 |
Orthogonal mode division multiplexing
A system for transmitting data using orthogonal mode division multiplexing (OMDM), a multiplexing method derived from the orbital angular momentum of photons. In one embodiment, a transmitter transmits multiple superimposed radio frequency (RF) beams each independently modulated with data, and each with a different orbital angular momentum rotational state. An OMDM receiver receives the different rotational states in separate communications channels. The OMDM states are substantially orthogonal, providing independent data channels for increased data capacity, and providing privacy. |
| US09553682B2 |
Selectivity test
Testing radio equipment is described wherein an interfering signal is swept in frequency with a step size that is chosen proportional to the bandwidth of the receive channel of the radio equipment. For example, a respective frequency bandwidth (BCh) is determined of a plurality of receive channels of the radio equipment. A proportionality constant is selected for a frequency step size. For each respective receive channel, interfering radio signals are generated and the interfering radio signals are controlled to stepwise sweep in frequency outside of each respective receive channel. The stepwise sweeping of the interfering frequency is performed with a frequency step size that is a product of the respective bandwidth and the selected proportionality constant. Any spurious response is detected in the respective receive channel. |
| US09553678B2 |
Interconnection apparatus and method using terahertz waves
Disclosed herein is an interconnection apparatus and method using terahertz waves. The interconnection apparatus using terahertz waves according to the present invention includes a first terahertz wave generation unit for generating a first transmission terahertz wave, a center frequency of which is a first center frequency, using photomixing. A second terahertz wave generation unit generates a second transmission terahertz wave, a center frequency of which is a second center frequency different from the first center frequency. A first terahertz wave detection unit detects a first reception terahertz wave corresponding to the first transmission terahertz wave. A second terahertz wave detection unit detects a second reception terahertz wave corresponding to the second transmission terahertz wave. |
| US09553667B2 |
Visible light communication apparatus
A visible light communication apparatus includes a constant current circuit and a load circuit including light emitting elements connected to output terminals of the constant current circuit. Further, the visible light communication apparatus includes a load variation circuit configured to change load characteristics of the load circuit by electrically connecting to the load circuit, the load variation circuit including a series circuit of a diode and a resistor connected in series to the load circuit and a switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the load variation circuit to the load circuit in response to a binary communication signal. |
| US09553659B2 |
Systems and methods for directing communication signals to mobile platforms
A method and system for communication with a mobile platform is provided. An antenna system coupled to a transmitter for use in providing a communication channel to a mobile user includes a first linear transmit array of radiating horns, a second linear transmit array of radiating horns, and at least one reflector coupled to at least one of the first linear transmit array and the second linear transmit array, the at least one reflector configured to reflect illumination from the first and second linear transmit arrays to form a communication channel for the mobile user. |
| US09553658B1 |
Router for aircraft communications with simultaneous satellite connections
Methods, devices, routers and systems for a satellite-ready Satcom Direct router with simultaneous use of Inmarsat, SwiftBroadband, Swift 64, Ku-Band and Ka-Band satellite connections with intelligent traffic control, along with Wi-Fi access and 3G/4G cellular network connectivity. The router is compatible with existing Wi-Fi access points and is backward-compatible with 802.11b/g. Up to four or more simultaneous wireless networks can be supported, allowing multiple systems to operate on aircraft without additional wireless access points and providing 3G/4G network connectivity when the aircraft is on the ground. A downloadable Satcom Direct router mobile App provides on-board cabin services including one or more of moving maps, flight tracker and command and control of satellite links. |
| US09553656B2 |
System and method for reducing desensitization of a base station transceiver for mobile wireless repeater systems
A repeater system including bi-directional amplifier circuitry that is configured for repeating signals between at least one device and a first signal source. Receiver circuitry is coupled with the amplifier circuitry provides at least one signal associated with at least one of a device or the first signal source or a second signal source. Controller circuitry is configured for monitoring a parameter of a provided signal that is reflective of a property of a signal source or a device. The monitored parameter is used to make a determination of whether repeated signals associated with the first signal source will desensitize the operation of the second signal source. The controller circuitry is also operable for adjusting the power level of the signals that are repeated by the bi-directional amplifier circuitry based on the determination that repeated signals will desensitize the operation of the second signal source. |
| US09553653B2 |
Apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals, apparatus for receiving broadcast signals, method for transmitting broadcast signals and method for receiving broadcast signals
A method and an apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals thereof are disclosed. The apparatus for receiving broadcast signals, the apparatus comprises a receiver to receive the broadcast signals, a demodulator to demodulate the received broadcast signals by an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) scheme, a frame parser to parse a signal frame from the demodulated broadcast signals, wherein the signal frame includes at least one service data, a time deinterleaver to time deinterleave each the service data, wherein the time deinterleaving is performed depending on a number of physical paths for each the service data, a damapper to demap the time deinterleaved data and a decoder to decode the demapped service data. |
| US09553652B2 |
Communications method and apparatus for carrier aggregation
A communications apparatus and method are provided. The communications method for an apparatus capable of Carrier Aggregation (CA), wherein the apparatus includes a plurality of processing engines and antennas, includes the steps of determining whether the apparatus is configured in a single component carrier for a first group of the antennas; and activating a second group of the antennas if the apparatus is configured in the single component carrier. |
| US09553650B2 |
MU-MIMO implementation with configurable antenna system
Disclosed herein is a system, apparatus, and method for using an antenna system comprising individually configurable antenna circuitries in a wireless network device to simulate the standard MU-MIMO transmissions as specified in the IEEE 802.11ac standard with antenna beamforming. The individually configurable antenna circuitries can be configured to transmit radio frequency (RF) signals with specific radiation patterns including directional beam patterns. Client devices may be grouped and antenna circuitries may be configured in such a way as to minimize inter-user interference. Frequent sounding-channel state feedback cycles and associated overhead are obviated with antenna beamforming, and no change to standard-compliant client devices is necessary. A better overall performance compared to MU-MIMO based on DSP-based beamforming as specified in the IEEE 802.11ac standard is expected. |
| US09553649B2 |
Distributed signal field for communications within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications
Distributed signal field for communications within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications. In accordance with wireless communications, a signal (SIG) field employed within such packets is distributed or partitioned into at least two separate signal fields (e.g., SIG A and SIG B) that are located in different portions of the packet. A first of the SIG fields includes information that may be processed and decoded by all wireless communication devices, and a second of the SIG fields includes information that is specific to one or more particular wireless communication devices (e.g., a specific wireless communication device or a specific subset of the wireless communication devices). The precise locations of the at least first and second SIG fields within a packet may be varied, including placing a second of the SIG fields (e.g., including user-specific information) adjacent to and preceding a data field in the packet. |
