| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09566236B2 |
Proteoliposome, production method thereof, and biochip
A proteoliposome, which is obtained by removing a surfactant from a mixed solution including lipid, membrane proteins and the surfactant, wherein the content of the surfactant in the mixed solution is equal to or more than 1.5 times of the sum of a maximum amount of the surfactant associating with the lipid and a maximum amount of the surfactant associating with the membrane protein. A biochip wherein the above-described proteoliposome is spread on a substrate. A method for producing a proteoliposome by removing a surfactant from a mixed solution including lipid, membrane proteins and the surfactant, wherein the content of the surfactant in the mixed solution is made equal to or more than the sum of a maximum amount of the surfactant associating with the lipid and a maximum amount of the surfactant associating with the membrane protein. |
| US09566233B2 |
Ondansetron sublingual spray formulation
The invention is directed to sublingual spray formulations containing ondansetron or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and water. The invention is further directed to methods for treating or preventing nausea and emesis associated with cancer treatments by administering sublingual spray formulations containing ondansetron or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof to a patient in need thereof. |
| US09566229B2 |
Liquid cosmetic
Provided is a liquid cosmetic which can suitably be used for a liquid cosmetic applicator using a brush or a pen feed as an applying means and which has good water resistance and is excellent in an adhesive property to the skin. The liquid cosmetic comprises at least carbon black, water, 0.5 to 5% by mass of a dispersant comprising a film-formable resin, 2 to 15% by mass (in terms of a solid content) of a film-forming agent and 0.5% by mass or less of a surfactant, and a viscosity thereof measured at a temperature of 25° C. and a shear rate of 3.83 S−1 by means of an ELD type viscometer falls in a range of 2 to 8 mPa·s. |
| US09566222B2 |
Peptidyl arginine deiminase 1 and/or 3 activator compounds in the epidermis and uses thereof
The present invention relates to the activation of peptidyl arginine deiminase (PADs) 1 and/or 3 in the epidermis by at least one active agent used alone or in combination, namely caffeine, acefylline and/or theobromine in a cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical composition. The present invention also relates to the use of the aforementioned active agents in cosmetics and/or therapeutics, alone or in combination, in order to improve the barrier functions of the epidermis, to prevent and/or treat symptoms related to dry skin or to improve and/or promote hydration of the keratinous layer. Finally, the invention relates to increasing the activity of PAD1 and/or PAD3 in the epidermis. |
| US09566218B2 |
Production method of cosmetic, preparation method of gel for cosmetics, and method of reducing use amount of polymer thickener blended in cosmetic raw materials
There is provided a production method of a cosmetic, a preparation method of a gel for cosmetics, and a method of reducing the use amount of a polymer thickener blended in cosmetic raw materials. The present invention relates to a production method of a cosmetic comprising blending, into the cosmetic raw material in addition to the polymer thickener, at least one lipid peptide-type gelator that contains a low-molecular lipid peptide or a pharmaceutically usable salt thereof at a ratio of 0.1% by weight to 0.5% by weight based on a mass of the polymer thickener to form a thickening gel; a preparation method of a gel for cosmetics comprising blending, into an aqueous medium for cosmetics, a polymer thickener and at least one lipid peptide-type gelator that contains a low-molecular lipid peptide or a pharmaceutically usable salt thereof at the above-mentioned ratio to form a gel; and a method of reducing the use amount of a polymer thickener in production of a cosmetic comprising blending, into the cosmetic raw material in addition to the polymer thickener, at least one lipid peptide-type gelator that contains a low-molecular lipid peptide or a pharmaceutically usable salt thereof at the above-mentioned ratio. |
| US09566217B2 |
Hair cleansing composition
A hair cleansing composition contains (a), (b), and (c). Component (a), as particles having mean particle size of 0.5-50 μm, is a polyalkyleneimine derivative or a salt thereof, having weight average molecular weight of 3,300-50,000, with at least one of R1—CO—, R2—(CH2)n—CHX—CH2—, and R3—NH—CO— bonded to 40 mol % or more of the N atoms of the polyalkyleneimine. In (a), R1 represents H, alkyl, alkenyl, or the like; R2 represents H, alkyl, alkoxy, alkenyl, or the like; n is 0 or 1; X represents H or OH; R3 represents H, alkyl, or alkenyl; at least one of R1 to R3 has 13 or more carbon atoms, and the entirety of R1 to R3 has an average number of carbon atoms of 9 or more and a linear group content of 30 mol % or more. Component (b) is an anionic surfactant. Component (c) is a water-soluble cationic polymer. |
| US09566216B2 |
Bone cements containing magnetic calcium phosphate nanoparticles
A bone cement formulation comprising: (a) magnetic calcium phosphate nanoparticles present in an amount of 5.0-95 wt. % and having a largest linear dimension of 150 nm to 50 microns; (b) polymerizable acrylate monomer present in an amount of 5.0-95 wt. %; and (c) polyacrylate polymer present in an amount of 0-80 wt. % and having a largest linear dimension from 5.0 to 500 microns. Upon exposure to an alternating magnetic field the formulation is heated which results in polymerization of the acrylate monomer component. The formulation may also be polymerized via the use of chain polymerization initiators. |
| US09566215B2 |
Drug delivery device
This drug delivery device delivers a drug between a syringe barrel and a drug container, and, by enveloping the entire the drug container used in drug delivery, prevents exposure to hazardous drugs adhering to the drug container. This drug delivery device includes: a first member connected to the drug container on the side of a stopper; a second member connected to the first member and to the syringe barrel; and a third member connected to the first member and covering the drug container in a sealed state. The first member has a first hollow needle member and a drug container holder, and the second member has a second hollow needle member. The third member has an opening portion, a bottom surface portion where the drug container is stably mounted, and a flexible member which is connected to the opening portion and the bottom surface portion. |
| US09566211B2 |
Method and device for generating a nanoaerosol
The invention relates to a method and a device for generating a nanoaerosol, wherein at least one fluid to be atomized is atomized in a nozzle via a nozzle opening of the nozzle along a discharge direction in the form of fluid particles, the atomized fluid particles are deflected from the discharge direction and larger fluid particles are at least partially separated from smaller fluid particles, the separated larger fluid particles are returned to the fluid to be atomized and the smaller fluid particles are dispensed onto the environment. A cartridge in which the nozzle and the fluid to be atomized are arranged is used. According to the invention, a stream of a carrier gas is generated in the nozzle and at least one fluid to be atomized is brought into contact with the carrier gas. |
| US09566208B2 |
Pneumatic pressure and vacuum device
Disclosed is a pneumatic pressure and vacuum device that allows a user to adjust the duration of either pressure or vacuum that is applied to a pneumatic adult toy. A solenoid valve is used that is controlled by a solenoid for opening and closing ports that apply pressure and/or vacuum to a pneumatic adult toy. A timer is utilized to independently control the on and off times of the solenoid valve, so that vibrational frequency, as well as the amplitude of pressure and vacuum can be adjusted. |
| US09566205B2 |
Series elastic holonomic mobile platform for upper extremity rehabilitation
It is proposed a design and control of series elastic holonomic mobile platform, aimed to administer therapeutic table-top exercises to patients who have suffered injuries that affect the function of their upper extremities. The proposed mobile platform is a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use rehabilitation device for home use. It consists of four actuated Mecanum wheels and a compliant, low-cost, multi degree-of freedom Series Elastic Element as its force sensing unit. Thanks to its series elastic actuation, it is highly backdriveable and can provide assistance/resistance to patients, while performing omni-directional movements on plane. The device helps improving accuracy and effectiveness of repetitive movement therapies completed at home, while also providing quantitative measures of patient progress. |
| US09566201B2 |
Mounting support assembly for suspending a medical instrument driver above an operating table
An adjustable mounting assembly, includes a load distributing plate configured for resting on, and being supported by, a top surface of a patient table; a first clamp assembly adjustably coupled to a first side of the load distributing plate and configured for removable attachment to a first side rail of the patient table; a second clamp assembly coupled to a second side of the load distributing plate and configured for removable attachment to a second side rail of the patient table; and an adapter rail fixed to the second side of the load distributing plate and configured to detachably couple to a support assembly interface, such that an adjustable support assembly may be coupled to the load distributing plate to thereby allow for an off-center load attached to the support assembly to be moved relative to the patient table while the load remains substantially supported by the table surface. |
| US09566200B2 |
Elevated height wheelchair
Embodiments of the present disclosure include a wheelchair configured to reposition an occupant between a lowered and a raised position. The wheelchair can include a frame, a seat moveable relative to the frame, a drive wheel, and one or more pairs of arm assemblies. The arm assembly includes a wheel configured to move from a first spatial location when the wheel chair is operating on flat, level ground to a second spatial location that is different than the first spatial location. Arm limiters that can selectively engage the arm assembly dependent on the position of the arm assembly and surface conditions of ground and can limit the range of motion of the arm assembly and sometimes other operational aspects of the chair. |
| US09566199B2 |
Disposable diaper
The fastening tape included in the disposable diaper has a base sheet, and a hook sheet provided with a plurality of engagement hooks and fixed on the base sheet. The engagement strength of the fastening tape is 0.3 N/30 mm or more, and 1.5 N/30 mm or less. The bending rigidity value in the direction in which the surface of the base sheet of the fastening tape comes close is smaller than the bending rigidity value in the direction in which the surface of the hook sheet of the fastening tape comes close. |
| US09566190B2 |
Device for processing eye tissue by means of a pulsed laser beam
For processing eye tissue using a pulsed laser beam (L), an ophthalmological device includes a projection optical unit for the focused projection of the laser beam (L) into the eye tissue, and a scanner system upstream of the projection optical unit for the beam-deflecting scanning of the eye tissue with the laser beam (L) in a scanning movement (s′) performed over a scanning angle along a scanning line (s). The ophthalmological device includes a divergence modulator disposed upstream of the scanner system for dynamically varying the divergence of the laser beam (L), whereby the scanning line (s) is tilted in a plane running through the optical axis of the projection optical unit and the scanning line(s). The tilting of the scanning line(s) enables a displacement—dependent on the scanning angle—of the focus of the laser pulses projected into the eye tissue without vertical displacement of the projection optical unit. |
| US09566189B2 |
Grooved needle tip for surgical instrument
A needle for a surgical instrument for removal of diseased or unwanted tissue is described. The needle has a hollow elongate needle shaft with a needle tip at a distal end for cutting tissue. The needle tipis flared in at least one plane and has a plurality of grooves milled into a surface of the tip in an asymmetric arrangement around the circumference of the needle tip. |
| US09566185B2 |
System and method for patient temperature control
A patient temperature control system and method are provided for automated temperature control according to a programmed protocol. In one aspect, at least one programmed protocol may be established for each of a plurality of patient thermal therapy phases. In turn, the temperature of a thermal exchange medium may be controlled, based at least in part, upon the programmed protocol, during each of the phases. In another aspect, a plurality of programmed protocols may be established, wherein a selected one of the protocols (e.g. selected by a user at a user interface) may be utilized for automated temperature control during patient thermal therapy. The protocol(s) may include a target patient temperature and/or a set duration for one or more of the phase of thermal therapy. Further, the protocol(s) may be user-definable and modifiable during therapy. In a multi-phase configuration, automatic termination and initiation of successive phases may be selectively established by a user, based on target patient temperature data and/or set duration data on a phase-specific basis. |
| US09566182B2 |
Pyloric obesity valve
The pyloric obesity valve includes a tubular valve body having proximal and distal ends. The valve body has an intermediate section which is between the proximal and distal ends. The proximal end is enlarged transversely relative to the intermediate section. The valve body has an inner surface and a lumen. The inner surface which is within the intermediate section has a cross-sectional area which is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the inner surface which coincides with the proximal end to resist a flow through the lumen of the valve body from the proximal end to the intermediate section. |
| US09566178B2 |
Actively controllable stent, stent graft, heart valve and method of controlling same
Sealable and repositionable implant devices are provided with features that increase the ability of implants such as endovascular grafts and valves to be precisely deployed or re-deployed, with better in situ accommodation to the local anatomy of the targeted recipient anatomic site, and/or with the ability for post-deployment adjustment to accommodate anatomic changes that might compromise the efficacy of the implant. A surgical implant includes an implant body and a selectively adjustable assembly attached to the implant body, the assembly having adjustable elements and being operable to cause a configuration change in a portion of the implant body and, thereby, permit implantation of the implant body within an anatomic orifice to effect a seal therein under normal physiological conditions. |
| US09566172B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining a location
A template operable to reestablish the center of rotation of a native femoral head at the head of an implanted prosthesis. The template includes a first member with a marking passage and optional cutting guide and a second member with a target. The first member of the template can be placed on a femur and the second member can be moved in the proximal-distal, medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions to fix the center of the target at the center of rotation of a femoral head. The head of a prosthesis can be manipulated to come in contact with the target to reestablish the center of rotation of the native femoral head. |
| US09566168B2 |
Expandable fusion device and method of installation thereof
The present invention provides an expandable fusion device capable of being installed inside an intervertebral disc space to maintain normal disc spacing and restore spinal stability, thereby facilitating an intervertebral fusion. In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides an intervertebral implant. The intervertebral implant may be configured to transition from a collapsed configuration having a first height and a first width to an expanded configuration having a second height and a second width. |
| US09566167B2 |
Expandable spinal implant
An expandable spinal implant configured for positioning within a space between adjacent vertebral bodies includes an upper body, a lower body, and first and second pins. The lower body is adapted to slidably receive the upper body. Grooves are disposed on opposing side surfaces of the upper body, and grooves are disposed on an inner surface of a bore defined through the lower body. Corresponding first and second apertures are defined through an end surface of the lower body thereby permitting advancement of the first and second pins within the first and second apertures, grooves of the lower body, and a corresponding pair of grooves of the upper body to secure the position of the upper body relative to the lower body. A method of performing spinal surgery is also disclosed. |
| US09566158B2 |
Hardware protection of virtual machine monitor runtime integrity watcher
An apparatus and method for hardware protection of a virtual machine monitor (VMM) runtime integrity watcher is described. A set of one or more hardware range registers that protect a contiguous memory space that is to store the VMM runtime integrity watcher. The set of hardware range registers are to protect the VMM runtime integrity watcher from being modified when loaded into the contiguous memory space. The VMM runtime integrity watcher, when executed, performs an integrity check on a VMM during runtime of the VMM. |
| US09566157B2 |
Three-member prosthetic joint
A prosthetic joint includes: (a) a first member comprising rigid material and having a perimeter flange defined by an undercut groove, the flange defining a wear-resistant first contact surface having a protruding rim; (b) a second member comprising rigid material and having a perimeter flange defined by an undercut groove, the flange defining a wear-resistant, second contact surface having a protruding rim; and (c) a third member comprising rigid material positioned between the first and second members, the third member defining opposed wear-resistant third and fourth contact surfaces; (d) wherein the first and second contact surfaces bear against the third and fourth contact surfaces, to transfer loads through the member, while allowing pivoting motion between the first and second members; (e) wherein the flanges can deform elastically such that the first and second contact surfaces conform to the third and fourth contact surfaces. |
| US09566156B2 |
Composite device that combines porous metal and bone stimuli
An orthopedic implant for filling voids in bones, and methods of using the same. The orthopedic implant comprises an open porous metal component, having pores for promoting bone regeneration, and a resorbable bone growth promoting component which is resorbed into new bone. The orthopedic implant and methods of the present disclosure provide structural support for the bone as well as osteoconductive and/or osteoinductive matrix for promoting bone re-growth within bone void. Advantageously, the orthopedic implants and methods disclosed herein are useful in filling critically sized bone voids. |
| US09566150B2 |
Edge design for reducing unwanted photic effects in intraocular lenses
An intraocular lens (IOL) has an optic, a peripheral rim, and a reduced thickness region connecting the optic to the peripheral rim. The peripheral rim has a continuously curving outer edge that it does not include any tangents parallel to the optical axis either along its length or at the intersection of the outer edge with the anterior or posterior surfaces of the IOL. |
| US09566146B2 |
Cardiovascular valve and valve housing apparatuses and systems
A cardiovascular valve assembly is disclosed including a housing assembly comprising a first portion and a second portion removably attached to the first portion. A valve may be positioned within the housing assembly. The valve, which may be a mechanical valve, a biological tissue valve, or a polymeric valve, may be structured to allow fluid to flow through the housing assembly in a single direction. In certain embodiments, the valve assembly may further include at least one coupling structure provided on the second portion and at least one aperture defined in the first portion, with the aperture structured to receive the coupling structure to couple the first portion to the second portion. Corresponding systems incorporating cardiovascular valve assemblies are also disclosed. |
| US09566145B2 |
Implantable device for directional control of flow within the anatomic tracts of the body
The systems and methods described herein related generally to a device that enables the directional control of flow through an anatomical tract of the body. More particularly, the device described herein includes a valve from a plurality of projections. In some implementations, the projections are configured as flaps, posts, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the device is implanted into a patient's esophagus to prevent gastroesophageal reflux disease. The plurality of projections allow flow into a patient's stomach while substantially preventing a backflow of undesired fluids from the patient's stomach to the patient's esophagus. |
| US09566144B2 |
Vascular filters, deflectors, and methods
Vascular filters and deflectors and methods for filtering bodily fluids. A blood filtering assembly can capture embolic material dislodged or generated during an endovascular procedure to inhibit or prevent the material from entering the cerebral vasculature. A blood deflecting assembly can deflect embolic material dislodged or generated during an endovascular procedure to inhibit or prevent the material from entering the cerebral vasculature. |
| US09566137B2 |
Method for validating a drilling template for producing an implant-borne tooth replacement
The invention relates to a method for validating a drilling template for producing an implant-borne tooth replacement before performing an implant drilling. The drilling template produced is placed on dental structures of a jaw area that is to be provided with the tooth replacement. A measuring element is inserted into the drill guide of the drilling template, wherein the measuring element and at least one partial region of the dental structures not covered by the drilling template is measured using an optical three-dimensional measuring method. Then the position and orientation of the measuring element in relation to the partial region of the dental structures are determined from the generated measured data of the optical measurement, wherein a virtual actual implant drilling model is created on the basis of the optical measured data using the position and orientation determined for the measuring element, and/or using the known dimensions of a drill to be used, and/or the position of a stop surface on the drilling template for the drill to be used, wherein the actual implant drilling model is compared with a planned virtual target implant drilling model from a previous implant planning with respect to its position and its orientation. |
| US09566136B2 |
Endosseous dental implant
Dental implant, having a central body (1) with a substantially conical or frustoconical shape and having, extending from the end with a larger cross-section, a connection seat (701) able to receive a stump pin; this central body (1) is provided with a blade (2) positioned in a longitudinal mid-plane of said central body (1) and has a length so as to protrude beyond the end of the central body (1) which has a smaller cross-section; the central body (1) and the blade (2) are able to give the implant a substantially wedge-like form able to epand the bone during insertion. |
| US09566132B2 |
Smile designer
Various methods and systems for designing a restored smile are provided. One method includes receiving scan data of a patient's teeth, developing a digital model of the patient's teeth via a computing device, where the model represents the patient's teeth based upon the scan data, creating a dental treatment plan to restore one or more teeth from an initial condition to a successive condition, and wherein a final condition of the one or more is based on the one or more teeth having at least one planned additional restorative tooth structure provided therewith. |
| US09566131B2 |
Endodontic file with high fatigue resistance
An endodontic file with improved fatigue resistance comprising a conical body made of a metal alloy and an amorphous titanium-zirconium-boron film deposited on a surface of the conical body. |
| US09566130B2 |
System for dental cleaning
A dental hygiene system includes a feed line for a liquid that engages and dissolves a dental cleansing compound before being discharged from a nozzle connected to the feed line and sprayed on the teeth for cleaning. |
| US09566123B2 |
Surgical location monitoring system and method
A position monitoring system comprises a single composite fiducial reference comprised of a fiducial key and a fiducial extension rigidly and removably attached to the fiducial key, a tracker for obtaining image information of the surgical site, and a computer system with processor, memory, a software program, and access to a database. The computer has scan data of an area of a surgical patient with the fiducial reference fixed to the area by a multipodal surgical screw fixture. A uniquely identifiable first marker is attached to the fiducial key in a predetermined fixed relative position and orientation. The computer determines the relative position and orientation of the marker based on live image information from the tracker, relates and displays the current position and orientation of the composite fiducial reference to the scan data during a surgical procedure. Further implements at the surgical site may bear further markers that may be tracked. The marker may also serve as fiducial extension, to which end it may be uniquely shaped or marked. |
| US09566121B2 |
End effector of a surgical robotic manipulator
An end effector of a surgical robotic manipulator includes a removeable cutting accessory. The cutting accessory includes a cutting tip and a shaft extending along an axis. A drive member is configured to rotatably drive the shaft of the cutting accessory. An actuator is coupled to the drive member for rotatably driving the drive member. A clutch assembly is supported by and is selectively rotatable relative to the drive member and receives the shaft of the cutting accessory along the axis of the shaft for selectively locking the shaft to the drive member. |
| US09566120B2 |
Navigation systems and methods for indicating and reducing line-of-sight errors
Navigation systems and methods used to track objects moving in space. One navigation system and method employs trackers having light emitters for indicating when line-of-sight between tracking elements on the trackers and sensors is obstructed or for other errors. Another navigation system and method instructs users on how to place a tracker with respect to an object to reduce line-of-sight issues during a surgical procedure. |
| US09566118B2 |
Needle assembly magazine
Described is a needle assembly magazine comprising of a housing adapted to contain a plurality of needle assemblies and a slider movably disposed within the housing. The housing has a first opening providing access to an unused needle assembly and a second opening for receiving into the housing a used needle assembly. The slider separates the housing into a first region for unused needle assemblies and a second region for used needle assemblies. Movement of the slider advances the unused needle assemblies within the housing toward the first opening. |
| US09566116B2 |
Expandable laser catheter
Expandable laser catheters for utilizing laser energy to remove obstructions from body passages are described. In one embodiment, the laser catheter includes a shaftway having a distal end including a flexible portion configured in a series of radial folds. Multiple optical fibers, configured to transmit laser energy, extend along the shaftway and are attached to the flexible portion. An inflatable, ring-shaped balloon is attached to the catheter within the flexible portion. In use, the catheter is inserted into a body passage such as an artery, and advanced until the distal end is adjacent to an obstruction. The balloon is inflated to expand the flexible portion and to bring the optical fibers nearer the inner wall of the body passage. Laser energy is directed by the optical fibers toward targeted regions of the obstruction, As the catheter is advanced and the process repeated, a core is formed from the obstruction and contained within the flexible portion. The flexible portion is then contracted to hold the core, and the core is removed from the body passage by withdrawing the catheter. |
| US09566114B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for remodeling tissue of or adjacent to a body passage
Medical devices and methods for making and using the same are disclosed. An example medical device may include a catheter shaft. An expandable member may be coupled to the catheter shaft. A plurality of flexible electrode assemblies may be coupled to the expandable member. A control unit may be coupled to the electrode assemblies. The control unit may be configured to energize the electrode assemblies for approximately 10 seconds to less than approximately 1 minute. |
| US09566113B2 |
Low power tissue ablation system
Devices, systems and methods are disclosed for the ablation of tissue. Embodiments include an ablation catheter that has an array of ablation elements attached to a deployable carrier assembly. The carrier assembly can be constrained within the lumen of a catheter, and deployed to take on an expanded condition. The carrier assembly includes multiple electrodes that are configured to ablate tissue at low power. Additional embodiments include a system that includes an interface unit for delivering one or more forms of energy to the ablation catheter. |
| US09566112B2 |
Apparatus and method for treating a neuromuscular defect
One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a treatment probe comprising an elongated body member and a needle portion. The elongated body member can have a proximal end portion and a distal end portion. The needle portion can be connected to the distal end portion. The needle portion can include at least one electrode and at least one fluid port. The at least one electrode and the at least one fluid port can be configured to deliver electrical energy and a tumescent fluid, respectively, so that superficial tissue planes overlying a target nerve are protected from inadvertent heat damage as a result of application of electrical energy to a target nerve. |
| US09566110B2 |
Surgical instrument with jaw opening assist feature
An apparatus for operating on tissue includes an end effector, an actuator, and a spring assembly. The end effector includes a first jaw and a second jaw that pivots relative to the first jaw from an open position to a closed position. The actuator is coupled with the second jaw to pivot the second jaw relative to the first jaw. The spring assembly is coupled with the actuator and is adjustable from a first position to a second position. The spring assembly compresses to resiliently bias the actuator to pivot the second jaw to the open position when the spring assembly is in the first position. The spring assembly compresses a smaller amount when the spring assembly is in the second position. |
| US09566107B2 |
Method and apparatus for radiofrequency ablation with increased depth and/or decreased volume of ablated tissue
A method of ablating a tissue site includes at least two stages. A first stage involves conducting bipolar ablation between a first pair of electrodes situated in an opposing arrangement on opposing sides of the tissue site to form a pair of opposing first stage ablation regions extending from respective sides of the tissue towards the center. A second stage involves conducting bipolar ablation between a second pair of electrodes situated in a diametrical arrangement with respect to the first stage ablation regions, which forms a second stage ablation region intermediate the pair of first stage ablation regions. The second stage completes the ablation through the entire depth of the tissue site. Since the overall process can accommodate incomplete ablation during the first stage, lower power, reduced ablation times or both may be used during the first stage, avoiding overheating and with a decrease in ablated tissue volume. |
| US09566106B2 |
Surgical device
A surgical apparatus includes: a treatment section treating a living tissue; an energy generation section providing high-frequency current to the treatment section; a liquid feeding conduit feeding a liquid to the living tissue; a suction conduit suctioning the liquid; an energy control section that outputs a high-frequency output control signal for controlling the energy generation section; a first pump drive section that feeds the liquid from the liquid feeding conduit while the high-frequency current is output, according to a command of the high-frequency output control signal, and stops feeding of the liquid, according to a command of the high-frequency output control signal; and a second pump drive section that suctions the liquid from the suction conduit for a predetermined period of time or in a predetermined amount, according to a command for stopping the high-frequency output control signal, and stops suction of the liquid after the suction. |
| US09566103B2 |
Method and implant for stabilizing two bone portions separated by a cut or fracture
In a human or animal patient, two bone portions separated by a cut or fracture are stabilized in a desired position relative to each other by bringing the two bone portions into this desired position, by pulling them against each other, by providing an opening having a mouth on a bone surface and reaching across the cut or fracture and walls in both bone portions, by inserting an implant into the opening and anchoring the implant in the walls of the opening with the aid of a material having thermoplastic properties and energy transmitted into the implant for in situ liquefaction of at least part of the material having thermoplastic properties. One exemplary application of the stabilizing procedure concerns the two tibial bone portions separated by tibial plateau leveling osteotomy in a canine patient suffering from cranial cruciate ligament damage or rupture in a stifle joint. |
| US09566102B2 |
Discharge device for semi-solid materials
This invention relates to a discharge device of the dispenser gun type, which is suitable in particular for discharging semi-solid materials such as e.g. bone replacement materials. The discharge device comprises an adapter (400) which is removably attached to a main body (110) of the discharge device. A fastening structure for attachment of a container (300) is formed on the adapter substantially along a proximal direction (C) contrary to the feed direction (A). As a result various types of containers can be fastened to the machine without the need to change the mechanism of the device. The container can be provided on both ends with identical external threads and can be closed by closure caps in order to enable intuitive handling. In order to improve access to points which are difficult to reach, the container may be in the form of a curved pipe or may be formed flexibly. The piston rod (200) of the discharge device is then also formed flexibly. |
| US09566101B2 |
Devices and methods for vertebrostenting
The invention relates to a method of creating a curvilinear cavity within a vertebral body or other body structure. The invention also relates to devices that may be used to perform the steps to create the curvilinear cavity. One such device is a curved drill including a spring assembly that controls the curvature of the drill. The spring assembly can cooperate with a feed screw to assist in curving the drill. The curved drill can be provided through a cannula. |
| US09566100B2 |
Screw for joint fusion
Techniques for joint fusion are described, including a screw comprising a head having a partially flat surface and an opening for receiving a screwdriver tip, the head able to fit within a drill guide, a tip having another opening, a shaft extending from the head to the tip, the shaft having a plurality of holes and a thread on an external surface of the shaft, and a cannula within the shaft extending from the opening to the another opening. |
| US09566097B2 |
Modular hook plate assembly
A hook plate assembly includes a bone plate extending along a longitudinal axis from a first end to a second end and including an upper surface facing away from a bone, a bone contacting surface, a plate hole extending therethrough from the upper surface to the bone contacting surface and a connection section arranged at the second end. The plate hole is sized and shaped to receive a bone fixation element therethrough in combination with a hook including a connecting portion configured to connect the hook to the connection section of the bone plate and a fastening element releasably coupling the hook to the bone plate. |
| US09566095B2 |
Sacroiliac joint fastener, systems, and methods of using the same
A sacroiliac (“SI”) joint fastener apparatus, systems, and methods of using the device is described. The SI joint fastener apparatus can include a distal segment, a proximal segment, and an expandable portion. The expandable portion can be expanded by reducing the distance between the distal and proximal segments. The SI joint fastener apparatus can be used to fuse two bone portions together. The method can include steps of coupling the fastener apparatus to two bone portions, reducing the distance between the two bone portions to place the portions in compression, and applying an outwardly directed force proximate the location to be fused. |
| US09566093B2 |
Bone screw
A bone screw having a screw member possessing a threaded section and a head and a receiving part at the head end for receiving a rod to be connected to the bone screw is provided. The receiving part has on open first bore and a substantially U-shaped cross-section having two free legs provided with a thread. Furthermore, the receiving part has a second bore on the end opposite to the first bore whose diameter is greater than that of the threaded section and smaller than that of the head. On the bottom of the first bore a seat for the head is provided. In order that the screw member can be pivoted to at least one side by an enlarged angle, the edge bounding the free end of the second bore viewed relative to the axis of the first bore is of asymmetric construction. |
| US09566092B2 |
Cervical bone anchor with collet retainer and outer locking sleeve
A cervical polyaxial bone anchor includes a shank having an integral spherical head and a receiver having an upper channel for receiving a rod and a lower seat near a lower opening for receiving a closed retainer that includes a compressible upper portion engaged with the receiver seat and an expandable lower portion capturing the shank head. An outer sleeve slidable with the receiver prohibits expansion of the retainer lower portion during operation. A compression insert engages the retainer upper portion and is in friction fit with the shank head prior to fixing of an angle of the shank with respect to the receiver. |
| US09566087B2 |
Vascular access device
An access device for placing a medical article within a body space includes a needle, a dilator, and a sheath. The dilator can be coaxially and slideably disposed about the needle, and the sheath can be coaxially and slideably disposed about the dilator. The access device can further include a inner member coaxially disposed between the needle and dilator. The needle can include a fenestration in fluid communication with a space between the needle and inner member. When the needle punctures a blood vessel, the fenestration allows blood to flow into the space between the needle and inner member to provide a visual indicator to a physician or healthcare professional that the needle is in a vessel. |
| US09566082B2 |
Endoscopic instrument
An endoscopic instrument includes a control wire having a push rod at its distal end and an end effector assembly having first and second effector elements such as scissors blades mounted on a clevis. The effector elements are operated by a cam-pin on the push rod riding in cam-slots defined in the effector elements. According to one aspect of the invention, the effector elements are symmetrically opened even when the push rod is canted relative to the clevis. According to another aspect of the invention, the effector elements can be rotated into a closed configuration that minimizes the distal dimension across the effector elements. In addition, the effector elements, when in the closed configuration, can rotate together to facilitate insertion of the end effector into an entry portion of an endoscope. |
| US09566072B2 |
Coil system
Vaso-impacting implants and novel methods of making coils, stent-trievers, flow diverters and the like enable aneurysm treatment, including in the brain. Refined and variegated framing and complex coils provide for rapid electrolytic detachment, including less than 20 second embodiments. Novel enhanced mandrels, fittings and winding schemes are likewise disclosed improving the standard of care and state of the art. |
| US09566070B2 |
Device and method for treating a vessel
A device and method for treating bodily diseases and/or conditions, for example, varicose veins, tumors and aneurysms including for example insertion of a blocking device toward a target destination using a catheter and delivery of sclerosing or other agents to the vessel while maintaining minimal, for example zero pressure in the treatment area. The blocking device may prevent treatment materials, embolisms, debris etc. from entering the upstream section of vessel. The blocking device may include, for example, a cap or other concave shape and may be expandable or extendible towards the vessel walls. |
| US09566069B2 |
Ligating instrument
A ligating instrument is provided, including an elongate member, such as a tube, having a lumen, the elongate member extending from a proximal actuator member to a distal ligating band dispenser. A pull line may extend through the lumen of the elongate member, with a proximal end of the pull line connected to the actuator member and a distal end of the pull line connected to the ligating band dispenser, wherein actuation of the actuator member draws the pull line in a proximal direction through the elongate member to deploy the ligating bands. The ligating band dispenser may be adapted to be mounted on the distal tip of an endoscope, and the elongate member may be adapted to be positioned outside of the endoscope from the ligating band dispenser to the actuator member. Alternatively, a ligating instrument may be provided for use with an endoscope, wherein a pull line of the ligating instrument is adapted to be positioned outside of the endoscope, wherein the pull line may be secured to the endoscope by clips or some other means. In a method of using a ligating instrument with an endoscope, a distal ligating band dispenser is attached to a distal tip of an endoscope, and a pull line of the ligating instrument is extended on the outside of the endoscope, such that the pull line extends, on the outside of the endoscope, from the distal ligating band dispenser to a proximal actuator member. |
| US09566068B2 |
Sutureless vascular anastomosis connection
Techniques for sutureless vascular anastomosis are described, including a connector configured to provide fluid communication between a graft vessel and a main vessel, the connector having tines disposed circumferentially about an outer surface of the connector, a front wing coupled to the base, the front wing having a tine configured to engage an inner surface of the main vessel, and having a hinge coupling the front wing to the connector, and a rear wing coupled to the base, the rear wing having another tine configured to engage the inner surface of the main vessel, and having another hinge coupling the rear wing to the connector. |
| US09566067B2 |
Surgical stapling apparatus including sensing mechanism
A surgical stapling device particularly suited for endoscopic procedures is described. The device includes a handle assembly and an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly. The distal end of the elongated body is adapted to engage a disposable loading unit. A control rod having a proximal end operatively connected to the handle assembly includes a distal end extending through the elongated body. A control rod locking member is provided to prevent movement of the control rod until the disposable loading unit is fully secured to the elongated body of the stapling device. |
| US09566064B2 |
Surgical stapling apparatus
A surgical stapling apparatus (stapler) is provided. The stapler includes a housing, elongated member, and a reload. A cartridge is configured to selectively couple to a first jaw member of the reload and includes one or more resilient members thereon. An anvil operably supported on a second jaw member of the reload is configured to compress one or more fasteners ejected from the cartridge. The anvil includes one or more locking members thereon. A knife is configured to translate through the cartridge and anvil when the first and second jaw members are in a closed configuration. Engagement between the knife and the resilient member(s) causes the resilient member(s) to move from an initial configuration that allows the knife to travel distally past the locking member(s) to a final configuration that allows the locking member(s) to engage the knife. |
| US09566061B2 |
Fastener cartridge comprising a releasably attached tissue thickness compensator
A fastener cartridge can comprise a cartridge body and a layer, such as a tissue thickness compensator, for example, releasably attached to the cartridge body. The tissue thickness compensator can comprise a compressible first portion and a second support portion. The second portion can be rigid and can support the first portion when mounted thereto. The properties of the first portion and/or the second portion can be selected so as to prevent the premature deflection and release from the cartridge body. The fastener cartridge can further comprise one or more attachment portions configured to releasably hold the tissue thickness compensator to the cartridge body. The attachment portions can be configured to permit a firing member to pass therethrough. In some circumstances, the tissue thickness compensator can be configured to hold the firing member in an unfired position until a sufficient firing force has been applied to the firing member. |
| US09566057B2 |
Suture retention mechanism
The present invention provides suture retention devices for retaining a suture on a bodily wall, e.g. for affixing the suture to the skin such as during the creation of an external percutaneous fluidic connection. In one embodiment, a device includes a base member and a swivel member. In another embodiment, the device includes a base member, first and second jaws, and a key. Operation of the swivel member or key serves to lock the suture to the device, and hence maintain tension on the suture while affixed to the skin. |
| US09566054B2 |
Foam introduction system including modified port geometry
A surgical apparatus for positioning within a tissue tract accessing an underlying body cavity includes a seal anchor member including leading portion, a trailing portion, and an intermediate portion disposed between the leading and trailing portions. The leading portion of the seal anchor member is configured and adapted to ease insertion of the seal anchor member into the tissue tract. Subsequent to insertion of the seal anchor member, the leading portion of the seal anchor member is also configured and adapted to facilitate securing and/or anchoring of the seal anchor member within the tissue tract. |
| US09566052B2 |
Tissue retractor apparatus and methods
