Document Document Title
US07874188B2 Anti-theft latch shield
An anti-theft shield that protects the latching apparatus on the large rear doors of cargo trucks and truck trailers is provided, the shield including an elongated sheath-like member for sliding over and enclosing the cargo door latch handle, and a connected panel member for extending over and protecting the cargo door latch mechanism and the associated padlock for locking the latch handle to the latch mechanism. At a first end of the sheath-like member on the rear side thereof is a planar guide member for insertion behind the latch handle and pivot pin locking hook. The shield is secured in position over the latch mechanism by means of the guide member in combination with a shield locking bracket having an opening for accepting the padlock bight during the locking procedure.
US07874186B2 Abnormal vibration sensing apparatus and washing machine having the same
A washing machine has an abnormal vibration sensing apparatus. The abnormal vibration sensing apparatus includes a limiter having at least one opened side and connected to one of a vibrating body and a fixing body, a sensing rod having one end that is received in the limiter and separated from an inner wall of the limiter, and the other end that is connected to another of the vibrating body and the fixing body, and a contact sensing unit sensing whether the limiter and the sensing rod are in contact with each other so as to sense abnormal vibration of the vibrating body. According to this construction, it is possible to easily detect abnormal vibration in a plurality of directions without increasing the number of installing abnormal vibration sensing apparatuses.
US07874184B2 Thermal protection sleeve with knit thermal protection features and method of construction thereof
A knit protective sleeve and method of construction thereof provides a continuous and seamless sleeve wall knit from one or more yarns extending between opposite open ends of the sleeve. At least one heat vent opening is integrally knit within the wall between the ends.
US07874181B1 Knitting needle with ergonomic configuration
A knitting needle with one or more elevation changes that provide ergonomic benefit on the portions of its shaft typically held by knitters during stitch/loop creation, to allow knitting with enhanced comfort, faster knitting, and/or knitting for longer periods of time with less risk of hands becoming prematurely tired, numb, or aching from the repetitive motion inherent in knitting activity. The needle may also have different cross-sectional configurations that provide additional ergonomic benefit, in place of the traditional circular shape still most commonly used. The elevation changes are not positioned on the pointed tip of the needle, or within approximately one-and-one-half to two inches thereof, and are not so configured or pronounced as to interfere with the easy movement of stitches along the needle's shaft. A tube or post may further be added to the end cap on the non-pointed end of a single-point needle for convenient point protector mounting.
US07874180B2 Chemical powder deposition method for the manufacture of optical fiber preforms and optical fibers
The specification describes the production of optical fibers and optical fiber preforms using Chemical Powder Deposition (CPD). In this process a slurry of silica powders and dopant powders in a liquid carrier is prepared and the inside surface of a silica glass starter tube is coated with the slurry, then dried. The coating is then consolidated and the tube collapsed as in the conventional MCVD process. Multiple coatings, and coatings with varying compositions, can be used to produce any desired profile. In an alternative embodiment, doped silica glass of the desired final composition is prepared, and then pulverized to form the powder for the slurry. In both embodiments, the use of powders of known composition in the slurry allows direct control over the final glass composition, as compared with conventional processes in which the composition in the final glass is indirectly controlled by control of the thermodynamics of a vapor phase reaction.
US07874177B2 Pouch for carrying temperature-sensitive products
A pouch for carrying temperature-sensitive products having at least three sides and a bottom that are fixedly attached. The sides and bottom of the pouch form an internal container which may be sized and configured to hold a variety of sizes and shapes of temperature-sensitive products. The pouch may also comprise a releasably-attached top. A thermo-regulable agent is contained within at least one of the sides.
US07874176B2 Drawer refrigerator with divider and divider for refrigerator drawer
A drawer refrigerator has a partitioned cabinet with one or more pull-out drawers. The pull-out drawer(s) can have an adjustable divider fence for dividing the storage space of the drawer. The divider fence can have two dividers each defined by two spaced apart elongated rods that are coupled together at a hub and have end pieces with flat surfaces that abut inside surfaces of the drawer walls. A hand operated screw knob mounted to the hub can be used to lock the position of the divider fence.