| US09553647B2 |
Deterministic processing for MIMO systems
A system and method for a single spatial stream based multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system in wireless MIMO channels with a non-zero mean or a fixed component is provided which utilizes deterministic beamforming in the transmitter and deterministic combining at the receiver. For transmission and reception of a data over MIMO channels, the method and system avoids the requirement of knowledge of the instantaneous channel values at the transmitter and the receiver. By assuming perfect knowledge of the mean value of the channel matrix at the transmitter, a beamforming vector is obtained for the transmitter. The receiver utilizes deterministic receive weights which are chosen using the channel statistics. |
| US09553646B1 |
Wireless communication device, wireless communication system, and transmission-data control method
A reception device includes an estimating unit, a rank identifying unit, a stream-number determining unit, a precoding-matrix determining unit, and a transmitting unit. The estimating unit receives a known signal transmitted from a transmission device, and estimates a channel between the transmission device and the wireless communication device and a reception signal quality. The rank identifying unit identifies a rank of a propagation path based on the estimated channel. The stream-number determining unit determines the number of data streams based on the estimated reception signal quality and the identified rank. The precoding-matrix determining unit determines a precoding matrix based on the estimated reception signal quality and the determined number of data streams. The transmitting unit transmits information relating to the determined number of data streams and the determined precoding matrix to the transmission device. |
| US09553639B2 |
Locating user equipment in a wireless network
Systems and methods presented herein provide for locating user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network. The system includes one or more wireless access points, wherein each wireless access point is operable to detect signal of a UE in the wireless communication network, and to train with the UE to establish a communication link with the UE. The system also includes a network processing element communicatively coupled to the wireless access points and operable to extract channel estimation and signal strength information of the UE from the wireless access points via said training with the UE, to compare the channel estimation and signal strength information of the UE from the wireless access points to stored signatures of the UE, and to determine a location of the UE in the wireless communication network based on the comparisons. |
| US09553638B2 |
Wireless communication system, wireless communication apparatus, and wireless communication method
A wireless communication system is disclosed. The system performs data transmission from a first terminal including N antennas to a second terminal including M antennas using spatially multiplexed streams (N and M are integers larger than or equal to 2). |
| US09553633B2 |
Terminal apparatus, base station apparatus, and integrated circuit
A terminal apparatus, a base station apparatus, a communication method, an integrated circuit, and a radio communication system are provided that enable a base station apparatus and a terminal apparatus to determine parameters relating to an uplink reference signal and efficiently communicate with each other. A terminal apparatus that transmits a demodulation reference signal, the terminal apparatus comprising: means for receiving a cell-specific parameter used for enabling or disabling a sequence group hopping, means for a user-equipment-specific parameter used for disabling the sequence group hopping, and means for generating a sequence of the demodulation reference signal on the basis of the enabled or disabled sequence group hopping, wherein, in a case that a transmission on the physical uplink shared channel corresponding to a downlink control information format to which CRC parity bits scrambled by a temporary C-RNTI are attached, the sequence group hopping is enabled or disabled on the basis of the cell-specific parameter. |
| US09553630B2 |
Switching module and wireless communication equipment
A switching module includes a common terminal, individual terminals connected to respective corresponding signal paths, and a switch portion that selectively switches and connects the common terminal to one of the individual terminals. The switch portion includes first switches and at least one second switch, each first switch being connected to the common terminal at one end portion within the switch, the at least one second switch being connected to the common terminal at one end portion via a connection wiring electrode provided on a wiring board. This does not allow directional connection between the one end portion of the second switch and the common terminal within the switch. Thus, mutual interference between a communication signal transmitted through the first switch and a communication signal transmitted through the second switch is prevented. |
| US09553623B2 |
Wireless communication device
A method includes receiving a request to send data to a destination device. The method includes determining a value associated with QoS of a wireless network. The wireless communication device includes first SIM card information that enables first data delivery according to a first priority via the wireless network and second SIM card information that enables second data delivery via the wireless network according to a second priority at least at a first delivery rate. The method includes determining, based on the value, a throughput value and a first portion of the data to send with the first data delivery. The method also includes determining a second portion of the data to send to the destination device with the second data delivery based on the throughput value, where the second portion includes none of the data when the throughput value is greater than a threshold. |
| US09553622B2 |
Reception circuit and communication system
According to an embodiment, a reception circuit is configured to receive a reception signal from a transmission circuit through a receiving AC coupling element. The transmission circuit transmits a transmission signal through a transmitting AC coupling element. The receiving AC coupling element is AC coupled to the transmitting AC coupling element. The reception circuit includes a variable gain amplifier, a hysteresis circuit and a first control circuit. The variable gain amplifier is configured to amplify the reception signal with a variable gain to output an amplified signal. The hysteresis circuit has hysteresis in an input/output characteristic, and is configured to output an output signal according to the amplified signal. The first control circuit is configured to control the gain so that an amplitude of the amplified signal approximates a reference amplitude. |
| US09553621B2 |
Apparatus and methods for signal generation, reception, and self-calibration
Apparatus and methods for signal generation, reception, and calibration involving quadrature modulation and frequency conversion. Embodiments of the present invention provide extremely wide bandwidth, high spectral purity, versatility and adaptability in configuration, and ease of calibration, and are particularly well-adapted for use in integrated circuitry. |
| US09553614B2 |
Composite module
Provided is a technique capable of improving isolation characteristics between a plurality of signal paths through which RF signals pass, without using ground electrodes or the like. Wiring electrodes 10a and 20a through which RF signals do not pass simultaneously are formed so as to be adjacent to each other in a central region of a component mounting surface 2a of a circuit board 2, and wiring electrodes 11a and 21a through which RF signals pass simultaneously are formed so as to be distanced from transmission paths 10 and 20. Accordingly, the RF signals do not simultaneously pass through the transmission paths 10 and 20, which are disposed near each other, and thus there is no risk that the RF signal passing through one of the signal paths will interfere with the RF signal passing through the other signal path. |
| US09553610B2 |
Transmitter, receiver, and signal processing method thereof
