| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US07685645B2 |
Security containers for document components
Methods, systems, computer program products, and methods of doing business whereby document components are secured or controlled using “security containers” which encapsulate the components (and other component metadata). A “security container” encapsulates the component (i.e., content) that is to be controlled within a higher-level construct such as a compound document. The security container also contains rules for interacting with the encapsulated component, and one or more encryption keys usable for decrypting the component and rules for authorized requesters. |
| US07685642B2 |
System and method for controlling rights expressions by stakeholders of an item
A system and method for controlling a rights expression specifying a manner of use of an item, including specifying by a provider of an item a rights expression indicating a manner of use of the item by a recipient of the item and a condition for use of the item by the recipient, the condition indicating that the use by the recipient of the item is subject to control; associating the rights expression with the item; and controlling the use by the recipient of the item based on the condition in the rights expression. In further exemplary embodiments, the use by the recipient of the item is subject to control by a stakeholder and/or a provider of the item and can be used to provide consumer protection based on parameters of use. |
| US07685635B2 |
Systems and methods for multi-level intercept processing in a virtual machine environment
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to a multi-level virtualizer that is designed to remove much of the intercept-related functionality from the base-level virtualizer (that exists outside of each partition) and, instead, incorporate much of this functionality directly into each partition. For several of the embodiments, certain intercept handling functions are performed by an “external monitor” that runs within a partition and responds to specific intercept events, and the base-level virtualizer installs these external monitors within each partition and thereafter manages the external monitors for both single-partition and cross-partition intercept events. This distributed approach to intercept handling allows for a much less complex virtualizer and moves the intercept functionality up into each partition where each external monitor uses the resources of the corresponding guest operating system in that partition to resolve the intercept event. |
| US07685633B2 |
Providing consistent application aware firewall traversal
Implementations of the present invention relate to a communication framework that is readily adaptable to a wide variety of resources intended to be accessible through a firewall. In general, a communication framework at a gateway server can provide a specific connection to a requested resource in accordance with a wide range of resource and/or network access policies. In one instance, a client requests a connection to a specific resource behind a firewall. The communication framework authenticates the connection, and quarantines the connection until determining, for example, that the client is using an appropriate resource features. If appropriately authenticated, the communication framework can pass control of the connection to an appropriately identified protocol plug-in processor, which facilitates a direct connection to the requested resource at an application layer of a communication stack. |
| US07685627B2 |
Unified networking diagnostics
A method and system for unified diagnosis of a network incident is provided. The unified diagnostics system is comprised of a monitoring tool, a network layer including a firewall, and a policy engine. The monitoring tool is invoked by a user in order to diagnose a network incident. The network layer and the policy engine generate various events that provide a history of their processing, and the monitoring tool collects these events. When the user attempts a network activity that fails, the network layer places an event notification in a notification queue. Then the monitoring tool analyzes the event notifications to identify events that are related to the same network incident. After analyzing the network incident and event information, the user can take the necessary action to correct the problem that caused the incident. |
| US07685626B2 |
Information management system
An information management system is described comprising one or more workstations running applications to allow a user of the workstation to connect to a network, such as the Internet. Each application has an analyzer, which monitors transmission data that the application is about to transmit to the network or about to receive from the network and which determines an appropriate action to take regarding that transmission data. Such actions may be extracting data from the transmission data, such as passwords and usernames, digital certificates or eCommerce transaction details for storage in a database; ensuring that the transmission data is transmitted at an encryption strength appropriate to the contents of the transmission data; determining whether a check needs to be made as to whether a digital certificate received in transmission data is in force, and determining whether a transaction about to be made by a user of one of the workstations needs third party approval before it is made. The analyzer may consult a policy data containing a policy to govern the workstations in order to make its determination. The information management system provides many advantages in the eCommerce environment to on-line trading companies, who may benefit by being able to regulate the transactions made by their staff according to their instructions in a policy data, automatically maintain records of passwords and business conducted on-line, avoid paying for unnecessary checks on the validity of digital certificates and ensure that transmissions of data made by their staff are always protected at an agreed strength of encryption. |
| US07685624B2 |
Receiver unit and method of setting the same
Satellite receiving channel data 810 are described in a network information table (NIT) in a random fashion. Frequencies in the redelivering facility in a community receiving system are arranged in order of increasing frequencies for each of the networks. In a receiver unit, the frequencies 753 of the satellite receiving channel data 810 are rearranged in order of increasing frequencies and are registered to the receiving frequencies 831 in a frequency conversion table 830. The receiver unit selects the frequency according to wire frequencies 822 of a wire channel 821 in a wire frequency table 820 and registers the wire frequency of a channel that can be normally received to a conversion frequency 832 in the frequency conversion table 830. Therefore, the frequency data contained in the broadcast signals before being redelivered are corresponded to the redelivering frequency of signals really transmitted through a cable on the receiver unit side in the community receiving system. |
| US07685617B2 |
Method and system for selectively and multiply routing media stream to a media appliance
A method for selectively and multiply routing a media stream input to a media appliance is provided. The method includes receiving the media stream. Further, the method includes distributing the media stream onto a plurality of individual media paths within the media appliance. Furthermore, the method includes routing the media stream on at least a first one of the media paths to a first media processor within the media appliance, while simultaneously routing the media stream on at least one other of the media paths to at least one additional media processor within the media appliance. |
| US07685616B2 |
Strategies for coalescing control processing
Strategies are described for coalescing the processing tasks associated with a series of control events that occur relatively close together in time. The coalescing can involve eliminating redundant tasks by more directly advancing to a terminal control state. One exemplary application of the control coalescing is in the playback of media content information in a networked environment. When a user enters a series of commands to repeatedly change the channel, or repeatedly seek new positions within a single stream, the control coalescing comes into play by aggregating these control events so that it requires fewer control processing tasks to perform. This provision helps reduce the latency associated with handling multiple control events that occur close together in time. |
| US07685613B2 |
Combination storage extracting and biasing system
Disclosed is a method and apparatus for a combination storage extracting and biasing system. The method and apparatus comprise an enclosure having a first surface and a second surface inside the enclosure. The method and apparatus also comprise at least one random access memory device adapted to be disposed substantially in the enclosure having a third surface and a fourth surface. The device comprises at least one device contact located at the third surface and adapted to be electrically linked with at least one corresponding enclosure contact located at the first surface. The at least one spring member attached to the device and interposed between the second surface and the fourth surface wherein the spring member is adapted for use as a handle to remove the device from the enclosure and to provide pressure on the contacts. |
| US07685612B2 |
Disk apparatus
To provide a disk apparatus including a disk guide for guiding movement of a disk in a disk insertion direction; wherein the disk guide includes a platy guide member, a convex portion provided in vicinity of opposite ends of a platy guide member, and an engagement portion disposed on the same surface as the convex portion of the guide member. By engaging and fixing the engagement portion to a platy disk guide fixing member, which is disposed in a chassis of the disk apparatus, and bringing into contact with the convex portion on this platy disk guide fixing member, the disk guide is inclined in a direction far from the disk fixing member with an inclined angle increased from the center part of the guide member toward respective ends and the disk guide brings into contact with only an outer circumferential portion of the disk in inserting. |
| US07685610B2 |
Disk device with restricting mechanism for driving unit
A disk device includes a driving unit and a restricting mechanism that are disposed in a housing. The driving unit moves between a withdrawal position and a driving position. The withdrawal position is separated from an outer peripheral edge of a disk that is positioned in the housing, and the driving position is where the disk is rotationally driven. When the driving unit is at the withdrawal position, the restricting mechanism restricts movement of the driving unit toward the driving position. |
| US07685608B2 |
Data processing apparatus and a method of operating data processing apparatus for generating representations of availability status for application programs
A system and a method are disclosed for a data processing apparatus (200) is described which comprises a plurality of application programs (206, 210) configured to utilize an availability status of a user; and a presence engine (208). The presence engine (208) is configured to receive data representative of the availability status of the user and generate one or more representations of the received availability status suitable for one or more of the plurality of application programs (206, 210). The one or more representations of the received availability status are made available to the corresponding one or more of the plurality of application programs (206, 210). |
| US07685598B1 |
Desktop application framework
Systems and methods of providing a desktop framework. The desktop framework may include an application framework component that includes a set of core libraries that provide desktop applications access to data and services, a download component that maintains versions of the desktop applications and core libraries installed on a computer, and a license component that tracks data use and access. The application framework exposes APIs to provide the desktop applications with access to the data and services. The application framework serves as a platform upon which the desktop applications share common data and logic. |
| US07685596B1 |
Deploying and distributing of applications and software components
A self-contained virtual file system is disclosed for deploying and distributing an application and/or software component. Executable files relating to the application are included in a distributable composite file. The composite file and a user front end application are deployed and distributed to an application user where the application is executed. An application provider can tag the composite file with the version information and other useful meta-data of the files for the application. The format of the composite file may support the storage of any kind of file types and associated meta-data. The composite file may contain the hierarchical directory structure of the files for the application so that the hierarchical directory structure is installed in the application user's electronic device. |
| US07685593B2 |
Systems and methods for supporting multiple gaming console emulation environments
Multiple versions of a runtime system, such as a software emulation application that emulates a legacy hardware architecture, are allowed to co-exist in the memory of a new hardware architecture. The operating system software of the new hardware architecture reads configuration data from a database or table to decide which version of the runtime system is desirable for an application program or game that is being loaded or is currently running, and, if a match is found, only that runtime system is invoked. To reduce storage footprint, the different versions of the runtime system may be stored using “differential patching” techniques. In this configuration, the operating system will always launch the same basic runtime system binary, but it will select a different differential patch to apply at run-time based on the title as determined during the database lookup. In this fashion, future changes to the runtime system to correct software bugs, incompatibility issues, and the like only need to be tested for the relevant target application programs or games. |
| US07685591B2 |
Customizing a software application through a patch file
An integrated application setup enables the implementation of application customizations through patch technology. A customization patch extends a typical patch file format such that the customization patch serves as a container for application customization data useful for customizing an application using different underlying technologies. The contents of the customization patch can include transforms, cabinet files, and XML content containing customization information. |
| US07685588B2 |
Platform independent binary instrumentation and memory allocation method
Embodiments of the present invention provide for platform independence, low intrusiveness, and optimal memory usage of the binary instrumentation process by means of employing one procedure (interceptor function) implemented in a high-level programming language to intercept an arbitrary number of functions or blocks of code. Each time a function or code block needs to be intercepted a new copy of the procedure from a provided memory region may be associated with the address of the function or block of code by means of a memory region descriptor and an intercepted function address table. Once activated, the interceptor function may retrieve its current address and, by searching memory region descriptors, determine the region the current address belongs to; the region's base address may then be obtained. A reference to the intercepted function address table may be fetched from the region descriptor; and an index to the intercepted function address table may be computed. Finally, the address of an intercepted function corresponding to the active copy of the interceptor function may be read from the intercepted function address table. |
| US07685587B2 |
Automated instruction-set extension
Commercial data processors are available that include a capability of extending their instruction set for a specified application, i.e. of introducing customized functional units in the interest of enhanced processing performance. For such processors there is a need for automatically forming the extensions from high-level application code. A technique is described for selecting maximal-speedup convex subgraphs of the application dataflow graph under micro-architectural constraints. |
| US07685585B1 |
Creating an explicit flow control in an implicit flow programming environment
Creating explicit control flow in an implicit control flow development environment. A set of explicit functions is defined in a library associated with the implicit control flow development environment. Each of the explicit functions in the set is associated with a sequence of implicit functions, such that by calling the explicit function, the sequence of selected implicit functions are called to programmatically perform the task defined by the explicit function. Property types may be designated for the explicit functions, wherein the property types are used by the sequence of implicit functions in performing the task. The explicit functions are exposed to a developer using the implicit flow development environment. The developer selects the desired explicit functions and properties for creation and execution of the application. |
| US07685583B2 |
Obstruction-free mechanism for atomic update of multiple non-contiguous locations in shared memory
We present a technique for implementing obstruction-free atomic multi-target transactions that target special “transactionable” locations in shared memory. A programming interface for using operations based on these transactions can be structured in several ways, including as n-word compare-and-swap (NCAS) operations or as atomic sequences of single-word loads and stores (e.g., as transactional memory). |
| US07685577B2 |
System and method for translating an asset for distribution over multi-tiered networks
The present invention provides a system and method for translating an asset for distribution to a multi-tiered network node. An asset may represent network and/or application components (e.g., data, objects, applications, program modules, etc.) that may be distributed among the various resources of the network. In an embodiment, an asset has a logic/data section and an extended environment section. The logic/data section defines a function of the digital asset along with the asset's type, while the extended environment section supports the function of the logic/data section within at least one source environment. The asset type is determined and a process asset adapter, associated with the asset type and a target environment, is selected. The asset is then translated into a processed asset having a processed extended environment section supporting the function of the logic/data section in the target environment. |
| US07685576B2 |
System and method for model based system testing of interactive applications
A method and device with instructions for testing a software application include creating a system model for the software application, wherein the system model includes an activity diagram, and applying one or more test annotations to the activity diagram to control test generation for testing the software application. Further, test annotations and the system model are processed to create one or more test cases, and the software application is tested using a test execution tool that uses the test cases. |
| US07685575B1 |
Method and apparatus for analyzing an application
A method for analyzing an application involving obtaining a thread dump of a plurality of threads executing the application, analyzing the thread dump to obtain a result using an aggregation mechanism, and determining a potential error location in source code of the application using the result. |
| US07685574B2 |
Constrained execution regions
Authored code may include a notification that no tolerance for failure or corruption is expected for an identified sub-set of the code. Any potential failure point, which may be induced by a runtime environment routine or sub-routine, that is associated with the identified sub-set of code may then be identified and hoisted to a point apart from the identified sub-set of code. |
| US07685572B1 |
Method of static analysis for race condition detection
A method for detecting a race condition using static analysis that includes determining a first permit set and a second permit set, and performing a static analysis, wherein the static analysis comprises using the first permit set and the second permit set to detect a race condition, wherein the static analysis is performed before accessing critical data and includes determining whether the intersection of the first permit set and the second permit set is empty, and if the intersection of the first permit set and the second permit set is empty, then outputting a value indicating the detection of a race condition. |
| US07685565B1 |
Run time reconfiguration of computer instructions
Systems, methods, and computer program products for reconfiguring computer instructions to accelerate a given instruction set. At run time, during the loading of a class (in the context of objected oriented programming, for example), method invocations that have arguments that meet certain conditions are replaced by faster processing methods, which are made available in a support class that replaces the originally invoked class. In one embodiment, conditions to be met by arguments include that an argument refer to a constant value, be at a specified position in an argument list, or exhibit a pre-determined pattern, form, or type (e.g., be an alpha-numeric string only, an integer in a given range, or a specific integer). |
| US07685560B2 |
Method and apparatus for monitoring exposure process
An exposure process monitoring method capable of performing quantitative monitoring of an exposure amount and a focusing position which are major process parameters during exposure using a Levinson phase shift mask in semiconductor lithography processes is disclosed. During exposure using the Levinson phase shift mask, the focus position is influenceable by optical intensity distribution characteristics so that it can vary from its minus (−) to plus (+) directions by in a way depending upon the pitch width and line width of a line-and-space pattern. In such case, there exist a pattern in which the cross-sectional shape of a resist changes from a forward taper to reverse taper and a pattern in which the sectional shape changes from the reverse to forward taper. |
| US07685551B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit, standard cell, standard cell library, semiconductor integrated circuit designing method, and semiconductor integrated circuit designing equipment
A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a first transistor which is formed of a first gate extending in a first direction and a first diffusion region and which is capable of being active, a second transistor which is formed of a second gate extending in the first direction and a second diffusion region and which is arranged adjacent to the first transistor in a second direction intersected at a right angle with the first direction, and a third gate which extends in the first direction and which is arranged adjacent in the second direction to the first transistor on an opposite side to the second transistor. A space between the first gate and the second gate is larger than a space between the first gate and the third gate. |
| US07685549B2 |
Method of constrained aggressor set selection for crosstalk induced noise
A preliminary static timing analysis run is performed to calculate the delay and slew as well as timing windows for each net in the design, followed by coupling analysis for each given aggressor-victim combination, and to calculate the noise effect on the timing of victim net. Given a set of functional groups that relate the coupled aggressors to each other, the worst set of aggressors are calculated that satisfy the constraints from the functional groups, based on the calculated impact of each aggressor on the victim. Similarly the set of aggressors which contribute to the maximum amount of inductive coupling noise effect on timing are calculated. Furthermore, the coupling noise impact of the reduced set of aggressors on the given victim line and adjust the delay value calculated in the preliminary static timing analysis run. |
| US07685547B1 |
Method, system, and computer program product for generating automated assumption for compositional verification
Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer program products for computing an exact minimal automaton to act as an intermediate assertion in assume-guarantee reasoning. In one embodiment, the computing an exact minimal automaton is performed by using a sampling approach and a Boolean satisfiability. The methods described herein may be used as part of a tool for formal verification. |
| US07685545B2 |
Methods and devices for independent evaluation of cell integrity, changes and origin in chip design for production workflow
The technology disclosed relates to granular analysis of design data used to prepare chip designs for manufacturing and to identification of similarities and differences among parts of design data files. In particular, it relates to parsing data and organizing into canonical forms, digesting the canonical forms, and comparing digests of design data from different sources, such as designs and libraries of design templates. Organizing the design data into canonical forms generally reduces the sensitivity of data analysis to variations in data that have no functional impact on the design. The details of the granular analysis vary among design languages used to represent aspects of a design. For various design languages, granular analysis includes partitioning design files by header/cell portions, by separate handling of comments, by functionally significant/non-significant data, by whitespace/non-whitespace, and by layer within a unit of design data. The similarities and differences of interest depend on the purpose of the granular analysis. The comparisons are useful in many ways. |
| US07685543B2 |
Simulation apparatus and simulation method used to design characteristics and circuits of semiconductor device, and semiconductor device fabrication method
Disclosed is a simulation apparatus including an input unit, storage unit, arithmetic unit, controller, and output unit. The input unit inputs a first potential at the source end, which corresponds to the gate end of a TFT, on that surface of a thin polysilicon film which faces the gate, a second potential at the source end on the back surface of the thin polysilicon film on which the gate is formed, a third potential at the drain end, which corresponds to the gate end of the TFT, on that surface of the thin polysilicon film which faces the gate, and a fourth potential at the drain end on the back surface of the thin polysilicon film. A drain current is calculated by performing an arithmetic operation on the basis of the first to fourth potentials, and a model is formed by including defect states. |
| US07685541B1 |
Translation of high-level circuit design blocks into hardware description language
Translation of high-level design blocks into a design specification in a hardware description language (HDL). Each block in the high-level design is assigned to a group. A set of attributes is identical between the blocks in a group. For each group of blocks, a respective set of parameters having different values on subblocks of at least two blocks in the group is determined. An HDL specification is generated for each group. The HDL specification for a group has for each parameter in the set of parameters, a parameter input. |
| US07685539B2 |
User interface for stylus-based user input
Systems and methods for a user interface for stylus-based user input is described. In one aspect, a stylus-based user input is received. Responsive to receiving the input, a menu is displayed. The menu includes selectable items to allow a user, by selecting one of the selectable items, to direct the computer system to generate right-mouse button input or to interpret one or more subsequent stylus-based user inputs as hover cursor input, keyboard-like input, or handwriting input. |
| US07685528B2 |
Programming toolkit with aligning clipper windows for use in the development of knowledge enhanced electronic programs
A graphical programming interface for use in developing computer programs uses a structure of graphically displayed elements representing positions, arguments and linkages to enable the development of computational decision making programs. The present invention provides new functionality to a clipper element that allows for simple division of a range of input values into contiguous sub-ranges, such as may be used to define a curve or other function. |
| US07685527B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling view navigation in workflow systems
Embodiments of an apparatus, method, and article of manufacture for controlling view navigation in a workflow environment are disclosed herein. View navigation is controlled by incorporating and utilizing a user-interact operation in a workflow editing application. A workflow process designer may define the user-interact operation from one or more pre-designed views provided for the particular business objectives associated with the workflow process. In one embodiment, users may be navigated to specific views to gather information necessary to the completion of the workflow process, or to facilitate the processing of information across the workflow process to accomplish the business objectives embodied in the workflow process. |
| US07685526B2 |
Providing navigation in a browser
When a user clicks a Back button or a Forward button while reviewing an application page in a browser, the client performs an action in response which is specified by a server. The Back and Forward buttons may be controlled by the server and may be used to provide real undo and redo functionality for stateful server applications. The functionality may be implemented using invisible pages loaded in the browser. If it is determined that undo or redo cannot be performed, the client may continue to display the application page, optionally with a message to the user. |
| US07685525B2 |
Interactive transaction center interface
A transaction module having a summary interface is provided as part of a software suite for enabling viewing and manipulation of multiple categories of aggregated data compiled from a plurality of data sources and accessible through a single interfacing node operated on a data-packet-network. The transaction module comprises, an interactive main interface accessible through the summary interface, the main interface for listing new transactions related to registered financial accounts, an interactive history link embedded in the main interface for providing access to a secondary interface for viewing transaction history, an interactive menu provided within the main interface for assigning categories to the listed transactions, an interactive save feature for saving category assignments to the listed transactions; a interactive bill-payment link provided within the main interface for linking the interface to a bill-payment module and an interactive transfer-funds link provided within the summary interface of the module for linking the summary face of the module to a secondary interface for transferring funds from one account to another. A user operating the main interface from a remote node having access to the data-packet-network may view all transactions according to option of category, account, and time period. |
| US07685521B1 |
Information searching apparatus, method and memory medium therefor
Range of the object of search is specified without specific designation by the user. In case changing of the image is instructed by an image operation portion, an image changing portion changes the image and displays such image on an image display portion, and the displayed image is held in a scope holding portion as the range of the object of search. The operation from a map operation portion also is similarly processed, whereby the range of the document constituting the object of search can be specified without specific designation by the user. |
| US07685513B2 |
Optimization of storage and delivery of markup language files
A method receives a request at a server from a browser for at least one markup language page. The method can then determine which CSS classes are used with the requested markup language page using a usage map. Then, the method loads the markup language page and loads only the CSS classes that are used with the markup language page to the browser. |
| US07685508B2 |
Device monitoring via generalized markup language
A request to view statistic data of a system is received. One or more forms are generated to carry the statistic data. The one or more forms are to carry the statistic data pulled from the system. Based on data fields on the one or more forms, the requested statistic data is pulled from the system. The one or more forms are filled with the pulled requested statistic data. The pulled requested statistic data on the one or more forms is converted to a generalized markup language (GML) format. |
| US07685507B2 |
System for editing query conditions, calculations, formulas and equations
Editing query conditions, calculations, formulas and equations, or any other parts of a form includes providing a hyperlink for an element in the form to indicate to a user that a control is available for the element. Upon a selection of the hyperlink by the user, the control is presented for user interaction. Upon completion of user interaction with the control, the element is replaced with a new element responsive to user action. The control can be a list of choices, such as a pull-down menu, a dialog box, or a text entry field. The hyperlink can be color coded and underlined. |
| US07685503B2 |
Fast decoding of Reed-Solomon code
A technique to perform fast decoding of a Reed-Solomon code. A first multiplier unit multiplies a matrix Bh with a column vector v using common adders to produce a column vector v1. The vector v represents one of an error locator polynomial, an error evaluator polynomial, and a derivative polynomial for a (n, k) Reed-Solomon code. The matrix Bh is over GF(2) including first h columns of a matrix B. A second multiplier unit multiplies non-unity components of a column vector A with non-zero components of the column vector v1 component-wise in GF(q) to produce a column vector v2, q being equal to n+1. A third multiplier unit multiplies diagonal sub-matrices of a matrix C with corresponding components of the column vector v2 in GF(2) to produce a column vector v3. |
| US07685501B2 |
Wireless communication system, receiving apparatus with a plurality of antennas, demodulating method for such wireless communication system, receiving apparatus, and program for such demodulating method
A receiving apparatus has two or more reception antennas, a data reproducer, and a likelihood information generator. The receiving apparatus operates selectively in a first reception mode and a second reception mode depending on the features of signals sent from a transmitting apparatus. In the first reception mode, the receiving apparatus reproduces data and generates likelihood information. In the second reception mode, the receiving apparatus reproduces data using the likelihood information generated in the first reception mode. |
| US07685499B2 |
XOR circuit, RAID device capable of recovering a plurality of failures and method thereof
An XOR circuit, a RAID device which can recover several failures and method thereof are provided. A Galois field data recovery circuit having two or more sets of Galois Field engine circuits which are used in the XOR circuit, is one which can generate high efficient parity engine and high efficient flow data route and which at the same time correct the three or more failures during operation of the RAID device. |
| US07685496B2 |
Data transmission method and data transmission device for transmitting data through a transmission line that is integrated with a plurality of links
In a method for data transmission, which transmits data through a transmission line, which integrates a plurality of links into one transmission line, a first link group, which transmits information data by at least one link out of a plurality of links, a second link group, which transmits parity data generated by the information data by at least one link out of a plurality of links, which are different from the first link group, and a third link group, which generates an error check data related to an error correction from the information data or the parity data, when an error occurs in the information data or the parity data, and transmits by at least one link out of a plurality of links, which are different from the first link group and the second link group, are integrated and transmitted. |
| US07685494B1 |
Error correction coding for varying signal-to-noise ratio channels
An error rate sensitive error correction (ERSEC) system that applies a level of error correction that is inversely related to susceptibility to error as indicated by a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) profile of a channel. The SNR profile is estimated, detected or retrieved from an external source. The ERSEC system can be used with any channel for which the SNRs vary spatially, temporally or both. |
| US07685493B2 |
Buffer compression in automatic retransmission request (ARQ) systems
A method and system for improving buffer compression in automatic retransmission request (ARQ) systems includes both a compander and decompander for further processing data. A received data string k bits in length is first companded according to a predetermined companding scheme. The companded data string is reduced to a length of k−1 bits for more efficient storage. Upon receipt of a request for retransmission, the stored companded data string is loaded and decompanded back to a length of k bits. Once decompanded, the data string is combined with a retransmitted data string to produce a single data string with an increased likelihood of being correct. By companding the data string before storage, a smaller memory block can be used for the storage of the data string. |
| US07685489B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit and testing method
A semiconductor integrated circuit includes: an input/output cell that is included in a path captured during propagation delay testing and that has an output-stage buffer on an output bus; and a terminal connected to the output bus and an input bus of the input/output cell. An external load or a testing device is connectable to the terminal. The input/output cell has a switching part that is capable of switching between a first path that loops back at an output side of the output-stage buffer and a second path that loops back at an input side of the output-stage buffer. The first path is selected during normal operation and the second path is selected during the propagation delay testing. |
| US07685487B1 |
Simultaneous core testing in multi-core integrated circuits
Various embodiments of methods and systems for simultaneously testing multiple cores included in an integrated circuit are disclosed. In one embodiment, an integrated circuit may include two or more logic cores. The IC may also include structural scan test hardware coupled to the cores. This structural scan test hardware may be capable of inputting scan test vector data into scan registers associated with each of the logic cores, simultaneously executing a scan test on the logic cores included in the IC, and outputting the results of the scan tests for multiple cores to automated test equipment (ATE) simultaneously. In one embodiment, elements of the results of testing for multiple cores may be interleaved on a single output line such that an element of test result data from each core is present on an input channel to the ATE during each strobe window. |
| US07685486B1 |
Testing of an embedded multiplexer having a plurality of inputs
Functional testing of an integrated circuit (IC) is a part from a more comprehensive and thorough testing. An IC including an embedded select circuit module coupled to receive numerous input signals. The IC may also include control circuit coupled to receive input control signals, where at least one input control signal of the input control signals is a mode signal. Asserting the mode signal may operate the select circuit module in a test mode. |
| US07685481B2 |
Bitmap cluster analysis of defects in integrated circuits
A system and method for defect analysis are disclosed wherein a defect data set is input into the system. A radius value is selected by a user, which is the maximum number of bits that bit failures can be separated from one another to be considered a bit cluster. When a defect data set is received, the system and method start with a fail bit and search for neighboring fail bits. The specified radius is used to qualify the found fail bits to be part of the bit cluster or not. If a minimum count of fail bits is not met, the system and method will stop searching and move to the next fail bit. If a minimum count of fail bits is met, the search continues for the next fail bit until the maximum fail bit count specified by the user is reached. Aggregation is provided such that once bit clusters have been classified, the number of clusters that have the exact match or partial match to each other is counted. The user may set the partial match as a threshold count to establish a match. |
| US07685479B2 |
Telecommunications network testing
On a test apparatus for a telecommunication network a plurality of quality rules are defined as a function of the results of counts of events for a plurality of test parameters. The events relating to the plurality of test parameters during the performance of a test are counted. A plurality of statistics are created from the results of the counts. The statistics and quality rules which belong together are compared. A display is generated on a display unit in accordance with the results of the comparisons showing success or failure for each test run. Details of errors that caused any failure may be displayed using a drill-down technique so that test runs may be run rapidly without requiring expert knowledge of the test apparatus. |
| US07685476B2 |
Early notification of error via software interrupt and shared memory write
A method of providing error notification in a storage subsystem includes writing a first defined value by a host adapter of the storage subsystem to a system management interrupt (SMI) register to generate a hardware interrupt, registering and handling the hardware interrupt by a kernel module of the storage subsystem, writing a second defined value to a shared memory location of the storage subsystem by the kernel module, and reading a shared memory offset value by the host adapter. A system for providing error notification in a storage subsystem includes a controller including a serial management interface (SMI) register subcomponent, a first processing component connected to the controller having a kernel module, and a second processing component connected to the controller executing host adapter software. |
| US07685474B2 |
Failsafe computer support assistant using a support virtual machine
A computer running a host operating system in a host virtual machine includes a support operating system running in a support virtual machine. A support module running in the support operating system identifies and remediates defects associated with the host operating system. A monitoring module running in the support operating system identifies a defect associated with the host operating system and notifies the support module responsive to identification of the defect. A user interface is provided for the support module. The user interface can be through a web server or a support button associated with an input device of the computer. The user interface can be supported through input/output virtualization hardware of the computer. A host agent module executing in the host operating system can interact with the support module to remediate a defect associated with the host operating system. |
| US07685472B1 |
Method and apparatus for testing object-oriented-programming methods
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates testing object-oriented programming (OOP) methods. During operation, the system receives a request from a client at a test-automation framework to execute a test case for the OOP methods. In response to the request, the system executes the test case in the test-automation framework. (Note that in this system, a class that includes the OOP methods inherits from an originally intended parent class, and calls to a test class are made via reflection.) The system then determines an outcome of executing the test case. Finally, the system reports the outcome of executing the test case. |
| US07685466B2 |
BIOS for saving and restoring operational state in the absence of AC power
A system is provided with a basic input/output system (BIOS) with the ability to intervene, when a suspend process is initiated in response to an AC failure condition to place the system in a suspended to memory state, to initiate a number of data transfer operations to save a persistent copy of an operational state of the system. The BIOS is further equipped to check one or more times whether the data transfer operations are completed, and causing a processor of the system to operate in a reduced power consumption mode at least one time period while the BIOS is not performing the checking. |
| US07685463B1 |
Disk drive management system
A disk drive management system includes a data storage device including an array of disk drives and a host computer for controlling the operation of the data storage device. The array of disk drives includes an operational drive pool including a number of online disk drives having data written to and read from by the host computer; a spares drive pool including a number of disk drives that are configured to be included in the operational drive group, but are offline while in the spares group; and a maintenance drive pool including a maintenance manager for testing faulty disk drives from the operational drive pool. When a faulty drive is transitioned from the operational drive pool upon the occurrence of a particular error, a disk drive from the spares drive pool is transitioned to the operational drive pool to take the place of the faulty drive. |
| US07685462B1 |
Technique for coherent suspension of I/O operations in a RAID subsystem
A method for operating a data storage system is described. The method first constructs an I/O tree representing a logical configuration of storage devices coupled to the storage system, the I/O tree representing a flow of I/O operations to the storage devices. Elements of the I/O tree are represented by objects. A freeze condition is imposed on a selected object of the I/O tree in order to disable a portion of the storage devices serviced by the selected object. Configuration management operations are performed on the portion of the storage devices serviced by the selected object. The freeze condition is removed from the selected object in response to completion of the configuration management, in order to resume I/O operations to the portion of the storage devices serviced by the selected object. |
| US07685453B2 |
Method, system, and apparatus for receiving power from a docking station and feeding back protected power
The present disclosure relates to circuit protection within an information handling system and a media resource unit. In one form, an information handling system can include a first external input power port and an information handling system docking interface operable to be coupled to a media resource unit interface of a media resource unit. The media resource unit can include a second external input power port. The information handling system can also include a protection circuit including a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal can be coupled to the first external power port and operable to receive input power from the second external power port of the media resource unit. The second terminal can be coupled to the information handling system docking interface and operable to output protected power to the media resource unit interface. |
| US07685450B2 |
Power management of computer peripheral devices which determines non-usage of a device through usage detection of other devices
A system and method for monitoring usage of peripheral devices and placing a second peripheral device in a low power state when the usage indicates that a second peripheral device is not being used. For example, if a computer system detects that a user's current typing rate indicates the user probably has both hands on a keyboard, the computer system may generate a signal to the computer mouse to enter a low power state. The computer system may use prior usage for a user to determine when current usage indicates that the second peripheral device is not being used. After the second peripheral device is placed in a low power state, the computer system may generate a signal to the second peripheral device to return to a normal power state when the computer system determines that the user no longer has both hands occupied. |
| US07685449B2 |
Communication device, semiconductor integrated circuit device, and communication system