A delicate tissue retraction system having a hollow tubular retractor, a hollow tubular introducer that is removably installed within the retractor, and a navigation module that is removably installed within the introducer. The navigation module has a shaft with a proximal shaft end and a distal shaft end, and a navigation unit mounted to the proximal shaft end. When assembled, the distal shaft end is contained generally within the introducer and the navigation module outside the introducer. The navigation module indicates the location of one or more points on at least one of the retractor and the introducer to a navigation system. |
| US09566051B2 |
Snap-on vascular closure device and methods
A tissue puncture closure assembly including a wire assembly and a sealing pad delivery device, The wire assembly includes a proximal end portion, a distal end portion, and a temporary expandable anchor positioned at the distal end portion. The sealing pad delivery device includes a carrier tube, a sealing pad positioned in the carrier tube, and a lateral wire slot. The lateral wire slot is defined in an outer surface of the sealing pad delivery device and extends along at least a portion of a length of the sealing pad delivery device. The lateral wire slot is configured to permit mounting of the sealing pad delivery device to the wire assembly in a lateral direction. |
| US09566047B2 |
Cryogenic biopsy system and method
A cryogenic biopsy device is configured to provide thin, frozen tissue samples, which may be viewed under a microscope and selected for biomarker analysis. The device is configured to provide slices which are less than 50 micrometers in thickness, while snap-freezing the tissue and maintaining the sample in a deep-frozen state until it reaches the pathology lab for further processing. Alternatively, thicker slices can be harvested by the device and additional sectioning can be done in the pathology lab by using cryomicrotome. The device of the present invention may be used in rigid instruments and in flexible devices, such as endoscopes, for example, and may be suitable for single use or multiple use. |
| US09566045B2 |
Tissue handling system with reduced operator exposure
A tissue handling system includes a biopsy device having an invasive unit with tissue-receiving and tissue-severing components being capable of harvesting and bringing at least one tissue sample to a point outside the body of a patient. The tissue handling system further includes a tissue collecting device adapted to be brought in detachable operative engagement with the tissue-receiving components of the biopsy device to remove the at least one tissue sample. Additionally, the tissue handling device comprises a tissue storage container configured to receive the at least one tissue sample, the entire tissue collecting device, or the part of the collecting device that contains the at least one tissue sample. The tissue storage container further is configured to receive a volume of preserving agent. The tissue handling system also comprises a vessel including the preserving agent adapted to be gas-tightly mated or coupled to the tissue storage container. |
| US09566040B2 |
Automatic collimator adjustment device with depth camera and method for medical treatment equipment
An automatic collimator adjustment device and method for medical treatment equipment are disclosed. The medical treatment equipment includes an automatic collimator adjustment device, which includes a processor unit, a depth camera, and a collimator control device. The processor unit receives an instant image pixel depth signal acquired by the depth camera to compare with a predetermined image pixel depth signal of a predetermined human body portion of a target human body in order to generate at least one collimator adjustment signal to the collimator control device, so that the collimator control device controls the collimator to adjust the X-ray beam to align with the predetermined human body portion of the target human body. |
| US09566039B2 |
Bed positioning system for radiation therapy
Provided is a bed positioning system for a radiation therapy system capable of capturing X-ray transparent images and CT images by rotating an X-ray tube and an X-ray detector around a subject on a bed, comprising: a transparent image registration system which generates a subtraction image from a first X-ray transparent image captured by the X-ray tube and the X-ray detector and a digitally reconstructed radiograph generated from a treatment plan CT image, corrects the first X-ray transparent image by use of a correction image generated by processing the subtraction image in a previously specified direction, and compares the first X-ray transparent image after the correction and the digitally reconstructed radiograph to determine a movement amount of the bed. |
| US09566035B2 |
X-ray detector and method of manufacturing the same
A method of manufacturing an X-ray detector includes: applying a mask having an opening on a substrate on which a plurality of charge detection units are positioned; filling the opening with a paste including a photoelectric conversion material that absorbs X-rays to generate charges; and forming a photoconductive layer from the paste by separating the mask from the substrate. A thickness of the paste within the opening is thicker in an area adjacent to at least one edge among edges of the opening than in areas around other edges. |
| US09566033B2 |
Garment system with electronic components and associated methods
The disclosure provides a wireless biometric monitoring system that may be capable of acquiring, compiling, analyzing, and transmitting biometric data in near real time/real time. The system may utilize either the most up-to-date Bluetooth protocol (currently Bluetooth Smart) or a similar wireless protocol. The system may further integrate through this wireless protocol with peripheral devices to expand the measurement capacity of the system.In embodiments, the system may be capable of monitoring multiple biometric responses including, but not limited to: skin temperature, core temperature, respirations, heart rate, predicted tidal volume, chest wall movement, abdominal movement in conjunction with inspiration, abdominal movement in conjunction with expiration, HRR (heart rate reserve), HRV (heart rate variability), body position relevant to perpendicular, shoulder position relevant to hip position, general body posture, up time, down time, and malfunctions. |
| US09566031B2 |
Apparatuses and methods for measured sleep alarm signaling
Measured sleep alarm signaling is provided which activates an alarm in a manner that allows a user to get a predetermined amount of measured sleep, rather than just awakening the person at a specific time, or when the person has been in the bed for a certain amount of time. A method for awakening a person includes: setting a desired amount of actual sleep time; receiving measurement signals relating to the person's state of sleep over time; determining, using the received measurement signals, an actual sleep time indicating an amount of time that the person has actually slept; determining whether the actual sleep time is greater than or equal to the desired amount of actual sleep time, as a first determination result; and initiating an alarm for awakening the person using the first determination result. |
| US09566030B2 |
Optical system for detection and characterization of abnormal tissue and cells
An optical system and apparatus for the diagnosis of a biological sample is disclosed. An embodiment of the apparatus includes an optical probe, a probe head distally connectable to the optical probe, the optical probe further comprising at least one optical element for applying an electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength to the biological sample, and one or more collection elements positioned proximate the at least one optical element; and an analyzer for analyzing a signal received from the biological sample by the one or more collection elements. |
| US09566027B2 |
Device and system for blood sampling
A medical device is presented for reduced-pain blood sampling and testing. The device comprises a housing defining a finger site for supporting a user's finger or a portion thereof within said finger site during the device operation; piercing, sampling and testing assemblies sequentially actuatable to successively initiate piercing, sampling and testing operational modes of the device; a carriage at least partially accommodated within said housing and being adapted for movement with respect to said finger site between its first position corresponding to the piercing mode of the device and a second position corresponding to the sampling and testing modes of the device, the device being thereby capable of operating in the piercing, sampling and testing modes while at a static position of the user's finger. |
| US09566022B2 |
Apparatus and method for determining 3D load displacement response of a joint
An apparatus for determining 3D load displacement characteristics of an anatomical joint formed by a first body portion and a second body portion moveable with respect to the first body portion. The apparatus includes a first frame for receiving and securing the first body portion and a load displacement assembly. The load displacement assembly includes a first axis for alignment with a first anatomical plane of the joint, a second frame for receiving and securing the second body portion. The second frame is movable relative to the first frame. The load displacement assembly also includes a first counterweight configured to balance the weight of the second frame, a force for applying a load to the second frame, and a displacement sensor for measuring displacement of the second frame relative to the first frame upon application of the force. |
| US09566019B2 |
Respiratory monitoring
A patient interface in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to be at least partially carried by a patient and to receive gas exhaled by the patient. The patient interface includes first and second cannula tubes each having a first end and a second end, the first ends are configured to be inserted into the nostrils of a patient, the first and second cannula tubes are configured to direct exhaled gas from the patient from the first ends to said second ends. The patient interface also includes first and second sensors positioned near the second ends, and the first and second sensors are configured to provide first and second signals based upon the gas, wherein the first and second signals are indicative of a physiological parameter of the patient. The patient interface also includes a communications link configured to provide the signal to a physiological monitor. |
| US09566014B2 |
System for cardiac MR and MR cine imaging using parallel image processing
A system for cardiac MR imaging receives a heart rate signal representing heart electrical activity. The system, over multiple successive heart cycles, uses multiple MR imaging RF coils in gradient echo imaging a patient heart, synchronized with the heart rate signal and uses an inversion recovery pulse for inverting myocardium tissue MR signal for an individual heart cycle, to acquire, within multiple individual successive portions of an individual heart cycle, corresponding successive multiple patient heart images. An individual image of an individual heart cycle portion is derived from multiple heart image representative data sets comprising a reduced set of k-space data elements acquired using corresponding multiple coils of the RF imaging coils. An image generator generates an MR image of an individual heart cycle portion using the multiple heart image representative data sets comprising the reduced set of k-space data elements. |
| US09566013B2 |
Methods and apparatus for monitoring P-wave duration and end and QRS duration with an implantable medical device
Novel methods and apparatus for dynamically monitoring paced and sensed P-wave duration, P-wave end and/or QRS duration and/or S-T segment duration, or length, in a patient having an implantable medical device (IMD) provides diagnostic and clinical benefit allowing for predictions about future arrhythmia, advanced notification, alert and intervention as well as providing acute and chronic information regarding cardiac status, including both possibly declining and/or improving cardiac function. The methods can be performed using a wide variety of IMDs, such as pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and implantable loop recorders (e.g., such as the REVEAL® device manufactured by Medtronic, Inc.). |
| US09566012B2 |
Method and apparatus for selection and use of virtual sensing vectors
A medical device is configured to receive at least two physical cardiac electrical signals from a patient's heart via electrodes defining at least two physical sensing vectors. The medical device determines a signal feature for each of a plurality of virtual sensing vectors extending at a plurality of angles relative to one of the at least two physical sensing vectors during a known cardiac rhythm, compares the determined signal features and establishes criteria for confirming a suspected condition in response to the comparing. |
| US09566006B2 |
Object information acquisition apparatus
An object information acquisition apparatus comprises an irradiating unit configured to irradiate an object with light; a plurality of detecting units configured to receive an elastic wave generated within the object irradiated with light, and convert the elastic wave to a received signal; a distribution acquiring unit configured to acquire a light intensity distribution within the object irradiated with light; a setting unit configured to select a minimum block unit in which light intensity is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, using the light intensity distribution; and a generating unit configured to generate object information of the minimum block unit selected by the setting unit, using the received signal. |
| US09566004B1 |
Apparatus, method and system for measuring repetitive motion activity
Provided herein are systems and methods that use a video content analysis algorithm to measure and quantify repetitive motion activity of a designated body part, including velocity, acceleration, frequency, and duty cycle, without applying sensors or other instrumentation to the body, for the purpose of preventing repetitive motion injuries. In some embodiments, the video-based direct exposure assessment system uses marker-less video and a video content analysis algorithm. The video content analysis algorithm is able to recognize and identify the pattern of repetitive motion, through a process known as cyclic motion analysis. Determination of the cycle pattern provides parameters for determining a body part's activity level, and thereby allows determination of the body part's activity level. |
| US09566002B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program
To ensure display of a region of interest on a fundus image and a tomographic image of an eye to be inspected in a correspondence manner, an apparatus for processing images of an eye to be inspected includes: a unit that acquires a fundus image of an eye to be inspected; a unit that designates an arbitrary point on the fundus image; a unit that acquires a tomographic image of the eye to be inspected; a unit that calculates a point on the tomographic image corresponding to the arbitrary point; and a unit that converts a coordinate system for displaying the tomographic image and the fundus image in association with each other on the basis of positions of the arbitrary point and the corresponding point. |
| US09565996B2 |
Plenoptic otoscope
A plenoptic otoscope enables three-dimensional and/or spectral imaging of the inside of the ear to assist in improved diagnosis of inflammations and infections. The plenoptic otoscope includes a primary imaging system and a plenoptic sensor. The primary imaging system includes an otoscope objective and relay optics, which cooperate to form an image of an inside of an ear at an intermediate image plane. The plenoptic sensor includes a microimaging array positioned at the intermediate image plane and a sensor array positioned at a conjugate of the pupil plane. An optional filter module may be positioned at the pupil plane or one of its conjugates to facilitate three-dimensional and/or spectral imaging. |
| US09565995B2 |
Endoscope channel separator
A decontamination system including a test fixture configured to engage an endoscope in order to retain the test fixture thereto, wherein the endoscope can comprise a valve chamber and a valve removable from the valve chamber such that the test fixture can be inserted therein. The test fixture can comprise, first, a frame having a first gripping portion and a valve member analog extending from the frame, and, second, a housing having a second gripping portion movable relative to the frame between a locked position and an unlocked position, wherein the second gripping portion is configured to be moved toward the first gripping portion to position the housing in its unlocked position. The second gripping portion can be configured to be moved away from the first gripping portion to position the housing in its locked position such that the housing can engage a locking feature on the endoscope. |
| US09565993B2 |
Endoscope
The object lens 21 and the ocular lens 22 are disposed in the lens barrel unit 11 and the relay lens system 23 is disposed therebetween. The image sensor 31 is disposed in the camera unit 12 and the coaxial illumination unit 32 is disposed therearound. The focus position shift member 25 is disposed at the image formation position L1 in the lens barrel unit 11. The light from the coaxial illumination unit 32 is imaged at the image formation position L1 and is shifted to a position L2 by the focus position shift member 25. Since the position L2 positions at a position closer than a focus position, light through the object lens 21 diffuses to illuminate the object 51. |
| US09565990B2 |
Endoscope apparatus with slave device and master device
An endoscope apparatus is provided. An endoscope apparatus includes a slave device including a plurality of drive motors configured to adjust insertion and insertion direction of an insertion tube of an endoscope, and a plurality of load sensors provided on the plurality of drive motors; and a master device including displacement sensors configured to generate signals for driving the drive motors according to an operator manipulation, and resistive motors configured to operate based on loads detected by the load sensors. The drive motors produce drive forces according to the signals generated by the displacement sensors and the resistive motors produce resistive forces corresponding to the operator manipulation based on the loads detected by the load sensors. |
| US09565989B2 |
Rack for dishwashers, in particular commercial dishwashers
A rack for dishwashers, in particular for commercial dishwashers, is provided. With the aim of making optimum use of space in the rack, and of discharging residual water as best as possible, it is proposed, that the rack has a rack framework (20) with two directly adjacent set-down surfaces (SI, S2) which are intended for washware (10) and run parallel to one another in the longitudinal direction of the rack, wherein the set-down surfaces (S) are inclined in relation to the horizontal such that the surface normals (F1, F2) of the set-down surfaces (S 1, S2) diverge. |
| US09565988B2 |
Dishwasher
Disclosed herein is a dishwasher including a spray unit fixed to one sidewall of a wash tub and a reflecting plate assembly to reflect wash water sprayed from the spray unit onto dishes and to linearly reciprocate in a spray direction of the wash water sprayed from the spray unit. The dishwasher further includes a drive unit to drive the reflecting plate assembly, and a cam unit to transmit driving force of the drive unit to the reflecting plate assembly. The drive unit includes a motor to generate rotational force, and a belt forming a closed loop and caused to make cyclic movement by the motor. The cam unit is engaged with the belt to transmit power of the belt to the reflecting plate assembly. The cam is alternately engaged with first and second portions of the belt to cause the reflecting plate assembly to reciprocate. |
| US09565982B2 |
Floor care appliance
A brush vacuum cleaner having a brush set for receiving a driven brush roller, wherein at least one electric motor for a suction fan and for the drive of the brush roller is disposed in the brush set and wherein at least three air guiding channels are formed in a pivotable connecting element between the brush set and a filter housing. A supply of the dirt-laden suction air from the brush set to the filter housing takes place through the first air guiding channel, the filtered air is returned to the brush set through the second air guiding channel and through the third air guiding channel exhaust gas of the suction fan is returned to the filter housing to an air outlet. |
| US09565980B2 |
Air diversion devices, systems, and methods
In an example embodiment, an air diversion device comprises a cover adaptable to be coupled to a wall-mounted hand dryer, the cover at least partially surrounding an inner volume, a first aperture disposed in the cover and adaptable to bring a hand dryer output of the wall-mounted hand dryer into fluid communication with the inner volume, and a wand coupled to the cover and in fluid communication with the inner volume, wherein the wand comprises a flexible tube and a wand aperture disposed distal to the flexible tube and the cover. |
| US09565972B1 |
Electric grinder having lighting means and a USB port for charging
The present disclosure discloses a grinder for grinding herbs, coffee beans, spices, tobacco, and other dried plants into particulates. The grinder comprises a body and a filter assembly. The filter assembly includes a mesh filter and is coupled at the bottom of the body. The body comprises a battery and blade coupled to a shaft, which, in turn is coupled to a motor. When the motor is run, the motor spins the blade, which, in turn grinds the herb into particulates. The particulates of herb are collected at a pollen catching cap after being filtered by the mesh filter. Further, the grinder can include a storage assembly to store or transport the particulates of the herb. The grinder can include a USB port to recharge the battery and a lighting means to provide visibility to a user operating the grinder. |
| US09565969B2 |
Section bar for a heater and fluid flow heater, in particular for coffee machines
The section bar (1) for a fluid flow heater for coffee machines has a longitudinal development with two opposing ends and a first tubular cavity (A), that is accessible at the opposing ends of the section bar (1), and a second cavity (B) having an opening (O) that extends along the longitudinal development of the section bar (1). A heater (10) having an encased resistor (2, 3) integrated in the first cavity (A) of the section bar (1) and a tubular fluid circulation conduit (4) inserted into the second cavity (B) of the section bar (1) and fixed by means of bending at least one lug (B1, B2, B3) around the tubular fluid circulation conduit (4), so that the opposing ends of the tubular fluid circulation conduit (4) emerge with respect to the opposing ends of the section bar (1). |
| US09565968B2 |
Beverage producing device with a dual-position water container
The beverage producing device comprises a housing (3) and a removable water container (9) which is designed to be connected to the outside of said housing (3) in an operative position, when the device is in use. The water container is further designed to be recoverable in an inoperative position inside a recovery seat (27) formed by said housing or parts thereof, when the device is not in use. |
| US09565966B2 |
Coffee filter qualification apparatus and methodology
A coffee filter qualification system receives user-specified filter criteria relating to acceptable attributes for a plurality of apertures included in a liquid brewing filter. A light source illuminates the apertures of the liquid brewing filter and a machine vision camera images the apertures of the filter. A filter qualification information handling system (IHS) determines if the liquid brewing filter meets the predefined user-specified filter criteria. The filter qualification IHS accepts the liquid brewing filter if the filter meets the filter criteria, and otherwise rejects the filter. The filter criteria may include the total cumulative area of the apertures, individual aperture area, aperture count and aperture acircularity information. |
| US09565964B2 |
Steam cooking appliance
Provided is a steam cooking appliance. The steam cooking appliance includes a main body having a cavity that provides a cooking space in which a food is accommodated, a backguard extending upward from an upper portion of the main body, a water tank separately mounted on the backguard, a steam supply unit disposed outside the cavity to generate steam, thereby supplying the steam into the cooking space, and a water supply tube to supply water within the water tank into the steam supply unit. |
| US09565961B1 |
Mailbox with delivery indicator
A mailbox includes a hollow housing having a rear wall, an outer wall and an open front in communication with an interior mail receptacle. Within the mail receptacle is an actuator that deploys a delivery indicator when the access door is opened. Accordingly, when a mail carrier opens the door, the indicator automatically pivots downwardly to a vertical position, extending below the bottom surface of the housing, to conspicuously notify a user that mail has been delivered. The released indicator also exposes a textual alert message inscribed on the housing rear wall. |
| US09565955B2 |
Waterproof perforated layered sheet
A layered mattress protector and sheet, comprising: a bottom fitted portion; at least three fitted sheet layers, each fitted sheet layer having a top side, bottom side, right side and left side and an upper portion and lower portion; a waterproof coating on the lower portion of each of the at least three fitted sheet layers; wherein the at least three fitted sheet layers are stitched along the right side and left side to the bottom fitted portion and the top side and bottom side are unstitched; and wherein each of the at least three fitted sheet layers has at least one perforation that is at least substantially parallel to the right side and left side in each of at least three fitted sheet layers. |
| US09565951B2 |
Small child and baby carrier and extension element for the use as a part of a small child and baby carrier
Described is a small child and baby carrier, that has a waist strap, a carry bag that extends from a lower end which is connected to the waist strap to an upper end region and has a bottom section adjacent to the lower end, as well as an upper body section extending upward from the lower bottom section. Two shoulder straps extend from the upper end region of the carry bag. So that the small child and baby carrier can be used over a longer age and/or size interval of the child, the small child and baby carrier is furthermore provided with an extension element, arranged detachably between the two shoulder straps in the upper end region of the carry bag and designed to extend the upper body section when in use. |
| US09565946B1 |
Park bench
A bench and frame component for holding individual planks to be used in a sitting bench where fastening an individual plank to the frame can be avoided. The frame is configured to allow a plank to be received in a holding pocket defined by an upper pocket piece and a lower pocket piece. The upper pocket piece may be connected to and removed from the lower pocket piece. The lower pocket piece may include a series of pocket segments and when connected with the upper pocket piece form a series of two-piece holding pockets for receiving a plurality of planks. The frame component is combined with other components and planks to form a bench. The bench may comprise individual bench sections that connect with similar modular sections to form a sectional bench. |
| US09565936B2 |
Slidable pantry pullout apparatus and method of use
Disclosed is a pantry pullout apparatus having side access and designed for simple, adjustable, and accurate installation within a pre-existing cabinet space. The apparatus, slidably mounted within the cabinet space, comprises a top slide assembly mounted to a cabinet carcass and a drawer box. The drawer box is automatically centered on a base slide box. The base slide box is comprised of a slotted template slidingly engaged with a frame, where the frame is mounted to the cabinet carcass. Slide rail assemblies connect the slotted template to the frame. A pin block on the underside of a fixed shelf of the drawer box automatically centers the drawer box on the slotted template. A face plate adjustment mechanism provides for three dimensional alignment of the face plate with surrounding cabinets. |
| US09565935B2 |
Weapon stock saddle for a mass weapon storage system
A weapon stock saddle for a weapon storage system includes an elongated irregular opening of a weapon stock saddle to receive a butt end of a weapon stock. The elongated irregular opening includes a toe end and a head end. The weapon stock saddle also includes a plurality of substantially parallel adjacent steps. Each step has a different height above a horizontal surface and forms a wall to capture the butt end of the weapon stock. A floor of the elongated irregular opening, between the toe end and a first wall of a first step of the plurality of substantially parallel adjacent steps, has an angle of about 17 degrees plus or minus 10 degrees with respect to a horizontal surface upon which the weapon stock saddle rests. |
| US09565934B2 |
Fishing rod holder
A fishing rod holder assembly for securing, transporting and dispensing a plurality of fishing rods is disclosed. The invention herein provides a convenient way to secure, transport and dispense fishing rods from a vehicle such as a pickup truck. The fishing rod holder rotates and tilts the fishing rods to a stowed position to prevent the fishing rods from being bounced around and becoming damaged, especially during transport. The invention lowers the fishing rods to a horizontal position during transport to prevent possible damage to the expensive fishing rods as a result of their sticking up above the profile of a pickup truck and being exposed to the high velocity air when traveling at expressway speeds or becoming entangled with low hanging vegetation or other obstacles while driving down a road. By lowering the fishing rods to a position in the bed of a truck, a cover could then be placed over the bed of a pickup truck to enhance the security of the fishing rods by keeping them out of sight and by providing protection from the elements. |
| US09565931B2 |
Opening/closing structure of opening/closing cover
An opening/closing structure of a cover includes a casing and a rotatable cover. A shaft part and a bearing part are formed to one and the other of the casing and the cover, respectively. One of the shaft part and the bearing part is formed with one of a protrusion and a relief part on a part of an end surface in an axial direction, and the other of the shaft part and the bearing part is formed with the other of the protrusion and the relief part on a facing surface facing the end surface. The protrusion circumvents contact with the surface having the relief part when the cover is closed. When the cover is opened, from the closed state, by a particular angle, the protrusion contacts the surface so as to be applied with a resistant force against rotation of the cover. |
| US09565928B2 |
Desktop organization and display stand system
A desktop organization and display stand system generally providing an integrated system for desks and workstations that is convertible between a conventional working surface, and a display shelf to support a variety of objects including electronic media, such as a tablet computer, laptop computer, smart phone, electronic display, flat panel monitor, television, books, magazines, other printed materials, other suitable object and/or electronic media, or any combination thereof. |
| US09565926B2 |
Oral care implement
An oral care implement with a gripping portion. The oral care implement is a toothbrush (100) including an elongated body (101) formed of a first material and a handle (104) including a proximal gripping portion (114) and a distal neck portion (115) supporting a head (102) containing a plurality of tooth cleaning elements (108). A longitudinally elongated through slot (130) is formed in the gripping portion (114) of the handle (104) which extends transversely between front and rear exposed surfaces (112) of the handle (104). A second material which is elastomeric is disposed in the slot (130). A longitudinally elongated depression (120) having a transversely concave profile is formed in the rear exposed surfaces (112) of the handle (104) which communicates with the slot (130). The second material extends at least partially in the depression (120). |
| US09565925B2 |
Flexible strip brush, flexible belt brush, and method for manufacturing the same
A flexible strip brush element is constructed from multiple monofiliments arranged in a parallel fashion and attached at one end to a flexible base. The monofiliments are attached to the base by intermingling material from the base with material from the monofiliments. The free ends of the monofiliments collectively form a bristle end zone. A plurality of flexible strip brush elements may be bonded side-by-side so the free ends of the monofiliments form a common bristle end zone. The bonded flexible strip brush elements may take the form of a linear section or may be fashioned into an endless loop or jointless spiral. |
| US09565924B2 |
Camping hammock
A hammock formed by suspending a substantially rectilinear section of material by two diagonally-opposed corners to two respective anchor points. Preferably, the other two diagonally-opposed corners of the substantially rectilinear section of material are anchored to respective anchor points below the two suspension anchor points. The hammock preferably has a suspension line and a body, wherein the suspension line and body are separate. Preferably, the body includes the substantially rectilinear section of material, and an overlying rain-fly. A method of suspending such a hammock includes suspending the suspension line to the two suspension anchor points, and suspending the hammock body from the suspension line. Preferably, the other two diagonally-opposed corners of the substantially rectilinear section of material are then anchored to respective anchor points below the two suspension anchor points. |
| US09565923B2 |
Water bottle
Fluid carrying apparatus having an outer helical tubular casing which, in use, holds fluid, and an inner helical tubular member within the outer helical tubular casing through which the fluid can be delivered from the outer helical tubular casing. |
| US09565917B2 |
Eye shadow pencil case
An eye shadow pencil case includes a container for receiving eye shadow, a rotatable control tube, and a makeup tool for applying the eye shadow. The container includes a top end having a first opening. A sliding groove is formed in an intermediate portion of an outer periphery of the container and includes an open position and a closed position. The rotatable control tube includes a top end having a second opening. The rotatable control tube further includes an inner periphery having a protrusion. The protrusion slides in the sliding groove when the rotatable control tube is rotated. The second opening is aligned with the first opening when the protrusion is in the open position. The second opening is not aligned with the first opening when the protrusion is in the closed position. The makeup tool is mounted on the top end of the rotatable control tube. |
| US09565906B2 |
Multi-joint bending structure and wearable device using multi-joint bending structure
A multi-joint bending structure includes: a first-band-piece including joint potions on both ends; bending-units enabling the multi-joint-bending-structure to change in position between a straight state and a bent state; a third-band-piece including a joint potion provided on one end, the joint portion connected to the joint potion of the end of one of the bending-units; one pair of two linear bodies, each of the linear bodies having one end fixed to the housings and another end movable along the housings; and an assisting-force-generation-mechanism provided at predetermined opposed positions of the pair of two linear bodies and configured to generate assisting force, wherein the assisting-force-generation-mechanism includes rod-like bodies, a contracting-elastic-body inserted into the gap, and two piece members which both the ends of the overlapping potions energized by the piece members switch over, and the contracting force of the elastic-body acts as the assisting force between both the ends. |
| US09565903B2 |
Closure system
A closure or fastener is provided for apparel, shoes, equipment, and other applications. The closure may have a female component having a receiving area and a male component having a locking portion. Either or both the male component and female component may have a notched appearance to provide additional flexibility and comfort to the closure. Flanges on the male components and the female components may facilitate off-registration engagement of the closure system. Textures present or absent in the closure system may permit or prevent sliding by the male components and female components when the closure is engaged. |
| US09565902B2 |
Toe-cap molding machine
A toe-cap molding machine has a body, a clamping device and a shoe-tree mount. The body has a base panel, a connecting mount, a clamping cylinder and a shoe-tree cylinder. The clamping device is detachably connected to the body and has two quick-release groups and a mold group. The quick-release groups are securely mounted on the assembling panel, and each has a quick-release mount, a clamping mount and a first spring. The quick-release mount has a releasing hole, a holding pin and a mounting recess. The clamping mount is pressably connected to the quick-release mount and has an engaging block, an elongated hole and an engaging head. The mold group is connected to the quick-release groups and the assembling panel and has two guiding shaft, a limiting panel, two second springs and a clamping mold. The shoe-tree mount is detachably connected to the shoe-tree cylinder below the clamping device. |
| US09565898B2 |
Footwear including a support cage
An article of footwear including an upper having a sleeve and a support cage that is free floating relative to the sleeve so that the footwear can accommodate a plurality of foot shapes regardless of whether the foot shapes remain static or dynamically change during a gait cycle within the footwear. The sleeve can be included in a midfoot section extending from a medial side of the footwear, across the top of a wearer's forefoot, to a lateral side of the footwear. A toe section including a breathable material can be joined with and forward of the midfoot section. The support cage can be constructed from a laminate including at least two layers, such as a structural exterior layer, an intermediate elastic layer and/or a reinforcement interior layer, optionally all fused together, to provide the cage with multiple functional attributes, such as structural stability, elasticity and/or reinforcement. |
| US09565894B2 |
Ankle and foot support system
Methods and systems relating to an ankle and foot support system are disclosed. In some embodiments, a covering having a cable tightening mechanism may be associated with a cable that is slidably engaged with the cover. In some embodiments, the cable may be slidably engaged with a tube guide that is attached to the cover. In some embodiments, the cable may form an exposed loop that associates with a loop receiving member. In some embodiments, the loop receiving member may be attached to the cover. |
| US09565893B2 |
Ankle and foot support system
Methods and systems relating to an ankle and foot support system are disclosed. In some embodiments, a covering having a cable tightening mechanism may be associated with a cable that is slidably engaged with the cover. In some embodiments, the cable may be slidably engaged with a tube guide that is attached to the cover. In some embodiments, the cable may form an exposed loop that associates with a loop receiving member. In some embodiments, the loop receiving member may be attached to the cover. |
| US09565885B2 |
Modular day mode/night mode helment-mounted display
A helmet mounted display (HMD) system comprising (i) a display device adapted to be positioned between an eye of a person wearing the helmet and a vision-related device; and (ii) a step-in visor which is positioned between the eye of the user and the display device. The vision-related device is removably attached to an accessory joint so that it can be interchanged between an outer visor for use during the day and night vision goggles for use during the night. |
| US09565884B2 |
Sunglass and article holder
Apparatus for holding an article against a fabric panel, for instance on an article of clothing, including a base having a top side and a generally planar bottom side, a plurality of fabric penetrating elements extending from the bottom side, and a resilient retaining loop disposed on the top side, the resilient loop having an article engaging through slot configured to accept and releasably capture an elongate element of an article inserted through the through slot. |
| US09565882B2 |
Dyed regenerated collagen fiber, artificial hair, and method for dye-fixing treatment of dyed regenerated collagen fiber
A dyed regenerated collagen fiber of the invention is a regenerated collagen fiber dyed with a dye having an excellent dye fastness. An aspect of the invention is directed to a dyed regenerated collagen fiber including at least one kind of compound selected from the group consisting of polyalkylenepolyamine compounds, condensation compounds of polyalkylenepolyamine and dicyandiamide, and acid addition salt compounds of the condensation compounds. |
| US09565878B2 |
Cantilevered breast support
A breast support system having a support connected to a breast lift member for maintaining a user's breasts in a suspended position. The support preferably includes a leg that is substantially linear or that includes a slight bend therein, wherein the leg can contact the user's torso and rest flush thereagainst. The breast lift member supports the underside of a breast of the user and includes a crescent shape in order to conform to the natural contours of a woman's breast in order to support and lift the same. The support is flexible so as to allow the user to move about as desired without having the device become dislodged or removed. The support can frictionally secured to the user or may include an adhesive thereon. Further, the breast lift member can be disposed at an angle relative to the support in order to comfortably support the wearer's breast. |
| US09565877B2 |
Garment that clings to a wearer's skin and method of manufacture thereof
A bra includes a pair of bra cups, each bra cup in the pair having an inner edge and an outer edge, the inner edges configured to be coupled to one another. The bra includes a pair of bra wings, each bra wing in the pair having a first end and a second end, each first end being coupled to an outer edge of each bra cup, respectively, and the second ends configured to be coupled to one another. At least one of the pair of bra cups and the pair of bra wings comprises a layer of fabric having intrinsically sticky fibers. The layer of fabric having intrinsically sticky fibers comprises an inner layer of the pair of bra cups and/or the pair of bra wings and contacts a wearer's skin while the bra is being worn, causing the bra to cling to the wearer's skin. |
| US09565876B2 |
Atomizer
An atomizer is disclosed. The atomizer of the present invention comprises a main unit, a pipe, and a vaporizer. The vaporizer of the present invention comprises a pneumatic switch which is triggered by the airflow from the main unit. There is no conducting wire between the main unit and the vaporizer. The length of the pipe is determined according to the requirement of the user. In one embodiment of the present invention, the atomizer is remote controllable. |
| US09565871B2 |
Method of manufacturing grain flour
A grain flour includes milled grains of at least one grain selected from the group consisting of barley and oat. In the grain flour, the average grain diameter is in the range of 40-100 μm. The content of grains having a grain diameter less than 20 μm is not greater than 20 mass %, the content of grains having a grain diameter in the range of 20-100 μm is in the range of 20-60 mass %, the content of grains having a grain diameter greater than 100 μm and not greater than 500 μm is in the range of 20-60 mass %, and the content of grains having a grain diameter greater than 500 μm is not greater than 5%. An application food using the grain flour is produced from a starting material which contains at least 5% of the grain flour. A method for producing the grain flour is also provided. |
| US09565867B2 |
Confectionery product comprising low molecular weight polyvinyl acetate
The invention relates to a confectionery product comprising a polymer system, flavor and sweetener, at least about 70% by weight of said polymer system comprising polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and less than 10% by weight of said polymer system comprises polymer having a molecular weight (Mw) of greater than about 50000 g/mol. |
| US09565865B2 |
Method for making coffee products containing cannabis ingredients
The present disclosure is directed to methods of making a coffee products containing cannabinoids that are extracted from Cannabis plant. According to one embodiment, the method includes the steps of (a) extracting cannabinoids from Cannabis plant; and (b) admixing the cannabinoids into a coffee product. The disclosed methods produce coffee products that possesses the benefits of both coffee and Cannabis plant. The methods can be used to produce different coffee products including single-serve coffee pods, ground coffee, and espresso. The methods are used to make coffee products with desired and consistent amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). |
| US09565862B2 |
Pressure shoe assembly
A pressure shoe assembly for a skinner includes a back plate that is demountably received within a groove in a mount assembly. Ends of the back plate have extensions presenting an oblique contact surface for engagement of a retention member. The angle of the contact surface secures the back plate I the mount limiting vertical movement of the pressure shoe when in use. The mount assembly includes a ledge for supporting the assembly when removed for cleaning. A lift assist mechanism aids in moving the assembly between the groove and ledge. |
| US09565860B2 |
Apparatus and method for baking rolls
Disclosed is an apparatus for baking products and particularly for baking rolls having an ornamental surface finish. The apparatus includes a baking tray which has a first mould and a second mould, and, preferably, an insert which is receivable in an opening formed in the second mould. The moulds are securable to one another to prevent them from separating during the baking process. The insert is held captive by the first mould or the first and second moulds combined in a position in which an internal cavity defined by an internal surface of the insert is aligned with a dough receiving cavity in the first mould when they are secured together. Also disclosed is a method of baking rolls. |
| US09565856B2 |
Tetrazolinone compounds and its use as pesticides
The present invention provides a compound having an excellent efficacy for controlling pests. A tetrazolinone compound of a formula (1): [wherein R1 represents an C6-C16 aryl group, an C1-C12 alkyl group, or a C3-C12 cycloalkyl group, etc., which each optionally be substituted; R2, R3, R4 and R5 represent independently of each other a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom or an C1-C3 alkyl group, etc.; R6 represents an C1-C6 alkyl group, a C3-C6 cycloalkyl group, a halogen atom, a C1-C6 haloalkyl group, an C2-C6 alkenyl group, an C1-C6 alkoxy group, or a C1-C6 haloalkoxy group, etc.; R7, R8 and R9 represent independently of each other a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, or an C1-C4 alkyl group, etc.; X represents an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; and R10 represents an C1-C6 alkyl group, etc.] shows an excellent controlling efficacy on pests. |
| US09565852B2 |
Methods and reagents for maintaining the viability of cancer cells in surgically removed tissue
A composition and method for generating reagents and the composition of these reagents for the stabilization and preservation of viability of cancer tissue which has been surgically excised and the suspension and/or termination of apoptosis (cell death) by significant modulation of cell metabolism by low molar concentrations of synergistic chemistries and hormonal growth enhancers while maintaining normal gene expression patterns of the surgically excised tissue. |