A transmitter and receiver of a broadcasting signal and a method of processing the broadcasting signal are provided. The transmitter includes: a segmenter configured to segment an L1 signaling of a frame into a plurality of segmented L1 signalings such that each of the segmented L1 signalings has bits a number of which is equal to or smaller than a predetermined number; and an encoder configured to perform a Bose, Chaudhuri, Hocquenghem (BCH) and a low density parity check (LDPC) encoding, or the LDPC encoding without the BCH encoding, with respect to the segmented L1 signalings. |
| US09553609B2 |
Bit interleaver for low-density parity check codeword having length of 64800 and code rate of 2/15 and quadrature phase shift keying, and bit interleaving method using same
A bit interleaver, a bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) device and a bit interleaving method are disclosed herein. The bit interleaver includes a first memory, a processor, and a second memory. The first memory stores a low-density parity check (LDPC) codeword having a length of 64800 and a code rate of 2/15. The processor generates an interleaved codeword by interleaving the LDPC codeword on a bit group basis. The size of the bit group corresponds to a parallel factor of the LDPC codeword. The second memory provides the interleaved codeword to a modulator for quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation. |
| US09553604B2 |
Information processing system, information compression device, information decompression device, information processing method, and program
In order to improve the compression rate for configuration information including address information and data information when transmitting or storing configuration information which includes addresses and data having differing characteristics, an information compression device is provided with a compressor which receives as input and compresses the configuration information provided with the addresses and data, and a compressed information storage module for storing the configuration information which is compressed, that is, compressed configuration information, as the information to be decompressed for the user, said compressor including an information separating module for separating the configuration information into address information and data information, an address compressor and data compressor which separately compress the separated address information and data information, and a compressed information outputting module for combining the compressed address information and data information and outputting the result as compressed configuration information. |
| US09553602B1 |
Methods and systems for analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) using an ultra small capacitor array with full range and sub-range modes
Methods and apparatuses are described to convert analog signals to digital signals using a local charge averaging capacitor array (LCACA) in an analog-to-digital converter (ADC.) An apparatus includes a comparator. The comparator is configured with a first high input, a first low input, and is configure to receive a clock signal. A logic/latch block is configured to receive the clock signal and an output from the comparator. The logic/latch block is configured to output a control signal and a digital N-bit output signal. A local charge-averaging capacitor array (LCACA) is configured to receive the control signal and a reference voltage. An output of the LCACA is coupled to the first low input. The first LCACA is divided into a high sub-array and a low sub-array. The high sub-array is pre-charged to a high reference voltage and the low sub-array is pre-charged to a low reference voltage. The high reference voltage is greater than the low reference voltage. In operation, an analog signal is input to the first high input and the digital N-bit output signal is the digital conversion of the analog signal. |
| US09553599B1 |
Techniques for reducing offsets in an analog to digital converter
In an example, a successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter includes a switched capacitor digital-to-analog converter (DAC) first array to sample an input signal and to convert a sample of the input signal to a digital value represented by a plurality of bits, the first array including a first group of capacitors representing at least some of the plurality of bits, a switched capacitor DAC second array including a second group of capacitors representing at least some of the plurality of bits, wherein at least one bit of the plurality of bits represented by the second group of capacitors is represented by at least two capacitors, and wherein each of the two capacitors is configured to be selectively connected to a selected one of at least two reference potentials such that the at least one bit represented by the second group of capacitors is switchable between at least three states. |
| US09553595B2 |
Clock operation method and circuit
In a clock generating circuit, a variable frequency division circuit generates a variable divided clock by dividing a source clock in accordance with a division ratio setting signal. A first clock synchronization circuit generates a first delayed clock that is delayed by a maximum number of clocks from the variable divided clock in synchronization with the source clock and supplies the first delayed clock to a control circuit. One or more second clock synchronization circuits generate one or more second delayed clocks, each of which is delayed by the maximum number of clocks from the variable divided clock in synchronization with the source clock, and supply each of the one or more second delayed clocks to each of one or more functional modules. |
| US09553593B1 |
Delay locked loop and associated control method
A control method for a delay locked loop includes: delaying an input signal to generate an internal signal; delaying the internal signal to generate an output signal; and selectively providing a reference clock signal or the output signal as the input signal according to the output signal and the internal signal. |
| US09553587B2 |
Data output circuit of a semiconductor apparatus
A data output circuit of a semiconductor apparatus includes a pull-up driver including a first plurality of leg units commonly electrically coupled to a data output pad and configured to pull up the data output pad in response to a first code signals, a pull-down driver including a second plurality of leg units commonly electrically coupled to the data output pad and configured to pull down the data output pad to a second code signals, and a code generator configured to generate the first and second code signals. The code generator generates the second code signals by comparing a replica voltage to a reference voltage. |
| US09553586B2 |
Filed programmable gate array device with programmable interconnect in back end of line portion of the device
A Field-Programmable Gate Array device is provided with programmable interconnect points in the form of interconnect circuits comprising one or more pass transistors, wherein at least some components of the interconnect circuits are implemented in the Back-End-Of-Line part of the Field-Programmable Gate Array device's production process. The memory element in an interconnect point is not produced as a Static Random Access Memory cell, but as a Dynamic Random Access Memory cell, requiring only a single select transistor and a storage capacitor for each memory element. The fabrication of at least the select transistor and the pass transistor involves the use of a thin film semiconductor layer, e.g., Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide, enabling production of transistors with low leakage in the Back-End-Of-Line. |
| US09553582B1 |
Physical unclonable functions having magnetic and non-magnetic particles
A physical unclonable function (PUF) having magnetic and non-magnetic particles is disclosed. Measuring both magnetic field and image view makes the PUF difficult to counterfeit. PUF may be incorporated into a user-replaceable supply item for an imaging device. A PUF reader may be incorporated into an imaging device to read the PUF. Other systems are disclosed. |
| US09553578B2 |
Transistor switch having constant on resistance with input signal with having variable voltage component
Systems, methods, and devices to control a transistor to maintain one or more substantially constant characteristics while activated or deactivated are provided. One such system includes a transistor that receives an activation signal on a gate terminal to become activated during a first period and receives a deactivation signal on the gate terminal to become deactivated during a second period. The transistor receives an input signal on an input terminal during the first period and the second period. The input signal varies during the first period and during the second period. The transistor may have improved reliability (e.g., substantially constant on resistance RON) because a first difference between the input signal and the activation signal substantially does not vary during the first period and a second difference between the input signal and the deactivation signal substantially does not vary during the second period. |