A disclosed communication device performs bidirectional serial communication by using a clock line and a data line. The communication device includes a starting condition detecting unit configured to detect a communication starting condition based on levels of the clock line and the data line and generate, in response to detecting the communication starting condition, a wake up signal for waking up another circuit in the communication device from a standby status; a clock sending/receiving unit connected to the clock line and configured to send/receive a clock signal; and an output control unit configured to fix the clock line at a predetermined level by using the clock sending/receiving unit so as to suspend the bidirectional serial communication after the wake up signal is received from the starting condition detecting unit and until a standby status cancel instruction indicating that the other circuit has woken up from the standby status is received from the other circuit. The bidirectional serial communication is performed with another communication device via the clock line and the data line after the other circuit has woken up. |
| US07685448B2 |
Computer system sleep/awake circuit
A computer system sleep/awake circuit includes an infrared sensor for detecting a presence or absence of a user before a display of the computer system, and outputting a corresponding detecting result; a time circuit connected to the infrared sensor for receiving the detecting result and outputting a corresponding result after a certain delaying time; and a control circuit connected to both the infrared sensor and the time circuit for receiving the detecting result from the infrared sensor and the delayed result from the time circuit, and electrically connected to a control board of the computer system for outputting a corresponding control signal to control sleep/awake states of the computer system. |
| US07685444B2 |
Power saving in circuit functions through multiple power buses
A method to manage power in an electronic device having at least one circuit function is provided. The method includes: the at least one circuit function determining a current performance requirement of the at least one circuit function; and the at least one circuit function selecting at least one power bus from a plurality of power buses. Each power bus of the plurality of power buses has a different voltage and the selected at least one power bus provides the current performance requirement with a smallest amount of voltage relative to other one or ones of the plurality of power buses. |
| US07685442B2 |
Method and systems for a radiation tolerant bus interface circuit
A bus management tool that allows communication to be maintained between a group of nodes operatively connected on two busses in the presence of radiation by transmitting periodically a first message from one to another of the nodes on one of the busses, determining whether the first message was received by the other of the nodes on the first bus, and when it is determined that the first message was not received by the other of the nodes, transmitting a recovery command to the other of the nodes on a second of the of busses. Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention also provide for a bus recovery tool on the other node that re-initializes a bus interface circuit operatively connecting the other node to the first bus in response to the recovery command. |
| US07685430B1 |
Initial password security accentuated by triple encryption and hashed cache table management on the hosted site's server
A method for remote services authentication in an internet hosted environment includes a high level process and functionality for a secure, practical and logically optimized inter-network authentication mechanism by employees, partners and customers of an enterprise into the hosted Internet site. The lightweight authentication and authorization mechanism can be most effectively implemented in Java as part of the application or web server servlet. The method for remote services authentication includes initial secure password establishment, subsequent authentication and authorization, as well as authentication and authorization upon resuming previously run sessions with the hosted server using Internet cookies. |
| US07685429B2 |
Signature-generation method, signature-verification method, public-key distribution method, and information-processing apparatus
To generate and verify signature data using a known signature algorithm whose safety is ensured from the viewpoint of calculation quantity and ensuring the authenticity thereof over a long time period. A message to be signed is transmitted, a padding-data item is added to the message, and a signature-data item of the message with the padding-data item added thereto is generated by using a hash function and a public-key cryptosystem. The addition step and the generation step are performed a predetermined number of times by using the signature-data item, as the padding-data item, and the signature-data items generated the predetermined number of times and the padding-data items added the predetermined number of times are externally transmitted with the message. |
| US07685428B2 |
Transmission of event markers to data stream recorder
An information stream (media stream) can be “bookmarked” with event markers to note points in time in the information stream of occurrences of interesting events. Repeat occurrences of an event are noted with the same event marker. The events of interest need not be a priori determined. In fact, unexpected events can be readily noted. |
| US07685422B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing program
An information processing apparatus has an authentication/key exchange unit, a round trip time measuring unit, a common key transmitter, a contents key transmitter and a contents transmitter. The round trip time measuring unit sends a round trip time measuring request generated to the communication apparatus through the first communication connection to measure the round trip time, and check whether the measured round trip time is within a predetermined time and whether a transmitting source of the round trip request response is the communication apparatus sharing the first key. The common key transmitter encrypts a second key used for contents transmission by using the first key and transmits the encrypted second key through the first communication connection when the round trip time measuring unit succeeds in the checking. The contents transmitter encrypts the contents requested by the communication apparatus by using the second key and sends the encrypted contents to the communication apparatus through the second communication connection. |
| US07685416B2 |
Enabling content security in a distributed system
A method and system are directed towards enabling content security in a distributed environment. The system includes a data store for content associated with an application that may be tagged as exclusively memory resident at a client. The content may also be encrypted and digitally signed. When an authenticated client requests the content, it is provided at a constrained rate that enables a portion of the content to start execution on the client before the application associated with the content is completely downloaded. Additional portions of the content are provided to the client when the additional portions are required for execution by the application. |
| US07685415B2 |
Exclusive encryption
An exclusive encryption system is established using multiple computing devices. The exclusive encryption system allows for the exclusion of certain plaintext (e.g., by one of the computing devices) and ciphertext (e.g., by another of the computing devices) while at the same time maintaining the privacy created by the encryption (e.g., so the other computing device cannot see the plaintext). The exclusive encryption system may be implemented as part of a serverless distributed file system with directory entries (e.g., file names or folder names) being the plaintext, or alternatively as part of other systems. |
| US07685414B1 |
Subscription management service for secure messaging system
Systems and methods for secure messaging are provided. A sender may encrypt an email message for a recipient. The email message may contain authenticated sender-recipient mapping information. When a recipient requests a client software download or private key from a service provider, the service provider can verify the authenticity of the sender-recipient mapping information. This assures the service provider that the recipient has received a communication from the sender and allows the service provider to provide services to the recipient based on the status of the sender. If the sender is a member of an organization that is a direct customer of the service provider, the service provider may satisfy the recipient's service request. |
| US07685412B1 |
Configuration settings
Configuration settings are described which may be utilized to indicate a configuration of an application. In an exemplary implementation, a method includes validating a configuration setting of a first application for use with a second application. The configuration setting includes a first field and a first description of a first condition for the first field. The second application is composed of computer instructions that include an attribute. The attribute provides a second description of a second condition for a second field. If the first field corresponds to the second field, then the first description of the first condition is compared with the second description of the second condition to determine whether the first condition is met by the second condition. If the first condition is met, the configuration setting is determined to be valid for use with the second application. |
| US07685406B2 |
Determination of current stack pointer value using architectural and speculative stack pointer delta values
A technique for reducing stack pointer adjustment operations when stack dependent operations, which correspond to stack dependent instructions, are encountered includes setting a stack pointer to an initial value for a stack. A number of bytes associated with the stack dependent operation is determined. A stack pointer delta is then modified based upon the number of bytes associated with the stack dependent operation. A current location in the stack is determined based on the stack pointer and the stack pointer delta. |
| US07685404B2 |
Program subgraph identification
An apparatus is provided for processing data under control of a program having program instructions and subgraph suggestion information identifying respective sequences of program instructions corresponding to computational subgraphs identified within the program. A memory stores a program formed of separate program instructions. Processing logic executes respective separate program instructions from said program. Accelerator logic, in response to reaching an execution point within the program associated with a subgraph suggestion, executes a sequence of program instructions corresponding to the subgraph suggestion as an accelerated operation instead of executing the sequence of program instructions as respective separate program instructions with the processing logic. |
| US07685403B1 |
Pipeline replay support for multi-cycle operations
Instructions asserted in the instruction pipeline (3) of the microprocessor are accompanied by control information, comprising a group of bits, asserted within a control information pipeline (15) of the processor. The control information pipeline is synchronized to the instruction pipeline so that the control information for an instruction progresses in synchronism with the instruction. The control information may identify, directly or indirectly, the type of operation called for by the instruction and, if the operation is to be performed in parts, indicate the part to be performed. Means are included in to the processor, such as a number of functional execution units (7), to interpret that control information and take appropriate action. Applied in a VLIW processor to an atom operation that requires multiple cycles to complete, in which the first part of the operation is permitted to complete and the atom then reasserted, the control information identifies the second assertion of the atom as the second part of a multi-cycle operation. |
| US07685396B2 |
System and method for dynamic memory allocation
A method for managing the allocation of memory to one or more applications. The method includes allocating a variety of fixed size memory blocks to a requesting application, each of the fixed size memory blocks being free of header information to maximize memory usage. Free, or unused blocks of data of the same fixed size are maintained in a freelist having a number of block roots corresponding to the number of differently fixed size memory blocks. Each block root stores a root pointer to an unused memory block previously allocated to the application. To conserve memory, each unused memory block will store branch pointers to other identically sized unused memory blocks, thereby forming a sequential chain of unused memory blocks with the block root. Therefore, applications requesting the same sized memory block can re-use previously allocated fixed size memory blocks. |
| US07685383B2 |
Vehicle data backup method
In a vehicular system (1) configured such that data can be transmitted and received via a data bus (4) between an engine electronic control unit (2) for controlling an engine and electronic units (3-1 to 3-n) including a data storing function, the most recent content of accumulated data stored in the engine electronic control unit (2) is stored as backup data in the electronic units (3-1 to 3-n) via the data bus (4) at an appropriate timing, and when the engine electronic control unit (2) is replaced, the necessary backup data is transferred via the data bus (4) from any of the electronic units to an engine electronic control unit (2) after replacement. |
| US07685381B2 |
Employing a data structure of readily accessible units of memory to facilitate memory access
A data structure of readily accessible units of memory is provided. The data structure includes designations of one or more units of memory that while represented in the data structure do not need expensive address translation, other tests or special handling in order to access the units of memory. By employing such a data structure, memory access and system performance are enhanced. |
| US07685379B2 |
Cache memory to support a processor's power mode of operation
A system, method, and apparatus for a cache memory to support a low power mode of operation. |
| US07685375B2 |
Protecting confidential information on portable storage media
A portable storage system for connecting to a host, the portable storage system includes a storage device for storing information and a switch. The switch includes a get mode wherein the host sees only the free space in the storage device and not the part storing the information. Optionally, the portable storage system includes a give mode wherein the storage medium shows an empty space to the host and any file or directory is marked as shared and wherein the host sees a file-system whose size equals the amount of empty storage space on the storage device and an owner mode showing all of the stored information to the host and enabling the owner of the system to uncheck a shared flag on a storage device that received from another user that added files. |
| US07685372B1 |
Transparent level 2 cache controller
A digital system that connects to a bus that employs physical addresses comprises a processing core. A level one (L1) cache communicates with the processing core. A level two (L2) cache communicates with the L1 cache. Both the L1 cache and the L2 cache are indexed by virtual addresses and tagged with virtual addresses. A bus unit communicates with the L2 cache and with the bus. |
| US07685371B1 |
Hierarchical flush barrier mechanism with deadlock avoidance
A data processing system can establish or maintain data coherency by issuing a data flush operation. The data processing system can be configured as a host executing one or more independent processes using one or more lower level devices. The lower level devices can be viewed as peer devices. Any of the host or the plurality of peer devices can be configured to initiate the flush operation. A device can determine whether the initiator of a flush operation is the host or a peer device. The device can perform a flush limited to local memory, or a subset of all available memory, if a peer device initiates the flush operation. |
| US07685369B2 |
Method of tuning a cache
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for tuning the size of the cache. In particular, when a page fault occurs, non-resident page data is checked to determine if that page was previously accessed. If the page is found in the non-resident page data, an inter-reference distance for the faulted page is determined and the distance of the oldest resident page is determined. The size of the cache may then be tuned based on comparing the inter-reference distance of the newly faulted page relative to the distance of the oldest resident page. |
| US07685368B1 |
Methods and apparatus for removing data from a cache
Methods and apparatus for removing data from a cache are disclosed. The data may be one or more objects that are stored in a first cache. Each object stored in the first cache has an associated reference that is stored in a second cache. Each such reference has an associated timer. As a program accesses an object stored in the first cache, the timer associated with its reference is reset. A harvester process parses through the second cache over a period of time, locking a section of the second cache and determining if any timers associated with references therein have timed out. The harvester process removes any such timed-out timers from the second cache. A garbage collection process parses through the first cache, removing any objects therein that do not have an associated reference in the second cache. |
| US07685367B2 |
Multi-cache cooperation for response output caching
A method for caching data may be practiced, for example, in a computing environment including a server system that provides data to client systems. The server system includes a number of caches for storing data. The method allows a least expensive cache to first cache data or return data requested by a client. The method includes receiving data to be cached at a cache. The method further includes determining that the data has not been previously cached at a preceding cache. If the data has not been previously cached at a preceding cache the data is cached at the cache. Alternatively, requests for data may be received at a first cache. If the data is at the first cache, the first cache returns the data. If the data is not at the first cache, the request for data is forwarded to a subsequent cache. |
| US07685363B2 |
Low profile storage device
A low profile storage device is disclosed to include a first interface having a plurality of contact terminals movably exposed to the outside for connection to a computer, an interface controller coupled to the first interface to execute signal conversion and protocol operation of the first interface, a memory for storing data temporarily, a memory controller respectively coupled to the interface controller and the memory to transfer data from the memory to the computer and to receive data from the computer and store the data in the memory. |
| US07685362B2 |
Storage unit and circuit for shaping communication signal
The present invention relates to a storage unit comprising: a channel control portion for receiving a data input/output request; a cache memory for storing data; a disk control portion for performing input/output processing on data in accordance with the data input/output request; and a plurality of disk drives for storing data, wherein at least two of the disk drives input data to and output it from the disk control portion at different communication speeds. Further, the storage unit has a plurality of communication paths provided to connect at least one of the disk drives in such a manner as to constitute a loop defined by the FC-AL fiber channel standards, so that the communication speeds can be set differently for these different communication paths. |
| US07685360B1 |
Methods and structure for dynamic appended metadata in a dynamically mapped mass storage device
Methods and structures for appending metadata with recorded data in a dynamic mapped storage device. In a dynamically mapped storage device in which all user supplied logical blocks are dynamically mapped by the storage device controller to physical disk blocks, features and aspects hereof allow presently unused physical space to be used for storing additional metadata associated with recorded data. As the current capacity ratio of the storage device increases, appending of metadata may cease and previously recorded data including metadata may be re-recorded (migrated) to eliminate the appended metadata. The appended metadata may be used for enhanced diagnosis and analysis of characteristics of the operating storage device and may be used to restore the content of the storage device to an earlier state. The metadata may include, for example, track following position of the read/write head, temperature, head flying height, and time of day. |
| US07685358B1 |
System and method for coordinating cluster state information
A method for managing a cluster of file servers is disclosed. The method has the first step of writing coordinating information for a plurality of servers of the cluster of servers to a master mailbox record, the master mailbox record written to a specific location on each disk of a set of lock disks, the set of lock disks having a plurality of disks, the plurality of disks chosen so that in the event of failure of a server of the plurality of servers, at least one lock disk will be available to the remaining servers. The method has the second step of writing a second copy of eth coordinating information to the master mailbox record of the set of lock disks. |
| US07685356B2 |
Chronological identification in flash memory using cyclic numbers
Chronological identification information is composed of a plurality of cyclic numbers with priorities. For generating new chronological identification information, the chronological relation is compared in order from cyclic numbers with the highest priority to extract the newest chronological identification information in the chronological relation; when the newest chronological identification information in the chronological relation is extracted, a cyclic number with a priority as a comparison target in the extraction of the extracted chronological identification information is determined to be a cyclic number with the priority in the newly generated chronological identification information. When the cyclic numbers with a priority compared as comparison targets in the chronological identification information all are equal, no further extraction is carried out and the cyclic number subsequent to the cyclic numbers is determined to be a cyclic number with the priority in the newly generated chronological identification information. |
| US07685353B2 |
Data transfer apparatus with control of buses to optimize different size data transfers
A bus bridge is connected to a primary bus and a secondary bus, and relays data between a master and a target which are each connected to a different one of the primary and secondary buses. The bus bridge includes a primary bus interface, a secondary bus interface, a data FIFO, and a register block. The register block, which can be written by the master, includes two registers corresponding to the primary and secondary buses. Relay information showing the number of entries of data to be relayed from the target to the master is registered in a register corresponding to a bus to which the target is connected. In a read transaction, the primary bus interface or the secondary bus interface reads data from the target until data of the amount shown by the registered relay information is stored in the data FIFO. |
| US07685348B2 |
Dedicated server management card with hot swap functionality
A server system includes a plurality of printed circuit assemblies including at least one host processor card. A management card is coupled to the plurality of printed circuit assemblies. The management card is dedicated to monitoring and managing operation of the server system, including monitoring and managing on-line insertion and removal of the printed circuit assemblies in a compact peripheral component interconnect (cPCI) server system. |
| US07685341B2 |
Remote control apparatus for consumer electronic appliances
An apparatus for the remote wireless control of a consumer electronic audio visual appliance such as a TV set, and/or for internet uploading, includes a remote control handset and a wireless receiver for connection to the appliance. The remote control unit is adapted to transmit audio and/or visual data (A/V data) and control codes to the receiver. The receiver is responsive to the A/V data and control codes to control the appliance to play and/or display the A/V data. The remote control unit includes a reader for a storage medium for A/V data, or a cable or wireless interface to an A/V acquisition device such as digital video or digital still camera or digital music player or recorder. |
| US07685338B2 |
Solid state storage subsystem for embedded applications
A non-volatile storage subsystem solution is provided for embedded applications. The storage subsystem is preferably designed to communicate with the host system using a signal interface, such as a USB or SATA interface, that uses substantially fewer signal lines than the IDE interface traditionally used for embedded applications. Thus, the amount of board real estate used to carry interface signals in the host system is reduced. To further reduce board real estate, the host system may include a processor that includes an integrated controller (e.g., a USB or SATA controller) corresponding to the host-subsystem signal interface. The storage subsystem may plug into, and lock to, an internal connector on a circuit board of the host system. |
| US07685336B2 |
Keyboard-mouse-video switch with a digital visual interface
A keyboard-mouse-video (KVM) switch has a server interface, a client interface, a switch circuit and a digital video overlapping circuit. The server interface is connected to plural computers, and the client interface is connected to plural sets of manipulation and display devices. The switch circuit routes paths between the computers and the sets of manipulation and display device. The digital video overlapping circuit overlaps a digital video overlapping image onto a digital video signal received from one of the computers through the server interface. The overlapped digital video signal is then transmitted to one of the sets of manipulation and display device through the client interface. |
| US07685333B2 |
Method and system for communicating with memory devices utilizing selected timing parameters from a timing table
A computational system is disclosed. The computational system includes a controller having a table including a plurality of sets of timing parameters. The plurality of sets of timing parameters are ordered based on a speed rate. The computational system also includes a device accessible to the controller. The controller communicates with the device in accordance with one set of timing parameters selected from the plurality of sets of timing parameters. |
| US07685330B2 |
Method for efficient determination of memory copy versus registration in direct access environments
A memory registration abstraction layer includes decision logic for dynamic, efficient determination of memory copy versus registration. The exemplary embodiments apply to direct memory access environments. The memory registration abstraction layer also includes tracking logic for monitoring the usage history for certain ranges of memory registration requests. The registration logic chooses to copy memory or map memory based on training and observation of application behavior, taking the more efficient performance path without requiring changes to the application. |
| US07685329B1 |
Detecting the presence and activity of a mass storage device
Technologies are described herein for detecting the presence and activity of a mass storage device. A resistor divider circuit generates a voltage indicating whether a mass storage device has been mated to a mass storage backplane and whether the device is active. The circuit provides a voltage within a first range when the device is not mated to the storage backplane, and provides a voltage within a second range when the device is mated to the storage backplane but is inactive. The circuit also provides a voltage within a third range when the device is mated to the storage backplane and is active. The circuit can be connected to an integrated circuit that can determine, based on the output of the resistor divider circuit, whether the device has been mated to the storage backplane and whether the device is active. |
| US07685320B1 |
Autonomous sequencing and fault spreading
A power management system may be configured to allow digital information relating to the power management functions of sequencing and fault spreading to be passed between POL regulators using a standard multi-master multi-slave interface such as I2C bus interface or SMBus interface. POL regulators may be configured via pin strapping, and coupled to a serial data bus where they may monitor bus transactions initiated by other similar POL regulators. Each POL regulator may respond to the bus transactions initiated by other POL regulators according to its configuration, and may perform a variety of tasks associated with sequencing and fault spreading in addition to regulating its own voltage output. When configured with a standard multi-master/multi-slave interface such as an I2C bus interface or SMBus interface, the POL regulators may report information to multiple other POL regulators while maintaining compatibility with non-POL devices also connected to the bus. |
| US07685317B2 |
Layering mobile and virtual private networks using dynamic IP address management
The present invention allows a mobile node to seamlessly move across IP (Internet Protocol) subnets. In one embodiment, the invention includes registering a mobile device with a home agent (HA) through a proxy server, receiving a home internet protocol (IP) address assignment from the HA, assigning the home IP address to the mobile device as an inner IP address, mapping the inner IP address to a physical point-of-attachment of the mobile device, and assigning an outer IP address. The embodiment further includes tunneling packets for the mobile device to the proxy server using the inner and outer IP address, and delivering packets from the proxy server to the mobile device at the point-of-attachment. |
| US07685316B2 |
System and method for coordinated network configuration
Disclosed are device managers, systems and methods for coordinating the configurations of devices on a network. An exemplary system having devices and/or device managers in accordance with embodiments can include at least two devices coupled to a network where the devices are able to parse data in a meta or common information format, such as Extensible Markup Language (XML). The network may be a Virtual Private Network (VPN), for example. An exemplary method in accordance with embodiments can include: connecting first and second devices to a network; configuring the first device; generating the first device configuration in its native command format and the second device's configuration as meta data; applying the meta data to a suitable parser in the second device; and generating readable configuration commands to configure the second device. |
| US07685315B2 |
System and method for conveying terminal capability and user preferences-dependent content characteristics for content adaptation
A system and method for conveying content-specific characteristics related to terminal capabilities and user preferences, and adapting content for particular terminals in response to the conveyed information. A content type or other message characteristic that is recognizable by the terminal is identified, as are operational confines of the terminal by which the content type is to comply. The content type is associated with the operational confines of the terminal. The content type and associated operational confines are provided to the network server for use by the network server in delivering messages to the terminal as dictated by the operational confines. |
| US07685312B1 |
Resource location by address space allocation
A method for locating a free resource involves maintaining an address space containing a plurality of regions, wherein each of the plurality of regions is mapped with a server to obtain a mapping, transmitting a request for the free resource from a client to a request address that belongs to one of the plurality of regions, determining a selected server using the mapping, and directing the request for the free resource to the selected server. |
| US07685309B2 |
System and method for separating addresses from the delivery scheme in a virtual private network
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention establish a virtual network on top of current IP network naming schemes. The virtual network uses a separate layer to create a modification to the IP packet format that is used to separate network behavior from addressing. As a result of the modification to the packet format, any type of delivery method may be assigned to any address or group of addresses. The virtual network also maintains secure communications between nodes, while providing the flexibility of assigning delivery methods independent of the delivery addresses. |
| US07685308B2 |
Method for transmitting data by using X-cast mode
There is provided a method for transmitting data to a multicast group including a plurality of receivers by using an X-cast mode, comprising the steps of transmitting an X-cast IP data packet having a X-cast header including addresses of a destination router and the multicast group, wherein the destination router is connected to the receivers, converting the X-cast IP data packet to a multicast IP data packet in the destination router and sending the multicast IP data packet to the receivers, wherein an IP header of the multicast IP data has the address of the multicast group. The source router can transmit an IP data packet to a multicast group having a medium or large number of receivers by using the X-cast mode. |
| US07685306B2 |
Streaming content navigation
Streaming content navigation techniques are described. In an implementation, techniques are described to provide a non-modal message when navigation is attempted to a stream of content that is not permitted for consumption by a client device. In another implementation, techniques are described to provide an alternate content stream when sequential navigation between streams of content is attempted. |
| US07685303B2 |
Object-oriented discovery framework
An object-oriented programming framework allows developers to write applications for services and devices that are automatically “discoverable” by applications associated with other devices and services on a network. An attribute is added to a class in an application or web service object and an associated, generic discoverable base class is appended to the application to make the application discoverable on the network. The discovery framework imposes minimal requirements on the application in which it is embedded, so nearly every application can be converted into a “discoverable” application. The discovery protocol-dependent details are hidden from the application itself, so exchanging the discovery protocol can be done without affecting the application. |
| US07685302B2 |
Communications system providing extensible protocol translation and configuration features and related methods
A communications system may include data storage devices and mobile wireless communications devices for accessing the data storage devices, each using one or more different operating protocols. The system may further include a protocol interface device, which may include a protocol engine module for communicating with the data storage devices using respective operating protocols, and a front-end proxy module coupled to the protocol engine module. The front-end proxy module may include a respective proxy module for communicating with the mobile wireless communications devices using each different operating protocol, and at least one common core service module coupled to the proxy modules. The protocol interface device may also include a configuration file module coupled to the front-end proxy module for storing a plurality of different sets of configuration files relating to different allocations of resources of the at least one common core service module. |
| US07685301B2 |
Redundancy lists in a peer-to-peer relay network
Methods and apparatus for implementing peer-to-peer relay. In one implementation, a method of building a redundancy list in a peer system in a peer-to-peer relay network includes: receiving a first message including first identification information at a first peer system from a second peer system connected to said first peer system in a peer-to-peer relay network; storing said first identification information; receiving a second message including second identification information at said first peer system from a third peer system connected to said first peer system in said peer-to-peer relay network; comparing said second identification information with said first identification information; building a redundancy update message; and sending said redundancy update message to said third peer system. |
| US07685300B2 |
Method for access by server-side components using unsupported communication protocols through passthrough mechanism
A method is presented for obtaining information from a client for the benefit of a server using a particular communication protocol that the server does not implement. A primary server receives a client-generated request, and the primary server sends a first request to a secondary server as part of the processing of the client-generated request. While processing the first request, the secondary server determines a need for data obtainable from a client application that supports user interaction using a communication protocol for which the secondary server is not configured to implement. The secondary server sends a second request to the primary server for obtaining data that results from using the communication protocol. The secondary server subsequently receives the resulting data and continues to process the first request using the resulting data, after which the secondary server returns a response for the first request to the primary server. |
| US07685298B2 |
Systems and methods for providing authentication credentials across application environments
The present invention relates to a system for providing a modified URL from a proxy server to a virtualized computing environment attempting to access a remote resource. The modified URL may contain information which allows a proxy server which receives a request for the URL to generate a request for the remote resource where the request includes any state information necessary to access the resource. After transmitting the request, the proxy server may receive the requested resource; and transmit the resource to the application. |
| US07685297B2 |
Resource control
In a method for controlling an access to at least one resource by a plurality of clients, at least one set of rules is selected from a plurality of available sets of rules upon occurrence of an event relating to an access to the at least one resource by at least one of the clients. The selection depends at least on one of the type of the event, a state of at least one of the clients and a system state. The selected at least one set of rules is applied, resulting in a decision. The access to the at least one resource is then controlled according to this decision. |
| US07685293B2 |
Method and apparatus for optimization of sigcomp UDVM performance
A mobile communication system that utilizes multiple access technologies achieves multiple session registrations by deriving a plurality of extended unique device identifications from a specific unique device identification (e.g., private user identification (PIID) stored on a subscriber identity module (SIM)) assigned to a user equipment. Each of the plurality of extended unique device identifications have the benefit of allowing multiple registrations with one or more access networks while allowing a home subscriber system to detect the one unique device identification embedded in the extended unique device identifications for authentication purposes. Thereby, a large population of deployed UEs and access network infrastructure may benefit without replacement by allowing a UE to maintain session continuity when transitioning between access networks, to select a preferred access technology when in overlapping coverage areas without session interruption, or to maintain multiple sessions (e.g., simultaneous Voice over IP (VoIP) and media streaming) with different access networks. |
| US07685291B2 |
Messaging service interoperability methods and related devices
Messaging service interoperability methods. A client implements a messaging service version (X.Y), in which X is a major version number and Y is a minor version number. The client sends a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) with version (X.Y) to a server. If the PDU with version (X.Y) is not accepted by the server, the client reselects a messaging service version (Z.H), and sends a PDU with the reselected version (Z.H) to the server. Reselection of the messaging service version and sending of a PDU with the reselected version are repeated until the PDU is accepted by the server or all possible reselected versions have been selected. |
| US07685289B2 |
Method and apparatus for proxying initial client requests to support asynchronous resource initialization
A set of programs allows a server computer that does not have an application installed to temporarily hand off a client request for the application to a peer server until the application is installed on the first server. The hand off is transparent to the client and temporary to the peer server. The server asynchronously starts the application, and when the application is ready for use, the first server stops sending requests to the peer server, and begins serving the requests. Since the first server has full session knowledge, it will be transparent to the client that the server servicing those requests temporarily changed. |
| US07685284B2 |
Network, network terminal device, IP address management method using the same, and program therefor
When a communication malfunction occurs in the transmission line between routers, and operation is carried out by a backup system control device, IP telephone terminals can connect to the backup system control device through the use of an IP address that is previously acquired from the address management device and saved. When the transmission line has been restored, the IP telephone terminals reconnect to the address management device so that operation can be carried out using an IP address under the control of the address management device. In a system that is operated by DHCP, it is thereby possible to construct a network that can be operated without installing a DHCP server at each remote station. |
| US07685276B2 |
Automatic, personalized online information and product services
A method for providing automatic, personalized information services to a computer user includes the following steps: transparently monitoring user interactions with data during normal use of the computer; updating user-specific data files including a set of user-related documents; estimating parameters of a learning machine that define a User Model specific to the user, using the user-specific data files; analyzing a document to identify its properties; estimating the probability that the user is interested in the document by applying the document properties to the parameters of the User Model; and providing personalized services based on the estimated probability. Personalized services include personalized searches that return only documents of interest to the user, personalized crawling for maintaining an index of documents of interest to the user; personalized navigation that recommends interesting documents that are hyperlinked to documents currently being viewed; and personalized news, in which a third party server customized its interaction with the user. The User Model includes continually-updated measures of user interest in words or phrases, web sites, topics, products, and product features. The measures are updated based on both positive examples, such as documents the user bookmarks, and negative examples, such as search results that the user does not follow. Users are clustered into groups of similar users by calculating the distance between User Models. |
| US07685274B2 |
Method and apparatus for clustered filtering in an RFID infrastructure
A method for removing duplicate data entries from a database that includes a plurality of application server nodes in an application server cluster includes tracking items using a plurality of ADA devices in a plurality of locations, receiving ADA observations over a network from the plurality of ADA devices, and balancing a load of data communications including the ADA observations so that the ADA observations are sent to different application server nodes of the application server cluster. The method further includes filtering duplicate observations at each application server node and separately filtering duplicate observations between the plurality of application server nodes. |
| US07685273B1 |
Methods and apparatus for collecting and displaying performance metrics from a web site
A system obtains a script containing at least one transaction to be performed with the web site, the at least one transaction defining a sequence of page requests identifying at least one web page to obtain from the web site. The system executes the script to perform the at least one transaction, performance of the at least one transaction including retrieving the sequence of the at least one web page. The system detects a capture event associated with the at least one web page, and in response to the capture event, captures content of the at least one web page. The system packages the content of the at least one web page into a container capable of being rendered, such that the container provides a plurality of components associated with the at least one captured web page, and delivers the container to a repository. |
| US07685272B2 |
Application server external resource monitor
A backend server process monitor operates application servers accessing resources on backend servers. The monitor tracks failures, latency and errors at an interval. A method includes monitoring a plurality of resource requests from the application sever to a backend server and determining whether each of the plurality of resource requests was completed successfully and within a specified latency by the backend server. Errors on a server are tracked and the method includes notifying an application on the application server that a problem exists with the backend server. |
| US07685270B1 |
Method and apparatus for measuring latency in web services
Method and apparatus for measuring true end-to-end latency for calls to Web services are described. In embodiments, a Web service client and a Web service provider may collaborate to collect timing/latency data for calls to the Web service. This data may be collected, stored, and analyzed by a latency measurement service to generate displays and/or reports on true end-to-end latency measurements for Web service calls. Embodiments may collect Internet/network infrastructure latency for Web service calls up to and including the “last mile” to the Web service client and the Web service processing time. Additionally, by analyzing latency data collected from a number of Web services clients and/or Web service providers, embodiments may provide a macro-level view into overall Internet performance. In one embodiment, the latency measurement service may be a Web service. |
| US07685268B2 |
Message handling for user interfaces
Generally, systems and methods permit customized delivery of messages to a user depending on the specific requirements of a user interface. A processing layer between a business object and a user interface may determine, for a received message, an appropriate rule for the target user interface. The message rule may be applied, and depending on the rule, the message may be delivered to the user. |
| US07685264B2 |
System displaying a collection of network settings for a user to adjust and associate the settings with a network profile
Systems and methods for a readily discoverable, consolidated UI of frequently modified system settings are provided. In one aspect, systems and methods may be deployed to efficiently adjust mobile settings. In one embodiment, tiles configured to represent the an application and further having at least one icon, the status of the application, and a user-selectable display element, such as a button, for positioning within each tile are produced, wherein the user can adjust the aspect with a single input. In yet another embodiment, the user may select another user-selectable user display element to view and adjust further aspects of the application in a secondary menu. Another aspect of the invention relates to a method that may be instituted to determine which applications and/or elements of applications are to be displayed within the menus. |
| US07685260B2 |
Method for analyzing state transition in web page
A method that enables a tester to efficiently perform confirmation behavior of a Web page that utilizes DHTML or difference in behavior of the Web page among various browsers, or assignment of information relating to accessibility of the Web page or verification of the information. A method is provided that analyzes change in a Web page by determining states that can dynamically occur in response to an external event in a Web page that utilizes DHTML by analyzing at least one of DOM, style information for when rendered on a browser, input data from a user, and the value of a global variable in JAVA®SCRIPT, storing data that can identify each of the states, identifying state transition between the stored states, and reproducing the stored states. |
