| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US07849526B2 |
Odorless toilet
A toilet is provided which transports malodorous air from the bowl to the sewer line. The tank of the toilet is equipped with a fan which draws air from the bowl through the flush holes, located in the rim of the bowl, into a sealed fan box. An intake tube is used to channel air from the water inlet to the fan box, which leaves the overflow tube unobstructed. Air is diverted out of the fan box through an exit tube which attaches to the siphon at a point behind the water trap. A damper door disposed between the exit tube and intake tube prevents stale air from the siphon or sewer from entering the bowl or tank and escaping. |
| US07854014B2 |
Media enclosure with access to product information
A method and apparatus for allowing evaluation of digital content stored on a computer readable medium without unsealing an enclosure containing the medium. The storage medium containing this first digital content is disposed within an enclosure along with non-volatile memory hardware containing second digital content preferably related to the first digital content. The enclosure is sealed to prevent access to the first digital content. However, the non-volatile memory hardware may communicate with the external device without breaking the seal on the enclosure, such as through a communication port or via wireless transmission. Accordingly, the consumer may access the second digital content as a preview of the first digital content prior to unsealing the enclosure or package. |
| US07854011B2 |
Method of managing digital rights
A method of managing digital rights in a network without a central license server where each instance of the program broadcasts its identification into the network, and any instance of the program detecting its own license code from another node closes down. A closing program may also generate a close down message to the conflicting program. |
| US07854009B2 |
Method of securing access to IP LANs
Protection against spoofing is provided in a LAN having at least two service classes, where one service class includes allows access to the LAN, the internet, and the intranet containing the LAN and a more limited service class which allows access to the LAN and the internet but not the intranet databases. A user gains access to the LAN using his or her ID which identifies the user's access level. To prevent limited access users from gaining access to the intranet by changing addresses, the system continuously performs periodic checks for address changes. If there is an address change, the port assigned to, or used by the user, is disabled throwing the user off the LAN prior to his or her obtaining the requested data. |
| US07854006B1 |
Differential virus scan
Differential scanning is disclosed. A scan collection period is determined. A system is monitored to detect object events during the scan collection period, and a scan list may be updated with information regarding objects to be scanned, based on some of the object events. Objects are scanned based on the information in the scan list. Information regarding objects associated with object events occurring outside the scan collection period may be removed from the scan list. |
| US07854002B2 |
Pattern matching for spyware detection
Spyware programs are detected even if their binary code is modified by normalizing the available code and comparing to known spyware patterns. Upon normalizing the known spyware code patterns, a signature of the normalized code is generated. Similar normalization techniques are employed to reduce the executable binary code as well. A match between the normalized spyware signature and the patterns in the normalized executable code is analyzed to determine whether the executable code includes a known spyware. For pattern matching, Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA) is constructed for basic blocks and simulated on the basic blocks of target executable, hash codes are generated for instructions in target code and known spyware code and compared, register usages are replaced with common variables and compared, and finally Direct Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) of all blocks are constructed and compared to catch reordering of mutually independent instructions and renamed variables. |
| US07854000B2 |
Method and system for addressing attacks on a computer connected to a network
A method for addressing attacks on a computer connected to a network includes receiving at a router a TCP SYN request to be screened. The method also includes comparing the received TCP SYN request to be screened to at least one stored tuple representative of one or more SYN requests previously received at the router and determining that the received TCP SYN request to be screened matches the stored tuple. In response to determining that the received TCP SYN request to be screened matches the stored tuple, the TCP SYN+ACK response is prevented from being sent by the router in response to the TCP SYN request to be screened. |
| US07853995B2 |
Short-lived certificate authority service
An integrated authentication service is described which may receive a bundled request from one or more clients. One or more of the described techniques may be utilized to provide, in response to a single bundled request, a token for proof of identity and a certificate for establishing secure communications. |
| US07853993B2 |
Integrated access authorization
A facility for performing an access control check as an integral component of an operating system and utilizing a centralized policy store is provided. The facility executes as an integral part of an operating system executing on a computer and receives an authorization query to determine whether a principal has authorization to access a resource. The facility applies a policy maintained in a centralized policy store that is applicable to the principal to determine whether authorization exists to access the resource. If authorization does not exist, the facility denies the authorization query and records an indication of the denial of the authorization in an audit log. The facility may trigger events based on the auditing of authorization queries. The facility may also record an indication of authorization to access the resource in the audit log. The facility may additionally determine whether the authorization query is a request for authorization to perform an inherently dangerous operation, and record an indication of an authorization to perform the inherently dangerous operation in the audit log. |
| US07853988B2 |
State saver/restorer for a geospatial decision management system
A geospatial decision management system (GDMS) can save the overall state of a user's experience at one point in time within a GDMS session so that the user can restore the overall state at a later time, such as by restoring a geospatial browser view (e.g., camera settings for rending the map on the display screen, layer state information, map location) and restoring the states of one or more instances of geospatially-referenced tools that were active at the time of the state save. Upon restore, the browser and tools are initialized with their saved states so that the user is presented with the same functionality, data, and browser view that were displayed and accessible at the time of the state save. Saved states are transportable and can also be sequenced and animated to allow presentation of a slide show of individual GDMS views. |
| US07853987B2 |
Policy language and state machine model for dynamic authorization in physical access control
An automaton capable of providing an access control decision upon receiving an access control request is produced by processing context based access control policies specified in a formal descriptive language, and by converting the context based access control policies to the automaton. |
| US07853983B2 |
Communicating data from a data producer to a data receiver
A computer architecture for enterprise device applications provides a real-time, bi-directional communication layer for device communication. An identity-based communications layer provides for secure, end-to-end telemetry and control communications by enabling mutual authentication and encryption between the devices and the enterprise. A unique identity is assigned to each device, user and application to provide security services. Telemetry data is communicated between a data producing device and a data receiving device. The telemetry data sent from the data producing device is identified using the identity identifier of the data producing device. |
| US07853976B2 |
Method for identifying extender text table of electronic program guide in digital TV
A digital television (DTV) receiver and a decoding method are discussed. According to an embodiment, the DTV receiver includes: a receiving unit for receiving a digital broadcasting signal including a plurality of extended text tables (ETTs) that appear in transport stream packets having common PID values, each ETT comprising a section header and a message body, wherein the section header contains a table identification extension field that serves to establish uniqueness of each ETT, and wherein the message body includes an extended text message (ETM) which provides detailed descriptions of a virtual channel or an event associated with each ETT; and a program and system information protocol (PSIP) decoder for detecting the table identification extension field to determine uniqueness of each ETT and detecting at least one pertinent ETT from the plurality of ETTs using the determined uniqueness of each ETT. |
| US07853972B2 |
Media preview user interface
A menu having menu items is arranged in an interface environment. A first abstraction is arranged proximate to the menu, the first abstraction being based on a highlighted menu item. A second abstraction is transitioned into the interface environment upon the occurrence of an event, the second abstraction being proximate to the menu. |
| US07853970B2 |
Method for selective display of television programmes
As television programs increases, it becomes necessary to find means for rapidly accessing the users' preferred programs. Furthermore, television programs are addressed to different types of users such as children and adults. The proposed system processes a program grid comprising at a higher level the whole information on programs and at a lower level, information specific to a users group as well as parameters defining a user profile. The parameters are divided into several sets of parameters, each set corresponding to a filter layer allowing selecting a category or categories of required information. The first layer, defining a global restrictive filter, is defined by an administrator of the system and the following layers, defining a filter specific to a users group and containing filtering short commands, are defined by at least one member of the users group. |
| US07853966B2 |
Optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus with protection shield
According to another aspect, an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes a frame, a spindle motor, a pair of parallel guide rails, an optical pickup head, and a shield mounted on the guide rails. The shield extends a protection surface higher than a lens of the optical pickup head. The protection surface is in an optical disc region and lowers than the optical disc when the optical disc is supported on the spindle motor. |
| US07853965B2 |
Disk drive
A disk drive includes: a cartridge holder that holds a disk cartridge including a disk, and has a holder opening, through which the cartridge is inserted and ejected; two guide walls arranged near the holder opening to define a direction in which the cartridge is inserted; a disk motor for rotating the disk mounted; a head for reading and/or writing information from/on the disk; a base for supporting the head and motor; first and second guide grooves cut through the holder; and first and second guide members movable along the first and second grooves, respectively, and engaging with respective portions of the cartridge. The first and second guide members move along the first and second grooves, respectively, and engage with the cartridge so as to leave a gap narrower than a gap between the walls when the cartridge is inserted but to leave a gap broader than the gap between the walls when the drive gets loaded with the cartridge, thereby opening a window in the cartridge so as to allow the head to access the disk and allow the disk motor to mount the disk. |
| US07853958B2 |
Virtual machine monitor management from a management service processor in the host processing platform
A management service processor to provide management of virtual machine monitoring is described. In one example, an event on a computer system is monitored at a sensor of a management system residing on the computer system. A record of the event is generated in a generic data format. The event is signaled to the management system, and the record is sent to an event routing service of the management system. |
| US07853955B2 |
Method and system for identifying program module functionality needed by a computer when disconnected from a network
Identifying program module functionality needed by a computer when disconnected from a network is disclosed. A document identification engine (DIE) creates a list of files stored locally on the computer. The DIE sends the list of files to a document mapping engine (DME). The DME identifies a proper handler routine for each file in the list of files and sends each file to the proper handler routine(s). The handler routine(s) identifies the application functionality needed to execute each file. The application functionality may include products, features and components. A migration engine (ME) determines the current status of the needed application functionality. If the status of the needed application functionality indicates that the needed application functionality is not installed locally on the computer, then the ME installs the needed application functionality to the computer. |
| US07853954B2 |
Method and apparatus for preserving the context of tasks during task switching in a pipeline architecture
A microprocessor executes programs in a pipeline architecture including a task register management unit that, if a switch instruction to a second task is issued when a plurality of units executes a first task, switches a value of a task register to second register information that is used when the second task is executed after the execution of the first task is completed and a task manager that switches a value of a task identification information register to a second task identifier after the value is switched to the second register information, and grants each of the plurality of units permission to execute the second task. |
| US07853952B2 |
Dynamic partitioning of network resources
Methods and apparatuses allowing for dynamic partitioning of a network resource among a plurality of users. In one embodiment, the invention involves recognizing new users of a network resource; creating user partitions on demand for new users, wherein the user partition is operable to allocate a portion of a network resource; and, reclaiming inactive user partitions for subsequent new users. |
| US07853950B2 |
Executing multiple threads in a processor
Provided are a method, system, and program for executing multiple threads in a processor. Credits are set for a plurality of threads executed by the processor. The processor alternates among executing the threads having available credit. The processor decrements the credit for one of the threads in response to executing the thread and initiates an operation to reassign credits to the threads in response to depleting all the thread credits. |
| US07853947B2 |
System for virtualizing access to named system objects using rule action associated with request
A method for virtualizing access to named system objects includes the step of receiving a request to access a system object from a process executing in the context of a user isolation scope, the request including a virtual name for the system object. A rule associated with the request is determined and a literal name for the system object is formed in response to the determined rule. A request to access the system object is issued to the operating system. The issued request including the literal name for the system object. |
| US07853942B2 |
Siebel SPF template file update utility
The present invention is directed to a Siebel SPF template file update utility. A method for updating a template file in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: obtaining a template file, an existing row_id, and a target row_id; scanning the template file for section markers; locating an encoded length of a section of the template file using a section marker; decoding the encoded length of the section to obtain a section length; reading the section in its entirety using the section length; scanning the section to locate each instance of the existing row_id; replacing each instance of the existing row_id with the target row_id; and recalculating and re-encoding the section length. This process is repeated for each additional section marker. |
| US07853940B1 |
Creating a reference using tracking data
Creating a reference to data used to construct a computer-aided design model includes storing model data with tracking data, where the tracking data identifies the model data. A reference is created and the tracking data is associated with the reference to enable the reference to refer to the model data. A modeling operation is executed, which retrieves the tracking data associated with the reference, traverses a data structure defining the computer-aided design model while attempting to match the tracking data associated with the reference to the tracking data stored with the model data, and returns geometric data stored in the model data. |
| US07853939B2 |
Device-aware content delivery
A system for device-aware content delivery includes a distributor and a database. The distributor includes modules for determining the type of portable computing device and delivering content that is operable on the specific type of portable computing device and uses the unique capabilities of the identified portable computing device. The database includes different profiles for different portable computing devices and gives information that allows those portable computing devices to be identified by type and distinguished from each other portable computing devices during a discovery or interrogation phase. The database also stores different versions of content adapted for operation on specific device types, such that once the device type has been identified, the matching content can be sent to the portable computing device, installed and executed. The matching content is programmatic action specific to the portable computing device. The present invention also includes a number of novel methods including: a method device-aware content delivery, a general method for automatically determining a device type, a method for determining device type using a Bluetooth® protocol and a method for determining a device type using an infrared device access protocol. |
| US07853937B2 |
Object-oriented, parallel language, method of programming and multi-processor computer
This invention relates to architecture and synchronization of multi-processor computing hardware. It establishes a new method of programming, process synchronization, and of computer construction, named stress-flow by the inventor, allowing benefits of both opposing legacy concepts of programming (namely of both data-flow and control flow) within one cohesive, powerful, object-oriented scheme. This invention also relates to construction of object-oriented, parallel computer languages, script and visual, together with compiler construction and method to write programs to be executed in fully parallel (or multi-processor) architectures, virtually parallel, and single-processor multitasking computer systems. |
| US07853936B2 |
Compilation of nested regular expressions
A method for string matching includes accepting an input regular expression comprising one or more nested references to respective referenced regular expressions. The nested references in the input regular expression are replaced with the respective referenced regular expressions, so as to provide a modified regular expression that does not contain nested references. The modified regular expression is matched to a target string. |
| US07853935B2 |
Method for providing networked engineering tool services
A method and system for generating programming code and/or configuration data for programmable controller and the networks on which they operate is disclosed. In one embodiment, programming code is generated on a centralized server having a web-enabled engineering tool. The engineering tool operates on client devices that are in communication with the server over a network, such as the Internet. Preferably, the engineering tool runs in a browser application (or other network-interfacing-application) on the client device and a user generates the programming code on the server with the aid of the client device. By centralizing the engineering tool, which may contain a configuration editor and a configuration management tool having version management functionality, a new business paradigm for providing engineering tool services to customers having programmable controllers. In addition, new methods and tools for collaborative engineering of programming code are enabled. |
| US07853931B2 |
System and method for automatically generating flow diagrams
A method and system automatically generate a flow diagram displaying a process flow between configuration files and application files in a predefined process. An indication of a location of the configuration files and the application files is received. Flow information is extracted from the configuration files and from the application files. The flow diagram displaying a process flow between the configuration files and the application files is then generated. |
| US07853930B2 |
Annotating graphs to allow quick loading and analysis of very large graphs
A method, information processing system, and computer readable medium for annotating graphs to allow for subsequent quick loading and analysis of very large graphs is described. The present invention encompasses a way to order and annotate nodes of a graph into a data stream that allows for optimization of subsequent processing of nodes in later analysis. For example, a very large reference graph representing heap snapshots may be annotated to facilitate post-processing and visualization of the heap for memory leak analysis. In such an example, the present invention reduces the number of objects and references to be modeled in memory, while still capturing the essence of the non-modeled portions. In this example, the present invention may process reference graphs on the scale of one hundred million live objects per snapshot using a computer with one gigabyte of memory. |
| US07853928B2 |
Creating a physical trace from a virtual trace
In an embodiment, virtual trace records are read and physical trace records are created and displayed. The virtual trace records are associated with virtual processors allocated to logical partitions in a logically-partitioned computer system. Each of the virtual trace records has a wait timestamp, specifying a time at which a virtual processor began waiting to be dispatched and a wait time delta, specifying an amount of time that the virtual processor waited to be dispatched. An execute timestamp is created in each of the virtual trace records, which specifies a time at which the virtual processor was dispatched. The virtual trace records are sorted for each of the virtual processors by the execute timestamp. Physical trace records are created based on the sorted virtual trace records. Each physical trace record describes a dispatch of one of the virtual processors to one of the physical processors. |
| US07853926B2 |
Automated context-sensitive operating system switch
An automated technique for switching operating systems, responsive to current context of an executing test scenario. A test designer specifies, in a process control file, a required operating system for appropriate command blocks. A test sequencer packages the required operating system name with each command to be executed, and sends that information to a test listener on a system under test. The test listener remembers the currently-running operating system, and compares that to the required operating system for each command to be executed. If a mismatch occurs, then the correct operating system is not running, and the listener automatically triggers a reboot. |
| US07853924B2 |
Systems and methods for processing non-functional commentary of computer source code
Systems and methods are disclosed for editing pre-existing source code to remove non-functional commentary. In one exemplary embodiment, there is provided a method for processing the pre-existing source code and providing a cleansed version of source code. Moreover, the method includes identifying the non-functional commentary in the pre-existing code; cutting the non-functional commentary from the pre-existing code; and providing an edited version of code absent the non-functional commentary. Other exemplary embodiments may include generating reference information that associates the non-functional commentary with the locations in the pre-existing code from where the non-functional commentary was deleted. |
| US07853918B2 |
Reverse dummy insertion algorithm
A method of inserting dummy patterns includes providing a window area comprising a main pattern. The main pattern includes first patterns of a first type of features, and second patterns of a second type of features. The first and the second types are different types. The method further includes globally inserting first dummy patterns throughout the window area, wherein the first dummy patterns are dummy patterns of the first type of features; enlarging the main pattern to generate an enlarged main pattern, wherein the enlarged main pattern occupies an enlarged region of the window area; removing the portion of the first dummy patterns in the enlarged region from the first dummy patterns to generate first inversed dummy patterns; and combining the first patterns in the main pattern with the first inversed dummy patterns to generate first mask patterns for the first type of features. |
| US07853914B1 |
Fanout-optimization during physical synthesis for placed circuit designs
A method of implementing a circuit design for a target device can include assigning load pins of a high fanout signal of a placed circuit design into a plurality of windows according to a location of each load pin on the target device. A source of the high fanout signal can be replicated, wherein each window is associated with a source of the high fanout signal. For each source of the high fanout signal, the source can be connected to load pins of the window associated with the source and the source can be placed within the window associated with the source. The placed circuit design can be output. |
| US07853909B2 |
ESD analysis device and ESD analysis program used for designing semiconductor device and method of designing semiconductor device
An ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) analysis device includes: a circuit simulation unit; a border cell extraction unit; and a check unit. The circuit simulation unit executes a circuit simulation of design data of a semiconductor integrated circuit including a plurality of circuits of a plurality of power supply systems, to calculate potentials in a plurality of current paths between pads of different two of the plurality of power supply systems, when one of an ESD current and an ESD voltage is applied between the pads. The border cell extraction unit extracts border cells from circuits of the different two of the plurality of power supply systems, wherein the circuits are included in the plurality of circuits, the border cells input and/or output signals between the circuits. The check unit checks an ESD tolerance by calculating a potential difference between the border cells, based on the calculated potentials, the extracted border cells. |
| US07853905B1 |
Performing early DFT-aware prototyping of a design
The present invention relates to performing early design for testing (DFT)-aware prototyping of a design. Unlike prior approaches, the improvement analyzes and considers the impact of test structures at a very early stage of the design process. This allows test structures to be considered and addressed in a more efficient iterative and incremental way, which reduces design cycle time and reduces costs. |
| US07853898B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing image display in a digital image display apparatus
A digital device automatically arranges digital images for display in a stack-based arrangement, wherein images are grouped in multiple stacks according to at least one grouping criterion, and the user can scroll over groups of images. Preferably, the digital device automatically selects a mascot image from each group as the top of the corresponding stack. When the images are displayed using a digital display apparatus, the user can scroll through the mascot images only, without reviewing the other images in each stack. When the user finds a mascot image of interest, he may optionally scroll down the images in the stack. Preferably, images are grouped according to power-on session, and mascots are chosen based on user interaction history. |
| US07853896B2 |
Three-dimensional motion graphical user interface and apparatus and method of providing the same
A three-dimensional motion graphical user interface and an apparatus and a method of providing the same are provided. The apparatus for providing a three-dimensional motion graphical user interface includes a creation module which creates a polyhedral object having a face on which first information to be communicated to a user is displayed; a display module which displays the created polyhedral object; and an interface module which displays second information, which corresponds to a face of the displayed polyhedral object selected by the user, on a projected surface formed separately from the displayed polyhedral object. |
| US07853895B2 |
Control of background media when foreground graphical user interface is invoked
A contents display control system includes: a media type determination unit configured to determine a media type of selected media contents; a contents display parameter adjustment unit operating to generate at least one adjustment value for at least one display parameter of the selected media contents; and a contents display processor configured to control display of the selected media contents in the background when graphical user interface is present in the foreground, the contents display processor controlling the display by appropriately adjusting the at least one display parameter of the selected media contents with the at least one adjustment value for the determined media type. |
| US07853893B2 |
Graphical user interface for browsing, searching and presenting classical works
Improved graphical user interfaces suitable for reviewing, browsing, previewing and/or purchasing media items are also disclosed. The methods and graphical user interfaces are particularly useful for a system that provides purchase and distribution of media in a client-server environment. The graphical user interfaces can be presented to a user at a client (client machine). In one embodiment, the methods and graphical user interfaces can assist users in locating media to be browsed, previewed or purchased. The media can, for example, be audio, video and/or image data. The methods and graphical user interfaces are particularly useful for reviewing, browsing, previewing and/or purchasing classical music. |
| US07853891B2 |
Method and apparatus for displaying a window for a user interface
Methods and apparatuses to display windows. In more than one embodiments of the invention, a window is closed automatically (e.g., after a timer expires, or when a condition or criterion is met, or a system input is received) without user input. In some examples, the window is translucent so that the portion of another window, when present, is visible under the window. In some examples, the image of the window is faded out before the window is closed and destroyed. In some examples, the window does not close in response to any input from a user input device. In some examples, the window is repositioned (or hidden) automatically when another translucent window is displayed. The degree of translucency, the speed for fading out, the discrete levels of translucency for fading out, the time to expire, and/or other parameters for controlling the display of the window may be set by the user or adjusted by the system (or application software programs) automatically according to system conditions or other criteria. |
| US07853889B1 |
Palette-based graphical user interface
A palette-based graphical user interface for a computer-implemented system. The palettes can be customized in a number of different ways to make them more user-friendly. More specifically, methods, computer readable media, and systems for dragging and dropping a stack of palettes onto another stack of palettes to create a combined stack of palettes are disclosed. |
| US07853884B2 |
Control-based graphical user interface framework
A method for accepting a request, comprising mapping the request to a control tree factory, generating a control tree from the factory based on the request wherein the control tree can include at least one control, advancing the control tree through at least one lifecycle stage based on the request, generating a response wherein the response can be used to render at least a portion of a graphical user interface (GUI), and wherein the at least one control can represent a graphical element of the GUI. |
| US07853883B2 |
Content aggregation view layout based on weights
Techniques are disclosed for controlling where dynamically-added content will be positioned within the layout of a content aggregation view (e.g., for controlling where content that is created by a portlet will be rendered within a portal page). In preferred embodiments, weighting values are assigned to the portlet, and these values are used to determine the portlet's relative placement. The values may be assigned at development time, at deployment time, and/or at run time. Using disclosed techniques, content placement is more predictable and consistent, and related content can be grouped together when rendered even though that content is not simultaneously rendered. |
| US07853878B2 |
System and method for the control of image processing and storing devices
A method is provided for controlling an image storing system comprising an external storage device including a plurality of storage processors, and an image processing apparatus connected with the external storage device and storing a received video signal in the external storage device. The method includes storing data about operation state of the plurality of storage processors of the image processing apparatus by the image processing apparatus; and generating a user interface menu representing the external storage device as a plurality of storage device items on the basis of the stored data about the operation states of the plurality of storage processors when a storing operation for the video signal is selected. |
| US07853876B2 |
Method to imitate lifelike images for computer deformed objects
A method to imitate lifelike images for computer deformed objects includes the following steps, selecting a number of significant points on an object, categorizing the significant points into measurable points and specific points, defining a relationship between the measurable points and the specific points with a statistical regression model, creating a table of weighted values for the specific points and animating an object based on the weighted value table. The present invention uses the measured displacement of a number of measurable points to calculate expected positions of the specific points to reduce processing time and create real time images. The method uses a statistical analysis method to decrease access time to a database, save storage space of the database and create lifelike, real-time and animated images in accordance with the object as the object changed its surface. |
| US07853875B2 |
Method and apparatus for navigating a plurality of menus using haptically distinguishable user inputs
Menus are created that facilitate access to data in a menu database. The menus include a plurality of menus items laid out so as to duplicate a spatial organization of keys on a numeric keypad, such that a one-to-one relationship between the keys on the keypad and the menu items exists and is apparent to a user. The amount of memory required to store database records relating to individual menus is reduced, because a menu template provides general formatting information. Thus, database records need not include formatting details. When a menu is required, a menu template modifier uses the menu template and the corresponding database record to generate the required menu. The menus are employed for accessing data in the menu database. An edit function is provided in the menu template modifier to enable custom menus to be developed and modified. |
| US07853873B2 |
Data processing apparatus, data processing method, and computer program for generating electronic data from a paper document
A data processing apparatus produces electronic data from a document image in which a text part, a photograph part, etc. are mixed. This electronic data enables a user to display information in a required part. The apparatus extracts an object from an input image and integrates information on the extracted object and layout control information (script) for modifying a layout so as to generate integrated electronic data. A script program can be executed when the electronic data is used, which allows an object designated by a user to be magnified and rearranged so as to facilitate visualization of the object. |
| US07853872B2 |
Laying out field regions in a page for insertion of data
A partial layout area using a template is created in a page. Setting information on the template used in the created partial layout area is set. The layout of the template used in the created partial layout area is controlled on the basis of the setting information set for the partial layout area. |
| US07853870B2 |
Data transmission and rendering techniques implemented over a client-server system
A technique is disclosed for generating formatted information for display on a computing device. The computing device may be configured to include at least one interface for communicating with a server system. A request is sent from the computing device to the server system. According to one embodiment, the request may correspond to an HTTP request for information relating to a specific HTML page or web page. A response is then received from the server system. According to one embodiment, the response includes response information comprising embedded instructions and data. The embedded instructions may include instructions for using the data to generate formatted markup information for display on the computing device. The embedded instructions are then executed on the data to thereby generate formatted markup information for display on the computing device. According to a specific embodiment, the formatted markup information corresponds to HTML data to be rendered for display on the computing device. |
| US07853868B2 |
Button for adding a new tabbed sheet
A “new sheet button” is provided in a program, such as a spreadsheet, that utilizes a collection of tabbed sheets or a “workbook.” The new sheet button is located adjacent the sheet tabs so that a user may add a new sheet to the workbook with a single button press. The new sheet may be added to the end of the workbook or immediately adjacent an active sheet within the workbook, among other options. Selecting the new sheet button with a default operation (such as a left mouse click) adds a blank sheet to the workbook. Selecting the new sheet button with a non-default activation (such as a right-click) generates a menu listing options for creating the new sheet, such as copying the contents of the active sheet. |
| US07853866B2 |
Apparatus, method and system for document conversion, apparatuses for document processing and information processing, and storage media that store programs for realizing the apparatuses
An apparatus for document conversion that are capable of facilitating conversion of document image data to an electronic document having table of contents data even with a limited storage resource. The document image analysis section 302 extracts character regions from a document image 301. The contents/index/footer conversion section 307 generates table of contents data based on the extracted character regions and page numbers of the character regions. An electronic document having a table of contents is generated based on the document image 301 and the generated table of contents data. Link information is added to respective ones of items in the generated table of contents data for linking the items in the generated table of contents data with corresponding positions in the electronic document in which the items are described. |
| US07853864B2 |
Device and method for modality conversion of multimedia contents
The present invention relates to a method of systematically and synthetically accessing modality conversion that is an important part in the contents adaptive conversion process of a universal multimedia access system. The present invention provides an effective method of solving a problem, which is incurred at the time of modality conversion and still remains as one of difficult problems incurred during adaptive contents conversion. For this purpose, the present invention includes overlapped contents modeling newly proposed to determine modality conversion, a method of flexibly and clearly expressing and applying user preference for the modality conversion, and a resource allocation method of distributing resources among complicated contents based on the user preference. As a result, the integration of the above three methods provides a synthetic solution, particularly, to a problem incurred in the modality conversion and, generally, to a problem incurred in the adaptive conversion of contents. |
| US07853857B2 |
Multi-layer cyclic redundancy check code in wireless communication system
A wireless communication device including a first CRC coder that generates a first block of CRC parity bits on a transport block and associates the first block of CRC parity bits with the transport block, a segmenting entity that segments the transport block into multiple code blocks after associating, and a second coder that generates a second block of CRC parity bits on each code block and associates a second block of CRC parity bits with each code block. The first and second blocks of CRC parity bits are based on first and second generator polynomials. |
| US07853854B2 |
Iterative decoding of a frame of data encoded using a block coding algorithm
A method for the iterative decoding of a block of bits having a number N of bits to be decoded where N is a whole number greater than or equal to two, using an iterative decoding algorithm, comprises the generation of a current block of N intermediate decision bits by executing an iteration of the decoding algorithm, followed by the verification of a stability criterion for the current block by comparison of the current block with a given block of N reference bits. If the stability criterion is satisfied, the iterations of the iterative decoding algorithm are stopped and the current block of intermediate decision bits is delivered as a block of hard decision bits. Otherwise another iteration of the decoding algorithm is executed. |
| US07853853B2 |
Device, system, and method of multi-level feedback
Device, system, and method of multi-level feedback. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes: an estimator to estimate a likelihood of correctly decoding an incoming encoded Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request packet of an incoming wireless communication signal by one or more decoders of the apparatus; and a transmitter to transmit a multiple-bit representation of the likelihood of correctly decoding the incoming encoded Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request to a device that transmitted the incoming encoded Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request packet. |
| US07853848B2 |
System and method for signature-based systematic condition detection and analysis
Disclosed are embodiments of a system, method and service for detecting and analyzing systematic conditions occurring in manufactured devices. Each embodiment comprises generating a unique signature for each of multiple tested devices. The signatures are generated based on an initial set of signature definitions and the values for those signature definitions that are derived at least in part from selected testing data. A systematic condition is detected based on commonalities between the signatures. The systematic condition is then analyzed, alone or in conjunction with additional information, in order to develop a list of underlying similarities between the devices. The analysis results can be used to refine the systematic condition detection and analysis processes by revising the signature definitions set and/or by modifying data selection. |
| US07853847B1 |
Methods and apparatuses for external voltage test of input-output circuits
Various methods and apparatuses are described for a system that includes some on-chip components, e.g., I-Os, test processors, soft wrappers, etc., an external testing unit that provides Parametric Measurement Unit (PMU) capability, and various tests performed on the I-Os by the on-chip testing logic, the test vector patterns supplied by the external testing unit. |
| US07853844B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit system, semiconductor integrated circuit, operating system, and control method for semiconductor integrated circuit
A semiconductor integrated circuit system has a control target circuit executing a program, a system information monitor unit for outputting system information indicating a state of the control target circuit, a circuit characteristic monitor unit for determining a circuit characteristic of the control target circuit and outputting the circuit characteristic as circuit characteristic information, a malfunction determination unit for determining whether or not the control target circuit is normally operating based on the system information, a reference circuit characteristic holding unit for holding the circuit characteristic information as reference circuit characteristic information when the control target circuit is normally operating, a malfunction factor determination unit for determining a malfunction factor based on the circuit characteristic information and on the reference circuit characteristic information when the control target circuit is not normally operating, and a correction target determination unit for determining a correction target in the control target circuit. |
| US07853832B2 |
System and method for tracing cable interconnections between multiple systems
Techniques to ascertain physical cabling connections of electronic systems are provided for situations where there are numerous systems interconnected by a very large number of electrical or optical cables. A cable identifying code is inserted into a message sent from a local endpoint system to remote endpoint system over the identified cable. Each intermediate system that is in the interconnection path between the two endpoint systems of interest appends its code for the cable connected to the I/O port from which the message will egress that system and be sent to the next system along the path. The remote endpoint system receives the message which now contains codes for all the cables transited along the path, extract the codes, and thereby determines the exact cabling used in the interconnection of the two endpoint systems. |
| US07853830B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing error notification in a wireless virtual file system