| US09565848B2 |
Unwanted plant removal system
Embodiments include an apparatus and methods for removing unwanted plants or weeds from an area such as an agricultural plot or lawn. The apparatus includes a three-dimensional imager configured to capture plant images and locate plants; an image processor configured to distinguish between wanted and unwanted plants based upon the captured plant images; at least one laser device configured to emit a laser beam having power sufficient to damage the unwanted plants; a laser beam controller configured to direct at least one laser beam toward the unwanted plant; and a chassis configured to support the three-dimensional imager, the laser device, and the laser beam controller. The chassis is configured to be moved across the area. |
| US09565847B2 |
Agricultural spraying machine and method for spraying a phytosanitary liquid on land cultivated by means of such a machine
The invention relates to an agricultural machine for spraying a phytosanitary liquid over a crop planted in a section of land, comprising a spray boom having at least one arm, a mechanism for raising/lowering the boom and, for each arm, a mechanism for inclining the arm, a manual system for controlling each inclining body, and a receiver for communicating with a geolocalization system and a control unit. Each arm is provided with at least one sensor measuring a distance between said sensor and the surface of the land or vegetation planted in the land, and an element for measuring a datum relating to the incline of the arm. The control unit is connected to each sensor, to the receiver and to the measuring element, is provided with a storage memory, and is able to control each inclining mechanism and the raising/lowering mechanism according to the information stored in the memory. |
| US09565843B2 |
Fishing device and method
A fishing device provided is configurable as a teaser that can simulate a live fish. A hookless teaser provided is configurable in various shapes and sizes to effectively attract a desired fish. More particularly, a fishing device is provided including a first portion, a second portion, and a flexible portion. The flexible portion may be received by and operatively attached to the first and second portions. The flexible portion may facilitate reorienting the second portion with relation the first portion to simulate swimming. The first portion may be configured to simulate a head of a fish and the second portion may be configured to simulate a tail of the fish. A loop near the central second portion end may interact with water to reorient the second portion. A method is provided for using the fishing device. |
| US09565841B2 |
Humanized IL-4 and IL-4Rα animals
Non-human animals comprising a human or humanized IL-4 and/or IL-4Rα nucleic acid sequence are provided. Non-human animals that comprise a replacement of the endogenous IL-4 gene and/or IL-4Rα gene with a human IL-4 gene and/or IL-4Rα gene in whole or in part, and methods for making and using the non-human animals, are described. Non-human animals comprising a human or humanized IL-4 gene under control of non-human IL-4 regulatory elements is also provided, including non-human animals that have a replacement of non-human IL-4-encoding sequence with human IL-4-encoding sequence at an endogenous non-human IL-4 locus. Non-human animals comprising a human or humanized IL-4Rα gene under control of non-human IL-4Rα regulatory elements is also provided, including non-human animals that have a replacement of non-human IL-4Rα-encoding sequence with human or humanized IL-4Rα-encoding sequence at an endogenous non-human C IL-4Rα locus. Non-human animals comprising human or humanized IL-4 gene and/or IL-4Rα sequences, wherein the non-human animals are rodents, e.g., mice or rats, are provided. |
| US09565839B2 |
Support arrangement for soft sided aquarium
An aquarium with a flexible side wall includes a support arrangement. The support arrangement can include a lower support that serves as a base and an upper support capturing an upper edge of the flexible side wall to distribute forces applied to the upper edge of flexible side wall so that a force applied to a discrete location to the side wall is distributed across a relatively larger portion of the side wall than at the discrete location for preventing localized buckling of the side wall preventing spilling. The support arrangement includes an upper support formed of a ring and a ring-shaped insert received in a cavity of the ring providing opposing support surfaces engaging an upper portion of the flexible side wall. In a preferred embodiment, the ring and ring-shaped insert nest to clamp part of the side wall therebetween. |
| US09565837B2 |
Apparatus and method for using infrared thermography and behaviour information for identification of biologically important states in animals
The present apparatus and method provides for real-time automated, non-invasive infrared thermography information of an animal to be used for both thermal and behavioral measurement, thereby providing an earlier and more accurate predictor of onset of disease, growth states, or reproductive states in that animal. More specifically, the present system and method provide for the use of thermal images (taken, for example, at a water station) to obtain both temperature and behavioral information about one or more animals at a time, and to utilize that information to determine the health, growth, or reproductive state of the animal. The combination of thermal biometric data, such as radio frequency identification infrared thermography, and behavioral biometric information, such as behavioral fidgets can be used to detect early-onset of these biological steady and non-steady states in animals. |
| US09565836B2 |
Universally attachable leash bag for the sanitary collection and transport of pet waste and personal items
One embodiment of a universally attachable leash bag having an interior chamber for temporary storage of retrieved pet waste secured in waste bags and exterior pockets for supplies or personal belongings. Bag is formed of a single piece of material fitted with a zipper along the lower edges and partially up the side edges. When engaged, zipper creates a bag form with interior chamber. Zipper is utilized when emptying the chamber to prevent pet owner from direct handling of waste. The vertically extended sides of the bag, fitted with corresponding members of hook-and-loop tape, feed through the pet leash handle forming a secure method of attachment. The front edge of leash bag is fitted with a reinforcing device to create an opening for the extended end of the leash to pass through creating a secondary means of attachment and a utility hook for carrying items or tertiary means of attachment. |
| US09565831B1 |
Adaptable scooper with optional cover
At least one embodiment discloses a kitty litter scooper which is configured to receive at least one cover or at least one adapter. In at least one embodiment there is a scooping device comprising a handle and at least one head section. There can be at least one pusher and at least one cover wherein the cover is configured to cover over the head section. The pusher is configured to push the cover off of the head. In at least one embodiment, the pusher is configured to be coupled to the handle. In at least one other embodiment the handle extends along a longitudinal axis and the pusher is configured to slide along the handle. |
| US09565830B1 |
Ventilated litter box
A battery-powered ventilated litter box having a litter box assembly with a litter tray and a removable lid enclosure with a door opening that provides pet access to an inner space. A fan assembly includes a housing that is attached to the lid enclosure and which forms an air conduit through the lid enclosure. The housing has an air exhaust and an air intake and a fan assembly having a fan that draws air from the inner space into the air intake. A filter element is disposed within the fan assembly. The fan expels air from the air exhaust. The litter box assembly includes louvers, preferably on the sides of the litter box assembly and a downwardly extending lower rim that mates with the litter box. The fan includes a fan motor having a vertically orientated shaft. The filter element is preferably a HEPA filter. |
| US09565826B1 |
Maize inbred PH25DZ
A novel maize variety designated PH25DZ and seed, plants and plant parts thereof are provided. Methods for producing a maize plant comprise crossing maize variety PH25DZ with another maize plant are provided. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH25DZ through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby are provided. Hybrid maize seed, plants or plant parts are produced by crossing the variety PH25DZ or a locus conversion of PH25DZ with another maize variety. |
| US09565821B1 |
Soybean variety XR47AF15X
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated XR47AF15X. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety XR47AF15X. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety XR47AF15X and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety XR47AF15X with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods. |
| US09565817B1 |
Maize inbred PH2F4B
A novel maize variety designated PH2F4B and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH2F4B with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH2F4B 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 PH2F4B or a locus conversion of PH2F4B with another maize variety. |
| US09565816B1 |
Maize inbred PH266F
A novel maize variety designated PH266F and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH266F with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH266F 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 PH266F or a locus conversion of PH266F with another maize variety. |
| US09565813B1 |
Inbred sunflower (Helianthus annuus) line, designated CN3165A/B
The present invention relates to an inbred sunflower line, designated CN3165A/B. The invention relates to the seeds of inbred sunflower line CN3165A/B, to the plants of inbred sunflower line CN3165A/B and to the methods for producing a sunflower plant, either inbred or hybrid, by crossing the inbred line CN3165A/B with itself or another sunflower line. The invention further relates to methods for producing a sunflower plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic plants produced by that method and to methods for producing other inbred sunflower lines derived from the inbred CN3165A/B. |
| US09565808B2 |
Portable plant support system
What is disclosed is a portable and/or movable plant support system that can be used in a consumer setting in which a plant is grown with the movable support system and can be moved from one place to another without altering the plant's growth and in an embodiment of which an indeterminate plant can be grown and allowed to be lowered when lower portions of the plant stop producing, thus allowing for new growth and thus enhanced production at the top of the plant. |
| US09565807B2 |
Modular living wall system
Embodiments include but are not limited to modular living wall systems. A module of a modular living wall system may include a frame including a plurality of rails, each rail coupled to another rail by their respective ends, and a fabric arrangement mounted onto the frame and including a first fabric and a second fabric overlaying the first fabric, wherein the first fabric is a hydrophilic mat, and wherein the second fabric includes at least one opening exposing the first fabric and configured to receive a plant. The living wall system includes integrated irrigation. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed. |
| US09565805B2 |
Modular planting system for roof applications
A green roof modular system includes at least four planter modules each including a planter including a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls that cooperate with the bottom wall to form an interior space, and a biodegradable insert including a plurality of sidewalls that cooperate with one another to form an interior space, wherein the insert is adapted to retain a plant matter in the interior space of the insert, the plurality of sidewalls of the insert extending above the plurality of sidewalls of the planter, and wherein the plurality of the sidewalls of the insert are adapted to retain a plant matter that extends above the plurality of sidewalls of the planter, such that one of the planter modules abuts each of the remaining three planter modules and substantially no gap exists between the abutting planter modules in plan view. |
| US09572293B2 |
Placement apparatus and a suction nozzle for an optical component
A placement apparatus for an optical component includes: a suction nozzle that includes a nozzle main body having a suction surface having a suction port, an optical component being sucked to the suction port, a plurality of nozzle electrodes disposed on the suction surface, each of the nozzle electrodes being brought into contact with a corresponding one of a plurality of component electrodes provided on the optical component so as to establish electrical conduction between each of the plurality of nozzle electrodes and a corresponding one of the plurality of component electrodes. |
| US09572292B2 |
Portable mechanical switch for selective deactivation of radio frequency identification circuits
Systems and methods for providing security for authentication devices—such as electronically readable cards or ID badges with embedded RFID chips or NFC capability—may include an envelope or pocket-like case for carrying an electronically readable card, having an electrically conductive, non-opaque sleeve that can be moved to cover or expose the electronically readable card and that prevents information on the card from being electronically read when covered yet still allows the card to be seen when covered. In one or more embodiments, the sleeve may be a wire mesh that is flexible enough to be compressed to expose the card yet stiff (or rigid) enough to be extended to cover the card and that is transparent enough to allow reading visual information on the surface of the card when covering the card. Protection can be switched off by a mechanical switch that leaves the protection normally on. |
| US09572290B2 |
Modular data center
A modular data center includes a plurality of first containers and a plurality of second containers. The plurality of first containers and second containers are partitioned into a plurality of functional modules respectively, the functional modules of the plurality of first containers being arranged in parallel, and the functional modules of the plurality of second containers being arranged in parallel on one side of the plurality of first containers and corresponding to the functional modules of the plurality of first containers respectively. The present disclosure combines the functional modules of the plurality of first containers and the plurality of second containers into modular data centers with different forms, capacities, and data center usability tiers, and the assembly of the plurality of first containers and second containers with standardized sizes may facilitate the transportation and reduce the time and cost of assembling and delivery of the modular data center. |
| US09572287B1 |
Perforated panel connection
A server enclosure having a plurality of panels abutted to one another and constrained by a connector having a channel and at least one aperture. Each respective panel has at least one perpendicular portion being perpendicular to a face of the respective panel and adjoining a perimeter of the respective panel. Connectivity media coincident to the aperture can affix at least two panels and a connector to one another. |
| US09572286B2 |
Modular thermal isolation barrier for data processing equipment structure
A modular thermal isolation barrier for use in sealing gaps in a data processing equipment structure includes an extruded edge seal and a panel. The extruded edge seal has a seal portion and a base portion with one or more channels. An edge of the panel is disposed within one of the one or more channels of the base portion of the edge seal such that the edge seal is seated against the edge of the panel with the seal portion in position to abut, and establish a seal with, an adjacent structure. |
| US09572276B2 |
Smart mission critical rack
Disclosed is a space and cost-efficient smart rack system designed for use in a data center or as a similar electronic component housing enclosure. |
| US09572266B2 |
Reflow treating unit and substrate treating apparatus
Provided are a semiconductor substrate manufacturing apparatus and a substrate treating method, and more particularly, an apparatus and method for performing a reflow treating process on a semiconductor wafer. The apparatus treating apparatus includes a load port on which a carrier accommodating a substrate is seated, a substrate treating module including one reflow treating unit or a plurality of reflow treating units for performing a reflow process on the substrate, and a substrate transfer module including a transfer robot transferring the substrate between the load port and the substrate treating module, the substrate transfer module being disposed between the load port and the substrate treating module. The reflow treating unit includes a process chamber having a treating space therein and an exhaust member exhausting a fluid within the process chamber. The exhaust member includes a plurality of individual exhaust lines connecting a plurality of process chambers to each other and a common exhaust line connected to the plurality of individual exhaust lines to exhaust the fluid to the outside of the substrate treating module. |
| US09572264B2 |
Electronic component module, board, and method of manufacturing electronic component module
An electronic component module includes a board having an electronic component mounted on a surface of the board and a shield case mounted on the surface of the board and covering the electronic component. The board includes a projecting part projecting from the surface of the board. The projecting part is formed of plating at a position along a sidewall of the shield case and is soldered to the shield case. |
| US09572262B2 |
Printed circuit board backup plate and the preparation method thereof
A PCB backup plate preparation method comprises: lubricating and radiating resin is coated onto both surfaces of the wood fiberboard and a resin layer forms, before it is totally dried out, wood pulp paper is bonded to its surfaces, then, the surface of the wood pulp paper is coated with unsaturated polyester resin and forms a resin layer, and the PCB backup plate is prepared; the lubricating and radiating resin is prepared by a 95 weight portion of principal component, composed by two or more of polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, glycerol, vinyl acetate and polyvinyl alcohol, and a 5 portion of nonionic surfactant. The lubricating and radiating resin brings the PCB good lubricating and radiating capabilities, therefore increases the drilling hole accuracy when starts to drill, improves the hole wall quality and lowers the drill pin temperature. |
| US09572259B2 |
Suspension board with circuit
A suspension board with circuit includes a metal supporting board having a support opening portion passing through a thickness direction; a base insulating layer disposed on an upper surface of the metal supporting board and having an insulating opening portion passing through the thickness direction, when projected in the thickness direction, to be included in the support opening portion; and a conductive layer having a wire portion disposed on an upper surface of the base insulating layer and a terminal portion disposed in the insulating opening portion to be connected to an electronic element and connected to the wire portion. The base insulating layer has a cutout portion obtained by cutting out the base insulating layer in a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction and continuous to the insulating opening portion and the terminal portion includes a terminal free end portion opened by the cutout portion. |
| US09572250B2 |
Printed circuit board and method for manufacturing the same
Disclosed are a printed circuit board and a method for manufacturing the same. The printed circuit board includes a core insulating layer, at least one via formed through the core insulating layer, an inner circuit layer buried in the core insulating layer, and an outer circuit layer on a top surface or a bottom surface of the core insulating layer, wherein the via includes a first part, a second part below the first part, a third part between the first and second parts, and at least one barrier layer including a metal different from a metal of the first to third parts. The inner circuit layer and the via are simultaneously formed so that the process steps are reduced. Since odd circuit layers are provided, the printed circuit board has a light and slim structure. |
| US09572246B2 |
Printed wiring board
A printed wiring board comprises a pattern layer, an insulating layer and a ground layer laminated in an upper-lower direction. The printed wiring board is formed with one or more vias. The insulating layer is provided between the pattern layer and the ground layer. The ground layer is formed with a ground pattern. The pattern layer is formed with one common ground plane and two or more pads. The pads are arranged in a lateral direction. The common ground plane is located forward of the pads in the front-rear direction. The vias include a first via that connects the common ground plane and the ground pattern with each other. The pads include one or more ground pads and one or more signal pads. The ground pads are connected with the common ground plane. The signal pads are unconnected with the common ground plane. |
| US09572236B2 |
Systems and methods for controlling a plurality of electric candles
Systems and methods are described for controlling a plurality of electric lighting devices and in some embodiments preventing the theft of those devices. A microprocessor can be used to analyze information about the devices and send one or more commands to the devices. A user interface allows a user to send a command to at least one of the electric lighting devices, which may alter at least one of a brightness of light emitted, a color of light emitted or other effects of the devices. |
| US09572228B2 |
Commissioning lighting systems
Commissioning a lighting system is disclosed. A user can be provided with a pointing device capable of emitting or returning a signal which can be received by detectors co-located with each fixture in the lighting system. The user can add a fixture to a group by aiming the pointing device at the fixture when the fixture is not assigned to the group, and the user can remove a fixture from a group in the same way when the fixture was previously assigned to the group. Additional user gestures are also disclosed. |
| US09572226B2 |
Master/slave arrangement for lighting fixture modules
The present disclosure relates to a lighting fixture that includes a driver module and at least one other module that provides a lighting fixture function, such as a sensor function, lighting network communication function, gateway function, and the like. The driver module communicates with the other modules in a master/slave scheme over a communication bus. The driver module is configured as a slave communication device, and the other modules are configured as master communication devices. As such, the other modules may initiate communications with the driver to send information to or retrieve information from the driver module. |
| US09572225B2 |
Method and device for determining life expectancy information of an LED module
Various embodiments may relate to a method for determining life expectancy information of an LED module with a plurality of LEDs. The method includes detecting of forward biases of the LED module at instants of time which lie less than 100 ms apart from each other, comparing a currently detected forward bias with one or more earlier detected forward biases, in order to detect a voltage jump which reaches a minimum initial inverse voltage within a predetermined jump duration, wherein the minimum initial inverse voltage is at least 60 mV and the predetermined jump duration is less than 100 ms long, and determining life expectancy information based on one or more detected voltage jumps. |
| US09572223B1 |
Precision color-controlled light source
A color-controlled light source includes a plurality of light emitting diodes, the light emitting diodes being configured to emit different colors of light, intensity of the light emitted by the light emitting diodes being selectably adjustable. A sensor receives the light emitted by the light emitting diodes and converts the received light to electrical feedback signals corresponding to the emitted light. A processor generates an electrical reference signal. An amplifier receives the reference signal and the feedback signal, compares the feedback signal and the reference signal, and generates an error signal corresponding to a difference between the feedback signal and the reference signal. A current control receives the error signal and adjusts the intensity of at least one light emitting diode to cancel the error signal. A composite color emitted by the plurality of light emitting diodes has a predetermined, closed-loop controlled chromaticity. |
| US09572222B2 |
Active LED module having integrated limiter
LED modules are disclosed having a control MOSFET, or other transistor, in series with an LED. In one embodiment, a MOSFET wafer is bonded to an LED wafer and singulated to form thousands of active 3-terminal LED modules with the same footprint as a single LED. Despite the different forward voltages of red, green, and blue LEDs, RGB modules may be connected in parallel and their control voltages staggered at 60 Hz or greater to generate a single perceived color, such as white. The RGB modules may be connected in a panel for general illumination or for a color display. A single dielectric layer in a panel may encapsulate all the RGB modules to form a compact and inexpensive panel. Various addressing techniques are described for both a color display and a lighting panel. Various circuits are described for reducing the sensitivity of the LED to variations in input voltage. |
| US09572221B2 |
Auto-sensing dimming lamp
An auto-sensing dimming lamp guides ambient light to a sensor installed in a lamp cover and at a base through a light pipe. The auto-sensing dimming lamp automatically adjusts a light emission status of LED light sources according to the ambient light by a processor installed at the base. The processor includes a pass filter unit and a modulation unit, and the pass filter unit receives a detected signal waveform of the sensor and a driving voltage waveform of the LED light sources. |
| US09572216B1 |
Light source apparatus, display apparatus including the same and method of driving the same
A light source apparatus includes a light source which emits light, a response improving part which generates a response improving signal based on a first dimming control signal having a first rising period, a first operation part which generate a second dimming control signal which has the first rising period based on the first dimming control signal, a second operation part which generates a third dimming control signal by performing an arithmetic operation based on the second dimming control signal and the response improving signal, the third dimming control signal having a second rising period shorter than the first rising period and a light source driver which generates a light source driving signal based on the third dimming control signal to drive the light source based on the light source driving signal. |
| US09572208B2 |
LED lighting system with accurate current control
A light emitting diode (LED) lighting system and method are disclosed. The LED lighting system and method include an LED controller to accurately control a current in an LED system. The LED controller includes components to calculate, based on the current and an active time period of an LED current time period, an actual charge amount delivered to the LED system wherein the LED current time period is duty cycle modulated at a rate of greater than fifty (50) Hz and to utilize the actual charge amount to modify and provide a desired target charge amount to be delivered during a future active time period of the LED current time period. The LED system and method further involve components to compare the actual charge amount to a desired charge amount for the active time period and compensate for a difference between the actual charge amount and the desired charge amount during the future active time period. |
| US09572201B2 |
Induction heat cooking apparatus and method for controlling output level thereof
Provided is an induction heat cooking apparatus. The induction heat cooking apparatus includes a rectifying part rectifying an input voltage to output a DC voltage, an inverter switching the DC voltage outputted through the rectifying part to generate an AC voltage, a first heating part operated by the AC voltage applied from the inverter, a second heating part connected to the first heating part in parallel, the second heating part being operated by the AC voltage applied from the inverter, and a switching signal generation part controlling an operation state of each of the first and second heating parts from the inverter according to an operation mode inputted from the outside. The switching signal generation part includes an inverter driver including a bootstrap circuit. |
| US09572198B1 |
Inter-technology diversity in wireless communications
A method and system is disclosed for inter-technology diversity. A transmitting device may concurrently transmit a communication unit, such as a data packet, on two or more different air interfaces to a receiving device. The receiving device may concurrently receive the two or more transmissions on two or more corresponding air interfaces, and may then apply forward error correction to the two or more received communication unit in order to recover an error-free version of the communication unit. The transmitting device could be a multi-modal base station (or other access element) of a wireless communication system, and the receiving device could be a multi-modal access terminal (AT) or other user equipment (UE). Additionally or alternatively, the transmitting device could be an AT or UE, and the receiving device could be a base station. |
| US09572187B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus includes a communication unit and a controller. The communication unit is configured to be capable of switching between a first mode for communicating with a different device by a first wireless communication system and a second mode for communicating with the different device by a second wireless communication system. The controller is configured to control the communication unit to select a radio-frequency range used in the first mode as a radio-frequency range used in the second mode, in a case where a communication system for communicating with the different device is switched from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system. |
| US09572184B1 |
Portable devices paired to share wireless connectivity
A set of portable devices may be paired together to share a combined set of connectivity options. Each of the portable devices may have one or more connections to external networks, and may be paired to each other such that one device may use the external connection of another device. The pairing system may evaluate connectivity strength, battery power, and other factors for routing connections between devices to external networks. Incoming connections, such as cellular telephone calls, may be selectively routed to one of the various devices in certain circumstances and a different device in other circumstances. An incoming phone call may be answered and responded to by any of the connected devices, even though the connection may have been originally received by a different device. |
| US09572183B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus, program, and communication control method
There is provided a wireless communication apparatus including an obtaining unit configured to obtain parameter information, and a communication control unit configured to prioritize and select another wireless communication apparatus included in a connection history as a connection when a difference between the parameter information during a connection with another wireless communication apparatus included in the connection history and the parameter information obtained by the obtaining unit when not connected to the other wireless communication apparatus is at or less than a predetermined value. |
| US09572177B2 |
Control circuit of wireless user equipment for dynamically replacing RRC messages
A control circuit of a wireless user equipment includes: a message generating circuit for generating a first and a second RRC (radio resource control) messages, and configuring corresponding first and second priorities; a message reordering circuit for comparing the first and second priorities. If the first priority is higher than the second priority, the message reordering circuit assigns the second RRC message in a message queue to have a transmission order after the first RRC message. Afterward, when the message generating circuit generates a third RRC message, the message generating circuit configures a third priority for the third RRC message. The message reordering circuit compares the first through the third priorities to rearrange transmission orders of RRC messages, and if the third priority is equal to the second priority, the message reordering circuit replaces the second RRC message in the message queue with the third RRC message. |
| US09572173B2 |
Method and system architecture for a self organizing network
A method and system architecture for a self-organizing network (SON) includes a first cell having a first user equipment classifier for determining one of cell edge and cell central. The SON also includes a second cell having a second user equipment classifier for determining one of cell edge and cell central. The system architecture and method provide a first transmit time interval (TTI) schema for user equipment within the area of coverage associated with the first cell and a TTI schema for user equipment within the area of coverage associated with the second cell, the second TTI schema differing from the first TTI schema. The user equipment is classified as cell center or cell edge in dependence upon at least one of QoS requirement, geometry, periodic PSMM and CQI reports. The TTI schemas are used for “cell edge” user equipment by the respective cells. |
| US09572170B2 |
Method and device for applying adaptive link in communication system
Provided are a method and an apparatus of transceiving a signal using a link adaptation in a communication system, particularly, a method of dividing a resource region into a plurality of resource regions, and applying different line adaptations to the resource regions. A method of controlling a link of a terminal in a mobile communication system receives at least two downlink channel signals to estimate states of received channels, generates a channel discrepancy report when states of channels exceed a preset threshold, and reports the channel discrepancy report to a base station through a preset uplink channel. A method of controlling a link of a base station receives a channel discrepancy report through an uplink channel, and determines MCS and transmission power of downlink channels based on the received channel discrepancy report and transmits the determined MCS and transmission power to the terminal through a downlink channel. |
| US09572167B1 |
Assigning radio resources to a wireless communication device that experienced a call drop
A method, system, and apparatus for assigning resources to a wireless communication device that experienced a call drop. A RAN may receive an origination request from a mobile station and make a first determination that within a predetermined amount of time prior to receiving the origination request the mobile station experienced a call drop. Responsive to making the first determination, the RAN may make a second determination that the RAN should allocate a first extent of resources to the mobile station rather than allocating a second extent of resources to the mobile station. The first extent of resources may be less than the second extent of resources. Responsive to making the second determination, the RAN may allocate the first extent of resources to the mobile station in response to the origination request rather than allocating the second extent of resources to the mobile station in response to the origination request. |
| US09572163B2 |
Hybrid band radio with adaptive antenna arrays
A hybrid band intelligent backhaul radio (HB-IBR) is disclosed that is a combination of two radios operating in different bands. Embodiments include a dual radio configuration wherein a first radio operates in a non-line of sight (NLOS) radio link configuration and a second ancillary radio operates in a near line of sight or line of sight configuration (n)LOS. For example, the HB-IBR may have an Intelligent Backhaul Radio (IBR) operating in the non-line of sight mode of operation within the 5.8 GHz unlicensed band, and have an ancillary radio link operating in the FCC part 101 E band of operation at 60 GHz. A common medium access control (MAC) block may be utilized between the dual radios. |
| US09572161B2 |
Data transmission method and device in wireless communication system
A method for transmitting uplink data in a wireless communication system, and a user equipment (UE) therefore are discussed. The method according to one embodiment includes configuring transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) in a subframe of a first component carrier (CC) among a plurality of CCs; and transmitting the uplink data to a base station in the subframe of a second CC among the plurality of CCs. The SRS, whose transmission is configured in the first CC, is not transmitted in a symbol in the subframe of the first CC, when the transmission of the SRS and the transmission of the uplink data happen to overlap in the symbol. |
| US09572160B2 |
Signalling of channel information
An apparatus and a method are described by which a request for providing aperiodic channel information with respect to a selected downlink component carrier of a plurality of component carriers is received, the selected downlink component carrier is determined, channel information with respect to the selected downlink component carrier is established, and the channel information with respect to the selected downlink component carrier is sent. |
| US09572157B2 |
Techniques enabling dynamic bandwidth reservation in a wireless personal area network
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method, comprising dynamically reserving free channel time blocks for directional transmissions in a wireless personal area network (WPAN) by a transceiver communicating with a Coordinator and the Coordinator allocating a part or a whole of unreserved channel time blocks for a directional link during a handshake with the transceiver. |
| US09572154B2 |
Systems and methods for dynamically configuring a flexible subframe
A user equipment (UE) for dynamically configuring a flexible subframe is described. The UE includes a processor and instructions stored in memory that is in electronic communication with the processor. The UE determines that a subframe is a flexible subframe. The UE determines whether a downlink is indicated for the flexible subframe. The UE sets the flexible subframe as a downlink subframe if a downlink is indicated. |
| US09572152B2 |
Bandwidth adaptive reference signals
Systems and methods for providing bandwidth adaptive reference signals are disclosed. In one embodiment, a wireless device receives a downlink signal from a base station in a cellular communication network on a corresponding downlink carrier, where a number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is determined based on, or is otherwise a function of, a system bandwidth of the downlink carrier. In addition, in some embodiments, a number of frequency domain units that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier. The wireless device processes the reference symbols to provide one or more desired features such as, for example, synchronization, radio resource management measurements, channel estimation, or the like. |
| US09572149B1 |
Use of assigned PDSCH resource to assign PDSCH resource of subsequent TTI
Disclosed is a method and system in which a PDSCH segment assigned to a UE in a particular TTI not only carries data to the UE but also carries an assignment to the UE of a PDSCH in a subsequent TTI for carrying additional data to the UE in that subsequent TTI. Such an arrangement can help make good use of possibly otherwise unused PDSCH capacity and can help to manage PDCCH capacity in the subsequent TTI. |
| US09572141B2 |
Method, apparatus and system for bearing circuit switched domain service data over radio bearer
A method for bearing CS-domain service data over radio bearer is disclosed. The method includes: letting CS-domain service data be borne over a radio high-speed packet data access channel according to a channel mapping relation between CS-domain service data and the radio high-speed packet data access channel. An apparatus and a system are also provided herein. |
| US09572139B2 |
Contention based transmission and collision avoidance
Communication systems may benefit from a control channel for contention based transmission and collision avoidance. For example, communication systems of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced may use such control channels for contention based transmission. In particular, such control channels may be valuable with respect to LTE-based local area network (LTE-LAN). A method, according to certain embodiments, may include preparing control information for a contention based physical uplink shared channel. The method may also include transmitting and/or receiving the control information on a physical uplink control channel and a control only physical uplink shared channel, or only on the control only physical uplink shared channel. |
| US09572133B2 |
Sub-frame configuration
The exemplary embodiments of the invention provide at least a method and apparatus to perform operations including transmitting an indication of a default configuration for a sub-frame having a downlink transmission portion and an uplink transmission portion; transmitting an indication of a preferred configuration for said sub-frame; and scheduling at least one of transmissions to and transmissions from a communication device according to said preferred sub-frame configuration. |
| US09572126B2 |
Determining effects on communication signals
A system (10) for determining effects of one or more factors on one or more properties of a signal received by a wireless communication enabled device (24), the system (10) comprising: at least one sensor for sensing and gathering sensor data relating to a state of the wireless communication enabled device (24) or a state of the environment surrounding the wireless communication enabled device; and decision means for receiving input including the sensor data and determining whether one or more criteria are satisfied based on the input, each criteria being associated with a respective factor affecting a respective property, and determining the effects on the one or more properties of the signal on the basis of the criteria determination. |
| US09572124B2 |
D-SLP service area detection using area ID
A method for determining whether a terminal is located inside a discovered Secure User Plane Location Platform (D-SLP) service area is disclosed. The method may comprise identifying a discovered Secure User Plane Location Platform (D-SLP). A terminal may receive from a home Secure User Plane Location Platform (H-SLP) an authorization to use the D-SLP. Additionally, the terminal may receive from the H-SLP a list of Area IDs within a Secure User Plane Location Platform (SLP) service area comprises a first group of Area IDs within the SLP service area. The method may comprise comparing an ID associated with a network access point for the terminal, and the list of Area IDs to determine if the terminal is inside the D-SLP service area. The method may comprise making a D-SLP use determination based on the comparison. |
| US09572120B2 |
Synchronization requests to reduce power consumption
An electronic device is described. In order to facilitate the communication of synchronization information with another electronic device in a wireless network, the electronic device provides a request for the synchronization information to the other electronic device at a time other than a predefined synchronization transmission time of the other electronic device. Then, the electronic device receives the synchronization information from the other electronic device in response to the request. In this way, the probability that the synchronization information is successfully communicated is increased, and the amount of time the electronic device is in an active mode is reduced, thereby reducing power consumption. |
| US09572117B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling transmission power in wireless communication system
A method for and apparatus for controlling transmission power in a wireless communication system is provided. A wireless device checks a duration in which a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs) for uplink resources overlaps, determines whether the transmission power of the UE is greater than a maximum power restriction of the UE in the duration, and controls power of at least one RAT based on priorities of the plurality of RATs so that the transmission power of the UE is under the maximum power restriction of the UE. Thus, dynamic and efficient transmission power is supported. |
| US09572114B2 |
Channel map generation method and apparatus therefor
A channel map generation method includes: performing a power spectrum density detection on a plurality of channels in a frequency band, to generate a first channel map; and performing a first smoothing operation on the first channel map by a first window size to generate a second channel map. The first smoothing operation includes: grouping channels of the first channel map into a plurality of channel groups according to the first window size; and according to the number of good channels or bad channels in each of the channel group, deciding to retain channel determinations in the first channel map of the channel group, or re-designating all the channels of the channel group, so as to generate the second channel map. |
| US09572113B2 |
System and method for direct mobile communications power control
A method for transmitting to a direct mobile communications (DMC) device by a user equipment operating in both a cellular mode and a DMC mode includes estimating a first pathloss of a first channel from the user equipment to a base station according to a difference between a known base station transmit power level and a received base station power level, and estimating a second pathloss of a second channel from the user equipment to the DMC device according to a difference between a known DMC device transmit power level and a received DMC device power level. The method also includes setting a transmit power level for transmission to the DMC device according to the first pathloss and the second pathloss, and transmitting a signal to the DMC device at the transmit power level. |
| US09572112B2 |
Combined open loop/closed loop method for controlling uplink power of a mobile station
A method and apparatus are disclosed comprising a combined open loop/closed loop uplink power control scheme for E-UTRA. The combined open and closed loop method for UL intra-cell PC controls the wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) transmit power spectral density (PSD), PSDTx, (e.g. power per RB). |
| US09572110B1 |
Method and apparatus for transmit power control by a deployable network in a wireless communication system
A method and apparatus are disclosed for setting an initial transmit power level of a deployable network that overlaps in coverage with a WAN. Multiple transmit power levels are determined. For each transmit power level, a geographical coverage area of the deployable network at an incident is determined based on a signal propagation model, a first set of mobile devices is determined that are within the geographical coverage area and that are involved in responding to the incident, and a second set of mobile devices is determined that are within the geographical coverage area, that are not involved in responding to the incident, and that may be interfered with by transmissions of the deployable network. A transmit power level of the multiple transmit power levels then is selected as the initial transmit power level based on the first and second sets of mobile devices determined for each transmit power level. |