US07874173B2 Thermal capacitor
A thermal capacitor cools servers when an active cooling system fails. The thermal capacitor includes cold insulation passages, fans, temperature sensors, and a control unit. The cold insulation passages each have a plurality of air flow channels obtained by dividing the air flow path into a plurality of air flow paths with different air flow path cross-sectional areas. The fan is mounted in each air flow path and the fan controls the air flow of each air flow channel. A temperature sensor is mounted in each outlet of the cold insulation passages. When a detected temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature, the control unit controls air flow so that the ratio of air flow by air flow passage with larger air flow path diameter to overall air flow of all air flow channel increases.
US07874171B2 Air conditioner for communication equipment and controlling method thereof
An air conditioner for communication equipment according to the present invention comprises an indoor module located inside a base station, and having a storage tank in which cooling water is stored, a pair of circulation pumps which are installed in parallel on a cooling water pipe extending from an outlet of the storage tank, an indoor heat exchanger which is installed on the cooling water pipe extending from outlets of the circulation pumps, and an indoor blower which is positioned adjacent to the indoor heat exchanger; and an outdoor module located outside the base station, and having an outdoor heat exchanger which is installed on the cooling water pipe extending from an outlet of the indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor blower which is positioned adjacent to the outdoor heat exchanger, and a pair of cooling units which are installed in series on the cooling water pipe extending from an outlet of the outdoor heat exchanger.
US07874170B2 Intelligent lighting supply
A method and a control unit (4) for controlling a supply of power to an electrical circuit comprising a switch (3). An output voltage of a first power source (5), which is connected to the circuit, is measured and compared to a predefined threshold voltage. If the measured voltage is smaller than the threshold value it is determined that the switch (3) is in a closed state, and if the voltage is larger than the threshold value it is determined that the switch (3) is in an open state. The supply of power is controlled in accordance with the open/closed state of the switch (3). Preferably, the electrical circuit is connected to a second power source (9) when the switch (3) is in a closed state. Power is conserved while it is ensured that sufficient power is available when needed. The invention is very suitable for supplying power to a lamp (1) positioned inside a refrigeration compartment (2), especially when the system is battery powered.
US07874162B2 Supercritical steam combined cycle and method
A supercritical steam combined cycle system including a gas turbine; a supercritical steam turbine system including a supercritical section, a high pressure section, an intermediate pressure section and at least one low pressure section; and a supercritical steam heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for receiving exhaust gas from the gas turbine for heating fluid from the steam turbine system. The HRSG includes a supercritical evaporator arranged to supply steam to a superheater between the supercritical evaporator and the inlet of the HRSG and a reheater receiving cold reheat steam from and returning reheated steam to the steam turbine system. The reheater includes a first section disposed downstream of and a second section disposed upstream of the supercritical evaporator along the exhaust gas flow path. Cool reheat steam from the steam turbine system is received by the first reheater section and steam leaving the first reheater section is supplied to the second reheater section upstream of the supercritical evaporator.
US07874161B2 Compressor inlet guide vane flow based anti-ice formation control system and method
A system and method are provided for effectively removing ice that may have formed on gas turbine engine compressor inlet guide vanes and/or preventing, or at least inhibiting, reformation of ice on gas turbine engine compressor inlet guide vanes after the ice has been removed. A determination is made as to whether flow through the compressor is below a predetermined flow value. If the flow through the compressor is below the predetermined flow value, then the inlet guide vanes are repeatedly moved between at least two predetermined positions to remove ice and/or prevent, or at least inhibit, reformation of ice on the inlet guide vanes.
US07874159B2 Gas turbine combustion chamber wall with dampening effect on combustion chamber vibrations
A gas turbine combustion chamber wall has an outer wall skin and an inner wall skin, with the outer wall skin (9) and the inner wall skin (10) being arranged essentially parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other by a gap (14). The outer wall skin (9) is provided with inlet openings (8) for the supply of cooling air. The inner wall skin (10) is provided with dampening openings (17), whose center axes are perpendicular to the inner wall skin (10), and with cooling openings (18), whose center axes are inclined at a certain angle to the inner wall skin (10).
US07874154B2 Cooling system of an internal combustion engine having charge air feed
A method and a system for cooling an internal combustion engine having charge air feed, which has a first and a second cooling loop, of which the first cooling loop is operated at a higher temperature level than the second cooling loop, and in which the charge air feed has at least one intercooling unit which is thermally coupled to the second cooling loop, having a controllable coolant throughput. The system includes at least one shutdown element in the second cooling loop for throttling the coolant throughput in the second cooling loop to 0 (zero). Coolant throughput may be shut down during the operation of the internal combustion engine as a function of an operating parameter of a vehicle component.