| US07685259B2 |
Locally responsive kiosk signage from on-line source
Displayed content of signage at a distal location is at least partially controlled by a processor and database that directs signage display from a distal location. A central location processing system collects information on local, area wide, national or international conditions, events or changes in status and directs local signage to display appropriate information. The central location itself collects information, samples information, and evaluates general information to determine what specific information may be appropriately or desirably displayed at local signage. The display may be relevant to seasonal events such as holidays, sports events, actual changes in season, school year beginnings or endings, political events and the like, or independent events or conditions such as weather changes, severe weather, sales events, consumer alerts, public alerts, special event days. Information displayed locally can consider evaluation of local response to a range of potentially displayed information. |
| US07685257B2 |
Portable thin client for the enterprise workspace
A system and method is provided for designing (or re-architecting) a personal digital assistant (PDA) as a portable thin client of a network. The portable thin client is a small, stateless, “plug and work” computer whose main function is to process all input and output for the user, as well as to manage communication with at least one server. All other computational tasks (or services) for the user of the PDA are performed on the server which is shared amongst a community of thin clients. As a result of re-architecting the PDA as a portable thin client, there is no need to download application(s) and operating system(s) running the application(s) to the PDA because the server—through the network—provides these services. In addition, no data is lost when a PDA is faulty or has to be changed. Moreover, in one embodiment, the portable thin client (or thin client PDA) includes smart card capabilities so that an enterprise (or business organization) can pool its PDAs with the users of the PDA on a need-to-use basis. |
| US07685256B2 |
Actual cooking result management method, content management method, server, and cooking apparatus
For cooking data provided via a communication network, use track records of the cooking data corresponding with their actual use status are accurately managed. When receiving a request for transmission of cooking data from a terminal (S11), a server transmits the cooking data to the terminal (S12, S13), and at this time receives use history data with a microwave oven for previously transmitted cooking data (S14). The server manages use track records of the cooking data based on use history data received from terminals. |
| US07685254B2 |
Runtime adaptable search processor
A runtime adaptable search processor is disclosed. The search processor provides high speed content search capability to meet the performance need of network line rates growing to 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps and higher. The search processor provides a unique combination of NFA and DFA based search engines that can process incoming data in parallel to perform the search against the specific rules programmed in the search engines. The processor architecture also provides capabilities to transport and process Internet Protocol (IP) packets from Layer 2 through transport protocol layer and may also provide packet inspection through Layer 7. Further, a runtime adaptable processor is coupled to the protocol processing hardware and may be dynamically adapted to perform hardware tasks as per the needs of the network traffic being sent or received and/or the policies programmed or services or applications being supported. A set of engines may perform pass-through packet classification, policy processing and/or security processing enabling packet streaming through the architecture at nearly the full line rate. A high performance content search and rules processing security processor is disclosed which may be used for application layer and network layer security. Scheduler schedules packets to packet processors for processing. An internal memory or local session database cache stores a session information database for a certain number of active sessions. The session information that is not in the internal memory is stored and retrieved to/from an additional memory. An application running on an initiator or target can in certain instantiations register a region of memory, which is made available to its peer(s) for access directly without substantial host intervention through RDMA data transfer. A security system is also disclosed that enables a new way of implementing security capabilities inside enterprise networks in a distributed manner using a protocol processing hardware with appropriate security features. |
| US07685251B2 |
Method and apparatus for management of virtualized process collections
A management software approach to automatic and dynamic migration of applications running within virtualized process collections while retaining state during the migration operation. Performance metrics are received for a virtualized process collection running in a first logical partition. A threshold value is calculated for the performance metrics. A performance state analysis of the performance metrics is executed to determine whether the calculated threshold value of the performance metrics exceed a maximum or minimum threshold specified in a stack tier policy for the virtualized process collection. A stack tier analysis of the performance metrics is executed to identify any trigger violations and determine a migration action to be taken for the virtualized process collection. Responsive to a determination that the number of identified trigger violations exceeds a trigger violation count, a migration event is generated to migrate the virtualized process collection to a second logical partition. |
| US07685250B2 |
Techniques for providing packet rate pacing
Techniques to pace the transmission of packets to multiple connections using one or more queues or storages. When multiple queues are used, each queue may have an associated throughput rate and each of the queues may have a different associated throughput rate. |
| US07685249B2 |
Image processing method, image process system, and related equipment used therein including portable terminal, image forming data transmitting device and image forming device, as well as image processing program and computer readable recording medium that stores sa
The cellular phone 1a sends a printing request to the PC 2 using a protocol that is allowed to connect bi-directionally between an internal network and an external network at the firewalls 5a and 5b, the PC 2 uploads a printing job to the file server 4 using a protocol that is allowed to connect only from an internal network to an external network at the firewall 5a, and the printer 3a downloads the printing job to print from the file server 4 using a protocol that is allowed to connect only from an internal network to an external network at the firewall 5b. The present invention enables one to form images of files stored on an image forming data transmission device on a first intranet on an image forming device on a second intranet using a portable terminal and a file server on an external network. |
| US07685248B1 |
User interface in data forwarding network
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for data forwarding storage. A user system communicates with a network of interconnected computer system nodes. The user system includes an input/output device including a user interface to initiate the sending of a request from the user system to store data on the network of nodes; to control at least one function of storage of the data in the network of nodes, wherein the data is continuously forwarded from one node memory to another node memory in the network without storing on any physical storage device in the network; and to display information regarding file storage in the network. |
| US07685246B2 |
Control of an instant message system that allows multiple clients with identical credentials
A method and system for improving control of an instant messaging system. Multiple instant message (IM) instances are initiated with identical credentials of a user of multiple users participating in an IM session controlled by an IM server. A front-of-screen representation enables the user to manage instance attributes and allows any user to view conversational connectivity information. The IM server receives the user's selection of a graphical element that represents a remote IM instance of the multiple IM instances. Via the first IM instance, the IM server receives the user's request for a computing device to perform an action that includes an interaction with the remote IM instance. The computing device performing the action is located remotely from the user and is executing the remote IM instance. The action is performed by controlling a remote system function of the computing device. |
| US07685243B2 |
Mail server, mail reception device, mail server program storage medium, mail reception program storage medium, mail mediation method, and mail reception
The present invention relates to a mail server, a mail reception device and the like of a mail system for mutually performing transmission and reception of a mail between mobile devices or personal computers (PCs) through mediation of a mail server, which construct a mail system for significantly alleviating labor for a user on changing a mail address and for reducing network traffic. The mail server receives a change of the mail address of a user device and manages history of the mail address of the user device, receives a mail destined to a destination device from a mail transmission side device, and attaches the history of the mail address of the mail transmission side device to the received mail so as to transmit the mail having the history attached thereto to the destination device. |
| US07685242B2 |
System for policing junk e-mail messages
A system for policying an unsolicited e-mail communication. The system has a plurality of clients, each coupled together using a wide area network of computers, such as the Internet or an internet. Each of the clients is adapted to send an indication of an unsolicited e-mail message through an e-mail device for a display. The system also has a policying server coupled to each of the plurality of clients through the wide area network of computers. The policying server is adapted to receive the indication from at least one of the clients. The e-mail device comprises an SPAM icon on the display The SPAM icon is adapted to send the indication from the client to the policying server. |
| US07685236B1 |
Methods and systems for developing an instant messaging network
An instant messaging (IM) system has an IM server connected to a communication network, and logic operable on the IM server enabling a first user to browse contacts associated with a second user. In some cases the first user can add and list contacts accessed by browsing the contacts associated with the second user. |
| US07685235B2 |
Method and system for integration of instant messaging and teleconferencing via a telephone network
A system is provided comprising a plurality of instant messaging client applications (202, 207, 208, 209) communicating via a computer network (206) to send and receive messages in real time integrated with n-way teleconferencing capability via a telephone network (216). The system includes a plurality of instant messaging client applications (202, 207, 208, 209), an instant messaging server (204), and a teleconferencing server (210), all connected via a computer network (206). The teleconferencing server (210) enables n-way telephone connections via the telephone network (216). The n-way telephone connections are provided to telephone apparatus of at least some users of the instant messaging client applications who can visualize the teleconference via a graphical user interface (600) of the instant messaging client application. |
| US07685233B2 |
Method and apparatus for sequentially conducting independent data contexts using a mobile communications device
A mobile communications device including a processor operable to conduct with a wireless packet data service network a PDP context associated with a first application running on the mobile communications device. The processor is further operable to release the PDP context associated with the first application and establish with the wireless packet data service network a PDP context associated with a second application running on the mobile communications device responsive to a first input received from a user of the device. The processor is further operable to reestablish the PDP context associated with the first application responsive to a second input received from the user. |
| US07685230B2 |
System and method for program execution
The invention pertains to a method and system that uses similar functionalities of different components within a software application when executing the application and application components. In one embodiment, predefined structures are created for a component type, where each component type has a similar functionality when executed. Parameter information is received at a client and linked with the predefined to provide a script specific predefined structure. The component is executed by executing the script specific predefined structure. After a user exits the component, the script specific predefined structure is automatically deleted. |
| US07685225B2 |
Content acquisition apparatus, content acquisition method and content acquisition program
The present invention provides a music purchasing/transfer system allowing contents to be acquired in a remarkably efficient manner. In the system, a content acquisition apparatus, and method and program thereof are provided. The apparatus includes a content storage section used for storing contents; an output section for outputting the identification of every content that can be presented by a content providing apparatus for presenting contents; and a content acquisition section for acquiring a content, which is identified by a content identification selected by carrying out an operation to select one of identifications output by the output section, from the content providing apparatus, wherein the output section outputs identifications of contents not stored yet in the content storage section as identifications different from other identifications output as identifications of other contents already stored in the content storage section. |
| US07685212B2 |
Fast full search motion estimation with SIMD merge instruction
A method for a fast full search motion estimation with SIMD merge instruction. The method of one embodiment comprises loading a first line of K data elements for a current macroblock. A first set of L data elements and a second set of L data elements for pixels in a search window are loaded. A shift right merge operation is performed on the first and second sets of data elements to generate a second line of K data elements. A first sum of absolute differences value between said first line and said second line is calculated. The first sum of absolute differences value is accumulated to a first total for a first reference macroblock. |
| US07685207B1 |
Adaptive web-based asset control system
Disclosed herein is an adaptive Internet-based product control system that utilizes web technology to gather and present asset control data in an environment with constantly changing requirements due to various third party demands and/or funding restrictions. The present system tracks third party assets, provides real-time data regarding current status, and assists in returning the assets to the customer in a more timely fashion. The system can adapt to constantly changing user requirements by use of a Cold Fusion database interface to a set of data files that can be constructed and reconstructed on-the-fly. Multiple third party structures are supported with one central data file that handles the security logs and one central tasking data bank for tracking specific third party funding/tasking. The system also interfaces with bar code readers to gather of asset data and to upload it at a later time. |
| US07685198B2 |
Systems and methods for collaborative tag suggestions
A set of general criteria have been defined to improve the efficacy of a tagging system, and have been applied to present collaborative tag suggestions to a user. The collaborative tag suggestions are based on a goodness measure for tags derived from collective user authorities to combat spam. The goodness measure is iteratively adjusted by a reward-penalty algorithm during tag selection. The collaborative tag suggestions can also incorporate other sources of tags, e.g., content-based auto-generated tags. |
| US07685197B2 |
System and methods for indentifying the potential advertising value of terms found on web pages
The present invention provides a method and system for identifying terms in a requested Web document which can be used to identify other web page documents in which the user is likely to have an interest. Terms on previously prepared lists are compared to the content of the Web page document, and where matches are found, mathematical techniques including linear regression can be used to determine the relevance of the textual term to the content of the page. This can be used to suggest other linked Web page documents in which the user is likely to have an interest. Where the prepared lists include a term that has been purchased by advertisers, and there is a match for that term on the Web page document, an ad which is likely to interest the reader can be displayed on the requested Web page document, and can include a link to the advertiser's web site. |
| US07685194B2 |
Fine-grained access control in a database by preventing information leakage and removing redundancy
Fine-grained access control for querying a database with low overhead and safety plans. In a view placement approach, base relations of the query expression are replaced by views that are appropriate for the particular user. Information leakage via UDF pushing, exception processing, and error messages can be prevented by generating safe plans. An existing query optimizer can be modified to perform redundancy removal and safe plan implementation. Subsumption testing available in materialized view matching can be exploited by the query optimizer. Authorization inference is exploited to generate safe plans. |
| US07685190B2 |
Method and system for an online-like account processing and management
The present invention is embodied in an online-like transaction processing method and system for processing account information contained in batch process files, the method including: reading at least one batch file containing a plurality of records, each of the plurality of records being related to an associated one of a plurality of accounts; identifying which of the plurality of records relate to same ones of the plurality of accounts; identifying one of the accounts; and, processing all of the records identified as relating to the one of the accounts together and independent of processing any of the records relating to any other of the plurality of accounts. |
| US07685187B2 |
Recovery of data and data processes
One embodiment of a data recovery management system includes prompt logic operable to prompt a user to provide information describing impact that an extended interruption of a project tracking system would have on an work unit that uses the project tracking system to perform a particular workflow process; a database coupled to the prompt logic, operable to store feedback received from the user in response to answering questions proposed by the prompt logic; and organizational logic operable to compile information stored in the database for each work unit that utilizes the project tracking system to perform a particular workflow process. Other systems and methods are also provided. |
| US07685185B2 |
Move-in/move-out notification for partial replica synchronization
A system is disclosed for synchronizing partially-replicated collections using the concept of item-set knowledge and move-out notifications. Move-out notifications are provided to allow removal of changed items from replicas when the change in the item takes that item outside of the interest set of the replicas. |
| US07685181B2 |
Method and system for utilizing a hierarchical bitmap structure to provide a fast and reliable mechanism to represent large deleted data sets in relational databases
A method and system utilizes a hierarchical bitmap structure to represent deleted data sets. Each level in the hierarchical bitmap structure may have progressively larger size and represent finer granularity of number of data blocks than its parent level. A method in one aspect may comprise allocating a first level bitmap having size equal to a register on a processor, each bit in the first level bitmap representing a plurality of blocks of data in a database, and allocating one or more pointers corresponding to said plurality of bits in the first level bitmap, said one or more pointers being allocated to point to a sub bitmap generated after a data block is deleted but before the index corresponding to the data block is cleaned. |
| US07685179B2 |
Network flow for constrained replica placement
A deterministic technique is used for assigning locations to object replicas in a data center, while taking the various constraints into account that guarantee high availability and fast recovery. Example constraints include not putting the replicas on the same machine and not on the same rack, in case the rack or the network switch goes down. Also, because power distribution units (PDUs) can fail, the two replicas are not put on the same PDU. A solution is guaranteed to be found, if one exists. |
| US07685177B1 |
Detecting and managing orphan files between primary and secondary data stores
A method and system for locating and eliminating orphan files within a secondary storage device. The method includes identifying a secondary file on a secondary storage device, the secondary file being associated with file identification data, identifying a placeholder file on a primary storage device, the placeholder file being associated with an offline reference, and determining if the offline reference of the placeholder file validly references the secondary file. |
| US07685176B2 |
Systems and methods of asynchronous data replication
The present invention relates to systems and methods of asynchronous data replication. In an embodiment, the system includes a primary host that asynchronously transmits write and sync commands where each write and sync command includes a data set ID and a sequence number. A secondary host coupled to the primary host receives the write and sync commands out of order, tracks receipt of write and sync commands, and after receipt of the write and sync commands of the data set writes blocks associated with the write commands to data storage coupled to the secondary host. |
| US07685175B2 |
Content manager
An archive for digital content comprises archive storage, an archive service and a manifest. The archive storage is a unified storage structure for storing items, such a directory having a plurality of subdirectories. The manifest is stored within the archive storage when the archive storage is loaded onto a storage device, and comprises an index of items stored in the unified structure of the archive, an organizational structure that supports defined categories that characterize items stored in the unified structure and at least one backup queue that temporarily queues a list of items that satisfy predetermined backup criteria by have not been backed up. The archive service serves as an intermediate between users, e.g., operators, software modules, programs, services, etc., and the archive storage to control requests for access to items stored in the unified storage structure. |
| US07685166B2 |
Information recording apparatus
There is provided an information recording apparatus which is capable of collective management concerning which content data is recorded on each one of a plurality of information storage media. The information recording apparatus includes: a content data storage section for recording content data; a management information generation section for generating management information for the management of at least one of a copy and move of the content data; and a management information storage section for recording the management information. When the content data is copied or moved to an information storage medium, the management information generation section generates management information containing: content data identification information for identifying the copied or moved content data; and information storage medium identification information for identifying the information storage medium to which the content data has been copied or moved. |
| US07685160B2 |
System and methods for constructing personalized context-sensitive portal pages or views by analyzing patterns of users' information access activities
The present invention relates to a system and methodology to assist users with data access activities and that includes such activities as routine web browsing and/or data access applications. A coalesced display or montage of aggregated information is provided that is focused from a plurality of sources to achieve substantially one-button access to user's desired web or data source information/destinations in order to mitigate efforts in retrieving and viewing such information. Past web or other type data access patterns can be mined to predict future browsing sites or desired access locations. A system is provided that builds personalized web portals for associated users based on models mined from past data access patterns. The portals can provide links to web resources as well as embed content from distal (remote) pages or sites producing a montage of web or other type data content. Automated topic classification is employed to create multiple topic-centric views that can be invoked by a user. |
| US07685159B2 |
Creating content associations through visual techniques in a content framework system
A content framework system and method. The content framework system comprises a content infrastructure, a content flow management system, and a content association tool. The content infrastructure comprises content management system. Each of the content management systems comprises content. The association creation tool is for generating a first set of associations metadata linking the content management systems together. The user interface system is for visually rendering the content and the first set of associations metadata. |
| US07685157B2 |
Extraction of information from structured documents
A method of extracting information from a structured document includes the steps of assigning a partial tree identifier inclusive of a tag identifier to a selected partial tree wherein the tag identifier includes a name of a tag corresponding to a root of the selected partial tree, a name of at least one format attribute of the tag, and a value of the at least one format attribute, arranging names of format attributes in a predetermined order in the tag identifier if the at least one format attribute of the tag includes two or more format attributes, and identifying a partial tree having a partial tree identifier identical to the partial tree identifier of the selected partial tree from a list of partial tree identifiers of partial trees that exist in the structured document after updating thereof. |
| US07685156B2 |
Systems and methods for rule inheritance
Systems and methods for automating and increasing the efficiency of access to data using inheritance of access rules within an organization based upon the relationship of positions within the organization and the roles associated with the positions. In one embodiment, a role structure is used in conjunction with a hierarchical organization structure to allow access rules to be inherited by some of the positions from other positions based upon the relationship of positions within the organization and the roles associated with the positions. Access rules can be applied across equivalent or similar positions, yet differentiated between distinct portions of the organization and the distinct roles associated with the positions. Consequently, particular access rules are not necessarily inherited by all of the positions subordinate to a particular position with which the rule originates, and are not necessarily inherited by all of the positions that are associated with a particular role. |
| US07685154B2 |
Method and system for generating a play tree for selecting and playing media content
A play tree may be generated for selecting and playing media content. A list of media files may be generated and displayed to the user. The user's selection from the list may be received and played to the user. The user's selection may be stored in a media content database and a tree of media files may be generated based on the user's previous selections. The tree may be displayed to the user. If the user makes a selection, the user's selection from the tree is received and played to the user. |
| US07685153B2 |
Personal connection network analysis apparatus and method, storage medium storing personal connection network analysis program organizational rigidity determination apparatus and method, and storage medium storing organizational rigidity determination program
A personal connection network analysis apparatus includes: event history holding means for holding histories of events related to organization members; relation calculation means for extracting, from the event history holding means, histories of events common to both a first member of the organization members and second members of the organization members and calculating a relation between the second members based on the extracted histories of events; and network information holding means for holding the calculated relation as link information between nodes of a personal connection network unique to the first members, the nodes being respectively indicative of the second members in the personal connection network unique to the first member. |
| US07685151B2 |
Coordinated employee records with version history and transition ownership
A computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer usable program code are provided for associating historical events with a user. A historical event is identified for association with the user. A determination is made as to whether the historical event has been certified by a trusted authority in response to identifying the historical event for association with the user. A historical object is created for the historical event if the historical event has been certified by the trusted authority and associated with the user. |
| US07685149B2 |
Identifying and removing potentially unwanted software
A system and method for identifying and removing potentially unwanted software. A mechanism is provided that identifies suspect programs to a user and allows the user to prevent the suspect programs from running without actually deleting them. In one embodiment, scanner data identifying potentially unwanted software is displayed in a GUI that allows the user to inhibit its continued execution. For example, any software not on a list of known, benign applications/processes may be identified as potentially unwanted. Similarly, software that displays one or more suspect behaviors may be so identified, allowing the user to distinguish between normal and suspect software without irreversibly altering the user's system. |
| US07685146B2 |
Apparatus and method for a collaborative semantic domain and data set based on combining data
A computer readable storage medium includes computer executable instructions to provide a semantic domain with a plurality of semantic definitions associated with one or more subject areas to a community of users. A data input is received from a user within the community of users. A portion of the data in the data input is linked with a semantic definition from the plurality of semantic definitions to create a mapping. The data input and the mapping are evaluated. The data input is published to the community of users. |
| US07685145B2 |
Database physical design refinement using a merge-reduce approach
Various embodiments are disclosed relating to database configuration refinement. In an example embodiment, a method is provided that may include determining a size limitation for a database configuration, determining a workload of the database configuration, and making a determination that a size of the database configuration is greater than a size limit. The method may also include applying either a merge process or a reduction process to decrease the size of the database configuration. The merge process may merge a first index/view with a second index/view to produce a merged index/view, for example. The reduction process may delete a first portion of a first view to produce a reduced view. |
| US07685137B2 |
Technique of using XMLType tree as the type infrastructure for XML
A universal format is used to create a type representation of XMLType instances that are generated in various ways from various sources. An XMLType Type Tree is represented as a hierarchy of nodes, including leaf item node, composite item node, operator node, aggregate node, referred to herein as an XMLType Type Tree. An XMLType Type Tree serves as a digest of the type structure of XMLType, no matter the source of the XMLType instance or its manner of its generation and it creates one uniform abstraction of the type structure of XMLType for the data-typing analysis of XPath and XQuery during query compile time. |
| US07685136B2 |
Method, system and program product for managing document summary information
Summary information for documents are stored as entries in a table in a relational database. Each entry includes a unique identifier, value(s) for a set of attributes and rendering information for the corresponding document. A collation order is obtained that defines a sort order for the documents based on the set of attributes. An index is generated based on the collation order and includes the rendering information for each document. In response to a rendering request or other query, a query that uses index-only access for the summary table can be used to obtain the rendering information. Further, a set of marker values can be included to provide efficient navigation of the index. Still further, additional functionality can be included to display the documents in a hierarchical structure. To this extent, the invention can automatically re-categorize data when the child locations of a hierarchical location exceed a specified number and/or link other relational data to a hierarchical location. |
| US07685135B2 |
Database facility for XML server pages language
A method and computer program product for generating XML documents that include data content and style information from a plurality of data sources. A first file includes control statements that reference at least one resource containing display information. A server pages processor executes a script that includes a control statement referencing the first file, wherein the first file includes references to a plurality of resources containing display information. The resources may reside in at least two different locations in a computer system network. |
| US07685134B2 |
Media file sharing, correlation of metadata related to shared media files and assembling shared media file collections
The present invention provides for systems and methods for communicating media files and creating a collection of media files, also referred to herein as a master media file. In addition, the systems and methods of the present invention provide for the creation of automatic metadata and compilation of metadata associated with the collection of media files. The present invention is able to bond devices, referred to herein as slave devices, such as media capture devices, presence devices and/or sensor devices and instruct the slave devices, particularly the media capture devices, to communicate captured media files with a specified set of metadata included. |
| US07685132B2 |
Automatic meta-data sharing of existing media through social networking
An automatic meta-data sharing of existing media method and apparatus are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of a server device includes analyzing a media data of a client device to determine at least one meta-data identifier associated with the media data and automatically populating a new mark-up language file using a existing media-collection data associated with certain items of the media data. The meta-data identifier may be generated by a client application that is agnostic of a type of media player application compatible with the media data. The new mark-up language file may include an arrangement of existing media-collection data of the certain items associated with the media data of the client device. A compatibility rating may be determined between the user and the other users based on the similar attributes between the arrangement (e.g., hierarchy) and the other arrangements and enabling each user of the server device to view mark-up language files of the other users. |
| US07685131B2 |
Web services database cluster architecture
There is disclosed configuring of clustered web services nodes accessing a common database, including implementing a data virtualization layer at each node to abstract an instance of the database from a web service application. In one embodiment, at each node is performed creating a first, data virtualization entity bean having all read and write operations of an application-developed (master) entity bean, creating a second entity bean that carries only the read operations of the master entity bean and addresses the replica instance, receiving an operation request at the first entity bean, and routing a request to either the master entity bean or the second entity bean depending upon the requested operation to access the respective database instance. In another embodiment, at each node is performed implementing an empty database instance having a schema matching the common database, identifying a relevant partitioning in a query utilizing the empty database, and routing the query to a respective partitioned database instance. |
| US07685126B2 |
System and methods for providing a distributed file system utilizing metadata to track information about data stored throughout the system
The intelligent distributed file system enables the storing of file data among a plurality of smart storage units which are accessed as a single file system. The intelligent distributed file system utilizes a metadata data structure to track and manage detailed information about each file, including, for example, the device and block locations of the file's data blocks, to permit different levels of replication and/or redundancy within a single file system, to facilitate the change of redundancy parameters, to provide high-level protection for metadata, to replicate and move data in real-time, and so forth. |
| US07685120B2 |
Method for generating and prioritizing multiple search results
A method for generating and prioritizing multiple search results is disclosed. A database stores search results in an information storage and retrieval system. A search program executes on a computer system coupled to the database. The search program receives a search request from a user input. The search program parses the search request into at least one search term. The search program performs a loop comprising steps associating a priority adjustment value with each search term, generating a search result, calculating a priority adjustment sum of the generated search result, inserting the at least one search term, the generated search result, and the calculated priority adjustment sum in the search result list, and modifying the at least one search term and the priority adjustment value associated with each search term to perform a next iteration of the loop. |
| US07685117B2 |
Method for implementing search engine
A system and method for implementing/influencing a search engine which provides search results to users based on characteristics of certain trendsetter web pages identified on the Internet. The trendsetter web page are determined by studying historical adoption behavior of a group within the universe of websites, or by reference to known indicia. |
| US07685114B2 |
Systems and methods for mapping text
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for mapping at run time a value, such as a technical identification (ID) key, to text based on a text association. In one exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes receiving at run time a request, from a user interface at a client computer, the request associated with an object at a server; instantiating, at a server, a service for mapping at run time the value to text based on the text association, the text association being determined before run time; and at run time providing to a user interface at the client computer, the text based on the text association, such that the text is responsive to the request from the user interface. |
| US07685112B2 |
Method and apparatus for retrieving and indexing hidden pages
A method and system for autonomously downloading and indexing Hidden Web pages from Websites includes the steps of selecting a query term and issuing a query to a site-specific search interface containing Hidden Web pages. A results index is then acquired and the Hidden Web pages are downloaded from the results index. A plurality of potential query terms are then identified from the downloaded Hidden Web pages. The efficiency of each potential query term is then estimated and a next query term is selected from the plurality of potential query terms, wherein the next selected query term has the greatest efficiency. The next selected query term is then issued to the site-specific search interface using the next query term. The process is repeated until all or most of the Hidden Web pages are discovered. |
| US07685110B2 |
System and method for inducing usage of information search system
An information service includes a network and material on the network provided by an entity. The network provides or is linked to, a request for information elements for submission of a request by the submitter to the entity. Elements are provided to optionally provide an inducement to likely submitters or selected subgroup or subgroups of likely submitters to submit a query. |
| US07685107B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for scanning a partitioned data set
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for scanning a partitioned data set (“PDS”). A receive module is included to receive a search criteria comprising one or more expressions. A member module is included to determine a set of PDS members to search based on the search criteria. A scan module is included to scan a record contained within each member of the set of PDS members. A determination module is included to determine whether a record satisfies the search criteria, where the search criteria comprises at least one expression that identifies a record that lacks a specified character string of the at least one expression. A return module is included to return the determined record. Each record in the scanned PDS has any length within a range supported by an operating system maintaining the scanned PDS. |
| US07685105B2 |
System and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving environmental information
Embodiments of the present invention provide indexing, organizing, storing and/or retrieving of environmental information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project, including information about an environment-modifying natural event or construction project (“project”); a natural, constructed or socioeconomic feature in the area of the project (“setting”); a change to the setting brought about by the project (“impact”); or a feature designed to ameliorate a potential environmental impact of the project (“mitigation”). The environmental information is indexed with metadata that may be hierarchically organized and made available to a reviewer in a controlled vocabulary or a user-defined vocabulary. |
| US07685102B2 |
Methods and apparatus for operating on non-text messages
Methods and apparatus for operating on a non-text (voice or fax) message include for each of a number of voice messages, searching each voice message for signal samples having one of a plurality of sets of pre-defined characteristics (such as any seven or ten digit number which is then assumed to be a telephone number). For each signal sample found to have one of the sets of pre-defined characteristics, the found signal sample is associated with an equivalent text string and this text string is stored in an envelope for the message. Based on a user input, the messages may be searched for a given text string and on finding a message envelope containing the given text string, such message may be operated upon. |
| US07685101B2 |
Query directives and access plan hints
A query plan modification system and method relate to a database system that includes a cost-based optimizer for generating access plans. The database system also permits a user to view an access plan that has been generated by a particular SQL query and modify the access plan if desired. The user specifies customizations that are associated with the access plan so that when that plan is executed, the customizations are executed as well. Exemplary customizations include specifying an initialization file specific to a query, specifying different implementation methods than those in the original access plan, prohibiting rebuilding of an access plan, and over-riding or ignoring a clause within the query that is used to generate the access plan. |
| US07685091B2 |
System and method for online information analysis
The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to online information analysis. In general, in one implementation, a system includes a collection engine configured to accumulate document information retrieved from publicly accessible network resources according to predefined subjects, and an analysis engine configured to analyze the accumulated document information to identify change over a time period in general discussion of a topic within a selected subject of the predefined subjects, the analysis engine further configured to normalize the identified change over the time period based on change in a total number of documents found for the selected subject during the time period. |
| US07685090B2 |
Detecting duplicate records in databases
The invention concerns a detection of duplicate tuples in a database. Previous domain independent detection of duplicated tuples relied on standard similarity functions (e.g., edit distance, cosine metric) between multi-attribute tuples. However, such prior art approaches result in large numbers of false positives if they are used to identify domain-specific abbreviations and conventions. In accordance with the invention a process for duplicate detection is implemented based on interpreting records from multiple dimensional tables in a data warehouse, which are associated with hierarchies specified through key—foreign key relationships in a snowflake schema. The invention exploits the extra knowledge available from the table hierarchy to develop a high quality, scalable duplicate detection process. |
| US07685087B2 |
Method for making decision tree using context inference engine in ubiquitous environment
The present invention relates to a method for generating a decision tree using an inference engine in a ubiquitous environment. In the method, a data table for a data event set is generated based on information collected by at least one sensor. Subsequently, a weight value of the data event set is established, and an entropy is calculated based on the established weight value (here, the entropy is a scale for classifying the information collected by the sensor into respective classes). In addition, the decision tree for the collected information is formed based on the calculated entropy. |
| US07685085B2 |
System and method to facilitate user thinking about an arbitrary problem with output and interfaces to external systems, components and resources
Preferred embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for facilitating user thinking about an arbitrary problem, as well as providing capabilities to output to and interface with external or additional computer systems, resources, or devices, or any combination thereof. The system includes first logic to facilitate user specification of a problem structure, second logic to facilitate user specification of a conclusion structure, third logic to facilitate specification of a knowledge structure, related to the arbitrary problem. The system further includes output and interface logic to accomplish interfacing with a plurality of external or additional computer systems, information sources, resources, or devices. |
| US07685084B2 |
Term expansion using associative matching of labeled term pairs
Various embodiments are directed to a system and method providing associative matching of terms. Candidate terms are selected for building one or more associative matching models from one or more selected candidate sources. Associativity is defined to give editors the ability to label sample associative term pairs from the one or more candidate sources. The editors label sample candidate term pairs as being related. Features are determined that can differentiate associative from non-associative pairs. The selected features are used to build a model. The model is applied to determine whether a received query-candidate pair are associative. |