An apparatus (20) provides a dynamically-generated audio and/or video error file upon the occurrence of an error condition in a wireless virtual file system (100). According to an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus (20) includes a host interface (22) for connecting to a host device (10) and a network interface (30) for connecting to a wireless network (40). A controller (24) is coupled to the network interface (30) for retrieving a name of a file stored in a storage device (50) connected to the wireless network (40), and is coupled to the host interface (22) for transmitting the name of the file to the host device (10). If no name is retrieved, the controller (24) transmits a signal indicating an error condition. |
| US07853829B2 |
Network advisor
A system for diagnosing the configuration and use of devices in an interconnected network. The system may be used to analyze a network and/or discrete network devices, and then suggest steps that a user may take to improve the performance or usability of the network and/or device. |
| US07853827B2 |
Isotropic processor
The present disclosure is directed toward a method for restoring a computer processor to a previous state. Described is a processor/memory architecture that may store successive instructions/data into a pushdown stack. As instructions are loaded and executed, the loading and executing of new instructions may be suspended. The instruction execution and memory stack then may be restored to a previous processor state in terms of instructions, processor memory state, register values, etc. |
| US07853826B2 |
Operating system transfer and launch without performing post
A device operating method includes saving initial state information of an electronic device. Next, transferring control of the electronic device to a principal operating system. After transferring control and upon receiving an operating system shut down indication signal, transferring control of the electronic device to an alternate operating system without performing a power on self test. An electronic device includes a processor and at least one memory. The memory maintains instructions, in the form of program code, that when executed by the processor causes the processor to save the initial state information of the electronic device. Next, control of the electronic device is transferred to a principal operating system. After the principal operating system has been launched and upon receiving an operating system shut down indication signal, transfer control of the electronic device to an alternate operating system without performing a power on self test. |
| US07853820B2 |
System and method for detecting a faulty object in a system
A method (and system) for detecting at least one faulty object in a system including a plurality of objects in communication with each other in an n-dimensional architecture, includes probing a first plane of objects in the n-dimensional architecture and probing at least one other plane of objects in the n-dimensional architecture which would result in identifying a faulty object in the system. |
| US07853818B2 |
Modifying power adapter output
A method and apparatus to modify an output power of a power adapter coupled to a computing device in accordance with a power consumption of the computing device is discussed. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US07853817B2 |
Power management independent of CPU hardware support
A system including power savings modes, the system including a processor that supports bus semantics in its hardware for a power state of a first level, wherein the first level is lowest power level the processor is able to enter, a system core logic module coupled to the processor, and a memory, coupled to the system core logic module, storing instructions, which when executed by the system, causes the system core logic to be notified of an impending processor idle state that is compatible with the latency required for system core logic power savings modes and wherein, in response to being notified of an impending processor idle state, the system core logic implements thread, core, or package level power saving idle modes lower than supported by the first level based on a latency hierarchy and independent of normal power saving bus semantics. |
| US07853815B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling power supply in a computer system under low power consumption mode
A method for controlling power supply in a computer system includes receiving a control command, and providing power through an interface of the computer system when the computer system is operating in a low power consumption mode. |
| US07853814B2 |
Method and system for executing a power-cutoff-specific process within a specific processor of a multiprocessor system
A multi processor system having a first processor; and one or more second processors is provided. Each of the one or more second processors is connected to the first processor by a dedicated interrupt signal line. Upon receiving a first interrupt signal indicating a power cutoff event, the first processor sends via the dedicated interrupt signal line a second interrupt signal to at least one second processor among the one or more second processors. |
| US07853813B2 |
Anticipatory power management for battery-powered electronic device
Methods and apparatus for managing power consumption of a battery-powered electronic device are disclosed. According to one embodiment, power management can take action to reduce power consumption to accommodate estimated power requirements. According to another embodiment, power management can notify a user when a power deficiency is anticipated. According to still another embodiment, power management can advise a user to charge a battery of the battery-powered electronic device. According to still another embodiment, a user can influence power management by user selections. |
| US07853812B2 |
Reducing power usage in a software application
A computer implemented method, an apparatus, and computer usable program code for reducing the amount of power used when executing a set of applications is provided. A controller determines an operating condition for the data processing system. Responsive to the operating condition being above a threshold, the controller switches the set of applications to a low power path. Responsive to the operating condition being below the threshold and the set of applications operating at the low power path, the controller switches the set of applications to a normal operating path. |
| US07853810B2 |
Core voltage controlling apparatus
A core voltage controlling apparatus suitable for a center processing unit (CPU) is provided. The apparatus includes a level shifting unit, a time-delay unit and a logic unit. An input terminal of the level shifting unit receives and shifts a first voltage signal, and an output terminal generates a second voltage signal, in which the first voltage signal indicates a power-on stable state, and the second voltage signal indicates a magnitude of the core voltage. The time-delay unit delays the second voltage signal to generate a third voltage signal. The logic unit is coupled to the time-delay unit for performing a logic operation on the third voltage and a fourth voltage signal transmitted by a power supply, and generating a fifth voltage signal for controlling a core voltage generator whether to provide the core voltage to the CPU or not, in which the fourth voltage signal indicates a power state. |
| US07853807B2 |
Multimedia apparatus receiving audio-visual broadcast
The present invention relates to a transmission reception multimedia apparatus (20) comprising a circuit for communication (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) with means for connection to an audiovisual communication network (21) characterized in that it comprises: a connector (11) of a bus for communication with a source apparatus (17) comprising at least one conductor (VBUS) for the transmission of a supply voltage providing by the source apparatus (17); means of detection (1) of the presence of the said supply voltage, the said means of detection (1) being linked to the connector (11), the said means of detection (1) generating, a detection signal on the appearance of the supply voltage, bound for the communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7), the said communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) being linked to the means of detection, so as to switch via a switching circuit (3) the multimedia apparatus (20) from a first operating mode, termed standby, in which the communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) has the minimum of active functions to a second operating mode, termed wakeup, in which the communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) has its function of communication, between the connector (11) and the audiovisual network, activated, the switching being consequent upon the appearance of the bus supply voltage. |
| US07853804B2 |
System and method for secure data disposal
A system, method, and program product is provided that initializes expected PCRs stored in a TPM by generating and storing a random number, seeding expected PCRs with the random number, inputting a set of startup code processes to a hash algorithm resulting in a set of hash values, updating the expected PCRs using the set of hash values, and saving the expected PCRs in a nonvolatile data area that is secured by the TPM. Upon reboot, the random number is retrieved from the nonvolatile data area, the PCRs are seeded with the retrieved random number, the startup code processes are input to the hash algorithm process resulting in another set of hash values, the PCRs are updated using the resulting set of hash values, and an encrypted data object is decrypted in response to the PCRs being the same as the expected PCRs. |
| US07853803B2 |
System and method for thwarting buffer overflow attacks using encrypted process pointers
A method (200) and program (100) for inhibiting attack upon a computer (120) is provided. The address (104) of a process (106) is produced (612), and encrypted (616) to produce an encrypted address (518), which is then stored in memory (128). When needed, the encrypted address (518) is retrieved (702) from memory (128) and decrypted (704) to reproduce the original process address (104). The reproduced process address (104) is then verified (708). If the process address (104) is determined (708) to be valid, i.e., there was no attack, then the process address (104) is placed (712) in the program counter (318), and a valid process (106) is executed. If the process address (104) is determined (708) to be invalid, i.e., there was an attack, then the address (108) of a crash and terminate process (110) is placed (716) in the program counter (318) and the computer (120) crashes. A nonce value (512) may be generated (602) and encrypted (616) and decrypted (704) in conjunction with the process address (104). The nonce value (512) may then be verified (710) independently, thereby increasing security. |
| US07853800B2 |
Systems and methods for a secure recording environment
Systems and methods are disclosed for retrieving and playing back a secure, captured data in a customer center. In another embodiment, the method comprises: transmitting a request by a retrieval component to retrieve stored, encrypted data from a recording subsystem; establishing a secure communication between the retrieval component and the recording subsystem to retrieve the stored, encrypted data; receiving the stored, encrypted data by the retrieval component; transmitting a request to retrieve electronic keys for decrypting the stored, encrypted data; receiving the electronic keys by the retrieval component; decrypting the stored, encrypted data using the electronic keys; and playing back the decrypted data. |
| US07853798B2 |
Program tamper detecting apparatus, method for program tamper detection, and program for program tamper detection
A program tamper detecting apparatus includes an external memory, an activation ROM and a CPU. The external memory stores a first code for program tamper detecting and a first program, wherein the first program is encrypted. The activation ROM stores a second program for decrypting the first program. The CPU is electrically connected to the external memory and the activation ROM. The CPU decrypts the first program by executing the second program to obtain the decrypted first program. The CPU detects tampering of the first program based on a comparison between the first code and a result of a predetermined operation executed on second codes of the decrypted first program. |
| US07853796B2 |
Method, system and computer program for polynomial based hashing and message authentication coding with separate generation of spectrums
Computer software or integrated circuit for performing a secure hashing method including one or more of the following: representing an initial sequence of bits as a specially constructed set of polynomials; transformation of this set by masking; partitioning the transformed set of polynomials into a plurality of classes; forming the bit string during the (separated) partitioning; for each of the plurality of classes, factoring each of the polynomials and so as to define a set of irreducible polynomials and collecting these factors in registers defined for each of the plurality of classes; wrapping the values of the registers from the plurality of classes by means of an enumeration; organizing the enumerations and the bit strings into a knapsack; and performing an exponentiation in a group to obtain the hash value or the MAC value. |
| US07853794B2 |
Efficient method for providing secure remote access
A remote user, two-way authentication and password change protocol that also allows parties to optionally establish a session key which can be used to protect subsequent communication. In a preferred embodiment, a challenge token is generated and exchanged which is a onetime value that includes a random value that changes from session to session. The construction and use of the challenge token avoids transmission of the password or even the transmission of a digest of the password itself. Thus the challenge token does not reveal any information about a secret password or a digest of the password. |
| US07853791B1 |
System and method for certificate based redirection
A system for digital certificate direction is provided. The system includes an application server having one or more applications and a user computer. The system also includes a certificate optional server that is operable to communicate with the user computer regarding access to the one or more applications. The certificate optional server is operable, when the user computer communication is associated with a digital certificate, to direct the user computer to a digital certificate mandated computer to promote access to the one or more applications. When the user computer communication is not associated with the digital certificate, the certificate optional server is operable to direct the user computer to a certificate generator. |
| US07853785B1 |
System and method for implementing digital certificate revocation in an ad-hoc network
A computer-implemented system for implementing maintenance and distribution of revocation information within an ad-hoc network. The system includes at least one network node. The network node includes a computer implemented application configured to maintain revocation information in computer memory and distribute the revocation information to other network nodes using a two stage distribution method. The distribution method includes a first stage wherein the revocation message is transmitted to all certifier nodes within the ad-hoc network, and a second stage wherein each certifier node distributes the revocation message to at least one non-certifier node associated with the certifier node. |
| US07853781B2 |
Load balancing secure sockets layer accelerator
A load balancing SSL acceleration device. The device includes a processor, memory and communications interface. A TCP communications manager capable of interacting with a plurality of client devices and server devices simultaneously is provided, along with a secure communications manager. The apparatus further includes an encryption and decryption engine instructing the processor to encrypt data from a secure communications session and direct it to said second communication session. Still further, the apparatus includes a load balancing engine associating ones of said client devices with ones of said servers for a communications session based on calculated processing loads of each said server. In a further aspect, a method for performing SSL acceleration of data communications between a plurality of customer devices attempting to communicate with an enterprise having a plurality of servers is disclosed. |
| US07853779B2 |
Methods and apparatus for scalable array processor interrupt detection and response
Hardware and software techniques for interrupt detection and response in a scalable pipelined array processor environment are described. Utilizing these techniques, a sequential program execution model with interrupts can be maintained in a highly parallel scalable pipelined array processing containing multiple processing elements and distributed memories and register files. When an interrupt occurs, interface signals are provided to all PEs to support independent interrupt operations in each PE dependent upon the local PE instruction sequence prior to the interrupt. Processing/element exception interrupts are supported and low latency interrupt processing is also provided for embedded systems where real time signal processing is required. Further, a hierarchical interrupt structure is used allowing a generalized debug approach using debut interrupts and a dynamic debut monitor mechanism. |
| US07853778B2 |
Load/move and duplicate instructions for a processor
A method includes, in a processor, loading/moving a first portion of bits of a source into a first portion of a destination register and duplicate that first portion of bits in a subsequent portion of the destination register. |
| US07853777B2 |
Instruction/skid buffers in a multithreading microprocessor that store dispatched instructions to avoid re-fetching flushed instructions
An apparatus for reducing instruction re-fetching in a multithreading processor configured to concurrently execute a plurality of threads is disclosed. The apparatus includes a buffer for each thread that stores fetched instructions of the thread, having an indicator for indicating which of the fetched instructions in the buffer have already been dispatched for execution. An input for each thread indicates that one or more of the already-dispatched instructions in the buffer has been flushed from execution. Control logic for each thread updates the indicator to indicate the flushed instructions are no longer already-dispatched, in response to the input. This enables the processor to re-dispatch the flushed instructions from the buffer to avoid re-fetching the flushed instructions. In one embodiment, there are fewer buffers than threads, and they are dynamically allocatable by the threads. In one embodiment, a single integrated buffer is shared by all the threads. |
| US07853770B2 |
Storage system, data relocation method thereof, and recording medium that records data relocation program
There is a need to improve access speed for a file in a storage system that is provided with multiple storage units having different access speeds.The storage system (10) includes an access frequency acquiring part (14) that divides a past constant accessed data acquisition period into multiple unit periods, and obtains an access frequency for file stored in any of the multiple storage units (30 and 31), a similarity degree calculating part (16) that obtains, for each file, a similarity degree between the access frequency to the file for each unit period, and the access frequency to every other file for each unit period, a grouping process part (17) that groups one or more other files having a similarity degree equal to or higher than a predetermined value, in an identical group, and a file relocation part (18) that places a file belonging to the identical group into a storage unit (30) having a high access speed, when the file stored in the storage units (30 and 31) is accessed and there exists any other file within the identical group to which the file belongs. |
| US07853769B2 |
Computer system for managing number of writes for storage medium and control method therefor
Provided is a storage medium management system, in which when the same data as that stored in a first physical storage area is stored in a second physical storage area, a storage system connected to a host computer compares the number of remaining rewritable times for the first physical storage area and the number of remaining rewritable times for the second physical storage area with each other. When the number of remaining rewritable times for the first physical storage area is less than the number of remaining rewritable times for the second physical storage area, the storage system writes data written from the host computer to the second physical storage area and copies the data written in the second physical storage area to the first physical storage area. |
| US07853766B2 |
Method and system for automated migration of media archives
A method and system for effectively and rapidly migrating recorded content from one storage-media to a second storage-media. The method and system includes an operator and a robotic handler with multiple processing and analytical tools where the operator loads the storage-media into the robotic handler and ensures each storage-media is placed in an efficient order as determined by the system. The system retrieves the storage-media from the input bay and places it into an appropriate playback deck; migrates the recorded data to one or more destination storage-media in accordance with the established parameters; analyzes the timing, video signal, and audio signal of the storage-media; and periodically calibrates its internal to consistently calibrated quality control. |
| US07853764B2 |
Tape storage emulation for open systems environments
A Virtual Tape (VT) server residing on a network is connectible on its front end to a plurality of heterogeneous backup hosts, with different operating systems and/or backup applications, and on its back end to one or more disk storage devices in an open systems environment. The VT server responds to tape storage commands sent by the backup host as if it were the intended tape storage device and then emulates the desired tape storage activity on the one or more disk storage devices. In a described implementation, the host and server act as SCSI initiator and target and communicate over a Fibre Channel connection. |
| US07853763B2 |
Storage apparatus and method for accessing a storage apparatus
A storage apparatus and an accessing method for the storage apparatus are provided. The storage apparatus comprises a plurality of data blocks, a plurality of spare blocks, and a calculation apparatus. The calculation apparatus is configured to (1) confirm whether a written block has to be updated, (2) select one of the spare blocks as the first moving block, (3) select one of the data blocks as second moving block, (4) store the first data of the second moving block into the first moving block, and (5) store the second data related to the written block into the second moving block. By updating a written block, data stored in other blocks are moved between each other. Blocks are charged and discharged so that data in the blocks are more accurate. The lifetime of the storage apparatus can be increased as well. |
| US07853761B2 |
Classifying write commands into groups based on cumulated flush time
According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk apparatus comprises a volatile memory for storing write commands and data accompanying the commands supplied from a host system, and a flush control unit for classifying the write commands into a first group of commands and a second group of commands based on a time required to write the data accompanying the commands on a magnetic disk, writing the data accompanying the first group of commands to the magnetic disk, and writing the second group of commands and the data accompanying the second group of commands to a nonvolatile memory. |
| US07853759B2 |
Hints model for optimization of storage devices connected to host and write optimization schema for storage devices
Architecture for data communications optimization based on generating and communicating “intents” or “hints” to a storage device and faster/slower solid state memory optimization. Data destined for storage on the storage device (capable of hints processing) can be bracketed to take advantage of improved performance associated with the hints processing. Data can be communicated in block format such that individual series of block exchanges can occur. Hints processing can be optional at the storage device. When communicated to the storage device firmware facilitates optimization of internal data flow and device operation. A write optimization schema is provided for storage system such as solid state storage devices. For example, frequently-modified data can be stored in faster memory to provide more efficient overall application data processing, and less-frequently modified data can be processed into and out of lower cost (or slower) memory. |
| US07853756B2 |
Information processing device, processor, processor control method, information processing device control method and cache memory
In a method for controlling a processor which accesses information of a storage device through cache memory, when reading information stored in a target address or an address range of the storage device, it is monitored whether there is an update access to the address or address range from another processor, and also the processor is entered into a suspense status, which is released using the occurrence of the update access to the storage device from another processor as a trigger. |
| US07853755B1 |
Caching in multicore and multiprocessor architectures
A multicore processor comprises a plurality of cache memories, and a plurality of processor cores, each associated with one of the cache memories. Each of at least some of the cache memories is configured to maintain at least a portion of the cache memory in which each cache line is dynamically managed as either local to the associated processor core or shared among multiple processor cores. |
| US07853748B2 |
Method and apparatus to obtain code data for USB device
A method and apparatus are provided that include creating an image of a page descriptor at a universal serial bus (USB) device, transferring the image of the page descriptor to a main memory, modifying a schedule list in a main memory based on the transferred image, identifying an active transaction in the modified schedule list, and providing code data to the USB device from the main memory based on the identified active transaction. |
| US07853746B2 |
Interface system for enabling data communication between a multi-communication device and other devices
A connector interface system for a communication device is disclosed. The interface includes a docking connector. The docking connector includes first make/last break contacts that minimize internal damage to the internal electronics. The docking connector also includes specific keying arrangement to prevent noncompliant connectors from being plugged in, and thereby minimizes potential damage to the multi-communication device. The connector interface system also includes a remote connector which provides for the ability to output audio, input audio, provides I/O serial protocol, and to provide an output video. Embodiments of the present invention allow for a standard headphone cable to be plugged in but also for special remote control cables, microphone cables, video cables could be utilized in such a system. The connector interface system also includes a serial protocol to control device features. These controls help a user sort and search for data more efficiently within the device. |
| US07853744B2 |
Handling interrupts when virtual machines have direct access to a hardware device
In virtualized computer system in which a guest operating system runs on a virtual machine of a virtualized computer system and has direct access to a hardware device coupled to the virtualized computer system via a communication interface, a computer-implemented method of handling interrupts from the hardware device to the guest operating system includes: (a) receiving a physical interrupt from the hardware device on a shared interrupt line of an interrupt controller; (b) masking the shared interrupt line of the interrupt controller; (c) generating a virtual interrupt corresponding to the physical interrupt to the guest operating system; and (d) the guest operating system executing an interrupt service routine. |
| US07853743B2 |
Processor and interrupt controlling method
A processor includes: a plurality of processors; a process and status managing section which manages management information including information on statuses of the plurality of processors and priorities of processes being executed by the plurality of processors; a processing processor selecting section which selects one of the processors which is executing the process with a lowest priority on the basis of the management information managed by the process and status managing section; and an interrupt controlling section which transmits a requested interrupt process to the selected processor as an interrupt process request, wherein the processing processor selecting section selects the one of the processors, which is executing the process with the lowest priority, irrespective of whether each of the requested interrupt process and the processes being executed by the processors is a task process which is handled according to a predetermined schedule or an interrupt process which is handled independently of the schedule. |
| US07853741B2 |
Tunneling SATA targets through fibre channel
A system for enabling SATA drives to be utilized in FC SANs is disclosed. To send SATA FISs to a SATA drive over a FC SAN, a host sends SCSI commands encapsulated in FC frames over a standard FC link to a Fiber Channel Attached SATA Tunneling (FAST) RAID controller, where the SCSI commands are de-encapsulated from the FC frames and translated to SATA FISs. The SATA FISs are thereafter encapsulated into FC frames. The IOC that performs these functions is referred to as a FAST IOC. The SATA-encapsulated FC frames are sent to multiple disk drive enclosures over another standard FC link. The FC frames are de-encapsulated by FAST switches in disk drive enclosures to retrieve the SATA FISs, and the SATA FISs are sent to the SATA drives over a SATA connection. |
| US07853739B1 |
Method and system for transmitting USB communication
A universal serial bus (USB) communication system, the system includes: (a) a wired communication component, which is adapted to receive a received USB transfer; (b) a processor which is adapted to process the received USB transfer to provide a transmittable wireless USB transfer; and (c) a wireless communication component, which is adapted to transmit the transmittable wireless USB transfer; wherein the system is adapted to transmit a portion of the transmittable wireless USB transfer before the entire received USB transfer is received. |
| US07853738B2 |
Efficient load/store buffer memory management in a computer communications network data transmission switch
A technique is disclosed for observing the data movement pattern in a peripheral device attached to a computer communications network data transmission switch, in order to arrive at a (statistical) determination of whether the peripheral device is being used as a “load intensive” device or as a “store intensive” device (or as neither type) over a defined time period. This determination is used to dynamically adjust (and re-allocate) the “outbound” and “inbound” buffer memory sizes assigned to a switch transmission port attached to the peripheral device, in cases where the device is operating in either “load intensive” or “store intensive” mode. The invention is applicable for use with all types of communications network switches (i.e. “Bridges”, “Hubs”, “Routers” etc.). |
| US07853737B2 |
Data transfer and alignment device and method for transferring data acquired from memory
A communication data processing device according to an aspect of the invention includes a memory storing data, a data bus transmitting data read from the memory, a plurality of buffer memories temporarily storing data from the memory via the data bus and being capable of receiving and providing data independently of each other, a bus arbiter arbitrating use of the data bus to control data read from the memory to the plurality of buffer memories, an aligner aligning input data in a sequence corresponding to a packet communication, and a selector selecting a buffer memory from the plurality of buffer memories to output data from the selected buffer memory toward the aligner. |
| US07853736B2 |
Extending existing request commands of IEEE 1394 by adding extended request command having highest priority
A data transfer device arranged in a node for connection in compliance with a communication standard. The data transfer device includes a request signal generation circuit for generating request signals defined by the communication standard with different levels of priority. A determination circuit determines the request signal having the highest level of priority. Priority is given to the transfer of data corresponding to the request signal determined to have the highest level of priority by the determination circuit. A top priority request signal generation unit generates a top priority request signal that differs from the request signals defined by the communication standard. The determination circuit includes a priority determination table in which the uppermost priority request signal is set to have a level of priority that is higher than the levels of priority of the plurality of existing request signals. |
| US07853731B1 |
System and method for embedded displayport link training
The method of the present invention includes loading a selected set of preset parameters into a source device and a sink device of the DisplayPort device of an embedded system. Link training is then performed between the source device and the sink device utilizing the first set of preset parameter and the link status (bit lock, symbol lock and inter-lane alignment) of the DisplayPort device is then read. If the link status indicates that the link training is successful, a link is established between the source device and the sink device, or if the link status indicates that the link training is unsuccessful, a different set of preset parameters is loaded and link training is then performed again. The steps of loading, performing and reading are repeated with each of the plurality of sets of preset parameters until the link status indicates that the link training is successful. |
| US07853730B2 |
Method and system for automatic peripheral device identification
Method and system for latency-independent peripheral device identification. The computer system receives an interrupt from a peripheral device via a communications port. In response, an interrupt notification message is posted to alert a notification handler, and compliant peripheral class is determined. The voltage on a device may sense pin of the communications port for this determination. If the interrupt is indicative of the compliant peripheral class and the communications port is inactive, the port is opened, and an inquiry is sent and a response is received. If a response is received within a predetermined time period, an identification notification message is posted based on the response including information for classifying the peripheral device, so that a software handler registered with the operating system can handle the identification notification message when the software handler receives it. Thus, no time-critical interrupt response requirement is imposed for its successful operation. |
| US07853728B2 |
System and article of manufacture for executing initialization code to configure connected devices
Provided are a system and article of manufacture for executing initialization code to configure connected devices. A plurality of segments are provided to configure at least one connected device, wherein each segment includes configuration code to configure the at least on connected device. The segments are executed according to a segment order by executing the configuration code in each segment to perform configuration operations with respect to the at least one connected device. Completion of the segment is indicated in a memory in response to completing execution of the configuration operations for the segment. |
| US07853721B2 |
System and method for transmission of DNS beacons
The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for transmitting a DNS beacon for storage. A method according to one embodiment comprises generating one or more data items for logging and transmitting a DNS request to an authoritative DNS server for a logging domain, with the host name of the DNS request comprising the one or more data items for logging. The DNS request, which comprises the data items for logging, is stored on a storage device. |
| US07853719B1 |
Systems and methods for providing runtime universal resource locator (URL) analysis and correction
Systems and methods are provided that perform automatic URL analysis and correction in a computing system. The systems and methods automatically detect misentered or incorrect URLs, analyzing the invalid URLs with respect intelligent rules and valid URLs, and where a high likelihood exists for alternative URLs being intended, the alternative URLs are presented to the user as suggestions. The URLs used for comparison to the URL input may be collected through multiple channels or from multiple sources, which may be dynamically updated sources, including URLs commonly or newly found on the Web, users' favorite URLs and the like, as well as URLs from a standard URL list or database, all of which may be from one or more multi-lingual domain. In various embodiments, the alternative URL(s) are automatically presented when there is a very high confidence that the alternatives are desirable. Optionally, a mini search or a full blown search on the URL input may be performed and presented to the user to supplement the alternative URL suggestions. The systems allow a user to seek help or technical information about the URL navigation or search attempt and also allow a user to easily retry the query, ignoring the suggestions. |
| US07853710B2 |
Methods and devices for controlling the rate of a pull protocol
Methods and devices for controlling the rate of a pull protocol, including the steps of requesting, from a plurality of fractional-storage servers by an assembling device utilizing a fragment pull protocol, erasure-coded fragments at a first rate that is estimated to approximately result in a target fragment reception throughput. And requesting, by the assembling device, additional erasure-coded fragments instead of fragments that have already been requested but have failed to arrive at the assembling device. |
| US07853707B2 |
Methods and systems for extensible link level alignment between modules in a distributed processing system
Methods and systems for link-level alignment between processing modules or cards and distributed processing system are disclosed. According to one method, cards that support link level communications parameter negotiation exchange link status signal units (LSSUs) to negotiate a common set of link level communications. For link level communications between a card that supports parameter negotiation and a card that does not support link level communications parameter negotiation, LSSUs are exchanged, and the cards establish link level communications using a default set of parameter values. |
| US07853706B2 |
Method, interface and network for cyclical sending of Ethernet telegrams
When data are sent in the form of Ethernet messages on an Ethernet transmission link using an interface to link a node to the Ethernet transmission link, the data to be sent are converted using a conversion unit in line with a transmission standard of the Ethernet protocol in order to provide Ethernet messages, and a transmission unit is used for ongoing transmission of the provided Ethernet messages, with Ethernet messages being output onto the Ethernet transmission link continuously. |
| US07853705B2 |
On demand session provisioning of IP flows
A method for on demand session provisioning includes receiving a first packet from a user at a service selection gateway. The service selection gateway provides the user with access to one or more services. The first packet is associated with a selected one of the services. An access request is sent to an authorization server. A temporary user session is created to allow the user to temporarily access the selected service pending authorization. Subsequently received packets are forwarded while the temporary user session is valid. An authorization response is received from the authorization server. If the authorization response indicates that the user is authorized to access the selected service, a permanent user session is created to allow the user to access the selected service. Otherwise, the temporary user session is terminated. |
| US07853702B2 |
Switching between connectivity types to maintain connectivity
Techniques are provided for leveraging narrowband connectivity (such as dial-up communications or other types of low bandwidth communications) to provision or configure broadband connectivity between a broadband access provider and a broadband device, such as a DSL modem or a cable modem. Specifically, because narrowband connectivity does not require advance configuration or provisioning by the host system of connectivity parameters for an access-seeking device, a modem at an access-seeking device may be leveraged to establish a narrowband connection between that device and a host system and to enable an exchange or negotiation of connectivity parameters necessary to enable future broadband connectivity. Thus, once established, the narrowband connection may be used as a conduit for communicating required provisioning information between the broadband-enabling host and the access-seeking device to enable broadband connectivity by the device in the future. |
| US07853700B2 |
Online system and method for dynamic segmentation and content presentation
An on-line system and method assembles, stores, and administers all of a company's merchandising content in a single location, and optimizes the effectiveness of the content by determining the content and format most likely to be of interest to the consumer. Generally, a merchant sets up at least one campaign in the system, by generating various objects and/or resources comprising merchandising content. The merchant and/or its advertiser then establishes a set of rules which are applied to determine the objects and resources of the campaign to be distributed to a consumer, based on various circumstances and scenarios. When the consumer interacts with the system, the system determines dynamically the merchandising content to be sent to the consumer by processing data corresponding to the consumer, the consumer's computer system and environmental and geographical data. |
| US07853696B2 |
System and method for providing an eCamp feature in a session initiation protocol (SIP) environment
A method for facilitating a data session in a session protocol environment is provided that includes identifying a first endpoint and receiving a status indicator as to whether the first endpoint is available to participate in a communication session that involves the first endpoint and a second endpoint. In a more particular embodiment, the first endpoint is operable to recognize that the second endpoint is seeking to contact the first endpoint in order to conduct the communication session. |
| US07853692B2 |
Server, client apparatus, program and download method
A server connectable to a client apparatus over a network is disclosed. The server includes: means for generating a file containing an address of a download server that can distribute a download file to the client apparatus over the network and a first parameter that temporally regulates access from the client apparatus to the download server; and means for distributing the file to the client apparatus in response to a request from the client apparatus. |
| US07853690B2 |
Non-invasive collection of data
Non-invasive collection of data is presented. A server segments a web page into regions and sends the segmented web page along with a data collector program to a client in response to receiving a client request. The client displays the web page and loads the data collector program which initiates particular event handlers to monitor user event activity corresponding to the displayed web page. When the user performs a user event, such as moving his mouse into a particular web page region, the data collector program collects user event data and associates the user event data with the particular web page region. When the user event is complete, the data collector program sends the collected user event data to the server. |
| US07853688B2 |
Method and system for proactively monitoring the coherency of a distributed cache
A method of proactively monitoring the coherency of distributed cache. A cache comparison utility selects a set of cache keys from a replica cache connected to a main cache via a network. The cache comparison utility selects a first cache key from the set of cache keys and fetches a first cache value from the replica cache that corresponds to the first cache key. The cache comparison utility generates a first checksum value corresponding to the first cache value and the first cache key and stores the first checksum value in a first checksum table. The cache comparison utility creates a first total checksum value that corresponds to the first checksum table and compares the first total checksum value with multiple total checksum values that correspond to the main cache and one or more additional replica caches, thereby identifying replica caches that are not identical to the main cache. |
| US07853684B2 |
System and method for processing web activity data
A computer-implemented system and method for analyzing user browsing activity. Records from a web log that were generated during web browsing sessions are accessed. The web log includes at least one record that is detached from other records generated during the same browsing session as the one record. A web log data characteristic of the detached session record is compared with a web log data characteristic of other records in the web log. Based upon the comparison, the detached session record is associated with at least another record from the web log. The association between the detached session record and the another record is used to analyze user browsing activity. |
| US07853683B1 |
Approach for canceling events
An approach for processing events generally involves receiving event data that specifies one or more attributes of an event that has occurred. A determination is made whether the event data satisfies one or more event cancellation criteria. If so, then event report data is provided to a recipient, such as an application layer. The event report data specifies at least one attribute of the event that occurred. If the event data does not satisfy the one or more event cancellation criteria, then the event data is not provided to the recipient and the event is canceled. The cancellation criteria may include policy-based rules that may specify event cancellation based upon, for example, event frequency, correlation window size, particular information associated with an event, or other management application rules. The particular cancellation criteria used may vary from application to application. Furthermore, the cancellation criteria used for any particular application may be dynamic and change over time. |
| US07853679B2 |
Systems and methods for configuring handling of undefined policy events
Systems and methods for configuring and evaluating policies that direct processing of one or more data streams are described. A configuration interface is described for allowing users to specify object oriented policies. These object oriented policies may allow any data structures to be applied with respect to a payload of a received packet stream, including any portions of HTTP traffic. A configuration interface may also allow the user to control the order in which policies and policy groups are executed, in addition to specifying actions to be taken if one or more policies are undefined. Systems and methods for processing the policies may allow efficient processing of object-oriented policies by applying potentially complex data structures to unstructured data streams. A device may also interpret and process a number of flow control commands and policy group invocation statements to determine an order of execution among a number of policies and policy groups. These policy configurations and processing may allow configuration and processing of complex network behaviors relating to load balancing, VPNs, SSL offloading, content switching, application security, acceleration, and caching. |