US07874152B2 Hydraulic system with compensation for kinematic position changes of machine members
A machine, such as a backhoe, has a series of components connected in series and moved by separate hydraulic actuators. A position estimator determines the present position of each component from the load acting on the associated hydraulic actuator and a velocity command for the component. For each component, a function parameter estimator uses the present positions of the components to derive a set of parameters that include a static structure load that the components exert on the associated hydraulic actuator, acceleration and deceleration limits for both directions of component motion, and a control bandwidth for the associated hydraulic actuator. The set of parameters for a given component is used to control the associated hydraulic actuator.
US07874150B2 Exhaust system
An exhaust system has an exhaust tailpipe cover provided in an outlet region and, on the inside, contains inner exhaust pipes which are disposed spaced apart from the exhaust tailpipe cover by a passage. The passage in the exhaust tailpipe cover results in the exhaust tailpipe cover being exposed to as little thermal loading as possible and avoids transmitting heat to a surrounding vehicle rear part, in particular made of plastic.
US07874149B2 Exhaust apparatus for vehicle, and motorcycle having the same
There is provided an exhaust apparatus for a vehicle. The exhaust apparatus includes a plurality of exhaust path forming members constituting an exhaust path from an exhaust port of an engine to an inlet of an exhaust muffler and connected to each other. End portions of the exhaust path forming members, made of different materials, are included in the plurality of exhaust path forming members and are connected to each other by a flange joint.
US07874148B2 Regeneration system and method for particulate traps
An internal combustion engine system has an internal combustion engine with an intake for air and an exhaust for products of combustion. The engine has a turbocharger for pressurizing intake air in response to passage of the products of combustion. An exhaust aftertreatment device receives the exhaust from the engine to filter diesel particulates. A device for regenerating the exhaust aftertreatment device has a feed line and nozzle for injecting duel upstream of the exhaust aftertreatment device on a periodic basis. A system and method for purging the fuel line and the nozzle utilizes pressurized air from the engine turbocharger via an air tank when the regenerating device is not injecting fuel.
US07874147B2 Method and apparatus for a non-catalytic NOx reduction
A method of reducing NOx in exhaust gases generated by an internal combustion engine includes advancing the exhaust gases along an exhaust path to a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst positioned downstream from the internal combustion engine. The method further includes activating a heat source if the exhaust gases are below a predetermined temperature, such that the exhaust gases along a segment of the exhaust path are heated to a temperature of 700-1000° C. The method further includes injecting a reductant into the segment of the exhaust path upstream of the SCR catalyst to react in the segment with NOx in the exhaust gases. The method further includes deactivating the heat source if the temperature of the exhaust gases at the catalyst rises above the first predetermined temperature. An emission abatement assembly is also disclosed.
US07874146B2 Exhaust gas purifying system for internal combustion engine and exhaust gas purifying method
An exhaust gas purifying device that is provided in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine and purifies exhaust gas, and a reducing agent injection valve that injects fuel to a position upstream of the exhaust gas purifying device in the exhaust passage are provided. A timing for injecting fuel from the reducing agent injection valve is adjusted to match a timing when exhaust gas discharged on an exhaust stroke of each of cylinders of the internal combustion engine reaches the position to which fuel is injected from the reducing agent injection valve. A single injection amount is changed in accordance with a condition of combustion exhaust gas that is discharged on one exhaust stroke of each of the cylinders and reaches the point to inject fuel.
US07874145B2 Emmision control device for internal combustion engine
Control is performed such that when an HC adsorption catalytic converter having an oxygen storage capacity is in a specified temperature range, fuel supply quantity is increased with a first increase ratio relative to basic fuel quantity based on the operating state of an internal combustion engine, in a first specified period after the end of fuel cut, and increased with a second increase ratio smaller than the first increase ratio, in a second specified period succeeding the first specified period.
US07874141B2 Auxiliary fluid source for an EGR purge system
The exhaust within an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system should be purged to allow for access to the components of the EGR system. A system and method for purging the EGR system is provided. The system and method may incorporate a purge gas supply that may include: at least one pressurized cylinder, a storage tank, a compressor, or a benign fluid source. The system and method may drive the exhaust out of the EGR system.