| US07685082B1 |
System and method for identifying, prioritizing and encapsulating errors in accounting data
A method for detecting errors includes obtaining input data, applying a knowledge base to the input data, identifying diagnostics associated with errors in the input data, encapsulating data snippets corresponding to errors with associated diagnostic codes to obtain encapsulated data snippets, and outputting encapsulated data snippets. |
| US07685076B2 |
Online reduction in repair and maintenance costs
The present invention provides an automated invoice vetting, negotiation and payment system that automatically collects goods and labors hour data, sets a reasonable pricing structure for each such good and service, dynamically analyzes the price data to adjust for market changes and provides a automatic negotiation and settlement feature for bill payment. The present invention readily accommodates the above features over electronic networks such as the Internet. The present invention therefore provides a method of payment of invoices of vendors by purchasers, comprising providing a settlement authority with invoice information from a vendor, comparing the invoice charges to a predetermined range of values for the charges, accepting the charges that are within a predetermined sub-range for the charges, adjusting the charges that are greater or less than that the predetermined sub-range for the charges and paying the accepted charges and the adjusted charges. |
| US07685072B2 |
Software distribution system for sewing machine, sewing machine and storage medium
A software distribution system for sewing machine includes a server and a sewing machine. The server generates authentication key data dedicated for a sewing machine only upon initial transmission of medium identification data and sewing machine identification data from a terminal and stores the authentication key data in mapping with the medium identification data. If a valid medium identification data and an invalid sewing machine identification data are thereafter transmitted to the server, the stored data is not updated and the authentication key data is transmitted to the terminal. If determined that a control program transmitted from the terminal is not free of charge based on a version information thereof, calculated identification data corresponding to the sewing machine identification data is generated based on the authentication key data transmitted from the server, whereupon successful verification of calculated identification data with the sewing machine identification data, the control program is invoked. |
| US07685069B1 |
Systems and methods for generating a financial market index
A method of generating a financial market index. The method includes selecting a plurality of constituent securities to comprise the index and determining a weight for each of the securities based on at least one forecasted parameter that is determined for each of the plurality of constituent securities that comprise the index. The method also includes generating the financial market index based on the weights. |
| US07685062B2 |
Computer system for the calculation of interests for entrustments of money
Procedure for the calculation of interests for entrustments of money comprising: memorization of quantities of money K indicative of the possible amounts of credit granted; memorization of an additional remuneration M indicative of the requirements of the lender for granting the loan; processing of an additional amount of money L indicative of the risk of loss borne by the lender; and mathematical combination, according to a given formula, of the aforementioned quantity of money K, extra yield M and amount of money L, in order to obtain a quantity of money B that, asked of the borrower, allows the lender to obtain an average return of (K+M). |
| US07685061B2 |
Methods and systems for providing debt recovery partnership
Methods and systems for collecting payments from customers having delinquent accounts are disclosed. Under a debt recovery partnership, a debt recovery service extends an offer for a debt recovery product to a customer with a delinquent account. If the offer is accepted, the debt recovery service receives an acceptance to the offer from the customer and, thereafter, pays a commission for the delinquent account to the partner. The partner ceases attempts to collect payments on the delinquent account corresponding to the accepted offer and continues attempts to collect payments on delinquent accounts not corresponding to an accepted offer. |
| US07685059B2 |
Method and system for a digital automated exchange
A method and system exchanges assets defined as digital automated equities which are objects instantiated with attributes of an asset. Digital automated equities are registered on a common system exchange as offeror mediary objects and matched by comparing their attributes. Capital exchange offer objects define desired matches by identifying a digital automated equity associated with an exchange offer, a exchange price for the exchange and one or more conditions associated with the exchange. A match use case compares attributes of capital exchange offers to determine matches based on the closeness of the capital exchange offers and a negotiate transaction use case supports communication between owners associated with close capital exchange offers to alter attributes in response to a match. Once a transaction is complete, a settle transaction use case exchanges the digital automated equities. Digital automated equities may include a variety of assets, including intellectual property such as patents and trademarks, business plans, stock and confidential information. Further, the present invention provides a secure format for exchange of confidential information in stages. |
| US07685058B2 |
Matching program and system for corporate meeting planners and hospitality providers
The computerized bidding method matches hospitality facility data and meeting requirement data, permits the posting of offers and responsive bidding by both hospitality facility vendors and meeting planners, and facilitates the exchange of data. In a simplified system, meeting planner requirement data (at least meeting planner contact data, facilities requirement data, date range data and price data) is matched to hotel or hospitality vendor data (at least vendor contact data, location data, room quantity data, date available range data, and meeting room data), and the system sends planner offer data to matching hospitality vendors without disclosing the planner contact data. Thereafter, the hotel vendors respond and the responses are sent to the meeting planner posting the offer. The presentation to the planner may be in spread sheet form, sorted by pre-set criteria. |
| US07685054B2 |
System and method for real-time options trading over a global computer network
The present invention relates to a method and system for electronically trading a financial instrument. The method includes entering a bid order for the financial instrument and placing the bid order in a bid queue associated with a buyer who maintains a list of sellers to sell the financial instrument to. Then, entering an ask order for the financial instrument and placing the ask order in an ask queue associated with a seller who maintains a list of buyers to buy the financial instrument from. Next, the present invention will match the bid order and the ask order and to execute a trade between the buyer and the seller. Lastly, the trade is executed if the bid order is not less than the ask order, and if the buyer is on the list of buyers and the seller is on the list of sellers. |
| US07685053B2 |
Bidder system using multiple computers communicating data to carry out selling fixed income instruments
An electronic system, the system for selling fixed income instruments, the system including a second computer having an output device and at least one buyer's computer having an electrically coupled input device and a monitor, the buyer's computer and the second computer being respectively located, the computers being used in cooperation in a multiple computer system in electronically communicating data between the computers. |
| US07685046B2 |
Method and apparatus for enabling individual or smaller investors or others to create and manage a portfolio of securities or other assets or liabilities on a cost effective basis
Smaller investors can create and manage on a cost-effective basis a complex portfolio of securities using a mechanism that enables the investor to provide to the system the investor's preferences regarding his portfolio, to generate a portfolio, including fractional shares, that reflects the investor's preferences. The system then permits aggregation of the orders, and netting of orders, generated by multiple investors at various times during the day for execution. In addition, the structure of the computer-based system of the present invention allows its cost to be based on access to or usage of the system (such as a monthly fee) as opposed to by securities orders entered into the system as per common brokerage. The result is that the investor can create a portfolio of directly owned securities with attributes, such as diversification, similar to a mutual fund. |
| US07685045B1 |
Method for maximizing discount rate structure
A merchant financial transaction requiring authorization type batch processing system uses a bid system whereby two or more merchant processors bid on some or all of a batch of authorized financial transactions such that the merchant bidding the lowest discount rate structure for a give portion of a batch, processes the batch. If a portion of the batch or the entire batch receives no bids, a default merchant processor processes that portion or whole batch respectively. |
| US07685043B2 |
Forest factory valuation model
Apparatuses, computer media, and methods for determining a value of a forest factory. A stump land value component and a biomass component of a forest factory are determined. A value of the forest factory is obtained by combining the components. The stump land value component may be normalized by a crop rotation time period. A carbon value component of a forest factory may be determined and the value of the forest factory adjusted. A land parcel may be partitioned into land partitions, in which forest parameters are associated with each land partition. A stump land value component, a biomass fuel value component, and a carbon credit value component may be determined from the land partitions. The carbon credit value component may be determined a percentage of coniferous trees, deciduous trees, and corresponding constant values of oxygen generation. |
| US07685037B2 |
Transaction authorisation system
A transaction authorization system (200) includes a client terminal (20) in the form of a computer (22) running a network browser. The computer (22) is connected to the internet (24). The system (200) also includes an account administration server (26) which is connected to the internet (24) and which hosts a web server which may be accessed by the network browser running on the computer (22). The system (200) further includes an account database (30) which stores a record of the status (i.e. disabled or enabled) of an electronic on line bank account. The system (200) is configured to enable a user, via the computer (22), to set the status of the account in the database (30). When a transaction request is issued to a merchant (201) the authorizing institution is able to interrogate the database (30) to determine the status of the account and thereby to authorize or decline the transaction. |
| US07685029B2 |
System and method for real-time activity-based accounting
An accounting method and system is disclosed that provides for real time financial accounting of plant performance at a sub-plant level. A multiplicity of process variable transmitters is utilized to sense, in real time, the current state of the processes and process equipment used in a manufacturing plant. Sub-plant accounting modules utilize the sensed process data to calculate a plurality of sub-plant accounting measures, which are stored in one or more real time plant historian. The accounting measures are typically converted to a suitable format and subsequently stored in a production model accounting database where they are accessible to an accounting module. |
| US07685026B1 |
Method of tracking and dispensing medical items
A system for tracking and dispensing medical items (830) includes one or more computers and associated data stores including information concerning authorized users, patients, medical items that have been prescribed for patients, medical items available, storage locations for medical items and events associated with receiving, dispensing and providing medical items to patients. The system also provides for tracking medications from time of receipt by a pharmacy, through storage and compounding therein, to the storage locations from which the medical items are taken to be administered, to dispensing to medical personnel for administration and finally to patients. Further, returning, restocking and other activities affecting the disposition of medications are also tracked to assure that reliable information is recorded concerning the disposition of medical items. |
| US07685025B2 |
Web-based integrated event planning and management system and method
A web-based or computer-implemented system for planning and managing events such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, parties, and any other events involving multiple service providers or vendors including, but not limited to, caterers, entertainers, limousine drivers, and so forth, by means of a single website or portal and forms or contracts that can be customized to meet the service offerings, policy requirements, and pricing structures of individual providers or vendors. |
| US07685024B2 |
System and method for computerized ordering
The present invention discloses a method and system for computerized ordering at least one product being a part of a final shopping list. The system comprises a first computerized trolley configured to facilitate a user to select at least one product among products being offered by one or more shops associated with the first trolley, thus giving rise to at least one first computerized order line corresponding to the selected product and being a part of a first shopping list; at least one second computerized trolley, each one of said second trolleys configured to automatically generate at least one second computerized order line matching to said first order line and comprising a product being offered by one or more shops associated with the second trolley, said second order line being a part of a second shopping list; wherein the final shopping list is configured to be based on said first shopping list or on said second shopping list. The method comprises providing said first computerized trolley, providing at least one said second computerized trolley, and facilitating compiling the final shopping list on the basis of said first shopping list or said second shopping list. |
| US07685018B2 |
Method and system for providing a payback to a user and distributor based on product use
The present invention relates to a payback system and a payback method for calculating a payback value to a customer receiving a service by using a product provided (for free or payment) from a product manufacturer or a middleman, or to the middleman. The payback value is calculated based on the use results of the service (including a service on a network) by a product user. |
| US07685013B2 |
System and method for automatic financial project management
A system and method for providing project management tools to support construction, renovations, maintenance and other projects. The system automates the creation, processing and approval cycles of the numerous documents involved with each project. The system provides standardized work processes through processing templates. The system provides automated control and management of the process. The system allows project initiation and funding approval by clients throughout the corporation via a desktop browser coupled to a corporate Intranet. A software application embodying the present invention and its underlying technology are appropriate for a paper intensive area. It reduces the approval cycle of projects. It automates the creation, processing and approval cycle of documents by routing documents electronically for on-line approval. |
| US07685012B2 |
Method and system for analyzing resource allocation based on cohort times
The present invention is a method for improving resource allocation comprising the steps of identifying at least one criteria; Identifying sets of information wherein each set of information includes a unique unit of analysis (UOA-ID), a calendar/clock time (CCT), a CATVAR and a VAR Value; grouping each UOA-ID into an appropriate specific population (Type); identifying a Start Time wherein each UOA-ID has met said at least one criteria; forming at least one prospective or retrospective Cohort time segment for each UOA-ID based on their Start Time; placing the UOA-ID into the appropriate time segment; calculating an eligibility score for each UOA-ID for each time segment; calculating an Eligible Adjusted Variable Value; and generating at least one Output Expression. |
| US07685004B2 |
System and software of enhanced pharmaceutical operations in long-term care facilities and related methods
A system, pharmacy management software, and related methods of enhanced pharmaceutical operations in patient care facilities are provided. The pharmacy management software, for example, can include instructions that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the operations of providing instructions to pharmaceutical storage and electronic dispensing carts positioned at various patient care facilities according to patient specific prescription requirements, receiving dispensing data from each of the carts, and providing separate billing records including billing data indexed by reimbursement provider for each patient at the patient care facilities. The operations can also include consolidating the billing data by patient, by patient care facility, by remote pharmacy, and/or consolidating billing data by reimbursement provider, and submitting separate consolidated reimbursement claims electronically to each respective reimbursement provider. |
| US07685003B2 |
System for communication of health care data
An apparatus for communicating health care data from a sender to a receiver is provided. The apparatus has a first computer system, a second computer system, and a rules engine. The first computer system has health care data stored therein. The second computer system is in operable communication with, and is configured to extract the health care data from, the first computer system. The rules engine normalizes the extracted health care data to a predefined format. |
| US07684999B2 |
User-based health monitoring
A user-based monitoring system includes a remote user-based subsystem with at least one display and at least two microprocessor-based units in communication with each other. The microprocessor-based units are selected from a data management unit, a personal computer, a handheld device or a user monitoring device. The subsystem is configured to facilitate collection of user-related data. The system also has at least one central server remotely located from and configured for two-way communication with the user-based subsystem so that it can receive and deliver signal communications to and from the user-based subsystem. The system also has at least one authorized user computer remotely located from, and configured for two-way signal communication with, the central server to receive user-related data collected by a remote user-based subsystem and allow an authorized user to communicate with the central server. The system is suited, amongst others, for monitoring remotely the health of a system user. |
| US07684998B1 |
Method to provide emergency health care to patients with insurance
The methods to provide emergency health care to patients with insurance entail creating a special care unit in a hospital and creating a contractual relationship between the special care unit and an association. The qualified patient is insured through the association and is provided with an indicator. An interface is provided for the qualified patient to request an actual time to be seen by the team; confirming the actual time; receiving the qualified patient with the indicator at the actual time, wherein the qualified patient is seen by the team in less processing time than the emergency department; evaluating the qualified patient within 30 minutes of the actual time to ascertain a medical problem; determining if the qualified patient stays in the special care unit or is to be transferred to the hospital's emergency department; treating the qualified patient based on the evaluation; and dispositioning the qualified patient. |
| US07684996B2 |
Responding to requests for data
A user information item is associated with a data set selected by a user for delivery over an electronic network. The user's present and previous data selections are analyzed to identify a user information category related to at least one of these data selections, and the user information item is chosen from the identified user information category. User information items can be combined or associated with a video, animation or multimedia data set selected by a user for delivery over an electronic network. |
| US07684992B2 |
Remote application correction
A data processing system (CAR), particularly a smart card coupled to a communication device (MOB), communicating with a remote entity (OP). The data processing system has a location for storing a file (F) which can be downloaded from said remote entity, A program (GS) of the data processing system performs the following steps: before performing data correction in the system, a checking step in which said program (GS) checks whether a file (F) has been downloaded, if such a file (F) is present, the program (GS) modifies the application (APP) on the basis of the data stored in the file (F). |
| US07684987B2 |
Segmental tonal modeling for tonal languages
A phone set for use in speech processing such as speech recognition or text-to-speech conversion is used to model or form syllables of a tonal language having a plurality of different tones. Each syllable includes an initial part that can be glide dependent and a final part. The final part includes a plurality of phones. Each phones carries partial tonal information such that the phones taken together implicitly and jointly represent the different tones. |
| US07684986B2 |
Method, medium, and apparatus recognizing speech considering similarity between the lengths of phonemes
An apparatus, medium, and method recognizing speech. The method may include the calculating of scores indicating the degree of similarity between a characteristic of an input speech and characteristics of speech models based on the degree of similarity between the length of each phoneme included in an input speech and the length of phonemes included in each speech model, and determining a speech model with the highest score among the scores to be the corresponding recognized speech for the input speech. By doing so, the speech recognition rate may be greatly enhanced and when an input speech includes continuous identical phonemes the word error rate (WER) may be greatly reduced. |
| US07684984B2 |
Method for recognizing speech/speaker using emotional change to govern unsupervised adaptation
To improve the performance and the recognition rate of a method for recognizing speech in a dialogue system, or the like, it is suggested to derive emotion information data (EID) from speech input (SI) being descriptive for an emotional state of a speaker or a change thereof based upon which a process of recognition is chosen and/or designed. |
| US07684975B2 |
Morphological analyzer, natural language processor, morphological analysis method and program
The invention can include a token list generating unit 11 for decomposing a natural language text to be processed into tokens that are components of the natural language text and registering them on a token list, and a token string selecting unit 13 for selecting optimum token strings for composing the natural language text to be processed on the basis of the token list generated by the token list generating unit 11. The token list generating unit 11 registers, on the token list, tokens among the tokens obtained by decomposing the natural language text to be processed except tokens decomposable into smaller tokens according to conditions imposed on the morphological analysis. |
| US07684972B2 |
Termination assessment of a computer simulation
A method is provided for assessing whether to terminate a computer-implemented simulation of a physical experiment. Computations associated with the computer-implemented simulation that model the physical experiment are executed and to determine if a desired outcome associated with the physical experiment will occur. The results of the computations are evaluated to determine if the results indicate that the desired outcome has occurred. If the desired outcome has not occurred, periodically the results of the computations are evaluated with respect to at least one negative indication that the desired outcome is not possible and thus not likely going to occur. If the at least one negative indication is present, the computations associated with the computer-implemented simulation is terminated. |
| US07684970B2 |
Graphical user interface for use during processor simulation
In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure includes a method for executing application software during a simulation that models a processor for which the application software was developed. The method may include capturing results of the simulation to produce a simulation history. The method may also include providing a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes one or more cross-linked packet-centric views of the simulation history for packets operated on by the application software during the simulation. The cross-linked packet-centric views may include a packet status list GUI, a packet event list GUI, a packet dataflow GUI, a thread list GUI, and a thread history GUI. Of course, many alternatives, variations and modifications are possible without departing from this embodiment. |
| US07684967B2 |
Apparatus, method and system for improved reservoir simulation using an algebraic cascading class linear solver
A method, system, a program storage device and apparatus are disclosed for conducting a reservoir simulation, using a reservoir model of a region of interest, wherein the region of interest has been gridded into cells. Each cell has one or more unknown variable. Each cell has a node. A graph of the nodes is represented by a sparse matrix. The graph is an initially decomposed into a pre-specified number of domains, such that each cell exists in at least one domain. The cells and domains are numbered. Each cell has a key, the key of each cell is the set of domain numbers to which the cell belongs. Each cell has a class, the class of each cell being the number of elements in the cell. The cells are grouped into connectors, each connector being the set of cells that share the same key. Each connector having a connector class, the connector class being the number of elements in the key of the connector. Each connector having only one higher-order neighbor connector is merged with such higher-order neighbor connector. The class of all locally maximum class connectors is reset to the maximum class of held by any connector. The maximum class connector is forced to contain only one cell. The connectors are ordered in increasing order of class. Interpolation operator and restriction operator are constructed from the ordered connectors. The interpolation operator and restriction operator are used to construct a coarse grid. The coarse grid may be used to determine the unknown variables of the cells. |
| US07684965B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing data, and computer product
Abnormal values of an objective variable are removed. A degree of association between an objective variable and a plurality of explanatory variables is calculated. A plurality of explanatory variables having a high degree of association are extracted. A degree of independence between the explanatory variables is calculated. A plurality of candidates of explanatory variables with a high possibility of having a great effect on the objective variable are selected based on the degree of association and the degree of independence. An explanatory variable having a high rate of contribution to the objective variable is selected from among the candidates, based on the cumulative contribution rate, and a regression equation is calculated to estimate a value of the objective variable. The same processing is repeated, using the difference as a new objective variable and explanatory variables except the explanatory variable used to obtain the difference as new explanatory variables. |
| US07684960B1 |
Methods and systems for semiconductor diode junction protection
Methods and systems for semiconductor diode junction protection. |
| US07684958B2 |
Storage medium having step count calculation program stored therein, step count calculation apparatus, and step count calculation system
By repeatedly obtaining acceleration data, a gravity direction acceleration acting in a gravity direction of a housing and a horizontal direction acceleration acting in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the gravity direction are calculated. By using a first coefficient, a first step count in accordance with a change in the gravity direction acceleration is calculated and by using a second coefficient which is different from the first coefficient, a second step count in accordance with a change in the horizontal direction acceleration is calculated. Based on a predetermined condition, one of the first step count and the second step count is selected as a user's step count. |
| US07684957B2 |
Counting device, distance meter, counting method, and distance measuring method
A counting device includes a counting unit, period measuring unit, frequency distribution unit, representative value unit, and correction value unit. The counting unit counts signals input during an interval. The signals have a single frequency when the physical quantity is constant. The period measuring unit measures the period of a signal interval. The frequency distribution unit generates the frequency distribution of signal periods from the measurement result. The representative value unit calculates the representative value of the distribution of periods from the frequency distribution. The correction value unit obtains a total sum Ns of frequencies in a class not more than a first predetermined multiple of the representative value and a total sum Nw of frequencies in a class not less than a second predetermined multiple of the representative value from the frequency distribution, and corrects the count result on the basis of the frequencies Ns and Nw. |
| US07684956B2 |
Image reconstruction method
A method of extracting the shape of a probe tip of a probe-based instrument from data obtained by the instrument is provided. The method employs algorithms based on the principle that no reconstructed image points can physically occupy the same region as the tip during imaging. Sequential translates of the tip shape or volume sweep out an area or volume that is an “exclusion zone” similar to morphological erosion. The embodiments of the alternative method use either the region defined by the tip boundary or simply the tip boundary. |
| US07684955B2 |
Noncontinuous resonant position feedback system
A system and method for sensing position of an oscillating moving element. The inventive position sensor includes a first arrangement for sampling the position of the element at first positions thereof and providing samples in response thereto and a second arrangement for calculating other positions of the element using the sample of the first position. In the illustrative application, the first arrangement includes an LED and a photodiode and the moving element is a piston of a long-life cryogenic cooler. A processor receives samples from the photodiode and solves an equation of motion therefor. The equation of motion is P(t)=A·sin(ωt+θ)+B, where P(t)=the position of the element; A=position waveform amplitude; B=position waveform DC Offset; ω=angular frequency of operation; t=time; and θ=position waveform phase. |
| US07684954B2 |
Apparatus and method for classification of physical orientation
A state classifier uses learning obtained from a plurality of training algorithms each adapted to differentiate between states of physical orientation of an object in response to input data from an tri-axial accelerometer. At least two of the training algorithms are trained using data from an accelerometer mounted at a non-ideal angle. The classifier is trained to distinguish between the desired states from data collected from an tri-axial accelerometer device mounted at a plurality of respective angles with respect to a optimal axis on the object, wherein the angles are in the range of −180 degrees to +180 degrees. The classifier may include a plurality of classifiers and a decision fusion module used to combine the decisions from the respective classifiers to ascertain a state. |
| US07684953B2 |
Systems using variable resistance zones and stops for generating inputs to an electronic device
The present invention is directed to variable resistance zones for sensing input to an electronic device, as well as ministops for controlling deformation of the input components to ensure the accuracy of the inputs sensed. In one embodiment, a system in accordance with the present invention includes multiple variable resistors, an actuator, and a converter. The actuator overlies the multiple pressure-sensitive variable resistors and is configured to generate a pressure at a contact location on the multiple variable resistors. The converter is coupled to the multiple variable resistors and is programmed to map a pressure at the contact location to a pressure, location, or both along the surface of the actuator. |
| US07684949B2 |
Apparatus and method for determining reliability of an integrated circuit
In an embodiment, an integrated circuit or chip is supplied to its intended application and a measurement quantity representing the state of one or a plurality of electrical connections in the chip is determined within the application environment of the chip and, if the measurement quantity determined does not correspond to predefined criteria, a corresponding signal is output. |
| US07684943B2 |
Probe carrier management method, probe carrier manufacturing apparatus and probe carrier managing apparatus
A method for appropriately managing the quality and distribution of a probe carrier. Probe carriers manufactured by a probe carrier manufacturing apparatus having ejecting portions for ejecting probe solutions, each containing a probe, which can be specifically coupled with a target substance, for applying the probe solution on a carrier, and a plurality of probe tanks storing mutually different probe solutions for supplying ejecting portions. Each probe tank is labeled with the bar-code. The labeled bar-code is read by the bar-code reader. On the basis of the read bar-code, the probe solution stored in the probe tank is identified. On the other hand, the probe tank is mounted on the ejecting portion. |
| US07684942B2 |
Battery management system and driving method thereof
A battery management system and a driving method thereof includes a sensing unit and a micro control unit (MCU). The sensing unit measures a battery temperature and a battery current. The MCU receives the battery temperature and current, detects battery internal resistance corresponding to an estimated state of charge (SOC) and the battery temperature when the estimated SOC is included within an SOC area corresponding to the transmitted battery temperature, and estimates a battery state of health (SOH) by using the battery internal resistance. In the SOC area, a variation of the battery internal resistance is minimized. |
| US07684941B2 |
Battery management system and driving method thereof
A battery management system to estimate a state of charge of a battery and a driving method thereof includes a sensing unit and a micro control unit. The sensing unit measures a battery voltage. The MCU measures a first time and a second time, detects first and second battery voltages that respectively correspond to the first and second times from the battery voltage, estimates an open circuit voltage by the first and second voltages, and establishes the SOC that corresponds to the OCV. |
| US07684932B2 |
Systems and methods for dynamically adjusting sampling rates of mass spectrometers
A mass spectrometer includes an ion detector, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, and a decimator. The analog-to-digital (A/D) converter is configured to receive and sample an analog signal from the ion detector thereby providing a first plurality of samples at a first rate. The decimator is configured to receive the first plurality of samples and to transmit, at a second rate, a second plurality of samples that are based on the first plurality of samples. The decimator is further configured to dynamically adjust the second rate so that memory requirements for the mass spectrometer are reduced. |
| US07684928B2 |
Navigation apparatus and server apparatus
A navigation apparatus acquires geographic information from a server apparatus. When the navigation apparatus does not store any geographic information that provides a continuous route from the starting point to a destination point, it transmits data of the starting point and destination point to the server apparatus to acquire therefrom geographic information that provides a continuous route from the starting point to the destination point. This efficient acquisition of geographic information realizes reduction of communication time and communication costs. |
| US07684927B2 |
System and method for performing distributed sequential node localization in active sensor deployment
A system and method for performing distributed sequential node localization in active sensor deployment is presented. An equilateral orthogonal reference frame is defined. The reference frame includes s+1 anchor nodes that is placed in s-dimensional physical space. New nodes are sequentially placed in a natural sequential ordering within the s-dimensional physical space to form a sequentially well-connected network. For each of the new nodes, location estimates are obtained for the new node from at least s+1 of the anchor nodes previously placed in the s-dimensional physical space. A location is determined for the new node based on the location estimates. The new node are placed in the s-dimensional physical space as a new anchor node proximate to at least one of the s+1 previously-placed anchor nodes upon satisfactory location determination. |
| US07684924B2 |
Thermal detection and protection of vehicle hardware
A control module comprises a thermal detection module and a protection module. The thermal detection module receives temperature data of a particulate matter filter and determines a temperature based on the temperature data. The protection module selectively reduces output of an engine when the temperature is greater than a temperature threshold. A method comprises receiving temperature data of a particulate matter filter and selectively reducing output of an engine when a temperature based on the temperature data is greater than a temperature threshold. |
| US07684923B2 |
Method for operating a self-igniting internal combustion engine, and corresponding control device
A method for operating a self-igniting internal combustion engine includes: introduction of a prespecified pre-injection quantity (PI) of a fuel into the internal combustion engine before and/or during an intermediate compression; determination of a pressure characteristic (PZV) in the internal combustion engine during the intermediate compression; prespecification of a target pressure characteristic (PZV0); comparison of the determined pressure characteristic (PZV) with the prespecified target pressure characteristic (PZV0); determination that no release of energy occurred during the intermediate compression, provided that the determined pressure characteristic (PZV) is lower than the target pressure characteristic (PZV0); and compensation of the non-occurrence of the energy release and its effect on a main combustion. |
| US07684922B2 |
Variable valve system, and engine system and vehicle including the same
A cam sensor is provided in a position opposing one surface side of a cam driven sprocket in a valve timing control device. When the valve timing control device is in a high revolution state, a weight is pivoted by centrifugal force caused by the rotation. This allows a projection at the weight to be detected by the cam sensor. In this case, for each rotation of the valve timing control device, the projection of the weight passes the detectable position of the cam sensor and a pulse is generated in a cam signal to be transmitted from the cam sensor to an ECU. |
| US07684917B2 |
Diagnostic information providing apparatus for construction machine and diagnostic information display system for construction machine
A diagnostic information display system for a construction machine includes a sensor for detecting status variables related to an operating state of a hydraulic excavator or ambient environment, and a controller which stores combinations between a plurality of snapshot items and one or more status variables related to each of the snapshot items in advance, acquires or extracts status variable data, which is regarded as being related based on the stored combinations, from corresponding detected signals of the sensor 40, etc. with respect to the snapshot item selected by a selection command from an operator, thereby displaying the status variable data on a display unit, and compares each of the status variables or a value computed based on a plurality of status variables with a predetermined reference value range. A failure of a corresponding part or the related status variable is displayed on the display unit. |
| US07684916B2 |
Method and system for vehicular guidance using a crop image
An imaging device collects color image data to facilitate distinguishing crop image data from background data. A definer defines a series of scan line segments generally perpendicular to a transverse axis of the vehicle or of the imaging device. An intensity evaluator determines scan line intensity data for each of the scan line segments. An alignment detector identifies a preferential heading of the vehicle that is generally aligned with respect to a crop feature, associated with the crop image data, based on the determined scan line intensity meeting or exceeding a maximum value or minimum threshold value. A reliability estimator estimates a reliability of the vehicle heading based on compliance with an intensity level criteria associated with one or more crop rows. |
| US07684915B1 |
Controlled access for light duty motor vehicle
A control module operates a ramp in coordination with a powered sliding door. The control module couples to the OEM network and includes at least one microprocessor, a connector array coupled to at least one microprocessor, and interface circuitry. The microprocessor produces data sequences to keep the network busy, thereby preventing other modules on the OEM network from entering a low power mode. The connector array is adapted to receive daughter boards, plugs, plug-in modules, or wire jumpers for patches. The control module includes a display and a microprocessor is programmed to diagnose the operation of the ramp and provide the results of the diagnosis on the display. |
| US07684912B2 |
Electric power steering apparatus
An electric power steering apparatus is provided for suppressing the effect on the steering wheel of external interference inputted from the tie rod. The apparatus includes first and second output units for outputting first and second control amounts in accordance with the outputted torque signal, except in a dead zone thereof, respectively. The apparatus also includes gain data output units for, when the torque signal, a steering angular velocity, and a vehicle speed are within predetermined ranges, outputting gain data respectively. Steering operation is assisted by an electric motor driven on the basis of the first and second control amounts and the gain data, which afford a control signal to the motor. |
| US07684910B2 |
Vehicle email notification with regional-specific content
A vehicle email notification system and method in which regional-specific information such as seat belt laws and dynamic vehicle information such as remaining oil life is obtained and incorporated into periodic email messages that are sent to the owner or other authorized subscriber. The regional-specific information is determined based on residence information for the vehicle, such as its garaged address. The email notifications are triggered by different events, some of which are independent of the vehicle (e.g., a monthly trigger), and others of which occur at the vehicle, such as a mileage or low oil life trigger. The notification system builds and sends to the subscriber an email message that contains the regional-specific and dynamic vehicle information and identifies any detected vehicle condition for which action is needed. |
| US07684908B1 |
Vehicle identification key for use between multiple computer applications
A vehicle diagnostic system including a processor, a user interface including a display device and an input device both coupled to the processor for interactive control thereof and thereby, and a local storage library connected to the processor for storing at least one application to be performed on a vehicle. The processor is programmed to request vehicle identification information from a user through the display device, create a particular configuration identifier containing the vehicle identification information entered by the user through the input device, store the particular configuration identifier in the local storage library, retrieve at least one application from the library as the application is selected by the user through the input device, and provide the particular configuration identifier to the application. |
| US07684907B2 |
Driver assistance system for a road vehicle
The invention relates to a driver assistance system provided with an auxiliary system. The driver assistance system comprises detecting means for detecting information about a vehicle and influencing means for influencing a direction of movement and/or the speed of the vehicle according to information about said environment. The auxiliary system is used for issuing assistance information to the driver of the vehicle. The auxiliary system comprises recognition means for recognizing whether the driver assistance system can be operated in a reliable manner in a momentary environment state and/or in a future environment state and/or an operational state of the vehicle. The auxiliary system is connected to the recognition means and is embodied in such a manner that information can be given to the driver during operation of the vehicle if the driver assistance system cannot be operated in a reliable manner. |
| US07684904B2 |
Systems and methods for communication, navigation, surveillance and sensor system integration in a vehicle
A system and method are provided for facilitating substantially seamless interface between individual component systems for sensor fusion, data exchange, and communication across a broad spectrum of component systems in a vehicle without implicating hardware or software upgrade within individual legacy systems and/or sensors. A universal translator is provided to interface between individual system components that exchange data in a seamless manner between legacy data formats and specific data formats advantageously employed by newly-developed, procured and installed individual component systems. One or more of an analog, digital or serial communications gateway network between one or more of vehicle control components and installed communication, navigation, surveillance and/or sensor sub-components and/or systems provides substantially seamless integration between such systems regardless of the individual data format and exchange capabilities to which the individual systems or sub-components may be designed. |
| US07684902B2 |
Power management using a wireless home entertainment hub
A method of managing a power state of devices in a home entertainment system using a wireless home entertainment hub comprises obtaining a registration of a plurality of devices, where the plurality of devices includes at least one sink device and at least one source device. A selection of one of the source devices is received for presentation of program content to a user in the home entertainment system. A subset of the at least one sink device is determined for presentation of the program content to the user based on the selection of the source device. Each sink device in the subset of the at least one sink device is ensured to be active. |
| US07684900B2 |
Adaptive provision of protection function settings of electrical machines
A protection setting determiner (118) adaptively updates settings of protection functions in memory of a protection device (106) that protects a machine (102) that provides power to a power system (104), wherein the settings are updated based at least in part upon sensed data acquired during operation of the machine (102). A physical parameter determiner (110) receives the sensed data, which includes three-phase voltage and three-phase current values at the terminals of the machine (102), and uses any suitable real-time or off-line parameter estimation technique (such as Kalman Filtering for an augmented state) to determine physical parameters of the machine (102) and the power system (104). The protection setting determiner (118) uses the physical parameters to update the protection settings. |