| US09572109B2 |
Reduced power consumption in a wireless network device
Various techniques for reducing power in a wireless network device are disclosed. In some embodiments, software routines within the device are modified to minimize the time during which the analog circuitry in a radio is powered. In some embodiments, the techniques make use of knowledge of implied delays associated with a particular network protocol. For example, in a CSMA network, there is a defined minimum period before the device can attempt to gain access to the media. The radio may be powered off during this defined period. In other embodiments, modifications to a protocol are disclosed which allow additional power savings. |
| US09572107B2 |
Enhanced power saving optimized configuration handling
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for power savings. In one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include sending, by a user equipment (114B), an indication (220) to a network (202), wherein the indication (220) represents whether there is a preference for power savings at the user equipment (114B); and performing, at the user equipment (114B) when the indication (220) is sent, one or more power savings actions (225). Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described. |
| US09572102B2 |
Correction of clock errors in a wireless station to enable reduction of power consumption
According to an aspect, a wireless station uses a low-frequency clock during sleep intervals and a high-frequency clock during awake intervals. Drift between the low-frequency clock and the high-frequency clock are corrected to enable aligning a wake time instant of the wireless receiver with start of beacon transmissions from an access point, and thereby to reduce power wastage. According to another aspect, errors between the clock of an access point and that of a wireless station are corrected. The wireless station computes an error between the clocks, and extrapolates the error for a sleep interval to compute a wake-up time instant. The correction and extrapolation are performed in every awake interval. Again, undesired power consumption in the wireless station is thereby reduced. |
| US09572099B2 |
Method for handling the operation mode of a base station
The embodiments herein relates to a method in a first network node for handling operation mode of a base station in a communications network. The communications network comprises a transport network. The first network node activates a Remote Unit-Main Unit, RU-MU, operation mode in the base station when data traffic load in the transport network is below a first threshold. The first network node activates a regular operation mode in the base station when the data traffic load in the transport network is above a second threshold. |
| US09572095B2 |
Intelligent selection of message delivery mechanism
A method and apparatus for selecting one of a plurality of delivery mechanisms for sending a message are disclosed. The illustrative embodiment enables the advantageous selection of the delivery mechanism for sending a message from a first telecommunications terminal to a second telecommunications terminal based on at least one of: (i) the location of the first terminal, (ii) the location of the second terminal, (iii) the time and date (i.e., the calendrical time) at the first terminal, (iv) the calendrical time at the second terminal, and (v) one or more properties of the message (e.g., the sending user, the receiving user, a message priority, the contents of the message, etc.). A delivery mechanism for sending a message comprises at least one of: a physical medium, a physical layer protocol, a medium access control, and a network for transport. |
| US09572094B2 |
Mobile terminal apparatus for automatically generating/changing wireless local area network (WLAN) access information and method for controlling the same
A method and apparatus for automatically generating/changing Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access information are provided. The apparatus includes an access information management database for storing pre-registered WLAN access information of a plurality of WLAN Access Points (APs). The apparatus also includes an access information collector for collecting information for WLAN APs being accessible at a current position of the apparatus, and an access information analyzer for analyzing the collected information, and creating a list of the accessible WLAN APs. The apparatus further includes a comparator for comparing the list with the WLAN access information to determine if the WLAN APs match. The apparatus additionally includes an access information automatic changer for automatically changing current WLAN access information according to matched APs. The apparatus includes an access information generator for automatically generating new WLAN access information when no WLAN access information is matched with the APs. |
| US09572093B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for providing plurality of services using one beacon
Provided are a beacon service method, apparatus, and system for providing a plurality of services using one beacon device by allowing the beacon device to broadcast a plurality of beacon signals for providing the plurality of services to a certain user terminal. The beacon device includes a first communication module configured to broadcast a beacon signal, a storage module configured to store transmission information for a plurality of beacon signals, and a control module configured to use the transmission information for the plurality of beacon signals stored in the storage module to control the first communication module to alternately broadcast the plurality of beacon signals. |
| US09572087B2 |
Network selection control method and user terminal
A network selection control method according to a first aspect is a method of controlling a network selection operation for selecting an access network in which traffic of a user terminal is exchanged from among a cellular RAN and a wireless LAN. The network selection control method comprises: a step A of transmitting, by the cellular RAN, RAN assistance information utilized for the network selection operation; a step B of receiving, by the user terminal, the RAN assistance information; and a step C of performing, by the user terminal, the network selection operation based on the RAN assistance information. The RAN assistance information includes predetermined information for determining whether or not the selection of the wireless LAN is permitted. The predetermined information is associated with a load status of the cellular RAN. |
| US09572076B2 |
Wireless communication terminal
The present invention provides a wireless communication terminal which can flexibly select a base station according to communication quality and a load status and improve communication quality which a user experiences in a wireless communication system which does not include a handover mechanism and is not notified of availability of radio resources from each base station. |
| US09572075B2 |
Method, apparatus, and computer program product for perform handover in a heterogenous network
A method, a corresponding apparatus, and a computer program product for performing a handover in a heterogeneous network. The method comprises sending, by a source local area base station, one or more handover requests with respect to an ongoing local area an ongoing local area service to one or more neighbor local area base stations and one or more handover requests with respect to an ongoing wide area service to a wide area base station. The method also comprises receiving one or more handover commands with respect to the ongoing local area service from the one or more neighbor local area base stations and one or more messages from the wide area base station, each message including information regarding one of the one or more neighbor local area base stations. The method additionally comprises selecting, based upon the one or more received handover commands and messages, one of the one or more neighbor local area base stations as a target local area base station for service continuity of at least one of the ongoing local area service and the ongoing wide area service. With the claimed inventions, the service continuity of at least one of the ongoing local area service and the ongoing wide area service could be maintained and handover can be completed in a seamless manner. |
| US09572069B2 |
Radio base station and communication control method
A radio base station including: a first interface configured to communicate with a different radio base station via a network among radio base stations, a second interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a radio terminal, and a processor configured to control a transmission of a first signal to the radio terminal when a load of the network among the radio base stations is higher than a given level, the first signal indicating to reject a second signal transmitted from the radio terminal, the second signal requesting to add a bearer between the radio base station and the radio terminal via the different radio base station. |
| US09572067B2 |
Prevention of bandwidth abuse of a communications system
A user of a communications network is prevented from consuming an excessive amount of channel bandwidth by restricting use of the channel in accordance with the type of data being downloaded to the user. The user is provided an initial number of credits. As the user consumes the credits, the data being downloaded is checked to determine if is permissible or non-permissible. Non-permissible data includes file-sharing files and movie downloads if user subscription does not permit such activity. If the data is permissible, the user is provided another allotment of credits equal to the initial allotment. If the data is non-permissible, the user is provided an allotment of credits less than the initial allotment. Various restriction policies also can be applied, such as levying additional fees and/or terminating the user's access to the channel. Also, incentives can be provided to entice the user curb the misuse. |
| US09572064B2 |
Systems and methods for scheduling transmissions from an access node
Systems and methods are described for scheduling transmissions from an access node. A location may be determined for a plurality of small cells within an access node signal area. Based on the determined locations, a scheduling algorithm may be selected for the access node, where the scheduling algorithm may comprise one of a low proportional fairness scheduling algorithm, a medium proportional fairness scheduling algorithm, and a high proportional fairness scheduling algorithm. Data may then be transmitted from the access node to a plurality of wireless devices based on the selected scheduling algorithm. |
| US09572062B2 |
Methods and apparatus for managing radio measurements during discontinuous reception
Methods and apparatus for managing radio measurements during discontinuous reception. In one exemplary embodiment, the distribution of Long Term Evolution (LTE) DRX measurements is staggered or distributed across multiple DRX cycles (which may be contiguous or non-contiguous) so as to reduce the transceiver activity and power consumption. The exemplary UE in one implementation only performs a subset of measurements during each DRX cycle. By staggering or distributing cell measurements over multiple DRX cycles, the UE can improve power consumption, while still conforming to measurement requirements. |
| US09572059B2 |
Missed rank report in dual network radio resource management
A method for handling a missed rank report during a tune-away period is provided. The method can include a wireless communication device tuning away from a first network to a second network for a tune-away period; returning to the first network from the tune-away period; determining that a scheduled rank report was missed during the tune-away period; generating a Channel State Indicator (CSI) report based on a previously defined Rank Indicator (RI) value known to the first network in response to missing the scheduled rank report; and sending the CSI report to the first network. |
| US09572052B2 |
Front end architecture for intermittent emissions and/or coexistence specifications
In an embodiment, an apparatus includes a first transmit path, a second transmit path, and a switch element. The first transmit path can provide a first radio frequency (RF) signal in accordance with a nominal specification. The second transmit path can provide a second RF signal in accordance with an intermittent specification, in which the first and second RF signals are within the same transmit band. The switch element can provide the first RF signal as a transmit mode output in a first state and provide the second RF signal as the transmit mode output in a second state. |
| US09572050B2 |
Method and apparatus for creating virtual base station
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for creating a virtual base station. The creating method includes: receiving a virtual base station creation request sent by a third-party server; sending a virtual machine creation request to an RAN; receiving a virtual machine creation complete response sent by the RAN; sending a base station image load request to the RAN; receiving a base station image load complete response sent by the RAN; sending a virtual base station creation complete response to the third-party server, where the virtual base station creation complete response includes a virtual base station ID. The present invention can realize creation of a virtual base station. |
| US09572040B2 |
Unlicensed spectrum sharing method, base station using the same, and user equipment using the same
The disclosure is directed to an unlicensed spectrum sharing method that is applicable to a user equipment and a base station, a user equipment using the same method, and a base station using the same method. In one of the exemplary embodiments, the disclosure is directed to an unlicensed spectrum sharing method applicable to a user equipment. The method would include receiving a configuration message over a first component carrier in a licensed spectrum to operate in an unlicensed spectrum, receiving a user message of the UE over a second component carrier in the unlicensed spectrum in response to receiving the configuration message, wherein the first component carrier and the second component carrier are aggregated carriers, and receiving a re-configuration message over the first component carrier in the licensed spectrum to operate in the unlicensed spectrum. |
| US09572037B2 |
Method and system for defending a mobile network from a fraud
A system and method for defending a mobile network from a fraud committed via GTP is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes receiving receives information associated with a GTP request from a serving node to a gateway node in a mobile network. The information associated with the GTP request is a GTP control plane request or a CDR associated with the GTP request. The information associated with a GTP request is examined, and parameters contained in the information associated with the GTP request are analyzed. It is determined that the GTP request is a fraudulent GTP request if the parameters do not belong to an authorized subscriber of the mobile network. A GTP tunnel associated with the fraudulent GTP request is denied, an established fraudulent GTP tunnel is deleted, or network traffic established by a fraudulent GTP tunnel is redirected to a monitoring node. |
| US09572036B2 |
Detection and blocking of cloned mobile devices
A method is disclosed for blocking a cloned mobile device by a processor of a network. The processor receives a first registration from a first mobile device at a first location. The first registration includes a device identifier and a phone number. The processor then confirms that a second registration from a second mobile device at a second location includes the device identifier and the phone number and calculates a first fraud score for the first mobile device and a second fraud score for the second mobile device. The processor then determines that the second mobile device is the cloned mobile device, when the second fraud score exceeds the first score, and blocks the cloned mobile device from registering on the network. |
| US09572035B2 |
Method and apparatus for unlocking a mobile telephone type wireless communication terminal
A method of unlocking a mobile terminal and a mobile terminal is disclosed. The mobile terminal is initially locked to the services of a mobile services provider. The mobile services provider transmits to a predefined telephone number associated with a service provider other than the mobile services provider, via the mobile services provider, a request for unlocking information. The request is transparent to the mobile services provider. If the request is approved, the mobile terminal receives the unlocking information. Using the received unlocking information, the mobile terminal unlocks itself so that it is no longer locked to the services of the mobile services provider. If the request is not approved, the mobile terminal receives and displays a message indicating that the request is not approved. |
| US09572027B2 |
Method, system and apparatus for negotiating security capabilities during movement of UE
A method for negotiating security capabilities during movement of a User Equipment (UE) includes the following steps: a target network entity receives a Routing Area Update (RAU) Request from the UE; the entity obtains Authentication Vector (AV)-related keys deduced according to a root key, and sends the selected security algorithm to the UE; and the UE deduces the AV-related keys according to the root key of the UE. A system, SGSN, and MME for negotiating security capabilities during movement of a UE are also disclosed. The present invention is applicable to security capability negotiation between the UE and the network. |
| US09572025B2 |
Method, server, computer program and computer program product for communicating with secure element
A method is presented for sending a message to a secure element connected to a mobile equipment, wherein the secure element is coupled to a user of the mobile equipment. The method comprises the steps, performed in an application manager server of: receiving, from an application server, an application message and an identifier of a destination secure element; generating a secure element message from the application message; from a plurality of connectivity providers, selecting a connectivity provider capable of communicating with the destination secure element; and sending the secure element message to the selected connectivity provider for forwarding to the destination secure element. A corresponding application manager server, computer program and computer program product are also presented. |
| US09572022B2 |
Resolving IP addresses in a wireless environment
A method of anonymously resolving Internet Protocol (IP) addresses using a distributed network includes defining a virtual geographic area that comprises a micro dynamic domain name server (MDDNS); wirelessly receiving at a central facility a geographic attribute of a telematics unit; determining at the central facility that the telematics unit is within the virtual geographic area using the received geographic attribute; and transmitting an IP address of a host telematics unit in the MDDNS to the telematics unit. |
| US09572016B2 |
Methods and apparatus for use in transferring an assignment of a secure chip between subscription managers
Techniques for use in transferring an assignment of a secure chip of a wireless device from a current subscription manager (SM) of a current mobile network operator (MNO) to a new SM of a new MNO are described. In one illustrative example, the current SM receives a request for transferring the assignment and produces transfer permission data in response. The transfer permission data includes an identifier of the secure chip, an identifier of the current SM, and a digital signature of the current SM. The current SM then sends to the secure chip a transfer permission message which includes the transfer permission data. The transfer permission data indicates a permission for the secure chip to transfer the assignment from the current SM to the new SM. Additional techniques are performed by the secure chip, and the new SM, as described. |
| US09572015B2 |
Contactless programming of subscriber identity modules
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention include receiving subscriber identity information for a cellular network at a mobile communication device via a short-range wireless communication network. The subscriber identity information is received from a device issued by a provider of the cellular network. Exemplary embodiments further include storing the subscriber identity information at a subscriber identity module embedded in the mobile communication device. Exemplary embodiments additionally include transmitting the subscriber identity information from the subscriber identity module to a server of the provider for authenticating a subscriber of the cellular network. Exemplary embodiments still further include receiving, from the server of the provider, authorization for the subscriber to access the cellular network, and accessing the cellular network via the mobile communication device. |
| US09572012B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method of managing counterpart terminal information and recording medium
An apparatus, system, and method of managing candidate counterpart terminal information, each of which determines, in response to a request for adding a candidate counterpart terminal to a candidate list of a request sender terminal, whether attribute information stored in association with the request sender terminal matches attribute information stored in association with the candidate counterpart terminal to be added, and stores counterpart terminal identification information that identifies the candidate counterpart terminal in association with terminal identification information of the request sender terminal to update the candidate list of the specific request sender terminal when a determination result indicates that the attribute information match. |
| US09572010B2 |
Method and system for roaming of a mobile communications unit
Method for routing mobile phone signaling messages between different collaborating networks (20,30) including an STP (25,35) and at least two home networks (10,40) including an STP (16,36). A collaborating ITP (29,39) is connected to a collaborating STP (25,35), a home ITP (17,47) is connected to a home STP (16,46), and a central ITP (51) is connected to each ITP via a wide area network (6) which is not a PSTN. A visited country IMSI identifies a mobile subscriber as a subscriber to a collaborating network. A visited IMSI is associated with a home network in the central ITP. A signaling message, including the visited IMSI, is sent from a collaborating STP to the collaborating ITP, and is forwarded to the central ITP. The message is forwarded from the central ITP to a home ITP with which the visited IMSI is associated, and sent to the corresponding home STP. |
| US09572009B2 |
Extended area event for network based proximity discovery
A network-centric device discovery solution that leverages area event location services. A proximity server (PS) performing device discovery for a discoverer mobile initiates an area event, via a location server, for each device subscribed to the same proximity service group as the discoverer mobile and camped on the same zone as the discoverer mobile. The area event notifies the PS each time such device moves into an area of an E-CGI and/or WiFI access point where the discoverer mobile attaches. If the PS receives an area event notification for the device camped on the same zone as the discoverer mobile, the PS requests location information for the device and uses returned location information to determine if the device is within a predefined proximity of the discoverer mobile. If the device is within a predefined proximity of the discoverer mobile, the PS sends a proximity alert message to the discoverer mobile. |
| US09572007B2 |
Apparatus, system and method of discovering a wireless communication device
Some demonstrative embodiments include apparatuses, systems and/or methods of discovering a wireless communication device. For example, a first wireless device may include a radio to communicate over a wireless communication medium according to a discovery scheme including a plurality of contention-based discovery windows (DWs), the radio to communicate with a second wireless device a discovery frame during a first discovery process, the discovery frame including an indication of one or more selected DWs of the plurality of DWs; and a controller to switch the first wireless device between a power save state and an active state, the controller to switch the first wireless device to operate in the active state in the one or more selected discovery windows to discover the second wireless device during a second discovery process, subsequent to the first discovery process. |
| US09572001B2 |
Method, apparatus and system for social networking
A method, apparatus and system for social networking is provided. In an embodiment, the system comprises a plurality of mobile devices that can directly connect to each other via a peer-to-peer connection. The devices can additionally connect to a server. The server maintains a profile schema which can be used to generate profiles for users for each of the mobile devices. |
| US09571998B2 |
System and method for asynchronous event reporting
Systems and methods for event reporting are provided. In a method for event reporting in a system that includes an event source and a plurality of event consumers, notifications from the event source are received at an event reporter. The notifications are received at a first rate. The event reporter receives a plurality of desired sampling rates from the plurality of event consumers, where each of the desired the sampling rates indicates a rate at which an event consumer desires reporting of notifications from the event reporter. The notifications are filtered based on the first rate and the plurality of desired sampling rates. The filtering selects one or more of the notifications to be reported to one or more event consumers of the plurality of event consumers. The selected one or more of the notifications are reported. |
| US09571992B1 |
Priority message management
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, computer program products, and systems for priority message management. In one embodiment, users are associated with one or more identified networks, wherein the users connect to the one or more identified networks using one or more mobile devices. Embodiments of the present invention can detect the presence or absence of an associated user, and responsive to detecting a user's absence, can increase an amount of priority of a user's communications to a mobile device of a different user having an enabled screening feature. Increasing the amount of priority of users that have been identified as absent from the identified network can ensure important messages are delivered. |
| US09571986B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting and using equipment location in a building management system
Systems and methods for detecting and using equipment location in a building management system are provided. Location information is measured by one or more measurement devices at a physical location of building equipment. The measured location information is used to automatically determine the physical location of the building equipment in or around a building. The location of the building equipment is integrated with an architectural model of a building served by the building equipment and a graphical visualization of the integrated model is generated. The location of the building equipment can be used to automatically associate the building equipment with other building equipment or with a building zone, to automatically generate control parameters and control algorithms, and/or to generate an augmented reality display of the building equipment in the building. |
| US09571984B2 |
Labeling visited locations based on contact information
The systems and techniques disclosed herein provide the ability to determine locations visited by a user and associate relevant location labels with the locations visited based on contact information. In some examples, a location label can be applied based on a match between a location visited and information stored in a user's contact list. In other examples, a user can efficiently designate a contact and location label to be associated with a location visited. In still other examples, if a location visited by a user is not listed in the user's contact list, but is otherwise known to the system, the location visited can be appropriately labeled and the corresponding contact in the user's contact list can be updated to include the location visited. |
| US09571981B2 |
Pedestrian traffic monitoring and analysis using location and authentication of mobile computing devices
Numerous mobile devices report their respective locations to a server which collects the location reports to provide real-time pedestrian traffic information, e.g., as a map that shows locations of individual mobile devices. Distribution of mobile devices in a geographic area more closely represents overall population locations and densities. Each device is identified by a digital fingerprint, formed from a number of system and device configuration parameters. Each mobile device is configured to periodically report its location, e.g., at a predetermined time interval and/or whenever the mobile device determines its location for another reason. A known location of a wireless network access point to which a mobile device is connected can serve as an estimated location of the mobile device. |
| US09571977B2 |
Use of a trained classifier to determine if a pair of wireless scans came from the same location
The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and apparatuses for determining the likelihood that two wireless scans of a mobile computing device were performed in the same location. The likelihood is determined by scanning for wireless networks with a computing device. The scanning includes a receiving a plurality of network attributes for each wireless networks within the range of the mobile computing device. Further, the likelihood is determined by comparing the plurality of network attributes from the scanning with a reference set of network attributes. The comparing of network attributes is used to determine an attribute comparison. Finally, the likelihood between a position associated with the reference set of network attributes and the computing device, based on the attribute comparison, determines a position associated with the network. |
| US09571971B2 |
Managing crowd sourced data acquisition
A system or computer usable program product for providing improved coverage of data acquisition in a crowd sourced data acquisition environment including determining respective locations of mobile devices within an area wherein data acquisition is desired; requesting transmission of desired data captured by sensors in the mobile devices within the area; comparing locations of mobile devices currently transmitting desired data to a desired coverage map of mobile device location to produce a map showing missing coverage; prioritizing acquisition of mobile devices in locations of missing coverage; and aggregating the transmitted desired data and providing the aggregated data to an entity. |
| US09571969B1 |
Mobile media communications system
A media communications system enabling mobile and desktop devices to communicate with websites relevant to a query that is shallow parsed, associated to predetermined categories, and regenerated as a conflated query array that includes extracted entities, associated categories, a location, and a geo-limit parameter. The media communications system further enables real-time messaging between the mobile and desktop devices and the websites, as well as generation of well-formed websites, media, and multimedia, with pre-rendered embedded content, and enables to concurrently and automatically demographically and geographically distributed push notifications to the websites and devices, and embeds relevancy-amplified, geotargeted media and multimedia communications, which media are selected by real-time machine-learned, high-probability consumer interest weighting and relevancy functions that are continuously updated in response to monitored consumer actions. The system further enables geographically regional and inter-regional systems management to enable automated replication and regional and demographic testing of the geotargeted and relevant communications. |
| US09571968B1 |
Geo-fence management using a cluster analysis technique
Disclosed aspects include geo-fence management using a cluster analysis technique. A set of dynamic user data is received from a set of users. The set of dynamic user data may have identification information which identifies one or more users, location information which indicates location for one or more users, and context information which indicates application context for one or more users. The cluster analysis technique may be used to process the set of dynamic user data. Accordingly, a geo-fence opportunity event is detected using the cluster analysis technique. Based on a selection criterion with respect to the geo-fence opportunity event, it is determined to provide an opportunity for a subset of the set of users. In response to making the determination, the opportunity can be provided for/to the subset of the set of users (e.g., sending a notification to the subset of the set of users). |
| US09571965B2 |
Verified check-in
An embodiment of the invention provides a check-in verification system (VCS) that verifies a check-in by a user using a smartphone to check-in at a venue, by verifying that a geolocation provided by the smartphone agrees with a location of the venue and that a password used by the user and the venue are the same. |
| US09571963B2 |
Positioning with wireless local area networks and WLAN-aided global positioning systems
Accurate position capability can be quickly provided using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). When associated with a WLAN, a wireless device can quickly determine its relative and/or coordinate position based on information provided by an access point in the WLAN. Before a wireless device disassociates with the access point, the WLAN can periodically provide time, location, and decoded GPS data to the wireless device. In this manner, the wireless device can significantly reduce the time to acquire the necessary GPS satellite data (i.e. on the order of seconds instead of minutes) to determine its coordinate position. |
| US09571962B2 |
System and method of performing location analytics
A system and method are provided for associating location data from one or more unique sources. The place and time of a unique location enabled device are associated with stored demographic information relating to the particular place and particular time. The place and time of the unique location enabled device are associated with a historical record of past locations and time of locations that the device has been. Based on the association of demographical information and historical information, the unique location enable device is assigned to one or more groups or tribes. The location of all members of the group or tribe can be aggregated and exported for further analysis or display, thereby showing all group or tribe members at a particular time and place. |
| US09571955B1 |
Systems and methods to transfer operations between mobile and portable devices
A system and method to detect the presence of a portable communication device in a vehicle. In one exemplary embodiment, the method includes detecting, with an electronic processor of the portable communication device, that the portable communication device is receiving wireless power from a wireless charger located in the vehicle. The method further includes establishing a short-range wireless connection between the portable communication device and a vehicle control head. The method further includes sending a message from the portable communication device to the vehicle control head to transfer control of the portable communication device to the vehicle control head. |
| US09571948B2 |
Low profile offset spout for hearing assistance device
Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatuses for hearing assistance low profile offset spouts. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a hearing assistance spout consisting of a one-piece spout with a curved path to an off-axis (e.g., offset) port. The spout may be manufactured using metal injection molding to provide for a reflow solder attachment to the hearing assistance microphone. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to placing a full-sized spout off-axis while maintaining an open state that does not restrict the acoustic path, which may allow the offset spout to include a radial seal independent of the microphone body itself. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to an offset spout including a sealed acoustic barrier wall to protect the acoustic inlet of the microphone from debris or moisture. |
| US09571947B2 |
Hearing aid interconnection system
According to an embodiment, a hearing aid system is disclosed. The system includes an abutment, an extension member and a hearing aid device. The abutment is configured to mechanically attach into a skull bone of a hearing aid user. The extension member is configured to attach to the abutment and further comprising a hearing aid coupling surface adapted to attach with a hearing aid device. The hearing aid device includes a coupling adapted to mechanically attach to the hearing aid coupling surface. The extension member is configured to attach between the abutment and the coupling and to extend length between the abutment and the hearing aid coupling. |
| US09571944B2 |
Hearing aid and method for producing a hearing aid
A hearing aid includes a hearing aid housing and an antenna device constructed to receive and/or transmit electromagnetic waves having a predetermined wavelength lambda. The antenna device has a frame incorporated in the hearing aid housing for holding assemblies of the hearing aid and the frame has an electrically conductive structure being an integral part of the frame. A method for producing a hearing aid includes patterning a surface of the frame, applying an electrically conductive layer to the surface of the frame and incorporating the frame into the hearing aid housing. |
| US09571943B2 |
Hearing device with a transducer module and method for manufacturing a transducer module
The present invention proposes a hearing device with a housing and a receiver module which comprises a shell (16) with a cavity having an opening (17), wherein at least part of the shell (16) forms part of the housing, and wherein an electro-acoustic transducer, comprising a motor assembly (2) and an acoustic assembly (3) including a membrane, is arranged within the cavity, the acoustic assembly (3) being disposed within the shell (16) such that the cavity is divided into a front chamber (12) and a back chamber (13), the motor assembly (2) being disposed within the back chamber (13) or the front chamber (12) and being operatively coupled to the membrane, and the front chamber (12) being in acoustic communication with the exterior of the shell (16) via the opening (17), wherein the shell (16) has an outer surface individually shaped according to a measured inner shape of a section of an ear canal of a user of the hearing device. Furthermore, a method for manufacturing such a receiver module is presented. |
| US09571938B2 |
Microphone element and device for detecting acoustic and ultrasound signals
A capacitive MEMS microphone element is described which may be used optionally for detecting acoustic signals (microphone mode) or for detecting ultrasound signals in a defined frequency range (ultrasound mode). In the layered structure of the MEMS microphone element, at least two carrier elements for the two electrode sides of a capacitor system are formed one above the other and at a distance from one another for signal detection. At least one of the two carrier elements is sound pressure-sensitive and at least one of the two electrode sides includes at least two electrode segments which are electrically contactable independent of one another, which together with the at least one electrode of the other electrode side form partial capacitances which are independent of one another. |
| US09571935B2 |
Loudspeaker with ducts for transducer voice coil cooling
A loudspeaker includes a motor assembly having a back plate and a pole piece centrally disposed with respect to the back plate. The pole piece has a first end and a second end, where the pole piece has a center vent allowing bi-directional air flow in and out of the motor assembly. The motor assembly further includes a top plate concentrically disposed with respect to the pole piece, and a magnet disposed between the back plate and the top plate, wherein a magnetic air gap is defined between the pole piece and the top plate. The loudspeaker further includes a voice coil disposed in the air gap. The pole piece includes at least one NACA duct formed therein, the at least one NACA duct having an inlet located at an internal surface of the pole piece in fluid communication with the center vent and an outlet located at an exterior surface of the pole piece in fluid communication with the magnetic air gap in order to extract air flow from the center vent and redirect the air flow toward the voice coil. |
| US09571933B2 |
Multi-channel headphone
A multi-channel headphone has a housing, multiple independent sound channels formed in the housing, and at least one speaker unit mounted inside the housing. The at least one speaker unit produces sound directly passing through one of the sound channels and refracted through the rest of sound channels. As the refracted sound is slower than the directly travelling sound, multiple layers of auditory feeling can be provided and a stereo sound effect can be generated for users to enjoy better auditory feeling. |
| US09571919B2 |
Wearable sound box apparatus
A wearable sound box apparatus is disclosed. In one embodiment, the disclosed sound box apparatus may include a wearable element having both ends thereof extended to form two sound box accommodating areas. The wearable element may be structurally hollow, allowing for a printed circuit board (PCB), a battery, and a reflection tube to be placed therein. A sound unit placed within each of the sound box accommodating areas may be electrically connected to the PCB through a signal line. When the sound unit operates, sound waves from the sound unit are reflected within the wearable element and corresponding inverted sound waves are transmitted out of the wearable element by the reflection tube. |
| US09571917B2 |
Acoustic device
An acoustic device that has a neck loop that is constructed and arranged to be worn around the neck. The neck loop includes a housing with a first acoustic waveguide having a first sound outlet opening, and a second acoustic waveguide having a second sound outlet opening. There is a first open-backed acoustic driver acoustically coupled to the first waveguide and a second open-backed acoustic driver acoustically coupled to the second waveguide. |
| US09571916B2 |
Audio codec with audio jack detection function and audio jack detection method
The present invention discloses an audio codec with a jack detection function and an audio jack detection method. An embodiment of the audio codec comprises: a first-contact signal input end operable to electrically connect with a sleeve contact of a plug and receive a first-contact signal indicating the presence or absence of the plug; a second-contact signal input end operable to electrically connect with a ring contact or the sleeve contact of the plug and receive a second-contact signal indicating the presence or absence of the plug; a plug detecting circuit coupled to the first-contact or second-contact signal input end and operable to detect whether a voltage level of the first-contact or second-contact signal has changed to thereby generate a plug detection signal; and a control circuit coupled to the plug detecting circuit and operable to determine the presence or absence of the plug according to the plug detection signal. |
| US09571911B2 |
Microphone assembly with a bend and clamp
A microphone assembly is disclosed, the microphone assembly comprising: a microphone for converting an acoustic signal to an electrical microphone signal; and a rigid tube with a first tube end and a second tube end. The microphone is attached at the first tube end. The rigid tube encloses at least a part of a first conductor for conducting the microphone signal. The rigid tube has a first tube part extending along a first axis, and the rigid tube has a first bend between the first tube end and the first tube part. A clamp member is mounted on the rigid tube, wherein the clamp member is configured for clamping the microphone assembly to a piece of clothing placed between a clamping section of the rigid tube and a clamping section of the clamp member. |
| US09571908B2 |
Extendable synchronous low power telemetry system for distributed sensors
a bidirectional repeater for repeating an electrical signal traversing a conductive line coupled between a gateway node and a sensor, the bidirectional repeater comprising a first input-output port coupled to the gateway node, a second input-output port coupled to the sensor, a first transceiver configured to receive a synchronization signal from the first input-output port and to transmit a resynchronized data signal to the first input-output port, a second transceiver configured to transmit the synchronization signal to the second input-output port and to receive a data signal from the second input-output port, and a repeater circuit coupled to the first and second transceivers and configured to pass through the synchronization signal, and to resynchronize the data signal to generate the resynchronized data signal. |
| US09571907B2 |
Nth leadless electrode telemetry device, system and method of use
A discrete electrode telemetry device includes a single female snap receptor in a leadless body. The single female snap receptor attaches to a single male snap post of a single discrete standard circular disposable electrode patch, wherein the sensor comprises a plurality of plug-in interface ports for multiple use reference electrodes on the leadless body thereof. A multiplexor circuit is engineered to multiplex and combine a plurality of signal data collected from the interface ports as an output thereof. A wireless transmitter module is disposed in connection with the single female snap receptor, the wireless transmitter configured to transmit the piecewise multiplexed and combined signal data to a smart phone based on a connection and a disconnection of the single female snap receptor thereto. Furthermore, a spooled memory stores and relays the plurality of signal data for a multiplexed and a composite transmission from the wireless transmitter module. |
| US09571906B2 |
Location based advertising and querying for low power devices in a wireless local-area network
Apparatuses, methods, and computer readable media are disclosed for location based advertising and querying for low power devices in a wireless local -area network. An apparatus is disclosed including memory and processing circuitry couple to the memory, where the processing circuitry is configured to: encode a location-based advertisement (LBA) frame comprising a first location identifier (LID) and a duration, configure the access point to transmit the LBA frame to a sensor hub with a second LID, where the first LID and the second LID match, and decode a feedback report from the sensor hub, where the feedback report is in response to the LBA frame. The feedback report may include measured data from one or more internet of things (IoT) devices, and some of the measured data may be collected from the IoT devices during the duration. An apparatus of a sensor hub is disclosed that includes a LID. |
| US09571904B2 |
Systems and methods for status indication in a single-use biomedical and bioprocess system