| US09553576B2 |
Driving circuit for IGBT module
A driving circuit for an IGBT module is provided. The driving circuit includes: a gate driving resistor connected with the IGBT module; a driving module connected with the gate driving resistor; an integrating circuit connected with the driving module, in which the integrating circuit comprises an equivalent resistor and a first capacitor connected in series with the equivalent resistor, and a time constant of the integrating circuit is adjusted by changing a resistance of the equivalent resistor; a first optical coupler connected with the integrating circuit; and a micro control unit, connected with the first optical coupler. The disclosed driving circuit for an IGBT module can adjust an equivalent resistance of the gate driving resistor, thus driving the IGBT module working at different powers without replacing the gate driving resistor, and improving an operation state of the IGBT module. |
| US09553574B2 |
Solid state power controller
A solid state power controller including: a plurality of pairs of FETs connected in parallel, each pair comprising a first, forward-facing FET and a second, backward-facing FET connected by their respective sources; gate drive means for switching said FETs on and off; and means for isolating the sources of the backwards-facing FETs of the plurality of pairs of FETs from each other and operating the backwards-facing FETs in 3rd quadrant operation mode. |
| US09553573B2 |
Differential mode bandwidth extension technique with common mode compensation
A method and apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a capacitive element for adjusting a net capacitance of a circuit. The apparatus may be configured to be coupled to the circuit. The apparatus may be configured to adjust the net capacitance of the circuit to decouple common mode and differential loop bandwidth adjustment of the circuit. The capacitive element may include a pair of cross-coupled capacitors configured to be coupled to differential nodes of the circuit, and a pair of negative gain buffers coupled to respective capacitors. |
| US09553568B2 |
Frequency multiplier
A frequency multiplier includes an input terminal, an output terminal, a first transistor having a first gate to which a radiofrequency signal is input from the input terminal, a first drain from which an output signal is issued to the output terminal, and a first source, a second transistor having a second gate, a second source to which the radiofrequency signal is input from the input terminal, and a second drain from which an output signal is issued to the output terminal, and a stabilizing resistor which is a resistor connected to the second gate, wherein no resistor exists on the path for the radiofrequency signal, and wherein the stabilizing resistor suppresses a reflex gain produced by the second transistor. |
| US09553567B2 |
Fast settling charge pump with frequency hopping
Embodiments provide, among other things, a circuit including a frequency generator and a charge pump. In embodiments, the frequency generator may be configured to provide the charge pump with a clock signal at a first frequency for a predefined period of time. Thereafter, the frequency generator may provide the charge pump with a clock signal at one or more other frequencies. In embodiments, the first frequency may enable the charge pump to settle in a reduced period of time when compared with the one or more other frequencies. |
| US09553564B1 |
Filter for data rate conversion using feedback with a different frequency
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with converting an input signal into an output signal with a different sampling rate. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a feedforward circuit configured to receive the input signal comprised of discrete data samples with the first sampling rate and to generate a first intermediate value based, at least in part, on a feedforward coefficient and the input signal. The apparatus includes a feedback circuit configured to generate a second intermediate value that is based, at least in part, on a feedback coefficient and a predetermined number of previous samples of the output signal. The apparatus includes a signal combiner configured to combine the first intermediate value and the second intermediate value together to interpolate a data sample of the output signal at the second sampling rate. The output signal is a converted form of the input signal at the second sampling rate. |
| US09553562B1 |
Compact C-multiplier
The compact C-multiplier includes four MOSFETs operating in the subthreshold region using the translinear principle. The multiplier is controllable to meet designer requirements. A Tanner Tspice simulator is used to confirm the functionality of the design in 0.13 pm CMOS Technology. The circuit operates from a ±0.75 supply voltage. Simulation results indicate that the multiplication factor is large compared to existing designs. |
| US09553560B2 |
Quartz crystal unit, quartz crystal oscillator and electronic apparatus
In a quartz crystal unit, the unit comprising a case, a quartz crystal tuning fork resonator and a lid, the resonator having a tuning fork base, and first and second tuning fork tines, each of the first and second tuning fork tines having a first side surface and a second side surface opposite the first side surface, the first side surface of the first tuning fork tine confronting the second side surface of the second tuning fork tine; at least one groove having a plurality of surfaces including a first surface being formed in at least one of first and second main surfaces of each of the first and second tuning fork tines so that only the first surface of the at least one groove is directly opposite the first side surface of the corresponding tuning fork tine and a width of the at least one groove is greater than or equal to a distance in the width direction of the at least one groove measured from an outer edge of the at least one groove to an outer edge of the corresponding one of the first and second tuning fork tines and less than 0.07 mm. |
| US09553553B2 |
Engine sound synthesis system
An engine sound synthesis system is operable to analyze sound. Operation of the system may include providing an input sound signal to be analysed and determining a fundamental frequency of the input signal from the input signal or from at least one guide signal. Furthermore, the frequencies of higher harmonics of the fundamental frequency are determined, thus determining harmonic model parameters. A harmonic signal based on the harmonic model parameters is synthesized and a residual signal is estimated by subtracting the harmonic signal from the input signal. Residual model parameters are estimated based on the residual signal. Furthermore, a corresponding method for synthesizing a sound signal is described. |
| US09553551B1 |
Wide-band amplifiers using clipper circuits for reduced harmonics
The present invention breaks up the frequency bands which can be filtered by a simple low-loss band-pass or low pass filter. The second harmonic frequency is reduced by use of a non-linear clipper element which controls the driving waveform symmetry and can reduce the harmonics by as much as 5-15 db which makes the filter much simpler and allows the amplifier to remain wide-band. The output waveform from the amplifier is symmetrical or nearly symmetrical. |
| US09553549B2 |
Hybrid power amplifier having electrical and thermal conduction path
A heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) hybrid type RF (radio frequency) power amplifier includes a first device including an input terminal for receiving an RF signal, a pre-driver stage for amplifying the received RF signal, and an output terminal, the input terminal, the pre-driver stage and the output terminal being disposed in or over a first substrate; and a second device having a main stage having an HBT amplifier circuit disposed in or over a second substrate to further amplify the RF signal amplified by the pre-driver stage. The RF signal further amplified by the main stage is output through the output terminal of the first device. |
| US09553548B2 |
Low drop out voltage regulator and method therefor
A circuit and method for regulating an output voltage are provided. The circuit includes a fully differential first stage amplifier, a second stage amplifier, and a power output driver transistor. The first stage amplifier receives a reference voltage and feedback voltage relative to an output voltage of the power output driver transistor. A differential output of the first stage amplifier is received at differential inputs of the second stage amplifier. The second stage amplifier provides a voltage at a control terminal of the power transistor. The output voltage of the power transistor is based on the voltage at the control terminal and a supply voltage coupled to the power output driver transistor. |