| US07853677B2 |
Transparent bridging and routing in an industrial automation environment
The subject disclosure pertains to transparent communications in an industrial automation environment amongst automation system components. PLC modules can be provided with unique network addresses such as IP addresses and accessed over a network using those addresses. The actual protocol and route employed to communicate with the PLC modules need not be known to a client system in order to access the PLC modules. Industrial control system configurations can be modified and expanded without affecting the client system ability to function in the environment. |
| US07853675B2 |
Automatically enforcing change control in operations performed by operational management products
Mechanisms for enforcing change control in operations performed by operational management products (OMPs) are provided. The mechanisms automate the checking of a request-for-change (RFC) state by an OMP when the OMP is installed in an environment where a change management database (CMDB) has been installed and certain resources or operations have been placed under strict change control. The OMPs of the illustrative embodiments require an RFC identifier to be specified when a change operation of the OMP is invoked. The RFC identifier is used by the OMP to access a service management system so that the OMP may determine if the RFC identifier is valid, IT resources are in the correct state, and the change is scheduled to be performed at the current time. If these checks are passed, then the change operation associated with the RFC is permitted to occur. |
| US07853674B2 |
System and method for provisioning component applications
A system and method are provided for provisioning component applications for retrieval by a device. The system includes an application gateway server, which includes a message broker for communicating between the system and the device. The application gateway server is configured for communication with a provisioning server and a discovery server. The provisioning server includes a provisioning service for servicing a provisioning request and a provisioning depot for storing packaged component applications. The discovery server stores and manages component application bundles. The system further includes a packaging application in communication with application gateway for retrieving a component application bundle, selecting elements from the component application bundle in accordance with the device for which the component application is being provisioned, creating a component application package using the selected elements, and making the packaged component application available to the device. |
| US07853673B2 |
Client device configuration with hooks
Configuring a client device including associating a hook in a configuration bundle with customized programming, downloading the configuration bundle for a client device to a services gateway, and executing the configuration bundle on the services gateway, including calling the hook. |
| US07853670B2 |
System and method for detecting and verifying digitized content over a computer network
A system for detecting digitized content and selecting matches from a master verification database. The detection of digitized content is performed using a verification database which contains a master table of contents identifiers and songprints for corresponding digitized content. A network server is programmed to receive selections of a table of contents identifiers from computers, and to request selections of songprint identifiers from the computers and selects matches from the master verification database. |
| US07853666B2 |
Data retrieval from computing systems
A computing device embodiment includes a processor, memory coupled to the processor, and computer executable instructions executable by the processor. Computer executable instructions are provided to the memory and executable by the processor to access a first provider's communications computing device, having a user's information thereon, through a data lookup utility used by the first carrier. The computer executable instructions can also retrieve the user's information from the first provider's communications computing device and transfer the retrieved information to a second provider's communications computing device. |
| US07853665B1 |
Content targeting with audiences
The present invention provides a system and method for targeting content to audiences. The audience is defined by rules that may be based on properties as well as organizational structure associated with the users. Each of the rules is compiled to determine the group of members belonging to the rule. Logical operators are then applied to the groups to determine the audience membership. Compiling the rules enhances performance as the rules do not have to be run each time. Instead, a simple check against the rules results is performed. The rules making up the audience may be compiled at predetermined times in order to keep the audience up-to-date. Audiences are then selected and tagged to content so that the content may be viewed by the selected audiences. |
| US07853664B1 |
Method and system for purchasing pre-recorded music
A method and system is described which allows users to identify (pre-recorded) sounds such as music, radio broadcast, commercials, and other audio signals in almost any environment. The audio signal (or sound) must be a recording represented in a database of recordings. The service can quickly identify the signal from just a few seconds of excerption, while tolerating high noise and distortion. Once the signal is identified to the user, the user may perform transactions interactively in real-time or offline using the identification information. |
| US07853660B2 |
Method for discouraging unsolicited bulk email
A protocol-based method for email forwarding by an email server is performed as follows. An initial email is received from a sender, and checked to ensure that the initial email includes a reusable electronic paying means. If the initial email carries a reusable electronic paying means, the initial email is forwarded to the recipient. An acceptance email containing a reusable electronic paying means is later received from the recipient of the initial email, and forwarded to the sender. Email not carrying an electronic paying means is rejected. |
| US07853654B2 |
Mass mail detection system and mail server
The present invention is to provide a mass mail detection device that eliminates the need for preparation of rules or learning in advance and operates at a high speed. Electronic mail collecting means analyzes the electronic mail delivery protocol that flows on the network, and extracts an electronic mail main text from the electronic mail traffic that flows on the network. Next, characteristic quantity conversion means calculates a number of hash values from the electronic mail main text, as the characteristic quantity of the mail. Finally, mass mail detection means compares the newly received electronic mail with the stored past electronic mails, and determines the similarity in accordance with a specific standard. If determined as being similar, the new mail is determined as a candidate for a mass mail (similar mails), and a prescribed number or more of similar mails are determined as a mass mail. |
| US07853649B2 |
Audio processing for improved user experience
Methods and systems that facilitate enhanced media capabilities for electronic devices. The enhanced media capabilities enable electronic devices to provide voice calling with concurrent audio playback. The audio playback can originate at the electronic device itself or can be transmitted to the electronic device as part of or together with the voice calling. In addition, the enhanced media capabilities can also provide users of electronic devices with acoustic separation (e.g., spatial positioning) of audio currently provided from a voice call and from audio playback. Still further, the enhanced media capabilities can also provide users of electronic devices with acoustic separation (e.g., spatial positioning) of participants in multi-party calls. |
| US07853646B2 |
Assured validation for facade method invocations
A method and system for validating calling parameters of a method call. Validation conditions are evaluated utilizing original calling parameters provided by a validation method call by a client, where the call is required to initiate an activity. The evaluating facilitates determining messages to be provided to a user, where the messages are associated with consequences of continuing the activity. A validation object having data structures is created. The data structures include the validation conditions and the original calling parameters. The validation object is sent to the client to facilitate receipt of the messages by the user. The calling parameters are extracted from the validation object to facilitate completing the activity with a set of calling parameters matching the original calling parameters. |
| US07853643B1 |
Web services-based computing resource lifecycle management
Particular embodiments facilitate life-cycle management and utilization of network resources, such as web or other application services. One embodiment provides instancing, virtualization, and dynamic provisioning functionality facilitating management and utilization of web services. One embodiment combines the virtualization and dynamic provisioning functionality to facilitate the development of client application code in routed web services network architectures. One embodiment provides a set of management functions that may be applied to management of computing resources in any IP-based network. |
| US07853636B2 |
Digital signal processing circuit having a pattern detector circuit for convergent rounding
An integrated circuit (IC) for convergent rounding including: an adder circuit configured to produce a summation; a comparison circuit configured to bitwise compare the summation with an input pattern, bitwise mask the comparison using a mask, and combine the masked comparison to produce a comparison bit; and rounding circuitry for rounding the summation based at least in part on the comparison bit. |
| US07853633B2 |
System and method for generating random permutations of elements
A system and method for generating random permutations of elements (e.g., integers) in a test generation tool by providing one or more ordered ranges (110-170), each represented by a low and high value. Initially a single range is provided corresponding to the entire set of integer to be permuted. A random integer is then selected within this range, and this selected integer is removed by excluding the selected element. This exclusion is achieved by either splitting the range (110) into two ranges (120, 130), or, if the selected integer is the lowest or highest value of an existing range, adapting the end of the range. Subsequently, one of the ranges in the list of ranges is selected randomly and an element within the selected range is selected randomly and excluded, and so on. In this way a random permutation of all the elements in the original range is generated in the test generation tool. |
| US07853631B2 |
Billing system and method for charging users for utilization of shared resource
Disclosed is a billing system that charges resource users for the utilization of a shared resource. The billing system acquires data representing a resource utilization rate at intervals, calculates a utilization rate difference between the acquired resource utilization rate and a reference (average) resource utilization rate, and substitutes the utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function, such as linear function, to produce a collective adjustment payment (surcharge or discount). Individual adjustment payments are obtained from the collective adjustment payment respectively for resource users. |
| US07853630B2 |
System and method for the dynamic generation of correlation scores between arbitrary objects
Systems and methods are described for performing the dynamic generation of correlation scores between arbitrary objects. When a behavioral event is recorded, that is to say when an end user interacts with multiple objects, relationships between objects are created. These relationships are maintained as a list. When a request for correlated items is requested based upon a seed object, a list of correlated items is dynamically created through the generation of a pivot set and a scoring algorithm to compute the list of correlated items. |
| US07853625B2 |
System for defining data mappings between data structures
Computer system and program for defining data mappings between data elements in a first data structure and data elements in a second data structure are provided. The computer system executes instructions for selecting a first data element in the first data structure for mapping, suggesting a first possible data mapping definition to a user based on a first previous data mapping definition, the first possible data mapping definition defining a mapping from the first data element in the first data structure to a first data element in the second data structure, and mapping the first data element in the first data structure to the first data element in the second data structure according to the first possible data mapping definition in response to acceptance of the first possible data mapping definition by the user. |
| US07853623B2 |
Data mining system, data mining method and data retrieval system
Accurate concept information and relationships between concepts are extracted from a figure even in a case where sufficient character string recognition accuracy cannot be obtained by image processing, or a case where lexical ambiguity remains because there are a plurality of meanings with the same spelling. After concepts and relationships between concepts appearing in a document referring to a figure and a document related or similar to the document are prepared, candidates for concepts and relationships between concepts are limited to those likely to appear in the figure by checking against the prepared concepts and relationships between concepts. Thus, a false recognition rate is lowered. |
| US07853619B2 |
Storage model for large object columns
Methods and apparatus for enabling a plurality of table columns arranged to be associated with large objects (LOBs) to share a single LOB data segment within a database are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for allocating space associated with at least a first column arranged to accommodate LOB data and a second column arranged to accommodate LOB data includes allocating a first LOB data segment. The method also includes associating both the first column and the second column with the first LOB data segment. |
| US07853618B2 |
Methods and apparatus for generic semantic access to information systems
A method of providing information from at least one information resource. A semantic query is received that includes one or more generic constructs referencing an ontology relating to a domain of the information resource(s). A representation of the semantic query in an ontology representation language is inferred from the constructs. The query representation is used to access the information resource(s). This method allows a user to formulate database queries semantically without knowledge as to underlying data structures. |
| US07853616B2 |
Active sequencing
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for processing messages including structured data, such as objects and business objects. The method may include a receiver inhibiting processing of a first message including a first object referencing a second object, when the receiver of the first message does not include key mapping information for the second object. The receiver may then receive key mapping information determined for the second object, when a second message, received at the receiver, includes the second object without references to another dependent object. The mapping information may be representative of a location of the second object. The receiver may then automatically resume processing of the first message, when the key mapping information is received. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described. |
| US07853615B2 |
Hierarchical space partitioning for scalable data dissemination in large-scale distributed interactive applications
We present exemplary methods involving hierarchical indexing of an application space, and exemplary techniques for scalable management of shared application state update distribution. The application space is partially replicated at each individual client who controls a limited number of static and dynamic objects of the application space. State updates are generated for each modification of objects' dynamic attributes. Multiple dynamic objects may change state simultaneously, requiring dissemination of the state updates to non-overlapping groups of clients. A client's communication interest is described using multiple dynamic attributes. The communication interest space is represented as an N-dimensional attribute space with coordinates spanning the set of dynamic object attributes contained in the communication interest space. We provide a method for partitioning the application space, creation of communication interest cells and hierarchical indexing of the communication interest space. In addition we provide methods for the creation and dynamic modification of the hierarchical index. |
| US07853609B2 |
Update distribution system architecture and method for distributing software
A hierarchical software update distribution system and method for distributing software updates is presented. The update distribution system includes a root update service node and at least one update service node. In an update distribution system, each update service node, except the root update service node, has one parent update service node. Each update service node may function as a parent update service node to child update service nodes. |
| US07853608B2 |
E-learning authorship based on meta-tagged media specific learning objects
A method and system of an e-learning authorship based on meta-tagged media specific learning objects are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes searching for learning objects in a repository based on a content query data publishing the learning objects to a content management system through applying a meta-data describing a context to the learning objects to such that the learning objects become readily accessible based on a search of the context and generating a set of executable files based on the learning objects and a number of auxiliary files associated with the set of executable files to create an e-learning course of a specific media type. In addition, the method may include comparing a context query data and the meta-data of the each of the learning objects to perform a context search which is used to select a subset of the learning object matching the context query data. |
| US07853607B2 |
Related actions server
Methods and apparatuses enable providing an action related to a business object in response to receiving a request to access the business object. In one embodiment, a related action is identified based on a context of a work environment from which the request is generated. The context may include a business role of the requester, a type of the requested object, a specific instance of the object, a relationship of the requester to the specific instance, a channel from which the request is received, etc. The identified related action is provided to a consumer of the business object. |
| US07853602B2 |
System and method for creating an enhanced enterprise directory
A knowledge management system and method is described. The knowledge management system and method comprises the steps of receiving a user search term from a user, searching an index for at least one identifier of an expert based upon the user search term, ranking the at least one identifier by an activity factor and a reputation factor, compiling a search result based on the ranking and transmitting the search result to the user. |
| US07853599B2 |
Feature selection for ranking
This disclosure describes various exemplary methods, computer program products, and systems for selecting features for ranking in information retrieval. This disclosure describes calculating importance scores for features, measuring similarity scores between two features, selecting features that maximizes total importance scores of the features and minimizes total similarity scores between the features. Also, the disclosure includes selecting features for ranking that solves an optimization problem. Thus, this disclosure identifies relevant features by removing noisy and redundant features and speeds up a process of model training. |
| US07853595B2 |
Method and apparatus for creating a tool for generating an index for a document
A method creating a tool for generating at least one index element for an examined document configured according to a format includes: (a) ascertaining at least one textual characteristic-set of an exemplary document configured according to the format for identifying the at least one index element; (b) expressing the at least one textual characteristic-set in a computer-executable code; and (c) saving the computer-executable code for effecting the creating. |
| US07853586B1 |
Highlighting occurrences of terms in documents or search results
A system highlights search terms in documents distributed over a network. The system generates a search query that includes a search term and, in response to the search query, receives a list of one or more references to documents in the network. The system receives selection of one of the references and retrieves a document that corresponds to the selected reference. The system then highlights the search term in the retrieved document. |
| US07853585B2 |
Monitoring performance of a data processing system
An apparatus and method for monitoring the performance of a computer system via an result size including a result set size of accesses to a database and a page size. Preferred embodiments are directed to a performance monitor that correlates data from existing tools that report data concerning access to the database and the use of system resources. Other embodiments are directed to a performance monitor that is included in an application server associated with the database. |
| US07853582B2 |
Method and system for providing information services related to multimodal inputs
A system and method provides information services related to multimodal inputs. Several different types of data used as multimodal inputs are described. Also described are various methods involving the generation of contexts using multimodal inputs, synthesizing context-information service mappings and identifying and providing information services. |
| US07853579B2 |
Methods, systems and software for identifying and managing database work
Various embodiments of the invention provide solutions to allow more sophisticated management of the relationship between a database and its clients (which can be, inter alia, end users, business applications, etc.). Merely by way of example, some embodiments can facilitate the management of work requests in a database, as well as the management of the quality-of-service in a database system. In some embodiments, an identification handle may be assigned to a database work request. A database management application can use the identification handle to identify the work request, as well, perhaps, as any related work requests. The identification handle may also identify the database (and/or an instance thereof) and/or a clustered database node, and the identification handle may be transmitted to a mid-tier application, e.g., to notify the mid-tier about the processing of the work request, changes in quality-of service, server availability, etc. |
| US07853578B1 |
High-performance pattern matching
Apparatus having corresponding methods and computer programs, to detect a pattern in a string, comprises a memory circuit to store W-character segments of the pattern, where each segment comprises a fragment of the pattern; a key circuit to generate W-character keys each including a fragment of the string; a comparison circuit to compare the keys and the segments; where, when a segment matches a key, the comparison circuit indicates an initial match between the pattern and the string; and where, when one of the segments matches only a L-character fragment of one of the keys, wherein L |
| US07853577B2 |
Shopping context engine
A system receives context data associated with a context and a user. The system then associates the context data to a user identifier and retrieves data associated with the context. The system then filters the data according to the context data to create result data. In another embodiment, the system also receives context data from a plurality of users, where the context data pertains to one or more attributes of a context. The system then using the context data ranks the one or more attributes of the context to create ranked data and generates a user interface based on the ranked data. In yet another embodiment, the system communicates context data associated with a context and a user to a server, and receives result data created by the server filtering data retrieved based on the context data. The system then generates a user interface based on the result data. |
| US07853571B2 |
Techniques for file system recovery
Techniques for file system recovery are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for file system recovery comprising starting a recovery process for a failed node, utilizing the recovery process to read one or more committed but un-applied transactions from storage associated with the failed node, and recreating the one or more committed but un-applied transactions in memory associated with the recovery process. |
| US07853565B1 |
Method and apparatus for efficient propagation of large datasets under failure conditions
A network of nodes caches replicated datasets in which dataset changes are efficiently propagated as a set of changes even under failure conditions. A master node and a plurality of subordinate nodes in the network each maintain a copy of the dataset and a change log storing change events in the dataset in that node. The change log further includes a rename chain having a plurality of linked rename records created in response to a new master gaining control of the dataset. The master node computes and propagates dataset changes to the subordinate nodes as a set of change events. If the master node fails, one of the subordinate nodes becomes temporary master and continues to propagate dataset changes using its dataset and its change log in response to update requests from other nodes where the update request contains information from the change log of the requestor node. |
| US07853561B2 |
Synchronization of plural databases in a database replication system with simultaneous synchronization and replication
A target database is synchronized with a source database and the source database is replicated to the target database in a database replication system. The source database is on-line during the synchronization. The source database is located at a first node of the system, and the target database is located at a second node of the system. Changes in the source database are replicated to the target database by sending a replication stream from the first node to the second node. Successive blocks of data are sent from the first node to the target database to synchronize or resynchronize the target database with the source database. Each block of data includes one or more rows of data. The successively sent blocks of data are inserted into the replication stream at a point when the respective blocks of data are current or consistent in the source database, and the replication stream is posted to the target database. Synchronization or resynchronization thereby occurs simultaneously with replication. |
| US07853558B2 |
Intelligent augmentation of media content
Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods (and corresponding systems and computer program products) that augment visual elements in documents with rich media content and provide the rich media content based on user interaction with the augmented visual elements in the documents. The disclosed embodiments analyze a document for qualified visual elements. The disclosed embodiments determine keywords associated with the visual element, generate an association of the visual element and the keywords, and embed the association in a corresponding augmented document. When a user reviews the augmented document in a client system and moves a pointer over the augmented visual element, a piece of rich media content related to the keywords are transmitted to the client system to be displayed as an overlay in close proximity to the visual element where the mouse-over occurred. |
| US07853555B2 |
Enhancing multilingual data querying
In one aspect, a method for multilingual data querying includes receiving a request for a query. The query includes a base word in a source language used for a search of a database in a target language. The method further includes applying the request to factors, selecting components based on the factors and performing the query based on the selecting. |
| US07853551B1 |
Natural language knowledge processor using trace or other cognitive process models
A computer implemented method for process data management displays a set of natural language questions and provides an organizational framework for passively and actively collecting natural language information so users can coordinate problem-solving and project development. It addresses the application domain of collaborative group process and/or collaborative intelligence among humans and/or intelligent agents. In one embodiment, the method collects responses to the trigger questions; displays natural language reaction questions relating to collection of reactions to the triggers and receiving responses to the reaction questions; receives inputs of action steps to address the problem based on the triggers and reactions; guides the user to identify conflicts based on the triggers, reactions, and actions steps; generates a navigable map based on the triggers, reactions, actions steps, and conflicts for use to support and track the problem-solving process; and displays prompts for evaluating the problem based on the map. |
| US07853544B2 |
Systems and methods for automatically categorizing unstructured text
Systems, methods and software products analyze messages of a message stream based upon human generated concept recognizers. A sample set of messages, representative of messages from the message stream, are analyzed to determine interesting or useful categories. Text categorization engines are then trained, using the sample set and text classifiers are published. These text classifiers are then used to categorizing further text messages from the message stream. |
| US07853543B2 |
Block allocation times in a computer system
A method and apparatus improves the block allocation time in a parallel computer system. A pre-load controller pre-loads blocks of hardware in a supercomputer cluster in anticipation of demand from a user application. In the preferred embodiments the pre-load controller determines when to pre-load the compute nodes and the block size to allocate the nodes based on pre-set parameters and previous use of the computer system. Further, in preferred embodiments each block of compute nodes in the parallel computer system has a stored hardware status to indicate whether the block is being pre-loaded, or already has been pre-loaded. In preferred embodiments, the hardware status is stored in a database connected to the computer's control system. In other embodiments, the compute nodes are remote computers in a distributed computer system. |
| US07853542B2 |
Method for grid-based data clustering
A method for grid-based data clustering comprises: creating a feature space having a plurality of cubes by a computer and showing the feature space by an interface of the computer, disposing a plurality of data stored in a database into the cubes, and then defining a plurality of the cubes as populated cubes; identifying whether the data within each of the populated cubes being evenly distributed or not to define each populated cube as a major cube or minor cube; combining border data of the minor cubes with the data in the major cubes; and designating all the data combined with each other as in the same cluster and recursively processing the above procedures to cluster all the data stored in the database. |
| US07853539B2 |
Discriminating speech and non-speech with regularized least squares
Sound discrimination techniques are disclosed that can be employed, for example, in the task of discriminating speech and non-speech in a noisy environment and other noise classification applications. In one particular embodiment, a classifier system is provided that includes a linear Regularized Least Squares classifier used directly on a high-dimensional cortical representation of the target sound. The regularization constant lambda (λ) can be selected automatically, yielding a parameter-free learning system. In addition, the high-dimensional hyperplane can be viewed directly in the cortical space, leading to greater interpretability of the classifier results. |
| US07853538B2 |
Fuzzy logic-based surveillance in information technology and business service management systems
A method and apparatus are disclosed for monitoring all levels of information technology and computing resources from low-level hardware up to enterprise level applications and their relation to business processes and business services, and alerting responsible personnel by giving them decision support by visual feedback using color cross-fading graphical objects showing parameter status and monitored resource status multi-colored by a scheme, which is determined by applying fuzzy logic to the raw monitored indicator parameter values and derived or propagated status attributes and by triggering events derived from fuzzy logic based analysis of raw measured parameter values and derived or propagated status attributes and raw events raised outside the apparatus. |
| US07853529B1 |
Method and device for generating a single-use financial account number
A device for facilitating financial account transactions is described which includes a processing unit including a cryptographic processor. The device also includes an input unit, a display unit and a memory device connected to the processing unit. The memory device contains a private cryptographic key, a first data element and a second data element. The processing unit encrypts the first data element using the private cryptographic key and the second data element, modifies the second data element, combines the encrypted first data element and the second data element to generate a single-use financial account identifier, and displays the single-use financial account identifier. This identifier is then transmitted to a central processor for authorization of the transaction. The central processor extracts and decrypts data elements from the transmitted identifier using the private cryptographic key, compares those data elements with data elements stored in a memory, and verifies the single-use financial account identifier in accordance with the comparison. |
| US07853523B2 |
Secure networked transaction system
A method and system for approving a transaction between a customer and a merchant including the steps of transmitting a transaction request from a customer to a merchant; transmitting a verification request from the merchant to a verification entity, the verification request comprising first data; the customer device transmitting second data to the verification entity; and the verification entity performing a verification step by using the first data and the second data to verify if the transaction should be approved. |
| US07853522B2 |
Internet-based money order system
A system and method for purchasing a money order via the internet including the steps of providing an internet based money order system capable of generating money orders upon the receipt of a purchase request by a prospective buyer via the internet for a predetermined amount of funds. The prospective buyer transmits information to the money order system. via the internet, which information is required to purchase the money order. The money order is then remotely generated by the money order system and is delivered to an intended recipient of the money order. |
| US07853517B2 |
Locking preferences and test trading
In various embodiments, test trading orders are generated, transmitted and ranked. |
| US07853513B1 |
Ticker-symbol lookup system and method
System and method for populating a list with at least one investment vehicle ticker descriptor. A system and method are presented for robustly looking up a ticker symbol for investment vehicle and efficiently adding the ticker symbol to a linked investment list. |
| US07853504B1 |
System and method for regulating order entry in an electronic trading environment
A system and method are provided for defining slop parameters to an individual spread order or a customized group of orders. The system and method may be used to, for example, define inside slop, outside slop, and/or adjustable range parameters to one or more orders. The inside slop, outside slop, and/or adjustable range parameters may be input by a trader, and, among other things, allow a trader to prioritize orders, set parameters so that some orders are re-priced more aggressively than other spread orders. Alternatively, slop parameters associated with a spread order may also apply more restrictive slop parameters to orders within the same adjustable range. Slop parameters associated with a spread order can also be configured and modified by a trader based on the trader's preferences. Other features and advantages are described herein. |
| US07853503B2 |
Transaction allocation
Systems and methods of allocating transactions among business objects are described. Allocation is accomplished using a multi-phase process. In a first phase, allocation of the transactions among a set of business objects is attempted. In a subsequent phase, allocation of transactions that were either unallocated, under-allocated, or over-allocated in the first phase is determined. The second phase includes using a set of allocation rules to identify business objects configured to manually determine allocation of the unallocated, under-allocated, or over-allocated transactions. The invention is applicable to a variety of business objects including people, organizations, accounts, tasks, or the like. |
| US07853498B2 |
Method, system, and computer program product for on-demand creation and distribution of customized dynamic contracts
The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for the on-demand creation and distribution of customized dynamic contracts. At least one business opportunity is extracted from an opportunity database. For each extracted business opportunity, a credit score for a customer associated with the extracted business opportunity is obtained and a dynamically modifiable contract for the extracted business opportunity is generated. The dynamically modifiable contract is distributed to a contact associated with the extracted business opportunity, who presents the dynamically modifiable contract to the customer associated with the extracted business opportunity. The contact can modify the dynamically modifiable contract, if necessary, during negotiations with the customer, to provide a contract that is acceptable to the contact and the customer. |
| US07853497B2 |
System for and method of variable annuity contract administration
A system for and method of variable annuity contract administration is provided. Each variable annuity contract includes a bonus investment credit percentage, withdrawal charge percentages less than or equal to the bonus investment credit percentage in all contract years, and level asset-based compensation to distributors. In accordance with the invention, data relating to variable annuity contracts are stored in a memory means. A processing means is configured to read and manipulate the stored data to administer the variable annuity contracts from issuance to payout. |
| US07853494B2 |
Efficient work flow system and method for preparing tax returns
A processor-based method for preparing a tax return using multiple service providers. The method includes receiving at a first service provider an image file that includes a plurality of data values and assigning at the first service provider the image file to a form having a plurality of predefined field names, wherein each of the plurality data values belong to one of the plurality of predefined field names. The method also includes receiving at a second service provider the image file and an input form having a plurality of input fields corresponding to the plurality of predefined field names and associating at the second service provider the plurality of data values from the image file with the plurality of input fields. |
| US07853490B1 |
Dynamic comparison text functionality
A system is provided comprising a plurality of listings, a plurality of labels associated with at least some of the listings. Additionally, a plurality of form inputs are provided, each associated with one of the labels, wherein selection of a form input causes a transition of the associated label from a first state to a second state. The system further includes a link that is made active upon the transition, thereby associating an action with a label wherein a first description is displayed in the first state and a second description is displayed in the second state. |
| US07853489B2 |
System and method for agent based developer self selection
A method, system, and computer program product for matching developers or entities with certain skills with work projects is provided. In one embodiment, a project manager utilizes a bid management agent which receives project specifications from the project manager specifying such things as, for example, project duration, work product desired, skill sets desired by the developers, experience level desired of the developers, and compensation. The bid management agent broadcasts a request for quotes for the project to utilization management agents. Each utilization management agent is employed by a different developer or entity and receives and tracks the interests and skills and other attributes of the developer and sends a quote to a bid management agent when it receives a request for a quote for a project which matches the interests, skills, availability, and other attributes of the developer for which the utilization management agent is employed. The bid management agent sends contracts to utilization management agents from which it receives quotes it deems acceptable based on project manager specified criteria. |
| US07853481B1 |
eDropship: methods and systems for anonymous eCommerce shipment
A method of enabling anonymous shipment of a package containing goods purchased by a customer from a vendor for delivery to an address unknown to the vendor includes steps of receiving a request for a package code for the package from the vendor, sending the package code to the vendor, the package code being devoid of delivery address information and sending a shipping identifier and an associated address to the shipper. The shipper, after picking up the package for shipment from the vendor, matches the package code sent to the vendor with the shipping identifier and identifies the associated address as the delivery address of the package. A shipping label may then be printed out and affixed to the package. |
| US07853476B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating a clinician quality assurance scorecard
The present invention provides a quality assurance system and method that generates a quality assurance (QA) scorecard for clinicians that participate in a radiological-based medical imaging study using digital imaging technologies. According to one embodiment, client computers, servers, imaging devices, databases, and/or other components may be coupled to provided a unified data collection system. According to one embodiment, systems and methods are provided that analyze various parameters that are derived from the unified data collection system to calculate a QA score for the clinician. The QA score provides a combined subjective and objective feedback system that includes performance evaluations from other users, including radiologists, technologists and patients. According to one embodiment, the feedback may be provided in real-time. |
| US07853473B2 |
Market-based price optimization system
A market-based software system that will help user-retailers manage price and inventories more effectively. The system will take advantage of available price and sales data to provide pricing recommendations that will achieve a retail user's objectives. The system will offer a solution that will allow for pricing improvement shortly after installation by utilizing data that is readily available. The system will recommend price changes that help a user achieve specified objectives such as contribution, sales volume, desired margins, and the like. The system can also collect and process price and sales data on an ongoing basis, which can enable improved estimates of customer price sensitivity and performance on a category-by-category basis. This data can be used to improve further pricing decisions. |
| US07853469B2 |
Methods and systems for predicting business behavior from profiling consumer card transactions
A system and method are provided for predicting small business behavior by analysis of consumer payment card transaction data. Transaction and amount velocity analysis of industry categories and/or real-time transaction-based profiling is employed to identify those consumer payment card accounts that are being inappropriately used to make small business purchases. A small business behavior predictor model is used to score transaction data and update cardholder profiles according to the likelihood that the transaction data represents small business activity. |
| US07853468B2 |
System and methods for integrated compliance monitoring
System and methods for integrated compliance monitoring. Various application modules work together to accomplish risk assessment and compliance monitoring. A risk assessment module facilitates the development of risk ratings based on responses to a plurality of compliance-related questions. The system can also include an action tracking module, and can further include a training module and a self-assessment module to determine individual compliance gaps. A common database is operatively connected to the modules to monitor the completion of assessments and to track actions based on remediation plans. In some embodiments, the invention is implemented via a computing platform or a collection of computing platforms interconnected by a network, such as a corporate intranet, in which case a web browser can facilitate use of the invention. |
| US07853466B2 |
Supply chain facility performance analyzer
Methods, systems and computer program products for supporting supply chain facility performance analysis. Methods include maintaining supply chain facility configuration information for a plurality of supply chain facilities. The method also includes identifying variables that are attributed to performance of the supply chain facilities. Data corresponding to one or more of the variables for selected supply chain facilities in the plurality of supply chain facilities is collected. Performance analysis is performed for the selected supply chain facilities using the data as input. The performance analysis includes executing a data envelope analysis (DEA) based three-stage performance analysis model, executing a statistical analysis and executing a sensitivity analysis. The results of the performance analysis are output. The results include a performance ranking of the selected supply chain facilities, a prescription for performance improvement, a correlation analysis, and a sensitivity analysis. |
| US07853464B2 |
Dynamic workflow architectures for loan processing