| US07684896B2 |
System and method of estimating joint loads using an approach of closed form dynamics
A method for estimating joint load at a joint of a segment. The method comprises the steps of receiving kinematic data, determining a modified acceleration using at least the kinematic data, estimating a joint load using at least the modified acceleration; and determining simulated kinematic data for the segment using at least the joint load. The present disclosure thus addresses the problems with conventional inverse dynamics analysis by providing a forward dynamics solution for estimation of joint loads that is stable, guaranteed to converge, computationally efficient, and does not require acceleration computations. According to one embodiment, a joint load is estimated using an approach of closed form dynamics. |
| US07684890B2 |
Simulation system
In order to improve a simulation system for representing actions of machining units of a machine tool, in particular actions in the machining of a workpiece, in accordance with a CNC machining program complex by means of at least one first visualization unit in the form of actions of virtual machining units of a virtual machine tool, comprising an action control, which has at least one first data processing unit, which establishes control commands for actions of the virtual machining units by a control program processing CNC blocks of the CNC machining program complex, and a visualization control, which has at least one second data processing unit, which represents actions of the virtual machining units on the first visualization unit by a visualization program on the basis of configuration data of a stored machine model and the control commands determined by the action control, in such a way that it can be operated more easily, it is proposed that the simulation system comprises an operating control with a third data processing unit, which operates the action control by an operating program, and that the operating program has a program management function, which transfers at least program parts of the CNC machining program complex in a workpiece-related manner from said CNC machining program complex stored in a memory of the third data processing unit to the action control for executing said program complex. |
| US07684883B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing method is disclosed for use with an information processing apparatus for acquiring data and executing signal processing on the data. The method includes the steps of: acquiring information necessary for executing the signal processing on the data; determining whether a certain parameter included in the information acquired in the information acquiring step is changed; if the parameter is found changed in the determining step, then controlling recording of setting information for the signal processing; discarding execution status settings of a signal processing program called up to execute the signal processing; calling up again the signal processing program; initializing, using the changed parameter, the signal processing program called up in the program calling step; reading out the setting information of which the recording was controlled in the setting information recording controlling step; and resetting the signal processing program based on the setting information read out in the setting information reading step. |
| US07684882B2 |
Server based gaming system and method for selectively providing one or more different tournaments
A gaming system includes a central server or controller operable to communicate a plurality of different commands to a plurality of gaming machines to provide non-tournament game play and to provide tournament game play on the same gaming machines. |
| US07684881B2 |
Transient-sensitive indicators for HMI devices
The innovation disclosed provides a system and/or method that facilitates optimizing a human machine interface (HMI). An interface component can facilitate receipt of data associated with an industrial automation environment. A human machine interface (HMI) component can be communicatively coupled to the interface component to include a capture component that collects a portion of transient data associated with the industrial automation environment, wherein the portion of transient data is utilized by the human machine interface component. |
| US07684875B2 |
Methods and apparatus to configure process control system inputs and outputs
Methods and apparatus to configure process control system inputs and outputs are disclosed. A disclosed example method comprises obtaining a tag of a process control device from the input/output device, and associating the process control device with a process control module based on the obtained tag. |
| US07684872B2 |
Contactless interconnect for transducers
A medical device for implantation within a patient comprising a lead body including a conductor within the lead body and a transducer supported by the lead body. The conductor is electrically coupled to the transducer by a conductive fluid, paste or gel. The conductive fluid, paste or gel may be contained within a well in the lead body. The transducer may be a MEMS chip and/or an integrated circuit and may perform any of a variety of functions such as sensing physiological data. |
| US07684869B2 |
Apparatus and method for determining the relative position and orientation of neurostimulation leads
Interelectrode impedance or electric field potential measurements are used to determine the relative orientation of one lead to other leads in the spinal column or other body/tissue location. Interelectrode impedance is determined by measuring impedance vectors. The value of the impedance vector is due primarily to the electrode-electrolyte interface, and the bulk impedance between the electrodes. The bulk impedance between the electrodes is, in turn, made up of (1) the impedance of the tissue adjacent to the electrodes, and (2) the impedance of the tissue between the electrodes. In one embodiment, the present invention makes both monopolar and bipolar impedance measurements, and then corrects the bipolar impedance measurements using the monopolar measurements to eliminate the effect of the impedance of the tissue adjacent the electrodes. The orientation and position of the leads may be inferred from the relative minima of the corrected bipolar impedance values. These corrected impedance values may also be mapped and stored to facilitate a comparison with subsequent corrected impedance measurement values. Such comparison allows a determination to be made as to whether the lead position and/or orientation has changed appreciably over time. In another embodiment, one or more electrodes are stimulated and the resulting electric field potential on the non-stimulated electrodes is measured. Such field potential measurements provide an indication of the relative orientation of the electrodes. Once known, the relative orientation may be used to track lead migration, to setup stimulation configurations and parameters for nominal stimulation and/or navigation. Also, such measurements allow automatic adjustment of stimulation energy to a previously-defined optimal potential field in the case of lead migration or postural changes. |
| US07684867B2 |
Treatment of aphasia by electrical stimulation and/or drug infusion
Systems and methods are provided for applying electrical stimulation and/or introducing one or more stimulating drugs to the brain to treat or prevent aphasia, including through use of at least one system control unit (SCU) for controlling electrical pulses delivered via electrodes implanted in the brain and/or for producing drug infusion pulses to targeted areas in the brain. |
| US07684864B2 |
Subcutaneous cardioverter-defibrillator
SubQ ICDs are disclosed that are entirely implantable subcutaneously with minimal surgical intrusion into the body of the patient and provide distributed cardioversion-defibrillation sense and stimulation electrodes for delivery of cardioversion-defibrillation shock and pacing therapies across the heart when necessary. Configurations include one hermetically sealed housing with 1 or, optionally, 2 subcutaneous sensing and cardioversion-defibrillation therapy delivery leads or alternatively, 2 hermetically sealed housings interconnected by a power/signal cable. The housings are generally dynamically configurable to adjust to varying rib structure and associated articulation of the thoracic cavity and muscles. Further the housings may optionally be flexibly adjusted for ease of implant and patient comfort. |
| US07684855B2 |
System and method for regulating cardiac triggered therapy to the brain
A medical device system includes a brain monitoring element, cardiac monitoring element, therapy module and a processor. The processor is configured to activate the therapy module upon detection of a cardiac event in the cardiac signal. The processor is further configured to monitor the brain signal and communicate to the therapy module to change the cardiac triggered therapeutic output to the brain based upon the brain monitoring. A method of treating a person with a neurological disorder is also provided. |
| US07684850B2 |
Reference catheter for impedance calibration
A method for position sensing includes placing at a known position within a body of a subject a reference probe including at least one reference electrode. Electrical currents are passed through the body between the reference electrode and body surface electrodes. Characteristics of the electrical currents are measured and are used to generate an approximation of the known position of the reference probe. A correction factor is determined based on a relationship between the approximation and the known position. A target probe including at least one target electrode is placed within the body of the subject and second electrical currents are passed through the body between the target electrode and the body surface electrodes. Characteristics of the second electrical currents are measured and used to generate a calculated position of the target probe. The correction factor is applied to correct the calculated position. |
| US07684848B2 |
Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus control method
Data acquisition based on the same MRI encoding pattern is repeated at least once for each R wave occurring at time T0 used as a trigger. The necessary number of data for image reconstruction are extracted as subsets of a complete MRI data set from the resulting plural sets of acquired MRI by temporally retrospecting from the next R wave occurrence time (time T1) after the R wave (time T0) used as the trigger. The extracted data subsets are then rearranged to generate a complete composite MRI data set which is then used for image reconstruction of heart movement associated with end-diastole after the occurrence of the triggering R wave. |
| US07684847B2 |
Magnetic resonance imaging method and apparatus
When performing imaging in synchronization with a biological movement of an examinee by using a pulse sequence applying a pre-saturation pulse, it is possible to reduce irregularities of echo signal intensity and artifact on the image generated by the irregularities. Especially, it is possible to prevent artifact attributed to blood in the ventricle when performing delay contrast imaging. For this, before measuring the echo signal, an IR pulse or the like for adjusting magnetization to a desired state is applied so as to suppress irregularities of the echo signal intensity and prevent artifact. |
| US07684844B2 |
System for and method of positioning cells and determining cellular activity thereof
A device for positioning at least one cell in at least one addressable position, the device comprising a substrate (12) formed with at least one addressable pore (14) and at least one channel (16) embedded in the substrate and being held in fluid communication with the at least one pore. The at least one pore and the at least one channel are designed and constructed such that an under-pressure formed in the at least one channel results in vacuum adherence of the at least one cell onto the at least one pore, such that a single cell is vacuum adhered onto a single pore. In one embodiment, the substrate is a non-conductive substrate and is further formed with one or more electrode structures (22), where each of the electrode structures is positioned in one of the pores. In an additional embodiment the device is designed to be locatable on an organ, such as the brain. |
| US07684841B2 |
Living body ingredient concentration measuring instrument
A device for measuring the concentration of a biological constituent based on infrared radiation emitted by a subject's eardrum with the influence of the eardrum's thickness taken into account is provided.The biological constituent concentration measuring device includes: a detecting section for detecting infrared radiation emitted by an eardrum; an acquisition section for acquiring thickness information about the thickness of the eardrum; and a computing section for figuring out the concentration of the biological constituent based on the infrared radiation detected and the thickness information acquired. The infrared radiation emitted by the eardrum is subject to the influence of the subject's eardrum thickness. Therefore, by calculating the biological constituent concentration based on not only the infrared radiation detected but also the eardrum thickness information, the biological constituent concentration can be measured highly accurately. |
| US07684837B2 |
Cellular phone and cellular phone manufacturing method
A cellular phone and a manufacturing method thereof capable of achieving attractive design as well as high operating efficiency in the assembly process. A cellular phone comprises a first housing, a second housing, a first circuit board, a second circuit board, a flexible cable to electrically connect the first and second circuit boards, and a hinge that rotates about a prescribed rotation axis. When the first and second housings are in their open positions resulting from the rotation of the hinge, one edge of the second housing is located vertically above one edge of the first housing. The hinge includes hinge semi-cylindrical portions that form a hollow part capable of accommodating the flexible cable. The first and second circuit boards are mounted on the first and second housings, respectively. The flexible cable is accommodated in the hollow part. One end of the flexible cable is threaded through an aperture formed at the one edge of the second housing. A protection cover is attached to the one edge of the second housing to cover over the aperture. |
| US07684830B2 |
Communication link termination indication signal method and apparatus
Upon detecting (11) at a two-way communication device that a communication link has been terminated, the two-way communication device can provide (14) a unique corresponding signal (such as a unique audible signal) to indicate such termination. Pursuant to one approach, a plurality of such unique signals (13) are available and a specific one of the available signals is selected (12) for use in a given circumstance using a selection criteria of choice. |
| US07684827B2 |
Method for enabling a communication via a mobile phone and mobile phone enabling a communication
A method for enabling a communication via a mobile phone enables a comfortable creation of communications during a context of a mobile phone provided by a conventionally static application. It is proposed that the method comprises as a first step displaying information 2,3,4 available for a specific content on a display of the mobile phone. In a next step, it is detected whether a user selected a displayed information 4,5. In case an information 4,5 is selected, the kind of the selected information is determined. Then, functions 6,7 associated to the kind of the selected information are presented on the display. To at least one kind of possible information the establishment of at least one kind of communication is associated as at least one function. Finally, a function 7 selected by a user is activated. The invention relates equally to a corresponding mobile phone. |
| US07684825B2 |
Method and system for modem protocol discrimination
The invention provides a method of selecting a modem carrier type for data transmission over a wireless communication system. An incoming call is received from a mobile vehicle and then an initial carrier tone is sent to a mobile vehicle in response to the incoming call. A modem response signal is received from a vehicle modem in response to the initial carrier tone. The modem response signal is determined to be either an analog modem response signal or a digital modem response signal, and then the call is connected to either the analog modem or digital modem based on the modem response signal determination. |
| US07684817B2 |
Wireless communication system having a signaling gateway serving as an intermediary between a dispatch call controller and a base station
A wireless communication system including dispatch call controllers, signaling gateways, base stations, a first network coupling the dispatch call controllers to the signaling gateways, and a second network coupling the signaling gateways to the base stations. The signaling gateways serve as intermediaries between dispatch call controllers and base stations by translating messages received from dispatch call controllers intended for the base stations from the protocol used in the first communications network to the protocol used in the second communications network, and translating messages received from base stations intended for dispatch call controllers from the protocol used in the second communications network to the protocol used in the first communications network. The system may be configured such that each dispatch call controller has individual logical links to each of the signaling gateways, and each signaling gateway has logical links to a distinct subset of the base stations. |
| US07684816B2 |
Method and apparatus to facilitate communication resource allocation for supergroups
A network element (300) can facilitate allocating first and second communication resources (such as, but not limited to, FDMA and TDMA communication resources) in support of supergroup communications. By one approach this comprises identifying (101) communication talkgroups as are to comprise a part of the communication supergroup and then determining (102) whether any of the communication talkgroups comprise first resource-only talkgroups. When any one of the communication talkgroups comprises a first resource-only talkgroup, the network element allocates (103) communication resources to support the communication supergroup wherein the communication resources do not comprise second resource communication resources (for example, the network element allocates first resource communication resources). On the other hand, when none of the communication talkgroups comprises a first resource-only talkgroup, the network element allocates (104) communication resources to support the communication supergroup wherein the communication resources comprise second resource communication resources. |
| US07684813B2 |
Method and apparatus for establishing direct communication for mobiles in a radio communication system
A radiotelephone method includes detecting other mobile stations and identifying possible relay candidates among the other mobile stations. The method then includes communicating information about the candidates to a base station. Communication with a second mobile station is requested of the base station at a first mobile station. If the first mobile station and the second mobile station are physically close, the base station instructs the first mobile station and the second mobile station to establish direct communication. |
| US07684811B2 |
Method for transmitting short messages
A method is provided for transmitting a short message in a telecommunication network to a number of communication stations, wherein address data for the transmission of the short message to more than one communication station are transmitted with a short message, wherein a first header information item is transmitted with a number of data fields in the data section of the short message, each data field including the address data of at least one communication station, and in the second header information item, which is arranged preceding the first header information item, the address data of a first communication station or the network unit are transmitted. |
| US07684804B2 |
Method for providing wireless communication services and network and system for delivering same
The present invention is directed to an improved network and system for a wireless communication system. The improved business method, operations method, network and system of the present invention includes the steps of delivering cellular services to the mass market, reducing peak capacity, increasing overall capacity utilization, improving capital utilization, providing an “all-you-can-eat” pricing model, and designing capacity based upon where the users live, work, and play. |
| US07684802B2 |
Communications handoff using an adaptive antenna
One implementation provides a novel station-to-station handoff using an adaptive or directional antenna. The directional antenna generates a plurality of directional search beams to search for pilot signals from new base stations. The search beams are scanned one beam at a time to obtain the relative direction of all new base stations detected. From the detected base stations, a new base station with the strongest signal strength is selected and compared to the currently used base station. If the new base station has stronger signal strength than the current base station, then a communication handoff from the current base station to the new base station is initiated. In one feature of the present invention, two directional beams are used to communicate with the current and new base stations. Once a communication link is established with the new base station, the directional beam to the current base station is terminated. |
| US07684801B2 |
Control device, handover control method and mobile communication system
An object of the present invention is to avoid packet loss and implement a seamless handover by minimizing the handover latency when a handover is implemented by a multihomed moving network (MN) or a mobile host (MH). The present invention is a mobile communication system that is constituted comprising an MN, a plurality of AI each constituting an interface for the connection to a core network at the MN, and a control device (MMF), wherein the MMF dynamically changes the AI adopted as the connection interface when a predetermined condition is satisfied on the basis of the connection status to the core network at each AI or the prediction information for a subsequent handover. In so doing, the control device continues the transmission and receipt of data with respect to an appropriate AI capable of maintaining a predetermined communication quality, and maintains the connection to the core network of another AI while causing this AI to enter a closed state in which the transmission and receipt of data is disabled. |
| US07684797B2 |
Accessing telecommunication devices using mobile telephone numbers
A telecommunications system includes an infosphere having a mobile telephone. A first telecommunications device may request to be added to the infosphere by sending a request to a registry server. In response to the request, the registry server adds the first telecommunications device to the infosphere by creating a network address for the first telecommunications device, the network address being related to the telephone number of the mobile telephone. In some embodiments of the telecommunications system, the registry server may require authorization from a second telecommunications device in the infosphere before adding the first telecommunications device to the infosphere. |
| US07684796B2 |
Mobile communication system, management agent apparatus, and server function moving method
A mobile communication system includes a management agent, server, and temporary server. The management agent manages the destination of a mobile node. The server serves as a communication partner of the mobile node. The temporary server has a network function equivalent to that of the server. The management agent includes a position registration unit which registers position information of the destination of the mobile node when the mobile node moves, and a server function relocation unit which sets the temporary server as the communication partner of the mobile node instead of the server. A management agent apparatus and server function moving method are also disclosed. |
| US07684788B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing messages received by a device from a network
A method and apparatus for processing messages received by a device from a network. The method comprises receiving a message that indicates that the device should be in a dedicated channel state (such as Cell_DCH), wherein the message is a message other than a reconfiguration message (e.g. CUC) and, in response to the message, clearing from the device any record of a cell identifier (C_RNTI). |
| US07684787B2 |
Method and apparatus for routing messages of different message services in a wireless device
A method, apparatus, and computer-readable media for routing a message service message in a wireless device is disclosed. According to a method, routing messages in a wireless device includes receiving routing preferences from one or more applications operating with a wireless device. The method further includes receiving a message, and routing the message to designated locations for the one or more applications. The locations may include an application or set of applications, or a memory unit associated with one or more applications. Another method includes determining a routing parameter from the message by parsing at least one routing parameter from message content. Routing the message further includes comparing the at least one routing parameter with the routing preferences. |
| US07684784B2 |
System for secure communications
A system having transmitters, receivers, transceivers, actuators, sensors, input/output rack, and/or a computer with application specific software and/or hardware, for secure communication and control. The system may use frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) and encryption. Schedules for FHSS and encryption keys may be varied in variously elaborate ways. The system may utilize a distributed control system to manage the transmission and reception of signals, control operations, FHSS scheduling, changing of keys, and information. |
| US07684776B2 |
Wireless communication device having variable gain device and method therefor
Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a wireless device has an array of antennas. A signal is provided to one of the antenna by two variable gain amplifiers, one of which processes a signal that is shifted in phase compared to the signal processed by the other variable gain amplifier. |
| US07684772B2 |
Tuner for compensating for take-over point depending on temperature
A tuner down-converts a Radio Frequency (RF) wireless signal and outputs the converted signal. The tuner compensates for a TOP depending on a temperature and: detects a received signal strength depending on a RF output of the tuner and transmitting the detected strength to a gain control unit; measures an operating temperature of the tuner and transmits the measured temperature value; receives the measured temperature value to compare the received temperature value with a reference TOP value, compensating compensates for the TOP value depending on variation in temperature and outputting outputs the compensated value; and receives the compensated value to control the RF output based on the TOP value and the received signal strength. |
| US07684770B2 |
Transmission device and reception device
There are disclosed a transmission device and a reception device having a high secrecy making it difficult to wire tap by a third device. The transmission device includes a modulation section which can be modulated by a plurality of modulation methods and a transmission section which can transmit a radio signal by using a plurality of carrier frequencies. Moreover, the reception device includes a demodulation device which can demodulate by using a plurality of demodulation methods and a reception section which can receive a radio signal by using a plurality of carrier frequencies. The transmission communication method or the reception communication method is changed as the time elapses by changing the combination of the modulation method or demodulation method and the carrier frequency, thereby transmitting or receiving data. |
| US07684761B2 |
Closed-loop signalling method for controlling multiple transmit beams and correspondingly adapted transceiver devices
A closed-loop signalling method controls multiple transmit beams. The method also includes transmitting a plurality of beams from a first transceiver via a plurality of transmission channels to a second transceiver, evaluating, at the second transceiver, characteristics of the plurality of transmitted beams received at the second transceiver. The method also includes deriving, at the second transceiver, beamforming information for being fed back from the second transceiver to the first transceiver based on the evaluated characteristics. The beamforming information is usable for controlling, at the first transceiver, the transmitting of the plurality of beams. The method also includes selecting, at the second transceiver, at least one set of beamforming information for being fed back from the second transceiver via a feedback path to the first transceiver. The method also includes calculating, at the first transceiver, additional beamforming information which was not contained in the feedback path, based on the beamforming information being fed back. |
| US07684760B2 |
Transmission power controller of a mobile communication terminal
An apparatus for controlling transmission power of a mobile communication terminal. The apparatus comprises a central processing unit for measuring a power level of a received signal and determining a power amplification mode in response to the measured power level of the received signal and a power preset table, a driver amplifier for amplifying a transmission signal to produce an output signal, the driver amplifier has operating conditions chosen in accordance with the power amplification mode, a voltage converter for outputting a preset voltage value in accordance with the power amplification mode, and a power amplifier for amplifying the output signal of the driver amplifier in response to the outputted preset voltage value. |
| US07684759B2 |
Method for determining the damped natural frequencies of a dynamic system
The present invention is a novel device, system, and method for determining the damped natural frequencies of a dynamic system whose characteristics are available in the form of a “frequency response function” FRF. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the method identifies the dampened natural frequencies associated with the poles and zeros of a transfer function. The method is especially useful for analysis of measurements that contain some degree of contamination due to noise or non-linear effects. It is based on a set of rules that may be more successful than a direct approach based on a least squares criteria. |
| US07684758B2 |
System and method of reducing interferences in wireless communication networks
A system and method of reducing interference in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method comprises adapting a transmission power of a signal of a wireless communication device when a clear channel assessment threshold equals a predetermined limit and a packet error rate exceeds a predetermined packet error rate threshold. In particular, the method includes increasing the transmission power of the signal when the clear channel assessment threshold equals a lower limit and the packet error rate exceeds an upper packet error rate threshold and decreasing the transmission power of the signal when the clear channel assessment threshold equals an upper limit and the packet error rate falls below a lower packet error rate threshold. |
| US07684756B2 |
Adaptive subcarrier loading
A wireless multicarrier transmission method wherein subcarriers of the transmission are adaptively modulated. The fading condition of each subcarrier is detected to generate fading channel profile information. Adaptive loading tables are calculated for lower, standard, and higher modulation schemes. One of the adaptive loading tables is selected and those subcarriers having low fading channel profile information are modulated with the lower modulation scheme, subcarriers having medium fading channel profile information are modulated with the standard modulation scheme, and subcarriers having high fading channel profile information are modulated with the higher modulation scheme. |
| US07684755B2 |
Garment for controlling an electronic device
Disclosed is a garment (102) made of a particular type of material, the garment can include a garment appendage (104, 108, 110, 112) and a sensor (114, 116) coupled to the garment appendage with the sensor configured to detect activation of the garment appendage. The garment can further include a controller (126) coupled to the sensor, with the controller configured to control a function of an electronic device based on activation of the garment appendage when sensed by the sensor. Also disclosed is a method of a garment as described above, the method including activating the garment appendage so that the sensor detects the activation, and processing a signal from the sensor by the controller to that the controller controls a function of the electronic device. |
| US07684754B2 |
Capacitive bonding of devices
The present invention relates to systems and methods that facilitate wireless device communications and configuration. A detection component identifies N devices that are coupled together via a biological medium, N being an integer, wherein the medium includes direct or indirect touching to a device or devices. After biological contact, a configuration component initiates a configuration between a subset of the devices. Although configurations and/or other communications can be conducted through a medium such as the human body, the present invention can employ an initial touch to identify respective devices whereby other electronic configuration sequences commence without further device contact. Other aspects include chain touching between users and/or devices to facilitate contact between the devices. Location detection components can also be provided to identify when users are present near a device, the detected presence to commence further automated procedures, and/or the location detection components can enable devices to identify other devices in a crowded wireless environment. |
| US07684752B2 |
Wireless network providing distributed video / data services
A wireless network includes a satellite antenna assembly with a reflector dish and at least one low-noise block converter (LNB) positioned opposite the reflector dish. A wireless transceiver transmits video and data information to one or more users located in a surrounding area. An interface unit is coupled to provide communication signals to the wireless transceiver. The unit is also configured for connection to an interactive data network so that the one or more users are provided with connectivity to the interactive data network via the wireless transceiver. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US07684749B2 |
Image forming apparatus with transfer attitude correcting section
An image forming apparatus has a transfer attitude correcting section for correcting a transfer attitude of the transfer sheet to receive the toner image and for conveying the corrected transfer sheet to the transfer section with a timing to match with the movement of the toner image. The transfer attitude correcting section includes a roller unit including a base board rotatable around a center of rotation and a registration roller mounted on the base board, a detecting section for detecting a position of the transfer sheet being conveyed by the registration roller; and a control section for control the roller unit based on detection data detected by the detecting section so as to correct a skew of the transfer sheet by rotating the base board and to correct a deviation of a transfer position of the transfer sheet by shifting the registration roller on the base board. |
| US07684748B2 |
Unit drawing mechanism and image recording apparatus
A unit drawing mechanism according to the invention is adapted for installation in a main unit. The mechanism includes a first and a second units, a plurality of supports, and a load-applying member. The first unit is movable along a first direction toward front of the main unit, to be drawn out thereof. Mounted in the first unit, the second unit is movable, with the first unit drawn out of the main unit, along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, to be drawn out of the first unit. The supports are arranged at different positions along the second direction, for supporting the first unit movably along the first direction. The load-applying member is mounted in the first unit in such a manner that center of gravity of the first unit along the second direction is located between the supports whether the second unit is retracted in, or drawn out of, the drawn-out first unit. |
| US07684746B2 |
Image forming apparatus having fixing device with external heater
Support rollers suspending an endless belt are arranged so that a distance between each support roller and a fixing roller is smaller than a height of a belt regulating member provided on each side of the support roller in moving the support rollers to the second position which allows the endless belt to be in contact with the fixing roller so that a contact area therebetween is smaller than in the first position. As a result, in a fixing apparatus which includes the regulating member for regulating a position of an external heating belt in a rotational axis direction so that a contact area size between the external heating belt and the fixing member is variable, it is possible to appropriately vary the contact area between the belt and the fixing material. |
| US07684738B2 |
Developer feeder for wet developing apparatus
A developer feeder for wet developing apparatus having a developing roller rotationally engaged with a photoconductor drum and a feed roll in part immersed in a liquid developer and rotationally engaged with the developing roller for supplying the liquid developer onto the developing roller can be made to furnish the peripheral surface of the developing roller with the liquid developer even in thickness by using a plurality of feed rollers which are not mesh rollers but whose peripheral surfaces are smooth and which are arranged circumferentially of the rotational developing roller. |
| US07684731B2 |
Image forming apparatus with hinge holes and spring
An image forming apparatus is described as including a door member for opening and closing an opening provided in a main body member; a hinge mechanism; and a lock mechanism. The hinge mechanism may include a first hinge hole and a second hinge hole which are provided in at least one of the door member and the main body member, and are arranged substantially coaxially while being spaced from each other, a hinge shaft inserted across the first hinge hole and the second hinge hole, and a spring unit which presses the hinge shaft against inner peripheral surfaces of the first and second hinge holes. The first hinge hole may be smaller in size than the second hinge hole. |
| US07684730B2 |
Image forming apparatus and intermediate transfer unit
An intermediate transfer unit of an image forming apparatus is provided between a plurality of developer containers for containing developer and a plurality of developing devices. The intermediate transfer unit includes an intermediate transfer unit for secondarily transferring primarily transferred developed images from the plurality of image carriers onto a paper, an intermediate transfer unit driving mechanism for driving the intermediate transfer unit, and a housing for supporting the intermediate transfer unit driving mechanism. One end of the housing includes a plurality of developer inlet ports positionally corresponding to the developer supply ports of the developer containers respectively, a plurality of developer outlet ports positionally corresponding to the developer receiving ports of the developing devices respectively, and a plurality of developer supply paths connecting between the developer inlet ports and the developer outlet ports respectively. |
| US07684725B2 |
Exposure device and image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier that carries a latent image; an exposure device, which includes a light source and an optical member, for focusing, on the image carrier, light emitted by the light source that is used to form a latent image on the image carrier; and a developing device, for developing the latent image. A dust prevention member that contacts the image carrier is arranged for the exposure device. |
| US07684724B2 |
Image heating apparatus
An image heating apparatus including: a heating rotary member, which heats an image on a recording material in a nip portion; an air blowing unit, which blows air toward an air blowing port to cool a predetermined area of the heating rotary member; and a shutter, which opens and closes the air blowing port, wherein a cooling operation can be performed continuously with the shutter opened after image heating processing is completed, whereby a downtime required for making the temperature distribution over the entire heating area uniform after the continuous sheet supply of small-size recording materials is reduced remarkably. |
| US07684718B2 |
Color image recording apparatus for determining a color shift value between image forming units
An image recording apparatus capable of correctly determining a color shift value between recording heads of different color. The image recording apparatus has each recording head print two types of patches as patterns on a conveyance belt and has a reflection intensity detection unit read reflection intensities of the two patches to determine the color shift value and correct the color shift value so as not to include a position shift value between a reference position and a position where the actual reading has started. The image recording apparatus for recording a pattern to a color image conveyance medium and reading the recorded pattern comprises a feeding unit that feeds the color image conveyance medium along a feeding path, a first image forming unit that records the pattern to the color image conveyance medium in a first color, a second image forming unit that records the pattern to the color image conveyance medium in a second color, a reflection intensity detection unit that reads a reflection intensity of the pattern, an image formation control unit for calculating from the reflection intensity a color shift value of the second image forming unit with respect to the first image forming unit, wherein the first image forming unit records a first pattern of a first interval and the second image forming unit records a second pattern of a second interval overlapping the first pattern so that a first patch having the first pattern and the second pattern overlapped is formed, and wherein the first image forming unit records a third pattern of the second interval and the second image forming unit records a fourth pattern of the first interval overlapping the third pattern so that a second patch having the first pattern and the second pattern overlapped is formed. |
| US07684716B2 |
Image forming apparatus with magnetic flux detection
An image heating apparatus includes a coil for generating a magnetic flux; an endless belt having an electroconductive layer for generating heat by the magnetic flux of the coil wherein a recording material carrying image is heated by heat of the belt; a magnetic flux detecting means disposed opposed to the coil with the belt interposed therebetween and capable of detecting the magnetic flux from the coil, the magnetic flux detecting means including a detection portion capable of detecting such a part of the magnetic flux of the magnetic flux generated by the coil as is from a region corresponding to not less than one half of a heat generating region of the belt with respect to a widthwise direction of the recording material; and prohibition means for prohibiting electric power supply to the coil when an amount of the magnetic flux detected by the magnetic flux detecting means reaches a predetermined amount. |
| US07684714B2 |
Image forming device
An image forming device. A direct voltage power supply is independently provided for each charging device for each color, and an alternating voltage power supply is commonly provided to the charging device for each color. A current detecting section detects current which flows between each image carrying body and each charging device. A control device judges that the image carrying body is damaged when a detected current value is not less than a preliminarily set specified value when a direct voltage is sequentially independently applied to the charging device for each color when leakage of charging voltage is generated. |
| US07684707B2 |
Methods and apparatus for generating local oscillation signals
Generating oscillator signals with which selected signals may be mixed. Such oscillator signals may be generated by dividing a pilot tone, such as a 120 MHz pilot tone found on many cable TV systems. Oscillator signals for demodulating received selected signals may be similarly generated. |
| US07684705B2 |
Distribution node for a wavelength-sharing network
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a distribution node for a wavelength-sharing network is provided. In a particular embodiment, a distribution node for an optical network includes a wavelength router and a power splitter. The wavelength router is operable to receive a downstream signal comprising at least traffic in a first wavelength and traffic in a second wavelength from an upstream terminal, route the traffic in the first wavelength to a first plurality of downstream terminals, and route the traffic in the second wavelength to a second plurality of downstream terminals. The power splitter is operable to receive an upstream signal comprising at least traffic in a third wavelength from the downstream terminals, wherein the downstream terminals share the third wavelength for transmission of upstream traffic. |
| US07684703B2 |
Wavelength division multiplexing transmission system and remote apparatus and station apparatus used therein
There is provided a wavelength division multiplexing transmission system and apparatuses used therein, in which a remote apparatus to be newly added to a station apparatus autonomously sets a wavelength to be used in the remote apparatus, thereby avoiding the need for presetting a wavelength to be used in the remote apparatus. The remote apparatus includes wavelength determining means that determines an available wavelength on the basis of an optical signal received from the station apparatus. The wavelength determining means may determine the wavelength of an unreceived optical signal as the available wavelength or may determine the wavelength of a received optical signal as the available wavelength, and may set that wavelength as a transmission and reception wavelength to be used in the remote apparatus. |
| US07684702B2 |
Optical link monitoring system and method for passive optical network
The present invention provides an optical link monitoring system for the passive optical network. The system includes a master monitoring device connected to an optical line terminal and a plurality of response devices respectively connected to a plurality of optical network units. Through time division multiplexing technology, the master monitoring device broadcasts a predetermined instruction to the response devices to answer back predetermined optical signals in turn. The master monitoring device also measures the optical power of the returned predetermined optical signals and diagnoses the status of the optical links. The present invention also provides an optical link monitoring method. |
| US07684701B2 |
Photonic quantum information system using unpolarised light
A photon emitter including a photon generator configured to generate photons having a first polarization state or a second polarization state, the first polarization state being orthogonal to the second polarization state; and a time delay device which delays photons having the second polarization state with respect to those having the first polarization state. |
| US07684698B2 |
Methods and systems for controlling power in a communications network
Methods and systems for controlling power in a communications network are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises reading a power level of a communication link; and, driving an attenuation control signal based on the power level of the communication link. When the power level is greater than or equal to a minimum supported power level, driving an attenuation control signal further comprises constraining the attenuation control signal to a calibrated range of a characteristic curve. When one or both of the power level is less than the minimum supported power level and a bit error rate is greater than a maximum error threshold, driving an attenuation control signal further comprises generating an attenuation control signal outside the calibrated range of the characteristic curve. |
| US07684697B2 |
Optical signal quality monitoring circuit and optical signal quality monitoring method