| US09553543B2 |
Photovoltaic system
A photovoltaic system includes a pole member which stands on an installation surface, a connecting support member disposed on an upper end section of the pole member, a rail member supported by the connecting support member, and a photovoltaic cell module disposed on the rail member, wherein the pole supporting member includes a lower section that covers at least a portion of an outer peripheral surface of the upper end section of the pole member. |
| US09553541B2 |
Electric motor control apparatus
The purpose is to suppress ripple of voltage between terminals of smoothing condenser. Electric motor control apparatus is electric motor control apparatus that controls electric motor system having electrical power converter, smoothing condenser and three-phase AC electric motor, and has generating device that generates modulation signal by adding third harmonic signal to phase voltage command signal; controlling device that controls operation of electrical power converter by using modulation signal; and adjusting device that adjusts amplitude of third harmonic signal, adjusting device adjusts amplitude of third harmonic signal so that peak value of voltage between terminals of smoothing condenser in the case where amplitude of third harmonic signal is adjusted is smaller than peak value of voltage between terminals in the case where amplitude of third harmonic signal is not adjusted. |
| US09553539B2 |
Methods of generating output variable voltage for electric drive devices and systems thereof
At least one example embodiment discloses a method of generating an output variable voltage. The method includes obtaining a selected mode of operation, the selected mode of operation being one of an voltage control mode and a frequency mode, determining an input voltage command based on the selected mode of operation, determining an input frequency command based on the selected mode of operation, adjusting at least one of the input frequency command and the input voltage command based on the selected mode of operation, generating a pulse width modulation reference based on the adjusted at least one of the input frequency command and the input voltage command and generating the output variable voltage based on the pulse width modulation reference. |
| US09553537B1 |
De-glitch circuit and de-glitch method and short circuit protection device
A de-glitch circuit, a de-glitch method and a short circuit protection device are provided. In a period during which a first flag signal is in a first logic state, the de-glitch circuit increases a counting result with a rising rate. In a period during which the first flag signal is in a second logic state, the de-glitch circuit decreases the counting result with a falling rate, wherein the rising rate is greater than the falling rate. The de-glitch circuit sets a logic state of a second flag signal according to a relationship between the counting result and a threshold. |
| US09553535B2 |
Motor driving apparatus
A motor driving apparatus includes a rotor, a first yoke including a first magnetic portion, a first coil configured to, if energized, excite the first magnetic portion, a second yoke including a second magnetic portion, a second coil configured to, if energized, excite the second magnetic portion, a detecting portion including a first detection element, a second detection element, a third detection element, and a fourth detection element, each detection element being configured to detect a rotation position of the rotor, and a controller configured to switch a pole excited by the first magnetic portion and the second magnetic portion by switching an energization direction of the first coil and the second coil based on an output of the detecting portion. |
| US09553534B2 |
Electric power tool
An electric power tool includes a drive source, a rechargeable battery that supplies power to the drive source, a voltage meter that measures voltage of the rechargeable battery, a temperature meter that measures temperature of the rechargeable battery, and a drive control unit that regulates the power supplied to the drive source from the rechargeable battery to drive the drive source. If the battery temperature measured by the temperature meter is lower than or equal to a predetermined temperature when the battery voltage measured by the voltage meter is lower than or equal to a predetermined voltage, the drive control unit drives the drive source differently from normal driving that is performed if the battery temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature when the battery voltage is higher than the predetermined voltage. |
| US09553532B2 |
Control device for alternating current rotary machine
A control device for AC rotary machine includes a current vector detection section (3), a magnetic flux vector detection section (9), an adaptive observation section (8), a control section (4), a voltage application section (5), a deviation vector calculation section (6) for outputting a current deviation vector and a magnetic flux deviation vector, and a deviation amplification section (7). The adaptive observation section (8) calculates an estimated current vector, an estimated magnetic flux vector, and an estimated position, based on a voltage instruction vector and an amplified deviation vector. Further, the control section (4) superimposes a high-frequency voltage vector, and the magnetic flux vector detection section (9) calculates a detected magnetic flux vector, based on a magnitude of a high-frequency current vector having the same frequency component as the high-frequency voltage vector, included in a detected current vector, and on a magnitude of a rotor magnetic flux. |
| US09553527B1 |
Energy recovery layer in an electrowetting display
Subject matter disclosed herein relates to arrangements and techniques that provide for harvesting thermal energy within a display, for example an electrowetting display, of an image display apparatus and converting the thermal energy into electricity. The electrowetting display comprises a first substrate and a second substrate opposite to the first substrate, a plurality of pixel portions defined between the first substrate and the second substrate, and a hydrophobic surface on the first substrate. A first fluid is included within the pixel portions and on the hydrophobic surface, while a second fluid is included on the first fluid, wherein the second fluid is substantially immiscible with the first fluid. A pyroelectric layer is included between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the pyroelectric layer is configured to absorb thermal energy within the electrowetting display and output a voltage based upon the thermal energy. |
| US09553524B2 |
Method for converting alternating current into direct current and related device
The invention relates to a method for converting alternating current into direct current implemented by a conversion device that comprises a three-phase bridge in which at least one arm is comprised of a first switch and of a second switch mounted in series, with the method comprising a step of regulating the direct voltage output by the conversion device, characterized in that it comprises a transition step which precedes the regulation step, with the transition step comprising the formation of signals for controlling first and second switches capable of limiting the amplitude of the inrush currents when switching the conversion device to the alternative network. |
| US09553521B2 |
Power supply device and control method of power supply device
First FET switches control supply of electricity from an external power supply to a primary winding of a transformer. A condenser is connected, in series, to a secondary winding of the transformer. A second FET switch is connected, in parallel, to the secondary winding and the condenser. The diode is connected, in parallel, to the second FET switch. A switch control unit acquires a value obtained by measuring a current flowing through the first FET switches and the second FET switch and controls, on the basis of the measurement result of the current, conduction of the first FET switches and the second FET switch. |
| US09553514B2 |
DC-DC converter