Systems and methods are provided for processing loan applications in dynamic workflows. In a preferred embodiment, a system calls an activity engine with a top-level activity for processing a work-item, e.g., a loan application. The activity engine decomposes the top-level activity into child activities and lower-level child activities, and recursively calls itself to process the child activities until all constituent child activities have been preformed, thus performing the original top-level activity. In the preferred embodiment, each activity, work-item, user, event and role has associated rules, wherein an event represents a change in state of an activity and a role represents a class of users of the system having shared attributes. The evaluation of the associated rules dynamically creates the flow of activities, thereby creating a dynamic workflow. |
| US07853463B2 |
Method and system to assess, track and implement capital projects by municipalities
A computer-based organizing, planning, implementing and tracking system is provided, the system is more particularly directed to a tracking method and system to assist municipal clients in organizing planning, implementing and tracking events and expenditures of capital projects. |
| US07853462B2 |
Optimizing an inventory of a supply chain
Optimizing inventory targets for nodes of a supply chain to satisfy a target customer service level may include accessing a supply chain model that has an assumed value for each of a number of inputs. An optimized inventory target is calculated according to the supply chain model to satisfy the target customer service level, and a measured actual customer service level and a measured actual value for each input are accessed. If the measured actual customer service level fails to satisfy the target customer service level, deviations between the measured actual and assumed values for each input are determined. An input for which the deviation is significant is identified to be a root cause of the failure. For a subsequent time period, using the deviation for the identified input as feedback, the assumed value for the identified input is adjusted, and a reoptimized inventory target is calculated to satisfy the target customer service level. |
| US07853461B2 |
Risk shifting method for investments in wind power generation
Systems and methods for shifting risk in investments in wind power generation are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, methods for shifting at least a portion of an investment risk in a wind power generation project include calculating a return floor amount associated with the wind power generation project, accepting a premium payment amount from an investor in the wind power generation project, and for each of an agreed period within an agreed term, paying the investor a difference between the return floor amount and a realized amount if the return floor amount is greater than the realized amount. |
| US07853460B2 |
Reinsurance system for variable annuity contract with guaranteed minimum death benefit
The invention is directed to a system for designing and administering a reinsurance plan for a variable annuity contract with a guaranteed minimum death benefit, including a means for determining a contractual guaranteed minimum death benefit for the variable annuity contract, and a means for determining a guaranteed minimum death benefit claim value from the variable annuity contract. The system also includes a means for establishing a final excess claim limit from the claim value and from the contractual guaranteed minimum death benefit of the variable annuity contract for limiting a total of guaranteed minimum death benefit claims against a reinsurer. Also included is a means for settling the claim liability after expiration of the reinsurance term, and offsetting the reinsurer liability for each first period with the variable annuity contract writer liability for preceding first periods and a successive first periods. |
| US07853446B2 |
Generation of codified electronic medical records by processing clinician commentary
A method and system for generating codified electronic records. A textual commentary can be received from a user and, in real time, the textual commentary can be analyzed to identify a plurality of codes that potentially correlate to the textual commentary. The identified codes then can be presented to the user in real time. A first user input can be received to select at least one of the identified codes, and the selected code can be added to an electronic record. |
| US07853445B2 |
Method and system for the automatic recognition of deceptive language
A system for identifying deception within a text includes a processor for receiving and processing a text file. The processor includes a deception indicator tag analyzer for inserting into the text file at least one deception indicator tag that identifies a potentially deceptive word or phrase within the text file, and an interpreter for interpreting the at least one deception indicator tag to determine a distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the text file and generating deception likelihood data based upon the density or distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the text file. A method for identifying deception within a text includes the steps of receiving a first text to be analyzed, normalizing the first text to produce a normalized text, inserting into the normalized text at least one part-of-speech tag that identifies a part of speech of a word associated with the part-of-speech tag, inserting into the normalized text at least one syntactic label that identifies a linguistic construction of one or more words associated with the syntactic label, inserting into the normalized text at least one deception indicator tag that identifies a potentially deceptive word or phrase within the normalized text, interpreting the at least one deception indicator tag to determine a distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the normalized text, and generating deception likelihood data based upon the density or frequency of distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the normalized text. |
| US07853442B2 |
Printed circuit board design instruction support method and device
There are provided a printed circuit board design instruction support method between a circuit design and a printed circuit board design, a printed circuit board design instruction support device between a circuit design and a printed circuit board design, a Web system, a program, an a computer-readable recording medium which improve the work efficiency of the printed circuit board designing and the quality of the printed circuit board design. By selecting a circuit part to which the design rule is applied, a circuit program and a portion-to-be-checked on the printed circuit board are simultaneously displayed by cooperation between the circuit design system and the printed circuit board design system, thereby reducing the time and labor required for check. |
| US07853440B2 |
Method for large-scale modelling and simulation of carbonate wells stimulation
Method for modeling acidification within a porous medium as a result of the injection of an acid.A dual-medium model is constructed, considering a first sub-medium favorable to dissolution breakthroughs and a second sub-medium not favorable to dissolution breakthroughs. For each one of these sub-media, a metric-scale description of the acid transport, of the sub-medium and acid mass conservation and of the acid transfer from one sub-medium to the other sub-medium is achieved. This dual-medium model is then initialized from experimental calibrations. Finally, acidification of the medium is modelled by means of this dual-medium model. |
| US07853433B2 |
Combustion anomaly detection via wavelet analysis of dynamic sensor signals
The detection of combustion anomalies within a gas turbine engine is provided. A sensor associated with a combustor of the engine measures a signal that is representative of combustion conditions. A sampled dynamic signal is divided into time segments to derive a plurality of data points. The sampled dynamic signal is transformed to a form that enables detection of whether the sensed combustion conditions within the combustor are indicative of any combustion anomalies of interest. A wavelet transform is performed to calculate wavelet coefficients for the data points and at least one region of interest is targeted. The amplitude of each wavelet coefficient within each targeted region is normalized by a baseline signal. The normalized amplitudes of the wavelet coefficients are used to determine whether any combustion anomalies have occurred by comparing the normalized amplitudes of the wavelet coefficients within each target region to a predetermined threshold amplitude. |
| US07853432B2 |
Method and apparatus for clustering and visualization of multicolor cytometry data
A computer implemented method is provided for clustering and visualization of an n-dimensional space in a Euclidean space. The method includes: collecting a plurality of multi-dimensional data sets; estimating a probability density function from each data set; approximating a dissimilarity between every pair of said probability density functions and recording every dissimilarity in a dissimilarity matrix; embedding the dissimilarity matrix into a Euclidean space having a dimensionality of three or less using a multi-dimensional scaling method; and graphically displaying relationships between data sets using data in the Euclidean space on a display of a computing device. |
| US07853428B2 |
Apparatus for displaying fitness exercise condition
An apparatus for displaying a fitness exercise condition is provided. A user (that is, an exerciser) of the apparatus inputs personal basic information on the exerciser. When the apparatus is applied to an arm or wrist of the exerciser and the exerciser carries out fitness exercise, a heart rate is measured during the fitness exercise to record it. Load data indicating hardness of the fitness exercise is calculated on the basis of the personal basic information thus inputted and data on the recorded heart rate. A display section is caused to display notice with a color according to a load on the exerciser for each of predetermined time periods on the basis of the calculated load data. The display section may include first and second display sub sections for displaying first and second notice with first and second colors, respectively. |
| US07853426B2 |
Device for automatically determining a category of mail to which a mailpiece delivered to a franking system belongs
A device for determining the category of mail of a mailpiece, which device comprises: an stand designed to receive said mailpiece; at least one gauge fastened to said stand and provided with a slot of predetermined length and of predetermined height, which length and which height are suitable for defining a determined maximum width and a determined maximum thickness for the mailpiece; means for automatically estimating a length of the mailpiece depending on its position on the stand, and relative to the gauge; and means for acting, on the basis of that single estimate of the length of the mailpiece, to deliver, to a franking machine, information about the category of mail to which said mailpiece belongs. |
| US07853424B2 |
Method of using a bipolar transistor as a self-calibrated thermometer and/or temperature sensor
This invention relates a method to use a bipolar transistor as temperature sensor and/or self-calibrated thermometer which is immune to errors generated by parasitic elements as resistances and ideality factors and their evolution. In this invention the product of the collector current values ICmi(VEBmi) as a function of the emitter-base forward bias voltage VEBim; ICi(VEBi)×exp(−qVEBi/kT0) is plotted as a function of the emitter-base forward bias voltage VEBim. T0 is a parameter which ensures that a region of the above mentioned plot results with a slope equal to zero, while simultaneously represents the transistor absolute temperature at the moment at which the collector current ICmi is obtained as a function of the forward bias VEBmi. |
| US07853423B2 |
Image forming apparatus and method for correcting position displacement
A disclosed image forming apparatus for detecting position displacement patterns and correcting position displacement of an image forming position in a main scanning direction according to the detection result, includes a position displacement amount calculating part configured to calculate the amount of the position displacement according to the detection result, a position displacement correcting part configured to correct the position displacement by performing at least one of multiplication correction or multiplication error deviation correction, a correction amount calculating part configured to calculate a multiplication error deviation correction amount for correcting multiplication error deviation generated by the multiplication correction, a first determining part configured to determine whether to plot a first position displacement correction pattern included in the position displacement patterns for performing the multiplication error deviation correction according to the multiplication error deviation correction amount, and a plotting part configured to plot the position displacement correction patterns. |
| US07853417B2 |
Methods and system for utility network outage detection
The present invention provides a system including a utility network including a product distribution pathway for delivering a product, a plurality of electronic utility devices associated with the utility network to monitor at least one parameter associated with the product distribution pathway, and a management processor in communication with the devices and operable to poll at least a subset of the electronic utility devices in response to an input to evaluate performance of one of the utility network and the system in response to information relating to the at least one parameter. The evaluation can include a rule-based analysis of one of the parameter and the information relating to the parameter. |
| US07853416B2 |
Flow rate verification failure diagnosis apparatus, flow rate verification failure diagnosis system, flow rate verification failure diagnosis method, and control program product for flow rate verification failure diagnosis
A flow rate verification failure diagnosis apparatus is applied to a gas supply pipe system including flow rate control devices and a flow rate verification unit for detecting flow rate abnormality by measuring flow rate of each of the flow rate control devices on the basis of pressure measured by a pressure measurement device. The flow rate verification failure diagnosis apparatus comprises a failure diagnosis device having a mode to diagnose a failure in the pressure measurement device at a time of the flow rate verification unit detecting the flow rate abnormality, thereby the reliability of flow rate verification can be enhanced. |
| US07853415B2 |
Multi-measurement vortex flowmeter
Two-wire transmitters are described in which the required voltage that a control room must supply to the transmitter is lower at high current than at low current, thus freeing up more voltage for other uses, and in which a constant set of operating voltages may be maintained. A corrected pressure in a vortex flow meter may be determined that reflects the mass flow rate. Thus, the mass flow rate may be determined based on the corrected pressure reading and a measured volumetric flow rate. Density may be determined from pressure and temperature using a table containing error values based on a standard density determination and a relatively simple approximation. During operation of a flow meter, the stored error values may be linearly interpolated and the approximation may be computed to determine the density from the stored error value. |
| US07853411B2 |
System for cell-based screening
The present invention provides systems, methods, and screens to measure receptor internalization in a single step with appropriate automation and throughput. This approach involves luminescent labeling of the receptor of interest and the automated measurement of receptor internalization to a perinuclear location. |
| US07853406B2 |
Predictive toxicology for biological systems
Methods and apparatus to identify a potential toxicity of a therapy in a biological system are described. In one embodiment, a method uses a computer model that represents a set of biological processes of the biological system. The method includes executing the computer model to identify a first set of biological processes contributing to the occurrence of a toxic state of the biological system. The method also includes identifying a set of biological assays based on the first set of biological processes and testing the therapy in the set of biological assays to identify a second set of biological processes modified by the therapy. The method further includes identifying the potential toxicity of the therapy based on the second set of biological processes. |
| US07853405B2 |
Intervehicle communication system
A driving support system for use in a vehicle uses a headlight controller for directing a headlight beam on a road surface in an intersection when the vehicle stops at the intersection. Another vehicle simultaneously approaching the intersection detects the beam of the surface with an image sensor and processor of the driving support system. The system of the another vehicle sends back a vehicle ID signal to the stopping vehicle when a predetermined beam pattern is recognized by the processor. Then, the system uses a buzzer for notifying a driver of the stopping vehicle that the ID signal has been returned. |
| US07853402B2 |
Monitoring location of mining vehicle using base stations in at least two sections of mine
A method and a system for monitoring the location of a mining vehicle in a mine. The first mine section (18) is provided with a wireless network (10) for data transmission between the mining vehicle (1, 1a, 1b) and the mine control system (11). In addition, the network is used for positioning. In the second mine section (21), the location is determined by means of measuring devices provided in the mining vehicle. |
| US07853401B2 |
Device for switching on and off a vehicle engine as a function of the traffic situation
A device for switching on and switching off an engine of a motor vehicle having a sensor for locating a preceding vehicle and a control unit for switching on and switching off the engine as a function of the state of motion of the preceding vehicle, wherein the control unit is set up to control the switching on and switching off of the engine as a function of the state of motion of at least one additional vehicle in the same lane. |
| US07853399B2 |
Internal combustion engine control apparatus and method
An internal combustion engine control apparatus executes an exhaust-valve-early-closing valve timing control in which an exhaust valve is closed before the intake stroke top dead center. The fuel injection timing mode is normally set to an intake-stroke non-synchronized fuel injection mode. However, if the internal combustion engine is idling and the combustion gas temperature is relatively high, the fuel injection timing mode is switched from the intake-stroke non-synchronized fuel injection mode to an intake-stroke synchronized fuel injection mode. |
| US07853392B2 |
Systems and methods for initializing dynamic model states using a Kalman filter
Embodiments of the invention can provide systems and methods for initializing dynamic model states using a Kalman or similar type filter. In one embodiment, a system for controlling a gas turbine engine is provided. The system can include at least one sensor adapted to obtain dynamic-type information about a current state of the engine. The system can also include an engine model adapted to receive information from the sensor, and further adapted to reflect the current state of the engine. Furthermore, the system can include a model filter adapted to initialize the engine model with at least a portion of the dynamic-type information, wherein at least one value based at least in part on the filtered dynamic-type information is input to the engine model to determine an engine control action. |
| US07853388B2 |
Devices, systems, and methods for controlling a braking system
Certain exemplary embodiments comprise a method, which can comprise automatically setting a service brake of a mining haulage vehicle. The service brake can be set responsive to a determination that a wheel comprising a wheel motor is rotating at a rotational speed that is above a predetermined rotational speed. In certain exemplary embodiments, the service brake can be automatically released. |
| US07853387B2 |
Controller for operation of vehicle and control method for the same
A controller controls braking force and driving force of a vehicle, in accordance with demand force. The controller includes a first and second demand force arithmetic units for arithmetically calculating first and second demand force. The first demand force includes a factor inducing vibration in suspended components of the vehicle. The second demand force substantially excludes the factor inducing vibration in suspended components of the vehicle. A vibration damping filter reduces the factor from a waveform of the first demand force, thereby producing post-filter demand force. An arbitration unit compares the post-filter demand force with the second demand force, thereby selecting one of the post-filter demand force and second demand force as final demand force. |
| US07853385B2 |
Systems and methods for controlling transmission shifting during vehicle braking along a decline
In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided for controlling transmission downshifting of a vehicle. The systems and methods monitor vehicular conditions continuously throughout vehicle travel such that downshifting may occur during braking along a decline and are not influenced by and do not interfere with road grade calculation systems. In one embodiment, a system comprises sensors that monitor vehicular conditions. The sensors transmit signals indicative of vehicular conditions to an electronic controller that processes the signals. The electronic controller generates instructions for downshifting where the processed signals indicate vehicle travel along a decline and when downshifting would not cause exceeding of a maximum revolutions per minute limit. The instructions are transmitted to a transmission system that downshifts the transmission gear position according to the instructions. The electronic controller cancels the instructions for the downshifting when the degree or duration of accelerator pedal depression exceed predefined values. |
| US07853378B2 |
Control device for electrical power steering system
In a steering system having a variable gear transmission system and an electrical power steering system, respective compensation amounts for first and second electric motors are produced by a first mathematical model. The compensation amounts are added to command values (v1, v2) to generate final command signals (igref, ipref) to the respective electric motors. According to the above structure and operation, a mutual interference between two control systems can be suppressed. |
| US07853377B2 |
Method and apparatus for communication within control systems
A method and apparatus for synchronous communication in a control system is disclosed. Within a first time interval, a first source task is executed to broadcast a first destination task, within a second sequential time interval, the first destination task is communicated over a channel to a first destination, and within a third sequential time interval, the first destination task is consumed. Within the first time interval, a second source task may be executed to broadcast a second destination task, within the second sequential time interval, the second destination task may be communicated over the channel to a second destination, and within the third sequential time interval, the second destination task may be consumed. The first source task is allowed to be scheduled ahead of the second source task, and the second source task is allowed to be scheduled ahead of the first source task. |
| US07853371B2 |
Article transport apparatus and article transport method
An article transport apparatus is provided with a path that is arranged along a plurality of article transferring locations and that has a first end and a second end, a plurality of article transporting vehicles that run along the path, and a controller that controls movement of the plurality of article transporting vehicles, and that processes transport request data that includes information specifying an article transfer location for transfer among the plurality of article transfer locations. The controller selects an article transporting vehicle for a transport process from the plurality of article transporting vehicles based on the transport request data, and moves the selected article transporting vehicle for a transport process to the article transferring location for transfer. Also, when the transport request data is processed while there is an article transporting vehicle currently performing a transport process, the controller moves the selected article transporting vehicle for a transport process to the article transferring location for transfer as long as a run range of the selected article transporting vehicle for a transport process does not interfere with an interference range, of a set length in the lengthwise direction of the path, that originates from the article transferring location for transfer corresponding to the article transporting vehicle currently performing a transport process. |
| US07853368B2 |
Method and device for constructing a low altitude flight trajectory intended to be followed by an aircraft
Method and device for constructing a low altitude flight trajectory intended to be followed by an aircraft.The device (1) comprises, in particular, a means (6) for constructing a lateral trajectory of the flight trajectory and a means (7) for constructing a vertical trajectory of the flight trajectory, over a profile section defined between two height maxima of a terrain profile, by displacing over the terrain profile a V-shaped construction profile, whose branches are determined respectively by maximum angles of climb and of descent and by selecting a position of the construction profile, for which its edges arrive tangential to the terrain profile, and no peak of the terrain profile crosses the construction profile, the position thus selected of the construction profile allowing the latter to form the part of the vertical trajectory which is situated at the level of said profile section. |
| US07853366B2 |
Vehicle control apparatus
A vehicle control apparatus having a vehicle state quantity detection unit for detecting vehicle state quantity such as a roller angular velocity, a lateral jerk calculation unit for calculating lateral jerk of a vehicle based on the vehicle state quantity, and a control unit for carrying out the vehicle control based on the lateral jerk. |
| US07853364B2 |
Adaptive controller for ion source
An ion source, often used for materials processing applications in a vacuum processing chamber, is provided with an adaptive control system. The adaptive control system has a microprocessor and memory that regulate the inputs of power and gas flow into the ion source. The adaptive control system monitors and stores the dynamic input impedance properties and status of input devices to the ion source. The adaptive control system may additionally control magnetic fields within the ion source. The adaptive control system provides a multivariable control for driving any combination of input power, gas flow, magnetic field, or electrostatic ion beam extraction or acceleration field into the ion source. |
| US07853359B2 |
Calibration device and method for robot mechanism
A calibration device and method for automatically determining the position and the orientation of a robot used for measurement. First, an initial position of a preliminary position is generated based on a designated basic position, and it is judged whether the initial position is within an operation range of the robot. If the robot cannot reach the initial position, the preliminary position is adjusted close to the basic position. Otherwise, the preliminary position is evaluated by calculating an evaluation index of the preliminary position. When the evaluation index does not satisfy a predetermined condition, an initial value of an posture angle is increased. |
| US07853357B2 |
Robot behavior control based on current and predictive internal, external condition and states with levels of activations
In a robot device, an action selecting/control system includes a plurality of elementary action modules each of which outputs an action when selected. An activation level calculation unit calculates an activation level AL of each elementary action on the basis of information from an internal-state manager and external-stimulus recognition unit and with reference to a data base. An action selector selects an elementary action whose activation level AL is highest as an action to be implemented. Each action is associated with a predetermined internal state and external stimulus. The activation level calculation unit calculates an activation level AL of each action on the basis of a predicted satisfaction level variation based on the level of an instinct for an action corresponding to an input internal state and a predicted internal-state variation predictable based on an input external stimulus. |
| US07853356B2 |
Method for optimizing a robot program and a robot system
An apparatus and a method for optimizing robot performance includes a computer connected to the robot controller for receiving performance data of the robot as the controller executes a path program. The computer uses the performance data, user specified optimization objectives and constraints and a kinematic/dynamic simulator to generate a new set of control system parameters to replace the default set in the controller. The computer repeats the process until the new set of control system parameters is optimized. |
| US07853354B2 |
System and method for communicating vending information
A system and method for communicating vending information for a digital video disc is provided. A plurality of vending transaction data is received, wherein each of the plurality of data comprises a transaction timestamp and corresponds to a rental transaction for a digital video disc. The plurality of vending transaction data is stored in a memory of a vending apparatus, and is encrypted. It is determined whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since a first transmission of transaction data from the vending apparatus, and a communication request is transmitted upon such determination to a remote control center. A signal is received at the vending apparatus from a control center in response to the communications request, and a plurality of vending transaction data is transmitted to the remote control center in response to receiving the signal. |
| US07853352B2 |
Method of self calibrating a positioning system for positioning an element in a working space
A method of self calibrating a positioning system, by positioning a reference device provided with reference markings at different calibration locations, and sensing the positions of the reference markings at each calibration location, is provided. The calibration parameters are selected such that differences in relative positions of the sensed locations, expressed in actual coordinates for different calibration locations are reduced or preferably minimized. |
| US07853351B2 |
CNC machine tool and integrated machine tool controller incorporating 3D and up to 8-axes real time interactive tool compensation
A CNC machine tool deflection compensation system intergrated in a CNC machine tool Controller for providing continuous, accurate, real-time compensation for unintended and/or undesired axis coordinate deflections from a preprogrammed path of tool movement in a coordinate plane, so as to ensure that the tool remains on its programmed path irrespective of such deflections capable of continuously detecting, in real-time, the presence, magnitude an rate of change of such undesired deflections and simulataneoulsy genereating instrtuctions to initiate equal and opposite deflections at the same rate of change, thereby ensuring that the tool remains on its preprogrammed path irrespective of the inherently occuring undesired deflection and/or the precipitating causes(s) thereof. The algorithms empolyed provide for automatic gouge avoidance protection and/or relocation of the tool to safe positions when necessary. All foregoing features are built into the CNC Controller at the outset, thus obviating the need for intervention by the machining operator. |
| US07853347B2 |
Semiconductor manufacturing system, controller, semiconductor manufacturing system control method, and processing liquid collection method
A semiconductor manufacturing system includes a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a first controller for controlling the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, an auxiliary machine for the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a second controller for controlling the auxiliary machine, and a third controller for electrically coupling the first and second controllers. The second controller outputs an auxiliary machine-in-operation signal to the third controller when the auxiliary machine is operating, outputs an auxiliary machine-stopping signal to the third controller when the auxiliary machine is stopping, and operates or stops the auxiliary machine according to an instruction signal received from the third controller. The first controller receives the auxiliary machine-in-operation signal or the auxiliary machine-stopping signal via the third controller, and keeps the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in operation or on standby when the first controller is receiving the auxiliary machine-in-operation signal. The third controller stops the auxiliary machine when the third controller detects that the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is on standby, and outputs the auxiliary machine-in-operation signal, instead of the auxiliary machine-stopping signal received from the second controller, to the first controller. |
| US07853342B2 |
Method and apparatus for remote real time collaborative acoustic performance and recording thereof
A method and apparatus are disclosed to permit real time, distributed acoustic performance by multiple musicians at remote locations. The latency of the communication channel is reflected in the audio monitor used by the performer. This allows a natural accommodation to be made by the musician. Simultaneous remote acoustic performances are played together at each location, though not necessarily simultaneously at all locations. This allows locations having low latency connections to retain some of their advantage. The amount of induced latency can be overridden by each musician. The method preferably employs a CODEC able to aesthetically synthesize packets missing from the audio stream in real time. |
| US07853340B2 |
Method for aligning a stent with a stent support
A method for aligning a stent with a stent support includes the steps of (1) placing a stent support and a stent mounted on the stent support in a vertically position with the stent support's first support element at a lower position and the stent support's second support element at an upper position; (2) obtaining a digital image of the stent support and stent; (3) analyzing the digital image of the stent support and stent to compute the vertical position of the stent's upper end; (4) computing a desired position of the second support element based on the position of the stent's upper end; and (5) using a positioning device to move the second support element to the desired position. The movement of the second support element causes the conical sections of the first and second support elements to engage the respective ends of the stent to center the stent around a core element of the stent support and to secure the stent in a longitudinal direction of the stent support. |
| US07853335B2 |
Method for operating machines with adaptable motion profiles
For operating controlled machines, a slave motion of at least one movable machine element of the machine is controlled using a motion profile specific to that motion, and this motion profile of the motion of the machine element is subdivided into a plurality of profile segments. The profile segments are each assigned masters, and the masters depend on predetermined command variables, motion profile in the individual profile segments depends in each case on the respective masters, at least two masters are different from one another, and at least two masters of the motion profile depend on command variables that are different from one another. |
| US07853332B2 |
Lead electrode for use in an MRI-safe implantable medical device
A medical lead is configured to be implanted into a patient's body and comprises a lead body, and an electrode coupled to the lead body. The electrode comprises a first section configured to contact the patient's body, and a second section capacitively coupled to the first section and configured to be electrically coupled to the patient's body. |
| US07853331B2 |
Medical device with procedure improvement features
This relates to methods and devices for achieving contact between the wall of a cavity or passageway and a medical device under conditions in which an access path and the subject anatomy are not aligned. |
| US07853328B2 |
Chip level biostable interconnect for implantable medical devices
A lead is connected to an integrated circuit in an implantable medical device in a lead bonding area that includes a lead-receiving recessed region. At least a portion of a lead conductor is bonded in the lead-receiving recessed region, making an electrical and mechanical connection to the integrated circuit that is strong and potentially biostable. In some embodiments, a filler material is provided around the recessed portion of the integrated circuit that receives the lead conductor, and a metal coating is provided around an outer surface of the filler material for additional mechanical stability. |
| US07853324B2 |
Tank filters utilizing very low K materials, in series with lead wires or circuits of active medical devices to enhance MRI compatibility
A TANK filter is provided for a lead wire of an active medical device (AMD). In a preferred form, the TANK filter is integrated into a TIP and/or RING electrode for an active implantable medical device. The TANK filter includes a capacitor in parallel with an inductor. The parallel capacitor and inductor are placed in series with the lead wire of the AMD, wherein values of capacitance and inductance are selected such that the TANK filter is resonant at a selected frequency to attenuate current flow through the lead wire along a range of selected frequencies. In a particularly preferred form, the TANK filter is manufactured using very low k materials of sufficient strength to handle forces applied thereto during installation and use. |
| US07853315B2 |
Non-invasive spectrophotometer
A device for use in non-invasive monitoring of a human or animal subject's bodily functions in vivo, comprises: a first optical system for identifying the center (1) of a pupil (13) of an eye of the subject, said first system comprising a first light source (2) for directing light towards the eye, first receiving means for receiving light reflected from the iris (4) of the eye, and first processing means for determining the position of the center (1) of the pupil (13) from the light reflected (3) from the iris; a second optical system comprising a second light source (14) directing light to a focussing means (15) for focussing light in the plane of the pupil (13) and for directing the focussed light onto the retina (10) of the eye, a second receiving means for receiving light reflected (17) from the retina and back through the pupil (13), and second processing means for analyzing the light reflected from the retina (10); and alignment means for aligning the second system with the center (1) of the pupil (13) as determined by the first system. |
| US07853310B2 |
Automatic analysis in virtual endoscopy
A computer system and a computer-implemented method are provided for interactively displaying a three-dimensional rendering of a structure having a lumen and for indicating regions of abnormal wall structure. A three-dimensional volume of data is formed from a series of two-dimensional images representing at least one physical property associated with the three-dimensional structure. An isosurface of a selected region of interest is created by a computer from the volume of data based on a selected value or values of a physical property representing the selected region of interest. A wireframe model of the isosurface is generated by the computer wherein the wireframe model includes a plurality of vertices. The vertices are then grouped into populations of contiguous vertices having a characteristic indicating abnormal wall structure by the computer. The wireframe model is then rendered by the computer in an interactive three-dimensional display to indicate the populations of abnormal wall structure. |
| US07853309B2 |
X-ray CT apparatus and myocardial perfusion image generating system
An X-ray CT apparatus comprises a blood-flow information acquisition unit, a correction value calculating unit and a blood-flow image generating unit. The blood-flow information acquisition unit obtains information of a relative blood flow rate in the myocardium of the subject based on the CT image. The correction value calculating unit obtains a correction value based on the CT image in a concentration transition period defined to be a period from immediately after start of a continuous injection of a contrast medium into the subject until the contrast medium reaching the myocardium increases and is be in a state where it can be considered that the contrast medium is saturated at a constant value. The blood-flow image generating unit generates a blood flow value image in the myocardium by correcting the information of the relative blood flow rate with the correction value. |
| US07853307B2 |
Methods, apparatuses, and systems useful in conducting image guided interventions
Methods, apparatuses, and systems relating to image guided interventions on dynamic tissue. One embodiment is a method that includes creating a dataset that includes images, one of the images depicting a non-tissue internal reference marker, being linked to non-tissue internal reference marker positional information, and being at least 2-dimensional. Another embodiment is a method that includes receiving a position of an instrument reference marker coupled to an instrument; transforming the position into image space using a position of a non-tissue internal reference marker implanted in a patient; and superimposing a representation of the instrument on an image in which the non-tissue internal reference marker appears. Computer readable media that include machine readable instructions for carrying out the steps of the disclosed methods. Apparatuses, such as integrated circuits, configured to carry out the steps of the disclosed methods. Systems that include devices configured to carry out steps of the disclosed methods. |
| US07853303B2 |
Neurological probe and method of using same
A neurological probe has a plurality of stacked electrode elements, each electrode element having stimulation/lesioning and recording electrodes incorporated with a strip of electrically non-conductive substrate. Such a probe is more compact while having a large number of stimulation/lesioning and recording channels. |
| US07853300B2 |
Sliding mechanism with spring positioning
A sliding mechanism includes two members, one of which is slidable with respect to the other along an axis. One of the members slides back and forth with respect to the other between a first position and a second position. A leaf spring is used as a positioning element to hold one of the members in either the first position or the second position. The leaf spring is attached to one of the two members and the other of the two members includes a projection. The leaf spring abuts the projection holding the slidable member in either the first position or the second position. When a user pushes one of the members from one position to another, the projection pushes the leaf spring out of the way until it passes an apex of the leaf spring and is held in the other position. |
| US07853298B2 |
Radio terminal unit, radio communication system and communication control method
A radio terminal unit and a radio communication system, enabling power savings, the improvement of the quality of real-time communication such as voice communication, and the reduction of transmission delays which often occur when a plurality of radio terminal units are connected to one radio base station. A radio terminal unit comprises a communication control section for controlling a radio interface section to transmit a control packet using a timer value. |
| US07853292B2 |
Distributed resource management for enhanced dedicated channel
The present invention provides methods for distributed resource management for enhanced dedicated channel. One method of communication with at least one base station includes determining at least one short-term entity associated with the at least one base station and providing the at least one short-term entity to a radio network controller. Another method includes receiving at least one short-term entity associated with the at least one base station and allocating at least one long-term resource based upon the at least one short-term entity. |
| US07853287B2 |
Mobile communications terminal and method for prepaying for communication charge in mobile communications terminal
A mobile communication terminal and a method is provided to facilitate prepayment of a communication fee, whereby when a prepaid communication fee is depleted while using a mobile communication service, an alert signal and an announcement signal are generated and output, a channel occupied state is maintained and a hold condition is set to interrupt sending and receiving of communication signals, and in Internet connection is established to a selected financial institution to enable prepayment of an additional communication fee, thereby enabling continuous use of the ongoing mobile communication service. |
| US07853285B2 |
Fast adaptive power control for a variable multirate communications system
A system and a method of controlling transmitter power in a wireless communication system in which user data is processed as a multirate signal in which the user data signal having a first rate is converted into a transmission data signal having a faster second rate for transmission. The transmission power is adjusted on a relatively slow basis based on quality of data received by a receiver of the transmitted data. The transmitter power is determined as a function of the first and second rates such that a change in the data rate in the multiple channels or the rate of the transmission data signal is compensated in advance of a quality of data based adjustment associated with such data rate change. Preferably, the user data signal having the first rate is converted into the transmission data signal having the second faster rate by repeating selected data bits whereby the energy per bit to noise spectrum density ratio is increased in the transmission data signal. |
| US07853284B2 |
Transmission power control method and apparatus
In a transmission power control method, a receiver receives user data transmitted intermittently from a transmitter to a receiver and control data transmitted continuously from the transmitter to a plurality of receivers including the receiver via a DPDCH and a CPICH, respectively; and generates, when the receiver is receiving the user data from the transmitter via the DPDCH, a command for controlling transmission power of the transmitter of a DPDCH in a manner that an SIR of a received signal of the DPDCH by the receiver becomes equal to a target SIR, and generates, when the receiver is not receiving the user data from the transmitter via the DPDCH, a command for controlling the transmission power of the transmitter of the DPDCH by updating the target SIR by using received quality of the CPICH. |
| US07853282B2 |
Power allocation in a wireless communication system
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate allocating power levels in a wireless communication network. A metric based upon spectral efficiency can be employed in connection with optimizing power allocation. Further, power for transmitters to utilize can be assigned as a function of time. Moreover, a single sub-carrier network and/or a multiple sub-carrier networks can leverage one or more power allocation schemes. |