The present invention provides an optical signal quality monitoring circuit and an optical signal quality monitoring method for measuring correct optical signal quality parameters when a signal bit rate is changed. The optical signal quality monitoring circuit which samples and converts an electrical signal converted from an optical signal with a given repeated frequency f1 to digital sampling data through an analog to digital conversion, thereafter, evaluates an optical signal quality parameter of the optical signal by subjecting sampling data to electrical signal processing in an integrated circuit in which a signal processing function is programmed, receives a control signal notifying that the bit rate of the optical signal is changed, or detects that the bit rate of the optical signal is changed to correct optical the signal quality parameter of the optical signal corresponding to the signal bit rate of the optical signal which is changed. |
| US07684692B2 |
Camera with shutter speed detection and correction
The invention includes an image sensor, a shutter which opens/closes by making a front curtain and a rear curtain travel, a light source which illuminates the image sensor, a control unit which performs control to make the front and rear curtains travel with a predetermined time shift to form a slit-like opening, and to make the light source emit light a predetermined period of time after the start time of traveling of the front and rear curtains, a detection unit which detects the deviation between the position of an image of the recorded slit-like opening and a predetermined reference position, a computation unit which calculates the error between the traveling start timing of the front and rear curtains on the basis of the detected deviation, and a correction unit which corrects the calculated error between the traveling start timing of the front and rear curtains. |
| US07684691B2 |
Image capture apparatus and control method thereof
An image capture apparatus includes a photometry unit, which performs photometry of luminance in each of the photometry areas in an image sensing scene, a photometry mode determination unit, which determines a photometry mode, a filter operation unit, which performs an operation on a luminance value of a photometry area by taking into account luminance values of photometry areas around the photometry area, and an exposure value determination unit, which determines an exposure value without using a result of the operation by the filter operation unit when the photometry mode determination unit determines that the photometry mode is a first photometry mode, and when the photometry mode determination unit determines that the photometry mode is a second photometry mode, determines the exposure value by performing an operation in accordance with the second photometry mode after the operation performed by the filter operation unit. |
| US07684690B2 |
Method and system for automatic exposure compensation
A method for automatic exposure compensation is disclosed. A shutter is activated and the environmental brightness is detected using a sensor. An exposure value is calculated according to the detection result to obtain a default exposure time. It is determined whether the exposure value is equal to a normal value. If not, a compensation value is calculated based on a shutter-closing curve and a compensation operation is thus executed. Thus, an exposure signal is generated by advancing a first predefined time or postponing a second predefined time, enabling the amount of exposure time to be equal to the addition or subtraction of the default exposure time and the first predefined time. |
| US07684685B2 |
Image stabilizer, lens barrel and imager apparatus
An image stabilizer that stabilizes images by moving a correcting lens for stabilizing images formed by a lens system in a first direction and a second direction which are perpendicular to an optical axis of said lens system and which are perpendicular to each other, includes a driver which is provided at one side of the correcting lens and which moves the correcting lens in the first direction and the second direction. |
| US07684680B2 |
Apparatus for recording signals on disk recording medium
A recording apparatus of this invention detects the state of management information, which pertains to a recording address of an image signal, and which is reproduced from a disk-like recording medium having a first area for the image signal and a second area for the management information. On the basis of the detection result, management data is reproduced from the first area of the disk-like recording medium. On the basis of the management data reproduced from the first area, the management information reproduced from the second area is modified. A modify unit records the modified management information in the second area. |
| US07684677B2 |
Information recording method, information recording medium, and information reproducing method, wherein information is stored on a data recording portion and a management information recording portion
With this invention, at least one of a video file containing video information, a still picture file containing still picture information, and an audio file containing audio information and a management file having management information on a control method of reproducing the information in the file are recorded on an information storage medium. This realizes a data structure that causes the recording and deleting places on the information storage medium to correspond spuriously to places on a single tape, such as a VTR tape. Use of the data structure provides users with an easy-to-use interface. |
| US07684673B2 |
Managing a digital video recorder via a network
The aspects of the present invention provide a computer implemented method, system, and computer usable program code for managing programming for a digital video recorder via a network. The method includes receiving user instructions at a content manager, wherein the content manager receives the user instructions through a network. The method also includes executing the user instructions to schedule recording of content for the user. The method further includes responsive to a plurality of users designating the content, storing only a single instance of the content designated by the plurality of users to form common stored content. The method is also responsive to a request to view the content from a user in the plurality of users, transmitting the common stored content to the user in the plurality of users over the network. |
| US07684672B2 |
Broadcast storage system with reduced user's control actions
A broadcast storage system is disclosed which is easily controllable by the user for setting programs for timer recording and playing back recorded programs. The broadcast storage system has one or more slave apparatus and a master apparatus. The master apparatus grasps programs set for timer recording by each of the slave apparatus. When a program to be recorded is determined by the user or an automatic timer recording process, the master apparatus selects an apparatus to record the program such that a plurality of timer recording settings are not made at one time in one apparatus, and instructs the selected apparatus to set the program for timer recording. When instructed to set the program for timer recording, a slave apparatus sets the program for timer recording, and records the program at the time when the program is broadcast. |
| US07684670B2 |
Wire accommodation apparatus
A wire accommodating apparatus includes a cylindrical portion around which a wire connected to a signal transmission part is wound; a number of wire holding portions which incline externally from the bottom of the cylindrical portion and are disposed pivotably; and a fixed portion formed in the cylindrical portion so as to project downward, passing through an attachment hole of a to-be-mounted member, and fixed therein. |
| US07684669B2 |
Splice chip device
A splice tray arrangement including a tray and a splice chip. The splice chip includes a plurality of arms that define channels for holding splice elements. The arms include retaining structure for retaining a splice element in both of either one of an upper region and a lower region of a channel. The splice tray arrangement also includes a mounting arrangement for securing the splice chip to the tray at a mounting location. The mounting arrangement includes sliding interlock guides disposed on each of the splice chip and the tray. The mounting arrangement further includes flexible tabs arranged to prevent lateral movement of the splice chip when positioned at the mounting location. |
| US07684658B2 |
Optimized optical resonator device for sensing applications
An optical resonator is configured for optimized performance as a sensor by maximizing the slope and/or sharpness of the resonance peak, instead of maximizing the Q-factor of the resonator. These characteristics of the resonance peak are controlled, in accordance with the present invention, by modifying the physical parameters of the resonator structure (e.g., dimensions, spacing between waveguides, ring diameter, materials and associated refractive indices, etc.) until the desired peak attributes are achieved, regardless of the Q-factor associated with these optimum attributes. |
| US07684654B2 |
System and method for fault detection and recovery in a medical imaging system
A system and method for fault detection and recovery in a medical imaging system are provided. The method includes monitoring operations of a plurality of subsystems of the medical imaging system and determining if an error has occurred in a subsystem based on the monitoring. The method further includes identifying at least one component within the subsystem having the determined error and automatically restoring the at least one component in the identified subsystem having the determined error. |
| US07684652B2 |
Remote authentication system
A system and method for authenticating a plurality of items each of which has a respective readable validation reference, in which information is read from the validation references, one or more items of the items is identified based on information read by the reading means, and the information is verified by comparison with stored data relating to location, origin or ownership of the one or more items. |
| US07684650B2 |
Method for processing image frame output from an image sensor by an image processor
In an image-frame processing method, the image frame is outputted from and image sensor by an image processor via the buffering of a memory buffer. The method includes the following steps of: defining at least two storage spaces in the memory buffer; dividing the image frame into a plurality of image portions, each of which has a size corresponding to the size of one of said at least two storage spaces; sequentially storing the image portions into the storage spaces in turn; and sequentially processing said image portions stored in the memory buffer. This method is applicable to processing the image frame with the use of a small-sized memory buffer. |
| US07684644B2 |
Variable-length encoding for image data compression
Disclosed is a variable-length image compression arrangement which represents successive distinct image data values (220, 221) of an image using corresponding non-decreasing Palette values (215, 222), and which incorporates (915, 1025) into the encoded data stream information recording the position in the encoded data stream at which each Palette value bit representation length increase occurs. |
| US07684640B2 |
Methods and systems for automatic digital image enhancement with local adjustment
Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems, methods and devices for digital image contrast enhancement. |
| US07684639B2 |
Methods and systems for automatic digital image enhancement
Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems, methods and devices for digital image contrast enhancement. |
| US07684635B2 |
Signal processing device, and signal processing method, and program, and recording medium
A signal processing device and signal processing method, and program and recording medium, whereby images and the like closer approximating real world signals can be obtained. An object which is moving at a movement amount v in the horizontal direction is photographed, and an image wherein the object is blurred is input into a signal processing device. A continuity setting unit supplies the movement amount v of the object to an actual world estimating unit as continuity information. The actual world estimating unit estimates a pixel value for an image without blurring, by computing a normal equation comprising a model equation which models the relation of the pixel values in the input image and the pixel values in an image without blurring according to the movement amount v, and a constraint condition expression which constrains between the pixels in an image without blurring, and supplies this to an image generating unit. The present invention can be applied to, for example, cases of removing movement blurring from an image, for example. |
| US07684634B2 |
System and method for adaptive non-uniformity compensation for a focal plane array
A method of reducing an amount of fixed pattern noise from an image signal generated by an image sensor. The method includes, for each operational pixel in the image signal, applying a recursively updated offset term to generate a corrected image signal. The offset correction terms are recursively updated by spatially filtering the corrected image signal for a current frame of the image signal; comparing the filtered corrected image signal of the current frame with a spatially filtered corrected image signal of a preceding frame of the image signal; and updating the offset correction terms with terms generated as a function of the comparison. |
| US07684633B2 |
System and method for image file size control in scanning services
A system and method for controlling the work flow or processing of scanned images is disclosed. The system and method identify appropriate image processing techniques, particularly techniques well-suited to enable image compression yet maintain image quality so as to facilitate the storage and transmission of scanned image data. |
| US07684632B2 |
Estimating image compression quantization parameter values
Methods, machines, systems and machine-readable instructions for processing an image are described. In one aspect, the image is divided into a population of image blocks. Frequency domain vectors are generated from respective ones of the image blocks. Each of the frequency domain vectors includes a respective set of values corresponding to a set of transform coefficients. Preliminary estimates of quantization parameter values are determined from frequency distributions of the transform coefficient values in a set of the frequency domain vectors corresponding to a variable sample of the population. The variable sample is determined at least in part by at least one threshold. Values of quantization parameters are estimated from the preliminary estimates. |
| US07684630B2 |
Digital image adjustable compression and resolution using face detection information
A method of adjustable spatial and/or temporal compression of an image including a face includes identifying a group of pixels that correspond to a face within a digitally-acquired image. A first compression portion of the image including the group of pixels is determined. A second compression portion of the image other than the group of pixels is also determined. The first compression portion may be automatically compressed with higher-grade compression than the second compression portion to generate a compressed image including the face, or an option to provided the compressed image including the different grade compressions may be provided. |
| US07684626B1 |
Method and apparatus for image decoder post-processing using image pre-processing and image encoding information
A method for image decoding is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) receiving from a medium (1) an encoded signal and (2) transform data comprising at least one of (i) encoding statistics embedded in the encoded signal, (ii) encoding information and (iii) pre-processing information, wherein (a) the encoding statistics are created by an encoder in encoding an intermediate input signal to create the encoded signal, (b) the encoding information is producible by the encoder in the encoding and (c) the pre-processing information is producible by a pre-processor in converting an image input signal into the intermediate input signal, (B) generating an intermediate output signal by decoding the encoded signal and (C) generating an image output signal by processing the intermediate output signal in response to the transform data. |
| US07684624B2 |
System and method for capturing images of a target area on which information is recorded
A system for capturing images of a target area on which information is recorded includes a boom assembly adapted to extend outwardly from a generally vertical surface. At least one digital camera is mounted on the boom assembly at a location spaced from the surface. The at least one digital camera is oriented so that the field of view thereof encompasses a target area on the surface. A controller is in communication with the at least one digital camera. The controller conditions the at least one digital camera to acquire an image of the target area. The image acquired by the at least one digital camera is conveyed to the controller and is processed to determine if an obstacle blocking the target area is in the captured image. If so, the captured image is not further processed and additional images are acquired until an image of the target area is captured without the obstacle therein. |
| US07684615B2 |
Signal correcting method
A signal correcting method includes: obtaining multiple types of signals at each of a plurality of points; extracting a point with signal values corresponding to the multiple types of signals, which have a predetermined relationship to signal values of the multiple types of signals at a target point; and correcting the multiple types of signals at the target point based upon the signal values corresponding to the multiple types of signals at the target point and the signal values corresponding to the multiple types of signals at the extracted point. |
| US07684612B2 |
Method and apparatus for storing 3D information with raster imagery
The present invention meets the above-stated needs by providing a method and apparatus that allows for X parallax information to be stored within an image pixel information. Consequently, only one image need be stored, whether it's a mosaic of a number of images, a single image or a partial image for proper reconstruction. To accomplish this, the present invention stores an X parallax value between the stereoscopic images with the typical pixel information by, e.g., increasing the pixel depth. |
| US07684609B1 |
Defect review using image segmentation
One embodiment pertains to a method for reviewing a potential defect on a substrate from one electron image. An image of an area containing the potential defect is obtained using a charged-particle apparatus. At least three image segments within the image are determined. The three segments are transformably identical to each other, and one of said three segments includes the potential defect. Another embodiment pertains to a method for reviewing a potential defect on a substrate by obtaining an electron-beam image of a relatively large field of view containing a first image segment. The first image segment is substantially smaller than the field of view and includes a location of the potential defect. A comparison image segment within the field of view is determined. The comparison image segment is transformably identical to the first image segment. Other embodiments and features are also disclosed. |
| US07684608B2 |
Tape and reel inspection system
A tape and reel inspection system is provided with OCR testing of devices, network retrieval of device lot information, and automatic teaching of image patterns. Each device lot is typically accompanied by a travel sheet, which includes a history for the device lot. The travel sheet may include a bar code to allow the system to receive the device lot number while reducing the possibility of human error. The system performs OCR on a first device. The system communicates with a database to obtain lot information. The system combines lot information and package information to form marking information. The system then compares the contents of the markings with line information obtained from the marking information. Once a first device passes the OCR test, the system trains an image of the first device. Image training may be done automatically without intervention from the operator. If a subsequent device fails the image test, the inspection system automatically performs OCR on the failed device. |
| US07684606B2 |
Image processing apparatus which removes image data of overlapping cells
An image processing apparatus includes an area specifying unit that specifies a closed area emitting fluorescence in a fluorescence image as a cell area in a cell population including a number of dispersed cells. The fluorescence image is generated from fluorescence emitted by the cell population irradiated with a scanning laser beam. The apparatus also includes a nucleus data removing unit that removes data corresponding to a nucleus in the cell area; an overlapping cell specifying unit that specifies an overlapping cell area where cells overlap, based on a fluorescence intensity of a cytoplasm portion corresponding to an image where the data corresponding to the nucleus is removed; and an analyzed image generating unit that generates an analyzed image where data of the overlapping cell area is removed from the fluorescence image. |
| US07684600B2 |
Method and apparatus for calculating 3D volume of cerebral hemorrhage
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for appropriately calculating 3D volume of cerebral hemorrhage lesion. The present invention sets a ROI for normal cerebral parenchymal region and a ROI for cerebral hemorrhage lesion respectively for a plurality of continuous slice images obtained by imaging the head having cerebral hemorrhage onset with an X-ray CT device, determines a mean value of the CT values of pixels within the ROI of normal cerebral parenchymal region for each of a plurality of images, then determines an amount of shift of mean values of images based on the mean value of one image, adjusts the CT value of pixels in the ROI of cerebral hemorrhage lesion for each image by using the amount of shift for each image, specifies the maximum value of the adjusted CT value through a plurality of images, and then calculates the 3D volume of the cerebral hemorrhage lesion. |
| US07684599B2 |
System and method to detect a transition in an image stream
A system and method may detect a transition in an image stream captured within a body lumen. One or more parameters may be computed at points corresponding to a time scale of the image stream. Transition in the values of the parameters may be identified and may indicate a location along the body lumen. The image stream may be segmented at the transition points identified. |
| US07684594B2 |
Method and apparatus for estimating object part location in digital image data using feature value analysis
A method and an apparatus estimate an object part location in a digital image using feature value analysis. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing a region including an object part of a digital image; accesses reference data including class data of classes relating to predetermined positions of the object part in predetermined regions, and features that discriminate among the classes; calculates feature values for the features in the region using pixel values within the region; and determines a location estimate of the object part using the feature values and the reference data. |
| US07684593B2 |
Driving support system and method of producing overhead view image
A driving support system which includes: at least two cameras to take images of areas around a vehicle, whose ranges of field of view partially overlap with each other; a control unit performing a predetermined coordinate transformation on the images taken by the cameras and joining the transformed images together to produce an overhead view image; and a display unit to display the overhead view image. The control unit changes the position of the joint of the transformed images in the overhead view image. |
| US07684590B2 |
Method of recognizing and/or tracking objects
In a method of recognizing and/or tracking objects which correspond to real objects in at least one sensing zone of at least one sensor for electromagnetic radiation on the basis of images of the sensing zone repeatedly sensed by means of the sensor, succeeding images are evaluated in succeeding cycles and a search is made for at least one respective object found in a cycle on the basis of a corresponding image in a correspondingly later image in a later cycle to track the object. At least one part of an earlier image and/or at least one indication with respect to an earlier state of the object or of a real object corresponding to it, which is determined using a corresponding earlier image in the current cycle, is associated with at least one part of a current image determined in the current cycle or with an object recognized in the current cycle during at least one current cycle on the basis of the results of an at least preliminary evaluation of a current image. |
| US07684576B2 |
Resonant element transducer
A transducer (14) for producing a force which excites an acoustic radiator, e.g. a panel (12) to produce an acoustic output. The transducer (14) has an intended operative frequency range and comprises a resonant element which has a distribution of modes and which is modal in the operative frequency range. Parameters of the transducer (14) may be adjusted to improve the modality of the resonant element. A loudspeaker (10) or a microphone may incorporate the transducer. |
| US07684573B2 |
Signal level adjustment apparatus and control method for the adjustment apparatus
Fader operators operable manually and automatically are provided in corresponding relation to a plurality of channels. For each of the channels, a setting section can set a fade operation mode of the channel to either a first mode where a fade is enabled or a second mode where the fade is disabled. Upon receipt of a crossfade execution instruction, a corresponding fader operator is automatically operated in such a manner that each channel set in the first mode is faded in or faded out. When the fade operation mode of a given channel, which is undergoing a fade process, has been changed to the second mode, the fade process for the given channel is ceased, and the corresponding operator is changed to a predetermined operating state, e.g., state immediately before the start of the crossfade. According to another example, when a crossfade cease instruction has been given (e.g., by manual operation of the fader operator) for a particular channel which is undergoing a fade process, the process for the particular channel is ceased with the operator for the particular channel kept in the current operating state. |
| US07684572B2 |
Mixer apparatus and music apparatus capable of communicating with the mixer apparatus
A plurality of music apparatus 10 to 30 such as an electronic musical instrument and a microphone apparatus are connected by wireless to a mixer apparatus 40. A Bluetooth module is adopted as wireless communication means to construct a piconet with mixer apparatus 40 functioning as a master and music apparatus 10 to 30 functioning as slaves. Audio signals and MIDI data from music apparatus 10 to 30 are transmitted by wireless to mixer apparatus 40 through isosynchronous communication procedure using Bluetooth modules 11, 21, 31, 41. In mixer apparatus 40, with regard to the MIDI data, music tone signals based on the MIDI data are produced, whereafter the produced music tone signals and the aforesaid audio signals transmitted by wireless are mixed. Wiring by means of cables between a plurality of music apparatus and a mixer apparatus is abolished, thereby eliminating the cumbersomeness of wiring and the restrictions accompanying the wiring. |
| US07684568B2 |
Encrypting data in a communication network
A method for communicating in a network is presented. The method includes encapsulating content from a plurality of high level data units from a high level layer to generate a stream; dividing the stream into a plurality of segments; individually encrypting at least some of the segments, wherein an encrypted segment includes a plurality of encrypted blocks, and at least some of the encrypted blocks are encrypted based on at least one other encrypted block within the encrypted segment; and supplying low level data units to a physical layer that handles physical communication over the network, at least some of the low level data units each including a plurality of encrypted segments. |
| US07684563B1 |
Apparatus and method for implementing a unified hash algorithm pipeline
An apparatus and method for implementing a unified hash algorithm pipeline. In one embodiment, a cryptographic unit may include hash logic configured to compute a hash value of a data block according to a hash algorithm, where the hash algorithm is dynamically selectable from a plurality of hash algorithms, and where the hash logic comprises a plurality of pipeline stages each configured to compute a portion of the hash algorithm. The cryptographic unit may further include a word buffer configured to store the data block during computing by the hash logic. |
| US07684561B2 |
Portable electronic device
A portable electronic device including a first section, a second section and a connecting section. The first section has a user input section and a first tubular housing member. The first tubular housing member forms a majority of opposite exterior lateral sides of the first section. The second section has a display and a second tubular housing member. The second tubular housing member forms a majority of opposite exterior lateral sides of the second section. The connecting section movably connects the second section with the first section. The first tubular housing member at least partially houses the user input section. The second tubular housing member at least partially houses the display. |
| US07684559B2 |
Acoustic echo suppressor for hands-free speech communication
In a hands-free mode of speech communication, a loudspeaker produces acoustic energy of a distant signal from a far-end talker and a microphone produces a near-end signal containing a speech component representing the speech activity of a near-end talker or an acoustic echo component, or both. An echo replica is produced from the distant signal and a residual echo representing the difference between the near-end signal and the echo replica. The residual echo is used as a feedback signal to produce the echo replica. Using one of the near-end signal and the residual echo as a first input signal and the echo replica as a second signal, an estimate of the acoustic echo is produced when the speech activity of the near-end talker is low or zero. Using the acoustic echo estimate, the spectrum of the first input signal is shaped to produce a local signal for transmission to the far-end talker. |
| US07684553B2 |
Method for transmitting data in a communication network
The present invention proposes a method for transmitting data in a communication network, said communication network comprising at least one call control entity (CSCF) for controlling calls to be established from a subscriber (A, B) to a communication destination (B, A), a service control entity (SCP) for controlling services provisioned in said network for a respective subscriber, and a detection entity (DP) adapted to detect at least one of a plurality of predetermined conditions occurring in said network; said method comprising the steps of: forwarding a signaling message from said subscriber (A) to said at least one call control entity (CSCF) for being further forwarded to said destination (B), said signaling message comprising a message header and a message body, said message header including information descriptive for a content carried in the message body, detecting the occurrence of said at least one predetermined condition, and in case the occurrence of said predetermined condition has been detected, sending information concerning the content carried in the message body of said signaling message to said service control entity (SCP). Also, the present invention proposes a communication system comprising a call control entity (CSCF) controlling calls to be established from a subscriber (A, B) to a communication destination (B, A), a service control entity (SCP) controlling services provisioned in a network for a respective subscriber, wherein said system is adapted to operate according to the above method, and also a call control entity and a service control entity as such. |
| US07684550B2 |
Customer information system
A system is provided for managing incoming communications placed in response to advertising, online content, and/or special service numbers. Information extracted from incoming communications can be received by a system server and cross-referenced with a database to obtain cross-referenced customer information pertaining to previous customer communications in the form of online communications, telephone calls, and/or in person customer meetings. The cross-referenced customer information can be passed to a client workstation and displayed to the user in the form of an industry-specific template formatted in accordance with the business needs of the user. The template can be automatically populated with the cross-referenced customer information. The user can view and update the customer information, thereby maintaining a retrievable record of the communication. With regard to the multi-housing industry in particular, customer information can be displayed in the form of a guest card template and/or a service card template. |
| US07684547B2 |
Wiretapping VoIP calls
A method, system and computer program for assisting law enforcement surveillance of a telephone call in accordance with the requirements of is presented. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of: receiving an indication of a call that is placed with a pre-identified telephonic unit that uses an internet packet protocol for transmission, wherein the pre-identified telephonic unit has been selected for telephone call surveillance; converting the call into a converted call that is in analog form; and redirecting the converted call to an analog switching station that is capable of performing surveillance of the call. |
| US07684545B2 |
X-ray window and resistive heater
The system includes a conductive window, a spectrum changing layer, a fiber optic bundle, a camera sensor, and a power supply. The spectrum changing layer is excited by the x-rays and emits a different wavelength of light, such as visible light. The fiber optic bundle receives the visible light from the spectrum changing material and transmits the visible light to the camera sensor. The camera sensor detects the light emitted from the spectrum changing layer and converts the information to electronic signals. The camera sensor is cooled by a cooling device, as such thermal conduction may cool the fiber optic bundle. To avoid condensation, current may flow through the conductive window thereby heating the conductive window. |
| US07684542B2 |
Method for generating an image sequence for a 3D reconstruction
When recording an image sequence, it is possible to deviate from passing through a perfect curve path. There is described how an alternative curve path can be determined. An envelope is determined, a point is determined, which is the center point of the region of interest and then the detector is moved such that it is at right angles in each instance to a line which emanates from the point and simultaneously touches the envelope tangentially. As a result, the region of interest is mapped as optimally as possible in the image sequence so that as good a 3D reconstruction as possible can be obtained. |
| US07684541B2 |
System and method capable of simultaneous radiographic examination and radioactive material inspection
The present invention relates to the field of radiographic examination and radioactive material inspection, and provides a system and a method capable of simultaneous radiographic examination and radioactive material inspection. The system comprises a radiographic examination system and a radiation monitor; wherein the radiographic examination system comprises an accelerator and a synchronization controller, and the radiation monitor comprises a detector, a front end circuit, a signal transmission controller, a data collecting, analyzing and processing computer, an alarm device and so on. The present invention combines the radiographic examination system and the radiation monitor tightly so that the radioactive material inspection can be executed while the radiographic examination is performed, thereby the examination efficiency is improved and the occupied area of the system is reduced. |
| US07684540B2 |
Apparatus and method for fluid phase fraction determination using x-rays
An apparatus and method for determining the phase fraction of a fluid collected downhole is shown comprising an x-ray generator, a filter, a sample cell, and a radiation detector. The filter produces a radiation spectrum with a high energy portion and a low energy portion. Filtered radiation is passed through a sample fluid and the resulting attenuated radiation signal is used in calculating the phase fractions of oil, water, and gas in the sample fluid. In one embodiment, a second reference radiation detector measures the radiation directly from the x-ray generator and this measurement is used in normalizing the fraction result. The ratio of the high energy signal to low energy signal of the reference detector is used in controlling the input voltage of the x-ray generator thus ensuring a stable spectrum. |
| US07684539B2 |
X-ray tomograph
A tomograph which determines projection data phase range capable of back projection for each reconfigured voxel with an arbitrary value larger than π so that the absolute values of cone angles at the ends of this phase range is minimized, calculates an approximate straight line for a curve indicating the position of a radiation source with respect to the channel direction position of parallel beam projection data obtained by a parallel beam of a parallel shape viewed from the go-around axis direction generated from the radiation source, and based on the determined projection data range capable of back projection, three-dimension back projects the parallel beam projection data subjected to filter processing created through a filter correction to the back projection region corresponding to the region in concern along the approximate irradiation trace of the radiation beam calculated using the calculated approximate straight line, thereby suppressing generation of the distortion attributed to data discontinuity, simplifying an arcsin calculation and significantly increasing the processing speed of the tomograph. |
| US07684536B2 |
Radiography apparatus and radiography method
The present invention attempts to reduce an amount of a contrast medium or a patient dose and improve diagnostic efficiency. The conditions for a main scan are designated so that a first scan of scanning a subject with a tube current of a first tube current value fed to an X-ray tube will be performed in order to examine the blood flow in a subject's blood vessel into which a contrast medium is injected. Moreover, the conditions for a main scan are designated so that a second scan of scanning the subject with a tube current of a second tube current value fed to the X-ray tube will be performed in order to image the subject's blood vessel into which the contrast medium is injected. Images of the subject are constructed based on projection data items produced by scanning the subject under the sets of conditions for a main scan. |
| US07684535B2 |
Reactor containment vessel
A reactor containment vessel of the present invention has a primary reactor containment vessel disposing a dry well for storing a reactor pressure vessel, a wet well for storing a pressure suppression pool, and an equipment room disposing below said pressure suppression pool inside thereof. Further, the primary reactor containment vessel includes an outer cylindrical wall reaching to a base mat from a top slab of the primary reactor containment vessel and facing the drywell, the pressure suppression pool and the equipment room respectively, an inner cylindrical wall facing the pressure suppression pool and the equipment room respectively, and a pressure suppression pool floor partitioning among the pressure suppression pool and the equipment room, and an outside portion of the outer cylindrical wall, an inside portion of the inner cylindrical wall, an outside portion of the ceiling and a lower portion of the pressure suppression pool floor are formed of a steel plate reinforced concrete respectively.The reactor containment vessel can contribute to shorten construction period and thereby improve economic efficiency of nuclear power generation facilities. |
| US07684530B2 |
Circuit arrangement and method for synchronised transmission of audio data streams in a bus system
A method for synchronized transmission of audio data streams in a bus system, for example, based on the IEEE 1394 Standard, and a circuit system for performing said method including at least one data source and at least one data sink. The data source includes at least one clock or timer unit and at least one generator unit. The generator unit is connected to the clock or timer unit and receives at least one data frequency. |
| US07684529B2 |
Interference rejection in wireless networks
The effects of interference are mitigated in a wireless system by estimating spatial characteristics of an interfering signal, and using those characteristics in the formation of a spatial equalizer. |
| US07684527B2 |
Communication device and communication method
There is provided a radio communication device having a high quality and accuracy regardless of fluctuation degree of the transmission path characteristic. The radio communication device estimates the fluctuation speed of the transmission path characteristic from the time correlation of the reception signal, judges the diversity technique used between the communication devices from the estimated value, and feeds back the judgment information so as to switch the diversity between the communication devices, thereby increasing the diversity gain. The feedback information is minimized by defining a correspondence table. Moreover, diversity switching is performed at a timing considering a control delay and a propagation path delay so as to prevent an instantaneous disconnection of the communication. |
| US07684526B2 |
Frequency domain equalizer for dual antenna radio
A Radio Frequency (RF) receiver includes a RF front end and a baseband processing module coupled to the RF front end that is operable to receive a time domain signal that includes time domain training symbols and time domain data symbols. The baseband processing module includes a channel estimator operable to process the time domain training symbols to produce a time domain channel estimate, a Fast Fourier Transformer operable to convert the time domain channel estimate to the frequency domain to produce a frequency domain channel estimate, a weight calculator operable to produce frequency domain equalizer coefficients based upon the frequency domain channel estimate, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transformer operable to converting the frequency domain equalizer coefficients to the time domain to produce time domain equalizer coefficients, and an equalizer operable to equalize the time domain data symbols using the time domain equalizer coefficients. |
| US07684522B2 |
Method and system for determining a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) corresponding to each bit of a symbol
Methods and systems for determining a Log-Likelihood Ratio (LLR) corresponding to each bit of a symbol are provided. The symbol comprises a predefined number of bits based on a predetermined constellation. The methods and systems include expanding the predetermined constellation. The predetermined constellation comprises a plurality of constellation-points wherein each constellation-point has a unique X co-ordinate and Y co-ordinate. Also, the expanded predetermined constellation further comprises points corresponding to each combination of the X co-ordinate and the Y co-ordinate of the constellation-points. The methods and systems further include calculating the LLR corresponding to each bit of the symbol based on the expanded predetermined constellation. |
| US07684518B2 |
Logic threshold acquisition circuits and methods using reversed peak detectors
A circuit is provided which generates a first output signal and a second output signal. The circuit includes a reference signal input having a reference value, a first positioning circuit, and a second positioning circuit. The first positioning circuit generates the first output signal responsive to a first differential input signal and the reference signal, and the second positioning circuit generates the second output signal responsive to a second differential input signal and the reference signal. In one implementation, the positioning circuits may be reversed peak detectors. A minimum value of the first output signal and a minimum value of the second output signal are positioned along a common axis at values greater than or equal to the reference value. |
| US07684516B2 |
Method and apparatus for improving signal reception in a receiver
A method and apparatus for improving signal reception in a receiver (100) by performing all-channel and/or on-channel estimations on a received signal so as to predict future RF environments. The prediction is achieved through the use of one or more detector systems (122, 124) positioned to sample and detect predetermined signal metrics of the received signal (103) prior to analog-to-digital conversion (112) and subsequent post-processing (114). Future estimations of the channel condition are thus generated prior to the arrival of the actual samples (115) at a controller section (116). The detectors (122, 124) provide triggers (123, 125) to the controller (116) so that active stages (130) within the receiver (100) can be adjusted and scaled as needed via a serial port interface (SPI) (126) based on signal conditions. |
| US07684515B2 |
Radio receiver, system on a chip integrated circuit and methods for use therewith
A system on a chip integrated circuit includes a first digital module and a second digital module such that the second digital module generates an output during the predetermined period that is based on an output of the first digital module generated during a prior predetermined period. A digital clock generator generates a base clock signal having a plurality of first digital clock cycles over a predetermined period and a second digital clock signal having a plurality of second digital clock cycles over the predetermined period. The plurality of first digital clock cycles are substantially interleaved with the plurality of second digital clock cycles over the predetermined period. |
| US07684514B2 |
Transmitter apparatus and wireless communication apparatus
A transmitter providing a wide output control variable width with high efficiency is provided. Saturation mode operation is performed in the vicinity of the maximum transmission power and the input level of a large power amplifier is enlarged and fixed. When the large power amplifier is operated in a saturation state, the amplitude component of a modulation signal is input to an R input terminal in the range responsive to an output power control level and power supply voltage of a power supply terminal is amplitude-modulated, whereby highly efficient polar coordinate modulation is performed. In smaller transmission power, linear mode operation is performed, the input level of the large power amplifier is lessened for operating the large power amplifier in the linear mode, and the power supply voltage of the power supply terminal is made variable in response to the output power control level, whereby transmission power control is performed. |
| US07684513B2 |
Amplifier circuit and amplifying method
An amplifying method and apparatus generates a plurality of constant envelope signals from an input signal and generates a plurality of pilot signals associated with the generated plurality of constant envelope signals, respectively. The plurality of pilot signals have predetermined amplitudes, predetermined phases, and predetermined frequencies, respectively, and the phases and frequencies are different from each other. The plurality of pilot signals are added to the generated plurality of constant envelope signals, and the sum is amplified. An amplitude or phase of one of the generated plurality of constant envelope signals is corrected using signal components included in the amplified plurality of constant envelope signals. |
| US07684505B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding interleaving and mapping data to facilitate GBPS data rates in wireless systems
A method and apparatus for encoding data for wireless transmission. The invention includes multi-level coding in which data is partitioned between two encoders, one for encoding Most Significant Bits (MSBs) and the other for encoding Least Significant Bits (LSBs). By partition bits separately for the MSBs and LSBs, the complexity of the decoder may be reduced. The MSBs and LSBs are interleaved such that each MSB is a function of just one LSB, simplifying branch metric selection during Viterbi decoding. This also allows parallel de-interleaving by the receiver, which reduces the interleaving latency of the receiver. A block interleaver jointly optimizes the symbol hamming distance of the symbols and the bit hamming distance of each constituent encoder for the MSBs and LSBs. |
| US07684504B2 |
System and method for reducing edge effect