Methods, systems, and apparatus to monitor component status in a bioprocessing environment are disclosed and described. Certain examples provide a sensor device for a disposable bioprocessing component. The example sensor device includes a first portion affixed to the component, the first portion configured to provide an identifier associated with the component. The example sensor device also includes a second portion configured to provide a status indication based on a state of the component. The example sensor device is configured to transmit the identifier and status indication to a control computer associated with a bioproces sing platform including the component. |
| US09571900B2 |
Systems, methods, and apparatuses for enhancing video advertising with interactive content
A system for and method of enhancing video advertising with interactive content in accordance with exemplary embodiments may include receiving non-interactive video advertisement data and advertisement order data associated with the non-interactive video advertisement data, generating interactive content data associated with the non-interactive video advertisement data, embedding, in the non-interactive video advertisement data, the interactive content data, and transmitting, to an ad server component of an ad system, the non-interactive video advertisement data and the embedded interactive content data for transmission to one or more end user devices. |
| US09571897B2 |
Bit indexed explicit replication for professional media networks
Various systems and methods for performing bit indexed explicit replication (BIER). For example, one method involves receiving a first bit string at a node, encapsulating a packet with the first bit string, and forwarding the packet. The method also involves receiving a second bit string at the node and selecting the second bit string. The method also involves encapsulating a second packet with the second bit string and forwarding the second packet. |
| US09571896B2 |
Methods and apparatus for dynamic management and bandwidth allocation for content delivery
Methods and apparatus for content delivery and managing and conserving network bandwidth in a content delivery system are described. In accordance with one aspect of some embodiments, when the number content playback devices, e.g., IP set top boxes, iPADs, etc., in a region or service group receiving the same program content via individual unicast streams over a first network, e.g., cable network, exceeds a threshold number large, the IP capable playback devices are instructed to switch to receive the same programming content from a local device, e.g., a gateway device, via a home network. The local device receives the programming content via the cable network over a broadcast or SDV or VOD channel established by the cable service provider's headend/hubsite. |
| US09571895B2 |
Load balancing multicast network traffic using virtual channels
A method and system for multicasting Internet-protocol television (IPTV) channels is disclosed. In order to receive desired IPTV channels, a first-hop router (FHR) may send a join message to a last-hop router (LHR) establishing multiple paths across a backbone network. The join message may specify mapping at least one virtual IPTV channel to a plurality of multicast channels, along with the desired IPTV channels. The multicast channels may then be transmitted in a round-robin manner over the multiple paths from the LHR to the FHR. A number of virtual IPTV channels may be modified in response to determining a loading profile over the multiple paths to maintain a balanced load among the multiple paths. |
| US09571892B2 |
Multimedia content search and recording scheduling system
Techniques described herein enable searching for multimedia content and for downloading or scheduling the recording of the multimedia content. The multimedia content may have been previously stored on one or more databases. The client device may download or schedule the recording of multimedia content in one step, for example, in one touch. When desired multimedia content is not available, the multimedia content is added to the client device's wish list. When the client device's does not have a wish list, the client device's wish list may be created on the spot. During the scheduling of the recording, a tag associated with the multimedia content is checked to determine whether the multimedia content is live or delayed. When the tag indicates the multimedia content is live or delayed, the client device prompts with a suggestion to add extra time to the end of the recording of the multimedia content. |
| US09571888B2 |
Selection graphics overlay of matrix code
The document discloses a method for communicating information, such as audiovisual data and other information to a user. The method includes receiving a broadcast signal on a content receiver. The broadcast signal includes a video signal and a graphical signal, and the graphical signal includes a matrix barcode. After the content receiver receives the broadcast signal, the content receiver determines whether the matrix barcode should be displayed. The determination that the matrix barcode should be displayed may be based on the geographic location of the content receiver or user settings/preferences stored on the content receiver. If the matrix barcode should be displayed, the content receiver creates and outputs a modified signal. The modified signal includes the video signal with the matrix barcode overlaid on top of the video signal. If the matrix barcode should not be displayed, the content receiver outputs the broadcast signal. |
| US09571884B2 |
System and method of interacting with home automation systems via a set-top box device
The subject disclosure describes among other things receiving user input that includes a device configuration for a device in a home automation system, where the device configuration specifies a triggering event and a response to the triggering event. The subject disclosure also describes transmitting the device configuration to the device, receiving data from the device, where the data indicates that the triggering event has been detected by the device, presenting an alert indicating that the triggering event has been detected by device, where the alert includes selectable options for responding to the alert, identifying the device detecting the triggering event, and altering an operation of the device. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09571882B2 |
Methods and apparatus for DVR and network storage of locally recorded content
Methods and apparatus for expanding the storage capacity of one or more DVRs in a household by attaching them to a shared network storage device are described. Recorded content is encrypted in at least some embodiments on a per customer basis rather than on a per DVR basis allowing content to be moved between devices at a customer premise and played back by any of the devices at the customer premise where the content was recorded. Network congestion delays are avoided by allowing a user to specify when content is to be locally available at a DVR and moving the content prior to the specified time, if necessary, to the local storage device in the DVR. DVRs can access, decrypt and display content stored on the network storage device that was recorded by another DVR in the same household. |
| US09571874B2 |
Social content monitoring platform apparatuses, methods and systems
The SOCIAL CONTENT MONITORING PLATFORM METHODS (“Social-Watch”) transforms social media contents via Social-Watch components, into ad effects data. A method is disclosed, comprising: identifying a request to access user social media content; obtaining user authorization credentials to access user social media content; sending an access request with the obtained user authorization credentials to a social media platform; receiving social media content data from the social media platform; determining a type of the received media content data; tagging the received media content data based on the type according to a progressive taxonomy mechanism; receive a social media analytics request for an item; querying the tagged media content data based on key terms related to the item; and determining impression heuristics for the item based on query results. |
| US09571871B2 |
Method for delivering video content encoded at one or more quality levels over a data network
A client device receives streamed encoded content data, such as encoded video data, which has been encoded at a constant perceptual quality. Several different versions of the content are available to be streamed to the device, at different perceptual quality levels. In order to decide which quality level to request from a content server at intervals the device calculates the delivery rates that would be required for each level of quality. The calculation of the delivery levels is made in dependence on whether the actual delivery rate that has been received so far is greater than or less than a constant bit rate delivery schedule that decreases monotonically but which guarantees to deliver the encoded data in a timely manner such that no buffer underflow and interruption of reproduction takes place. The monotonically decreasing bit rate schedule is defined by one or more “critical points”, which are the points at which the bit rates are decreased, and correspond to the points where the delivery schedule is just equal to the decoding schedule of the encoded data. At such points there would be no encoded data in a buffer at the client. If the delivery rate has been greater than the constant bit rate schedule for a quality then the delivery rate required going forward for a particular quality level can be calculated from the critical point information, and no more complicated calculation is required. |
| US09571868B2 |
Method and apparatus for delivery of application services
Systems and processes that incorporate teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving from a mobile device, by way of a cellular network, a request for delivery of high-bandwidth application service. A location of the mobile device can be obtained and used to determine availability of any nearby wireless packet-network services. If it is determined that a wireless packet-network service is available, a network connection between the mobile device and the wireless packet-network service can be established. The request for delivery of high-bandwidth services can then be forwarded to an application server that delivers the requested services by way of the wireless packet-network service. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09571862B2 |
Frame type detection and frame size detection methods and apparatuses for video stream
Embodiments of the present invention provide frame type detection and frame size detection methods and apparatuses for a video stream. The video frame type detection method includes: obtaining a size of a current video frame; obtaining a change feature value of the current video frame; obtaining an I-frame threshold of the current video frame; and determining whether the previous first video frame is an I frame according to the change feature value of the current video frame and a change feature value of the previous first video frame, the I-frame threshold of the current video frame, and the size of the current video frame, the size of the previous first video frame, and a size of a previous second video frame. The present invention provides a complete and effective frame type detection method; in addition, impact of a video frame rate is fully considered. |
| US09571857B2 |
Methods and apparatus for video imaging pruning
Methods and apparatus are provided for video image pruning. An apparatus includes a data pruner for pre-processing a picture prior to, and in preparation for, compression by encoding. The data pruner selectively removes, in the spatial domain, at least one region within the picture. At the decoder end, an apparatus includes a data restorer for receiving a decompressed picture subsequent to decompression by decoding, and post-processing the decompressed picture by selectively restoring, in the spatial domain, at least one region in the decompressed picture based on information indicating a removal of the at least one region prior to a previously performed encoding process. |
| US09571856B2 |
Conversion operations in scalable video encoding and decoding
Techniques and tools for conversion operations between modules in a scalable video encoding tool or scalable video decoding tool are described. For example, given reconstructed base layer video in a low resolution format (e.g., 4:2:0 video with 8 bits per sample) an encoding tool and decoding tool adaptively filter the reconstructed base layer video and upsample its sample values to a higher sample depth (e.g., 10 bits per sample). The tools also adaptively scale chroma samples to a higher chroma sampling rate (e.g., 4:2:2). The adaptive filtering and chroma scaling help reduce energy in inter-layer residual video by making the reconstructed base layer video closer to input video, which typically makes compression of the inter-layer residual video more efficient. The encoding tool also remaps sample values of the inter-layer residual video to adjust dynamic range before encoding, and the decoding tool performs inverse remapping after decoding. |
| US09571854B2 |
Spatiotemporal prediction for bidirectionally predictive (B) pictures and motion vector prediction for multi-picture reference motion compensation
Several improvements for use with Bidirectionally Predictive (B) pictures within a video sequence are provided. In certain improvements Direct Mode encoding and/or Motion Vector Prediction are enhanced using spatial prediction techniques. In other improvements Motion Vector prediction includes temporal distance and subblock information, for example, for more accurate prediction. Such improvements and other presented herein significantly improve the performance of any applicable video coding system/logic. |
| US09571849B2 |
Coding of residual data in predictive compression
Encoding input data including one or more frames includes: generating a residual block based on a difference between a first block of data for multiple pixels in a first frame and a second block of data derived from information in the input data; generating a first block of coefficients based on a transform performed on the residual block; generating reference information based on the second block of data; and determining portions of a code value representing respective portions of the first block of coefficients based on at least one value derived from at least a portion of the reference information. |
| US09571848B2 |
Device and method for compressing/decompressing lens shading compensation coefficient
A lens shading compensation coefficient compression device includes: a first differential block suitable for calculating a lens shading compensation coefficient between color channels and removing redundancy between the color channels; a second differential block suitable for calculating a lens shading compensation coefficient within color channels and removing redundancy within the color channels; and an entropy coding block suitable for performing entropy coding on remaining lens shading compensation coefficients and compressing the lens shading compensation coefficients. |
| US09571833B2 |
Method for coding and an apparatus
The invention relates to a method for encoding, a method for decoding, an apparatus, computer program products, an encoder and a decoder for video information. The motion vector for a block in a video image is predicted from a set of motion vector prediction candidates determined based on previously-coded motion vectors. A motion vector prediction candidate is included in the set based on the location of the block associated with the first spatial motion vector prediction candidate and in comparison with motion vector prediction candidates already in the set. |
| US09571832B2 |
Image encoding method and apparatus and image decoding method and apparatus based on motion vector normalization
Provided are an image encoding method and apparatus, and an image decoding method and apparatus. The image encoding method includes: obtaining a variation of a motion estimation error with respect to a homogeneity degree of a motion vector according to mergence, based on a motion vector of each of merged blocks obtained by merging adjacent blocks, motion vectors of the adjacent blocks included in each of the merged blocks, and motion vectors of neighboring blocks of each of the merged blocks; and determining, based on the obtained variation, a merged block having a smallest variation from among the merged blocks and whether to merge the adjacent blocks included in the determined merged block. |
| US09571831B2 |
Image prediction encoding device, image prediction decoding device, image prediction encoding method, image prediction decoding method, image prediction encoding program, and image prediction decoding program
The image predictive encoding device 10 comprises an intra frame predictive signal generation method determination section 15 which determines, for adjacent areas comprising regenerated pixel signals and adjacent to the target area, a predictive method which is derived on the basis of data corresponding to the adjacent areas as an R mode predictive method or an L mode predictive method, an intra frame predictive signal generation section 16 which generates an intra frame predictive signal on the basis of the R mode predictive method thus determined, and a subtractor 18, a transform section 19, a quantization section 20, and an entropy encoding section 25 which encode a residual signal of a pixel signal of the target area on the basis of the generated intra frame predictive signal. |
| US09571827B2 |
Techniques for adaptive video streaming
A video coding server may code a common video sequence into a plurality of coded data streams, each coded data stream representing the video sequence coded using coding parameters tailored for a respective transmission bit rate. The coding may cause a set of transmission units from among the coded data streams to include coded video data from a common point of the video sequence, and a first coded frame of each transmission unit of the set to be a synchronization frame. A manifest file may be built representing an index of transmission units of the respective coded data streams. The coded data streams and manifest file may be stored by the server for delivery to a client device. During download and decode, the chunks may be decoded efficiently even when switching among streams because the first frame in each chunk is a synchronization frame. |
| US09571822B2 |
Display system with display adjustment mechanism for viewing aide and method of operation thereof
A method of operation of a display system includes: determining a correction profile for adjusting an intended image based on a viewing aide; and generating an adjusted output image based on the correction profile for displaying on a device and for perceiving the intended image through the viewing aide. |
| US09571820B2 |
MRI-compatible 3D television and display system
A display system compatible with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus disposed in a magnet room for producing video images to a patient in an MRI magnet tunnel, the images having a three-dimensional (3D) effect. An MRI-compatible 3D display includes a display panel configured to generate optical images having 3D content, and RF and electromagnetic interference filtering. A Faraday cage encloses the display panel, and includes an optically transparent window panel having an electrically conductive mesh and a layer of transparent optically isotropic material. |
| US09571819B1 |
Efficient dense stereo computation
Example embodiments may allow for the efficient determination of disparity information for a stereo image pair by embedding pixels of the image pair in a multidimensional dimensional vertex space. Regularly-spaced vertices in the vertex space are associated with pixels of the stereo image pair and disparity loss functions are determined for each of the vertices based on disparity loss functions of the associated pixels. The determined vertex-disparity loss functions can be used to determine vertex disparity values for each of the vertices. Disparity values for pixels of the stereo image pair can be determined based on determined vertex disparity values for respective one or more vertices associated with each of the pixels. The determined pixel disparity values can be used to enable depth-selective image processing, determination of pixel depth maps, mapping and/or navigation of an environment, human-computer interfacing, biometrics, augmented reality, or other applications. |
| US09571818B2 |
Techniques for generating robust stereo images from a pair of corresponding stereo images captured with and without the use of a flash device
Techniques for generating robust depth maps from stereo images are described. A robust depth map is generated from a set of stereo images captured with and without flash illumination. The depth map is more robust than depth maps generated using conventional techniques because a pixel-matching algorithm is implemented that weights pixels in a matching window according to the ratio of light intensity captured using different flash illumination levels. The ratio map provides a rough estimate of depth relative to neighboring pixels that enables the flash/no-flash pixel-matching algorithm to devalue pixels that appear to be located at different depths than the central pixel in the matching window. In addition, the ratio map may be used to filter the generated depth map to generate a smooth estimate for the depth of objects within the stereo image. |
| US09571817B2 |
Inspection apparatus, inspection method, and program
A photometric processing part calculates a normal vector of a surface of a workpiece from a plurality of luminance images acquired by a camera in accordance with the photometric stereo method, and performs synthesis processing of synthesizing at least two images out of an inclination image made up of pixel values based on the normal vector calculated from the plurality of luminance images and at least one reduced image of the inclination image, to generate an inspection image showing a surface shape of the inspection target. In particular, a characteristic size setting part sets a characteristic size which is a parameter for giving weight to a component of a reduced image at the time of performing the synthesis processing. The photometric processing part can generate a different inspection image in accordance with the set characteristic size. |
| US09571816B2 |
Associating an object with a subject
A method comprises receiving one or more depth images from a depth camera, the depth images indicating a depth of a surface imaged by each pixel of the depth images. The method may further comprise identifying a human subject imaged by the depth images and recognizing within one or more of the depth images a beacon emitted from a control device. A position of the control device may be assessed in three dimensions, and the control device may be associated with the human subject based on a proximity of the control device to the human subject or other parameter of the control device with relation to the human subject. |
| US09571815B2 |
Method for 3D image signal processing and image display for implementing the same
A method for processing a 3D image signal and an image display device for implementing the method are provided. The 3D image signal processing method is implemented by the 3D image display device. Although an image signal transmission side transmits information to be included in a plurality of image signals, while omitting a portion of the information, a receiver can synthesize the transmitted information to reproduce an image. The device restores at least one image from a broadcast signal, and additionally generates an image at a virtual camera view from the restored image and displays it three-dimensionally. To this end, the image display device receives a broadcast signal and obtains at least one set of camera parameters from signaling information. Then, the image display device generates a virtual view image according to the camera parameters, and formats the virtual view image and the broadcast image included in the broadcast signal three-dimensionally. |
| US09571813B2 |
Playback device, playback method, program, and recording medium
The present invention relates to a playback device, a playback method, a program, and a recording medium that enable 3D playback in accordance with the capabilities of the playback device.A storage unit 24 stores a one-plane offset capability flag indicating whether or not 3D playback is possible in a one-plane offset mode, which is a mode in which one of two images obtained by shifting an image recorded on a disc 11 in a horizontal direction is output as a left-eye image and the other is output as a right-eye image, and a two-plane capability flag indicating whether or not 3D playback is possible in a two-plane mode, which is a mode in which a left-eye image and a right-eye image that are recorded on the disc are output as they are. A control unit 22 sets a playback mode for 3D playback in accordance with the one-plane offset capability flag and the two-plane capability flag stored in the storage unit 24. The present invention can be applied to, for example, a playback device. |
| US09571811B2 |
Method and device for multiplexing and demultiplexing composite images relating to a three-dimensional content
A method for generating a stereoscopic video stream includes composite images having pixels related to a right and a left image of a tridimensional video content; the pixels of the right and left images are inserted into a composite image of the stereoscopic video stream, all the pixels of the right and left images are inserted in the composite image by leaving one of said two images unaltered and breaking up the other one into regions including a plurality of pixels and entering the regions into the composite image; the composite image has larger dimensions than those necessary to allow the insertion of all pixels of the left and right images, and in the pixels of the composite image left after such insertion a depth map is inserted, whose elements correspond to the pixel depth of the tridimensional content. |
| US09571809B2 |
Simplified depth coding with modified intra-coding for 3D video coding
Systems, mediums, and methods for simplified depth coding for 3D video coding comprises performing modified intra DC coding or modified intra planar coding of at least one coding unit associated with a plurality of pixels and of at least one depth map, and comprising forming a prediction value of the at least one coding unit. |
| US09571807B2 |
Audio signal level estimation in cameras
A camera system includes a first microphone, a second microphone, and a microphone controller. The first microphone and the second microphone are configured to capture audio over a time interval to produce a first captured audio signal and a second captured audio signal, respectively. The second captured audio signal is dampened relative to the first captured audio signal by a dampening factor. The microphone controller is configured to store the first captured audio signal in response to a determination that the first captured audio signal does not clip. In response to a determination that the first captured audio signal clips, the microphone controller is configured to identify a gain between the first captured audio signal and the second captured audio signal representative of the dampening factor, amplify the second captured audio signal based on the identified gain, and store the amplified second captured audio signal. |
| US09571806B2 |
Projection system, and information processing apparatus
A projection system includes image projection apparatuses to project one image onto a projection face based on image information, a projection controller to divide the image information into a plurality of segment image data, and to instruct each of the image projection apparatuses to project corresponding segment image data, a positional deviation detector disposed at each of the image projection apparatuses to detect a positional deviation at the image projection apparatuses, an identification unit to identify which image projection apparatus requires a calibration processing; a projection unit to cause the identified image projection apparatus to project a calibration image information; an image capture apparatus to capture the calibration image information; and a calibration unit to calibrate the segment image data projected by the identified image projection apparatus based on the captured calibration image information. |
| US09571799B2 |
Wireless communication system and method, and data receiving apparatus, method and program
An access point is connected with surveillance cameras through wireless communication means. In the access point, a packet identification unit identifies the surveillance camera. A receiving status measurement unit measures receiving speed of the image data for each surveillance camera, and a priority apparatus determination unit determines whether to prioritize receiving of image data from a surveillance camera with the receiving speed smaller than a reference speed. The receiving control unit transmits a CTS packet, indicating that data receiving from the surveillance camera determined by the priority apparatus determination unit will be prioritized, to all of the connected surveillance cameras. The surveillance cameras other than that indicated by the CTS packet pause the data transmission to the access point when the CTS packet is received. |
| US09571791B1 |
Importing of information in a computing system
A method and system for importing information in a computing system. An information content is displayed on one or more respective screens in corresponding locations. An import request, for importing a digital representation of a physical object placed on a current screen in a current location, is received. A first digital image at least partially representing the current screen is acquired by one or more digital cameras. An object digital image representing an object area of the current screen being covered by the physical object is obtained. The object area is identified from comparison between the first digital image and a displayed digital image. A digital document representing the physical object is generated from the object digital image. The digital document is added to the information content for displaying the digital document at a position on each screen corresponding to a position of the physical object on the current screen. |
| US09571788B2 |
Communication systems, communication devices, and related methods for routing calls between communication devices having users with different abilities
A group routing server, communication devices, and related methods are described. The group routing server may comprise a processor operably coupled with communication elements and memory, and be configured to determine a destination communication device from among a plurality of communication devices to which an incoming call is to be routed, determine whether an assistive communication service is needed for providing interpretive services based, at least in part, on differing communication abilities between a far-end user associated with a far-end communication device initiating the incoming call and a near-end user associated with the destination communication device, route the incoming call to the assistive communication service according to the routing rules if the assistive communication device is determined to be needed, and route the incoming call directly to the communication service according to the routing rules if the assistive communication device is not determined to be needed. |
| US09571785B2 |
System and method for fine-grained control of privacy from image and video recording devices
A system and method for fine-grained privacy control of image and video recordings uses a model-based approach to solve privacy issues. The method includes steps of: receiving a digital capture of a subject bound by privacy constraints; receiving information regarding the subject, the environment, and the privacy constraints; using the information to generate a model image of the subject within the environment; associating a disposition tag with an appearance of the subject in the model image; and comparing the model image with the digital capture to determine coordinates in the recording where a privacy control action, such as a blocking action, should be applied. |
| US09571782B2 |
Feature activation on occurrence of an event
A cable provider could offer a promotional feature, such as live pause of video, above and beyond a tier of service to which the customer subscribes, limiting the feature to being activated only upon occurrence of one or more events. In a network video delivery context, a set-top box plays live video, including an ability to pause live video upon the occurrence of an event. The system can detect an event, including an event unrelated to video, and prompt a user to pause. The system can include configuration settings enabling, for example, detection of various events, prompting the user to pause live video, and/or automatically pausing the live video. The system enables the user to play a time-shifted video corresponding to resuming the paused video playback. The system can include a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) local to the user, to facilitate the time-shifted video. The system is also compatible with a RS-DVR, where DVR functionality and time-shifted video is provided remotely from a head-end of a network video system. Additionally, the system is compatible with non-DVR network video delivery systems configured to provide live pause. |
| US09571777B2 |
Analog/digital converter and solid-state imaging device
An analog/digital converter includes: a ramp signal generation circuit that generates a ramp signal; a comparison circuit that compares potential of an input analog signal with potential of the ramp signal and outputs a comparator output signal if the potential of the ramp signal satisfies the predetermined condition; a count control circuit that divides a predetermined ramp period in which the ramp signal generation circuit outputs the ramp signal into a predetermined number n of divided ramp periods and outputs a count-stop signal; a counter circuit that counts time in the divided ramp period and outputs a count value of the counted time; and a decoder circuit that generates a digital signal according to a count value and a digital value corresponding to any one of the divided ramp periods in which the counter circuit has started counting of time and outputs the generated digital signal. |
| US09571776B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and method of operating the same, and electronic apparatus and method of operating the same
A solid-state imaging device includes a plurality of pixels in a two-dimensional array. Each pixel includes a photoelectric conversion element that converts incident light into electric charge, and a charge holding element that receives the electric charge from the photoelectric conversion element, and transfers the electric charge to a corresponding floating diffusion. The charge holding element further includes a plurality of electrodes. |
| US09571774B2 |
Current mode pixel and readout circuit having a first and a second readout phase
A device comprising a pixel, a current source, and a readout circuit; wherein during a first readout phase of the pixel, the readout circuit is configured to sample a sampled output voltage of an output node of the pixel; and wherein an output current of the pixel is set by the current source; wherein between the first readout phase of the pixel and a second readout phase of the pixel, the pixel is configured to change the output current to provide a second output current, wherein the change of the output current is responsive to radiation sensed by a radiation sensor of the pixel during a sensing period; wherein during the second readout phase of the pixel the readout circuit is configured to sample the second output current while providing the sampled output voltage to the output node of the pixel; wherein during the first readout phase of the pixel and the second readout phase of the pixel a drain source voltage of an output transistor of the pixel is maintained constant; and wherein the output transistor is configured to generate the second output current. |
| US09571772B2 |
Solid-state imaging device, driving method and electronic apparatus with electric charge transfer using an intermediate potential
A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel and a floating diffusion. The pixel includes a photoelectric conversion element that converts incident light into and electric charge, a first transfer gate that includes a plurality of electrodes and transfers the electric charge from the photoelectric conversion element, a charge holding region that holds the electric charge transferred from the photoelectric conversion element by the first transfer gate, each of the plurality of electrodes of the first transfer gate corresponding to a sub-region of the charge holding region, and a second transfer gate that transfers the electric charge from the charge holding region. The floating diffusion region holds the electric charge transferred from the charge holding region by the second transfer gate. |
| US09571763B2 |
Split pixel high dynamic range sensor
A method of reading out a pixel includes photogenerating charge carriers during a single integration time in photodetectors of each one of a plurality of sub-pixels included in the pixel. Each one of the plurality of sub-pixels of the pixel has a same color filter. A floating diffusion node of the pixel is reset. The floating diffusion node is sampled to generate a reset output sample signal. Charge carriers that were photogenerated in a first portion of the plurality of sub-pixels are transferred to the floating diffusion node. The floating diffusion node is sampled to generate a first output sample signal. Charge carriers that were photogenerated in a second portion of the plurality of sub-pixels are transferred to the floating diffusion node. The floating diffusion node is sampled to generate a second output sample signal. |
| US09571760B2 |
Electronic sensor and method for controlling the same
An electronic sensor and a method for controlling the electronic sensor are provided. The electronic sensor includes at least two pixels having different light-receiving efficiencies and at least two pixel groups having different exposure settings. At least one of the at least two pixels corresponds to at least one of the at least two pixel groups. |
| US09571758B2 |
Imaging apparatus, imaging system, and imaging apparatus driving method
An imaging apparatus, driving method of the imaging apparatus, and an imaging system, are provided, wherein pixels output at least two image signals with different viable signal ranges, and the pixel signal with a larger signal range is converted to a digital signal during a first period, and the pixel signal with a smaller signal range is converted to a digital signal during a second period shorter than the first period. |
| US09571756B2 |
Apparatus, method for controlling apparatus, and program
An apparatus for communicating with an external apparatus through a network includes an image capture unit configured to capture an image of a subject, a superimposing unit configured to superimpose a character upon the captured image, a reception unit configured to receive color information indicating a color relating to the superimposed character, and a setting unit configured to set an outline color of the superimposed character based on the received color information. |
| US09571755B2 |
System for producing user-selective HD synthesis video
A system for producing a user-selective HD synthesis video, including: a camera device for providing data of an HD video captured for chroma-key synthesis; an audio device for providing HD audio data; and a system main body which receives the HD video data and the HD audio data from the camera device and the audio device, synthesizes, in real-time, the HD video data and the HD audio data with background video data or background image data selected by a user as an HD video using a chroma-key synthesis scheme, and selectively stores the HD synthesis video data in an external memory device. |
| US09571754B2 |
Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same
Disclosed are a mobile terminal and a method of controlling the same. The mobile terminal includes a camera configured to photograph an external environment, a display unit configured to display an image captured by the camera, and a control unit configured to extract, from the image, at least one object corresponding to a face in the external environment and control the display unit to correct the image by modifying a certain region of the at least one object, based on a distance from a center of the image to the at least one object. |
| US09571753B2 |
Mobile device for recording, reviewing, and analyzing video
Two parties have three distinct viewpoints of their relationship, from which assumptions emerge and working hypotheses about how to manage their relationship. The system, device, and method described herein include using a mobile device for understanding face-to-face human interactions. The process includes using a mobile device for recording an interaction with one or more other persons, whereby one or more of the participants use the mobile device to describe their viewpoints of the interaction. The participants can use the mobile device to receive immediate feedback for analysis, to compare viewpoints, to examine how the viewpoints are arrived, and to explore the viewpoints' consequences for the participants' relationship. |
| US09571751B2 |
Selective brightness control in photography
A computer determines one or more brightness levels associated with a first set of pixels within a light source in an image. The computer determines a brightness effect on a second set of pixels in the image based on the one or more brightness levels associated with the first set of pixels within the light source. The computer receives input to alter at least one of the one or more brightness levels associated with the first set of pixels within the light source. The computer alters one or more brightness levels associated with the second set of pixels in the image based on the received input and the determined brightness effect. |
| US09571750B2 |
Image capturing apparatus, method for controlling the same, and storage medium
An image capturing apparatus includes a detection unit that detects brightness of light from an object, an XY addressing type of image sensor, a focal plane shutter having a mechanical second curtain shutter, an electronic first curtain shutter that resets the pixels in each line, and causes accumulation of charges in the pixels to start, a period detection unit that detects periodic variation in a light amount, a prediction unit that, based on the period of the variation in the light amount, predicts variation in the light amount in a predetermined exposure time, and a control unit that controls a reset time of the electronic first curtain shutter such that charge accumulation amounts of the pixels of each line fall within a predetermined range according to the variation in the light amount. |
| US09571747B2 |
Illumination apparatus, imaging apparatus, and camera system
An illumination apparatus includes a light emitting unit, a movable unit, including the light emitting unit, that is rotatable relative to a main body unit, an obtaining unit that obtains first distance information about a distance to a target in a shooting direction of the imaging apparatus to which the illumination apparatus is attached, and second distance information about a distance to a target in a direction different from the shooting direction, a determination unit that determines, based on the first distance information and the second distance information obtained by the obtaining unit, a lighting direction of the light emitting unit, wherein the obtaining unit obtains, in a case where a self-timer mode is set in the imaging apparatus, the first distance information after a lapse of a predetermined time following obtainment of the second distance information. |
| US09571746B2 |
Image pickup system that detect focus by irradiating auxiliary light, image pickup apparatus, light emission device, and focus detection method
An image pickup apparatus capable of obtaining a high AF accuracy while reducing unnecessary power consumption and a release delay when photographing while detecting a focusing state using auxiliary light. The image pickup apparatus is capable of mounting a light emission device with which a first light emitting section of which an irradiation direction can be changed with respect to a body of the light emission device and a second light emitting section of which an irradiation direction is fixed to the body are provided. An obtaining unit obtains information about the irradiation direction of the first light emitting section. A control unit controls one of the first light emitting section and the second light emitting section on the basis of the information about the irradiation direction obtained as a light emitting section for irradiating with auxiliary light at the time when the focus detection unit performs focus detection. |
| US09571745B2 |
Illumination systems and methods for computer imagers
The present invention can provide solutions to many common imaging problems, such as, for example, unevenly distributed illumination, shadows, white balance adjustment, colored ambient light and high dynamic range imaging. Imaging systems and methods can be provided through a computer (e.g., laptop or desktop) such that the system or method can take advantage of the computer's processing power to provide functionality that goes beyond typical camera. Such an imaging system may include an imaging device, a camera, a light source and a user interface. |
| US09571744B2 |
Video processing method and apparatus
A video processing method and an apparatus using the same are disclosed. The method includes steps of performing a brightness-reducing treatment on all pixels in a displayed image; performing a brightness-enhancing treatment on all first pixels in the displayed image; performing a brightness-smoothing treatment on pixels having a brightness value being between a higher smooth-treatment brightness value and a lower smooth-treatment brightness value. The video processing method keeps the brightness value of the pixels from being out of grayscale range. |
| US09571743B2 |
Dynamic exposure adjusting method and electronic apparatus using the same
A dynamic exposure adjusting method and an electronic apparatus using the same are provided. The method includes the following steps: capturing a plurality of preview images, a plurality of additional images and a first image, wherein the additional images are not displayed in a display unit of the electronic apparatus;analyzing a luminance distribution condition of the first image; obtaining a long exposure time and a short exposure time according to the luminance distribution condition; retrieving at least one specific image corresponding to the long exposure time and the short exposure time from the additional images; combining the first image with the at least one specific image as a processed image. |
| US09571739B2 |
Camera timer
Disclosed are devices, systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for displaying useful countdown timers on a media capture device. A media capture device can increase contrast between countdown timer and the video of a scene to be captured by a media capture device and adjust the position and size of a counter displayed on the device based on whether the object is determined to be closer or further than a predetermined threshold distance. Countdown timers can be triggered by detection of objects and gestures. |
| US09571737B2 |
Image-capturing device for generating image-capture data and timing control circuit for generating image-capture data
An image-capturing device includes an image-capturing section, an image-data-generation section, a display section, and a timing generator. The image-capturing section is configured and arranged to capture an image of a subject at a timing on the basis of a vertical synchronization signal inputted and generate image-capture data corresponding to a frame. The image-data-generation section is configured and arranged to generate image data on the basis of the image-capture data corresponding to the frame. The display section is configured and arranged to display the image data. The timing generator is configured and arranged to output the vertical synchronization signal. The timing generator outputs the vertical synchronization signal at a variable timing in accordance with a generating condition of the image data corresponding to the frame. The image-capturing section generates the image-capture data corresponding to another frame at the timing on the basis of the vertical synchronization signal. |