| US07853281B2 |
Methods and apparatus for tracking wireless terminal power information
Power control reports are communicated less frequently than the power control commands. The base station tracks the commands sent to the wireless terminal and estimates the wireless terminal's control channel transmit power. Received power control channel reports are utilized to compare the base station's estimated wireless terminal control channel transmit power to the actual wireless terminal control channel transmit power. An estimate of the error rate of transmitted power control signals is generated based using the tracked power command information and received power report information. Adjustments are performed in the power control command signaling to compensate for estimated error rates. |
| US07853276B2 |
Mobile communication terminal and method
A method for providing convenient switching between modes of character input on a communication terminal in connection with currency input. The method includes in a first mode of input, receiving at least one alphanumerical input character, recognizing at least one alphanumerical input character from a set of predetermined currency identifiers, and switching to a second mode of input. |
| US07853273B2 |
Method of controlling user and remote cell phone transmissions and displays
A method, a combined cellular, PDA communication device, and a system having specialized software applications for allowing a plurality of combined cellular phone/PDA device users to monitor each others' locations and status, to initiate cellular phone calls by touching a symbol on the touch screen display with a stylus which can also include point to call conferencing calling. Each participant's cellular phone/PDA device includes a GPS navigation receiver with application software for point to call cellular phone initiation to participants and geographical entities including vehicles, persons or events, conference calls and video transfers. The method, device and system also includes several features that allow each individual cell phone/PDA device user to: a) transmit and remotely control one or more other participants' cell phones; b) allow a user to stop sending or transmitting digital messages or messages from an individual user phone; c) provide the individual user with a soft switch that causes destruction of the user's display and/or message location processing software in the user's cell phone while turning off the speaker and activating a microphone so that conversations near the user's cell phone can be monitored; and d) transmit and destroy a remote phone's location display and/or message location processing software while turning off the remote phone speaker and activating the remote phone microphone so that conversations near the remote phone can be monitored. |
| US07853270B2 |
System for geographically contextualizing data items
A system for geographically contextualizing data items may include an interface, a memory and a processor. The memory may store a database which includes structured data types. The processor may receive, via the interface, a data item. The processor may determine whether the data item is a structured or unstructured data item. The processor may parse the data item into components. The processor may determine a geographic component from the components. The geographic component may be determined using an algorithm if the data item is an unstructured data item. Otherwise the geographic component may be determined by comparing the components to the database which includes the structured data types. The processor may determine a geographic region representative of the determined geographic component. The processor may identify results associated with the geographic region and at least one of the components. The processor may provide the results via the interface. |
| US07853262B2 |
Method and system for allocating resources in a communication system
Provided are a system and a method for allocating resources in a communication system. The method includes mapping a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) class according to channel information transmitted from a mobile station and service class information of the mobile station; and allocating resources by dynamically configuring a frame based on the mapped TTI class. |
| US07853261B1 |
Multiple communication channel router
A multiple communication channel router is provided. A communications device such as a telephone may send communications to the router, which may then determine an appropriate communications network, such as the circuit-switched network associated with the landline telephone or a cellular network or packet-switched network associated with a broadband internet connection. The choice of network may be made intelligently based on cost, user preference, or other parameters. |
| US07853254B2 |
Modular, portable data processing terminal for use in a radio frequency communication network
Modular, portable data collection terminals are disclosed for use in mixed wireless and hard-wired RF communication networks, wherein various radio transmitter modules and associated antennas may be selectively added to a base terminal unit to solve networking problems associated with specific types of business environments. Modularity exists in both the hardware (splitting data collection and processing control circuitry from radio transceiver control circuitry) and software (splitting transceiver-specific, lower level communication protocol from generic, higher level communication protocol). The control circuitry, including associated microprocessors devices, interact to selectively activate communication circuits to perform necessary communication or data processing functions and enter and remain in a power-saving dormant state during other times. To support such dormant or “sleeping” states, a series of communication protocols provide for channel access to the communication network. The disclosed modular design also provides for automatic selection from a variety of available built-in and externally mounted antennas based on the particular type of radio transceiver(s) selected. |
| US07853251B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling the transmission of radio links in a radio-communication system
A method for controlling the transmission timing of a radio link on an air interface between a radio terminal and a radio access node, in a radio access node adapted to transmit a plurality of radio links to a radio terminal with substantially simultaneous transmission timings, is disclosed. It is determined whether predetermined conditions are met so that a substantially simultaneous transmission of a first and second radio links to said radio terminal can be selected. Responsive to this determination, a substantially simultaneous transmission of the first and second radio links is selected. |
| US07853246B2 |
Method for executing menu in mobile communication terminal and mobile communication terminal using the same
A method for executing a menu in a mobile communication terminal. The method includes identifying a particular key among a plurality of keys, identifying a location of the particular key, and assigning a first menu function and at least a second menu function to the particular key based on a combination of the identification and the location of the particular key. |
| US07853242B2 |
Bypass routing to a mobile device
A bypass server is placed in an outgoing link between a mobile device server and a relay used to distribute data from the mobile device server to remote mobile devices to which the data is addressed. Where a direct connection is established between a suitably configured network node (such as a personal computer) and a given mobile device, the bypass server may form a local connection with the network node and divert along the local connection those packets that are addressed to the given mobile device. As such, a lower cost/higher bandwidth local communication path between the given mobile device and the mobile device server may be established, when compared to the conventional remote communication path. The local communication path may be especially useful for bulk data transfers. |
| US07853240B2 |
Emergency number selection for mobile communications device
Automatically selecting an emergency number for use by a mobile communications device enabled for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications, including: receiving at the mobile communications device a geographic indicator in a beacon frame transmitted from a wireless access point of a wireless local area network that is connected to an Internet Protocol network; and determining from a plurality of emergency numbers stored in a storage element of the mobile communications device a selected emergency number in dependence on the received geographic indicator. |
| US07853238B1 |
Powerline base station
Systems and methods for providing in-building wireless communications are provided. A master base transceiver station can include a standards-compliant powerline modem coupled to one or more slave base transceiver stations and/or antenna modules. A bridge can be provided that includes a standards-compliant powerline modem coupled to one or more base transceiver stations. The standards-compliant powerline modems communicate standards-compliant digital signals over powerlines. The master base transceiver station or bridge is coupled to a mobile switching center/base station controller via a network. |
| US07853237B2 |
Power supplying apparatus, power line communication apparatus, power line communication system, and power supplying method
A power line communication modem within a network camera outputs a communication signal to an AC adaptor. Then, a signal superimposition and separation circuit of the AC adaptor separates a received communication signal from a DC voltage and an amplifier of the AC adaptor amplifies a signal level of the communication signal and then outputs the amplified signal to a power line through a plug. The communication signal is transmitted through a DC cable under a state in which a signal level of the communication signal is attenuated. Accordingly, even when the cable length of a DC cable is large, unnecessary radiation can be suppressed. |
| US07853236B2 |
Rectifier circuit and RFID tag
A rectifier circuit includes a first MOS transistor; a first capacitor connected between a gate and a source of the first MOS transistor; a first switching circuit for supplying a bias voltage to the first capacitor in response to a control signal; a second MOS transistor whose drain is connected to the source of the first MOS transistor; a second capacitor connected between a gate and a source of the second MOS transistor; and a second switching circuit for supplying the bias voltage to the second capacitor in response to the control signal. The rectifier circuit also includes a third MOS transistor for imitating the first MOS transistor; a third capacitor for imitating the first capacitor; a dummy switching circuit for supplying the bias voltage to the third capacitor in response to the control signal; and a generating circuit for generating the control signal based on a potential of the third capacitor. |
| US07853235B2 |
Field effect transistor amplifier with linearization
An amplifier comprises a source degeneration inductance and at least two field effect transistors coupled in parallel and having mutually different gate biasing. Source connections of the field effect transistors are coupled along different positions of the source degeneration inductance. |
| US07853232B2 |
Low-noise amplifier and antenna device having the same
To provide an antenna device adapted to interrupt jamming waves and enable cost reduction, a high-pass filter (HPF) adapted to interrupt general-use frequencies at least near a low-frequency side of a pass band intended for use is provided as a frequency selection circuit 11A on the antenna 1 side in an initial-stage LNA 2A. By setting a low-side cutoff frequency to 900 MHz, it is possible to prevent reception of frequencies in a general-use frequency band with a high frequency of use as jamming waves. That is, for example, it is possible to prevent reception of frequencies in 800 to 900 MHz band for mobile cellular telephones and higher harmonics thereof as jamming waves. Further, since an additional filter is not required in the antenna device, the circuit structure can be simplified. |
| US07853231B2 |
Mobile communication terminal and associated methodology for reception during diversity interruption
When the diversity reception is cut, communications with the base station are continued. When it is judged by the judgment section of the mobile communication terminal that a predetermined disconnection requirement for disconnecting diversity reception is satisfied, the gain control section of the digital baseband circuitry 20 reduces the gain of the AGC14B contained in the RF receiver circuitry 10B constituting the disconnection target by a fixed value at fixed times. Diversity reception is cut after the level of the signal output by the AGC14B has reached zero. |
| US07853225B2 |
Simplified high frequency tuner and tuning method
A disclosed method tunes a signal from a channelized spectrum having a predetermined channel spacing. A signal of interest having a predetermined maximum bandwidth is mixed with a local oscillator signal, which has a frequency that is an integer multiple of the channel spacing or one-half of a channel spacing displaced from an integer multiple of the channel spacing. The local oscillator signal is selected to frequency translate the signal of interest to within a near-baseband passband whose lower edge is spaced from DC by at least about the maximum bandwidth of the signal of interest. Problems associated with 1/f noise, DC offsets, and self-mixing products are avoided or substantially diminished. Other methods and systems are also disclosed. |
| US07853224B2 |
Fast settling radio receiver automatic gain control system
A fast settling AGC system includes a “fast settle” comparator that facilitates fast settling of strong radio receiver output signals from a maximum to an intermediate voltage level at the start of each transmission burst, and a “normal” AGC comparator that further settles the output signal from the intermediate voltage level to a desired target output voltage level at a slower “normal” rate. The gain control signal components generated by both the “fast settle” comparator and the “normal” AGC comparator are summed and applied to the gain control terminal of a variable gain amplifier. The gain control signal component generated by the “fast settle” comparator has a higher current level than the gain control signal component generated by the “normal” comparator, but is terminated when receiver output signal drops to the intermediate voltage level. |
| US07853223B2 |
Self-biased receiver system using a multi-fed antenna
Provided a self-biased receiver system using a multi-fed antenna, including: at least one first port connected to an electronic circuit; and a second port connected to a feeder forming a DC (direct current) voltage using an input electromagnetic wave and feeding the DC voltage to the electronic circuit. |
| US07853222B2 |
Switch and switching device with selective isolation for multimedia terminals
The invention relates to a switch with selective isolation and also to a switching device with selective isolation for multimedia terminals. The switch formed by 2 transistors (T1, T2) is feedback controlled by a feedback control signal V tune at a pre-defined frequency thus guaranteeing the selective isolation at this frequency. The switching device for switching the transmission/receiver channels of a multimedia terminal is formed by selective isolation switches that can be integrated using MMIC technology. |
| US07853220B2 |
Adaptive broadcast multicast systems in wireless communication networks
A wireless communication terminal configured to receive broadcast information on a broadcast channel, to start a timer when a reception quality of the received broadcast information degrades below a specified level on the broadcast channel, and to transmit feedback information only after starting the timer. |
| US07853219B2 |
Doppler frequency detector, doppler frequecny estimating method, and recording medium recorded with a program for allowing a computer to execute the method
Disclosed is a Doppler frequency detector for detecting a Doppler frequency of a received signal. The detector includes a channel estimating unit, a channel phase variation amount calculating unit, a Doppler frequency estimating unit and a calculation interval calculating unit. The channel estimating unit calculates a channel estimate based on a pilot signal in the received signal. The channel phase variation amount calculating unit calculates channel phase variation amount based on the channel estimate and a calculation interval. The Doppler frequency estimating unit estimates the Doppler frequency based on the channel phase variation amount and outputs a Doppler frequency estimate. The calculation interval calculating unit calculates the calculation interval based on the Doppler frequency estimate and supplies the calculated calculation interval to the channel phase variation amount calculating unit. |
| US07853218B2 |
Vehicle locating unit with improved power management method
A method of checking messages from a network of communication sources includes initially testing the signal strength of a plurality of communication sources, storing the identity of the communication sources with the two strongest signals, and alternatively entering a sleep mode and a wake-up mode, the wake-up mode synchronized to the communication source with the strongest signal. The method further includes testing the signal strength of one additional communication source, switching synchronization to the additional communication source if said source presents a signal stronger than the signal of a stored communication source with the strongest signal, and replacing the identity of any stored communication source if an additional communication sources tested in sequence presents a signal stronger than the signal of said stored communication source. |
| US07853215B2 |
Communication circuit and method for selecting a reference link
A communication circuit (10) and method updates an active link set list (50) in an asynchronous wireless communication system. In one embodiment, the communication circuit (10) may be a wireless device (600) or any other suitable communication device. The communication circuit (10) includes candidate reference link determination circuitry (30) to receive an active link set update message (60) and in response, to create the candidate list of reference links (20) from the active link set list (50). The candidate reference link determination circuitry (30) creates the candidate list of reference links based on, for example, an indication in the received active link set update message (60) to retain links from the active link set list (50). |
| US07853214B2 |
Dynamic multi-path detection device and method
In one embodiment of the present invention, a dynamic multi-path detection device is disclosed to include at least one narrow-band signal metric estimator responsive to input signal. Each of the at least one estimators measures a particular characteristic of the input signal in a frequency band that is narrower than the overall signal bandwidth and is operative to generate a signal parameter estimate signal. The dynamic multi-path detection device is further disclosed to include a signal metric comparison device responsive to the signal parameter estimate signal(s) and operative to generate a dynamic multi-path indication signal for detecting dynamic multi-path. |
| US07853210B2 |
Intelligent sensor open architecture for a container security system
A system and method for interfacing with sensors using an open architecture and standards based approach is provided. A sensor controller located on each container and any variety of one or more sensors are equipped with complementary short range wireless communications devices. The sensor may adhere to a predefined interface specification such that it may be automatically commissioned into, and operation in conjunction with the sensor controller and the container security system. |
| US07853204B2 |
Method and system for identifying a relay mobile station in a wireless communication network
A method of identifying a relay mobile station in a wireless communication network. The method includes applying an elimination process to candidate relay mobile stations, calculating a Figure of Merit (FOM) for each remaining candidate relay mobile station based on one or more parameters, and selecting the relay mobile station based on the calculated FoMs. |
| US07853201B1 |
Carrier
The transportation system, such as airplane, which comprises the internal wireless communicating system and the external antenna system. The passenger(s) in the transportation system may access network (e.g., the Internet) via the internal wireless communicating system and the external antenna system. |
| US07853199B2 |
Alarm signaling with hybrid data and two-way voice channel
A method is presented for providing alarm notification and two-way voice communication for a hybrid data/voice system by sending an alarm from a communication device to a central station receiver via a data transmission method, associating the alarm with a telephone number operating with a voice transmission method, and initiating the two-way voice communication between the communication device and a voice receiver. In one embodiment, associating includes selecting a line number and telephone number, verifying the number's availability, and if the number is available, sending it to the communication device. In another embodiment, associating includes forwarding the alarm from the alarm forwarding service to a receiver, sending a telephone number to the communication device, contacting the telephone number from the communication device, and using a voice transmission method to create a three-way call among the alarm forwarding service, the communication device and the central station. |
| US07853196B2 |
Digital radio feedback systems
A system including a digital radio broadcast station, a receiver, and a network. The digital radio broadcast station includes a transmitter and a server. The receiver is in communication with the digital radio broadcast transmitter and also includes a user interface for receiving user input commands comprising a request for information from the digital radio broadcast station. The receiver is configured to establish a two-way communication path between the receiver and the digital radio broadcast transmitter. The network is in communication with the server and the receiver for exchanging information therebetween. The request for information is provided to the server via the network and the server is configured to receive the request and transmit a response message to the receiver in accordance with the request. |
| US07853195B2 |
Adaptive RF canceller system and method
An adaptive electromagnetic wave canceling system and method for canceling an electromagnetic interference (EMI) signal generated from an EMI signal source, from a broadband signal being received by a receiver. In one implementation an adaptive canceller subsystem is used that directly receives the EMI signal and a sample of the broadband signal, in which the sample includes an EMI signal component. A time delay stage is incorporated to delay the broadband signal before it is received by the receiver. The adaptive canceller subsystem generates a correction signal that is an inverse of the EMI signal component. The correction signal is applied to the broadband signal to effectively cancel the EMI signal component therefrom before the broadband signal is received by the receiver. In one implementation an automatic gain control is implemented that automatically adjusts the adaptive canceller subsystem to a level of the sample broadband signal, to thus form a closed loop EMI canceling system. |
| US07853192B2 |
Paper discharge structure and image forming apparatus using the same
A paper discharge structure includes: a paper discharge roller for discharging paper with an image from a discharge port; a paper output tray located below the paper discharge roller for holding sheets of paper P discharged by the paper discharge roller; and a side-wall surface formed extending from the vicinity of the paper discharge roller to the vicinity of the paper output tray, is constructed such that the side-wall surface is formed with an inclined portion that extends from the lower part of the paper discharge roller to the vicinity of the paper output tray and is inclined with respect to the vertical direction. |
| US07853189B2 |
Belt moving device and image forming apparatus using same
In a belt moving device that is capable of reducing belt speed fluctuation and positional deviation from a target belt position in a sub-scanning direction and performing highly precise position control in a main scanning direction, and an image forming apparatus that uses this belt moving device to prevent color shift in both the main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction of a formed image such that a high-quality image can be formed, belt shift control means reduce shift position variation within a single round trip of an endless belt by feeding back a target value for canceling out the shift position variation within a single round trip of the endless belt and feeding forward a value obtained by multiplying an inverse transfer characteristic of moving means by a transfer characteristic of a target value of the moving means in relation to the control content of the moving means. |
| US07853188B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
A technology capable of suppressing the generation of transfer scattering of a toner image on an intermediate transfer body and contributing to an improvement in image quality in an image forming apparatus employing an intermediate transfer system is provided. An image forming apparatus is configured to include an intermediate transfer body to which a toner imager is transferred from an image carrier, the intermediate transfer body having an elastic surface layer having a center point average roughness of 0.1 times or more of a volume average particle size of a used toner and a ten-point average roughness of not more than the volume average particle size of the used toner; and a development section which develops an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier by using a toner having a shape factor SF-1 in the range of from 100 to 130 and a shape factor SF-2 in the range of from 100 to 140. |
| US07853186B2 |
Developing apparatus featuring multiple magnetic rollers
A developing apparatus in which a first magnet of a first developing sleeve includes a first magnetic pole near a potion opposing to an image bearing member, and a second magnetic pole being downstream of the first magnetic pole; and a second magnet of a second developing sleeve includes a third magnetic pole near a portion opposing to the first sleeve. Assuming that a magnetic force obtained by combining normal direction forces Fr1 and Fr2 of magnetic forces generated by the first and second magnets, respectively, near the first sleeve is Fr, a center direction component of the first sleeve of the force Fr becomes positive between the first magnetic pole and a peak value position of the second magnetic pole, and a center direction component of the force Fr becomes negative between the peak value position and the closest position between both sleeves. |
| US07853181B2 |
Developing unit and image forming apparatus using the same
A developing unit for visualizing an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor drum with a toner, includes: a hopper for storing a developer; a developing roller for supplying the toner to a photoreceptor drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed; and an agitating and conveying portion. In the developing unit, the agitating and conveying portion includes first and second agitating and conveying belts, each having toner agitating blades for agitating and conveying the toner. The first and second agitating and conveying belts are rotatably arranged in the hopper with their rotational axes set approximately vertically so as to rotate the toner agitating blades approximately horizontally. |
| US07853180B2 |
Toner supplier, development unit, and image forming apparatus
A toner supplier according to the present invention includes a toner stirrer. The toner stirrer includes a shaft, an auxiliary member, and a fixture. The melting point of the auxiliary member is higher than the melting points of the shaft and fixture. The shaft and fixture are welded to each other with the auxiliary member interposed between them.Because the melting point of the auxiliary member is higher than the melting points of the shaft and fixture, this member is not influenced by heat when the shaft and fixture are welded thermally to each other. |
| US07853177B2 |
Electrophotographic image forming apparatus having transparent toner and printing method thereof
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The apparatus includes first and second photosensitive bodies, first and second exposing units to form electrostatic latent images on the first and second photosensitive bodies respectively charged to a uniform electric potential, a first developing unit to develop an electrostatic latent image of the first photosensitive body by supplying a transparent toner to the electrostatic latent image of the first photosensitive body, and a second developing unit to develop an electrostatic latent image of the second photosensitive body by supplying a color toner to the electrostatic latent image of the second photosensitive body, wherein the first developing unit is a mono-component cleanerless developing unit. |
| US07853175B2 |
Image forming apparatus having movable drawer detachably supporting a plurality of process cartridges
An image forming apparatus capable of easily performing exchange in a process cartridge with a new cartridge and performing removal of a jammed sheet without detachment of a drawer from a casing. The drawer detachably holds a plurality of process cartridges, and is movable in frontward/rearward direction to one of an operable position where each photosensitive drum is in direct confrontation with a conveyer belt, a cartridge exchangeable position where all of the cartridges are positioned out of the casing, and a jammed sheet processing position ahead of the cartridge exchangeable position for removing a jammed sheet. A regulation mechanism is provided for selectively regulating the movement of the drawer dependent on detachment of a rearmost process cartridge from the drawer. |
| US07853166B2 |
Image forming apparatus with operation disabling feature
An image-forming apparatus includes a first unit configured to form an image on a recording medium, a second unit configured to open/close relative to the first unit, and an instructing unit configured to perform an instruction for causing the image-forming apparatus to execute a predetermined operation, wherein the image-forming apparatus is disabled from executing the predetermined operation regardless of whether instruction is performed by the instructing unit when the second unit is in an opened state, and wherein the first unit forms an image on a recording medium regardless of whether the second unit is in an opened state. |
| US07853164B2 |
Image forming apparatus and power control method
A plurality of heating units generates a heat by an alternating-current power supplied from a corresponding alternating-current power supply unit through a corresponding input terminal and supplying the heat to a fixing unit that fixes a toner image transformed on a recording paper by heating. A plurality of power control units controls the alternating-current power to a corresponding heating unit. A plurality of detecting units detects a reference phase of waveform of the alternating-current power. A control unit individually controls the power control units based on detected signals output from the detecting units. |
| US07853163B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus
In a fixing unit, a fixing roller is rotated under driving force transmitted from a paper discharge unit-side gear of a driving section via a fixing roller driving gear, and holds and conveys a recording medium in cooperation with a pressure roller in a nip region. When a control section determines that acceleration conditions are fulfilled, the driving section increases the rotating speed of the paper discharge unit-side gear so that it is rotated at higher speed than before-acceleration speed over predetermined high-speed rotating period. |
| US07853159B2 |
Method and apparatus for image forming capable of effectively performing color image position adjustment
An image forming apparatus including a plurality of detachable image forming devices each configured to form a color image, an image carrying device configured to carry the color images sequentially overlaid into a single color image, an exchange detecting device configured to detect an exchange operation of the plurality of detachable image forming devices, a test pattern reading device configured to read a predetermined test pattern formed by the plurality of detachable image forming devices on the image carrying device, and a controller configured to instruct the plurality of detachable image forming devices to form the predetermined test pattern on the image carrying device when the exchange detecting device detects the exchange operation, and to perform a color image position adjustment based on readings of the predetermined test pattern by the test pattern reading device. |
| US07853156B2 |
Systems and methods for the coherent non-differential detection of optical communication signals
In various exemplary embodiments, the present invention provides coherent non-differential detection systems and methods for the detection of optical communication signals by the Brillouin fiber amplification of an optical communication signal carrier, the coherent non-differential detection systems including: a Sagnac loop including a single-mode fiber span; a fiber span with negligible birefringence (i.e. a spun fiber span or the like); or a fiber loop with negligible birefringence (i.e. a spun fiber loop or the like). |
| US07853148B2 |
Optical add/drop multiplexer
An optical add/drop multiplexer includes a first optical coupler receiving an optical signal including a plurality of multiplexed wavelengths, a wavelength blocker receiving the optical signal from the first optical coupler, and blocking at least one wavelength of the plurality of multiplexed wavelengths, a first wavelength selective switch, having one input port receiving the outputted optical signal from the first optical coupler and a plurality of output ports, demultiplexing a plurality of arbitrarily selected multiplexed wavelengths from the received optical signal, a second wavelength selective switch, having a plurality of input ports, each input port receiving a different optical signal and one output port, multiplexing a plurality of arbitrarily selected wavelength signals on the plurality of input ports, and a second optical coupler receiving the optical signal output from the wavelength blocker and multiplexed wavelength signal from the second wavelength selective switch. |
| US07853145B2 |
Optical switch and optical waveform monitoring apparatus
According to an aspect of an embodiment, an optical switch comprises: a coupler for coupling a signal light and a control pulse; a first nonlinear medium for amplifying the signal light in accordance with the polarization direction of the control pulse light by nonlinear effect; a first polarizer outputting a component light in a signal light and the control pulse light in parallel with the transmission axis of the first polarizer; a second nonlinear medium for changing status of polarization of the signal light by nonlinear effect; and a second polarizer outputting a signal light and a control pulse light in parallel with the transmission axis of the second polarizer. |
| US07853140B2 |
Digital still camera, image reproducing apparatus, face image display apparatus and methods of controlling same including determination device and decision device
The image of a subject is sensed, the image of the subject is displayed on the display screen of a digital still camera and the image of a face is detected in the image of the subject. The image of the subject is shifted in such a manner that the center of the detected face image becomes the center of the display screen, and the image is enlarged and displayed on the display screen. Since the image of the face is displayed in enlarged form, it becomes easier to check the face even if the display screen is small in size. |
| US07853122B2 |
Device for reproducing content such as video information and device for receiving content
The present invention is relative with a reproducing apparatus and a receiving apparatus for affording the impression or evaluation in line with the intention of a content supplier to the audience. The reproducing apparatus reproduces an optical disc (1) in which the contents and the estimated evaluation values are recorded at the outset. The estimated evaluation values recorded on the optical disc (1) have been set by the content supplier based on estimated impression or evaluation by the audience on the content. As the reproducing apparatus reproduces the content, the apparatus measures the reaction of the audience by a reaction value inputting unit (61), calculates the impression or evaluation by the audience for the content by a recognition evaluation value calculating unit (63) and compares the recognized evaluation values to the estimated evaluation values read out from the optical disc (1) in a control evaluation value calculating unit (53). Based on the results of comparison, a system controller (7) changes the picture brightness or the sound level in subsequent scenes or shots to vary the site or sequence of reproduction of the optical disc (1) to change the ensuing story development. The estimated evaluation values and/or the content can be received by a receiving apparatus over a communication network. |
| US07853120B2 |
Video recorder having user extended and automatically extended time slots
The present invention is a video recorder having user extended and automatically extended time slots. The user has the option to extend a chosen time slot, in which a show is scheduled to be transferred to a storage device. The time slot may be extended before the show, after the show, or both. The system also implements an automatic extension of the time slot by default, which is used to ensure that the data is completely captured to the system, in case the broadcast and the set-top box are slightly out of sync, the broadcaster unexpectedly begins a show's broadcast slightly early or late, or the show unexpectedly runs longer than the IPG indicates. |
| US07853119B2 |
Video recorder control using streamed data packets
An apparatus (16) for recording a selected program includes a decoder (32), a recorder (34), and a user interface (36). The user interface (36) permits a user to select the program. The decoder (32) receives a data stream including, a start data packet, content data packets, and an end data packet associated with the selected program. The decoder (32) detects the start data packet associated with the selected program and begins the recorder (34) recording. The context data packets are recorded until the decoder (32) detects the end data packet associated with the selected program and stops the recorder (34). |
| US07853117B2 |
Information processing apparatus and method and computer program
An information processing apparatus that reliably records data to predetermined recording media and stores the recorded data therein. A HDD recording control block relates recording data with identification information for identifying a DVD and records the data and information to a HDD. A DVD recording control block records the recording data to the DVD. If a trouble occurs on the DVD, the DVD recording control block identifies and reads the recording data related with the identification information of the DVD from the HDD and records the recording data to another DVD. |
| US07853116B2 |
Recording apparatus and record medium for successively reproducing movie data
A recording apparatus and a record medium for recording a data read time, a seek time, a successive reproduction time, a successive record length, and a correlation among data pieces. An encoding section encodes the data corresponding to a predetermined compressing and encoding system. A converting section converts a data structure of encoded data that is output from the encoding section into a file structure that a computer software program that synchronously reproduces a moving picture and so forth can handle without need to use a special hardware device. A recording section records data having the file structure to the record medium. |
| US07853111B2 |
Two-dimensional photonic crystal
The present invention provides a two-dimensional photonic crystal in which an absolute photonic band gap (PBG), i.e. a photonic band gap that is effective for both the TE-polarized light and the TM-polarized light within a predetermined wavelength range, is created with an adequate bandwidth. The body 21 is provided with holes 22 arranged in a triangular lattice pattern, where the basic shape of the hole is an equilateral triangle. This shaping and arranging of the holes creates an absolute PBG. Each corner of the equilateral triangle is cut along an arc to leave an adequate distance between the neighboring holes (i.e. an adequate width of the connecting portion of the body). This design makes it possible to enlarge each hole 22 while ensuring an adequate strength of the two-dimensional photonic crystal. This construction creates an absolute PBG having a large width. |
| US07853107B2 |
Multiple-core optical fiber with coupling between the cores
An optical fiber includes a cladding, a first core, and a second core. At least one of the first core and the second core is hollow and is substantially surrounded by the cladding. At least a portion of the first core is generally parallel to and spaced from at least a portion of the second core. The optical fiber includes a defect substantially surrounded by the cladding, the defect increasing a coupling coefficient between the first core and the second core. |
| US07853103B2 |
Optical junction apparatus and methods employing optical power transverse-transfer
A method comprises: forming an optical device on a device substrate; forming a first optical waveguide on the device or device substrate; forming a second, structurally discrete optical waveguide on a structurally discrete waveguide substrate; and assembling the optical device, first waveguide, or device substrate with the second waveguide or waveguide substrate. The device and first waveguide are arranged for transferring an optical signal between the device and the first waveguide. Upon assembly the first and second waveguides are positioned between the device and waveguide substrates and are relatively positioned for transferring the optical signal therebetween via optical transverse coupling. The first or second optical waveguide is arranged for transferring the optical signal therebetween via substantially adiabatic optical transverse coupling with the first and second waveguides so positioned. |
| US07853100B2 |
Method and system for photo planning and tracking
A computer-implemented method and system are provided for tracking image capture compliance with an image capture criteria. Method and system aspects of the exemplary embodiment include receiving user-defined criteria for specifying an image capture plan that defines at least one image capture subject and constraints associated with the at least one image capture subject; determining a progress towards completing the image capture plan based on whether information is received for an image capture occurrence of the at least one image capture subject by an image capture device, wherein multiple image capture occurrences occurring in any order are counted toward completing the image capture plan; and providing an indication of the compliance progress. |
| US07853099B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, learning apparatus and learning method and program
An information processing apparatus includes an image taking means for taking images of a subject, a class-classification means for classifying a first image outputted by the image taking means into a class according to a characteristics thereof, a storage means for storing plural coefficient memories having different image taking conditions at the time of image taking, which store prediction coefficients according to the class acquired by learning, a designation means for designating one coefficient memory from among the plural coefficient memories based on the image taking condition when the image was taken by the image taking means, and a calculation means for calculating a second image in which noise is removed from the first image by calculating a prediction coefficient of the class of the first image, which is in the designated coefficient memory. |
| US07853093B2 |
System, medium, and method encoding/decoding a color image using inter-color-component prediction
A color image encoding and/or decoding system, medium, and method using inter-color-component prediction in a frequency domain. To encode an original image, including at least two or more image components, frequency domain transform may be performed with of each component of a color image, color component transform of the frequency domain transform coefficients, in frequency domain, may be performed based on the relationship between transform coefficients of the color image components in order to remove redundant information between color components, performing, and entropy encoding the removed redundant information data. According to the method, medium, and system, a color image or video data can be directly compressed effectively without a conventional color transform process. Furthermore, by using the relationship between image components, redundant information between color components varying with respect to the encoding mode may be removed so that the encoding efficiency can be enhanced. |
| US07853090B2 |
Method for processing a digital image and image representation format
An image representation format for representing a digital image including image information stored as a bitstream representing sequential image blocks, each block comprising one or more components, each component comprising one or more data units and each data unit being represented as a Huffman-coded stream of coefficients of basis functions, wherein a zeroth order coefficient is represented as a difference to the previous zeroth order coefficient of the corresponding component, and a block information table, which comprises: indicators to the first coefficient of a specified order of each image block in the bitstream, information indicating the number of bits in the bitstream between adjacent coefficients of the specified order of the image block, and the zeroth order coefficient of at least the first data unit of each component, the zeroth order coefficient being represented in a non-differential form. |
| US07853089B2 |
Image processing apparatus and method for histological analysis
An automated method for analyzing whether all cancerous or abnormal tissue has been removed as a result of surgical resection is disclosed. A number of tissue section slides are prepared representing all or a relatively large percentage of the tissue sample, and high-resolution digital microscopic images are formed of the sections. A clustering algorithm forms an image showing the healthy tissue margins, such representation being stored in a file of significantly smaller size than the original photograph. These two-dimensional image files may be formed into a three-dimensional image of the entire resected tissue, thereby improving the accuracy and ease by which a pathologist may determine if further surgery or radiation therapy, for example, are indicated. |
| US07853082B2 |
Normal line information estimation device, registered image group formation device and image collation device, and normal line information estimation method