A channel estimator (150) is provided that comprises: an extension circuit (410) configured to receive a pilot signal (510), and add front and back extension signals (620, 630) to a front and back of the pilot signal, respectively, creating a first signal (610), the front and back extension signals being extension of a first and last symbol, respectively, in the pilot signal; an IDFT circuit (420) configured to perform an IDFT function on the first signal, generating a second signal (710); a signal processing element (430, 440, 470, 480) configured to perform one or more operations on the second signal, generating a third signal (910); a DFT circuit (450) configured to perform a DFT function on the third signal, generating a fourth signal (1010); and a reduction circuit configured to cut off front and back ends of the fourth signal, generating a channel estimation signal (1110). |
| US07684503B2 |
OFDM reception apparatus and OFDM reception method
An OFDM reception apparatus for receiving and demodulating an OFDM signal comprising a fast Fourier transform section for converting a received OFDM signal into a frequency-domain OFDM signal, a channel response calculation section for obtaining a channel response with respect to a carrier transmitting a pilot signal, from the frequency-domain OFDM signal, an interpolation section for interpolating the channel response, and outputting the result, a power calculation section for calculating the square of a magnitude of the interpolated channel response, as a carrier power, for each carrier corresponding to the channel response, an interference calculation section for calculating a degree of an influence of interference on the received OFDM signal, as an interference power, for each carrier corresponding to the interpolated channel response, and a carrier quality calculation section for calculating a ratio of the carrier power obtained to the interference power corresponding thereto, for each carrier. |
| US07684500B2 |
Method for detecting UWB pulse sequences in a cost-efficient manner
A method for transmitting data in the form of at least one pulse sequence included in a transmitted signal. The method includes calculating at least one detection value representative of an amount of power carried by the pulse sequence by performing integration over a tunable time duration, and comparing the detection value to at least one predetermined threshold value. |
| US07684499B2 |
Multi-band line interface circuit with line side cancellation
A line interface circuit with line side cancellation of a communication device is described herein. In one embodiment, a communication device includes a line interface circuit for interfacing a communication line. The line interface circuit includes a driver for driving multiple transmitting signals onto the communication line over multiple transmitting frequency bands. The line interface circuit further includes multiple transmitting filters each corresponding to one of the transmitting frequency bands. Other methods and apparatuses are also described. |
| US07684492B2 |
Apparatus and method for recovering lost block of image processing system
A method for recovering a lost block of an image processing system, which includes determining characteristics of a lost block by using a cost function with respect to the lost block, and recovering the lost block by applying an error concealment method that is best suitable for the characteristics of the lost block. Because an image is restored by applying the most suitable error concealment method according to characteristics of the lost block, error restoration performance of a receiving end is improved and the closest image of an original image can be reproduced. |
| US07684491B2 |
Reference data buffer for intra-prediction of digital video
Encoding or decoding digital video frames in intra-prediction mode by selecting column reference data locations for blocks adjacent a current block from a column reference data buffer storing column reference data samples for no more than two macro blocks of the frame. In some cases, the column reference data buffer may include a storage size for samples of a first column of data of blocks of one macro block of luminance samples. Encoding and decoding may also include selecting row reference data locations for blocks adjacent a current block from a row reference data buffer storing row reference data samples for at least one row of macro blocks of the frame. In some cases, the row reference data buffer may include storage for samples of a first row of data of fourteen successive blocks spanning two rows. The concept can be applied to various video processing components and standards. |
| US07684488B2 |
Video frame encoding and decoding
A video frame arithmetical context adaptive encoding and decoding scheme is presented which is based on the finding, that, for sake of a better definition of neighborhood between blocks of picture samples, i.e. the neighboring block which the syntax element to be coded or decoded relates to and the current block based on the attribute of which the assignment of a context model is conducted, and when the neighboring block lies beyond the borders or circumference of the current macroblock containing the current block, it is important to make the determination of the macroblock containing the neighboring block dependent upon as to whether the current macroblock pair region containing the current block is of a first or a second distribution type, i.e., frame or field coded. |
| US07684487B2 |
Video coding method and apparatus for calculating motion vectors of the vertices of a patch of an image and transmitting information of horizontal and vertical components of the motion vectors
A method and apparatus for coding an image includes calculation of motion vectors of vertices of a patch in an image being encoded and transmitting information of horizontal and vertical components of the motion vectors of the vertices and information specifying that values of the horizontal and vertical components of a motion vector for each pixel in the patch are integral multiples of 1/d of a distance between adjacent pixels, where d is an integer not less than 2. |
| US07684482B2 |
Single wire communication circuits and methods
Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods of control using a single wire. The systems and methods presented allow sending or receiving commands and data through a single wire. In one embodiment, commands and data are received by the control system through a single terminal. In another embodiment, commands and data are received and transmitted from the control system through a single terminal. |
| US07684479B2 |
Methods and systems for soft-bit demapping
Methods and systems for reconfigurable soft-output bit demapping, reconfigurable for different modes of operation (i.e., different transmitter/receiver configurations) and for different modulation schemes are provided. In an embodiment, a reconfigurable soft-output bit demapping system includes a mode/modulation independent equalizer, a plurality of mode/modulation independent soft-slicers coupled to the outputs of the equalizer, a plurality of mode/modulation independent post-scalers coupled to the outputs of the soft-slicers, and a mode-dependent coefficient calculator. The coefficient calculator generates parameters for configuring the equalizer, the soft-slicers, and the post-scalers according to the used mode of operation and modulation scheme. |
| US07684477B1 |
Multi-protocol low latency automatic speed negotiation architecture for an embedded high speed serial interface in a programmable logic device
A serial interface for a programmable logic device includes receiver and transmitter portions, and an automatic speed negotiation module to adjust the data rates of both portions. The speed adjustment may be accomplished by adjusting the widths of the data paths in both portions. The speed adjustment occurs on receipt of a control signal generated elsewhere on the programmable logic device, or generated by the module. One reason for generating the control signal is the detection of data errors in the received data, or the detection of a delimiter pattern in the received data signifying that a remote device is about to change its data rate.Similarly, before changing its data rate, the module may insert a delimiter in the data in the transmitter portion. After receipt or transmission of a delimiter pattern, the module may wait for a predetermined delay period to elapse before changing the data rate. |
| US07684474B2 |
Method and apparatus for demodulating signals processed in a transmit diversity mode
Demodulator architectures for processing a received signal in a wireless communications system. The demodulator includes a number of correlators coupled to a combiner. Each correlator typically receives and despreads input samples (which are generated from the received signal) with a respective despreading sequence to provide despread samples. Each correlator then decovers the despread samples to provide decovered “half-symbols” and further demodulates the decovered half-symbols with pilot estimates to generate correlated symbols. The decovering is performed with a Walsh symbol having a length (T) that is half the length (2T) of a Walsh symbol used to cover the data symbols in the transmitted signal. The combiner selectively combines correlated symbols from the assigned correlators to provide demodulated symbols. One or more correlators can be assigned to process one or more instances of each transmitted signal. The pilot estimates used within each assigned correlator to demodulate the decovered half-symbols are generated based on the signal instance being processed by that correlator. |
| US07684472B2 |
Method and apparatus for frequency-robust detection of a wideband code division multiple access secondary synchronization channel
The disclosed embodiments may relate to a method and apparatus for performing a correlation with respect to a received signal. A first correlator may correlate for a real part of a first characteristic of the received signal to produce a first real correlated signal. A second correlator may correlate for an imaginary part of the first characteristic of the received signal to produce a first imaginary correlated signal. A third correlator may correlate for a real part of a second characteristic of the received signal to produce a second real correlated signal. A fourth correlator may correlate for an imaginary part of the second characteristic of the received signal to produce a second imaginary correlated signal. Logic may combine a signal that corresponds to the first real correlated signal, a signal that corresponds to the first imaginary correlated signal, the second real correlated signal and the second imaginary correlated signal to produce a real part of a frequency adjusted signal and an imaginary part of the frequency adjusted signal. |
| US07684469B2 |
Code division multiple access transmission antenna weighting
A code division multiple access communication system has a base station with a plurality of transmitting antennas. From each transmitting antenna of the base station, a pilot signal is transmitted having a different chip sequence than the other transmitting antenna. At a user equipment, the transmitted pilot signals are received from each transmitting antenna. A weight adjustment is derived in response to the received transmitted pilot signals. The user equipment transmits the weight adjustment to the base station. The transmitted weight adjustment is received from the user equipment. A data signal is processed to produce a plurality of versions of the data signal. At least a portion of each processed data signal has a different chip sequence than the other processed data signal version. At least one processed data signal version is weighted by a weight value adjusted in response to the received transmitted weight adjustment. From each transmitting antenna, a different one of the data signal versions is transmitted and the transmitted data signal versions are received at the user equipment. |
| US07684465B1 |
Frequency hopping communication protocol
A Master-Slave Dwelling technique associated with modified Bluetooth hopping provides performance gains and extended ranges of operation for slow Doppler situations (slower than 1-3 Km/h). The Master and Slave make use of only the good frequencies (frequencies for which the channel is not in a fade due to Raleigh fading) over the Bluetooth transmission bandwidth. |
| US07684464B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing channel assessment in a wireless communication system
A system and method for classifying channels in a frequency hopping wireless communication system is provided. A data collection engine operates to obtain channel metrics indicating the level of interference for each channel used by the wireless communication system. A data analysis engine operates to provide a channel map for adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) and/or a channel map for channel avoidance. More specifically, the data analysis engine first operates to filter the channel metrics to remove channel metrics indicative of frequency hopping interference. Next, the channels are divided into a number of channel blocks each including at least two adjacent channels. For each channel block, the channel metrics of the channels within the channel block are combined to provide a metric sum. The data analysis engine then operates to classify each channel as usable or unusable based on the metric sums for each of the channel blocks. |
| US07684452B1 |
Enhancing the transition rate of a laser
Various circuits and methods are provided for driving a laser. A laser driver circuit is configured to generate a modulated current through a laser. Also, a peak current source is employed to generate a peak current that is differentially applied to the laser to enhance a transition rate of the laser. |
| US07684451B2 |
Optical transmitter module for stabilizing optical output power and wavelength
An optical transmitter module includes a semiconductor laser for outputting forward outgoing light and backward outgoing light, a temperature control device for controlling a temperature of the semiconductor laser, a beam splitter plate for receiving incidence of the backward outgoing light and outputting split light, which is reflected part of the backward outgoing light and transmitted light, which is part of the backward outgoing light, a first photoelectric conversion element for converting the split light into an electric signal. The beam splitter plate includes an anti-stray-light structure for preventing the transmitted light reflected by an incident surface of a wavelength filter from entering the first photoelectric conversion element through a side end surface portion of the beam splitter plate. |
| US07684445B2 |
Method and related circuit of guard interval length detection for OFDM signals
A guard interval length detector is introduced. The guard interval length detector includes a delay conjugate multiplier capable of delaying a plurality of input signals to provide delayed input signals and multiplying each of the plurality of input signals with a complex conjugate of a corresponding one of the delayed input signals to provide multiplied signals, a phase detector capable of determining phase values corresponding to the multiplied signals, and a period detector capable of detecting a period according to the phase values, and determining a guard interval length of the input signals according to the period. |
| US07684443B2 |
PCR clock recovery in an IP network
An IP network includes a central entity and at least one customer premises equipment (CPE) device. The central entity generates a program clock reference (PCR) clock and provides audio-visual packets to a CPE based on the PCR clock. The CPE sets a first clock based on the PCR clock for decoding operations. The CPE sets a second clock that is independent from the first clock for audio and video output operations. For example, the CPE can process the audio-visual packets using the second clock. |
| US07684438B2 |
Virtual linking using a wireless device
A system and method for virtual linking a wireless device to another device is disclosed herein. The system includes an access point and a controller configured to mediate transmissions between the wireless device and the another device. The system further includes a virtual device table and a permissions filter to ensure virtual linking between devices that have matching access right and requested services. The wireless device and the another device may have the same or dissimilar protocols. |
| US07684437B2 |
System and method providing fixed rate transmission for digital visual interface and high-definition multimedia interface applications
A system and method transmits graphic data received at varying frequencies at a fixed data rate. The frequency dependent data and associated data clock signal are received and the frequency dependent data is converted to frequency independent data. A ratio of a number of data clock cycles to a number of reference clock cycles is determined and transmitted. The frequency independent data and header data are transmitted, at a fixed rate, to a receiver, the fixed rate being a frequency greater than the frequency of the associated data clock signal. The received the frequency independent data is converted to frequency dependent data based upon the received determined ratio. The communication channel may include an optical fiber and a tension member wherein control data is transmitted along the tension member and graphic data is transmitted along the optical fiber. |
| US07684434B2 |
System and method for providing a presence based Camp-On feature in a communications environment
A method for facilitating a data session in a communications environment is provided that includes initiating, by a first endpoint, a call that is intended for a second endpoint. The method also includes invoking, by the first endpoint, an eCamp-On™ feature in response to the second endpoint being unavailable. The eCamp-On™ feature initiates a new call between the first and second endpoints once the second endpoint is available. Presence data associated with the first endpoint may be leveraged in order to make the new call. |
| US07684432B2 |
Methods of providing data services over data networks and related data networks, data service providers, routing gateways and computer program products
A data network may be operated between a routing gateway for a subscriber and a data service provider providing a data service. More particularly, the data network may receive from the data service provider an identification of the routing gateway, an identification of the data service provider, and data flow characteristics of the data service for a session of the routing gateway using the data service provided by the data service provider. Responsive to receiving the identification of the routing gateway, the identification of the data service provider, and the data flow characteristics for the data service, the data flow characteristics of the data service for the routing gateway may be saved at the data network and forwarded to the routing gateway. Related data networks, data service providers, routing gateways, and computer program products are also discussed. |
| US07684420B2 |
Method for implementing cross-domain constraint routing
The present invention discloses a method for implementing cross-domain constraint routing, through setting in addition the border node identifier in the ERO sub-objects saved in ERO corresponding to nodes that a route will pass, this invention realizes the distributed calculation of the route. When calculating the path of cross-domain constraint routing, the original node determines the first border node that the route will pass based on the border node identifiers set in the ERO sub-objects in ERO, calculates the path to the first border node, and then sends a PATH message; the first border node determines, based on the next ERO sub-object with a border node identifier in the ERO of the received PATH message, the next border node that the route will pass, calculates the path to the further next border node, and then sends the PATH message; . . . Repeat such a process until the PATH message reaches the destination node. |
| US07684416B2 |
System for automatically identifying the physical location of network end devices
Method and system for automatically identifying the physical location and/or end-to-end connectivity of end-devices, each of which having a unique ID and, normally, being connected to an access point of a network, each access point having a known physical location and being connected to a port of a Switch. Whenever required, the physical location of each end-device is updated. |
| US07684411B2 |
Apparatus for limiting VPNv4 prefixes per VPN in an inter-autonomous system environment
An apparatus for limiting Virtual Private Network (VPNv4) prefixes per VPN in an inter-autonomous system environment are presented. A limit on the number of VPNv4 routes per VPN for a Route Distributor (RD) or a group of RDs associated with a VPN is defined, at an Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR). When the number of received routes at the ASBR exceeds the limit, then a soft notification is sent to a neighboring ASBR and routes exceeding the limit are discarded at the ASBR. |
| US07684410B2 |
VLAN aware trunks
Dynamically enable link aggregation control protocol on a per port and per virtual local area network (VLAN) basis. |
| US07684405B2 |
Broadband access method with great capacity and the device and the system thereof
The present invention discloses a high-capacity broadband access method, comprising: a broadband subscriber initiating an access request to an access unit; the access unit sending the subscriber authentication information to a control unit via a route switching unit; the control unit authenticating the subscriber with an internal or external authentication, authorization and accounting server, returning the authentication result to the access unit via the route switching unit, and sending the configuration information to the accessed subscriber; the route switching unit and the access unit accomplishing configuration of the subscriber information, allocating corresponding resource to the subscriber, and establishing a data channel for network access of the subscriber. The present invention also discloses a high-capacity broadband access device and a system thereof. |
| US07684396B2 |
Transmission apparatus having a plurality of network interfaces and transmission method using the same
A transmission apparatus having a plurality of network interfaces and a transmission method using a plurality of the network interfaces are provided. The transmission apparatus includes: a session information extraction unit which extracts session information of an IP packet; a network interface determination unit which determines a network interface associated with session information of the IP packet based on a table for mapping sessions to the network interfaces according to available bandwidths of the network interfaces; and a traffic distribution unit which transmits the IP packet to the determined network interface. Accordingly, traffic is distributed over a plurality of network interfaces, so that optimal communication performance can be ensured in a simultaneous multiple-mode connection environment, and network resources can be efficiently utilized. |
| US07684394B1 |
System and method for increasing host visibility in network address translation environments
A mechanism for dynamically performing Network Address Translation that allows external devices to contact internal host systems that would otherwise be hidden behind a NAT device is discussed. The dynamic NAT mechanism of the present invention maps internal host system addresses to external network addresses and reconfigures the NAT configuration of the network firewall to account for the new mapping on demand. Domain Name Service (DNS) lookup requests for an authorized internal system serve as a trigger to create a new mapping between the internal host system and the external network address. The new mappings may have a lifecycle controlled by dynamic leases that are created for each new mapping. |
| US07684393B2 |
Void-filling in an optical burst switching system using constant offset
Provided is a method for transmitting a burst in an optical burst switching system, in which when a burst is generated at an originating node, a burst control packet is transmitted to a destination node by way of a plurality of nodes and then a data burst is transmitted after a pre-allocated offset time. The method includes the steps of obtaining an arrival time of data bursts that survive competition to occupy an output channel among data bursts transmitted to the next node by way of the current node using offset time information in burst control packets for the survived data bursts, checking whether an empty void is present between the survived data bursts by using the obtained arrival time of the survived data bursts, and generating a new data burst originating from the current node, inserting the newly generated data burst into the checked empty void, and transmitting to the next node. This method can improve channel utilization and maximize performance of the optical burst switching system. |
| US07684391B2 |
Communications system for delivering multimedia internet protocol packets across network boundaries
A communications system and method enables delivery of packets over network boundaries while preserving the QoS bits configuration. The communications system includes at least one sending site configured to send the packet. The packet may have a first set of bits in a first bit-set location that indicates an intended packet forwarding priority of the packet. A data network is included that has a traffic class identification. The data network associates the packet forwarding priority with the traffic class identification and writes a second set of bits into the first bit-set location of the packet based on the traffic class identification. The second set of bits indicates a delivery priority that corresponds to the packet forwarding priority. The packet is forwarded based on at least one of the packet forwarding priority and the delivery priority, wherein the delivery priority is based on the data traffic class identification. |
| US07684389B2 |
Multi-dimensional lattice network
An N-dimensional lattice network that scales to capacities of the order of a Yotta bits per second (1024 bits per second) includes a plurality of sub-nets of edge module switches interconnected by an agile switching core. The agile core may be distributed. In the N-dimensional lattice network, each edge module 408 is connected to N core stages, each core stage having an associated dimensional indicator. The input/output ports of each edge module are divided into (N+1) port groups. One of the port groups serves local sources/sinks while the remaining port groups are respectively connected to core stages in each of the N dimensions. This structure permits virtually unlimited capacity growth and significantly simplifies the routing and forwarding functions. The edge modules are addressed using logical coordinates, one coordinate being assigned for each of the N dimensions. This simplifies routing and permits each edge module to compute its own routing tables. |
| US07684388B2 |
Multi-grained network
A multi-grained network includes edge modules that switch high-variance multi-rate data traffic, and independent core modules that switch paths having different granularities. The core may include core modules that switch fixed-size data blocks, core modules that switch channels or bands of channels, core modules that switch entire links, and core modules that cross-connect channels or links. To simplify the control functions, the core modules operate independently from each other. Direct link, band or channel connections may be established for selected ingress-egress edge module pairs, if traffic volumes warrant. The use of graded granularity in the core simplifies the control function and reduces network cost. |
| US07684384B2 |
Method for bitrate adjustment
A method and a gateway provide for down speeding the data rate at the circuit switched side of a call being translated in the gateway if the packet switched side does not have sufficient bandwidth capabilities for matching the circuit switched data rate. The gateway compares the bandwidth of the circuit switched and packet switched sides of a call after establishing the connection. If the packet switched side of the call is connected at a lower rate than the circuit switched side, e.g., because of insufficient capabilities of the packet switched endpoint, the gateway initiates a down speeding procedure at the circuit switched side. The down speeding procedure disconnects a number of B-channels of the circuit switched connection to make the call rate equal or lower than the call rate of the packet switched side of the call. |
| US07684380B2 |
System and method for handling asynchronous data in a wireless network
A method is provided for transmitting wireless signals in a network comprising a network coordinator and one or more remote devices. The available transmission time is divided into a plurality of superframes, each of which is further divided up into a beacon duration, one or more management time slots, one or more guaranteed time slots, and one or more asynchronous time slots. Each of the management time slots, guaranteed time slots, and asynchronous time slots are assigned to one of the one or more remote devices. The network coordinator sends a beacon to the one or more remote devices during the beacon duration. The device or coordinator assigned to the current guaranteed time slot sends frames of isochronous data in the current guaranteed time slot. The device or coordinator assigned to the current asynchronous time slot sends frames of asynchronous data in the current asynchronous time slot. |
| US07684377B2 |
Packetized audio data operations in a wireless local area network device
A wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiving integrated circuit includes a WLAN interface, an input buffer, an input buffer controller, and a processor. The WLAN transceiving integrated circuit may also include an output buffer, an output buffer controller, a transcoder, and/or an audio Coder-Decoder (CODEC). The WLAN transceiving integrated circuit is installed in a WLAN device that services voice communications. The input buffer receives packetized audio data from the WLAN interface. When the input buffer satisfies a buffer vacancy threshold, the processor and the input buffer controller cooperatively operate to fill at least a portion of the input buffer with packetized audio data. The processor copies packetized audio data from the input buffer and fills the input buffer with the copied packetized audio data to maintain an audio pattern in the input buffer. The input buffer controller fills the input buffer when the processor is available and after copying/filling is no longer effective. The processor operates to maintain the audio pattern when additional packetized audio data is received by the WLAN interface. These operations are also performed for the output buffer, which receives packetized audio data from the transcoder and writes the packetized audio data to the WLAN interface. |
| US07684376B2 |
Search method for radio LAN terminal, search system for radio LAN terminal using the search method, and computer readable medium having search program for radio LAN terminal
A search system for a radio LAN terminal includes: plural terminals; and a search computer that searches for connectable terminals out of the plural terminals in a radio LAN, wherein the search computer includes: a communication unit provided to be capable of changing transmission power of radio communication for performing radio communication via the radio LAN with the plural terminals; and a storage unit that stores a search list in which identification information including identifiers for identifying the searched terminals are listed according to an order of the searched terminals, the plural terminals include terminal communication units for performing radio communication with the search computer via the radio LAN, the search computer broadcasts a probe request for searching for the terminals by minimizing a set value of the transmission power of the radio communication of the communication unit, the terminals having received the probe request transmit response signals including the identification information of the terminals from the terminal communication units to the search computer, the search computer checks whether the response signals received are response signals from new ones of the terminals not stored in the search list, the search computer adds, when the response signals are response signals from the new terminals, the identification information included in the response signals to the search list of the storage unit, and the search computer performs, when the response signals are not response signals from the new terminals or the response signals are not received, a series of search operations starting from the probe request by increasing the set value of the transmission power of the radio communication of the communication unit. |
| US07684372B2 |
Signaling MIMO allocations
The present invention relates to demodulation of radio signals from a base station having collocated transmit antennas, and more particularly to signaling allocation information from a base station to a mobile terminal. The allocation information may include timeslot and code information of allocation to other mobile terminals. Some embodiments of the present invention facilitate a mobile terminal's ability to receive and demodulate a signal containing multiple interfering signals by communicating codes allocated to other mobile terminals. |
| US07684368B2 |
Dynamic link assignment in a communication system
An architecture for the dynamic assignment of links in a multi-user communication system. A plurality of information channels are provided in a forward communication link of the communication system for carrying channel information of the plurality of information channels from a transmitter to a plurality of corresponding receiving devices. The channel information in corresponding select ones of the plurality of information channels is varied dynamically in response to link conditions of the associated receiving devices to more efficiently utilize the channel bandwidth. |
| US07684364B2 |
System and method for providing a virtual line channel in a packet based communication network
A method for implementing a virtual line channel in a packet switched network includes reserving a virtual line channel associated with a first station and establishing a communication session between the first station and a second station over the virtual line channel. The reservation of the virtual line channel is maintained while the communication session is active. The communication session may be transferred to a different channel associated with a third station. The reservation of the virtual line channel is maintained while the communication session is active despite the transfer of the communication session. When the communication session has terminated, the reservation of the virtual line channel is released. |
| US07684361B2 |
Method for controlling connections to a mobile station
When a new connection is set up between a mobile station and a cellular telecommunications network, the starting frame of the new connection is selected using a simple rule so that the starting times of the interleaving periods of all the presently active connections between the mobile station and the cellular network are periodically aligned, thereby substantially simplifying the handover process. In addition, the length of the interleaving period can be set such that the periodic alignment is more frequent. |
| US07684359B2 |
Method for compensating sampling frequency offset in OFDM communication system and OFDM signal receiving apparatus for compensating sampling frequency offset
An OFDM signal receiving apparatus and method compensates for a sampling frequency offset. Such an apparatus includes an offset estimating unit for estimating an offset for a sampling frequency that is applied to an FFT of an OFDM signal in a tracking mode, a channel estimating unit for estimating a channel delay profile using a CIR, and an offset compensating unit for compensating for an influence due to the offset by using the duration of the FFT interval transition due to the estimated offset, profile duration of the estimated channel delay profile and duration of a guard interval included in an OFDM symbol to determine a location of the channel delay profile on the guard interval. Accordingly, it is possible to compensate for a sampling frequency offset even if using a general oscillator and not a VCXO, which results in lowering cost and power consumption. |
| US07684354B2 |
Method and system for analyzing the topology of a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)/virtual private network (VPN) network
In general, embodiments of the invention relates to a method for analyzing a topology of a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)/Virtual Private Network (VPN) network. The method includes obtaining logical communication channel information for a plurality of virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) instances, wherein each of the plurality of VRF instances are located on one of a plurality of routers, wherein the logical communication channel information specifies a plurality of logical communication channels between the plurality of VRF instances, and wherein at least two VRF instances are located on one of the plurality of routers. The method further includes constructing an audit matrix representing the logical communication channel information, wherein the audit matrix specifies the topology of the MPLS/VPN network, analyzing the audit matrix to obtain an analysis result, and presenting the analysis result. |
| US07684348B2 |
Method for ensuring service class of packet service and method of rate limitation
The present invention discloses a method for ensuring service classes of packet services, which includes limiting the rate of services with different service classes uploaded to a ringlet from an RPR station in accordance with the RPR physical packet lengths; monitoring, in real time, the rate of non-class A0 services uploaded to the ringlet from the RPR station and forwarded by the RPR station in accordance with the RPR physical packet lengths, and when the rate of the non-class A0 services exceeds the un-reserved rate of the RPR network, reporting a congestion message and adjusting the rate of the non-class A0 services uploaded to the ringlet from the RPR stations in the congestion domain. A method of rate limitation is also disclosed, by which rate limitation is conducted based on a Token Bucket according to the total length of the sent packet after encapsulation. The methods, by means of rate limitation and rate monitoring of the services uploaded to the ringlet from each RPR station according to the RPR physical packet length, can effectively overcome the shortcoming that the reserved bandwidth in the RPR can not be ensured because forwarded services unexpected occupy the bandwidth of the services uploaded to the ringlet at a downstream RPR station due to the physical layer encapsulation overhead. |
| US07684344B2 |
Method and system for transparent TCP offload
Certain aspects of a method and system for transparent transmission control protocol (TCP) offload are disclosed. Aspects of a method may include collecting TCP segments in a network interface card (NIC) processor without transferring state information to a host system. The collected TCP segments may be buffered in a coalescer. The coalescer may verify that the network flow associated with the collected TCP segments has an entry in a flow lookup table (FLT). When the FLT is full, the coalescer may close a current entry and assign the network flow to the available entry. The coalescer may also update information in the FLT. When an event occurs that terminates the collection of TCP segments, the coalescer may generate a single aggregated TCP segment based on the collected TCP segments. The aggregated TCP segment and state information may be communicated to the host system for processing. |
| US07684343B2 |
Data transmission method for wireless network
Disclosed is a device and method that relates to radio engineering and especially to data transmission in a wireless local area network. The method improves the throughput of the wireless local area network, by selecting a transmission rate, data transmission mechanism and a fragment size which maximize the network throughput considering the receiving conditions on the receiver (bit error rate in the transmitted data units of the transmitter ) and taking into account the current network loading are selected for transmission of data units. |
| US07684342B2 |
Media independent trigger model for multiple network types
A media independent trigger model for multiple network types is disclosed. A change in communication environment trigger is communicated from a media dependent interface to an upper media independent application. The communication environment trigger may be from a local event detected by the interface or may be a remote trigger received from another device. The upper media independent application adjusts operations according to the communication environment trigger. |
| US07684340B2 |
Packet forwarding apparatus and method thereof
A packet forwarding device is disclosed. The packet forwarding device includes: a transmission interface, coupled to a second network device; a processing unit, coupled to a first network device; a forwarding unit, coupled between the transmission interface and the processing unit; and an interface loop-back, coupled between the forwarding unit and the processing unit. |
| US07684339B2 |
Communication control system
A community control server stores in a community defining table, data of a correspondence between Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) routers that are connected to a community and another community. The community control server collects prefix data that is included in routing information that is received by the IGP routers and identification data of the IGP routers. Based on the community defining table and the identification data, the community control server detects a community corresponding to a prefix. Upon receiving data of whether to transmit the routing information in the form of the permission to distribute them between communities, based on data of the community the community control server determines the prefix corresponding to the source community and transmits the prefix data to the IGP routers. |
| US07684338B2 |
Circuit arrangement for testing a communication system
The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement with which a communication that is subdivided into functional layers is processable by a first layer for a higher layer and/or by a higher layer for the first layer, the first layer being formed by a physical layer and the circuit arrangement featuring at least one port which allows a communication directly with a layer that is higher than the first layer without the communication previously having to pass through the first layer. It also relates to a method for testing a switch for a telecommunication network, according to which the switch with a circuit arrangement is first made available, with which a communication that is subdivided into functional layers is processable by a first layer for a higher layer and/or by a higher layer for the first layer, the first layer being formed by a physical layer and the circuit arrangement featuring at least one port which allows a communication directly with a layer that is higher than the first layer without the communication previously having to pass through the first layer, with data thereafter being output from at least one port which are output in a further step. |
| US07684336B2 |
Real-time video packet monitoring and processing for enhanced quality of service
In one embodiment, a dynamic rate control scheme controls transmission rates and adaptively filters out video packets when a packet queue is full. This allows video streams to be more efficiently transmitted through low bandwidth and dynamically changing links. |
| US07684332B2 |
System and method for adjusting the window size of a TCP packet through network elements
A system for adjusting the window size of a TCP packet on a packet network including a sending network element in communication with a receiving network element for transmitting and receiving data packets between the sending network element and the receiving network element on the packet network, wherein at least one of the sending network element and the receiving network element is configured to determine network performance information of the packet network; concatenate the network performance information into the data packets; and adjust the window size of the TCP packet based on the network performance information. A method for adjusting the window size of a TCP packet on a packet network is also included. |
| US07684331B2 |
Scheduling packet transmission
Scheduling packet transmission. A plurality of data packets is received, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of data packets is associated with one media unit and comprises different quality information. Profit-to-size ratios or distortion-to-size ratios for the data packets are determined. A plurality of schedules of the data packets are determined utilizing dynamic programming for a plurality of data rates based at least in part on the profit-to-size ratios or distortion-to-size ratios. |
| US07684327B2 |
Temporary disabling of a member of a Virtual Concatenation Group
A member of a Virtual Concatenation Group (VCG) can be temporarily disabled under control of a Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS). The VCG comprises a number of link members, in which payload data are transmitted. A management command (MLOCKOUT) is transmitted from a management system to at least one of the source and sink side for one member requesting the member to be temporarily disabled. In response to the management command a forward control message is transmitted from the source side comprising a message (FDNU) indicating that payload data of the member shall not be used, and transmission of payload data for the member is discontinued. In this way temporary disabling of a VCG member is provided, in which it is ensured that the same member is enabled again when the operation requiring the disabling is completed, and which can be handled as a separate function by the management system. |
| US07684321B2 |
System for supply chain management of virtual private network services
The system for the supply chain management of network services, preferably virtual private network services, provides hardware, processes and application tools useful in configuring and/or delivering substantially measurable virtual private network services. |
| US07684317B2 |
Protecting a network from unauthorized access
A method and apparatus of protecting a first network from unauthorized access includes storing profile information for each call session, and determining if an unauthorized access of the first network is occurring based on the profile information. The profile information includes a predetermined threshold indicating a maximum acceptable rate of incoming data units from an external network to the first network. If the incoming data unit rate exceeds the predetermined threshold, then a security action is taken, such as generating an alarm or preventing further transport of data units from the external network to the first network. |
| US07684314B2 |
Communication node and routing method
A communication node of the present invention includes a two-hop neighbor management portion, a routing table management portion, and a multi-path establishment portion. The two-hop neighbor management portion manages a plurality of neighbor routes to a communication node that can be reached by two hops. The routing table management portion stores a routing table for performing routing within a network. The multi-path establishment portion establishes spare routes by, when the number of hops from a destination node to an own node is a multiple of two on a standard route, identifying neighbor routes to a specific node among a plurality of neighbor routes managed by the neighbor management portion and by adding them to the routing table. |
| US07684307B2 |
Identifier tag to track layers in a multi-layer optical disc
Method and apparatus for tracking layers in a multi-layer optical disc. The disc includes a first layer which stores a first set of user data and a table of contents (TOC) for the disc. A second layer stores a second set of user data and an identifier tag which identifies the second layer as corresponding to the first layer. The identifier tag can comprise a portion of, or a complete copy of the TOC, or can comprise a reference value which, among other things, identifies a revision level of the second layer. Preferably, the first layer is also provided with a reference value. In this way, a database or other mechanism can be used to track the history of the various layers of the disc. Stampers form the respective layers and the ID tags further serve to ensure correspondence thereof in the formation of the disc. |
| US07684305B2 |
Optical pickup, optical recording and reproducing apparatus and tracking error signal detecting method
An optical pickup includes an optical system in which light from a light source is introduced through an objective lens into an optical recording medium and in which light reflected from the optical recording medium is introduced into a light-receiving unit and an objective lens driving unit for driving the objective lens based on a light output detected at said light-receiving unit. In this optical pickup, a diffraction element is provided between the light source and the objective lens, the diffraction element is provided with at least first and second diffraction areas and the first and second diffraction areas have such grating shapes that ± first-order diffracted lights diffracted are received by the light-receiving unit at the position in which 0-th order light and ± first-order diffracted lights generated from guide grooves of the optical recording medium may not overlap with each other. |