| US09571734B2 |
Multi display device and method of photographing thereof
A multi display device and a method of photographing thereof. The multi display device includes a first body having a first display unit, a second body having a second display unit, a hinge unit disposed to connect the first and second bodies to each other, a first imaging unit provided in the first body, a second imaging unit provided in the second body, and a controller which, if photographing is performed by the first or second imaging unit when the first or second body pivots based on the hinge unit, combines a plurality of photographed images to generate a panorama image content. |
| US09571730B2 |
Method for increasing a detecting range of an image capture system and related image capture system thereof
A method for increasing a detection range of an image capture system includes at least one first image capture unit capturing a first image and at least one second image capture unit capturing a second image; a processor determining an object according to the first image; the processor generating a third image group with a first resolution according to the first image and the second image; the processor generating a fourth image group with a second resolution; the processor determining whether the object exists within an effective range of the image capture system corresponding to the second resolution, within a weak range of the image capture system corresponding to the second resolution, or within the effective range and the weak range of the image capture system corresponding to the second resolution to generate a determination result; and the processor executing a corresponding operation according to the determination result. |
| US09571726B2 |
Generating attention information from photos
Implementations generally relate to collecting photos. In some implementations, a method includes collecting photos associated with one or more objects, where the photos are collected from a plurality of users. The method also includes collecting attention information associated with the one or more objects. The method also includes generating an attention map based on the attention information. The method also includes guiding users to capture photos of particular objects based on the attention map. |
| US09571725B2 |
Electronic device and image capture method thereof
An electronic device and an image capture method thereof are disclosed herein. The image capture method is suitable for an electronic apparatus including an image capture unit. The image capture method includes steps of: providing a first preview image by the image capture unit; detecting a first facial expression from the first preview image; providing a second preview image by the image capture unit after the first preview image; detecting the second facial expression from the second preview image; determining whether the second facial expression is matched to the first facial expression; and, automatically generating a second target image in response to the second facial expression is not matched to the first facial expression. |
| US09571723B2 |
Automatic detection by a wearable camera
There is set forth herein a system including a camera device. In one embodiment the system is operative to perform image processing for detection of an event involving a human subject. There is set forth herein in one embodiment, a camera equipped system employed for fall detection. |
| US09571720B2 |
Image processing device, display device, imaging apparatus, image processing method, and program
An image processing device includes: a determining unit configured to determine, in accordance with two images corresponding to temporally adjacent image data input from an external device, whether or not a field area at a time of imaging has been changed; and a suppressing unit configured to generate and output suppressed image data with an amount of visually recognizable information included in the images being suppressed by performing image processing of reducing at least one of a contrast and a chroma of the images at a time the determining unit determines that the field area at the time of imaging has been changed. |
| US09571718B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and image pickup apparatus for processing a picked-up image
An image processing apparatus for processing a picked-up image which is output from an image pickup element in which a microlens array for obtaining the picked-up image including ray directional information of an object image formed by a photographing optical system has been arranged has: a refocus processing unit for executing a refocus processing of the obtained picked-up image on the basis of the ray directional information and generating a reconstruction image; and a defect pixel detection unit for detecting a defect pixel from the obtained picked-up image. When the picked-up image is obtained, the detection of the defect pixel of the obtained picked-up image is performed. When a refocus processing is instructed, the refocus processing is executed to the picked-up image in which the detection of the defect pixel is performed. |
| US09571717B2 |
Imaging device, imaging system, imaging method, and computer-readable recording medium
An imaging device includes: an imaging unit that generates image data; a first communication unit; a first communication control unit that transmits the image data to an external communication device and receives recording information for causing the imaging device to record a subject image included in the image data from the communication device; and a specification information generation unit that generates specification information for specifying the subject image based on the recording information and records the specification information in a recording unit. The recording information includes subject image information. The specification information generation unit records the specification information including the subject image information in the recording unit. |
| US09571716B2 |
Handle for handheld terminal
A handle for a handheld terminal includes a first interface module, a first key module, a first power supply module, and a base handle module. The handle couples with the handheld terminal. The handle makes a wireless connection with the handheld terminal the first interface module or a wired connection with the handheld terminal via the first interface module. The first key module includes one or more user operation command keys. The first power supply module supplies power for the handle. The handle is operable with one hand. |
| US09571715B2 |
Information processing apparatus, method of controlling the same and camera
This invention provides an information processing apparatus for allowing a user to perform operation without any confusion concerning a device which implements a plurality of functions for one operation member in accordance with operation methods for the operation member. A system controller performs control to execute a predetermined function in response to the start of operation on an operation member and terminate execution of the predetermined function in response to the end of the operation. A timer function unit measures the time from the start of operation on the operation member. When a given operation finishes before the time measured by the timer function unit exceeds a predetermined time after the start of the operation, a notification about the operation method for the operation member is output. |
| US09571710B2 |
Microlens array imaging device and imaging method
A microlens array imaging device includes a main lens, a microlens array containing a plurality of microlenses, and an image acquisition unit. The main lens projects a first image of an object for the plurality of microlenses, each of which projects a second image of the first image on the image acquisition unit. Each second image includes an image circle and a circle of confusion around the image circle. A distance between an image circle of one microlens and an image circle of an adjacent microlens is equal to or greater than a summation of a radius of the second image corresponding to the one microlens and a radius of the image circle of the adjacent microlens, and is equal to or less than a summation of the radius of the second image corresponding to the one microlens and a radius of the second image corresponding to the adjacent microlens. |
| US09571709B2 |
Dust removing device and dust removing method
In a piezoelectric device, a first electrode and a second electrode are disposed to be opposed to each other on plate surfaces of the piezoelectric device, a first electrode plane of the piezoelectric device is fixedly bonded to a plate surface of a vibrating plate, a piezoelectric material forming the piezoelectric device is polarized in a direction parallel to the first electrode plane, the piezoelectric device is fixed to a base through a second electrode plane of the piezoelectric device, and the piezoelectric device generates a thickness-shear vibration with the fixed second electrode plane being a reference plane. The piezoelectric vibration generated by the piezoelectric device generates a flexural vibration in the vibrating plate, to thereby remove dust adhering to a surface of the vibrating plate. |
| US09571708B2 |
Detachable lens shuttering apparatus for use with a portable communication device
An apparatus for use with an electronic device having a camera. The apparatus comprises a structure configured to detachably couple to the device, and a shutter supported by the structure and comprising a lens shutter configured to obscure a lens of the camera when in an engaged position. |
| US09571704B2 |
Signal multiplexing apparatus and transmission apparatus
According to an embodiment a signal multiplexing apparatus includes a clock selector, a data selector, and a converter. The clock selector selects either a first clock signal synchronized with a first data signal or a second clock signal different from the first clock signal to obtain a third clock signal. The data selector selects a subset of a first signal set at each timing controlled by the third clock signal to generate a first parallel signal. The first signal set includes the first data signal and a second data signal whose speed is lower than a speed of the first data signal. The converter converts the first parallel signal into a serial signal in accordance with the third clock signal. |
| US09571699B2 |
Information processing system, information processing method, and computer program product
An information processing system includes an image forming part and an operation part attachable to and detachable from the image forming part. The information processing system includes: a first detection unit configured to detect whether a state where a function of the image forming part is usable via the operation part is established; a second detection unit configured to detect whether the operation part has been detached from the image forming part; and a restriction control unit configured to perform control to restrict a predetermined function of the operation part when, while the first detection unit has detected that the state where the function of the image forming part is usable via the operation part is not established, the second detection unit has detected that the operation part has been detached from the image forming part. |
| US09571697B2 |
Image processing device setting sharpness adjustment degrees for object regions and performing unsharp masking process
An image processing device includes a processor. The processor is configured to perform: acquiring input image data representing an input image having a plurality of objects; identifying a plurality of object regions in the input image, the plurality of object regions representing respectively the plurality of objects; generating a mask image using sharpness adjustment degrees that are set for the plurality of object regions respectively; generating output image data by performing an unsharp masking process on the input image by using the mask image, the unsharp masking process being performed so as to adjust sharpness of the input image; and sending the output image data to a printing unit. |
| US09571696B2 |
Print data generating apparatus and generating method for generating color conversion profile
A print data generating apparatus executes color conversion on image data using a color conversion profile to generate print data. In the color conversion profile, each of a plurality of sets of specific color data defined in a specific color space are associated with a set of first ink color data defined in an ink color space. A part of the plurality of sets of specific color data are further associated with a set of second ink color data defined in the ink color space. In bi-directional printing, a print executing unit uses the first ink color data to execute one of forward print and backward print, and uses both the first ink color data and the second ink color data to execute another of forward print and backward print. |
| US09571694B2 |
Image reading apparatus, method for controlling the same, and storage medium
A resolution of an image data needs to be higher than a predetermined value for character recognition. A control method in an image reading apparatus having a reading unit for reading an image of a document to generate image data, and a storing unit for storing the image data generated by the reading unit includes receiving from a user, after the image data is stored by the storing unit, an instruction for executing character recognition processing on the image data stored by the storing unit, executing character recognition processing on the image data stored by the storing unit according to a reception of the instruction by the receiving unit, and performing control, in a case where the image data generated by the reading unit is to be stored by the storing unit, to read an image of a document by the reading unit with a resolution that enables character recognition. |
| US09571692B2 |
Image communication apparatus providing notification for start of transmission, control method therefor and storage medium
An image communication apparatus enables a sender to easily measure timing of pressing down a FAX transmission start button even in the case of manual transmission. When destination information about another image communication apparatus inputted by a user is transmitted to the image communication apparatus via a connected handset, a session for media type “audio” is established between the two to start an in-band transmission by a second communication unit. When receiving the audio signal from another image communication apparatus after establishment of the session, sound generated from the received audio signal is controlled to be output to the handset to urge the user to start FAX transmission, but when receiving an INVITE message with a media type “image” or “application” from another image communication apparatus instead of receiving the audio signal, after the establishment of the session, a notification urging the user to start FAX transmission is made. |
| US09571691B2 |
Imager array apparatus and systems
An imager apparatus useful for a digital architecture lithographic printing system includes a first imager bank having at least one imager configured to produce a first output beam; and a second imager bank having at least one imager configured to produce a second output beam, the second imager bank being located at a first angle with respect to the first imager bank, the first output beam and the second output beam being separated by a second angle which is less than the first angle. |
| US09571690B2 |
Image scanner and image forming apparatus incorporating the image scanner
An image scanner, which is incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a stationary-document reading section, a moving-document reading section disposed at an angle to the stationary-document reading section, a reader movable between the stationary-document reading section and the moving-document reading section, and a reading element movable to different angles while contacting the stationary-document reading section and the moving-document reading section to selectively read a document placed on the stationary-document reading section and a document moving over the moving-document reading section. The image scanner further includes any one of position detector, a combination of a moving device and at least one position sensor, and a combination of at least one pressing member, a framework, and an angle changer. |
| US09571689B2 |
Image sensor unit, image reading apparatus, and image forming apparatus
In an image sensor unit, a frame includes a light blocking portion that protrudes toward one surface of a circuit board at a position between a light source and an image sensor. On the one surface of the circuit board, a conductive portion that continuously overlaps with external lines of the light blocking portion in a sub-scan direction in a view of the circuit board in a direction orthogonal to the one surface is formed. |
| US09571687B2 |
Image forming apparatus and resource management method
A maximum resource use amount for use by an application is acquired for each application, the acquired maximum resource use amount and a resource amount used by the applications are stored for each application, and when an application calls a resource use API in order to acquire or release a resource, it is determined, based on the upper limit of the used resource amount and the used resource amount, whether or not to generate the resource, and, if it is determined to generate the resource, the resource is generated and the used resource amount is updated. |
| US09571676B2 |
Image forming apparatus, control method for image forming apparatus, and storage medium
An image forming apparatus stores image data generated from a document scanned by a scanner on a removable medium. When storage on the removable medium is not completed, part of the image data that has been stored by that time is deleted from the removable medium. |
| US09571674B2 |
System and method for providing cloud printing service
Provided is an image forming system operable to provide a cloud printing service, the image forming system comprising: a transmitting device operable to transmit content by designating a target phone number; a cloud printing server operable to receive the target phone number and the content from the transmitting device; a receiving device assigned with the target phone number and operable to receive an upload notification of the content with respect to the target phone number from the cloud printing server; and an image forming device operable to print the content by receiving the content from the cloud printing server, wherein the cloud printing server transmits the content to the image forming device registered in the target phone number when the cloud printing service is requested for the content to the target phone number. |
| US09571673B2 |
Image forming apparatus with controlled activation based on port number and control method thereof
An image forming apparatus equipped with a sleep function and for forming an image using an image forming unit and a control method thereof. The image forming apparatus includes a control unit that controls the image forming unit. When a job is received in a sleep state, a port number of the received job is discriminated, whether or not to perform initialization processing of the image forming unit is determined based on the discriminated port number, and in a case that it is determined that initialization processing of the image forming unit is necessary, initialization processing of the image forming unit is started and thereafter the control unit is controlled to start processing of the job. |
| US09571672B2 |
Additional input sources for data acquisition at distributed scan management systems
A method and apparatus is provided for acquiring document data from additional input sources to a DSM system. In an embodiment, a DSM computing device includes a remote image receiver service configured to connect to a remote image source via a network connection, receive configuration information and image data from the remote image source, and determine post scan processing instructions based, at least in part, on the configuration information. In another embodiment, a DSM computing device includes an input selection service configured to identify one or more input sources available at the computing device, receive input source information identifying a particular input source of the one or more input sources, receive image information identifying the particular image data residing on the particular input source, retrieve the particular image data from the particular input source, and make the particular image data available to a distributed scan management service. |
| US09571667B2 |
Predictive toll-free number search
A method of searching for a toll-free number including identifying a previous search number history for a user; and offering a toll free number associated with the previous search number history to the user. |
| US09571664B2 |
Reliable activation of mobile devices
A system and method are provided for reliable activation and attachment of mobile devices. An activation server receives, from a client device, a subscription request for accessing a network, wherein the subscription request includes a first identifier of the client device. The activation server determines, based on the first identifier, whether a pending subscription account exists or a new subscription account is to be created. Upon determining that the pending subscription account exists or the new subscription account is to be created, the activation server releases the pending subscription account or creates the new subscription account, and instructs the client device to remove a second identifier from the client device and to use the first identifier for attaching to the network. |
| US09571661B2 |
Controller for a door entry system
Controller for retrofit connection to a pre-installed door entry system of an area having a communal entrance secured by a communal door having a first electrically operated lock and a non-communal internal region secured by an internal door having a second electrically operated lock, the door entry system comprising a door panel associated with the communal entrance and an entry phone located within the internal region; the controller being connectable to existing circuitry of the entry phone to be able to receive a request for entry into the internal region from the door panel; and transmit an electrical signal to the entry phone to unlock the first and second electrically operated locks. The controller comprises a detector; a verifier; and a lock controller arranged to generate the signals to control the entry phone to unlock the first and second electrically operated locks when the right of access has been verified. |
| US09571659B2 |
Teleconference calls based on calendar events
An embodiment includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium with programming code executable by a processor to perform operations including accessing a scheduled time and teleconference contact information associated with a teleconference calendar event. The operations include determining whether an operator is operating a vehicle based on synchronization between a mobile device and an abstraction and communication device (device) interfaced with the vehicle. When an actual time is within a threshold of the scheduled time and the operator is operating the vehicle, the operations include determining whether the operator is a participant of a teleconference. If so, the operations include extracting the teleconference contact information from the teleconference calendar event. The operations include communicating a prompt to join the teleconference and receiving a confirmation to join the teleconference. The operations include communicating a signal indicating the confirmation via the device and placing a call to join the teleconference. |
| US09571658B2 |
Method of call forwarding between devices
An electronic device and method are disclosed, including a first communication module configured to perform a cellular communication, a second communication module configured to perform a communication to connect the electronic device to an external electronic device, and at least one processor electrically connected to the first and second communication modules, executing the method, which includes activating the first communication module in response to detecting a preset condition, and transmitting a signal requesting call forwarding via the first communication module. |
| US09571655B2 |
System and method for scalable interaction prioritization
A system and method include a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to allocate interactions to a server based on a function of a criteria over time, where the server can only handle a determined number of interactions at a time. |
| US09571653B1 |
Streamlined call management and routing system
A system for managing and routing calls involves a switch, multiple endpoints, an IVR system; and storage including a data structure associating individual unique keys with ANI information and one of the endpoints. In response to receipt of a call, identified by a specific ANI, the IVR will allow the user to input a routing key. If the user does not provide the routing key, it will follow the user's interaction to one of the endpoints, and I) generate a unique key, II) store the unique key, the specific ANI and an identifier of the one of the endpoints, and III) make the unique key available so that, the user can provide the unique key as the routing key on a subsequent call. If the user does provide the routing key, the specific ANI will be verified and the user's call routed to the endpoint associated with the routing key. |
| US09571652B1 |
Enhanced diarization systems, media and methods of use
Enhanced diarization systems and methods of use are provided herein. Some exemplary methods may include applying one or more rules that affect separation of the call audio data into segments, the rules being associated with the at least one call schema, separating the call audio data into segments according to the one or more rules, grouping segments of call audio data associated with a speaker, and storing in a storage media an identifier and the grouped segments for the speaker. |
| US09571650B2 |
Method and system for generating a responsive communication based on behavioral assessment data
A method for providing a responsive communication to a communicant, including receiving, by a control processor, a single electronic voice communication from a communicant; transcribing the electronic voice communication to text; analyzing, by a processor, the text of the electronic voice communication by mining the text and applying a predetermined linguistic-based psychological behavioral model to the text of the electronic voice communication; generating, by a processor, behavioral assessment data including a personality type corresponding to the analyzed text of the electronic voice communication; generating, by a processor, event data based on the analyzed text of the electronic voice communication; and generating, by a processor, a responsive communication based on the event data. Systems and non-transitory, computer readable media that control an executable computer readable program code embodied therein, are also described. |
| US09571648B2 |
Method of providing 911 service to a private branch exchange
A method of providing 911 service to a private branch exchange, includes grouping a plurality of private telephone numbers into a set. An outgoing telephone line for a 911 call is assigned to the set. Location information for the outgoing telephone line is input into a location database. |
| US09571645B2 |
Systems and methods for providing a virtual assistant
A method for conducting a call between a caller and an interactive voice response (IVR) system, the caller using a device to conduct the call, the device configured to execute a virtual assistant, the method comprising using the virtual assistant to conduct the call at least in part by influencing the style of information provided to the caller during the call and/or the content of information passed between the device and the IVR system during the call. |
| US09571644B2 |
Contact advocate
A contact center work assignment engine communication system hosts a multi-functional contact advocate to manage communications and history for customers, including the ability to report issues, provide updates, identify and solve problems, store history, interface with contact center components, including agents and experts, creating a proactive automatic assistant for contact center customers. |
| US09571639B2 |
Call holding management
A system or a method may be provided that automatically distinguishes between a hold status and when someone live is talking on the phone. For example, the caller's phone may detect when the call holding has ended and a customer service representative is now actually on the line. The phone may alert the user to pick up the call at that time, such as utilizing a call-back mechanism. In an embodiment, the system may analyze and learn the various call holding music or recordings of call centers. The system may detect when the call holding music or recording ends in a telephone call and may alert the user. |
| US09571637B2 |
Providing enhanced wireline services
Novel tools and techniques that provide enhanced wireline services at one or more known wireline locations. In some cases, these tools and techniques involve determining that a subscriber is at one or more of the known wireline locations based on a detected location of the subscriber's wireless device (e.g., wireless phone, portable computer, etc.). Once the subscriber's presence at that wireline location has been detected, enhanced services can be provided to a wireline telephone at that location. |
| US09571633B2 |
Determining the effects of new types of impairments on perceived quality of a voice service
Empirically derived models are used to relate user perception to objectively measurable characteristics, under a criterion of nearly perfect co-variance between predicted MOS values and the variations in the values of the objectively measurable characteristics. In the example context of evaluating packet switched telephony service, the present invention eliminates the need to perform subjective tests to characterize each combination of codec type and transmission protocol. |
| US09571632B2 |
Mobile device
Mobile device including a screen operable to provide sound output from the screen. The device may include distributed mode loudspeaker (DML) technology arranged to vibrate the entire screen. The device may be arranged wherein the whole screen surface acts as a speaker. A speaker hole in the device can be fully eliminated. |
| US09571630B2 |
Mobile terminal
A mobile terminal and a control method of a mobile terminal are disclosed. The mobile terminal and a control method thereof provide a user interface allowing for a user to easily and effectively control the mobile terminal through an interaction between a certain case and the mobile terminal when the mobile terminal is accommodated in the case in a lock mode. |
| US09571628B1 |
Context and environment aware volume control in telephonic conversation
Systems and methods for automatically adjusting telephonic conversation volume are provided. A computer-implemented method includes: detecting a telephone being used for a conversation and receiving data from at least one of a microphone, a camera, and a location system associated with the telephone. The method includes analyzing the data to determine at least one of: usage of sensitive or confidential words in the conversation; distance of the telephone to another person; level of annoyance of another person; conversation loudness relative to ambient loudness; location of the telephone relative to quiet areas. The method includes automatically adjusting a volume of a speaker of the telephone during the conversation based on the analyzing. |
| US09571625B2 |
Electronic device and control method thereof
A mobile terminal is presented. The mobile terminal includes a display module, a short-range communication module configured to perform short-range communication, and a controller configured to search for at least one device available for short-range communication via the short-range communication module, acquire location information of the at least one searched other electronic device, and display the at least one searched electronic device reflecting the acquired location information on the display module. |
| US09571621B2 |
Dynamic unlocking method and electronic apparatus using the same
A dynamic unlocking method and an electronic apparatus using the same method are proposed. The method includes the following steps: recording an unlocking password combination including at least one unlocking password, where each unlocking password is characterized by a touch operation initiating from a specific icon and sliding toward a specific direction along a specific path by a specific distance; displaying an unlocking screen including a plurality of predetermined icons, where the predetermined icons are randomly arranged on the specific path; receiving at least one unlocking input performed on the predetermined icons; when the at least one received unlocking input completely matches the unlocking password combination, unlocking the electronic apparatus. |
| US09571620B1 |
Identifying recorded call data segments of interest
A method and apparatus of processing a voice call are disclosed. One example method of operation may include recording at least a portion of a conference call and storing the portion of the conference call in memory. The method may also include processing the portion of the conference call to identify at least one segment of interest and processing the at least one segment of interest and creating at least one tag of interest to be associated with a third party application. The method may also include forwarding the at least one tag of interest to a third party computing device responsive to the identified segment of interest. |
| US09571617B2 |
Controlling mute function on telephone
A method for controlling a mute function in a telephone device, and the telephone device and a computer program product that implements the method. The method includes: while the mute function is active, voice recognition software in the telephone device processes sound detected by a microphone in the telephone device to recognize and identify one or more specific words as having been spoken by a specific person and not by another person, and in response, the telephone device activates an alarm in the telephone device to communicate that the mute function is active. |
| US09571615B2 |
Electronic apparatus, panel unit, and unit for electronic apparatus
Excessive deformation of a piezoelectric element is reduced. An electronic apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a panel 10, a piezoelectric element 30, a housing 60 for mounting the panel 10, and an intermediate member 80 attached to the piezoelectric element 30, wherein the intermediate member 80 and the panel 10 deform due to deformation of the piezoelectric element 30, thereby delivering an air conduction sound and a human body vibration sound to an object in contact with the panel 10 that is deforming. |
| US09571613B2 |
Portable terminal device that selects lowest amount of power consumed by a sensor and sensor's driver
A portable terminal device includes: a memory to store power data; and a processor to execute a process, the process including: receiving an instruction to execute sensing; specifying one or more sensors for executing the sensing or one or more drivers controlling the sensors so that devices including the specified sensor and driver are specified; calculating a power consumed for the sensing by the specified devices based on the power data; and selecting a combination of the driver and the sensor, having a minimum power consumed for the sensing by the specified devices. |
| US09571612B2 |
Wrist phone with improved voice quality
A wrist phone with a single button includes a molded-plastic wristband and a wristband cap. A wireless transceiver module is mounted on a printed circuit board and is contained in a component cavity between the wristband and the wristband cap. A foil antenna is attached directly to the printed circuit board and extends between an outer layer and a wrist-facing layer of a flexible strap portion of the wristband. A microphone is located between the layers of the opposite flexible strap portion of the wristband at least two centimeters away from the wireless transceiver module. The single button is formed using the interleaved fingers of a landing pad on a surface beneath the inner surface of the wristband. The inner surface of the wristband is covered by a layer of conductive material that makes an electrical connection between the interleaved fingers when the outer surface of the wristband is pressed. |
| US09571606B2 |
Social media viewing system
Methods, systems and computer program products are described that facilitate enhanced interactions via social media that can be enabled, at least in-part, by using various content identification techniques. Enhanced viewing of a content can be accomplished by monitoring activities of a user related to the user's accessing of a particular content and analyzing information acquired from the monitoring in conjunction with stored data related to additional users. Next, a subset of the additional users that are associated with the user or with the particular content are identified, and enhanced viewing of the particular content is enabled amongst the user and the identified subset of the additional users. |
| US09571603B2 |
Redundancy network protocol system
A redundancy network protocol system may include a server to manage one or more virtual internet protocol address (VIP) profiles. Each VIP profile may be shared across one or more neighboring servers. The neighboring servers may be in the same broadcast domain or distributed to be multiple Layer 3 hops away from one another. The redundancy network protocol system may monitor server health and reachability and further manage the server health and reachability to achieve redundancy. The system may be used to provide high availability to selected applications. |
| US09571596B2 |
Enabling push notifications from websites
Techniques for enabling push notifications from websites are described. In at least some embodiments, a push notification generally represents a way for a website to push information to a client device. For instance, a push notification may include content (e.g., text, images, video, audio, and so forth) that a website pushes to a client device. The content can be output via the client device, e.g., independently of an output of the website itself. According to one or more embodiments, a push notification channel is generated that enables notifications to be pushed from a website to a client device. Generally, a push notification channel represents a set of attributes and procedures that enable notifications to be securely and accurately pushed from a website to a client device. |
| US09571594B2 |
Analyzing quality of applications linked to an online system
An online system extracts features from an application linked to the online system. The application is used by users of the online system and posts content to the online system. A trained model is applied to the extracted features to generate a quality score for the application. The trained model is trained using features extracted from a set of training applications and quality scores manually assigned to the training applications, wherein the manually assigned quality scores indicate whether each training application satisfies a set of criteria and the generated quality score represents a probability of the application satisfying the set of criteria. Based on the quality score, content provided by the application is ranked for presentation to a user of the online system in relation to other content of the online system. The online system presents the content provided by the application to the user according to the ranking. |
| US09571592B2 |
Methods, systems, and products for obtaining social communities
Social communities are recommended based on media affinity. When content is scheduled for recording, a media identifier is used to identify a social community expressing an affinity for the same media identifier. The social community may be any individual(s), clubs, and/or organizations that have expressed any affinity to terms or subject matter, such as the media identifier. |
| US09571590B2 |
System and method for improved detection and monitoring of online accounts
A computer-implemented monitoring and reporting method is provided. Identifying information is received corresponding to a user of a social networking application enabled by a social networking system. The social networking system is queried via a network for information corresponding to the user. The queried information is compared with predetermined criteria to determine a content category corresponding to the identifying information, and a report is provided including an indication of the determined content category. |
| US09571588B2 |
Systems and methods for handling a registration storm
Systems and methods for user device registration are disclosed. In certain embodiments, at least a first edge device in a group of edge devices enters a mass-restart mode. The first edge device receives a request for registration from a user device and determines whether the user device is currently registered through the first edge device. The first edge device generates a notification associated with the user device if the user device is not currently registered through the first edge device. A second edge device in the group of edge devices receives the notification and determines whether the user device is currently registered through the second edge device based on the notification. Registration information about the user device is deleted from the second edge device if the user device is currently registered through the second edge device. |
| US09571584B2 |
Method for resuming process and information processing system
One of first and second computers computes a first time taken to transfer first data, which is stored by an application process that is executed and suspended by the second computer and to be executed by the first computer, from the second computer to the first computer. The one computes a second time on basis of a transfer time and an elapsed execution time. The transfer time is taken to transfer second data from a storage area to the first computer. The second data is used to execute the process from beginning. The elapsed execution time is taken to execute the process up to a suspend point. The one determines to resume the process from the suspend point when the first time is shorter than the second time, and re-execute the process from the beginning when the second time is shorter than the first time. |
| US09571581B2 |
Storage management in a multi-tiered storage architecture
An aspect of resource management processes includes calculating a performance weight for each end user of an application. The performance weight is calculated as a function of a current activity level of each end user with respect to activities conducted via the application and a type of the application. The application is typed with a static value that indicates an average amount of storage resources in a multi-tiered storage system used by the application. An aspect also includes calculating an input/output weight for each end user from a combination of an input/output requirement and the performance weight. The input/output requirement indicates an amount of storage resources of the multi-tiered storage system associated with anticipated activities of the end user. An aspect further includes allocating an amount of the storage resources for each end user that is proportioned based on the corresponding input/output weight. |
| US09571578B1 |
Utilization based multi-buffer self-calibrated dynamic adjustment management
Provided are techniques for utilization based multi-buffer self-calibrated dynamic adjustment management. A sub-buffer is assigned to each entity of multiple entities. Under control of each of the multiple entities, a current utilization rate of the entity and each other entity is summed up; a number of data segments for the entity are determined based on the current utilization rate of the entity relative to the current utilization rate of each of the other entities; and a size of the assigned sub-buffer is adjusted based on the determination. |
| US09571576B2 |
Storage appliance, application server and method thereof
A storage appliance system is disclosed which may include at least one application server for locally executing an application, and one or more storage servers in communication with the application server for I/O transmission therebetween. Also disclosed are an application server, a method, and a computer program product. |
| US09571572B2 |
Peer-to-peer networking through universal port connections
Embodiments relate to two general purpose computers connected in a peer-to-peer mode by connecting a cable (or wireless connection) between universal ports (e.g., PCIe ports) on each computer. A timing protocol utility runs on each computer to time schedule operations performed by its respective computer. Because the system clocks on each peer computer operate independently (asynchronously), they may vary somewhat from each other. To support time synchronized peer-to-peer operations, paired clock value (one for each peer computer) are generated continually and independently by each peer system. Each peer system periodically supplies the paired clock values to its associated timing protocol utility, which uses the paired clock values to time synchronize peer-to-peer computer operations. The timing protocol utilities may also exchange the paired clock values with each other for integrity checking and other operations. |
| US09571569B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining virtual machine migration
A method for determining virtual machine migration relates to the field of communications and can reduce a deployment cost. The method includes a client in a host machine obtains a unique identifier of a virtual machine on the host machine and an address of the host machine; and if the unique identifier of the virtual machine does not exist in a local record of the client, the client sends a packet to a server in a network in which the host machine is located, where the packet carries the unique identifier of the virtual machine and the address of the host machine, so that the server determines, according to the unique identifier of the virtual machine and the address of the host machine, whether the virtual machine is migrated; and the client adds the unique identifier of the virtual machine to the local record to update the local record. |
| US09571566B2 |
Terminating connections and selecting target source devices for resource requests
A device receives, from a client device, a request for a resource, and accesses a table that includes one or more items of information. The device compares information provided in the request to the one or more items of information provided in the table, and terminates a connection for the request at the device when the information provided in the request matches at least one of the one or more items of information provided in the table. The device forwards the request to a network when the connection is not terminated at the device, and selects a target device for the resource when the connection is terminated at the device. |
| US09571558B2 |
Generating a dynamic user interface representing an arbitrary content provider back-end
Third-party apps on a mobile device can expose their content, such as audio content, video content, music stations, audio books, and so forth, to an in-vehicle computing device via a standardized format for content items that is decoupled from the user interfaces of the third-party apps. In this way, the in-vehicle computing device can display the content items in an in-vehicle user interface without granting providers of the content items access to the in-vehicle user interface. This system can present the content items in a different, independent user interface, even though the content items are associated with a third-party app having its own user interface. Content items encapsulate metadata describing the media, such as a title, subtitle, artwork, playback progress, a content item type, whether the content item is playable, whether the content item is a container item, and so forth. |