A normal line information estimation device for estimating normal line information of an object from an image of the object. The normal line information estimation device includes an illumination direction estimation section for estimating an illumination direction with respect to the object in the image from a luminance value of the image; a normal line information estimation section for estimating the normal line information of the object in the image based on the illumination direction; and a specular reflection component estimation section for estimating a specular reflection component of the image from the normal line information of the object and the illumination direction with respect to the object. The normal line information estimation section estimates the normal line information again from the image from which a specular reflection component has been removed in the specular reflection component section. |
| US07853081B2 |
Identifying data patterns
Methods and systems for identifying data patterns from data comprising at least one data object, said data having at least one existing pattern class associated therewith, said data object being represented by a base feature vector, at least one of said base feature vectors having a structure of higher-level and lower-level feature vectors such that at least one element of a higher-level feature vector is itself a lower-level feature vector. |
| US07853080B2 |
System and method for identifying and labeling cluster pixels in a frame of image data for optical navigation
A system and method for identifying and labeling cluster pixels in a frame of image data for optical navigation determines whether a current pixel of the frame of image data is a cluster pixel and uses neighboring pixels of the current pixel to label the current pixel as belonging to a new cluster or an existing cluster. |
| US07853079B1 |
Technique for automatic poster frame detection
A technique that may be used to configure a computer system to automatically search a video and select a frame within the video clip that best represents the content of that video. A frame contained in a video is identified. Luminance values for each pixel in a plurality of pixels contained in the frame are then generated. The frame is then selected as a poster frame for the video if a luminance value for at least one pixel in the plurality of pixels contained in the identified frame is outside a range of luminance values. The range of luminance values may be determined from a luminance value associated with a reference pixel contained in the frame. |
| US07853077B2 |
Data compression apparatus and data compression program storage medium
A data compression apparatus has: first difference creating section that creates first difference data including a succession of numerical values representing differences between adjacent numerical values on numerical values constituting the color data; second difference creating section that creates second difference data including a succession of numerical values representing a difference between first difference data and another first difference data of respectively different color data; offset section that offsets the numerical values of individual difference data by a predetermined value; dividing section that divides the individual numerical values into upper order data comprising a succession of numerical values of the upper order unit bit portion and lower order data comprising a succession of numerical values of the lower order of unit bit portion; upper order data compression section and lower order data compression section that respectively apply reversible compression processing to the upper order data and the lower order data. |
| US07853074B2 |
Multi-color dropout for scanned document
A method for removing unwanted form color content from a scanned document by segmenting the image into two or more tiles (14). Each tile (14) is classified into at least a first and second set according to its combination of background and color content. A background color is identified from the first set of tiles (14). At least one form color is identified from the second set of tiles. A transform is applied that shifts form color image data values toward background color data values. |
| US07853072B2 |
System and method for detecting still objects in images
The present invention provides an improved system and method for object detection with histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) based support vector machine (SVM). Specifically, the system provides a computational framework to stably detect still or not moving objects over a wide range of viewpoints. The framework includes providing a sensor input of images which are received by the “focus of attention” mechanism to identify the regions in the image that potentially contain the target objects. These regions are further computed to generate hypothesized objects, specifically generating selected regions containing the target object hypothesis with respect to their positions. Thereafter, these selected regions are verified by an extended HOG-based SVM classifier to generate the detected objects. |
| US07853070B2 |
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. |
| US07853066B2 |
Endless belt
An endless belt for an object inspection system is described and which includes a flexible foundation layer; and a substantially transparent layer juxtaposed upon the flexible foundation layer, and which supports an object to be inspected, and which reflects and refracts a source of electromagnetic radiation so as to irradiate the object to be inspected. |
| US07853062B2 |
System and method for polyp detection in tagged or non-tagged stool images
A method for detecting polyp candidates in tagged stool or non-tagged stool images without performing stool subtraction, includes: applying a filter to locations in image data of a colon including tagged or non-tagged stool to generate a response image based on a gradient magnitude, angle, and radius in relation to another location in the image data for each of the locations, wherein the locations are indicated in the response image as tagged or non-tagged stool based on their density or brightness within the response image; and selecting locations in the response image above a threshold as polyp candidates. |
| US07853059B2 |
Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, method of making an imaging-plan, and method of imaging
The present invention provides a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus including a unit for specifying a plurality of regions of interest on a plurality of original images acquired by imaging several times while shifting imaging positions, a unit for finding an approximate line involved in the regions of interest on an image formed by combining the original images, and a determining unit for determining conditions required to image cross sections crossing the original images on the basis of the approximate line. |
| US07853057B2 |
Image processing method and device using a virtual ray and vector information
A threshold value T which is a little larger than voxel values of a target tissue such as bloodstream is determined. Next, a virtual ray is projected, and voxel values on the virtual ray are obtained as an array A1 (original array). Then, an array A2 (replaced array) is generated by the voxel values of the array A1 which are equal to or larger than the threshold value T are flipped-over at the threshold value T. Then, a part of the data on the array A2, e.g., flipped-over data corresponding to the center part of the calcified region is excluded. Next, a maximum value M2 on the array A2 is obtained, and a value M1 on the array A1 corresponding to the value M2 is obtained. Then, the value M1 is employed as a pixel value for the virtual ray. |
| US07853054B2 |
Fingerprint template generation, verification and identification system
A system to generate a template of a fingerprint input image is described. The system provides for smoothing the input image, forming a binary image from it, and further processing the binary image to extract the minutia of the fingerprint. The minutiae are stored in the template, in the form of locations of each minutia in relation to all other minutiae. The system includes optional identification and verification steps, which compare the template generated according to the system with templates stored in a fingerprint database. |
| US07853048B2 |
Pupil color correction device and program
An iris color correction apparatus has a skin color identification section which identifies the skin color of a photographed person in an inputted image, a skin correction color calculation section which obtains a skin correction color that is an iris color of said person that should be shown in said image based on the skin color identified by said skin color identification section, a brightness estimation section which estimates a brightness before a color tone abnormality occurs in pixels of an iris portion of said photographed person from a value of said pixels, and a correction section which corrects the iris color of said photographed person based on said estimated brightness and a correction reference color based on said skin correction color. |
| US07853041B2 |
Detecting and tracking objects in images
According to one disclosed method, coordinates in a multi-dimensional space are determined for an image point characterizing a particular object. An equation describing a model in the multi-dimensional space is provided. The model is characteristic of a set of training images of one or more other objects. The coordinates are applied to the equation to determine a distance between the image point and the model. Based on the determined distance, a determination is made as to whether the particular object matches the one or more other objects.A set of training images may be received. A multi-dimensional space (e.g., eigenspace) may be determined based on the set of training images. A set of training points may be generated by projecting the set of training images into the multi-dimensional space. An equation describing a model in the multi-dimensional space that is characteristic of the set of training points may be determined. |
| US07853040B2 |
Covert and robust mark for media identification
Systems and methods are described for repeatedly embedding information in media that is recoverable by emphasizing subtle variations between the media. In many embodiments perceptual models are used to identify portions of the media in which the embedded information is unlikely to be apparent to a human observer. One embodiment of the invention includes rendering the information in the form of a media, selecting a plurality of portions of media from the carrier media, combining at least part of the rendered media with each of the selected portions of the carrier media to form modified media portions, where the modifications to the modified media portions are not apparent to a human observer and creating a modified carrier medium using the modified media portions. |
| US07853034B1 |
Ambient noise isolation audio headphones having a layered dampening structure
An audio headphone apparatus having ambient noise isolation properties for musicians and sound engineers which allows a user to substantially attenuate ambient noise levels and focus on the electronic audio presented to the headphones. The apparatus utilizes a unique layering of absorber materials with unique geometric shapes which in combination highly attenuate external ambient acoustic energy and control undesirable “boomy” bass response. The apparatus further utilizes a desiccant material within the ear cuff cover which helps to absorb perspiration or other moisture. |
| US07853033B2 |
Hearing aid design
A hearing aid module is shaped for insertion into a tunnel made through the soft tissue that connects the retro-auricular space with the ear canal. The hearing aid module contains a speaker or auditory transducer, a battery or other power source powering the module, signal processing circuitry, a microphone, and a hollow tube which contains a steroid or drug. Telemetry circuitry within the module allows the signal processing circuitry to be programmed with a desired frequency response or signal processing strategy using an external programming unit. A remote control unit permits the user to make simple adjustments, such as volume and/or tone (frequency) control. |
| US07853029B2 |
Output stage for a hearing aid and method of driving output stage
In an output stage for a hearing aid (62), a reduction in the power consumption for low level input signals is obtained through the use of a time-averaging output driver (42), whereby the output transducer is subject to three different conditions of operations, this being obtained through the generation of three-state control signals for control of a H-bridge. The three-state control signals are generated through the use of a time-averaging device whereby the two-level output of a single bit Sigma-Delta modulator (21) is transformed to a set of control signals that, at any given time, can assume one of three states. In a preferred embodiment the time-averaging device is a delay (40). |
| US07853027B2 |
Electret condenser
An electric condenser includes a fixed film 110 including a conductive film 118 to be an upper electrode, a vibrating film 112 including a lower electrode 104 and a silicon oxide film 105 to be an electric film, and a silicon oxide film 108 provided between the fixed film 110 and the vibrating film 112 and including an air gap 109. Respective parts of the fixed film 110 and the vibrating film 112 exposed in the air gap 109 are formed of silicon nitride films 106 and 114. |
| US07853021B2 |
Decoding apparatus and decoding method for multiple audio standards
The invention discloses a decoding apparatus for decoding an analog audio signal. The decoding apparatus includes an RF tuner, an analog to digital (A/D) converter, a digital down converter, and a programmable digital signal processor (DSP). The RF tuner is used for receiving the analog audio signal and for providing an analog sound intercarrier frequency (SIF) signal indicative thereof. The analog to digital (A/D) converter is used for sampling the analog SIF signal and for converting the signal into a digital SIF signal. The digital down converter is used for down converting the digital SIF signal to generate a baseband signal. The programmable digital signal processor (DSP) is used for demodulating the baseband signal according to a demodulation procedure of a predetermined standard and decoding the demodulated baseband signal to output an output signal in compliance with a decoding procedure of the predetermined standard. |
| US07853020B2 |
Systems and methods for enhanced quantum key formation using an actively compensated QKD system
Systems and methods for enhanced quantum key distribution (QKD) using an actively compensated QKD system. The method includes exchanging quantum signals between first and second QKD stations and measuring the quantum signal error. An error signal SE representative of the system visibility error is then generated. An error-signal threshold STH that defines a system visibility error limit is then selected. Those qubits measured with the condition SE>STH are called “above-threshold” qubits, while those qubits measured with the condition SE≦STH are called “below-threshold” qubits. Only below-threshold qubits are stored and used to form the final quantum key. This is accomplished by sending a blanking signal SB to the memory unit where the qubits are stored. The blanking signal prevents above-threshold qubits from being stored therein. The raw quantum key so formed has few errors and thus forms a longer final quantum key for a given number of exchanged quantum signals. |
| US07853013B2 |
Cryptographic method and system for encrypting input data
A method and system for encrypting input data may include receiving an input point and a randomness rate and generating a random selection value and a random position value from the randomness rate. At least one of the input point and points encrypted by performing elliptic curve (EC) operation over a plurality of rounds may be randomly selected based on the randomness rate and the random position value. The selected point may be converted to a point representation directed by the random selection value. A finally encrypted output point may be generated by performing the EC operation over a plurality of rounds based on the input point and a secret key. |
| US07853009B2 |
Electronic device having a single-split hinge
A hinge assembly (200) for a clamshell-type electronic device includes a spindle (201) and casing sleeve (202). The hinge assembly (200) facilitates a single-split hinge. In addition to providing the mechanical hinging action, the hinge assembly (200) provides a reliable electrical connection between a first portion (502) and a second portion (601) of the clamshell device. The spindle (201) includes a nock (203) through which a linking member (304) of a flexible substrate (301) passes. The nock (203), having a semi-circumferential stop (206) bridging a first nock wall (204) and second nock wall (205), facilitates the electrical connection between an electrical circuit disposed in the first portion (502) of the electronic device and an electrical circuit disposed within the second portion (601) of the electronic device. In one embodiment, a hinge assembly (700) facilitates other components, such as an image capture device (720) being disposed within the hinge region of an electronic device. |
| US07853007B2 |
Conference terminal with echo reduction for a voice conference system
A conference terminal for a digital voice conference system comprises a first sound transducer means, which is implemented to generate a microphone signal from an acoustic signal, a second sound transducer means, which is implemented to generate an acoustic signal from a loudspeaker signal, a connecting means, which is implemented to enable a connection between conference terminal and a conference central unit, to receive a composite conference signal from the conference central unit, and a means for echo suppression, which is implemented to combine the microphone signal or a signal derived therefrom in a noise suppression means with a composite conference signal in a listening operation of the conference terminal, such that a loudspeaker signal results, in which the acoustic signal, on which the microphone signal is based, is reduced. Such a conference terminal allows the suppression of a remote own echo and a remote foreign echo, whereby digital wireless voice conference systems can be realized, which ensure high voice quality and noise immunity with minimum wiring effort. |
| US07853002B2 |
Number portability service in a telecommunication system
The present invention relates to a method and a network element in a telecommunications system. The telecommunications system comprises at least two telecommunications networks and means for providing number portability service between the networks and also supplementary telecommunications services. The method comprises the steps of initiating a set-up procedure for communications between two stations, sending an enquiry to the number portability service, determining if the called station is a ported station, and informing the supplementary telecommunications service of the results of said determination before initiating an use of said supplementary telecommunications service. |
| US07852998B1 |
System and process for mass telephony conference call
An automated teleconferencing control system and method reduces conference call setup time by simultaneously out dialing to multiple conferees through a plurality of parallel telecommunications resources. The teleconferencing control system includes the feature of automatically gathering statistics of each connection attempt, as well as many other call aspects, using these statistics to automatically improve the efficiency of subsequent conference call initiations. Gathered statistics are also used to automatically configure the system to cause all of the conferees to be connected to a conference call at substantially the same time. The selection of which telecommunications resources are used for contacting each target conferee is made based on criteria that include the telephone number or Internet address of the target conferee's telephone. |
| US07852997B2 |
Internet telephony communications adapter for web browsers
A URL adapter for a Web browser that enables the integration of telephone numbers into a web browser's address line for parsing as a URI. The URL adapter bypasses traditional search hook functions to identify potential telephone numbers. The URL adapter has access to a name server for translating names entered into the browser into telephone numbers. The URL adapter can also parse Web pages to self-identify telephone numbers. |
| US07852996B2 |
Method and system for providing information for identifying callers based on partial number
Embodiments of the present invention include a caller identification system and method for identifying a caller with a partial phone number look-up table. The caller identification system comprises a database that stores received calls and can be personalized to include information specific to partial phone numbers. In one embodiment, the caller identification system disclosed can be integrated into a cellular phone. In this embodiment, an incoming call initiates a search in a database to retrieve information about the caller. If a match is found, the identity of the caller is displayed. When an exact match is not found, a search for a partial match is executed with wild card values and information about the partial match is displayed. Information for a partial match can be personalized or pre-programmed into the caller ID system such as the city associated with a particular area code or prefix. |
| US07852995B2 |
Method and apparatus for selectively providing messages in telecommunications systems
A telecommunications advertising means is disclosed. The telecommunication advertising means includes an advertisement database coupled to a processing means. The advertisement database stores subscriber specific or third party advertisements that are selectively associated with communications in a telecommunications network. The selective association is carried out by the processing means. In one embodiment, a router is coupled to the advertisement database. The router routes communications from source to destination within the telecommunications network. The router also routes advertisements that have been associated with the communications to the sources and destinations of the communications. A telecommunications system is also disclosed. The telecommunications system comprises a network subsystem, which includes a telecommunications advertising means. The telecommunications advertising means comprises an advertisement database and a processing means. |
| US07852994B1 |
Systems and methods for recording audio
Systems and methods for recording audio are provided. In this regard, an representative method comprises: receiving audio information corresponding to an audio communication; receiving parameter information corresponding to a manner in which the audio communication is to be provided to a user in audible form; providing the audio information and the parameter information in the form of Internet Protocol (IP) packets; and recording the audio information and the parameter information provided by the IP packets. |
| US07852989B2 |
Ball bearing design temperature compensating x-ray tube bearing
The rotating anode x-ray tube has a composite outer bearing made from two rings of a high hot-hardness material and a spacer between the two rings made of a constant coefficient of thermal expansion material. The spacer is welded to the two rings providing the composite outer bearing. One inner bearing race is formed from the shaft and the other inner bearing race is a one-piece inner race mounted on the shaft while the two rings have the corresponding outer races. |
| US07852984B2 |
Method and device for the separate three-dimensional representation of the arterial and venous vascular system using C-arm angiography systems
The invention relates to a method and a device for the separate three-dimensional representation of arteries and/or veins in a vascular system of the body by means of a C-arm biplanar system having two C-arms, which can each record a sequence of x-ray images from different projection angles during a mask or filler pass. With the filler pass, both C-arms record x-ray images, so that the x-ray images of the filler pass can be combined to form a first data record, which contains x-ray images from the arterial phase of the vascular contrasting and/or to form a second data record, which contains x-ray images from the venous phase of the vascular contrasting. This enables the arterial and venous phases to be reconstructed separately. |
| US07852982B2 |
Test method
To provide a method and device for testing the size and conductivity of a foreign material adhered to a substrate for a liquid crystal display device, there is provided a method of testing whether a foreign material including a metal element is adhered to a substrate for a liquid crystal display device, the method including a first test step of detecting the size and position of the foreign material adhered to the substrate and a second test step of testing whether the foreign material includes the metal element at the position detected in the first test step. |
| US07852981B2 |
Detector device and CT inspection system having the same
Disclosed is a detector device, comprising: an adjustable positioning base and a detector module. The adjustable positioning base includes: a horizontal plate being able to fixedly connect onto an annular rotation table or disk; and a vertical plate extending from the horizontal plate and generally perpendicular to the horizontal plate. A horizontal through long groove is provided at one side of the vertical plate, and the detector module is able to fixedly installed in said horizontal through long groove of the adjustable positioning base. By employing the technical solution defined in the present invention, the detector device has a compact structure, and precision adjustment and positioning for the detector device can be achieved. In addition, the present invention also provides a CT inspection system having the above detector device. |
| US07852976B2 |
Bidirectional controlling device for increasing resistance of elements on voltage stress
A bidirectional controlling device is utilized for receiving two input signals, which are respectively provided from a first input terminal and a second input terminal, and for respectively providing two output signals to a first output terminal and a second output terminal, by controlling a plurality of switch sets. |
| US07852975B2 |
Production of thorium-229 using helium nuclei
A method for producing 229Th includes the steps of providing 226Ra as a target material, and bombarding the target material with alpha particles, helium-3, or neutrons to form 229Th. When neutrons are used, the neutrons preferably include an epithermal neutron flux of at least 1×1013 n s−1·cm−2. 228Ra can also be bombarded with thermal and/or energetic neutrons to result in a neutron capture reaction to form 229Th. Using 230Th as a target material, 229Th can be formed using neutron, gamma ray, proton or deuteron bombardment. |
| US07852974B2 |
Plural circuit selection using role reversing control inputs
Data is communicated through two separate circuits or circuit groups, each having clock and mode inputs, by sequentially reversing the role of the clock and mode inputs. The data communication circuits have data inputs, data outputs, a clock input for timing or synchronizing the data input and/or output communication, and a mode input for controlling the data input and/or output communication. A clock/mode signal connects to the clock input of one circuit and to the mode input of the other circuit. A mode/clock signal connects to the mode input of the one circuit and to the clock input of the other circuit. The role of the mode and clock signals on the mode/clock and clock/mode signals, or their reversal, selects one or the other of the data communication circuits. |
| US07852972B2 |
Single-burst acquistion for wireless communication system
Techniques for performing acquisition of packets are described. First detection Values may be determined based on a first plurality of samples, e.g., by performing delay-multiply-integrate on the samples. Power values may be determined based on the first plurality of samples, e.g., by performing multiply-integrate on the samples. The first detection values may be averaged to obtain average detection values. The power values may also be averaged to obtain average power values. Whether a packet is present may be determined based on the average detection values and the average power values. Second detection values may be determined based on a second plurality of samples. The start of the packet may be determined based on the first and second detection values. A third detection value may be determined based on a third plurality of samples. Frequency error of the packet may be estimated based on the first and third detection values. |
| US07852970B2 |
Programmable hybrid transmitter
A programmable hybrid transmitter includes a baseband processing module, an up-conversion module, and a power amplifier circuit. The baseband processing module is coupled to convert outbound data into a complex signal when the programmable hybrid transmitter is in a first mode and to convert the outbound data into a normalized complex signal, offset information, and/or transmit property information when the programmable hybrid transmitter is in a second mode. The up-conversion module is coupled to mix the complex signal with a local oscillation to produce an up-converted signal when the programmable hybrid transmitter is in the first mode and to mix the normalized complex signal with the local oscillation based on the offset information to produce a normalized up-converted signal when the programmable hybrid transmitter is in the second mode. The power amplifier circuit is coupled to amplify the up-converted signal to produce an outbound RF signal when the programmable hybrid transmitter is in the first mode and to amplify the normalized up-converted signal based on the transmit property information to produce the outbound RF signal when the programmable hybrid transmitter is in the second mode. |
| US07852968B2 |
Method and apparatus for optimizing transmitter power efficiency
A peak to average power ratio signal is generated from a first mapping function that selects the peak to average power ratio signal that corresponds to the data rate or data format of the signal to be transmitted. The selected peak to average power ratio signal is summed with a desired average transmit power signal. The resulting summation signal is input to a second effectively continuously valued mapping function comprising a table that has a plurality of power amplifier control signal values each with a corresponding peak transmit power. Each peak transmit power signal value results in a power amplifier control signal value that achieves the best possible transmitter power efficiency while still meeting out of band spurious emissions and waveform quality requirements. The summation signal value maps to one of the power amplifier control signal value that is then used to adjust a parameter such as bias of the power amplifier. |
| US07852967B2 |
Automatic power output control circuit
This invention includes a gain control section 13 capable of changing an APC loop gain according to a power output level set in a power amplifier to allow suppression of variation in power output level when the power output level is low and suppression of occurrence of ringing when the power output level is high by making the loop gain high when the power output level is low and making the loop gain low when the power output level is high. |
| US07852964B2 |
Antijam filter system and method for high fidelity high data rate wireless communication
An antijam filter and method for filtering interference signals from signals received from the desired user in spatially multiplexed wireless communication systems. The antijam filter estimates the interference from known and unknown sources, and uses that estimate to filter the interference from the received signals. The filtered desired user signals are rendered for further signal processing using existing methods. The antijam filter and method are modular, with applicability to a wide range of wireless communication systems employing multiple antennas at the receiver. |
| US07852960B2 |
Method of computing path metrics in a high-speed Viterbi detector and related apparatus thereof
A path metric computing method applied in a high-speed Viterbi detector and related apparatus thereof are disclosed. The path metric computing apparatus includes a comparator for generating a control signal according a plurality of previous path metrics, a combining circuit for generating a plurality of first output values according to the previous path metrics and branch costs of a plurality of branches of a current state, and a multiplexer, electrically connected to the comparator and the combining circuit, for determining a first path metric of the current state according to the control signal and the output values. |
| US07852957B2 |
Wireless transmitter and wireless receiver
Effective throughput is enhanced by minimizing a transmission amount of modulation information per frame.A storage part storing information indicating an adaptive modulation level of a modulation parameter, a difference information output part that generates difference information with one bit indicating a difference between the adaptive modulation level of a modulation parameter used for adaptive modulation in a previous frame and that of a modulation parameter used for adaptive modulation in a current frame, and a frame generation part generating a frame using the difference information as modulation information to notify a receiving side of the modulation parameter used for adaptive modulation of a subcarrier or subcarrier group in the current frame, are provided. |
| US07852956B2 |
Communications system, transmitter, receiver, and communications method thereof
Sample signals P0(0) to P0(N−1) are input for each symbol of a multiplexed transmission sample or transmission chip. The sum of a particular pair of sample signals (for example, a pair of P0(0) and P0(N/2)) is obtained by an adder for each pair of sample signals, and a signal the power of which is halved by attenuating the sum with an attenuator is generated and output as a dispersion signal P1(N/2). Additionally, a difference between the pair of the sample signals is obtained by a subtractor, and a signal the power of which is halved by attenuating the difference with an attenuator is generated and output as a dispersion signal P1(0). The dispersion signals P1(0) and P1(N/2) are made to respectively correspond to first and second subsymbols, which are configured by partitioning the symbol. |
| US07852952B2 |
DSL system loading and ordering
Loading and ordering techniques are provided for one-sided and two-sided vectored line groups, as well as loading methodologies that also can be used on a single line, in communication systems such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) binders. In particular, a method for loading bits into a plurality of lines in a vectored DSL system using Discrete MultiTone (DMT) modulation is disclosed. The method iteratively determines two or more of the following sequentially: line ordering for each tone; power spectral density for the transmitted signal of each line; and bit allocation for the signal of each line. In some embodiments, line ordering may include order-swapping which may assign a first line to a first initial position, assign a second line to a second initial position, move the first line to the second initial position, and move the second line to the first initial position. |
| US07852950B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for canceling correlated noise in a multi-carrier communication system
Embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method are described for a multi-carrier communication system that cancels at least some correlated noise estimated to be present in a channel in the multi-carrier communication system. Values of noise present on at least on reference channel in a multi-channel communication system may be measured. Correlated noise on a target channel using the noise measurement on the reference channel may be estimated. A residual noise on the target channel may be determined by canceling the estimated correlated noise on the target channel. |
| US07852949B2 |
Spectral distance optimizing multi-band transmission
A communication system is provided which implements a method for up-converting a baseband signal to a given number of frequency bands that together define a signal transmission channel. A sequential order is defined in which the frequency bands are to be used for up-converting the baseband signal, and up-converting the baseband signal to one frequency band after the other in the defined sequential order such that the spectral distance between two frequency bands is equal or higher for the frequency bands being direct neighbors in the defined sequential order than being direct neighbors in the spectral order. |
| US07852948B2 |
Moving picture real-time communications terminal, control method for moving picture real-time communications terminal, and control program for moving picture real-time communications terminal
The moving picture real-time communications terminal comprises: an input unit which inputs an RGB video image signal; a conversion unit which converts the RGB video image signal into a YUV video image signal including Y, U and V video image signals; a compression and encoding unit which digitally converts the YUV video image signal outputted from the conversion unit into moving picture data, and compresses and encodes the moving picture data; a communications unit which sends and receives the moving picture data compressed and encoded by the compression and encoding unit, in real time, to and from a communications terminal of another party connected through a network; a bandwidth estimation unit which estimates change in a bandwidth of the network; a switching circuit which connects and disconnects output paths of the U and V video image signals from the conversion unit to the compression and encoding unit; and a switching control unit which disconnects the output paths of the U and V video image signals by operating the switching circuit, in response to the change in the bandwidth estimated by the bandwidth estimation unit, wherein the compression and encoding unit increases a bit rate of compression and encoding of the Y signal, in accordance with disconnection of the output paths of the U and V video image signals. |
| US07852945B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding method includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852941B2 |
Transcoders and methods
Transcoding as from MPEG-2 SDTV to MPEG-4 CIF reuses motion vectors and downsamples in the frequency (DCT) domain with differing treatments of frame-DCT and field-DCT blocks, and alternatively uses de-interlacing IDCT with respect to the row dimension plus deferred column downsampling for reference frame blocks. |
| US07852939B2 |
Motion vector detection method and device of the same
When a search is made for a motion vector of a moving image, a motion vector search desirable against a hard movement is devised to be made with a small processing amount, and a motion vector detection device includes a wide range motion vector search part, a narrow range motion vector search part, a motion vector prediction part, and a motion vector re-search part. A rough search is made at equal intervals on an inputted image while a corresponding position in the reference image is made the center; a fine search is made in the vicinity of a predicted value of the motion vector only at one stage in accordance with a search format of a gradient method; and from a result of both, motion vector detection is performed as a motion vector search start point by the gradient method. |
| US07852937B2 |
Motion vector estimation employing line and column vectors
The present invention provides an improved method for motion estimation. As an additional candidate vector to be selected during motion estimation, a line or column vector is calculated representing predominant motion in a respective line or column of blocks of a video image. Such a line and column motion vector enables a more accurate determination of motion of larger image objects and a correspondingly improved interpolation in television receivers or video encoders. |
| US07852935B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding method includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852933B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding method includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combinations includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852932B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding method includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852930B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding apparatus includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852926B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding method includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852924B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding apparatus includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852923B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding apparatus includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852922B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding method includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852921B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding apparatus includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852919B2 |
Field start code for entry point frames with predicted first field
A decoder receives a field start code for an entry point key frame. The field start code indicates a second coded interlaced video field in the entry point key frame following a first coded interlaced video field in the entry point key frame and indicates a point to begin decoding of the second coded interlaced video field. The first coded interlaced video field is a predicted field, and the second coded interlaced video field is an intra-coded field. The decoder decodes the second field without decoding the first field. The field start code can be followed by a field header. The decoder can receive a frame header for the entry point key frame. The frame header may comprise a syntax element indicating a frame coding mode for the entry point key frame and/or a syntax element indicating field types for the first and second coded interlaced video fields. |
| US07852917B2 |
Video encoding/decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding apparatus includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included. |
| US07852916B2 |
Efficient use of storage in encoding and decoding video data streams
Some embodiments facilitate encoding/decoding of a frame by organizing frame data in a storage structure in a novel manner. Specifically, in a portion of the storage structure allocated for a frame slice, used partition entries are stored in a first section of the allocated portion and unused partition entries are stored in a second section of the allocated portion, the first and second sections each comprising a continuous area of storage in the storage structure so that used partition entries are not interspersed with nonused partition entries. In some embodiments, additional data useful in the encoding or decoding of video data is determined and stored into the unused bytes of used partition entries (such as macroblock header data or canonical reference frame index data). In some embodiments, two or more identical partitions of a macroblock are coalesced into a single partition. |
| US07852913B2 |
High-speed receiver architecture
A receiver (e.g., for a 10 G fiber communications link) includes an interleaved ADC coupled to a multi-channel equalizer that can provide different equalization for different ADC channels within the interleaved ADC. That is, the multi-channel equalizer can compensate for channel-dependent impairments. In one approach, the multi-channel equalizer is a feedforward equalizer (FFE) coupled to a Viterbi decoder, for example a sliding block Viterbi decoder (SBVD); and the FFE and/or the channel estimator for the Viterbi decoder are adapted using the LMS algorithm. |
| US07852910B2 |
Systems and methods for loop length and bridged tap length determination of a transmission line
Through the use of a least squares minimization concept, the loop length, the number of bridged taps and length of the bridged taps on a transmission line can be determined from readily available modem data. In particular, the loop length, the number of bridge taps and the length of bridged taps can be estimated by comparing a measured frequency domain channel impulse response of the transmission line to a model of a loop that is comprised of multiple sections and multiple bridge taps. |
| US07852901B2 |
Method and apparatus for manufacturing high-purity alloy
An electromagnetic induction heat device to heat a first metal mineral stone and a second mineral stone to form a melting mixture liquid without stifling. The device keeps a temperature of the melting mixture liquid between solidus and liquidus of binary alloy phase diagram of the first and second metal mineral stone, then an alloy with solid state precipitates from said melting mixture liquid. |
| US07852900B2 |
Semiconductor device, method of manufacturing the same, and production equipment of the same
A cap 25 having a piece of glass 26 formed at a laser irradiating position and covering a laser irradiating direction and an upper face of a package 24, is mounted onto the package 24 having lateral faces of a frame body 30 formed in three directions other than the laser irradiating direction, so as to reduce the distance between a semiconductor element 22 and the piece of glass 26 and to reduce a radius 32 of the piece of glass 26. The profile of the semiconductor device can be therefore lowered while maintaining the characteristics of a semiconductor laser. In addition, by mounting the semiconductor device, the profile of an optical pickup device can also be lowered. |
| US07852897B2 |
Semiconductor laser optical integrated semiconductor device
A semiconductor laser is a distributed feedback semiconductor laser in which the lasing wavelength can be changed, and includes a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor layer portion provided on the substrate and including first and second active layers and an intermediate layer that optically couples the first active layer and the second active layer. The first active layer, the intermediate layer, and the second active layer are arranged in that order in a predetermined axis direction. The semiconductor laser further includes a diffraction grating that is optically coupled with the first and second active layers of the semiconductor layer portion, a first electrode and a second electrode for injecting carriers into the first active layer and the second active layer, respectively, and a third electrode for supplying the intermediate layer with a current. The grating extends in the predetermined axis direction and has a period that is uniform in the predetermined axis direction. |
| US07852895B2 |
VCSEL with reduced light scattering within optical cavity
A VCSEL with a structure able to reduce the scattering within the optical cavity and its manufacturing method are disclosed. The VCSEL of the present invention provides, on the semiconductor substrate, the first DBR, the active layer, the p-type spacer layer, the heavily doped p-type mesa, the heavily doped n-type layer, the first n-type spacer and the second DBR in this order. The heavily doped n-type layer, which is formed so as to cover the p-type spacer layer and the heavily doped p-type mesa, forms the tunnel junction with respect to the heavily doped p-type mesa. Because the height, which is appeared in the surface of the n-type spacer layer, reflects the height of the heavily doped p-type mesa and is comparatively small, the light scattering between the second DBR and the n-type spacer layer is suppressed. |
| US07852890B2 |
Semiconductor laser and manufacturing method thereof