| US07684302B2 |
Optical information recording device, optical information recording method, and signal processing circuit
The present invention enables a recording condition closer to an optimum to be obtained even for media unknown to a drive. The present invention provides a method that is especially effective for the case where it is applied to a code identification scheme, such as PRML in which code identification is performed on the basis of information on the amplitude of an RF signal. A condition for a recording pulse comprised of a top pulse, an intermediate pulse and a last pulse is configured in a predetermined order, that is, a reference condition is first determined by a test recording involving an examination of recording quality and changes in conditions for a power and a pulse width, then a condition for the last pulse is determined by a test recording using the reference condition, and subsequently a condition for the intermediate pulse is determined using the reference condition and the last pulse. A phase shift is corrected by a test recording using the recording pulse obtained by configuring the above conditions. |
| US07684298B2 |
Optical information recording method and optical information recording apparatus
Means is provided that produces stabilized trial write results when, for example, servo misalignments are caused due to deviations on an optical disc that requires trial writes at high linear velocity. A recording method produces a recording parameter in the event of recording information into an arbitrary address position in the manner that a recording parameter is obtained through a predetermined calculation method from the results of learning of recording parameters on two or more zones of the optical disc where the linear velocities are different form one another. In a zone where the linear velocity is low, the method determines an optimal recording parameter from a jitter value of a reproduced signal waveform generated in a trial write. In a zone where the linear velocity is high, the method determines an optimal recording parameter in accordance with information obtainable from an amplitude value of a reproduced signal generated in a trial write. |
| US07684291B2 |
Method and apparatus for blank detection of an optical disc
An optical storage device and a blank detection method thereof are disclosed. An RF signal is obtained from an optical disc. A various gain amplifier amplifies the RF signal based on a control signal. An analog to digital converter samples the amplified RF signal to obtain a data signal. An auto gain controller updates the control signal based on amplitude of the data signal. A blank detector detects blankness of the data signal based on a threshold. The threshold is provided by a threshold generator based on the control signal. If the amplitude of the data signal does not exceed the threshold, the blank detector sends a hold signal to suspend update of the control signal. |
| US07684288B2 |
Information processing apparatus and control method of information processing device
According to one embodiment, a control method of an information processing device, includes measuring a movement amount of a body with a sensor, invalidating an operation of a switch which ejects an optical disc held in an optical disc drive, in a case where the movement amount of the body is a threshold value V1 or more, and validating the operation of the switch in accordance with a measured value of the sensor, after invalidating the operation of the switch. |
| US07684285B2 |
Power reserve indicator mechanism
The invention concerns a power reserve indicator mechanism for a timepiece of the type comprising: a mainspring (14), a power reserve indicator moving between two end positions, a differential gear (18), and an intermediate wheel set (32) including first and second parts respectively kinematically coupled to the differential gear (18) and to the indicator and a coupling member coupling said parts, which rotate conjointly while the winding of the mainspring (14) is comprised between its end positions, Said coupling member includes a friction mechanism arranged such that the first part can move with friction in relation to the second when the indicator has reached its first end position, and an elastic element arranged so as to be able to be cocked when the indicator has reached its second end position, by the movement of the first part with reference to the second part. |
| US07684284B1 |
Steering and fixed angle geophone
The current invention minimizes the energy losses by pointing the geophone's internal system, which consists of a magnet bar, coil, and springs, towards signals reflected from targets. |
| US07684283B2 |
Cable device
A cable device wherein a signal-carrying cable is disposed within a flexible towing sleeve. The towing sleeve is made of a flexible, elongated sheet of abrasion-resistant material, into which is arranged a plurality of longitudinal, parallel pockets or sleeves. One or more elongated strain elements are arranged in the pockets such that one or more loops protrude at each end of the elongated sheet. The sheet is formed into a cylinder, in the interior of which is arranged the signal-carrying cable. A plurality of such cables may be connected in series to signal processing modules for use as seismic cables. |
| US07684273B2 |
Sense amplifier biasing method and apparatus
A memory device includes sense amplifier circuitry, a current sink and a resistive element. The sense amplifier circuitry is operable to evaluate data read from a memory array included in the memory device responsive to a bias voltage applied to the sense amplifier circuitry. The current sink is operable to sink a bias current. The resistive element couples the current sink to the sense amplifier circuitry. The bias voltage applied to the sense amplifier circuitry corresponds to the voltage drop across the resistive element and current sink as induced by the bias current. |
| US07684266B2 |
Serial system for blowing antifuses
A serial system and method for blowing antifuses are disclosed. One embodiment of antifuse system includes a plurality of latch devices connected in series from input to output. The system also includes a plurality of antifuses. The antifuses are configured to receive an output signal from a corresponding one of the latch devices. The plurality of latch devices includes a plurality of D flip-flops connected in series. Each of the D flip-flops is configured to receive an output signal from an immediately previous D flip-flop in the serial data flow and to provide an output signal to an immediately subsequent D flip-flop in the flow. In addition, the serial system provides self-detective antifuses, thus creating reliable electrical paths while saving antifuse blowing current resources and time. |
| US07684265B2 |
Redundant cross point switching system and method
A redundant cross point switching is achieved by mapping a redundant column/row of point cells and enabling at least one of the switching devices which is associated with each column/row to define an alternate path around the defective point cell which replicates the function of the switching location of the defective point cell. |
| US07684260B2 |
Flash memory device and method for driving the same
A flash memory device includes a data input/output pad and a core region in which a plurality of unit cells are arranged. A data input buffer is configured to receive command and address data through the data input/output pad and transfer the received command and address to the core region. A data output buffer is configured to output the data through the data input/output pad, and a data input controller is configured to detect an outputting of the data and disable the data input buffer. |
| US07684257B1 |
Area efficient and fast static random access memory circuit and method
Disclosed is an accumulation memory circuit for providing a fast read, modify, and write operation in a single clock cycle time. The memory circuit is configured to read data stored in the memory device at an address. The memory circuit includes a reconfigurable adder unit generating read, accumulate and write output in a single clock cycle. The memory circuit is further configured to minimize data overflow. A high speed accumulation method comprises resetting a memory circuit; reading from an address of the memory circuit; performing internal addition within the memory circuit and rewriting into the address of the memory circuit in a single clock cycle. |
| US07684256B2 |
Flash memory device and program method
A method for programming a flash memory device includes selecting bit lines connected to a plurality of memory strings and selecting a word line. A lower bit is programmed into the memory cells connected to the selected word line and programming a upper bit into the memory cells. The step of selecting the word line and the step of programming the upper bit are repeated. |
| US07684253B2 |
Flash memory device having a function for reducing data input error and method of inputting the data in the same
A flash memory device has a precharging section for precharging adequately in advance internal data lines included in an Y-decoder section whenever a process of inputting data into page buffer is performed, error in a second process of inputting data may be reduced by preventing the maintenance of data loaded to data lines in a first process of inputting data prior to the second process. |
| US07684248B2 |
Method for measuring threshold voltage of SONOS flash device
Embodiments relate to a method for measuring a threshold voltage of a flash device including inputting a voltage and a pulse width. The dependence of threshold voltage on the applied voltages and the pulse width may be determined by using a threshold voltage measuring equation, and equations regarding a plurality of device variables included within the threshold voltage measuring equation. |
| US07684247B2 |
Reverse reading in non-volatile memory with compensation for coupling
Shifts in the apparent charge stored by a charge storage region such as a floating gate in a non-volatile memory cell can occur because of electrical field coupling based on charge stored in adjacent (or other) charge storage regions. Although not exclusively, the effects are most pronounced in situations where adjacent memory cells are programmed after a selected memory cell. To account for the shift in apparent charge, one or more compensations are applied when reading storage elements of a selected word line based on the charge stored by storage elements of other word lines. Efficient compensation techniques are provided by reverse reading blocks (or portions thereof) of memory cells. By reading in the opposite direction of programming, the information needed to apply (or select the results of) an appropriate compensation when reading a selected cell is determined during the actual read operation for the adjacent word line rather than dedicating a read operation to determine the information. |
| US07684245B2 |
Non-volatile memory array architecture with joined word lines
In an embodiment, a non-volatile memory array wherein narrow word lines, as small as the minimum feature size width F, in separate strings, are extended outwardly from a non-volatile memory array and joined by wider connector segments. The joined word lines provide new opportunities. First, metal straps that can be formed to overlie the word lines can be joined by metal connector segments to the word lines. The connector segments can serve as an interface between the polysilicon word lines and the metal straps. Two adjacent word lines in the same string share a single metal strap using these segments thereby reducing the overall number of segments and contacts in the array. Increased width of the polysilicon joinder segments joining word lines in different strings, provides the opportunity for widening the connection beyond the minimum feature size so that contact may be readily made between the metal straps and the polysilicon word lines. Second, the joined word lines require fewer row decoder circuits. One row decoder is provided for each joined set of word lines. |
| US07684239B2 |
Flash memory device for over-sampling read and interfacing method thereof
A memory system having a flash memory device that performs an over-sampling read operation to read data from a memory cell in the flash device by using an over-sampling read voltage that falls within a threshold voltage distribution range. A memory controller supplies a read mode signal to the flash memory device to perform the over-sampling read operation. |
| US07684237B2 |
Reading non-volatile multilevel memory cells
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices, modules, and systems for reading non-volatile multilevel memory cells. One method includes receiving a request to read data stored in a first cell of a first word line, performing a read operation on an adjacent cell of a second word line in response to the request, determining whether the first cell is in a disturbed condition based on the read operation. The method includes reading data stored in the first cell in response to the read request by applying a read reference voltage to the first word line and adjusting a sensing parameter if the first cell is in the disturbed condition. |
| US07684236B2 |
Semiconductor device using magnetic domain wall movement
A semiconductor device to which magnetic domain wall movement is applied is provided. The semiconductor device includes a magnetic substance film in which magnetic domain walls are moved, and the magnetic substance film has a damping constant of 0.015 to 0.1. |
| US07684234B2 |
Methods and apparatus for thermally assisted programming of a magnetic memory device
A magnetic memory device comprises a magnetic memory cell that includes a pinned layer and a free layer separated from the pinned layer by an insulating layer. The magnetic memory device also comprises a thermal plate in contact with the free layer. The magnetic memory device can be configured so that a first current flows through the thermal plate heating the thermal plate. The magnetic behavior of the free layer can be altered due to the heating caused by the first current, making it easier to switch the orientation and magnetization of the free layer. A second current can then flow through a bit line near the free layer generating a magnetic field sufficient to switch the orientation of magnetization of the free layer. |
| US07684232B1 |
Memory cell for storing a data bit value despite atomic radiation
A memory cell stores a data bit value despite atomic radiation. The memory cell includes two inverters, an access circuit, and two switch circuits. Each inverter has an input and an output. The access circuit is arranged to write and read the data bit value in the memory cell. The switch circuits cross couple the outputs of the two inverters to the inputs of the two inverters. The switch circuits are arranged to alternately decouple and couple the inputs of the two inverters to limit corruption from atomic radiation of the data bit value in the memory cell. |
| US07684218B2 |
Method and device for transforming and regulating a voltage signal
The present invention is generally directed to an efficient voltage transforming and regulating device based on a High Frequency (HF) transformer and a HF Electromagnetic Voltage Regulator (HFEVR) serially connected to the transformer's coil(s). The transforming and regulating device of the invention efficiently transforms and stabilizes an input power source without requiring filtering stages. The regulation of a voltage signal according to the present invention is carried out by utilizing one or more HFEVRs of the invention which comprise a coil magnetically coupled to an electromagnet, wherein said HFEVRs are connected to the primary and/or secondary coil(s) of a voltage transformer via their coils, and wherein the voltage over the primary and/or secondary coil(s) of said transformer is regulated by adjusting the value of the reactive resistance of said coils of said HFEVRs by suitable control signal provided to the their electromagnets. |
| US07684213B2 |
CRU interlocking EMI shield
An EMI shield apparatus for connecting to a CRU frame, a memory unit emitting EMI through a periphery of the CRU frame, the EMI shield apparatus comprising a shield base, a plurality of sides bordering the shield base for blocking EMI emitted from a portion of the periphery of the CRU frame, and a plurality of tabs connected to at least one of the plurality of sides for blocking EMI emitted from the corners of the periphery of the CRU frame when the plurality of sides are in a compressed condition. |
| US07684210B2 |
Card unit, device unit, card attaching/detaching method and electronic apparatus
A card unit on which a card attached to a connector and detached from it is loaded has a frame, which is loaded with the card and is expanded and contracted, and an attaching/detaching mechanism which attaches the card to the connector and detaches the card from the connector by expanding and contracting the frame. The attaching/detaching mechanism has a rotatable attaching/detaching lever which makes the frame expand and contract by its rotational operation. A maintaining part (maintaining surface parts) is provided, and the frame is maintained at a position, at which the card is disengaged from the connector, by the maintaining part. |
| US07684209B2 |
Printed circuit board engagement assembly
In one embodiment a computer system comprises a housing, a backplane coupled to the housing, and at least one floor plate comprising an engagement assembly to connect a printed circuit board assembly to the backplane, wherein the engagement assembly utilizes a single mechanical force lever to secure the printed circuit board assembly to the backplane. |
| US07684208B2 |
Adapter blade for a blade server system chassis
A system chassis includes multiple chassis bays configured for receiving either of a single, conventional server blade or an adapter blade. The adapter blade can selectively secure a plurality of compact blades, such as a blade PC. The adapter blade includes a blade latch for selectively releasing the adapter blade from the chassis bay, wherein the presence of a compact blade enclosure within any of the plurality of adapter bays of the adapter blade prevents the latch from being operable to release the adapter blade. The compact blade preferably includes a latch disposed along an upper or lower edge of the blade for selectively releasing the compact blade enclosure from the adapter bay. The adapter blade preferably also includes an interposer disposed for electronically communicating each compact blade with a server interface a separate node upon securing a compact blade within any of the adapter bays. |
| US07684207B2 |
Composite electronic component
A composite electronic component includes a multilayer wiring block having a plurality of insulating layers and a wiring pattern, and a chip-type electronic component built-in multilayer block having a plurality of insulating payers and a wiring pattern and including a first chip-type electronic component. The multilayer wiring block and the chip-type electronic component built-in multilayer block are electrically interconnected and arranged on substantially the same plane. |
| US07684205B2 |
System and method of using a compliant lead interposer
The present invention relates to a compliant leaded interposer for resiliently attaching and electrically connecting a ball grid array package to a circuit board. The interposer may include a substrate, a plurality of pads, and a plurality of pins. The plurality of pads may be positioned substantially on the top surface of the substrate and arranged in a predetermined pattern substantially corresponding to the solder ball pattern on the ball grid array package. The plurality of pins may be positioned substantially perpendicular to the substrate and may extend through the substrate and the plurality of pads. The interposer may be configured to attach the ball grid array package to the circuit board such that each of the solder balls on the ball grid array package contacts at least a portion the plurality of pins and at least a portion of the plurality of pads and such that the each of the plurality of pins also connects to a contact on the circuit board. |
| US07684191B1 |
Self-retaining vibration isolating fan mount assembly
A fan assembly for an electronic device is provided. The assembly comprises a fan housing, at least one bracket member, and at least one retention peg. The fan housing defines a recess therein for directing heat away from a electrical components positioned within the electronic device. The bracket member supports the fan housing within the electronic device. The retention peg is disposed about the bracket member and includes a plurality of ribs for insertion into the recess to retain the bracket member to the fan housing. |
| US07684190B2 |
Heat sink with non-uniform fins and transverse protrusion
A heat sink includes a generally rectangular flat base, a plurality of fins provided on the surface of the base in parallel to each other, a protrusion provided on the surface of the base along substantially the overall width of the base in the transverse direction to the fins. The fins become gradually shorter on one end side of the base. The ends of the fins are arranged on an oblique line with respect to a line perpendicular to the fins. |
| US07684188B2 |
Media base security device and method of use
A media base security device and method of use is disclosed. According to one aspect, a media base security device can include a lock rod mechanism coupled to a portion of a media base housing including a security lock aperture operable to receive a security lock. The media base security device can also include a release lever accessible external to the housing. The release lever can be operable to release the media base housing when coupled to a portable computer system. The release lever can include a lock rod seat operable to engage a lock rod extending from the lock rod mechanism in response to locking the security lock. |
| US07684173B2 |
Optical guiding device and backlight module using same
An exemplary optical guiding device for optically coupling a plurality of light beams having at least one laser beam, includes a light coupling lens, a light collimating lens, and an optical fiber. The light coupling lens and the light collimating lens are positioned apart along an optical path. The optical fiber is optically coupled to the light couple lens. External laser beam introduced by the optical fiber are optically coupled by the light coupling lens for collimating and mixing the light beams, then collimated by the at least one light collimating lens, and finally emitting out. A backlight module using the optical guiding device with colored semiconductor lasers and light transferring device are also provided. The backlight module has a good color performance, such as high color saturation. |
| US07684170B2 |
Multi-layer capacitor and integrated circuit module
A multi-layer capacitor includes several electrically insulating layers that are stacked on top of one another. Parallel electrode plates are arranged between the insulating layers alternately one on top of the other, with each of the plates being separated by an intervening insulating layer. At least one first connecting line which extends perpendicularly through the layers is connected to one set of electrode plates and is insulated in relation to the other set of second electrode plates. Similarly, second connecting lines extend perpendicularly through the layers and are connected to the other set of plates and are insulated in relation to the one set of plates. The first connecting line extends centrally through the stacked electrode plates and is designed to carry a high-frequency signal. |
| US07684168B2 |
Constant current relay driver with controlled sense resistor
The present teachings generally include a method of controlling a relay. The method generally includes momentarily initiating a pull-in pulse when an input signal indicates a first state. A sense resistor controller is activated based on the pull-in pulse. A current flow is controlled to bypass a sense resistor and flow to the relay based on the activation of the sense resistor controller. The relay is controlled based on the current flow. |
| US07684164B2 |
Automatic power-off protection apparatus
An automatic power-off protection apparatus includes an alternating current (AC) input; an AC output connected to the AC input via power wires that comprises a naught wire and a live wire; a switching unit for enabling and disabling a connection between the AC input and the AC output; a first pair of coupling coils for producing a first induced AC voltage; a second pair of coupling coil for a second induced AC voltage; an operational amplifier for amplifying a voltage difference between induced voltages across the first secondary coil and the second secondary coil; a first and second comparator for comparing the amplified voltage difference with a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage respectively. The automatic power-off protection apparatus cuts off the path between the AC input and the AC output when detecting current leaks. |
| US07684160B1 |
Magnetoresistive structure having a novel specular and barrier layer combination
A method and system for providing a magnetoresistive structure is disclosed. The magnetoresistive structure includes a pinned layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer, a free layer, a specular layer, a barrier layer, and a capping layer. The spacer layer resides between the pinned layer and the free layer. The free layer is electrically conductive and resides between the specular layer and the nonmagnetic spacer layer. The specular layer is adjacent to the free layer and includes at least one of titanium oxide, yttrium oxide, hafnium oxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, nickel oxide, iron oxide, zirconium oxide, niobium oxide, and tantalum oxide. The barrier layer resides between the specular layer and the capping layer. The barrier layer is nonmagnetic and includes a first material. The capping layer includes a second material different from the first material. |
| US07684159B2 |
Magnetic head device provided with lead electrode electrically connected to upper shield layer and lower shield layer
A lower shield layer and an upper shield layer are formed to have a planar shape, and a detecting element is provided between the lower shield layer and the upper shield layer. End faces of the upper shield layer may extend farther in a depthwise direction from a surface facing a recording medium than end faces of the lower shield layer. A lower conductive electrode may be disposed directly adjacent to a facing inner surface of the lower shield layer. An upper conductive electrode may be disposed adjacent to a portion of the upper shield layer. Therefore, the lower shield layer and the upper conductive electrode may be insulated from each other. |
| US07684158B1 |
Electromagnetic heads, flexures, gimbals and actuators formed on and from a wafer substrate
Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time. |
| US07684156B2 |
Disk drive apparatus
According to one embodiment of the invention, a disk drive apparatus includes a case, a disk-shaped recording medium, a drive motor, a head, a head actuator, and a latch mechanism configured to latch the head actuator and hold the head actuator at a retracted position when the head actuator receives an external force. A latch member of the latch mechanism is arranged to be movable between a latch position and a release position and has an abutment portion, which abuts the head actuator when the head actuator moves from the information processing position to the retracted position, and a latch claw which latches the head actuator. The abutment portion has a first abutment portion, which abuts the head actuator first, and a second abutment portion, which abuts the head actuator following the first abutment portion, and the first abutment portion being formed less rigid than the second abutment portion. |
| US07684153B2 |
Magnetic head slider with ground and heater terminal arrangement and magnetic head assembly
Crosstalk from a write signal on wiring on a suspension needs to be reduced since an ESD withstand voltage is decreased due to high sensitivity of a GMR head. In one embodiment, a terminal arrangement on an element-forming surface of a magnetic head slider consists of a ground terminal G, a read terminal R+, a read terminal R−, a write terminal W+ and a write terminal W− in order from the outside. With this terminal arrangement, the wiring order on a suspension consists of a read wire R−, a read wire R+, a ground line G, a write wire W− and a write wire W+ in an arrangement unlike the terminal arrangement. In other words, the ground line G is interposed between the write wires W and the read wires R. In this way, the wiring of the write wire W and the wiring of the read wire R are never arranged adjacently to each other, and further, the ground line G is interposed between the write wires W and the read wires R, thereby reducing crosstalk on the read wires R caused by a writing current with a high frequency which flows in the write wires W. |
| US07684152B2 |
Method of mitigating eccentricity in a disk drive with DTR media
A disk drive with DTR media and method of assembly is described. The method may include aligning a discrete track recording (DTR) track pattern center on a DTR disk with a rotational center of a spindle hub and mounting the DTR disk on the spindle hub to minimize eccentricity. After the DTR disk is mounted to the spindle hub, it may be rotated to a designed rotational speed and the mass imbalance of the rotating DTR disk/spindle hub may be measured. The mass imbalance may be mitigated using a mechanical component such as a counter weight coupled to a spindle rotatable component, for example, the spindle hub, a spacer assembly, a clamp assembly, etc. The method may mitigate the eccentricity associated with DTR media and minimize run-out due to the mass imbalance of an otherwise rotated DTR disk/hub aligned for eccentricity correction. |
| US07684151B2 |
Soft magnetic film and method of manufacturing same, thin-film magnetic head and method of manufacturing same, head arm assembly and magnetic disk drive
A pole layer of a magnetic head incorporates a soft magnetic film made of an iron-cobalt-nickel-base alloy. When the total of the iron, cobalt and nickel contents of the soft magnetic film is assumed as 100 weight percent, the iron content of the soft magnetic film is within a range of 42 to 90 weight percent inclusive, the cobalt content thereof is within a range of 0 to 48 weight percent inclusive, and the nickel content thereof is within a range of 10 to 20 weight percent inclusive. The soft magnetic film has a crystal structure that is a mixed crystal of a body-centered cubic structure phase and a face-centered cubic structure phase. The soft magnetic film is manufactured by performing electroplating using a plating current whose direction is alternately switched. |
| US07684150B2 |
Recording head for reducing side track erasure
The present invention relates to a head having an air bearing surface for confronting the surface of a storage medium. The head includes a first pole that is spaced apart from a second pole. At least one non-magnetic spacer is positioned between the first pole and the second pole such that the first pole is magnetically decoupled from the second pole. In a further aspect, one or both of the first pole and the second pole can be elliptical in shape. |
| US07684141B2 |
Determining a reel motor angle using an estimated interval to degrees translation factor
Provided are techniques for determining a reel motor angle. An estimate of an interval to degrees translation factor that represents a measurement angle interval divided by a first pulse count is calculated, wherein the first pulse count represents format transitions counted during an angular measurement interval. A reel motor angle is determined using the estimate by: receiving an indication that a rotating reference point has crossed a stationary reference point, wherein the indication is recognized as indicating that an angle between a motor rotor and a motor stator is a reference angle; determining a second pulse count, wherein the second pulse count represents format transitions counted since the indication was received to a given point in time; and at the given point in time, multiplying the second pulse count by the estimate to generate a first value and adding the reference angle to the first value to generate the reel motor angle. |
| US07684137B2 |
Lens barrel, optical device and method for manufacturing lens barrel
A lens barrel includes a first barrel, a second barrel having an inner face facing an outer face of the first barrel, and a circuit board supported by the second barrel. The circuit board is provided between the first barrel and the second barrel. The circuit board comprises a first circuit board and a second circuit board, the first circuit board is provided as substantially parallel with an optical axis of the optical system, the first circuit board and the second circuit board are provided at a crossing direction. |
| US07684136B2 |
Driving system and optical-element driving system
A driving system for driving an optical element in a first direction includes a linear actuator for producing a displacement in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a displacement picking unit being extendable in a third direction, perpendicular to both of the first and second directions, for picking out a displacement of the linear actuator, and a direction converting unit disposed at the third-direction side of the linear actuator, for converting a direction of the displacement picked out by the displacement picking unit. |
| US07684131B2 |
Method and a device for positioning an element in an optical system
The disclosure generally relates to methods, devices, systems and components configured to position an element in a lens assembly, such as a lens assembly for microlithography, in which the element to be positioned is moved from an actual position to a target position via at least one actuator, and in which at least the positioning movement of the actuator is superimposed with an oscillating movement. |
| US07684130B2 |
Lens device
A lens device includes a seat unit, a swingable lens module having a guide member, a rotatable cam unit, first and second biasing components, and a first lens module. The swingable lens module is movable relative to the seat unit along an optical axis while the guide member is biased by the first biasing component to abut against a spiral guide surface of the rotatable cam unit. The swingable lens module is pivotable relative to the seat unit about a pivot pin that extends parallel to the optical axis with the guide member being pushed by a pushing surface of the rotatable cam unit to a retreating position, and is biased by a second biasing component toward a retracting position. The first lens module is disposed at one side of the swingable lens module opposite to the seat unit along the optical axis. |
| US07684120B2 |
Optical product and method of manufacturing the optical product
An optical product that is a cross dichroic prism formed by putting together vertexes forming right angles of a first prism element, a second prism element, a third prism element, and a fourth prism element made of glass that have a shape of a right isosceles triangle right prism and joining respective optical sides adjacent to one another among optical sides orthogonal to one another via dichroic films made of multilayer films, wherein, when a section between the optical side of the first prism element and the optical side of the second prism element is set as a first junction, a section between the optical side of the second prism element and the optical side of the third prism element is set as a second junction, a section between the optical side of the third prism element and the optical side of the fourth prism element is set as a third junction, and a section between the optical side of the fourth prism element and the optical side of the first prism element is set as a fourth junction, an uppermost layer of the dichroic film provided on the optical side of any one of the first to the fourth junctions is made of a silicon oxide layer and the silicon oxide layer of the uppermost layer of the dichroic film and the optical side are joined according to an optical contact method. |
| US07684119B2 |
Device for homogenizing light
A device for homogenizing light contains at least one optically functional surface through which light to be homogenized can pass and a plurality of concave and convex cylindrical lenses which are disposed in an alternating fashion one next to the other on the at least one optically functional surface. The device further has at least one first embodiment and at least one second embodiment, different from the at least one first embodiment, of transitions between the concave and the convex cylindrical lenses. Wherein the transitions between the concave and the convex cylindrical lenses are configured such that partial beams of the light to be homogenized, which have passed through different embodiments of the transitions between the concave and the convex cylindrical lenses, have an optical path difference with respect to one another, which contributes to the reduction of interference effects in the homogenized light. |
| US07684114B2 |
Scope with improved magnification system
Various embodiments described herein include a scope for a firearm having a large range of zoom. The scope comprising a movable zoom selector for adjusting magnification of an image viewed through the scope. The scope further includes an objective, an ocular, and an erector assembly positioned between the objective and ocular. The erector assembly includes at least three optical elements movable relative to one another in response to operation of the zoom selector. |
| US07684110B2 |
High frequency acousto-optic frequency shifter having wide acceptance angle
An acousto-optic (AO) frequency shifter includes an anisotropic crystal having an optical axis and an input face, and an acoustic transducer having electrodes affixed to the face for receiving an electrical signal and projecting an acoustic wave into the crystal. The anisotropic crystal is cut relative to the face so that the transducer is at an acoustic angle (θa) corresponding to a predetermined angle of incidence (θi) of an optical beam to be directed relative to the optic axis of the anisotropic crystal to substantially satisfy the parallel tangents phase matching condition. |
| US07684104B2 |
MEMS using filler material and method
Described is an apparatus, method for manufacturing, and systems comprising a MEMS device, for example, an interferometric modulator, comprising a substrate, a movable mirror, a deformable layer, and a support structure. In some embodiments, the support structure comprises a plurality of support posts. A connector secures the movable mirror secured to the deformable layer. At least one of the connector and the support post is a composite comprising a first component and a second component, where at the first component forms at least a portion of at least one of the perimeter of the connector and support post. |
| US07684103B2 |
Controllably dissolving spacing member and associated electrochromic device and method for manufacturing the same
An electrochromic device including a first substantially transparent substrate having an electrically conductive material associated therewith; a second substrate having an electrically conductive material associated therewith; an electrochromic medium contained within a chamber positioned between the first and second substrates which includes at least one solvent, at least one anodic material, and at least one cathodic material, wherein the first and second substrates are substantially uniformly spaced apart by a spacing member comprising a non-polymeric material which substantially dissolves upon association with the at least one solvent. |
| US07684099B2 |
Optical scanning device and image forming apparatus
In an optical scanning device, a rotational axis of a first rotary polygon mirror and a rotational axis of a second rotary polygon mirror are inclined toward the same side with respect to a direction perpendicular to a reference plane inclusive of each of center axes of a first member to be scanned and a second member to be scanned, as viewed in directions of the center axes of the first member to be scanned and the second member to be scanned. As a consequence, a width in an arrangement direction of a plurality of rotary polygon mirrors can be reduced, thus achieving miniaturization without degrading a quality of an image in an image forming apparatus. |
| US07684096B2 |
Automatic color correction for sequences of images
Automatic color correction is applied to a scene or clip, including a sequence of images, in a motion picture by selecting a representative image of the scene, analyzing the image and adjusting parameters of a color correction operation that is performed on the sequence of images included in the scene. This operation can be repeated automatically for all scenes or for selected scenes in the motion picture. The parameters may be adjusted to automatically color balance the image while maintaining substantially constant contrast. Analysis of the representative image may include identifying an offset of a peak in a two-dimensional histogram of the colors in the representative image from a white point. Parameters of a color correction operation are adjusted according to this offset. Separate histograms and offsets may be determined for shadows, midtones and highlight regions of the representative image. Analysis of the representative image may include determining a one-dimensional histogram of the luminance information in the representative image. The darkest level and the brightest level in the image are used to balance the image. In particular, the histograms for color channels in the image, such as red, green and blue, are adjusted to match the darkest level and brightest level identified by the luminance histogram. |
| US07684088B2 |
Method for preventing counterfeiting or alteration of a printed or engraved surface
The invention describes a process to prevent counterfeiting or alteration of a printed or engraved surface, characterized by the incorporation of a signature of the form of a digital mark into parts or the entire document, and in particular a digital mark technology to hide information in an invisible way through over-printing by using a method called asymmetric amplitude modulation. This method can be applied to any type of printed material such paper, packaging, or any other surface. Visible information can also be printed over the digital mark. As an application example, applied to a paper document the digital mark can be used to guarantee the document authenticity, as it would be destroyed by a copy process. |
| US07684086B2 |
Bleed creation for documents
Apparatus are provided, including a document application and a bleed creation mechanism. The bleed creation mechanism includes an image extender to automatically determine non-blank extended image information based on a location of a blank perimeter area of a page description language (PDL) file. The image extender further populates the blank perimeter area with the non-blank extended image information. |
| US07684082B2 |
Method and system for compensating for thermochromaticity differences in inline spectrophotometers
An algorithmic method is identified for compensating for thermochromaticity errors in insitu spectral color measurements of a color printing device. A difference is mapped between spectral measurements of a printed color generated by the color printing device measured at a first or hot temperature and at a second or cool ambient temperature where the mapping comprises a referenceable characteristic of the color printing device. The spectrophotometric measurement of a hot color is compared with colors obtained with thermochromaticity compensation matrix to assess if the measured color corresponds to the desired color which will result when cooled to ambient temperature. |
| US07684080B2 |
Accommodating creative white point
Methods and apparatus implementing and using techniques for white balancing image data while performing chromatic adaptation. A creative white point corresponding to a visual appearance of white selected for projection of image data can be obtained. A color transform for converting the image data to a device-independent color space can be obtained. A chromatic adaptation matrix can be calculated based on the creative white point and a reference white point. A color profile for white balancing of the image data can be prepared to include the color transform and the chromatic adaptation matrix. |
| US07684072B2 |
Image forming apparatus and method for changing print priorities
A method and apparatus of providing a level of priority for printing a document in a company having a plurality of departments, which includes receiving a print job for printing at least one document. A department is determined from the plurality of departments which sent the print job, and a priority is assigned to the print job based on the determined department. After the print job has been printed, a print amount is determined from the determined department during a fixed time interval. The priority assigned to the determined department is lowered if the print amount exceeds a threshold value. |
| US07684068B2 |
Method and system for automatically and transparently archiving documents and document meta data
According to the present invention, an automatic archiving system that makes document archiving largely transparent to the user. In one embodiment, documents scanned in or printed during the course of office equipment operation are automatically archived. For example, an office local area network (LAN) may interconnect a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a document management workstation. Whenever, a document is copied, printed, or faxed, a document image is archived by the document management workstation without further user intervention. A single user command results in the document being copied and archived, printed and archived, or faxed and archived. |
| US07684065B2 |
Unauthorized copy preventing system, unauthorized copy preventing method, unauthorized copy preventing program and computer-readable information recording medium
An unauthorized copy preventing system for preventing unauthorized copy of an image in an image forming apparatus which carries out image forming, by carrying out predetermined processing on digital image information, includes: a digital signal processor for image processing configured to carry out predetermined image processing on an input image; a digital signal processor for security processing configured to produce an unauthorized copy determination result for determining whether or not unauthorized copy is being carried out on the image having undergone the image processing by the digital signal processor for image processing; and a digital signal processor control device configured to control the digital signal processor for image processing and the digital signal processor for security processing and prevent unauthorized copy. |
| US07684063B2 |
Image processing method and apparatus, storage medium and program for achieving concordance between print colors and display colors
Main actual color is reproduced unsatisfactory in some cases according to prior art. An image processing method is provided in which the component values of hue, saturation and lightness of an image represented by image data are independently changed. The hue change amount is made different at each hue angle, the saturation change amount is made different for each hue angle and each saturation value, and the lightness change amount is made different at each hue angle. |
| US07684061B2 |
Electronic component mounting apparatus, height detection method for electronic component, and optical-axis adjustment method for component height detection unit
An electronic component mounting apparatus includes a beam projector for projecting a laser beam, a beam receiver which is placed in opposition to the beam projector and which receives a laser beam projected from the beam projector, a light-reception-sensitivity setting unit for adjusting light-reception sensitivity of the beam receiver, a projection-side orifice provided in the beam projector to narrow a projection spot diameter of the laser beam, and a reception-side orifice provided in the beam receiver to narrow a light-reception spot diameter, where the light-reception sensitivity of the beam receiver is improved. As a result, an electronic component mounting apparatus capable of accurately detecting height size of small components by using a relatively inexpensive photoelectric sensor can be provided. |
| US07684060B2 |
Quality-control method for laminated-foil packaging system
In a sealing machine a pair of juxtaposed foils are sealed together at web regions having oppositely directed outer surfaces between a pair of dies, at least one of which is formed with an array of bumps that taper outwardly toward a respective one of the outer surfaces. The bumps press into the one outer surface and form therein permanent cavities of a predetermined imprint depth so as to bond together the foils at the web region. A quality of seal is determined by measuring after formation of the cavities surface features of the cavities at a level of the one outer surface of the respective foil, and calculating based on the measured surface features an imprint depth of the cavity. |