To provide a DC-DC converter which prevents overshoot from occurring in an output voltage even when a power supply voltage rises from a voltage lower than a desired output voltage of the DC-DC converter to a normal voltage. A DC-DC converter is equipped with a 100% DUTY detection circuit which detects a 100% DUTY state of a PWM comparator, a power supply voltage rise detection circuit which detects a rise in a power supply voltage, and a discharge control circuit which lowers an output voltage of an error amplifier. The DC-DC converter is configured to lower the output voltage of the error amplifier when a power supply voltage rise detection signal is outputted where a 100% DUTY state is reached and the output voltage of the error amplifier is higher than a predetermined voltage. |
| US09553507B1 |
Self regulating current to current charge pump
A current to current charge pump including two flying capacitors, a capacitor driver, two rectifying inverters, a bypass capacitor coupled between an input node and a control node, a current control transistor circuit coupled between the control node and a reference node, and an output circuit coupled between upper and lower nodes. One of the upper and lower nodes is held at a constant voltage level. A storage capacitor is coupled between the upper and lower nodes. The capacitor driver drives each of the flying capacitors to opposite states between the control and input nodes using a clock signal. The rectifying inverters are cross-coupled between the flying capacitors, and have supply terminals coupled between the upper and lower nodes. The current control transistor circuit develops an input current at the control node based on a reference current. The output transistor circuit develops an output current that follows the input current. |
| US09553506B1 |
Charge pump strength calibration and screening in circuit design
Techniques and apparatuses for identifying weak charge pumps and for setting an optimal clock period for charge pumps to minimize variations in a current-voltage characteristic. A current sink which absorbs a specified current is connected to an output node of a charge pump. In one approach, a success or fail status is set for a charge pump by driving it with a specified clock period in a constantly pumping mode and determining if the output voltage reaches a specified output voltage. In another approach, a success or fail status is set for a charge pump by driving it with a specified clock period in a regulation mode and determining if the period in which the output voltage cycles is a specified multiple, e.g., 2×, of a period of the clock signal. In another approach, an optimal clock period is determined. |
| US09553503B2 |
Method for startup control of photovoltaic inverter, system thereof, and photovoltaic power generation system
A method for start control of photovoltaic inverter, a system thereof, and a photovoltaic power generation system are provided. A fan of the photovoltaic inverter is controlled to operate in a case that input voltage of the photovoltaic inverter is greater than a start threshold, and the fan operation is used as a load. Input voltage drop before and after the fan operates is obtained, and in a case that the input voltage drop is less than or equal to a voltage determination threshold, the photovoltaic inverter is controlled to start a grid connection. The voltage determination threshold is changed based on a power determination threshold of the photovoltaic inverter. |
| US09553499B2 |
Distributed gap inductor potting apparatus and method of use thereof
A high frequency inductor filter cooling apparatus and method of use thereof is described. In one embodiment, an inductor is potted in an epoxy-silica mixture to facilitate thermal transfer from the inductor. The inductor is optionally used to filter/invert/convert power. The inductor comprises a distributed gap core and/or a powdered core material. In one example, the minimum carrier frequency is above that usable by an iron-steel inductor, such as greater than ten kiloHertz at fifty or more amperes. Optionally, the inductor is used in an inverter/converter apparatus, where output power has a carrier frequency, modulated by a fundamental frequency, and a set of harmonic frequencies, in conjunction with a notched low-pass filter, a low pass filter combined with a notch filter and a high frequency roll off filter, and/or one or more of a silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, and/or gallium nitride based transistor. |
| US09553498B2 |
Planar motor and processing apparatus and using the same
A planar motor includes a base provided with at least one stator, a mover provided on a top portion of a planar object to be placed on a top portion of the base, and moving according to a magnetic field generated by the stator, a mover support connected to the mover, supporting the mover from the planar object, and moving the mover according to a force of the magnetic field, and a controller supplying a control current to the stator to control location of the mover. |
| US09553495B2 |
Wound core, electromagnetic component and manufacturing method therefor, and electromagnetic equipment
A wound core formed of a magnetic thin band, an electromagnetic component and a manufacturing method therefor and electromagnetic equipment in which iron loss and cost reduction can be achieved are provided. The wound core is a wound core formed by winding a magnetic thin band in the axial direction. A cutout portion is formed from place to place on an end face of the thin band in the axial direction and the cutout portions are arranged in random directions in the direction of the radius of the wound core. |
| US09553494B2 |
Electronically controlled universal motor
An electric motor apparatus and method of controlling the same are provided. The electric motor apparatus includes a stator and a rotor rotationally mounted coaxially with the stator; an intermediate screen having a magnetic material and rotationally mounted between the stator and the rotor to provide magnetic screening between the rotor and the stator; and control circuitry to control power supplied to windings on the rotor and the stator in dependence upon a desired output rotational speed. |
| US09553492B2 |
Paper shredder
Provided is a paper shredder comprising a housing (6) and a paper shredder head (4), wherein a transmission mechanism (5) and a motor are provided in the paper shredder head (4); the motor comprises a motor body (1), the motor body (1) having an output shaft (12) and a motor housing (11) sleeve connected on the output shaft (12); the motor housing (11) is provided with a heat dissipation device, the heat dissipation device comprising an air intake device (2) and an air output device (3); the air intake device (2) has a cold air inlet and the air output device (3) has a hot air outlet; the air intake device (2) is provided on one side of the output shaft (12) and the air output device (3) is provided on the other side of the output shaft (12); at the position where the air intake device (2) is provided on the motor housing (11) there is an air intake hole (13) opened correspondingly to communicate with an inner chamber of the motor housing (11), and at the position where the air output device (3) is provided on the motor housing (11) there is an air output hole (14) opened correspondingly to communicate with the inner chamber of the motor housing (11), such that a relatively isolated and independent heat dissipating air channel is formed internally from the cold air inlet, via the inner chamber of the motor housing (11), to the hot air outlet. |
| US09553491B2 |
Alternator mounting assembly
A mounting assembly for mounting an alternator is disclosed. The mounting assembly includes a first bracket, and a second bracket. The first bracket includes a first member, a second member, a third member, a fourth member, and a fifth member. The second bracket includes a first section, a second section, a third section, and a fourth section. The alternator is mounted using the first bracket and the second bracket for reducing vibrations during operation. |
| US09553486B2 |
Monitoring system and device with sensors that is remotely powered
A wearable device includes a wearable device structure and an electronic circuitry coupled to one or more sensors. The one or more sensors detect or measure wearable device user information selected from of at least one of, a wearable device user's activities, behaviors and habit information, and a wearable device user's health. A power receiving device is coupled to the electronic circuit and is in communication with a power transmitting device. |
| US09553485B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for detecting a foreign object in an inductive wireless power transfer system based on input power
An inductive wireless power transfer system comprises a transmitter configured to generate an electromagnetic field to a coupling region for providing energy transfer to a wireless power receiving apparatus. The transmitter includes control logic configured to determine a power component of the transmitter, and determine a presence of a foreign object within the coupling region in response to a comparison of the power component and a desired threshold for the power component. Related inductive methods for detecting a foreign object in an inductive wireless power transfer coupling region of an inductive wireless power transfer system and operating a sleep mode of a wireless power transmitter are disclosed. |