| US09571554B1 |
Directed interaction of device
Described are methods and systems of providing directed interaction from one or more presenter devices to one or more participant devices. Directed interaction allows one or more presenters to change application state, device settings, or both on the participant devices. Within the constraints imposed by the presenter device, the participant devices may be able to change content presentation, position, and so forth. The participant devices may also generate participant status data, which may be provided to the presenter devices. |
| US09571553B2 |
System and method for managing the delivery of targeted content
A system and method for managing the delivery of targeted content. When a user desires to opt-out of receiving targeted content, the user registers with a do-not-target (DNT) registry and is issued a DNT cookie. A provider of targeted content may look for the DNT cookie stored on the user's network access device. When the DNT cookie is not found, the provider may deliver targeted content to the user. When the DNT cookie is found, the provider may not deliver targeted content to the user. A Web site may offer the user an “override” cookie that allows that Web site to provide targeted content, or selected targeted content, even when the user has a DNT cookie. Alternatively, a DNT header can be added to a Web page request that indicates that the user does not want to receive targeted content. The DNT header may be overridden by an override cookie. |
| US09571551B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for multi-bitrate content streaming
An apparatus for multi-bitrate content streaming includes a receiving module configured to capture media content, a streamlet module configured to segment the media content and generate a plurality of streamlets, and an encoding module configured to generate a set of streamlets. The system includes the apparatus, wherein the set of streamlets comprises a plurality of streamlets having identical time indices and durations, and each streamlet of the set of streamlets having a unique bitrate, and wherein the encoding module comprises a master module configured to assign an encoding job to one of a plurality of host computing modules in response to an encoding job completion bid. A method includes receiving media content, segmenting the media content and generating a plurality of streamlets, and generating a set of streamlets. |
| US09571546B2 |
Media broker server, method, computer program and computer program product for matching a media source and a media receiver
It is presented a method for matching a media source and a media receiver. The method comprises the steps of: receiving position messages from a plurality of media sources, the position messages comprising geographic position data indicating a geographic position of each respective media source; receiving a request media message from the media receiver, the request media message comprising desired geographic position data indicating a desired geographic position of a media source; creating a matching group comprising all matching media sources of the plurality of media sources, which matching media sources are in a geographic position matching the desired geographic position; forwarding a live media stream, captured by at least one of the matching media sources of the matching group, to the media receiver; and maintaining the matching group. A corresponding media broker server, computer program and computer program product are also presented. |
| US09571542B2 |
Content providing system, device, and control method for providing different increments based on selected advertisement
In a content providing system, in a case where the display of an advertisement is instructed during the playback of content data, a client device pauses the playback of content data and plays back the advertisement data. A content providing device, after the advertisement data is played, increases the amount of time for which the content data can be played by an amount predefined for the advertisement Also, the content providing device, after transmitting the advertisement data, transmits content data corresponding to the amount of time for which content data can be played. |
| US09571541B1 |
Network device architecture using cache for multicast packets
A packet received via a network is stored in a packet memory. Information in a header of the packet is analyzed to determine one or more ports to which the packet is to be forwarded. The packet is read from the packet memory. It is ascertained whether the packet is of a multicast-type. In response to determining that the packet is the multicast-type, packet data that is i) read from the packet memory and ii) corresponds to the packet, is stored in a packet cache; the packet data is read from the packet cache, and multiple instances of the packet are forwarded to appropriate ports without further accessing the packet memory. |
| US09571539B2 |
Method and electronic device for performing exchange of messages
An electronic device is provided that, while traveling, easily performs message exchange exploiting unit information. An electronic device includes: a display unit; a wireless communication unit that receives information including user information related to a sender and message information desired by the sender to be transmitted to a correspondence party which are sent and received, the user information including identification information for identifying the sender and unit information for identifying an affiliation of the sender; and a display mode control unit that provides a first display position associated with the attribute information in the display unit, and displays at least either of the identification information or unit information by arranging at the first display position. |
| US09571537B2 |
Content acquisition device and method
A content acquisition device includes a processor that executes a procedure. The procedure includes: acquiring group data to identify a group that a user belongs to; and based on a period of time needed to acquire content from each of a first data processing device that holds content shared by the group indicated by the group data, and a second data processing device that is in the process of acquiring the content from the first data processing device, selecting a data processing device from which to acquire the content. |
| US09571535B2 |
Quality of experience for communication sessions
A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computing system is provided for managing quality of experience for communication sessions. In an implementation, a method may include determining a change in an optimum video size for a streaming video. The method may also include determining one or more constraints of resizing associated with the change in the desired video size. The method may further include adaptively resizing the streaming video to a current desired video size when the one or more constraints of resizing exceed a threshold value. |
| US09571534B2 |
Virtual meeting video sharing
A method is provided in one particular example that includes identifying an attempt by a first communications device to play video data within a virtual meeting session using a first media player. The first communications device can be sharing at least a portion of a desktop presented on the first communications device with one or more other remote communications devices participating in the virtual meeting session. The method can also include identifying a copy of the video data, and launching one or more media players to present at least a portion of the copy of the video data on the one or more other remote communications devices. The one or more media players are launched to correspond to a location of the first media player on the shared portion of the desktop. |
| US09571533B2 |
Graphical environment for adding liaison agents to a communication session
A communication session is established between users of communication devices. A representation of the users is displayed as part of the communication session. A liaison agent is dynamically added as a party of the communication session. The liaison agent is an application that works on behalf of one or more user during the communication. In response to dynamically adding the liaison agent as a party of the communication system, the displayed representation of the communication session is updated to indicate that the liaison agent has been added to the communication session. The liaison agent can provide a variety of services to a user, such as tracking work product, handling incoming calls, bridging communication sessions, providing web cam services, doing surveys, gathering a roll of a communication session, playing messages, notifying other users of events in the communication session, and/or the like. |
| US09571531B2 |
Methods and systems for selecting media content based on technical environment information
The present disclosure includes a method to provide rich media content over a computer network. The system determines a user's ability to playback said rich media content locally. Next, the system provides the user with a version of said rich media content appropriate for said user's ability to playback said rich media content locally. Next, the system loads said rich media content into a local cache of the user. Finally, the system displays said rich media content from the user's local cache after said rich media content has been completely loaded. |
| US09571530B2 |
Internet based telephone line
In one embodiment, a telephone service method that provides subscribers with the functionality of an extra telephone line during data/Internet sessions is disclosed. Each subscriber has a unique telephone number Dns that can be dialed by anyone with access to the PSTN. When the Dns is dialed the call will be routed via the PSTN to the ILTD server. The ILTD server upon receiving the call attempt from the Dnc will analyze the dialed number (Dns) and determine if the subscriber's computer is able to receive the telephone call. If the subscriber's computer is actively engaged in an Internet Protocol session, with the ILTD client software running, the ILTD server will connect the call over the Internet to the ILTD client software. |
| US09571524B2 |
Creation of security policy templates and security policies based on the templates
A management entity generates selectable security policy classifications each identifying security policies that share common security rules. Each of the security policies is applied by a corresponding one of different security devices to control access to a resource. The management entity creates a new policy template that includes all of the security policies identified by selected ones of the policy classification selections and then creates a new security policy based on the new policy template. The management entity applies the new security policy to a security device over a network. |
| US09571523B2 |
Security actuator for a dynamically programmable computer network
A network security policy may be implemented at network switches as a set of active packet disposition directives. In a dynamically programmable network, the network switches can be dynamically reprogrammed with packet disposition directives. A security actuator receives flow policy directives from a number of network applications. The flow policy directives express higher-level network security policy goals, including blocking and/or redirecting network traffic. The security actuator converts a flow policy directive into one or more packet disposition directives. The packet disposition directives may include trigger rules to cause network communications to be monitored for matching trigger packets. An automated mechanism initiated by the security actuator may cause trigger packets to be forwarded to the security actuator for analysis. The security actuator may generate packet disposition directives in response to receiving the trigger packets. |
| US09571521B2 |
Method for processing data and electronic device therefor
A method for preventing a message from being modified or deleted by a malicious application when the message is received by an electronic device based on a service provided in the electronic device and an electronic device therefor are provided. The method includes successively loading at least two received messages in a sequence filter, and determining whether data of the at least two received messages are identical to each other. A method for operating an electronic device is not limited to the above method, and other embodiments are possible within the same or similar scope as the present disclosure. |
| US09571517B2 |
Synthetic cyber-risk model for vulnerability determination
A system, method, and device are presented for assessing a target network's vulnerability to a real cyberthreat based on determining policy-based synthetic tests configured to model the behavior of the cyberthreat. Real-time feedback from the target network (e.g., servers, desktops, and network/monitoring hardware and/or software equipment) are received, analyzed, and used to determine whether any modifications to the same or a new synthesized test is preferred. The technology includes self-healing processes that, using the feedback mechanisms, can attempt to find patches for known vulnerabilities, test for unknown vulnerabilities, and configure the target network's resources in accordance with predefined service-level agreements. |
| US09571515B2 |
Notification of security question compromise level based on social network interactions
An approach is provided to improve security of security questions. In the approach, the system prompts a user for a security question. The security question and security answer associated with the security question are received by the system using a user input to the information handling system. Network-accessible data stores, such as social network accounts, are searched for the security answer resulting in search results. The searching results reveal a risk level which is identified by the system. The identified risk level is provided to the user, such as at a display device. |
| US09571512B2 |
Threat detection using endpoint variance
Threat detection is improved by monitoring variations in observable events and correlating these variations to malicious activity. The disclosed techniques can be usefully employed with any attribute or other metric that can be instrumented on an endpoint and tracked over time including observable events such as changes to files, data, software configurations, operating systems, and so forth. Correlations may be based on historical data for a particular machine, or a group of machines such as similarly configured endpoints. Similar inferences of malicious activity can be based on the nature of a variation, including specific patterns of variation known to be associated with malware and any other unexpected patterns that deviate from normal behavior. Embodiments described herein use variations in, e.g., server software updates or URL cache hits on an endpoint, but the techniques are more generally applicable to any endpoint attribute that varies in a manner correlated with malicious activity. |
| US09571509B1 |
Systems and methods for identifying variants of samples based on similarity analysis
A computer-implemented method for identifying variants of samples based on similarity analysis may include (1) collecting, from security agents on endpoint computing systems, metadata attributes that describe samples identified by the security agents over an initial period of time, (2) collecting metadata attributes that describe a current sample identified after the initial period of time, (3) comparing at least two of the metadata attributes that describe the current sample with corresponding metadata attributes of the samples identified over the initial period of time, (4) designating the current sample as related to another sample from the samples identified over the initial period of time based on the comparison of the two metadata attributes, and (5) performing a security action to protect a user from malware based on the designation of the current sample as related to the other sample. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US09571508B2 |
Systems and methods for distributed rule-based correlation of events
Systems and methods for distributed rule-based correlation of events are provided. A notification of a partial match of a distributed rule by an event of a first subset of events is received. The notification includes a set of properties of the event of the first subset of events. The distributed rule is evaluated using the set of properties of the event of the first subset of events and a set of properties of an event of a second subset of events. A complete match of the rule is determined based on the evaluation, and a correlation event is generated. |
| US09571502B2 |
Priority resolution for access control list policies in a networking device
Access control lists (ACLs) permit network administrators to manage network traffic flowing through a networking element to optimize network security, performance, quality of service (QoS), and the like. If a networking element has multiple ACLs directed towards different types of network optimization, each ACL may return a separate action set that identifies one or more actions the networking element should perform based on a received frame. In some cases, these action sets may conflict. To resolve the conflicts, a networking element may include resolution logic that selects one of the conflicting actions based on a predefined precedence value assigned to each action in an action set. By comparing the different precedence values, the resolution logic generates a new action set based on the actions with the highest precedence value. |
| US09571499B2 |
Apparatus and method of providing security to cloud data to prevent unauthorized access
A method and apparatus for providing security of an electronic apparatus are provided. The method includes identifying an environment of a client to be provided with a cloud service from at least one cloud server, determining one of an address size and an address range of a memory of the client used to execute a cloud process of the cloud service, and executing the cloud process, determining and storing a process state of the cloud process in response to the executing the cloud process in the memory, monitoring the cloud process accessing the at least one cloud server, and preventing an unauthorized access according to a result of the monitoring. |
| US09571490B2 |
Method and system for distinguishing humans from machines
A method and an apparatus for distinguishing humans from computers. During user registration, a computer prompts a human user to provide a spoken response to certain authentication information for registration. The computer obtains registration voice data from the spoken response and establishes a registration voiceprint of the human user. During user logon, the computer identifies the user requesting to logon by the user's logon credentials, provides authentication information for logon to the user, and prompts the user to provide a spoken response to the authentication information for logon. The computer obtains logon voice data from the spoken response, and establishes a logon voiceprint of the user. The computer then determines whether the user requesting to logon is human by comparing the logon voiceprint with the registration voiceprint. |
| US09571489B2 |
System and method for performing commands from a remote source
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for secured execution of commands is described. Initially, a second electronic device authenticates a first electronic device and registers the first electronic device as a trusted device. Thereafter, up receipt of a message with one or more embedded commands, such commands are executed without any pre-established communication protocol if the message is from the registered first electronic device. |
| US09571487B2 |
Systems and methods for providing a covert password manager
The present invention relates to an application that is configured to provide secure access to confidential information. To protect the confidential information, the application may include functions that utilize a decoy application to disguise the functionality of the application. A unique sequence of inputs received through an interface associated with the decoy application may permit a user to access the confidential information. An authorized user that has been provided access to the confidential information may access configuration interfaces that permit the user to define the inputs that will serve as login credentials and to customize the appearance and functionality of the decoy application. |
| US09571485B2 |
Spatial and temporal verification of users and/or user devices
Approaches for facilitating spatial and temporal verification of users and/or user devices are disclosed. In some implementations, a user device may be detected within a short wireless communication range. A wireless communication session with the user device may be initiated based on the detection. Information identifying a first integrity-based certificate may be received from the user device during the wireless communication session during a first time period. Information identifying a second integrity-based certificate associated with a second time period may be provided responsive to determining that the first integrity-based certificate is a valid integrity-based certificate associated with the first time period. The second integrity-based certificate may be configured to allow network access for the user device during the second time period. |
| US09571480B1 |
Authentication methods and apparatus
Methods and apparatus for authenticating a user equipment device (UE) requesting services through a session border controller (SBC) are described. In some embodiments the SBC stores the challenge and response for a successfully authenticated UE and uses this information to authenticate the UE when the UE seeks access to a service, e.g., establishing a new TCP connection. In some other embodiments, in response to receiving an Invite request from a UE requesting service the SBC generates and sends a Registration request to an authentication entity on behalf of the UE to trigger an authentication process. If the UE is authenticated the SBC allows service access, e.g., allows a call to proceed, otherwise denies service to the UE. |
| US09571475B2 |
Call encryption systems and methods
Techniques described herein may be used to encrypt a telephone call between users. User devices (e.g., smart phones) may be connected to encryption relay devices that operate as relays between headsets worn by the user and the user devices. As information passes from the headset toward a corresponding user device, an encryption relay device may encrypt the information before the information reaches the user device so that the user device transmits encrypted call information to the other user participating in the call. When encrypted information is received, and travels from the user device to the headset, the encryption relay device may decrypt the information before it reaches the headset. Thus, the techniques described herein provide an end-to-end encryption solution to telephone calls. |
| US09571465B1 |
Security verification by message interception and modification
Data security is enhanced by injecting insecurity into communications between two computer systems to test one of the computer systems. The insecurity is injected by modifying the communications between the two computer systems by modifying or adding messages. A response from one of the computer systems is monitored to determine whether the computer system reacts to the modification in a secure manner or if mitigating actions need to be performed. |
| US09571458B1 |
Anti-replay mechanism for group virtual private networks
A virtual private network (VPN) device is described that provides a strict anti-replay mechanism for packets in a group VPN. An example first VPN device includes one or more processors, one or more network interfaces configured to receive a packet having an encryption header that includes a group VPN member identifier association with a second VPN device and a sequence number, wherein the first and second VPN devices are members of a group VPN, a data repository configured to store a window of sequence numbers maintained by the first VPN device for the second VPN device, and a VPN session management module operable by the one or more processors to identify the window of sequence numbers based on the group VPN member identifier, determine whether the sequence number of the header is included in the window of sequence numbers, and process the packet based on the determination. |
| US09571457B1 |
Dynamically defined virtual private network tunnels in hybrid cloud environments
A plurality of virtual private network (VPN) tunnels between a first cloud and a second cloud in a hybrid cloud environment are managed by a VPN Manager. A request including a first set of requirements is received from a first cloud application resident in the first cloud for a first VPN tunnel. The request is sent to a system in a first cloud, wherein the first system creates the first VPN tunnel according to the first set of requirements. The VPN Manager receives an event pertaining to the first VPN tunnel. In response to the event, the VPN Manager sends a modification request to the first system containing a second set of requirements. The first system tunes the first VPN tunnel according to a second set of requirements. |
| US09571453B2 |
Kernel-level security agent
A kernel-level security agent is described herein. The kernel-level security agent is configured to observe events, filter the observed events using configurable filters, route the filtered events to one or more event consumers, and utilize the one or more event consumers to take action based at least on one of the filtered events. In some implementations, the kernel-level security agent detects a first action associated with malicious code, gathers data about the malicious code, and in response to detecting subsequent action(s) of the malicious code, performs a preventative action. The kernel-level security agent may also deceive an adversary associated with malicious code. Further, the kernel-level security agent may utilize a model representing chains of execution activities and may take action based on those chains of execution activities. |
| US09571444B2 |
Building a proximate social networking database based on relative distance profiling of two or more operably coupled computers
Computer systems and methods for generating a social network of users based on the users' devices being operably coupled are discussed herein. Specifically, techniques are described herein to determine the types of relationships between a plurality of users based on telemetry data collected at one or more server computers from the users' operably coupled client devices. The telemetry data describes, among other things, protocol(s) and network interface(s) used to operably couple the client devices, network operations performed by the client devices, and sensory data recorded by the client devices while the devices are operably coupled. |
| US09571443B2 |
Mobile device message enabled on-line community bulletin board
A community information sharing system, method and program product therefore. A communications network with connected communications devices serves community communications device users. A communications network gateway is associated with a community communications server, e.g., on a cloud computer, and couples the communications network to a data network. The gateway interfaces communications devices connected to communications network with the communications server, providing communications devices access to an online message board, message board information and services. |
| US09571439B2 |
Systems and methods for notification delivery
An electronic message may be reconfigured to effect an enhanced notification using an input interface to receive at least one electronic message created by or on behalf of a message source for delivery to an intended recipient. A matching engine determines whether the electronic message corresponds to a predetermined definition of an enhanced notification. An enhancement engine reconfigures the electronic message to the enhanced notification if stored information related to the intended recipient indicates that the intended recipient is subscribed to receive the enhanced notification. Reconfiguring the electronic message may include reconfiguring the message to provide special handling, routing or presentation. |
| US09571437B2 |
Identification to a recipient of an electronic communication of another user who has accessed the electronic communication
Responsive to each of a plurality recipients of an electronic communication accessing the electronic communication and accessing information that is associated with the electronic communication but not contained in a body of the electronic communication, activity information relating to activities of respective electronic communication recipients accessing information associated with the electronic communication can be received. A request to receive at least one recommendation as to who is able to provide information pertaining to the electronic communication can be received from another electronic communication recipient. Responsive to receiving the request, each of the electronic communication recipients can be rated to generate at least one recommendation as to who is able to provide information pertaining to the electronic communication, the recommendation based, at least in part, on the received activity information and respective weighted attributes. The recommendation can be communicated to other electronic communication recipient. |
| US09571431B2 |
IM conversation management
A method and apparatus for managing IM conversations is provided. In response to idle time and, preferably, read message status, particular current conversations are removed from a list of current conversations. The removed conversations may be moved to an archive which may be automatically maintained in response to size constraints. An archive interface is facilitated to review conversations, save all or portions thereof, delete, etc. The archived conversations are preferably associated with the contact for the conversation to show a history of conversations. |
| US09571426B2 |
Traffic and load aware dynamic queue management
Some embodiments provide a queue management system that efficiently and dynamically manages multiple queues that process traffic to and from multiple virtual machines (VMs) executing on a host. This system manages the queues by (1) breaking up the queues into different priority pools with the higher priority pools reserved for particular types of traffic or VM (e.g., traffic for VMs that need low latency), (2) dynamically adjusting the number of queues in each pool (i.e., dynamically adjusting the size of the pools), (3) dynamically reassigning a VM to a new queue based on one or more optimization criteria (e.g., criteria relating to the underutilization or overutilization of the queue). |
| US09571421B1 |
Fused data center fabrics
Efficient and highly-scalable network solutions are provided that each utilize deployment units based on Clos networks, but in an environment such as a data center of Internet Protocol-based network. Each of the deployment units can include multiple stages of devices, where connections between devices are only made between stages and the deployment units are highly connected. In some embodiments, the level of connectivity between two stages can be reduced, providing available connections to add edge switches and additional host connections while keeping the same number of between-tier connections. In some embodiments, where deployment units (or other network groups) can be used at different levels to connect other deployment units, the edges of the deployment units can be fused to reduce the number of devices per host connection. |
| US09571420B2 |
Integrated NoC for performing data communication and NoC functions
The present disclosure is directed to a NoC interconnect that consolidates one or more Network on Chip functions into one Network on Chip. The present disclosure is further directed to a Network on Chip (NoC) interconnect comprising a plurality of first agents, wherein each agent can be configured to communicate with other ones of the plurality of first agents. NoC of the present disclosure can further include a second agent configured to perform a NoC function, and a bridge associated with the second agent, wherein the bridge can be configured to packetize messages from the second agent to the plurality of first agents, and to translate messages from the plurality of first agents to the second agent. |
| US09571419B2 |
Secure metering and accounting for cloud services
Managing a service is provided. Information is collected about use of a set of resources by the service. A request is received to verify information regarding a selected portion of a period of time during the use of the set of resources by the service. In response to receiving the request to verify the information regarding the selected portion of the period of time during the use of the set of resources by the service, a description of the use of the set of resources by the service during the selected portion of the period of time is generated using the collected information. A response to the request is created using the generated description of the use of the set of resources by the service during the selected portion of the period of time as proof of validity of the information. |
| US09571417B2 |
Processing resource access request in network
A method for processing a resource access request in a network based on a software defined network (SDN) protocol includes receiving a resource access request forwarded by a first SDN switch in the network, wherein there exists no forwarding rule matching the resource access request in the first SDN switch; obtaining, according to the resource access request, resource server information of a resource server where the requested resource is stored, wherein the resource server is located in the network; generating a forwarding rule corresponding to the resource access request according to the resource server information; and sending to the first SDN switch at least one portion of the forwarding rule corresponding to the resource access request, so that the first SDN switch forwards the resource access request according to the at least one portion of the forwarding rule. |
| US09571414B2 |
Multi-tiered processing using a distributed strict queue
Methods and systems for implementing multi-tiered processing in a distributed strict queue are disclosed. Original messages are dequeued from a first set of queues using a first layer of queue clients, each of which transforms a subset of the original messages into a transformed message and enqueues the transformed message into a second set of queues. The transformed messages are dequeued from the second set of queues using a second layer of queue clients, each of which summarizes a subset of the transformed messages into a summarized message and enqueues the summarized message into a third set of queues. The summarized messages are dequeued from the third set of queues using a third layer of queue clients, each of which aggregates a subset of the transformed messages into an aggregated message. A final result is generated based on the aggregated messages. |
| US09571408B2 |
Dynamic flow control using credit sharing
A method and system for dynamic flow control using credit sharing that includes allocating portions of credits to senders, wherein each of the credits is for communicating with a receiver; transmitting, by a first sender of the senders, a first message to the receiver using a first credit of a first portion of the credits; decrementing, in response to transmitting the first message, a credit balance of the first sender by one; and determining that the credit balance of the first sender is zero. The method also includes sending to a second sender of the senders, by the first sender, in response to the credit balance being zero, a first request for a second credit; receiving from the second sender, in response to the first request, a first response comprising the second credit; and transmitting, by the first sender, a second message to the receiver using the second credit. |
| US09571404B2 |
Method and system for prioritizing network packets
According to one embodiment, a system is described that comprises a network device adapted to receive a media stream including a plurality of network packets. The network device of the system processes the media stream, targeted for a client device communicatively coupled to the network device, by performing a number of operations. A first operation comprises partitioning the plurality of network packets into a plurality of subsets, each subset in the plurality of subsets corresponding to a media frame in a plurality of frames. Next, a priority level is determined for each media frame in the plurality of media frames, where the priority level for each media frame is assigned to each of the one or more network packets in the frame. Thereafter, network packets are transmitted or dropped based at least on the priority level associated with each network packet in the plurality of network packets. |
| US09571401B2 |
Technique for projecting network load in a communication network
A technique for predicting network load in a communication network is described. For multiple subscriptions, a network load snapshot is provided. The network load snapshot comprises multiple network load records. Each network load record reflects network load caused by an associated subscription in the network at a particular point of time. Each network load record comprises at least one network load value reflecting a network load caused by the corresponding subscription and at least one network load influencing factor reflecting a parameter associated with the subscription which has the potential of influencing the network load value. The network load snapshot is transformed into a predicted network load snapshot comprising at least one predicted network load record, each predicted network load record reflecting estimated network load caused by the corresponding subscription at a particular point of time in the future. The transformation of a network load snapshot into a corresponding predicted network load snapshot is done based on both the network load values and the associated network load influencing factors. |
| US09571399B2 |
Method and apparatus for congestion-aware routing in a computer interconnection network
The present disclosure relates to an example of a method for a first router to adaptively determine status within a network. The network may include the first router, a second router and a third router. The method for the first router may comprise determining status information regarding the second router located in the network, and transmitting the status information to the third router located in the network. The second router and the third router may be indirectly coupled to one another. |
| US09571398B2 |
Method for extracting features from a flow of digital video frames, and corresponding system and computer program product
In an embodiment, digital video frames in a flow are subjected to a method of extraction of features including the operations of: extracting from the video frames respective sequences of pairs of keypoints/descriptors limiting to a threshold value the number of pairs extracted for each frame; sending the sequences extracted from an extractor module to a server for processing with a bitrate value variable in time; receiving the aforesaid bitrate value variable in time at the extractor as target bitrate for extraction; and limiting the number of pairs extracted by the extractor to a threshold value variable in time as a function of the target bitrate. |
| US09571397B2 |
Flow control mechanisms on synchronous serial TDMA bus
A method of transmitting data allows flow control information to be transmitted with the user data over a synchronous bus. A channel is defined, identifying the source and at least one sink, and this includes the definition of a transport profile, indicating a flow control requirement for the data. Data is then transmitted from the source over the bus in at least one data time slot (30) and, if indicated by the transport profile, flow control information is also transmitted from the source over the bus in at least one flow control time slot (20) associated with the data time slot. |
| US09571395B2 |
Reconfigurable interconnect element with local lookup tables shared by multiple packet processing engines
The invention describes the design of an interconnect element in a programmable network processor/system on-chip having multiple packet processing engines. The on-chip interconnection network for a large number of processing engines on a system can be built from an array of the proposed interconnect elements. Each interconnect element also includes local network lookup tables which allows its attached processing engines to perform lookups locally. These local lookups are much faster than the lookups to a remote search engine, which is shared by all processing engines in the entire system. Local lookup tables in each interconnect element are built from a pool of memory tiles. Each lookup table can be shared by multiple processing engines attached to the interconnect element; and each of these processing engines can perform lookups on different lookup tables in run-time. |
| US09571394B1 |
Tunneled packet aggregation for virtual networks
In general, techniques are described for enhancing operations of virtual networks. In some examples, a network system includes a plurality of servers interconnected by a switch fabric comprising a plurality of switches interconnected to form a physical network. Each of the servers comprises an operating environment executing one or more virtual machines in communication via one or more virtual networks. The servers comprise a set of virtual routers configured to extend the virtual networks to the operating environments of the virtual machines. A virtual router of the set of virtual routers is configured to aggregate a plurality of inbound tunnel packets according to a same virtual network identifier in order to generate an aggregate tunnel packet. The virtual router is further configured to route the aggregate tunnel packet to a host associated with a virtual network identified by the same virtual network identifier. |
| US09571392B2 |
Forwarding packets
Based on an example, a core backbone (CB) device receives via a second-level stacking port connected with a source port extender (PE) device, a packet containing a source port number and a local identifier of a source forwarding chip. The CB device transmits the packet via a second-level stacking port connected with a destination PE device, wherein the packet contains the source port number, a global identifier of the source forwarding chip, a local identifier of a destination forwarding chip and a destination port number. |
| US09571391B2 |
Methods and nodes for handling an address of a resource
A method in gateway node (100) for handling an address of a resource of a device (110) in a communications network, the method comprising: generating a first alias representing the address of the device (110) resource, storing the generated alias, in association with the address, receiving a request from an application (120) including the address of the device (110) resource, translating the address to the stored alias, and forwarding the request including the alias to the device (110), thereby enabling the device to resolve the request by use of the alias in said request. |
| US09571387B1 |
Forwarding using maximally redundant trees
Network devices can use maximally redundant trees (MRTs) for delivering traffic streams across a network, and for transitioning traffic to a new set of MRTs after a topology change, without dropping traffic. The disclosure describes distributed computation of a set of MRTs from one or more ingress devices to one or more egress devices of the network. In one example, network devices in a network compute a set of MRTs, and establish a set of LSPs along the paths of the set of MRTs. After a change to the network topology, convergence sequencing is managed by a central controller, which centrally orchestrates the sequence for moving traffic from being sent on the old MRT paths to being sent on newly computed MRT paths after the controller determines that all new MRT forwarding state has been installed on the network devices. |
| US09571386B2 |
Hybrid packet processing
Some embodiments provide a method of processing an incoming packet for a managed forwarding element that executes in a host to forward packets in a network. The method performs a lookup into a forwarding table to identify a flow entry matched by the incoming packet. The flow entry specifies a high-level action to perform on the incoming packet. The method provides packet data to a module executing separately from the managed forwarding element in the host. The module performs a set of processes in order to identify a set of low-level actions for the managed forwarding element to perform on the incoming packet without additional lookups into the forwarding table. The method receives data from the separate module specifying the set of low-level actions. The method performs the set of low-level actions on the incoming packet in order to further process the packet. |
| US09571383B2 |
Rerouting technique
A technique for routing data frames in a telecommunications backhaul network (100) is provided. The telecommunication backhaul network (100) includes a plurality of points and links between the points so that at least two different routes for communicating data frames between a pair of end points is provided. A first end point (102) routes data frames that belong to a communication tunnel between the first end point and second end point (104) on a first route (106), which includes one or more intermediate points (100). At least some of the data frames include a continuity check message. The first end point reroutes data frames belonging to the communication tunnel to a second route that is different from the first route (106), if certain data frames including the continuity check message are lost in the network (100). As to a method aspect of the technique, at least one of the links of the first route are switched to a reduced link capacity. At least a portion of the data frames including the continuity check message are dropped in response to the reduction in link capacity by at least one of the intermediate points (110) of the first route (106). |
| US09571381B2 |
System and method for inter-domain RSVP-TE LSP load balancing
A system, method and apparatus for causing network routers such as Area Border Routers (ABRs) to use a preferred tie-breaking mechanism to select one path in the event of an ERO expansion operation resulting in multiple equal cost paths. |
| US09571375B2 |
Method and node for detecting subframe sequence error in inverse multiplexing
Disclosed are a method and a node for detecting subframe misordering, including that: a receiving node receives subframes from a transmitting node, and judges whether a trail trace identifier carried in each subframe received is same with a desired trail trace identifier of a subframe to be received; when the trail trace identifier carried in each subframe received is same with the desired trail trace identifier of the subframe to be received, judges whether a subframe number value carried in each subframe belongs to a range of desired subframe number values of the subframe to be received, and if it has been judged that the subframe number value carried in the received subframe does not belong to the range of desired subframe number values of the subframe to be received, determines that there is subframe misordering. |
| US09571370B2 |
Wireless mesh network usage reporting system and method
For each traffic flow through a wireless mesh network, the most upstream wireless access point through which that traffic flow is communicated is determined. An indication of the traffic flow through the most upstream wireless mesh access point is output in a report or otherwise provided. The reported traffic flows can be summed to provide total traffic flow indications for the wireless mesh network. |
| US09571368B2 |
Analysis of variance in network page access