US07874139B2 IGCC design and operation for maximum plant output and minimum heat rate
A system and method for operating an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) gas turbine system that utilizes the fuel stream as a means of controlling the operation of the IGCC to achieve a target output and efficiency. The methods and systems enable the IGCC to be operated at reduced output, but without a corresponding drop in efficiency as compared to prior art gas turbine systems. Conversely, the IGCC may be operated at higher outputs. The methods and systems achieve the target output and efficiency by adjusting the chemical potential energy, sensible energy, or both of a fuel stream entering the combustion turbine. The chemical potential energy and sensible energy may be manually or automatically controlled.
US07874136B2 Rotor containment element with frangible connections
A containment system for containing fragments of a burst rotor including first and second means for frangibly connecting a containment element to first and second walls, the first and second means rupturing upon being subjected to a load mainly produced by a translational motion of at least one fragment impacting the element.
US07874135B2 Harvester adapter with stalk shredder for harvesting grain crops, particularly sunflower
The harvester adapter has a frame structure, for attachment to a combine harvester. At least two crop gathering units are secured to the frame structure. Adjacent crop gathering units are arranged such that a channel with an open leading end is formed between them, with a stalk gathering unit being disposed in driving connection with a harvesting mechanism on at least one side of the channels. The adapter has a collecting auger disposed rearward from the harvesting mechanism and at least one stalk shredder unit attached to the frame structure. The speed of the stalk gathering unit is continuously adjustable by control orders given by the combine harvester and/or by a speed meter disposed on the adapter and/or by the operator, and the stalk shredder units are attached to the frame structure such that their position is adjustable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel.
US07874134B1 Converting a corn head row unit for harvesting corn stalks in addition to ears
Each row unit of a corn head can easily be converted between a first mode, wherein only ears are harvested, and a second mode, wherein ears together with stalks are harvested. In the first mode, a pair of snapping rolls is mounted for operation beneath each row unit frame for grasping corn stalks and pulling them downwardly through a narrow throat defined by a pair of laterally adjustable deck plates mounted to a top surface of the row unit frame. In the second mode, the snapping rolls are either removed or disabled and at least one stalk cutting disk is mounted on one of a pair of gathering chain drive idler shafts, mounted at the forward end of the row unit frame, for rotating above the frame. The snapping rolls are disabled by adjusting the deck plates toward each other to close the throat.
US07874132B2 Header height control system with multiple potentiometer input
A harvesting machine includes a harvesting header with flexible cutterbar assembly sections, multiple arms supporting respective cutterbar assembly sections, and a header height sensing system including sensors and a pair of electrical comparator circuits. At least two sensors are provided for each cutterbar assembly section, with each sensor coupled to one of the support arms. The electrical comparator circuits each include sensor inputs in electrical communication with the sensors coupled to the respective cutterbar assembly section to receive arm position signals associated with each cutterbar assembly section.
US07874118B2 Panel with protected v-joint
A laminated panel adapted to form a covering for a wall, floor or ceiling has an outer surface and sides which are connected to an adjacent panel. The panel has a recess in the outer surface at the transition to a side, and a moisture-repellent layer on the wall of the recess. When two panels are connected the moisture-repellent layers come together at the recesses, to form a joint which is protected from moisture.
US07874115B2 Modular floor
A modular floor including a pair of main beams, at least one cross beam and a floor panel. The pair of main beams each has an attachment structure. The attachment structure includes a first support section, a second support section and a channel that extends between the first and second support sections. The first and second support sections have a convex upper surface. The at least one cross beam engages the main beams to retain the main beams in a stationary position with respect to each other. The floor panel has ends that each have a recess that is shaped complementary to the upper surfaces of the first and second sections.
US07874111B2 Floor system
A floor system for use in a conservatory or other annexes includes a panelled floor and a frame construction. The frame construction at least partly surrounds the panelled floor. The floor system is anchored in the ground by at least one ground anchor. The use of ground anchors makes a prior excavation substantially completely unnecessary. The floor system is a dry construction system, in which no construction material containing water are used during construction of the floor system.
US07874108B2 Window frame with installation flange
A window frame comprising top, bottom, and opposed side frame elements connected together to define a rectangular frame, each element having front and back faces and inner and outer edges whereby the outer edges define the frame perimeter. An inner channel extends along the outer edges of at least the side elements, closer to the back face than to the front face. The frame optionally has another channel extending along the outer edges of at least the side elements, closer to the front face than to the back face. Mounting strips are located in the inner channels, having outer edges outside the perimeter of the frame, forming a flange for mounting the frame to a wall surrounding the window to be framed.