In a semiconductor laser, in order to realize a desired oscillation wavelength efficiently by adjusting the oscillation wavelength of the laser with sufficient accuracy even when the oscillation wavelength of a manufactured laser deviates from a design value, for example, due to the manufacturing errors and the like in the manufacturing of the laser, there is provided a semiconductor laser comprising a semiconductor substrate, a semiconductor stacking body including a waveguide formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a diffraction grating, wherein the diffraction grating is formed along the waveguide so as to appear in the surface of the semiconductor stacking body. |
| US07852887B2 |
Laser
A pulsed laser is disclosed comprising an active lasing medium (1), an output coupler (5) and a rear cavity mirror (6). The rear cavity mirror (6) is attached to a mount (21) via an intermediate attachment (15). Heating elements are embedded within the attachment (15). The attachment (15) is heated in order to vary the physical length of the laser cavity in a manner which seeks to stabilise the output energy and wavelength of the laser pulses emitted from the laser cavity. |
| US07852880B2 |
Provision of TDM service over GPON using VT encapsulation
The present invention provides TDM service, such as DS1, E1, or DS3, in a GPON system that is cost-effective, flexible, and that is easily configured and reconfigured. A system for telecommunications comprises circuitry operable to receive time division multiplexed data traffic, circuitry operable to form Virtual Tributary encapsulated data traffic including the time division multiplexed data traffic, circuitry operable to transmit the Virtual Tributary encapsulated data traffic, circuitry operable to receive the Virtual Tributary encapsulated data traffic, and circuitry operable to extract the time division multiplexed data traffic from the Virtual Tributary encapsulated data traffic. |
| US07852878B2 |
Apparatus and method for supporting establishment of network address of communication apparatus
An apparatus and method of setting an address of a communication apparatus is provided where when an access router transmits a Router Advertisement (RA) message to the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus sets an address establishment scheme of the communication apparatus according to a first field of the RA message. The RA message includes information about the address establishment scheme, which the communication apparatus is able to use, in the first field. |
| US07852876B2 |
Apparatus, and an associated method, for routing data through logical layers of a communication device
Apparatus, and an associated method, for routing data in a communication device defined in terms of a protocol stack. The protocol stack includes an upper logical layer, a lower logical layer, and a mid stack layer. A determiner determines the configuration of the radio bearer by which the data is to be communicated. If a determination is made that the radio bearer is configured such that it does not require its application to the mid stack layers, a data bypasser causes the data to bypass the mid stack layer. If, conversely, the data is to be applied to the mid stack layer, the data is caused to be routed therethrough. |
| US07852875B2 |
Apparatus and method for controlling reverse-link data transmission rate during handoff
Method and apparatus for controlling data transmission rate in a wireless communication system during handoff comprises a terminal recognizing an active set comprising a serving base station and at least one non-serving base station with respect to the terminal communicating with the network at a first data transmission rate, receiving a first rate control parameter from the serving base station and a second rate control parameter from the at least one non-serving base station, wherein the first and second rate control parameters are associated with determination of a second data transmission rate of the terminal during the handoff and determining the second data transmission rate in response to the first and the second rate control parameters, wherein the second data transmission rate is one of increased rate, decreased rate and same rate from the first data transmission rate. |
| US07852873B2 |
Universal computer management interface
An integrated computer management apparatus allowing a networked administrator to manage a computer via multiple connection types and protocols. A preferred embodiment of the device has a network connection for the administrative users, coupled via an internal Ethernet switch and a processor to keyboard-video-mouse, serial, and Ethernet computer connections. Depending on hardware characteristics, operational status, OS, and administrator preferences any of these may be used to provide remote computer system management functions. Software running on the processor can provide direct logical connection between the remote administrator and a management port; may serve web pages graphically interpreting data gleaned from one or more of the connections; can provide protocol translation or proxy services; or locally execute an intelligent management agent. The device can be physically small enough to be supported by its connecting cables, and receives power from the attached computer. |
| US07852871B2 |
System for real-time change of slot duration within a wireless network
A supervisory communications device, such as a base station within a wireless network, monitors and controls communications with a plurality of remote communications devices, such as mobile nodes, throughout a widely distributed network, including the Internet. The supervisory device establishes the upstream slot structure and allocates upstream bandwidth by sending messages over its downstream channel. The supervisory device also uses the messages and minislot counts to anticipate bursts from the remote devices. Dual registers are provided within the supervisory device to generate minislot counts. A primary register generates minislot counts for a current slot structure, and a secondary register generates minislot counts for a revised slot structure. Software executed on the supervisory device determines a switchover time for changing to the revised slot structure and revised minislot count. Prior to switchover, the revised minislot count is passed to the current slot structure processor allowing it to anticipate bursts from the remote devices using the revised slot structure. At switchover, the supervisory device also switches the revised clock along with the revised slot structure, deactivates the primary register, and switches to the secondary register to provide a seamless transition in real time. |
| US07852868B2 |
Method and apparatus for establishing circuit connections over local area networks with frequency selective impairments
A method for establishing a circuit connection over a network. Determining a channel quality profile of a medium connecting a source node and a destination node. Determining a throughput required to support a data rate requirement of an application that sources data. Determining a modulation type and modulation density at one or more frequency according to the channel quality profile. Selecting one or more of a set of frequencies, modulation types and modulation densities to support the throughput. Communicating the selection to nodes attached to the medium. |
| US07852861B2 |
Dynamic system and method for virtual private network (VPN) application level content routing using dual-proxy method
A method of application level content routing using a (Dynamic VPN) dual-proxy mechanism that provides a client access to resources on a remote network without exposing each other's actual IP addresses and network topologies. The method includes providing a client a list of available resources on a remote network; initiating a request by the client for at least one resource from the list of available resources hosted on the remote network as though the at least one resource is local to the client; routing the request to the at least remote resource through a secure connection between the client and the remote network; responding to the request by the at least remote resource as though the request is initiated locally on the remote network; and routing the response from the remote network back to the client through the secure connection. |
| US07852860B2 |
Protocol conversion apparatus, communication apparatus, method and program
There is provided with a protocol conversion apparatus including: a database unit which stores service descriptions, each describing at least one service in accordance with specification of a first protocol, and conversion rule descriptions each describing at least one protocol conversion rule; a database retrieval unit which retrieves from the database unit a service description and a conversion rule description; a virtual processing unit which conducts processing of behaving as if providing the service described in the retrieved service description; a conversion unit which converts an access request to the service to an access request of a second protocol, on the basis of a protocol conversion rule associated with the service; and an access request transmission unit which transmits the converted access request. |
| US07852853B1 |
System and method for transmitting video information
Systems and methods for transmitting video are provided. The system determines the type of encoded video frames. Each of the video frames is then placed in a network transport packet. A priority level of the network transport packet is set based on the determined type of the video frame. The system can apply error correction coding to video frames of a lower priority level. |
| US07852852B2 |
Method for compressing route data in a router
A method for a router having a routing table and a forwarding table. In an embodiment, the method includes creating an entry for use in the forwarding table, the entry corresponding to multiple entries of the routing table. The entry may correspond to a set of entries of the routing table which specify overlapping IP addresses and a same next hop router, in one example. In another example, the entry may be an aggregate entry corresponding to a set of entries of the routing table which specify the same next hop router. |
| US07852849B2 |
Providing dynamic quality of service for virtual private networks
Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing dynamic Quality of Service (QoS) for connections to virtual private networks (VPNs) are provided. The method receives a message from an organization associated with the VPN, wherein the message includes information identifying the VPN connection and information associated with the organization. The method then determines, based on a set of rules defined for the organization, a QoS level to apply to the connection, and applies the determined QoS level to the connection. The QoS applied to the connection corresponds to the organization hosting the VPN and not the QoS associated with a personal or home account QoS that would otherwise be applied to the connection. |
| US07852848B2 |
Service gateway, serving system, QoS negotiation method and serving recourse release method
Embodiments of the present invention provide a service gateway, comprising a service session detection unit adapted to detect a service session request and the end of a service session. The service gateway further comprises a QoS negotiation unit, adapted to acquire quality of service (QoS) information of a service session after the service session request is detected by the service session detection unit, request corresponding service serving network resource according to the QoS information, and trigger to release the service serving network resource when the end of the service session is detected by the service session detection unit. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention also disclose a corresponding service serving system, QoS negotiation and service serving network resource release method. The present invention could implement a QoS request process without the participation of a terminal. Embodiments of the present invention are conveniently to be deployed and implemented, and the peer-to-peer QoS can be quickly deployed and implemented without changing the current network service server. |
| US07852844B2 |
Method and related apparatus for reconfiguring size of a receiving window in a communications system
A method for reconfiguring size of a receiving window in a communications system avoiding duplicate packet delivery to an upper layer to keep ciphering parameters in synchronization when the communications system reconfigures a receiving window of a receiver includes receiving a command for reconfiguring a size of the receiving window, reconfiguring the size of the receiving window according to the command, removing packets with sequence numbers outside the receiving window from buffers of the receiver and delivering the packets to the upper layer, determining whether a sequence number of a next expected packet is below the receiving window, and keeping the sequence number of the next expected packet and the packets in a reordering buffer of the receiver unchanged when the sequence number of the next expected packet is not below the receiving window. |
| US07852837B1 |
Wi-Fi/BPL dual mode repeaters for power line networks
A method and apparatus for maintaining network connectivity over power lines is disclosed. Such network connectivity is maintained even if various customers are covered by different power line networks or if one or more power lines in a network are unavailable to transmit data. More particularly, in order to bridge a gap in a power line network, one or more messages are extracted from a first node in a power line network and are then transmitted to a second node via free space transmission, illustratively wireless radio frequency (RF) transmission conforming to one or more of the 802.11a, b or g standards. When those messages are received at the second node, the message is injected back into the power line on the other side of a gap in power line coverage. This method of transmission backup will continue until power line connectivity is restore upon which the preferred method will be selected and used. |
| US07852835B2 |
Time switch
Provided is a time switch capable of allowing a user to readily set up or change a schedule. For this purpose, a chassis 30 of the time switch 10 has same size (i.e., two-row-module size) as that obtained by arranging two three-module sized implanted type wiring devices in two lines along a minor width direction, and installation frame pieces 38 are protruded from both of upper and lower side walls. In addition, each installation frame piece 38 has a long hole 38a for inserting a box screw fastened to the implanted type box (not shown) implanted on the installation surface or a fastener hole combined with a fastener. Furthermore, decoration covers 33 and 34 are installed in the front side of the chassis 30, and manipulating buttons 45a to 45f of the setup manipulation unit for setting up a time schedule having a set of an address corresponding to the control target load, and a control time and a control item for the load are provided in the decoration cover 33 functioning as a manipulation face of the setup unit 10a. |
| US07852833B2 |
System for switching from an established media path to a new media path in a packet based network
There is described a system for switching from an established media path to a new media path for packets transmitted between first and second end points in a packet based network. An instruction is transmitted to the first end point instructing it to set up a new receiving channel for receiving packets transmitted from the second end point over the new media path. An instruction is transmitted to the second end point instructing it to configure a sending channel to send packets over the new media path for reception on the new receiving channel of the first end point. For a time period during the switching, the first end point monitors for packets simultaneously on both its new receiving channel and an established receiving channel configured to receive packets transmitted from the second end point over the established media path. This systems helps ensure a seamless switchover from the established to the new media paths. |
| US07852831B2 |
Method and system for providing private virtual secure Voice over Internet Protocol communications
A method and system for secure Voice over Internet Protocol (IP) (VoIP) communications. The method and system provide secure VoIP voice calls, video, Instant Messaging (IM), Short Message Services (SMS), or Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communications while maintaining privacy over the Internet and other communications networks such as the pubic switched telephone network (PSTN) to and from any network device through a virtual private network infrastructure interconnecting private VoIP network devices. The method and system allow a network device to function as an IP private branch exchange (PBX) or a private VoIP gateway and provide and control VoIP voice communications without using other public or private VoIP gateways or VoIP servers or devices on a communications network such as the PSTN or the Internet. |
| US07852829B2 |
Packet reassembly and deadlock avoidance for use in a packet switch
Practical packet reassembly in large, multi-plane, multi-stage switches is possible by using a scheduling technique called dynamic packet interleaving. With dynamic packet interleaving scheduling, if more than one packet is contending for the same output link in a switch module, an arbiter in the switch module gives priority to a partial packet (i.e., to a packet that has had at least one cell sent to the queue). The number of reassembly queues required to ensure reassembly is dramatically reduced (e.g., to the number of paths multiplied by the number of scheduling priorities). Deadlock may be avoided by guaranteeing (e.g., reserving) at least one cell space for all partial packets. |
| US07852825B2 |
Wireless communication method and apparatus for preventing network access by mobile stations which support an incompatible internet protocol version
A method and apparatus for determining whether attach procedures between a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and a network should proceed based on whether the internet protocol (IP) version, (i.e., packet data protocol (PDP) type), of the WTRU is compatible with the network. In one embodiment, the WTRU receives a network compatibility message from the network which indicates the network's IP version. If the network's IP version is determined by the WTRU to be compatible, the WTRU and the network proceed with the attach procedures. In another embodiment, the network receives an attach request message from the WTRU which indicates the IP version of the WTRU. If the IP version of the WTRU is determined by the network to be compatible, the network and the WTRU proceed with the attach procedures. For both embodiments, another network is selected if the IP versions of the WTRU and the network are not compatible. |
| US07852823B2 |
Communication management method, communication terminal, communication management program, recording medium containing the communication management program, and communication system
When a transmission station having a voluntary transmission right transmits FINALL FRAME as a TXOP ending frame to HC, the HC transmits an acknowledgement frame ACK after SIFS following the reception of FINAL FRAME. Here, when the transmitting station has detected that no frame transmission is performed over the communication network from any other ESTAs in PIFS after the transmission of FINAL FRAME, FINAL FRAME is retransmitted in DIFS after the transmission of FINAL FRAME. By performing such a communication management, it is possible to accurately manage a voluntary transmission right even when the communication medium has a low reliability in a network in which one network pathway is time-shared by a plurality of communication apparatuses. |
| US07852820B2 |
Systems and methods for reducing data collisions in wireless network communications
The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for reducing data collisions in wireless networks. In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a node of a wireless network monitors traffic from at least one foreign network. The node attempts to identify patterns of communication in the foreign network. Based on an identified pattern, the node schedules a transmission during time period for which it is likely that the foreign network is not attempting a transmission that would otherwise interfere with the node's signal. Accordingly, the probability of a data collision is reduced. |
| US07852816B2 |
Apparatus and method for packet transmission scheduling in wireless ad-hoc network
A method and apparatus for transmitting packets is capable of saving energy in a mobile ad-hoc network. In the method and apparatus, a phenomenon of abnormality is prevented by one or more mobile terminals exchanging with each other, in an Ad-hoc Traffic Indication Message (ATIM) window period, an ATIM frame containing information about the number of packets attempted to be transmitted and information about the number of continuous transmission failures. As a result of the exchange, each terminal determines transmission priorities of itself and the other terminals using the information. Thus, each mobile terminal can fairly transmit data during a data transmission window. |
| US07852813B2 |
System and method for acquiring cell in a frequency overlay communication system
A system for performing cell acquisition in a frequency overlay communication system having a first frequency band and a second frequency band including the first frequency band. A base station (BS) generates a reference signal used for identifying a cell using a specific sequence in a predetermined frequency band, and transmits the reference signal. A mobile station (MS) receives the reference signal to determine whether the BS uses the first frequency band or the second frequency band, determines a reference signal having a maximum correlation value through correlation calculation with at least one predefined sequence, and detects a BS identifier (ID) corresponding to the determined reference signal. |
| US07852808B2 |
Mobile communication system, radio switching method, mobile base station and mobile terminal
A mobile communication system, a radio switching method, a mobile base station and a mobile terminal in which the mobile terminal does not perform handover to a fixed base station while moving in/on a moving body to avert an adverse affect of variation of received field intensity on communication. Fixed base stations that are connected to a public telephone network are disposed along a traveling direction of a train. The train which a user who possesses a mobile terminal gets on is provided with a mobile base station capable of being connected to the fixed base stations. The mobile base station detects the mobile terminal entering into the communication area covered by the mobile base station and the train starting moving to the next station. Triggered by the two kinds of detection, the mobile base station takes over processes of handover to the fixed base station from the mobile terminal. While moving, the mobile base station performs handover to a next base station one after another. When the train approaches the next station, the mobile terminal performs handover to the fixed base station that covers the communication area around the station of arrival in behalf of the mobile base station. |
| US07852802B2 |
Joint scheduling and grouping for SDMA systems
A joint scheduling and grouping technique provides uplink throughput maximization for space-division multiple access (SDMA) systems under proportional fairness constraints. In a slow-fading narrowband MIMO multiple access channel (MAC) multiple users, each equipped with multiple transmit antennas, communicate to a receiver equipped with multiple receive antennas. The users are unaware of the channel state information (CSI) whereas the receiver has perfect CSI and employs a successive group decoder (SGD). For an open-loop system, an optimum successive group decoder (OSGD) simultaneously minimizes the common outage probability and the individual outage probability of each user, over all SGDs of permissible decoding complexity. For each channel realization, the OSGD maximizes the error exponent of the decodable set of users. An adaptive SGD retains the outage optimality of the OSGD and minimizes decoding complexity. The SGD yields symmetric capacity gains commensurate with the decoding complexity allowed. The OSGD offers significantly improved performance at low decoding complexity. |
| US07852800B2 |
Reducing interference between users in a communications system through time scattering
Time-scattering of data is employed to reduce the interference effects, such as, error rate, between terminals disposed in nearby beams, or cells, of a communication system. A scattering schedule is determined, typically by a gateway, for a terminal. Scattering instructions, based at least in part on that scattering schedule, are provided to the terminal. The scattering instructions provide terminals with information suitable for controlling the temporal scattering of time slot data to be transmitted by the terminals so that interference impact of nearby out-of-beam terminals is reduced. Time-scattered data received by a receiver remote from the terminal is returned to the desired order by sorting the data in accordance with the scattering schedule to achieve a reversing of the scattering. Time-scattering may be applied to data moving in either or both of the forward and reverse directions of a communication system. |
| US07852798B2 |
Relay node and relay method
To improve the channel capacity of an entire communication system in accordance with transmission quality of the channels of each node. A relay node has: a receiving section that receives a received signal from a source node; a channel estimation section that measures SNR of a backward channel between the source node and the relay node, and SNR of a forward channel between the relay node and a destination node; a relay selecting section that selects, from among a QR-P-ZF method, a QR-P-QR method and a ZF-P-QR method, a relay method of the relay node in accordance with the ratio between the SNRs of the backward and forward channels; a relay signal processing section that multiplies the received signal by a transmission weight matrix corresponding to the selected relay method, and thereby converts the received signal to a relay signal; and a transmitting section that transmits the relay signal to the destination node. |
| US07852797B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing relay link zone information in a multi-hop relay Broadband Wireless Access communication system
An apparatus and method for providing relay link zone information in a multi-hop relay BWA communication system, where a BS performs a network entry procedure with an RS during an initial access of the RS to the BS, generates a message including relay link zone information regarding a relay link zone in which the BS communicates with the RS, processes the message in a physical layer, and transmits the processed message to the RS. |
| US07852796B2 |
Distributed multichannel wireless communication
Systems and methods are provided that facilitate distributed multichannel wireless communication and provide the highest level quality of service (“QoS”) guarantee and support extremely high bandwidth applications such as voice over internet protocol (“VOIP”) streaming audio and video content (including high definition), and multicast applications and also supports convergent networks, ad hoc networks, and the like. A modular MAC architecture provides a group of nodes with the ability to simultaneously communicate with each other using multiple separate communication channels during the same timeslots. The additional throughput gained by employing multiple communication channels is amplified by dynamically mapping the communication channels and timeslots in a network so that multiple channels can be reused simultaneously throughout the network during the same timeslot in a fashion that does not create collisions. |
| US07852790B2 |
Communication master station startup period control method
The present invention provides a communication master station startup period control method of being able to securely prevent malfunction of a PLC system, even if at least two communication master stations are connected to the PLC system which permits only one communication master station on the network. After the startup, when it is determined that the communication master stations exist redundantly by a master plurality determination process performed in advance of a link establishment process, the transition to a predetermined master plurality avoidance process is made without making the transition to the link establishment process. Further, when it is determined that the communication master stations exist redundantly by the master plurality determination process performed in parallel with the link establishment process, the transition to the predetermined master plurality avoidance process is made without making the transition to an operation state. |
| US07852780B1 |
Method and system for provisioning facility-based displays in support of repairing outside network facilities
The present invention provides a method and system for providing facility-based aerial displays to field personnel in support of repairing outside network facilities. The invention relates to a method and system for displaying a series of selected frames to generate a display of surroundings within the vicinity of a cable break. Frames are selected and manipulated in accordance with a significance level which accepts or rejects the frame and in accordance with a set of display parameters selected by a dispatcher. The aerial display is compiled and displayed to support the assessment of the surroundings to be encountered by a repair crew. |
| US07852779B2 |
Communication node, and ring configuration method and ring establishment method in communication system
A plurality of communication nodes are one-to-one connected to each other by Ethernet (registered trademark) which is duplicated with a normal-system ring and with a standby-system ring. The communication node includes an A port, a B port, and a communication processor that performs a process of receiving a frame output from the B port and a process of transmitting the frame from the normal-system ring from the B port when the communication is normal. When other communication node performs a loop-back process due to communication abnormality, the communication node performs only a process of forwarding a frame input from the standby-system ring in the B port without receiving the frame and performs a process of transmitting the frame from the A port to the standby-system ring. |
| US07852773B2 |
Network management method applied to a user apparatus using IEEE 802.3ah
A network management method is applied to a network management system, which includes at least one user apparatus and a network managing agent apparatus connected to the user apparatus. The management method includes the steps of: adopting at least one information string, which is set by a network management protocol established for at least one layer except a data-link layer, by the network managing agent apparatus; packing the information string into a managing packet; and transmitting the managing packet to the user apparatus through the data-link layer according to an Ethernet protocol by the network managing agent apparatus. |
| US07852769B2 |
Flexible bandwidth allocation in high-capacity packet switches
A method and apparatus for flexible sharing of bandwidth in switches with input buffering by dividing time into a plurality of frames of time slots, wherein each frame has a specified integer value of time slots. Counters associated with the input-output queues of the switches are loaded with a negotiated integer value once per frame. The inputs sequentially select available outputs to which the inputs send packets in specified future time slots. Priority is given to input-output queues with counters having positive values. The selection of outputs by the inputs is done using a pipeline technique and a schedule is calculated within multiple time slots. The counters for selected queues are then decremented by 1. |
| US07852763B2 |
System and method for determining a transmission order for packets at a node in a wireless communication network
A wireless communications network comprising a plurality of nodes and effective to provide quality of service requirements for packets being transmitted. An ingress node calculates variables based on quality of service requirements and places those variables in a header of a packet to be transmitted. The packet is then transmitted to a core node. The core node reads the variables in the packet and calculates a holding time for the packet based on the variables and the quality of service requirements. |
| US07852757B1 |
Status based data flow control for chip systems
An integrated circuit (“IC”) with a peripheral component interconnect express (“PCIe”) has at least two data sinks (204, 206) and a data source (202) capable of providing data packets to either data sink. A switch (208) of the PCIe system includes a first buffer (226) queuing data packets for one of the data sinks and a second buffer (227) queuing data packets for the other data sink. A status detector (224) detects when the first buffer equals or exceeds a selected buffer threshold, and a status-based flow control transmitter (232) sends a data link layer packet (“DLLP”) to the status-based flow control receiver (234) of the data source to cease transmitting first data packets while continuing to transmit second data packets. |
| US07852754B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing faults in a ring network
A method of managing faults in a ring network may include configuring a ring network to be in a “horseshoe” topology by disabling a communications link from distributing media between a selected pair of adjacent nodes while allowing other communications or non-related media to continue to be distributed via the adjacent nodes. In the event of a failure, the disabled communications path may be re-enabled, and first or second backup communications paths may be employed, where the first backup communications path may use primary connections between adjacent nodes used for primary communications paths normally used to carry the media, and the second backup communications paths may use secondary connections between non-adjacent nodes. The disabled communications path may be dynamically moved in a logical or physical manner in an event of a communications link or node failure to maintain a “horseshoe” topology in the ring network. |
| US07852753B2 |
Method and apparatus for centralized selection of a control network
An apparatus and method for centrally selecting a control network from redundant control networks is described. In one embodiment of the invention, a network element includes a first control network and a second control network. Each line card implements a bonding interface to bond a first port coupled with the first control network and a second port coupled with the second control network. On each line card, the first and second ports receive a control network selection message from the first and second control networks respectively. A link layer driver on each line card interprets those selection messages and determines which control network is active and reports that control network as up to the bonding interface and reports the other control network as down to the bonding interface. The bonding interface selects the control network reported as up and application software uses that control network. |
| US07852750B2 |
Self-fault isolation in transparent P-cycle networks
Span protection has advantages in speed, locality of action and simplicity but requires that the failed span be located in real time. Recent work proposed rapid fault-localization via monitoring cycles (m-cycles). Span-protecting structures (such as p-cycles) operate and are designed separately from the monitoring cycles in this architecture. We have invented a method of designing survivable networks wherein a span protecting p-cycle network inherently includes the properties of a set of fault localizing m-cycles at zero or minimal additional network design cost. Results show that this can be achieved with the same localization effectiveness as separately designed m-cycle solutions, at little or no extra cost. |
| US07852747B2 |
Method and apparatus for constructing a repair path around a non-available component in a data communications network
A method of constructing a repair path around a non-available component in a data communications network having, as components, nodes having a network address and links there between comprises the step, performed at a participating node, of receiving from a notifying node in the network, a notification identifying the notifying node and components through which the notifying node can be reached. The method further comprises the step of deriving, from the notification, a network repair address for use in the event of non-availability of a component identified in the notification. The method further comprises the step of constructing a repair path for the repair address. |
| US07852744B2 |
Method and apparatus for channel estimation in a wireless communication device
The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus of channel estimation for a wireless communication system. A pilot signal energy is estimated based on received pilot symbols. An estimated traffic signal energy of the traffic signal symbols is estimated based on the received traffic signal symbols, the received pilot symbols and a noise estimate. A traffic to pilot ratio is estimated based on the pilot signal energy and the traffic signal energy. |
| US07852743B2 |
Method of transmitting scheduling request in a wireless communication system
A method of transmitting a scheduling request which is used to request a radio resource for uplink transmission includes configuring an uplink control channel for transmission of a scheduling request in a subframe, the subframe comprising two consecutive slots, a slot comprising a plurality of single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols, the scheduling request being carried by presence or absence of transmission of the uplink control channel, and transmitting the scheduling request on the uplink control channel. |
| US07852741B2 |
Recording medium with segment information thereon and apparatus and methods for forming, recording, and reproducing the recording medium
A recording medium, such as a high-density and/or optical recording medium including segment information recorded thereon, and apparatus and methods for recording to and reproducing from the recording medium, in order to improve data protection, data management and/or reproduction compatibility. |
| US07852740B2 |
Information recording medium storing system and storing case
An information recording medium capable of displaying multiple labels and a storing case for the information recording medium are provided. The multiple labels are displayed by changing the labels to be displayed while selectively selecting information layers in a multi information recording medium. The medium has a function to receive either voltage or current, and the information layers selectively receive either voltage or current for changing the labels. |
| US07852735B2 |
Optical pickup device
A diffraction element is disposed between a beam branching element (such as a beam splitter) and a photodetector. The diffraction element further segment an interference fringe introduced into stray light by a diffraction grating which divides a laser beam emitted from a laser beam source into a main beam and two sub-beams. |
| US07852731B2 |
Optical storage medium and optical information apparatus
Disclosed is an arrangement that enables to keep a relative positional relation between a beam for servo control and a beam for information recording/reproduction constant concerning focusing control and tracking control, even if the two beams are different from each other. An optical storage medium has a reflection surface for reflecting a first beam having a first wavelength, and reflecting a second beam having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength; and an information storage layer for recording information as an interference pattern by incidence of the first beam, or reproducing the information from a wave surface based on the interference pattern. The reflection surface is formed with plural marks or guide grooves usable in a tracking operation or a focusing operation by irradiation of the second beam. The information storage layer is partially formed, in advance, with a reference interference pattern which is reproduced when the first beam is irradiated, and which is used as a reference for correcting the relative positional relation between the first beam and the second beam. |
| US07852729B2 |
Optical disc apparatus with adjustable constraint length PRML
An optical disc apparatus implementing a PRML and capable of recording and reading a plurality of disc media with different recording densities, wherein read compatibility between drives is ensured without relying solely on the error correction capability of the ECC (error correction code). A phase comparator provided in a PLL compares each value of an input signal sequence with a designated threshold value in order to determine an edge. The optical disc apparatus can record and read a plurality of disc media with different recording densities while ensuring read compatibility. |
| US07852728B2 |
Digital signal reproducing apparatus
A digital signal reproducing apparatus includes an analog to digital converter for sampling and quantizing a signal read from an optical recording medium in accordance with a reproduced clock having a frequency which is one-half of a channel bit frequency and outputting an obtained digital RF signal, an offset compensation circuit for reducing an offset component in an amplitude direction from the digital RF signal, and a simplified interpolation filter for reconstructing a signal indicating a predetermined pattern recorded in the optical recording medium from the output signal of the offset compensation circuit and outputting the reconstructed signal. A control operation is performed to reduce the magnitudes of respective values shown by first phase error information on a section with the predetermined pattern and by second phase error information on a section other than the section with the predetermined pattern. |
| US07852723B2 |
Disk drive system employing effective disk surface stabilization mechanism
A stabilization part stabilizes surface vibration of a flexible optical disk along a rotation axis direction of the optical disk by means of pressure difference of air flow created according to Bernoulli's law at a portion on which information writing/reading is performed, provided on a side of the optical disk opposite to a side on which information recording/reproducing is performed. In this case, areas are provide on the upstream side and down stream side along the disk rotation direction of the portion of the optical disk which is stabilized by said stabilization part, said areas of the optical disk not having pressure difference created thereon by the air flow. |
| US07852721B2 |
Method for setting recording power, multilayer optical recording medium, and method for recording information
A method for setting recording power of recording light, capable of an appropriate setting for a multilayer optical recording medium. The recording power of the recording light for an information recording layer of the multilayer optical recording medium to be irradiated with, is set by: evaluating an information recording layer to be evaluated for recording power when all the information recording layer(s) lying closer to a light incident surface than the information recording layer to be evaluated does is/are in a low transmittance state; evaluating the information recording layer to be evaluated for recording power when all the information recording layer(s) lying closer to the light incident surface than the information recording layer to be evaluated does is/are in a high transmittance state; and determining ground information for setting recording power, based on these values of the recording power. |
| US07852718B2 |
Compensation value setting device and compensation value setting method
A compensation value setting device selects, based on the first and second index values calculated by the first and second index value calculation sections for each combination of the spherical aberration compensation value and the lens' position compensation value, one combination of the spherical aberration compensation value and the lens' position compensation value and then sets the selected combination for correcting the spherical aberration and the position of the objective lens. |
| US07852716B2 |
Optical disk drawing apparatus, optical disk drawing system and optical disk drawing method
In the optical disk drawing apparatus of the present invention, an automatic adjusting area where the drawing operation is not carried out is provided in the optical disk, laser light is irradiated onto the formed automatic adjusting area so as to control the focus servo gain, so that a stable focus servo control can be carried out. |
| US07852713B2 |
Thermal-assisted magnetic recording head and magnetic recording apparatus
A thermal-assisted magnetic recording head which heats a magnetic bit of a magnetic disk by light radiation in recording magnetic data into the magnetic disk with a magnetic writing element. The magnetic recording head has a reflecting converging element with a surface emitting laser incorporated therein, and a transparent plate serving as a slider. A laser beam emitted from the surface emitting laser is reflected by a mirror surface of the reflecting converging element and is converged on a plasmon probe formed on a bottom surface of the transparent plate. Thereby, near-field light effuses from the plasmon probe into a very small area and heats the magnetic bit of the magnetic disk. |
| US07852711B1 |
Portable device using location determination and MEMS timekeeping to update and keep time
Devices and methods for determining a current location using a location detection element, determining a local time zone based on the current location using a memory unit, keeping time using a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) oscillator unit co-fabricated on a common substrate with the location detection element, and determining a local time based on the local time zone using a controller element. Optional embodiments comprise a MEMS oscillator unit that is fabricated underneath, next to, or on top of the location detection element. Additional embodiments comprise a GPS chip optionally assisted by a cell phone chipset or FM receiver to enhance location and time determination. Optional embodiments may additionally enter a power conservation mode after the current location has been determined, or may detect air travel to disable the location detection element and enable the location detection element upon detected landing. |
| US07852706B2 |
Circuit and methods for eliminating skew between signals in semiconductor integrated circuit
A circuit for eliminating a skew between data and a clock signal in an interface between a semiconductor memory device and a memory controller includes an edge information storage unit which stores edge information output from the semiconductor memory device, a pseudo data pattern generating unit which outputs pseudo data including a pattern similar to actually transmitted data, a phase detecting unit which receives the edge information from the edge information storage unit and the pseudo data from the pseudo data pattern generating unit to detect a phase difference between the data and the clock signal and generate a corresponding detection result, and a phase control unit which controls a phase of the clock signal according to the corresponding detection result from the phase detecting unit, so as to eliminate a per-data input/output pin skew in a data write and read operation of the semiconductor memory device. |
| US07852705B1 |
Method of and circuit for configuring a plurality of memory elements
A method of configuring a plurality of memory elements having selectable dimensions, the method comprising the steps of selecting a width of a data word to be output by a circuit having the plurality of memory elements; selecting a width for memory locations of the plurality of memory elements, the width for the memory location being less than the width of a data word; configuring the plurality of memory elements to have the selected width; and concatenating the outputs for the plurality of memory elements to generate a concatenated output comprising a data word. A circuit for configuring a plurality of memory elements having selectable dimensions is also disclosed. |