Analyzing communication network data set access of a data set group constituted by multiple data sets. The method includes the following steps: (i) determining, for a first interval, a first low access count value corresponding to an amount of data sets in the data set group that have been accessed, in the first interval, an amount of times that is no greater than a low access threshold value; (ii) determining, for a second interval, a second low access count value corresponding to an amount of data sets in the data set group that have been accessed, in the second interval, an amount of times that is no greater than the low access threshold value; and (iii) determining a delta value based, at least in part, on a difference between the first low access count value and the second low access count value. |
| US09571363B2 |
Control groups for network testing
Novel tools and techniques are provided for testing performance of network connections. In some cases, a method for testing performance of a network connection might comprise establishing a plurality of test points within one or more segments in the network connection. With a computer, performance of a selected segment of the network connection at one or more first test points may be tested. The selected segment might have a first endpoint and a second endpoint. The performance of one or more sub-segments of the selected segment at one or more second test points may also be tested with the computer. The computer may also determine an isolated performance of a particular one of the sub-segments based on the testing. In some instances, the method might further comprise determining, with the computer, that performance of the one or more sub-segments has affected performance of the network connection. |
| US09571361B1 |
Status reporting system
A supervisor entity comprises an entity status module for maintaining status of its subordinate entities and updating the supervisor entity with status updates for itself and the subordinate entities. The entity status module comprises an entity status controller for receiving a status message from a first subordinate entity, a subordinate determination module for determining a second subordinate entity that is subordinate to the first subordinate entity, a status update module for updating the status of the second subordinate entity based on the received status message from the first subordinate entity, a status reporting module for reporting the updated status of the second subordinate entity to a supervisor entity and a status storage for storing the status of the second subordinate entity. |
| US09571357B1 |
Closed loop communication
Disclosed are various embodiments related to intercepting, modifying, and analyzing messages being exchanged between two entities. In one embodiment, among others, a method comprises intercepting messages being exchanged between a first entity and a second entity. The intercepted messages are modified to substitute sender information identifying the sender with proxy sender information such that the sender is anonymous to the intended recipient. The messages are also analyzed to determine at least one performance metric associated with the messages being exchanged. |
| US09571345B2 |
System and method for locally optimized managing of network appliances in a closed area network
A system and method for generating an optimized operating schedule for a plurality of heterogeneous wireless network appliances managed by a gateway device in a closed area network is disclosed. An amount of energy consumed by each network appliance as well as preassigned operational priority values assigned to each network appliance per time slot over the designated time period is considered. A plurality of proposed operation schedules are iteratively generated, wherein each proposed operation schedule selectively assigns the network appliances to operate at various time slots based on their assigned operational priority values. An optimized schedule is selected which has a determined lowest aggregated total utility cost and a greatest aggregated operations value for the network appliances in the subset. The selected optimized schedule is then implemented by the gateway device to manage operation of the network appliances in the closed area network. |
| US09571340B2 |
Systems, methods, and computer program products for computer node resource management
A method performed by a controlling computer node in a network with a plurality of subordinate computing nodes, the method including: receiving, from a first subordinate computer node, information indicating computing resource impacts for a plurality of different processing functions; receiving, from a communication endpoint, a processing task; determining an impact upon available resources of the first subordinate computer node if the task were to be assigned to the first subordinate computer node, wherein the determining is performed using the information indicating computing resource impacts; and assigning the task to either the first subordinate computer node or another one of the subordinate computer nodes based at least in part on the determining the impact. |
| US09571339B2 |
Configuring an electronic device for wireless communications
In an implementation, an electronic device may obtain a configuration file from a device provider. The configuration file may include settings of a number of communications providers for communicating over a wireless wide area network. A subscriber identification module (SIM) card may include information, such as a communications provider identifier, that is utilized to determine the settings for a modem of the electronic device. Configuring the modem of the electronic device according to the settings may cause the modem to communicate over the wireless wide area network according to specifications of a particular communications provider of the plurality of communications providers. |
| US09571337B1 |
Deriving control plane connectivity during provisioning of a distributed control plane of a switch
System and methods for deriving configuration information of network resources within a dynamically configured, distributed control plane are described. In one embodiment, the present invention can include a network management device that manages virtual network entities, such as virtual switch fabrics, where the network management device hosts a network management module. The network management module is configured to maintain identifiers for the virtual network entities and the control plane connectivity data of the network devices hosting the virtual network entities. |
| US09571336B2 |
Method of improving coverage and optimisation in communication networks
A method and apparatus for detecting and determining the location of a coverage hole in a communications network such as a cellular communication system wherein the location is determined from operational parameters and/or by network elements themselves. Additionally is a method to reduce a hole by adjusting antennae parameters preferably remotely and automatically and this can be done in conjunction with hole location to optimize the system. |
| US09571335B2 |
Computer network method and device using link aggregation
A method and device of link aggregation in computer networking, wherein data originally scheduled for forwarding by a scheduled data port are diverted for forwarding by a backup data port assigned to the scheduled data port upon detection that the scheduled data port is connected to a data link which is not capable of data traffic even though the data port is still a selected port. |
| US09571333B2 |
Network device and method for maintaining network connection
A method for maintaining network connection of a network device includes the following steps. Firstly, a step (a) is performed to determine whether a connection status between the network device and a remote device is disconnected. An application layer is automatically restarted if the connection status is determined to be disconnected. Then, a step (b) is performed to determine whether the connection status is still disconnected after the application layer is automatically restarted. If the connection status is still disconnected after the application layer is automatically restarted, a network protocol layer is automatically restarted. Then, a step (c) is performed to determine whether the connection status is still disconnected after the network protocol layer is automatically restarted. If the connection status is still disconnected after the network protocol layer is automatically restarted, the network device is automatically rebooted. |
| US09571332B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for remote application provisioning automation over virtualized IT infrastructure
Methods and apparatuses for remote application provisioning over a virtual machine are described. A request to move an application from a source is received. In response to the request, a target virtual machine for the application is created. The application is moved to the target virtual machine. For an embodiment, the application image is moved and well defined automation is performed to launch the application. For an embodiment, the application is loaded over the template virtual machine, which is available in a target hypervisor. |
| US09571328B2 |
System for self organization of an internet protocol television grid
A self-organizing internet protocol television (IPTV) grid system that: establishes an internet protocol television grid including an IPTV server, a plurality of grid nodes, a first end user device and a second end user device; communicates an IPTV channel signal over a first communication path that begins at the IPTV server and ends at the first end user device; communicates the IPTV channel signal over a second communication path that begins at the IPTV server and ends at the second end user device; determines that a quality issue condition exists for the channel signal as communicated to the second end user device; and responsive to the determination of the quality issue condition, communicates the IPTV channel signal over a third communication path that begins at the first end user device and ends at the second end user device. |
| US09571327B2 |
Method for completing internet telephony calls
A call between a calling party and a called party, one or both of whom may be subscribers to Internet Telephony (IT) services, commences upon the receipt of a call dialed by the calling party to the Plain Old Telephony Service (POTS) number associated with the calling party. A first hub receives the call and routes it to the called party if that party is not an IT services subscriber that is currently on line. If the called party is an IT services subscriber that is on-line, the call is received at an Internet Services Provider serving the called party. The ISP converts the call to an IT format if the call is not already in that format and thereafter delivers the call to the called party. |
| US09571325B2 |
Transmission circuit, transmission method, and transmission system
In a transmission circuit that transmits transmission data using an amplitude shift modulation method (ASK modulation method) for changing an amplitude of carrier waves based on the transmission data or a transmission system that uses the transmission circuit, a phase of the carrier waves is changed based on the transmission data to suppress an irradiation of carrier wave components. |
| US09571324B2 |
Method for improving spectral efficiency in Wi-Fi OFDM systems
Wireless networks that use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing require a receiving device to accurately acquire and maintain synchronization with a transmitting device with respect to carrier and sampling frequency for coherent demodulation. Described herein are techniques for enabling such synchronization using pilot signals with reduced transmission overhead. |
| US09571322B2 |
Transmitter, receiver and controlling method thereof
Provided are a transmitter, receiver and method of transmitting and receiving Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. The transmitter includes: a sub carrier grouping part configured to perform grouping of a plurality of sub carriers into a plurality of groups, and to change phases and/or amplitudes of the plurality of sub carriers by group; and a transmitting part configured to generate at least one OFDM symbol from the plurality of sub carriers of which the phases and/or the amplitudes have been randomly changed by group, and to transmit the OFDM symbol and information about the grouping. |
| US09571321B2 |
Methods and systems for OFDM using code division multiplexing
In some embodiments of the invention, OFDM symbols are transmitted as a plurality of clusters. A cluster includes a plurality of OFDM sub-carriers in frequency, over a plurality of OFDM symbol durations in time. Each cluster includes data as well as pilot information as a reference signal for channel estimation. In some embodiments, a plurality of clusters collectively occupy the available sub-carrier set in the frequency domain that is used for transmission. In some embodiments of the invention data and/or pilots are spread within each cluster using code division multiplexing (CDM). In some embodiments pilots and data are separated by distributing data on a particular number of the plurality of OFDM symbol durations and pilots on a remainder of the OFDM symbol durations. CDM spreading can be performed in time and/or frequency directions. |
| US09571318B2 |
Transmitting apparatus, receiving apparatus, and method of controlling the same
Provided are a transmitting apparatus, a receiving apparatus and methods of controlling the transmission and reception. The transmitting apparatus includes: a baseband packet generator configured to, in response to input of data, generate a baseband packet for mapping the data with a physical layer; a baseband frame generator configured to generate a baseband frame including the baseband packet; a signal processor configured to signal-process the baseband frame; and a transmitter configured to transmit the baseband frame after the signal processing, wherein the baseband packet includes signaling information which indicates that the data comprises at least one of base layer data and enhancement layer data. |
| US09571315B2 |
Sensor systems and methods utilizing band pass filter tuning
A communication system having a configurable bandpass filter is disclosed. The system includes a bandpass filter and a bandpass controller. The bandpass filter has an adjustable center frequency. The bandpass controller is configured to identify a frequency shift in a master in or received signal and to shift the center frequency of the bandpass filter according to the identified frequency shift. |
| US09571310B2 |
Method, codebook and base station for precoding
A method, a codebook, and a Base Station (BS) for precoding are provided. The precoding method includes: obtaining a total uplink power of a User Equipment (UE); if the total uplink power is greater than ¾ of a rated total transmit power of antennas, selecting a codeword from a first codebook with imbalanced power between layers; otherwise, selecting a codeword from the first codebook and a second codebook with balanced power between layers, so as for precoding data to be transmitted according to the selected codeword. |
| US09571306B2 |
Device and method for eliminating channel effect
A device for eliminating a channel effect is provided. A time-domain channel estimating unit generates a channel estimation result according to a first reference signal. A fast Fourier transform (FFT) unit performs FFT on the channel estimation result to generate a plurality of channel frequency responses corresponding to a plurality of frequency indices. An adjusting unit receives a plurality of input signals, and determines whether to adjust the input signal of each of the frequency indices according to the amplitude of the channel frequency response of each of the frequency indices to generate a set of adjusted signals. An inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) unit performs IFFT on a set of output signals associated with the set of adjusted signals to generate a feedback signal. The time-domain channel estimating unit further generates another channel estimation result according to a second reference signal and the feedback signal. |
| US09571303B2 |
Method, system and apparatus for handling a request for a media-over-packet communication session
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method, system and apparatus handling a request for a media-over-packet communication session. The method comprises receiving a request for a media-over-packet communication session destined for a network address. Responsive to determining existence of an active communication session with a first communication client registered to the network address, the method further comprises determining an identifier associated with a second communication client registered to the network address, the second communication client different from the first communication client; and routing the request to the second communication client using the identifier. |
| US09571300B2 |
Reducing encapsulation overhead in overlay-based networks
Machines, systems and methods for efficient data communication are provided. The method comprises receiving a data packet to be transmitted to a destination node in a overlay-based communications network, wherein the destination information is included in a virtual header that includes a virtual address of the destination node; determining a physical address of the destination node based on the virtual address of the destination node; replacing the virtual header for the received data packet with a physical header that includes the physical address; and transmitting the data packet over the communications network to a destination host based on the physical address included in the physical header. |
| US09571292B2 |
Multicast packet routing via crossbar bypass paths
An approach is described for routing data to a plurality of output terminals via a integrated switch router including a crossbar switch having both a crossbar and a plurality of crossbar bypass lines. Whereas the crossbar may connect each input of the crossbar switch to each output of the crossbar switch, each of the plurality of crossbar bypass lines may connect a single input of the crossbar switch to a corresponding single output of the crossbar switch. According to such approach, a replicated copy of a multicast packet may be forwarded to an output terminal via a crossbar bypass line in parallel with other data forwarded via the crossbar, thus increasing integrated switch router bandwidth. |
| US09571291B2 |
Method for automatically setting up and/or controlling a telecommunication conference
A conference condition file is used to check whether at least one stored conference condition is met, which indicates a condition regarding a participant's setup of and/or participation in the telecommunication conference. If at least one condition is met then the conference is set up or the participant is added to the conference. |
| US09571283B2 |
Enabling packet handling information in the clear for MACSEC protected frames
Techniques are provided to append packet handling information “in the clear” ahead of security related information in a packet to be routed over a network to optimize wide area network deployments of security-configured equipment. In one form, at a network device that performs connectionless secure communication and network routing of packets, data is received from a source device to be sent through a network to a destination device. Packet handling information is inserted in a packet that is to be used to transport the data. The packet handling information is configured to enable controlled handling of the packet in the network and is inserted in an unprotected portion of the packet. Encrypted payload data is generated from the data received from the source device. The encrypted payload data and security information are inserted in a protected portion of the packet and the packet is sent to the network. |
| US09571281B2 |
CRT-RSA encryption method and apparatus
CRT-RSA encryption methods and apparatuses are disclosed. The CRT-RSA encryption method includes: calculating first parameter information and second parameter information used in a modular exponential calculation process based on a modular calculation result of a secret key that is obtained using Euler's phi function with respect to two different prime numbers calculated from the public key; performing a modular exponential calculation with respect to a next block based on calculation information of a previous block, in a block unit divided respectively from the first parameter information and the second parameter information; and calculating an encryption process based on a CRT calculation by using the modular exponential calculation results. |
| US09571278B1 |
Encryption key recovery in the event of storage management failure
A data processing system stores encrypted data. Object identifiers are assigned to storage objects, and data encryption keys are assigned to the storage objects. When performing an operation upon a storage object, data encryption key failure may occur due to a corrupt or incorrect key. In this case, a copy of the data encryption key is fetched from a key server. It is possible for the association of the object identifiers with the data encryption keys to become lost or confused, so that the key server may fail to provide the correct key for a specified object identifier. Therefore, an absolute key identifier that is unique across the key server namespace also is stored in association with the object identifier in the storage system and in the key store of the key server, and the absolute key identifier is used as a failsafe for recovery of encrypted data. |
| US09571277B2 |
Method for generating a key in a network and user on a network and network
A method for generating a key in a network. The network includes at least one first user and one second user having a secured communication link to one another, and a third user, to which a secured communication link is to be established. The first user and the third user each generate a first partial value sequence from properties of the transmission channel between the first user and the third user. The second user and the third user each generate a second partial value sequence from properties of the transmission channel between the second user and the third user. In a secured part of the network, which includes at least the first and the second user, but not the third user, the key is ascertained from at least the first partial value sequence of the first user and the second partial value sequence of the second user. The key is also generated in the third user from at least the first partial value sequence and the second partial value sequence. |
| US09571275B1 |
Single use identifier values for network accessible devices
Apparatus and method for providing unique device identification values for a network accessible device. In accordance with some embodiments, a unique device identifier value is generated in response to a data exchange operation with a network accessible device. The identifier value is subsequently transmitted by the device as a unique device identifier value in conjunction with the transmitting of a request for a subsequent data exchange operation with the device. |
| US09571272B2 |
Image forming apparatus, information processing method, and control method
An image forming apparatus using a service of a server apparatus decrypts encrypted common authentication information of the image forming apparatus based on secret key information for decrypting the common authentication information, and then requests encrypted individual authentication information of the image forming apparatus from the server apparatus based on decrypted common authentication information and identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus obtains the individual authentication information from the server apparatus, requests the server apparatus for use permission information of the service based on the decrypted individual authentication information and on service use information, and obtains the use permission information from the server apparatus. |
| US09571270B2 |
Construction and uses of variable-input-length tweakable ciphers
Innovations in the construction and use of variable-input-length tweakable ciphers (“VILTCs”). In some cases, a VILTC uses an initialization vector that is protected from exposure outside an encryption/decryption system in order to provide enhanced security with efficient performance. For example, a system for encryption and/or decryption includes two fixed-input-length tweakable block ciphers (“FIL TBCs”) and a VILTC. The first FIL TBC is adapted to produce a fixed-length initialization vector. The VILTC is adapted to produce a variable-length output string using the fixed-length initialization vector as a tweak. The second FIL TBC is adapted to produce a fixed-length output string. In this way, the first FIL TBC and the second FIL TBC protect the fixed-length initialization vector from exposure outside the system. In other cases, a VILTC is used for a reliable and efficient implementation of authenticated encryption/decryption with associated data. |
| US09571268B2 |
Method and system for homomorphicly randomizing an input
In one embodiment, a method for reducing information leakage in order to counter side channel attacks against a secure execution environment is described, the method including receiving at the secure execution environment a first input comprising a key comprising a sequence of k input elements in a commutative ring, CR, receiving at the secure execution environment a second input comprising a text comprising a sequence of p input elements in the commutative ring, CR, defining an input INP comprising a sequence of j input elements, wherein INP comprises either one or both of the first input or the second input, performing one of a matrix randomization operation or a polynomial randomization operation on the inputs, and producing a randomized output. |
| US09571265B2 |
Sample rate converter with sample and hold
A sample rate converter for an oversampled data stream develops interpolated samples at a first oversample rate, from samples at a second oversample rate; wherein the first oversample rate is a non-integer multiple of the second oversample rate. When the samples at the second oversample rate are changing state, at least two interpolated samples are generated or the interpolation is at least second order. When the sample at the second oversample rate is not changing state, the sample at the second oversample rate is passed substantially unchanged. In one embodiment of the invention, asynchronous sample rate conversion is performed, and the first oversample rate is a varying non-integer multiple of the second oversample rate. |
| US09571264B2 |
Communication system including multiple receiving antennas and time tracking method thereof
A tracking method and apparatus of a communication system to prevent a timing difference and bit error rate performance degradation caused by unstable characteristics of a plurality of circuit devices are provided. The tracking method and apparatus include sampling signals received at receiving antennas, tracking sample values resulting from the sampling of the signals, and combining the tracked sample values. |
| US09571263B2 |
Integrated circuit incorporating a low power data retiming circuit
A low power data retiming circuit incorporates CMOS components in certain sections that operate at a lower frequency in comparison to certain other sections that use components based on bipolar technology for operating at a relatively higher frequency. The data retiming circuit includes a clock recovery circuit wherein a voltage controlled oscillator provides a recovered clock to a clock generator circuit for generating a latched clock that is provided to a phase detector and a data serializer. The data serializer operates as a synchronous multiplexer for generating a retimed data output signal from a pair of latched data input signals. The phase detector and the data serializer operate in a half-rate mode wherein high and low voltage levels of the latched clock are used for clocking data. The half-rate mode of operation permits the use of a clock frequency that is half that of an input data rate. |
| US09571259B2 |
Method of downlink signal transport over backhaul communications through distributed processing
The amount of multi-antenna signals to be transmitted over the backhaul in a Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) system from the central processor (CP) to each base station is reduced. Embodiments of the present invention exploit characteristics of the underlying signal structure, and distribute some baseband processing functionalities—such as channel coding and the application of the multi-user precoding—from the CP to the remote base stations. Additionally, in some embodiments the non-precoded parts of multi-antenna signals are broadcast from the CP to all base stations in the CoMP system, to further reduce the burden on backhaul communications. In one embodiment, the backhaul network is a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON). |
| US09571257B2 |
System and method for wireless channel assessment
A method is implemented by a network device to improve efficiency for clear channel assessment (CCA) by tracking a set of neighboring stations in a wireless local area network (WLAN). The method includes detecting, by the first network device, a wireless signal from a second network device on a wireless medium. A target network device of the wireless signal detects whether the target network device is a neighbor of the first network device. The wireless medium is determined to be busy in response to determining that the target network device is a neighbor of the first network device. |
| US09571255B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting HARQ ACK/NACK
Provided is a method and apparatus for transmitting an HARQ ACK/NACK. The method includes: in a TDD-FDD CA scheme; recognizing a 2-bit downlink (DL) downlink assignment index (DAI) field configured in a DL downlink control information (DCI) format, the DL DCI format indicating a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission on the second serving cell, and the 2-bit DL DAI field indicating that ten downlink subframes for the second serving cell are associated with one uplink subframe; in response to received data, generating a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) signal, the HARQ ACK/NACK signal being indexed based on a value of the 2-bit DL DAI field; and transmitting the HARQ ACK/NACK signal through one uplink subframe of the first serving cell. |
| US09571253B2 |
Method and device for transmitting acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement indication information
The present invention discloses a method and device for transmitting ACK/NACK indication information. A network-side device configures at least two carriers for a UE; transmits PDCCH information to the UE; selects one of at least two timing relationships as a first timing relationship; determines a corresponding third uplink subframe and first carrier; indicate related information corresponding to the third uplink subframe and the first carrier to the UE; in the third uplink subframe of the first carrier, determines a first channel resource, and indicates the first channel resource to the UE; and receives an ACK/NACK fed back by the UE on the allocated resource. |
| US09571251B2 |
Periodic channel status information (CSI) reporting for enhanced interference management and traffic adaptation (EIMTA) systems with CSI subframe sets
Wireless device, method, and computer readable media are disclosed for determining which channel status information (CSI) report of a user equipment (UE) to drop from a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) packet. The method may include determining that a first CSI report and a second CSI report are to be sent in the PUCCH, where the first CSI report has a first reporting type and a first CSI sub-frame set, and the second CSI report has a second reporting type and a second CSI sub-frame set. The method may include determining to drop the first CSI report if the first CSI sub-frame set has a second lower priority than the second CSI sub-frame set. The determination to drop may be further based on a CSI processor index, serving cell index, and the CSI report priority. |
| US09571250B2 |
User equipment (UE) a apparatus for channel state information feedback in a coordinated multi-point communication system
A method of operating a wireless communication system (FIG. 4) is disclosed. The method includes receiving a plurality of reference signals from a respective plurality of transceivers (402). Each of the plurality of reference signals is measured to produce a respective plurality of channel state information (CSI) measurements (404). An aggregated channel quality indicator (CQI) is calculated from measuring the plurality of reference signals (406). The aggregated CQI is transmitted to at least one transceiver of the respective plurality of transceivers (408). |
| US09571248B2 |
Method and apparatus for configuring a reference signal in a wireless communication system
A method for and apparatus for configuring a reference signal (RS) in a wireless communication system supporting multiple carriers is provided. A wireless device configures a new RS subframe at a periodicity among other subframes not including the new RS, identifies the new RS in the subframe which is a different subframe from the other subframes for legacy RS signals, and performs at least one of frequency or timing tracking using the new RS, wherein a frequency density of the new RS in the subframe is located with at least 3 resource element each other. And, this invention includes that RS signals and controls for multi-CCs are provided more accurately and efficiently. |
| US09571245B2 |
Method, device and user equipment for transmitting multi-cell scheduling information
A method, device and user equipment (UE) for transmitting multi-cell scheduling information is provided. When at least two cells are serving the UE, the method for transmitting multi-cell scheduling information includes determining a main cell of the UE from the at least two cells and transmitting, in the main cell, the scheduling information of the main cell and an auxiliary cell which are serving the UE. |
| US09571243B2 |
Multi-antenna transmission method and apparatus
The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies and provides a multi-antenna transmission method and apparatus, which can reduce interference and improve system throughput. In the solutions provided in embodiments of the present invention, a reference signal RS configuration set sent by an eNB is received, CSI corresponding to each RS configuration in the RS configuration set is acquired based on the RS configuration set, the CSI set is sent to the eNB, then a signal sent by the eNB according to the CSI set is received, and data processing is performed. The solutions provided in the embodiments of the present invention apply to multi-antenna signal transmission. |
| US09571242B2 |
Methods and devices for mitigating interference
A method includes receiving a signal including a two-dimensional signal pattern in a time-frequency representation, wherein the two-dimensional signal pattern includes a first reference signal at a predetermined first position in the two-dimensional signal pattern and at least one second reference signal at a predetermined second position in the two-dimensional signal pattern. The first reference signal includes cell identification information of a target cell of a cellular radio system and the at least one second reference signal includes cell identification information of at least one interfering cell of the cellular radio system. The method further includes determining a first noise covariance measure based on the first reference signal, determining at least one second noise covariance measure based on the at least one second reference signal, and mitigating an interference included in the received signal based on the first noise covariance measure and the at least one second noise covariance measure. |
| US09571241B2 |
Methods for transmitting and receiving control information using time-frequency resources of decoding candidates
In a method for receiving control information, a transceiver decodes at least one set of decoding candidates, and then detects whether control information is present on the control channel based on the decoded at least one set of decoding candidates. In a method for transmitting control information, a transceiver selects a decoding candidate from a set of decoding candidates for transmitting control information on a control channel; and transmits to another transceiver, control information using at least one time-frequency control channel resource element corresponding to the selected decoding candidate. |
| US09571236B2 |
Downlink control signalling transmission method and device
The invention relates to the field of communications and provides a method of and apparatus for transmitting downlink control information, and the method includes: for transmission of DCI over any carrier, determining DAI information fields in uplink scheduling DCI and downlink scheduling DCI to be carried over the carrier and an HARQ process number information field in the downlink scheduling DCI dependent upon PDSCH HARQ feedback scheme currently in use; and determining a UL index information field in the uplink scheduling DCI to be carried over the carrier dependent upon a PUSCH scheduling scheme currently in use, so that an appropriate DCI design scheme is provided for an application scenario of across-system carrier aggregation to thereby satisfy a demand for the use of an evolved process in an LTE system and improve effectively the performance of the system. |
| US09571230B2 |
Adjusting routing of data within a network path
A method begins by a first computing device generating an initial routing plan that identifies network paths for transmitting encoded data slices of an encoded data segment from the first computing device to a second computing device. The method continues with the first computing device sending a plurality of subsets of encoded data slices to network paths. Within a network path, the method continues by a relay unit determining whether the network path defined by the initial routing plan requires adjusting. When the network path requires adjusting, the method continues with the relay unit establishing an adjusted network path by at least one of adding a relay unit and deleting a relay unit. The method continues with the relay unit sending, via the adjusted network path, the corresponding subset of encoded data slices to the second computing device. |
| US09571229B2 |
Adaptation of receiver settings in a heterogeneous network
Techniques are described for adapting receiver settings used by a mobile terminal operating in a heterogeneous network comprising macro cells and pico cells with overlapping coverage areas. A first set of subframes is allocated to the pico cells for downlink transmissions to a mobile terminal in a link imbalance zone. The mobile terminal acquires information about the subframe allocation and uses the subframe allocation information to select the signals used for adapting receiver settings used when operating in the link imbalance zone. |
| US09571228B2 |
Link adaptation based on neighboring cell transmission information
The present disclosure provides a fine-grained link adaptation mechanism that allows for link adaptation at a resource block granularity. To this end, the fine-grained link adaptation mechanism can determine the effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio for individual user equipment in a particular cell at the resource block granularity. This way, the transmitter can use the effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio to adapt the modulation and coding scheme at the resource block granularity. The fine-grained link adaptation mechanism can be introduced to a long term evolution (LTE) network without substantial redesign of the LTE network. |
| US09571226B2 |
Wireless transmission device, wireless transmission system, and method for controlling wireless transmission device
In order to improve efficiency of data transmission in a wireless transmission band under a condition in which both adaptive modulation scheme and FDD scheme are employed, and fixed rate signals and a variable rate signal are multiplex-transmitted, one wireless transmission device (2_1) multiplexes a plurality of fixed rate signals (FS1_1 to n) and a variable rate signal (VS2) to generate a frame (FR1), and sends the frame (FR1) to another wireless transmission device (2_2) through a wireless transmission path (CH1). At this time, the device (2_1) includes, in the frame (FR1), information (MN) relating to a number of multiplexed fixed rate signals. The device (2_2) multiplexes a plurality of fixed rate signals (FS3_1 to n) and a variable rate signal (VS3) to generate a frame (FR2), and sends the frame (FR2) to the device (2_1) through a wireless transmission path (CH2) having a different frequency. At this time, the device (2_2) determines a number of multiplexed fixed rate signals in the frame (FR2) according to the information (MN). |
| US09571225B2 |
Method and apparatus for optimizing target error rates for link adaptation in a communication system
A method and apparatus for optimizing target error rates for link adaptation in a communication system. The method includes estimating a data rate associated with transmission of a data stream over a communication link. A required target error rate is then selected from a plurality of pre-defined target error rate values based on whether the estimated data rate is within a range of at least one of a plurality of pre-defined threshold values, where each of the pre-defined target error rate values maps to one of the plurality of pre-defined threshold values. A link adaptation parameter associated with the communication link is then selected or updated to maintain the required target error rate and the data stream is transmitted over the communication link using the selected/updated link adaptation parameter. |
| US09571224B2 |
Transmission device, receiving device, and communication method
An apparatus which transmits data and control information which indicates at least one of a demodulation method and a decoding method of the data using an optical signal, includes: a modulator configured to perform modulation in which a rate of change of a polarization state of light is changed according to the control information, and modulation in which a characteristic of light which is different from the rate of change of the polarization state is changed in accordance with the data; and an emitting section configured to emit light, on which modulation is performed using the modulator, to another communication apparatus via a free space. |
| US09571222B2 |
Provisioning time-varying traffic in software-defined flexible grid transport networks
A method is provided for provisioning time-varying traffic demands in an optical transport software-defined network. The method includes pre-provisioning an amount of bandwidth for best effort traffic. The method further includes iteratively applying, using a processor, an iterative simulated annealing-based traffic provisioning procedure to determine candidate bandwidths for the best effort traffic in a set of iterations. The method also includes selecting a particular candidate bandwidth that has a corresponding blocking value lower than a given blocking requirement β and that requires a minimum amount of spectrum as compared to other candidate bandwidths. The iteratively applying step includes varying the amount of bandwidth for best effort traffic in each iteration to determine the candidate bandwidths. The iteratively applying step further includes varying an amount of shared bandwidth between neighboring channels, out of the amount of bandwidth for best effort traffic, in each iteration, to further determine the candidate bandwidths. |
| US09571221B2 |
Optical network architecture for hierarchical modulation
A disclosed optical transport system is configured to use hierarchical modulation for better utilization of the available BER margin, e.g., to increase data-transport capacity per carrier wavelength in the system. For example, hierarchical modulation may be used to reduce the number of carrier wavelengths assigned to support a given volume of bidirectional data transport between a set of nodes in an optical backbone network. An embodiment of the disclosed optical transport system can advantageously be constructed by modifying a conventional WDM system, e.g., by adding configurable hierarchical-layer mappers at some of the nodes and modifying some of the ROADMs used therein to enable a drop-and-continue mode of operation. |
| US09571216B2 |
Method for managing and maintaining an accurate distribution of time in a network when a failure occurs
A packet network includes a peer-to-peer transparent clock hardware support, a peer-to-peer transparent clock being at least used in order to measure and correct delays of link or path adjacent to network elements and NE residence time, and a Master/Slave end-to-end synchronization path including a first set of network elements A time stamped packet including at least a correction field indicating the cumulated transmission delay of the said packet along the synchronization path. A method includes a detecting a failure event; storing by the first element a measured past path delay of at least one previously transmitted time stamped packet received by the first element; and a function of the incoming current value of the received correction field, the first network element residence time, and a first value depending of a measured past path delay value. A first indicator is generated when detecting a failure. |
| US09571215B2 |
Measuring time offsets between devices with independent silicon clocks
Methods and apparatus relating to measuring time offsets between devices with independent silicon clocks are described. In some embodiments, logic is provided to synchronize a first clock of a first agent with a second clock of a second agent based on one or more messages exchanged between the first agent and the second agent and a platform time. The first agent and the second agent are coupled via a link. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed. |
| US09571214B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication system
According to an embodiment, a wireless communication unit includes a media access control (MAC) unit. The MAC unit includes a clock unit, an acquisition unit and a calculation unit. The clock unit includes a register which stores periodically counted-up first time information. The acquisition unit acquires a statistic for reception quality information on the received packet. The calculation unit normalizes the second time information, weights the normalized second time information using a time weight based on the statistic, and calculates a time correction value for correcting the first time information, using the weighted and normalized second time information. The time weight increases with increasing link stability indicated by the statistic. |
| US09571212B2 |
Method and system for wireless communication
Certain aspects of a method and system for wireless communication are disclosed. Aspects of one method may include a receiver that handles wireless communication. The receiver may be enabled to dynamically vary spacing between two or more pilots and/or the size of one or more pilots within at least one frame based on a determined symbol rate. |
| US09571210B2 |
Signal processing device, signal processing method, and receiving device
This disclosure relates to a signal processing device, a signal processing method, and a receiving device that are capable of detecting response information at a high degree of accuracy from a carrier signal that is load-modulated based on the response information. A positive DC generating unit 61 generates a positive threshold based on a load-modulated carrier signal. A positive selecting unit 62 compares the voltage of the carrier signal with the positive threshold, and outputs the value of the larger one to an adding unit 65. A negative DC generating unit 63 generates a negative threshold based on the load-modulated carrier signal. A negative selecting unit 64 compares the voltage of the carrier signal with the negative threshold, and outputs the value of the smaller one to the adding unit 65. The adding unit 65 adds the output of the positive selecting unit 62 and the output of the negative selecting unit 64, and outputs the addition result to an IQ detecting unit 53. As a result of the combining, a signal that has smaller Vpp than that of the original carrier signal and maintains the fluctuation portions of the voltage is obtained. This disclosure can be applied to non-contact communication systems. |