US07874104B2 Structure of window opening of car door
According to the invention, a car door has a window opening defined by an upward part extending from a rear upper end of a door panel and a sash assembly; a stationary panel fitted in a rear window opening defined by the sash assembly and a center sash; a curved edge of the upward part defines a bottom of the window opening; and a weather strip including a part engaging a periphery of the stationary panel, attached to the periphery of the window opening, serving as a seal, and having an inner lip extending from an inner edge of the part engaging the periphery of the stationary panel and an outer lip extending toward and being in contact with an external part of the curved edge of the outer panel.
US07874103B2 Gate assembly
A gate assembly is provided for positioning in an opening through which selective entry is required. The gate assembly includes barrier means mountable directly or indirectly to one or more surrounding surfaces defining the opening. Hinge means are provided to allow the barrier means to be movable relative to the surrounding surfaces in use between a closed position, wherein the opening is closed, to an open position, wherein the opening is open. The hinge means include a hinge pin movably mounted in a channel or recess. The channel or recess receiving the hinge pin in use has a taper which narrows from an opening of said channel or recess through which said hinge pin is located in use towards a base or opposite end of said recess or channel.
US07874102B2 Decorative surround for plants
A decorative surround for potted plants is described. The surround may be a shell having a generally convex outer surface and an aperture in the shell suitable for either receiving or supporting a plant pot. The surround may be supported with respect to the ground or other reference surface by the periphery of the shell or by the bottom of a structure within the aperture, and the surround held against the ground by the weight of the potted plant. Alternatively, the surround may be affixed to the ground with pins or stakes. Another decorative surround is sized so that the aperture is smaller than a maximum diameter of the plant pot, and a strap is provided to hold the plant pot against an inner surface of the shell. The visible surface of the surround may be formed, textured or colored so as to have a visual appearance simulating natural rock.
US07874101B2 Soil stabilizer carrier
A method for applying a water soluble soil stabilizer to soil wherein the soil stabilizer is added to a solid carrier.
US07874097B2 Lobster trap with ring guard assembly
A lobster trap that promotes entry of lobsters into the trap while restricting lobsters from exiting the trap. Accordingly, a lobster trap comprises at least one head including an opening for entry into an interior of the trap, and a shield member mounted to the trap adjacent the opening. The shield member extends into the interior of the trap away from a plane of the opening and shields the opening from egress from the interior of the trap from at least one direction while not restricting entry to the interior of the trap. The lobster trap can further include a guard member extending from the shield so as to further restrict exit from the trap via the head.
US07874091B2 Underwater gun comprising a plate-type barrel seal
An apparatus for sealing the barrel of an underwater gun between firings is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a magnetically-attractable water-impermeable disk. Via operation of a drive system, the disk is movable between a sealing position, wherein it prevents water from entering the barrel by moving into alignment with the first bore, and a firing position, wherein the first water-impermeable disk moves out of alignment with the first bore.
US07874087B2 Removable initial patch
The present invention relates to the field of luggage identification tags, and in particular, to a removable identification patch in which indicia can be incorporated onto the patch prior to installation of the patch onto the piece of luggage. A fastening plate is positioned on the interior surface of the luggage and is securely coupled to the identification patch, which is positioned on the exterior surface of the luggage. In one embodiment, the identification patch is attached directly to the fastening plate through fasteners that extend through the luggage wall. In another embodiment, the fastening plate includes projecting tabs which extend through the luggage wall to matingly engage a housing member positioned on the exterior surface of the luggage. The housing member includes a cavity for receiving the identification patch. The identification patch can be removed from the luggage and replaced with an alternative or second identification patch.
US07874081B2 Flow control in a washing and centrifugal drying system
A method of filling a drying system 24 with product comprises providing a washing unit 22, and a drier or driers 26a, 26b arranged such that one at a time the driers 26a, 26b receive product 48 discharged from the output of the washing unit 22. The washing unit 22 is configured to receive product 48 which is continuously weighed 104 as it is delivered to the washing unit. The product is washed in the washing unit 22 by being passed through the washing unit at a substantially constant speed, allowing the arrival time at the drier 26a, 26b to be predicted. The weight of product loaded into the drier is regulated by controlling the flow of product into the drier.