| US07852704B2 |
Semiconductor storage device
A semiconductor storage device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a DRAM cell including one transistor and one capacitor, in which one of a first voltage and a second voltage is applied to a gate of the transistor, the first voltage being a selected voltage, and the second voltage being a non-selected voltage, a voltage difference between the first voltage and the second voltage is larger than a voltage difference between a power supply voltage and a ground voltage, and one of the ground voltage and the power supply voltage which is closer to the non-selected voltage is applied to a back gate of the transistor irrespective of selection or non-selection. |
| US07852700B2 |
Memory device
A memory device includes a power supply line, a memory cell, a memory cell power supply node provided between the memory cell and the power supply line, a first voltage generating circuit coupled to the memory cell power supply node for supplying the memory cell power supply node with a first potential lower than a potential of the power supply line for a first period corresponding to at least a part of a writing operation period, and a second voltage generating circuit that is coupled to the memory cell power supply node for supplying the memory cell power supply node with a second potential lower than the potential of the power supply line for a second period corresponding to at least a part of the writing operation period. |
| US07852698B2 |
Voltage supply device and nonvolatile memory device having the same
A voltage supply device comprises: a charge pump configured to boost a power voltage and to supply the boosted power voltage to a output line; and a voltage control circuit configured to maintain a voltage level of the output line at a target voltage level; wherein the voltage control circuit comprises a reach-through element including a first region and a second region provided in a well, the reach-through element configured to control the voltage level of the output line, using a reach-through function between the first region and the second region. |
| US07852696B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and driving method thereof
This disclosure concerns a memory including a memory cell including a drain, a source and a floating body, wherein when a refresh operation is executed, a first current is carried from the drain or the source to the body and a second current is carried from the body to the second gate electrode by applying a first voltage and a second voltage to the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode, the first voltage and the second voltage being opposite in polarity to each other, and a state of the memory cell is covered to an stationary state in which an amount of the electric charges based on the first current flowing in one cycle of the refresh operation is almost equal to an amount of the electric charges based on the second current flowing in one cycle of the refresh operation. |
| US07852695B2 |
Single-ended differential signal amplification and data reading
A method and system that can be used with signals read from a memory cell or other feature that varies in amplitude as a function of the data being read. The data read from the memory cell may be of the type that decreases in voltage when a ‘low’ is being read and that remains at a predetermined voltage when a ‘high’ is being read. The method and system may vary a reference to voltage used to judge whether the data is being read ‘low’ or ‘high’. |
| US07852694B2 |
Semiconductor memory device for reducing precharge time
A semiconductor memory device for reducing a precharge time is provided. The semiconductor memory device may include a sense amplifier, a precharge unit and an equalizing circuit. The sense amplifier may sense and amplify a difference between data transmitted through a first bit line and data transmitted through a second bit line in response to a sense amplifier enable signal. The precharge unit may precharge voltage levels of the first bit line and the second bit line to a precharge voltage level in response to a precharge enable signal. The equalizing circuit may be connected to the sense amplifier and the precharge unit and may control the voltage levels of the first bit line and the second bit line to be equal to each other in response to the sense amplifier enable signal. The semiconductor memory device may reduce a time required to perform a precharge operation and/or minimize an increase of the circuit size. |
| US07852693B2 |
Apparatus for and method of current leakage reduction in static random access memory arrays
A novel and useful mechanism for reducing current leakage in a static random access memory array which significantly reduces the power requirements of the memory array. The method enables the steady state of all local and global bit lines in an SRAM array to be discharged during both active and inactive modes. The memory array includes memory cells having an N channel field effect transistor read stack. A mechanism is provided to evaluate data from memory cells where the steady state of local and global read bit lines is discharged. |
| US07852690B2 |
Multi-chip package for a flash memory
An electronic system includes a flash memory die having multiple flash memory cells. Each flash memory cell is operable to store at least four bits of data. A second die includes a controller for accessing the flash memory cells. DRAM is used by the controller to temporarily store data. An interface is operable to send and receive signals associated with the flash memory cells to a host. A housing contains the flash memory die, the second die, the DRAM, and the interface. |
| US07852688B2 |
Efficient sense command generation
In one embodiment, a memory includes: an array of memory cells arranged according to word lines and columns, each column corresponding to bit lines; a sense amplifier adapted to couple to the bit lines to sense a binary content of selected cells from the array of memory cells, the sense amplifier sensing the binary content responsive to a sense command; an x-decoder configured to assert a selected one of the word lines in response to decoding an address as triggered by a clock edge, wherein the assertion of the selected word line switches on corresponding access transistors to develop voltages on the bit lines; and a bit line replica circuit adapted to replicate the development of the bit lines, the bit line replica circuit including a replica access transistor coupled between a replica bit line and a replica memory cell wherein the replica access transistor is switched on responsive to the clock edge such that the replica memory cell pulls the replica bit line to ground, the bit line replica circuit also including a comparator that asserts an output in response to comparing a voltage of the replica bit line to a threshold, the sense command being a buffered version of the output from the comparator. |
| US07852686B2 |
Circuit and method for a sense amplifier with instantaneous pull up/pull down sensing
A circuit and method for a sense amplifier for sensing the charge stored when a select signal couples a memory cell to the sense amplifier. A pull up voltage and a pull down voltage are instantaneously supplied to the sense amplifier to sense the small signal differential input on the complementary bit lines and to simultaneously restore the value stored in the memory cell. A differential output signal generator circuit is provided to instantaneously supply the pull up and pull down voltages. In another preferred embodiment the signal generator provides the pull up and pull down voltages at a first level and subsequently increases the pull up voltage to a voltage greater than the positive supply voltage and decreases the pull down voltage. A method of sensing is disclosed wherein the sense and restore actions are performed instantaneously to provide memory cell sensing with greater tolerance of device mismatches. |
| US07852685B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device comprises a first exclusive-OR circuit which compares mth N-bit first data with (m+1)th N-bit second data, a majority circuit which generates flag data to invert the second data if a comparison result of the first exclusive-OR circuit indicates that the number of mismatch bits between the first data and the second data is not less than N/2, and generates flag data to noninvert the second data if the number of mismatch bits between the first data and the second data is less than N/2, a second exclusive-OR circuit which inverts or noninverts the second data based on the flag data, a shift register which stores the flag data generated by the majority circuit, and a pad to serially output both the inverted or noninverted second data and the flag data. |
| US07852684B2 |
Page buffer circuit of memory device and program method
A page buffer circuit of a memory device including a plurality of Multi-Level Cells (MLCs) connected to at least a pair of bit lines includes a Most Significant Bit (MSB) latch, a Least Significant Bit (LSB) latch, a data I/O circuit, an inverted output circuit, a MSB verification circuit, and a LSB verification circuit. The MSB latch is configured to sense a voltage of a sensing node in response to a control signal and store an upper sensing data, and output an inverted upper sensing data, or store an input data and output an inverted input data. The LSB latch is configured to sense a voltage of the sensing node in response to the control signal, and store and output a lower sensing data, or store and output an input data received through the MSB latch. The data I/O circuit is connected to the MSB latch and a data I/O line, and is configured to perform the input and output of a sensing data or the input and output of a program data. |
| US07852677B2 |
Method of using hot-carrier-injection degradation as a programmable fuse/switch
Method and apparatus for providing nonvolatile storage with a programmable transistor. The method includes receiving a data value to be stored in the programmable transistor and programming the programmable transistor to store the received data value. Programming includes applying a selected voltage to the programmable transistor. The selected voltage is selected to inject carriers into a gate oxide layer of the programmable transistor. The carriers are maintained in the gate oxide layer of the programmable transistor in the absence of the selected voltage, thereby programming the programmable transistor with the received data value. |
| US07852676B2 |
Three dimensional stacked nonvolatile semiconductor memory
In a three dimensional stacked nonvolatile semiconductor memory according to the present invention, a first block has a selected first cell unit including a memory cell to be read and a non-selected second cell unit not including a memory cell to be read. A read potential or a transfer potential higher than the read potential is applied to the word line in the first block in a state that a ground potential is applied to a channel of a memory cell existing nearer to the bit line side than a memory cell in the second cell unit to which the read potential is applied, after which all the memory cells in the second cell unit are cut off from the bit line, the bit line is set to a precharge potential, and read is performed to the a memory cell to be read in the first cell unit. |
| US07852673B2 |
Method for operating nonvolatitle memory array
A method for programming a mixed nonvolatile memory array having a plurality of mixed memory cells, wherein each mixed memory cell includes a depletion mode memory cell and an enhanced mode memory cell. The method comprises steps of programming the enhanced mode memory cell in a way of channel hot carrier and programming the depletion mode memory cell in a way of band-to-band tunneling hot carrier. |
| US07852672B2 |
Integrated circuit embedded with non-volatile programmable memory having variable coupling
A programmable non-volatile device uses a floating gate that functions as a FET gate that overlaps a variable portion of a source/drain region. This allows a programming voltage for the device to be imparted to the floating gate through variable capacitive coupling, thus changing the state of the device. Multi-state embodiments are also possible. The invention can be used in environments such as data encryption, reference trimming, manufacturing ID, security ID, and many other applications. |
| US07852662B2 |
Spin-torque MRAM: spin-RAM, array
A spin-torque MRAM array has MRAM cells arranged in rows and columns. Bit lines are connected to each of the MRAM cells on each column. Source select lines are connected to each MRAM cell of a pair of rows and are oriented orthogonally to the bit lines. Write lines are connected to the gate of the gating MOS transistor of each MRAM cell of the rows. The MRAM cells are written in a two step process with selected MRAM cells written to a first logic level (0) in a first step and selected MRAM cells written to a second logic level (1) in a second step. A second embodiment of the spin-torque MRAM array has the bit lines commonly connected together to receive the data and the source select lines commonly connected together to receive an inverse of the data for writing. |
| US07852660B2 |
Enhancing read and write sense margins in a resistive sense element
An apparatus and method for enhancing read and write sense margin in a memory cell having a resistive sense element (RSE), such as but not limited to a resistive random access memory (RRAM) element or a spin-torque transfer random access memory (STRAM) element. The RSE has a hard programming direction and an easy programming direction. A write current is applied in either the hard programming direction or the easy programming direction to set the RSE to a selected programmed state. A read circuit subsequently passes a read sense current through the cell in the hard programming direction to sense the selected programmed state of the cell. |
| US07852658B2 |
Phase change memory cell with constriction structure
Some embodiments include apparatus and methods having a memory cell with a first electrode and a second electrode, and a memory element directly contacting the first and second electrodes. The memory element may include a programmable portion having a material configured to change between multiple phases. The programmable portion may be isolated from the first electrode by a first portion of the memory element and isolated from the second electrode by a second portion of the memory element. |
| US07852655B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
Disclosed is a semiconductor memory device capable of realizing reduction in an SRAM unit cell area. Using as a standard configuration a parallel-type SRAM unit cell having each pair of load transistors, driver transistors and transfer transistors, all or a part of the gate electrodes and active regions configuring at least any one of the pairs of the transistors, for example, the pair of the transfer transistors are configured obliquely in a predetermined direction from the standard configuration. As a result, a size in a cell outside part including the driver transistor and the transfer transistor is reduced. At the same time, a distance between the load transistors in the central part is reduced as compared with that in the standard configuration. Thus, area reduction in the whole SRAM unit cell is realized. |
| US07852651B2 |
Semiconductor device
The object of the present invention is to reduce parasitic inductance of a main circuit in a power supply circuit. The present invention provides a non-insulated DC-DC converter having a circuit in which a power MOS•FET for a high-side switch and a power MOS•FET for a low-side switch are connected in series. In the non-insulated DC-DC converter, the power MOS•FET for the high-side switch is formed by a p channel vertical MOS•FET, and the power MOS•FET for the low-side switch is formed by an n channel vertical MOS•FET. Thus, a semiconductor chip formed with the power MOS•FET for the high-side switch and a semiconductor chip formed with the power MOS•FET for the low-side switch are mounted over the same die pad and electrically connected to each other through the die pad. |
| US07852643B2 |
Cross current control for power converter system
A system and method for controlling cross current in an interleaved power converter system having a plurality of converter threads coupled in parallel includes collecting a feedback current from each thread and obtaining a normal current and a differential mode current for each thread, based on its respective feedback current. The normal current of each thread is regulated to a commanded thread normal current value via a respective normal current control loop based on d-q rotating frame parameters. A differential mode cross current of each thread is regulated to zero via a respective differential mode cross current control loop based on d-q rotating frame parameters; while a differential mode cross current DC offset of each thread is regulated to zero via a respective differential mode cross current control loop based on stationary frame parameters. |
| US07852641B2 |
Power supply apparatus having multiple outputs
A power supply apparatus having multiple outputs, a transformer, a first output circuit generating a first output voltage with respect to power transferred to a secondary side of the transformer, and a first output controller generating a first control signal to control a power supply provided to a primary side of the transformer, the apparatus including: a second output circuit to generate a second output voltage with respect to the power transferred to the secondary side of the transformer; and a second output controller to control an output of the second output voltage, wherein the second output circuit includes a second switch performing a switching operation on current flows of the second output circuit, and the second output controller controls the switching operation of the second switch by turning off the second switch or feeding the second output voltage back to the second switch according to the first control signal. |
| US07852638B2 |
Frame, electronic device, image forming apparatus, and frame assembly method
A frame constitutes an apparatus, and includes a first side plate, a second side plate that faces the first side plate, and a connecting member between the first and second side plates. The connecting member includes a first-side connecting portion and a second-side connecting portion. The first-side connecting portion is connected to the first side plate so that the first side plate does not move with respect to the connecting member. The second-side connecting portion includes a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion. The second side plate moves with respect to the connecting member on a second-connecting-portion side with the first connecting portion as a center. The first and second side plates are attached with a cover member that is openable and closable from the front side of the apparatus. |
| US07852633B2 |
Connector for connection to a module board
Provided is a connector for connection to a module board including an eject mechanism selectively ejecting a module from a module accommodating section. The eject mechanism includes a locking member that has a locking nib engageable with a recess of a case of the module. The locking member is rotatably supported by a sidewall section of a guide rail member, and thus can stay in an opening of the sidewall section. An eject button of the connector for connection to a module board has an operation section provided with a flange. The flange is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of a housing of an electronic device by a biasing force of coil springs all the time except for when the operation section is pushed in. |
| US07852630B2 |
Heat dissipating device
A heat dissipation device includes a base, a first heat pipe, a first heat sink, a second heat pipe, a thermoelectric cooler and a second heat sink. The first heat pipe includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the first heat pipe is connected to the base. The second end of the first heat pipe is connected to a bottom of the first heat sink. The second heat pipe includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the second heat pipe is connected to the base. The second end of the second heat pipe is connected to a top end of the thermoelectric cooler. The second heat sink is mounted on a bottom of the thermoelectric cooler and located at a side of the first heat sink. The thermoelectric cooler spaces apart from the heat generating member. As such, the water generated by the thermoelectric cooler during a cooling process won't spread to the heat generating member and a short circuit of the heat generating member can be avoided. |
| US07852625B2 |
Information processing apparatus
An information processing apparatus includes a display section and a main body section. The display section is disposed on a first surface and has a display panel and a display panel case. The display panel case houses the display panel such that the display panel can display an image. The display panel case has a protrusion portion formed at a first end. The main body section is disposed on a second surface and has an input section and a depressed portion. The depressed portion is formed at a second end of the second surface and has a pierced portion and a housing portion. The pierced portion is formed from the second surface to an opposite surface thereof such that a battery is attached to the pierced portion. The housing portion axially houses the protrusion portion on a side opposite to the input section with respect to the pierced portion. |
| US07852620B2 |
Electronic apparatus, moisture-proof structure of electronic apparatus, and method for producing electronic apparatus
The invention provides an electronic apparatus including: a substrate that has a penetrating portion at a part of a periphery around a display area of the substrate; a display element that is provided over the display area of one surface of the substrate; a first moisture-proof film that has optical transparency and covers, at least, the display area of the above-mentioned one surface of the substrate and the display element; and a second moisture-proof film that covers, at least, the display area of another opposite surface of the substrate. In the configuration of the electronic apparatus according to an aspect of the invention, the first moisture-proof film is adhered to a sealing region of the above-mentioned one surface of the substrate; the second moisture-proof film is adhered to a sealing region of the above-mentioned another opposite surface of the substrate; and the first moisture-proof film and the second moisture-proof film are adhered to each other at the penetrating portion, whereby a combination of the first moisture-proof film and the second moisture-proof film seals the display element. |
| US07852617B2 |
Main circuit terminal assembly for vacuum circuit breaker
The present invention is to provide a main circuit terminal assembly for a vacuum circuit breaker, which can prevent temperature increase by increasing a surface area of a main circuit conductive unit, the main circuit terminal assembly for a vacuum circuit breaker which is electrically connected to a vacuum interrupter, including: a clamp electrically connected to a movable unit of the vacuum interrupter, and configured as a pair of conductors so as to support the movable unit by clamping; a heat sink fixed to the clamp that increase a surface area of the clamp; a flexible shunt having one end thereof electrically and mechanically connected to the clamp, and configured as a flexible conductor to allow the movable unit to move; a terminal block electrically and mechanically connected to another end of the flexible shunt, and configured as an electrical conductor; and a contactor unit electrically connected to the terminal block and having a plurality of clip-shaped contactors. |
| US07852613B2 |
Electroconductive carbon fibril-based inks and coatings
The present invention relates to electroconductive inks and methods of making and using the same. The electroconductive inks include carbon fibrils and a liquid vehicle. The electroconductive ink may further include a polymeric binder. The electroconductive filler used is carbon fibrils which may be oxidized. The ink has rheological properties similar to that of commercially available electroconductive inks that use carbon black as their filler. The ink can be screen-printed, slot-coated, sprayed, brushed or dipped onto a wide variety of substrates to form an electroconductive coating. |
| US07852612B2 |
Supercapacitor using carbon nanosheets as electrode
A supercapacitor comprises a first electrode, a second electrode, and a separator. The electrodes are created with carbon nanosheets in various configurations. For example, the carbon nanosheets may be disposed orthogonal to a surface to which it is attached and comprise a single graphene layer or multiple graphene layers. The electrodes are impregnated with an electrolyte. |
| US07852611B2 |
High capacitance film capacitor system and method for manufacturing the same
A film capacitor including a pair of electrodes having multiple pores is provided. The film capacitor includes a polymer film deposited upon each of the pair of electrodes to form a dielectric layer. |
| US07852608B2 |
Electrostatic discharge protection circuit and semiconductor device
An electrostatic discharge protection circuit and a semiconductor device that prevent the breakdown of a semiconductor device caused by an electrostatic discharge (ESD) which suddenly changes. When voltage which is far higher than VDD1 is applied to a power supply line as a result of an ESD, a great electric potential difference is produced between VDD1 and VSS. At this time an electric current path for making an electric charge generated by overvoltage flow to a grounding line is formed by a clamp circuit. As a result, an electric current flows into GND of a circuit block. This prevents the production of a great electric potential difference between VDD1 and VSS. In addition, at this time a rapid change in the level of the overvoltage applied to a signal line is suppressed by a protection circuit. This prevents the dielectric breakdown of gate oxide films of transistors included in a circuit block which receives a control signal. |
| US07852607B2 |
Protection device with lockout test
The present invention is directed to a protective device that includes a detection circuit, a fault detection circuit, and a circuit interrupter assembly contacts configured to be driven into a tripped state in response to the trip actuation and driven into a reset state in response to a reset actuation. A reset mechanism is configured to provide the reset actuation in response to a user reset input. A test assembly includes a test circuit configured to generate a simulated electrical perturbation exceeding the predetermined level in response to a user test input and a test timing mechanism configured to drive the circuit interrupter into the tripped state and disable the reset mechanism if any one of the detection circuit, fault detection circuit, actuation assembly, or circuit interrupter assembly fail before a predetermined time elapses such that the device is permanently inoperable. |
| US07852604B2 |
Slider suspension assembly including a flex circuit arm with a flex circuit tab attached to a gimbal spring arm
A slider suspension assembly includes a positioning arm mounted to a laminate that has a spring layer and a flex circuit layer. The spring layer has a gimbal spring arm. The flex circuit layer has an elongate flex circuit arm separated from the elongate gimbal spring arm by a gap. The flex circuit layer include a flex circuit tab that extends across the gap to an attachment point on the gimbal spring arm. |
| US07852601B1 |
Radial top cover gasket for disk drives
A radial top cover gasket is used for sealing a disk drive assembly. In one embodiment, a disk drive assembly includes a baseplate having a sidewall disposed about a periphery of the baseplate. The disk drive further includes a top cover that is disposed within the sidewall of the baseplate. A gasket is then radially compressed between the top cover and an inner face of the baseplate sidewall. |
| US07852595B2 |
Magnetic disk unit and manufacturing method thereof
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for manufacturing a magnetic disk unit, the method including a step of writing servo data into the magnetic disk while introducing a low-density gas having a lower density than air into the enclosure. In one embodiment, the magnetic disk unit is comprised of a magnetic disk, a magnetic head, and a voice coil motor which are accommodated in the hermetically sealed enclosure. The enclosure has a gas inlet and a gas outlet, which are provided respectively with filters attached thereto. |
| US07852594B2 |
Device and method for specifying control value for controlling clearance between head and disk, and magnetic disk drive device
Embodiments of the present invention help to detect contact between a head and a magnetic disk more accurately in specifying a heater power value for adjusting a clearance between a head element portion and the disk. According to one embodiment, a hard disk controller/multiprocessing unit (HDC/MPU) measures amplitudes of read signals in a user data field DATA. A hard disk drive (HDD) fills a gap between servo data with single data sector. The HDC/MPU measures the amplitudes of read signals in each data sector at different heater power values. It determines the heater power value at which contact occurs from the measured values. |
| US07852587B2 |
Thermal assisted recording (TAR) disk drive capable of controlling the write pulses
A patterned-media magnetic recording disk drive uses an optical system for accurately clocking the write data. The disk has concentric data tracks patterned into discrete magnetizable data islands with nonmagnetic spaces between the islands. As the disk rotates, a radiation source directs near-field radiation to the islands and spaces, and a radiation detector receives reflected radiation. The radiation is directed from the source through an optical channel or waveguide on the air-bearing slider that supports the read and write heads. The optical channel or waveguide has a near-field transducer at the disk-facing surface of the slider where the near-field radiation exits and reflected radiation returns. The reflected optical power varies depending on whether the near-field transducer couples to an island or a space, so the radiation detector output signal represents the frequency and phase of the islands as the disk rotates. The write clock that controls write pulses to the write head is responsive to the radiation detector output signal, so the frequency and phase of the write clock signal can be matched to the frequency and phase of the islands as the disk rotates. |
| US07852586B2 |
Device and method for scanning data stored on a recording medium
The invention concerns a method and a device for scanning data stored on a recording medium. The device comprises a reading head and further comprises: means to calculate an error rate of the data read by said reading head, said data being arranged as groups of data, means to align the reading head in respect with the next data to be read according to said error rate of the data read, the reading head reads at least twice some of said groups, changing position in respect with the group of data from one reading to the other, means to compare the calculated error rate corresponding to each position of the said reading head, means to align the reading head with the relative position in respect with the groups of data giving the lowest error rate in order to read the following groups of data, and the means to align the reading head adjust the frequency of the groups of data read at least twice. |
| US07852583B2 |
Disk drive device, altitude determination method therefore and method for determining characteristic of head element portion
Embodiments of the present invention allow for a precise altitude to be calculated from read-out signals of a head slider. In one embodiment, a hard disk controller/multiprocessing unit (HDC/MPU) determines a head element portion in which the instability has occurred in accordance with the resolution change. The HDC/MPU adjusts the clearance accordingly. The head element portion reads signals of different frequencies under a condition of the signal strengths coinciding with a reference value, and the HDC/MPU calculates the resolution. The HDC/MPU determines that the instability has occurred if the difference is outside the criterion. The HDC/MPU uses the read-out signal of a head slider in which the instability has not occurred to calculate the altitude. |
| US07852580B2 |
Actuation device having shape memory alloy component
An actuation device having a shape memory alloy component containing: a base having a bottom portion, at least one first magnetic component disposed under the bottom portion of base, a carrier having a top portion, at least one second magnetic component which is disposed on the top portion of carrier and which corresponds in location to the first magnetic component, and a shape memory alloy component which is disposed between the base and the carrier. Shape memory alloy component has at least one deformable supporting component, which is disposed at a position corresponding to both positions of the first magnetic component and of the second magnetic component, for supporting the carrier. The supporting component is in a horizontal form between the base and the carrier since there is a magnetic force between the first magnetic component and the second magnetic component. |
| US07852579B2 |
Camera module
A camera module includes a lens unit which constitutes an optical system of the camera module; a holder which houses the lens unit and is displaceable along an optical axis direction of the lens unit, and the coil having a hollow cylindrical portion; a coil having a cylindrical form and provided around the cylindrical portion of the holder; a yoke and magnets provided on the yoke for providing a magnetic field to the coil; upper and lower leaf springs for supporting the holder so that the holder is displaceable along an optical axis direction of the lens unit; and an imaging element provided below the lens unit. The holder has coil holding portions to which the coil is fitted for fixedly providing the coil around the cylindrical portion of the holder without using an adhesive. |
| US07852577B2 |
Method of manufacturing a lens barrel assembly
A method of manufacturing a lens barrel assembly includes forming a lens barrel by deep drawing into a cylindrical shape, forming a lens-retaining portion that retains a lens at one of two open sides of the lens barrel, and forming a component-receiving portion that receives an electric component at the other open side of the lens barrel. The lens-retaining portion has an outer diameter that is smaller than an outer diameter of the component-receiving portion and a wall thickness that is larger than a wall thickness of the component-receiving portion. |
| US07852572B2 |
Compact super wide-angle imaging system
A super wide-angle imaging system has a short total track length. The lens system is a retrofocus type lens system that uses only a few lenses with no cemented lens elements. Acceptable performance is achieved by taking advantage of subsequent digital image processing. The compact lens system is designed to create optical images that can be restored by subsequent digital processing that compensates for otherwise unacceptable aberrations introduced by the lens system. |
| US07852571B2 |
Optical system design method using real number surface number
Generally, it is difficult to previously know an adequate position of a special optical surface such as an aspherical surface, a diffraction optical element, or an eccentric surface in an optical system. If a trial of designing an optical system with all the possible surface numbers is made, the number of combinations is very large, and the designing is often impossible. The invention solves such a problem and provides means for automatically and efficiently finding out the most suitable surface number of a special optical surface. According to the invention, the surface number of a special optical surface different from a spherical surface is expanded to a real number value, the constitution of an optical system including a special optical surface having a real number value surface number is defined, the real number value surface number is used as an independent variable for optimizing the optical system, and the best surface number of the special optical surface is determined. If the real number value surface number lies in the range from an integer n to an integer n+1, one method for defining the constitution of an optical system including the special optical surface is inserting one or more virtual optical surfaces between an optical surface n and an optical surface n+1 and setting the virtual optical surfaces as special optical surfaces determined by the characteristic values and the real number value surface numbers of the special optical surfaces and different from a spherical surface. |
| US07852568B2 |
Lens position control apparatus, imaging apparatus, and control method
It is provided an imaging apparatus including a plurality of motors configured to be driven to move lenses in synchronous with a drive pulse, a position detection unit configured to detect one of positions of the lenses moved by the driving of the plurality of motors, an operation unit configured to perform an output corresponding to an operation in response to the operation by a user, and a controller configured to receive the output from the position detection unit and control the plurality of motors. The controller supplies the number of drive pulses calculated based on a target position for moving the lens calculated based on the output from the operation unit and a lens position detected by the position detection unit. |
| US07852564B2 |
Devices and/or systems for illuminating a component
Certain exemplary embodiments can comprise a system, which can comprise a beamsplitter. The beamsplitter can comprise at least three distinct light reflection zones. Each zone of the three distinct light reflection zones can be adapted to cause light from one or more light sources to be reflected at a different angle relative to an axis of a camera. |
| US07852563B2 |
Lenticular lens medium
A lenticular lens medium forms a lenticular lens which comprises a plurality of semicylindrical-shaped or arc-shaped elongated convex parts. The lenticular lens medium has a volume resistivity of 1×107-1×1014Ω·cm and a surface resistivity of 1×108-1×1015Ω/□. The lenticular lens medium including the convex parts has a thickness of 0.3-3 mm. |
| US07852561B2 |
Optical compensation layer-attached polarizing plate, liquid crystal panel, liquid crystal display, image display, and method for producing optical compensation layer-attached polarizing plate
An optical compensation layer-attached polarizing plate including a polarizing plate, an optical compensation layer and another optical compensation layer that are laminated in this order, wherein the optical compensation layer has the relation nx1>ny1=nz1, including a resin with a photoelastic coefficient absolute value of at most 2.0×10−11 m2/N, and has an in-plane retardation (nx1−ny1)d1 in the range of 200 nm to 300 nm, the optical compensation layer has the relation nx2>ny2>nz2, including a resin with a photoelastic coefficient absolute value of at most 2.0×10−11 m2/N, and has an in-plane retardation (nx2−ny2)d2 in the range of 90 nm to 160 nm, a slow axis of the optical compensation layer makes an angle of 10° to 30° with an absorption axis of the polarizing plate, and a slow axis of the optical compensation layer makes an angle of 75° to 95° with the absorption axis of the polarizing plate. |
| US07852556B2 |
Total internal reflection fresnel lens systems, assemblies, and methods
Off-axis total internal reflection Fresnel lenses and projection screens are disclosed that, when combined, enable construction of projection assemblies for rear-projection-type screen devices (e.g., projection television systems) that are thinner, provide easier handling and maintenance, and have improved contrast, focusing, and resolution when compared with conventional projection screen devices. The off-axis Fresnel lens comprises a plurality of concentric, outwardly-extending, total internal reflection-type prism facets, the top side of which may be aspherical. Embodiments of the invention also include projection screens having at least one diffuser and one lenticular lens. In addition, one or more opaque layers may be used to improve contrast. The various components, e.g., the fresnel lens, the diffuser, the lenticular lens(es), the opaque layer(s), etc. are all combined, or connected, in such a way as to eliminate substantially all air gaps within the connections. |
| US07852551B2 |
Optical-scanning microscope examination apparatus
A clear image having suppressed blurring due to pulsing is obtained by in-vivo examination of biological tissue or various internal organs of mammals, including small laboratory animals. The invention provides an optical-scanning microscope examination apparatus including a light source; a light-transmitting member for transmitting light from the light source; a collimator optical system for converting the transmitted light to a collimated beam; a beam-scanning unit for scanning the collimated beam on a subject; a focusing optical system for focusing the scanned beam onto the subject; a pupil-projection optical system; a light detector for detecting return light returning from the subject via the focusing optical system, the pupil-projection optical system, the beam-scanning unit, the collimator optical system, and the light-transmitting member; an actuator for moving the collimator optical system in an optical-axis direction; a control apparatus for controlling driving thereof; and a deflecting mechanism for deflecting the light issuing from the light-transmitting member in a direction intersecting the optical axis thereof, wherein the actuator is disposed in a space parallel to a plane including optical axes before and after deflection by the deflecting mechanism. |
| US07852549B2 |
Method and apparatus for pulsed harmonic ultraviolet lasers
An apparatus for producing coherent, pulsed ultraviolet light with pulse durations that range between 1 ps and 1 μs includes one or more source lasers in the visible or near-infrared frequency range. The apparatus also includes one or more FC stages, at least one of the one or more FC stages including a nonlinear FC device and one or more optical elements. The optical elements include a reflector, a focusing element, a polarization-controlling optic, a wavelength separator, or a fiber optic component. The FC device includes a huntite-type aluminum double borate nonlinear optical material configured to produce FC light having a wavelength between 190 and 350 nm and a composition given by RAl3B4O12, where R comprises one or a plurality of elements {Sc, La, Y, Lu}. The nonlinear optical material is characterized by an optical transmission greater than 70% over the wavelength range of 190 to 350 nm. |
| US07852548B2 |
Electrophoretic display apparatus
A electrophoretic display includes a first electrode comprising a plurality of nanoparticles, a second electrode opposite to the first electrode and forming an electric field with the first electrode, and an emulsion interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The emulsion comprises a non-polar solvent forming a continuous phase of the emulsion, and a polar solvent dispersed in the non-polar solvent of the emulsion and forming droplets controlled by the electric field. |
| US07852546B2 |
Spacers for maintaining display apparatus alignment
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming a display apparatus. According to one aspect of the invention, the display apparatus includes a first substrate having an aperture layer formed thereon, a light guide for guiding light towards the aperture layer, a plurality of MEMS light modulators for modulating light passing through the aperture layer from the light guide, and a spacer substantially surrounding the light guide for keeping the light guide and the first substrate a predetermined distance apart from one another, thereby forming a gap between the first substrate and the light guide. Alternatively or in addition, the first substrate may have a control matrix formed thereon. |
| US07852545B2 |
Method and device for modulating light
Improvements in an interferometric modulator that has a cavity defined by two walls. |
| US07852542B2 |
Current mode display driver circuit realization feature
The invention comprises devices and methods for driving a MEMS pixel, for example an interferometric modulator pixel. In one embodiment a device for modulating light includes a light modulator including a movable optical element positionable in two or more positions, the modulator operating interferometrically to exhibit a different predetermined optical response in each of the two or more positions, and control circuitry to provide a potential difference across the modulator, where the control circuitry is configured to incrementally increase the potential difference provided by a predetermined amount over a period of time, and where the optical element of the light modulator is moveable at least partially in response to the provided potential difference. |
| US07852539B2 |
Actuator, optical scanner and image forming apparatus
An actuator includes: a first vibrating system having a frame-like driving member and a pair of first axis members holding the driving member from both sides so that the driving member is rotatable about an X axis; a second vibrating system having a movable plate provided inside the driving member and a pair of second axis members holding the movable plate on the driving members from both sides so that the movable plate is rotatable about a Y axis orthogonal to the X axis; a driving unit including a permanent magnet provided on the driving member, a coil provided to oppose the permanent magnet and a voltage applying unit applying voltage to the coil; and a spacer sandwiched between the driving member and the permanent magnet so as to form space preventing intervention by the movable plate. |
| US07852535B2 |
Apparatus and method for converting color data using color gamut extension
An apparatus and method for converting color data are provided. The method includes generating a CMYK color gamut extended from a CMY color gamut that consists of a cyan (C) colorant, a magenta (M) colorant, and a yellow (Y) colorant, by use of the CMY color gamut and a black (K) colorant; mapping input colors using the generated CMYK color gamut; converting color data of the mapped input colors to CMY data; and converting the CMY data to CMYK data. Accordingly, natural representation and printing of low-lightness colors and high-saturation colors can be attained. |
| US07852534B2 |
Apparatus and method for creating preview image of object
Apparatus and method for creating a preview image of an object. The apparatus includes an object type detecting unit for detecting an object to be previewed for determining whether the type of the object is text, graphics, and image, a color matching unit for converting a color signal of the detected object into an image forming color signal by using a color profile corresponding to the detected object according to the detection result of the object type detecting unit, and a preview image creating unit for creating and displaying a preview image for the object converted into the image forming color signal. Therefore, because the preview image is displayed on a monitor according to the type of object (text, graphics, or image), a user can predict the image forming result more accurately. Further, because the colors of objects can be adjusted, a printout with desired color characteristics can be obtained. |
| US07852533B2 |
Method and apparatus for adjusting color of image
A method and apparatus for adjusting a color of an image, the apparatus includes a unit setting at least one adjustment region shaped as an ellipse in a color space; and a unit converting colors of pixels included in the adjustment region to other colors based on a variable set. |