| US09553484B2 |
Electrohydraulic generator systems and methods
A system includes a generator configured to be coupled to a power input of an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), an engine, a hydraulic motor and a mechanical coupling mechanism configured to selectively couple the engine and the hydraulic motor to the generator. The system further includes a hydraulic accumulator and a valve configured to fluidically couple the hydraulic accumulator to the hydraulic motor. A control circuit is configured to control the valve, the mechanical coupling mechanism and the engine in conjunction with the UPS to supply power to the UPS. |
| US09553482B2 |
Lighting power supply
Lighting power supply system (1) including a mains input converter (11) operable to provide power, a controller (17) operable to control at least one element of the lighting system, a controller bus (26) and a controller interface (25) operable to provide control signals from the bus to the lighting system. An auxiliary converter (43) powers the lighting system from the bus and it may allow the controller to continue to be powered when the mains input is absent and an emergency battery (19) is depleted. |
| US09553481B2 |
Solar-powered lighting device and charging system
A freestanding solar-powered charging system includes a baseplate, a substantially vertical frame member having a first end and a second end, the first end coupled to and extending from the baseplate, one or more panels coupled to the second end of the vertical frame member, each of the panels having an upper surface with a photovoltaic cell, an energy storage device electrically coupled to the photovoltaic cell, and one or more electrical connectors supported by the vertical frame member and electrically coupled to the energy storage device, the electrical connectors configured to engage any one or more of a plurality of consumer electronic devices for charging the consumer electronic devices. |
| US09553480B2 |
Power system
Disclosed is an electric power system including a first unit (for example, a unit 201) equipped with a first power source (for example, a solar panel (201b)), a first rechargeable battery (for example, a unit storage battery (201c)) to which an output of the first power source is input, and a first power consuming portion (not shown) to which an output of the first rechargeable battery is input; a second rechargeable battery (for example, a shared storage battery (202)); and an electric power line (for example, a shared electric power line (203)) for sharing electric power between the first rechargeable battery and the second rechargeable battery. |
| US09553479B2 |
Method for controlling wireless charging depending on position of FOB key
A method for controlling wireless charging depending on a position of an FOB key in a wireless charging system provided in a vehicle and including an output unit, a wireless charging mount, and a controller, includes: transmitting, by the controller, a first signal informing a peripheral region of the wireless charging mount in which a wireless charging target is mounted that wireless charging is being performed in the peripheral region of the wireless charging mount in the case in which the wireless charging starts; transmitting, by the FOB key receiving the first signal, a second signal corresponding to the first signal to the controller; stopping, by the controller receiving the second signal, the wireless charging; and informing, by the controller, a user of the vehicle that the FOB key is present in the peripheral region of the wireless charging mount through the output unit. |
| US09553473B2 |
Systems and methods for optimally delivering pulsed wireless power
A transmitter assembly is useful in optimizing in the delivery of wireless power to a plurality of receivers. Each receiver measures its own battery need for power and transmits that measurement as a request to the transmitter. The transmitter is configured to normalize and compare battery need requests. The transmitter then allocates pulses of wireless power among the requesting receivers according to their battery need. |
| US09553469B2 |
Method of overcurrent detection voltage correction and battery protection integrated circuit
There is provided a method of correcting an overcurrent detection voltage of a battery protection integrated circuit including a current path between a first terminal and a second terminal, one or more transistors for controlling current of a secondary battery, an overcurrent detection circuit and a control circuit. The method comprises the steps of: measuring a resistance value between the first terminal and the second terminal wherein the one or more transistors are turned on at a predetermined temperature; estimating resistance values between the first terminal and the second terminal at respective temperatures based on the measured resistance value; calculating adjusting data for canceling temperature dependency of charge or discharge current of the secondary battery based on the measured resistance value and the estimated resistance values, wherein a value of the charge or discharge current varies depending on temperature; correcting the overcurrent detection voltage based on the calculated adjusting data. |
| US09553464B2 |
In-vehicle-mounted charging device
A vehicle-mounted charging device includes a charging main body, an external module, an electric wire, and a lighting module. The charging main body includes a circuit board in a first shell, a power plug, and a first shell. A power socket of a vehicle connects to the circuit board. The external module includes a charging plug and a second shell. The charging plug is arranged in the second shell. The charging plug connects to a charging socket of an electronic device to recharge a battery of the electronic device. The electric wire is configured to electrically connect to the charging main body, the external module, and the lighting module to visually indicate the state of charge of the battery of the electronic device. |
| US09553463B2 |
Systems, methods, and apparatus for a homopolar generator charger with integral rechargeable battery
Systems, methods, and apparatus for providing a homopolar generator charger with an integral rechargeable battery. A method is provided for converting rotational kinetic energy to electrical energy for charging one or more battery cells. The method can include rotating, by a shaft, a rotor in a magnetic flux field to generate current, wherein the rotor comprises an electrically conductive portion having an inner diameter conductive connection surface and an outer diameter conductive connection surface, and wherein a voltage potential is induced between the inner and outer diameter connection surfaces upon rotation in the magnetic flux field. The method can also include selectively coupling the generated current from the rotating rotor to terminals of the one or more battery cells. |
| US09553462B2 |
Voltage measuring apparatus and battery management system including the same
Disclosed are a voltage measuring apparatus and a battery management system including the same. The voltage measuring apparatus is connected to a plurality of battery cells connected to each other in series to measure respective voltage of the battery cells. The voltage measuring apparatus includes a first node coupled to one of an positive electrode and a negative electrode of one of a plurality of battery cells as a voltage measuring target, amplifies a voltage difference between the first node and the second node to generate an error voltage, converts the error voltage into a digital signal, and compensates for a polarity of the digital signal. |
| US09553457B2 |
Tunable synchronous rectifier
A system for power transfer is provided. In one exemplary embodiment, the system includes an inductive power device, such as a device that transmits or receives power over an inductive coupling. For example, an adjustable impedance is coupled to the inductive power device, where the adjustable impedance is used for dynamically controlling the power gain in the inductive power device, such as by damping power generated by circuit impedances, such as inductances, capacitances or resistances, and combinations thereof. |
| US09553455B2 |
Use of demand response to enable improved power supply restoration planning