US07874077B2 Device for determining the inclination of a tool, such as an electric drill
The device (12) comprises a laser (14) which is attached to the tool (2). During operation a laser beam (16) is emitted onto an optical lens (20) which is of cylindrical shape. The lens (20) is suspended to swivel freely, e. g. by means of a swivel arm (24) which is operatively connected to the tool (2). Thus, the main axis (28) of the lens (20) is kept vertically by the gravity force when the tool (2) is moved or tilted. The shape of the laser marker (I1 II, III) generated on a workpiece (8) is an indication for the user of the tool (2) concerning an inclination (x, y) of the tool (2).
US07874075B2 Portable cutting machine
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable cutting machine including: a housing; a motor; a cutting blade driven by the motor; a saw cover that covers the cutting blade; a base that rotatably supports the saw cover and to be brought into contact with the to-be-processed members; and a changing mechanism capable of changing the protrusion amount of the cutting blade toward the side opposite to the saw cover, wherein the changing mechanism has an adjustment guide extending from the base in the rotation direction of the saw cover and a movement restricting part for restricting the movement of the adjustment guide, and wherein the portion of the adjustment guide on the side farther from the base with respect to the movement restricting part is arranged outside of the saw cover.
US07874071B2 Method of making an ice dispense agitator
A method of making an ice dispense agitator of a type as may be used in ice and beverage dispensing machines is characterized by manufacturing the agitator as an integral unit by cutting the agitator from flat metal stock and then bending the agitator into a desired final shape.
US07874068B2 Production method for electronic chip component
A production method for an electronic chip component includes the steps of forming a first paste layer by applying paste onto a first end surface of an electronic component body with a second end surface being stuck onto a substrate having an adhesive surface and drying the paste, turning the electronic component body 180 degrees so as to stick the first end surface of the electronic component body onto the substrate by sliding a slider relative to the substrate in a state in which the slider is in contact with the first end surface of the electronic component body, forming a second paste layer by applying the paste onto the second end surface of the electronic component body and drying the paste, and firing the first and second paste layers.
US07874066B2 Method of manufacturing a device-incorporated substrate
A device-incorporated substrate and a method of manufacturing a device-incorporated substrate, as well as a printed circuit board and a method of manufacturing a printed circuit board in which a fine-pitch conductor pattern can be formed on an insulating layer with high precision while securing the dimensional stability of the conductor pattern, are provided. A transfer sheet (61) has a structure that includes two layers, a metal base material (62) and a dissolvee metal layer (64), and a conductor pattern (55) is formed on the dissolvee metal layer (64) through electroplating. Then, after the transfer sheet (61) on which the conductor pattern (55) is formed is adhered onto an insulating base material (51), the transfer sheet (61) is removed through a step of separating the metal base material (62) from the dissolvee metal layer (64), and a step of selectively dissolving and removing the dissolvee metal layer (64) with respect to the conductor pattern (55).
US07874060B2 Method of making optics element
An optics element, such as an optical, IR, or X-ray mirror or mirror segment, is made by a combination of replication and lamination by depositing a first metallic layer on a replicating surface of a master or mandrel, depositing a light weight backing layer that adheres on the first metallic layer, and depositing a cover layer that adheres on the backing layer whereby the optics element comprises an in-situ deposited composite lamination of the first metallic layer, the backing layer, and the cover layer.
US07874059B2 Attachment for ceramic matrix composite component
A bushing (30, 31) in a hole (26) through a ceramic matrix composite structure (20) with a flange (34, 38) on each end of the bushing (30, 31) extending beyond and around the hole and pressing against opposed surfaces (22,24) of the CMC structure (20) with a preload that resists buckling of the composite structure fibers and resists internal CMC fiber separation. A connecting element (40), such as a bolt or pin, passes through the bushing (30, 31) for engagement with a supporting element (50). The bushing (31) may be formed in place as a single piece of ceramic, and cured along with the CMC structure (20), or it may be formed as two ceramic or metal parts (32, 36) that are joined together and preloaded by threads (33). The connecting element (40) may be a pin, or it may be a bolt with a shaft threaded into one part (32) of the bushing and a head (42) that pushes the second flange (38) toward the first flange (34).
US07874054B2 Method for producing tubular component provided with mutually oriented threaded elements
A method for producing a tubular component, in which, after machining successively respective threaded elements at both ends of the tubular component, a second orientation gauge is screwed onto the second threaded element to check whether a mark on the gauge comes into alignment with an orientation mark that has been drawn on the component, after the first element has been machined and a first orientation gauge has been screwed onto the first element in axial alignment with a mark provided on this gauge. If not, the machining of the second element is repeated with parameters varied accordingly. Such a method may find particular application to the drilling and operation of hydrocarbon wells.