A utility network powered by a power source has a plurality of substations enabled to power electrical equipment in a participant site. At least one substation is disconnected from the utility network and is to be reconnected via a substation with a power constraint. A processor determines how much power should be shed in a participant site of the substation with the power constraint to allow reconnection of the substation that is disconnected. The processor initiates a Demand Response signal to power consuming equipment in the participant site of the substation with the power constraint to shed power. After shedding power based on the Demand Response signal, the substation that was disconnected is connected to the utility network by closing a switch. |
| US09553454B2 |
Method and device for stabilizing network operation of a power supply network
For network stabilization of an electric power supply network, the voltage at a first network connection point at a first voltage level to a power generator, and at a second network connection point to a second voltage level, as well as at at least one third network connection point to a load, are each sensed as a voltage measurement, wherein a reactive power draw or a reactive power delivery by the power generator is ascertained using a linkage of the voltage measurements with the geographic location of the relevant network connection point. |
| US09553450B2 |
Systems and methods of controlling power
According to another embodiment, a power control apparatus is provided. The power control apparatus includes a grid power inlet configured to receive grid power, a grid power outlet configured to provide grid power, a data transmission input configured to receive low voltage power, and means for actuating a relay to selectively couple the grid power inlet to the grid power outlet in response to receiving the low voltage power from the data transmission input. |
| US09553446B2 |
Shared ESD circuitry
An integrated circuit including ESD circuitry that is shared among more than one terminal segment of the integrated circuit to discharge current from an ESD event on any of the terminal segments. The shared ESD circuitry includes a clamp circuit that is coupled to power buses of each segment to discharge current from ESD events on each segment. The shared ESD circuitry includes a trigger circuit that is coupled to nodes coupled to terminals of each segment to detect an ESD event on each segment. |
| US09553444B2 |
Method and device for suppressing high-voltage electricity
A device for suppressing high-voltage electricity is connected to a three-phase circuit of an electric generator, including three up arm semiconductor switches, three low arm semiconductor switches, three reverse breakdown diodes respectively connected to the low arm semiconductor switches in parallel, and a control circuit sending PWM signals to turn on and off the low arm semiconductor switches sequentially to evenly share and absorb the energy of surge voltage. Each of the up arm semiconductor switches has a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminals are electrically connected together, and the second terminals are respectively electrically connected to one of three coils of the three-phase circuit. Each of the low arm semiconductor switches has a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminals are respectively electrically connected to the second terminals of the up arm semiconductor switches, and the second terminals are electrically connected together. |
| US09553443B2 |
Inverter and power system with fuse protection
A power conversion system includes a bus bar, a switch coupled to the bus bar and configured to receive a DC input voltage from a voltage source through the bus bar, and a parallel fuse system. The parallel fuse system may be disposed on the bus bar in series with the voltage source and the switch. The parallel fuse system includes two or more parallel fuses, and may be configured for an inductance imbalance between the fuses, such that there is an asymmetric flow of currents through the fuses when the power conversion system is in operation. For the inductance imbalance, for example, the fuses may be positioned asymmetrically with regard to a shortest conductive path from the voltage source to the switch. |
| US09553442B2 |
Power control device with multi-directional sensing ability
A power control device includes an electric power switch and a control unit. The control unit is mounted on an electric device, determines whether the electric device is disposed at a normal use position or an abnormal inclined position, and determines whether the electric device is at a normal use state and is disposed at the normal use position. The control unit controls the electric power switch to provide electric power to the electric device when the electric device is at the normal use state, and to stop providing the electric power to the electric device when the electric device is at the abnormal inclined position. |
| US09553439B2 |
Compact, high power, high voltage, long-distance electrical transmission line structure
Embodiments generally relate to long-distance, 3-phase, AC electricity transmission structures. In one embodiment, the structure comprises an array of beams, the array comprising a sub-array of 3N active beams, wherein N is an integer, one passive beam on the right side of the sub-array of active beams; and one passive beam on the left side of the sub-array of active beams. The centers of the cross-section of each of the active and passive beams lie in a single plane. In another embodiment, the structure comprises an array of 3N metal active beams, wherein N is an integer; and a tunnel of rectangular cross-section with either 90 degree or rounded corners. The array of beams is mounted within the tunnel, and the two side walls of the tunnel are lined with a highly conductive metal having a thickness similar to the thickness of metal used in the active beams. |
| US09553435B2 |
Manifold for controlling airflow within an explosion-proof enclosure
A manifold within an explosion-proof enclosure is described herein. The manifold can include an inlet duct coupled to an air moving device, where the inlet duct can receive exhaust air from the air moving device. The manifold can further include an outlet duct that includes a perimeter and at least one channel, where the outlet duct can send the exhaust air outside the explosion-proof enclosure, where the perimeter of the outlet duct is coupled to a first portion of an inner surface of an outer wall of the explosion-proof enclosure, and where the first portion of the inner surface includes at least one aperture that traverses the outer wall. The manifold can also include a body that includes a cavity, where the body couples the inlet duct to the at least one channel, and where the exhaust air flows from the inlet duct through the cavity to the outlet duct. |
| US09553433B2 |
Snap-in gangable electrical box
A gangable electrical box includes a U-shaped box member having a generally rectangular back wall including opposed back wall ends. An end wall extends from each of the back wall ends. Each of the end walls has opposed longitudinal edges. The gangable box further includes a pair of generally rectangular side walls where each side wall has opposed side wall ends. The side wall ends are attachable to the U-shaped box member to define an open ended box interior. The longitudinal edges of the end walls and the opposite ends of the side walls include interfitting snap fit connection for toolless attachment of the side walls to the box member. |
| US09553423B2 |
Miniature structured light illuminator
A miniature structured light illuminator is provided. The miniature structured light illuminator uses a semiconductor surface emitting array including VCSEL or RC-LED array and an array of microlens elements to generate a wide range of structured light illumination patterns. The emission beam from a surface emitter array may be selectively directed, steered, focused or expanded, by applying a lateral displacement of the microlens array, such that centers of the emission beam and microlens array are misaligned. Emitted beams may be directed through small optical components to project the structured light pattern to a distant plane. The surface emitting arrays may be configured in addressable form to be activated separately for continuous or pulsed operation with very fast pulses having <100 ps risetime. A compact structured light illuminator module with projection optics is provided in very small physical size (˜6×6×3 mm3) suitable to configure in a handheld device. |
| US09553422B2 |
Multiple aperture hand-held laser therapy apparatus
A hand-held therapeutic laser apparatus with a special opto-mechanical construction, which enables changeability of a front collimating lens to create different effective laser apertures. A smaller effective aperture has a comparatively higher radiant flux density for treatment of a small area that requires a higher energy dose, while a larger effective aperture facilitates treatment of a large area at a relatively reduced radiant intensity. |