US07874052B2 Longitudinal seam-structure assembly of aircraft fuselage
When assembling longitudinal seams, the shells in the region of overlap are moved together over lining-up drill holes, the shells are fastened and subsequently the pilot holes are transferred. Thereafter, these pilot holes are deburred, which involves temporary moving apart of the shells. According to one embodiment of the present invention a rib clamping device is stated that can be used for the longitudinal seam-structure assembly of an aircraft fuselage and that comprises attachment means and fastening means for non-positive and frictionally-engaged fastening of the shells. There is thus no longer any need to temporarily move the components apart.
US07874048B2 Clip
When an operation wall of an inner member is inserted into an insertion portion of an outer member and an engagement piece does not receive a cam operation due to a slanted cam portion, contact pieces of the outer member do not correspond to a positioning hole of the inner member and are located in a position so as not to be inserted into the positioning hole. When the outer member is inserted into an attachment hole of an attachment receiving member with maintaining a state where the engagement piece does not receive the cam operation due to the slanted cam portion, the contact pieces are elastically deformed inwardly and located in a position so as to be inserted into the positioning hole.
US07874047B2 Retractable self-contained tie-down
A ratcheting tie-down device is provided that includes a main body portion, a hub rotatable relative to the main body portion about an axis, a webbing windable about the hub, and means for attaching at least one end of the webbing to an object. The device further includes means for biasing winding of webbing, a ratchet wheel having a plurality of ratchet teeth, a lock member resiliently biased into locking engagement with at least one ratchet tooth to inhibit unwinding of the webbing about the hub, and a lever arm rotatable about the axis for moving the ratchet wheel and wind the webbing. In one example, the device a rotational support element is provided to maintain orientation of the hub such that it can freely rotate. In another example, means for braking is provided to inhibit winding of at least some portion of the webbing about the hub.
US07874039B2 Dust collector having dust bag-expanding function
The present invention discloses a dust tank is arranged in the lower side of the machine frame. A dust bag is sleeved by the dust tank. The top side of the dust tank is connected to a filter tank. The filter tank has an air inlet pipe at the bottom side thereof, a filter thereinside, and an air outlet at the top side thereof. The air outlet is connected to a closed chamber arranged at the other side of the machine frame via the air suction pipe. A suction blower is arranged inside the closed chamber. A motor drives the suction blower to operate and suck air to flow through the air suction pipe and go out from through-holes on the top of the closed chamber.
US07874035B2 Apparatus for connecting a precast deck slab with a beam on a bridge and method for connecting the slab with the beam using the same
Provided are a connection apparatus and a connection method capable of rapidly and fixing a pre-cast deck slab with a beam. The connection apparatus includes a main body buried in the pre-cast deck slab and having a hollow part formed in an axial direction thereof! a plurality of support portions integrally formed with an outer surface of the main body, each of which has a body having a certain length and a hook integrally formed with an end of the body; a bolt having a bolt body inserted into the hollow part of the main body and a fixing hole of the beam, and a head integrally formed with an upper end of the bolt body! and a nut threadedly engaged with the bolt body of the bolt.
US07874034B1 Bowring firefighter tool
A multiple use tool providing a variety of different features for use by firefighters as a hose coupling wrenches, pin and lug wrenches, valve wrenches, hose carrying and anchoring hooks, a glass cutting tool, a rope rapelling and belay apparatus and several other common firefighter tools all provided in a single tool, compact and conveniently provided in a single device.
US07874027B2 Bed frame shields
A comprehensive means of providing protection to a bed frame by covering various locations about the bed frame with plastic shields. The plastic shields are adapted to enclose the various locations about the bed frame including the ends of side rails, the junction of side rails and cross members, leg assemblies and the side rails themselves. The shields comprise a pair of housings joined together with a living hinge such that the free ends can be affixed together to surround and enclose the various locations where sharp edges are present. The use of the shields provides overall protection to all of the locations where there may be sharp edges that could harm a person striking the location and thus there is a comprehensive approach to full protection of the bed frame.
US07874026B2 System and method for raising and lowering a bed
A new and useful system and method of raising and lowering a bed is provided. A bed system comprises a bed, and a balanced movement system for raising and lowering the bed and for maintaining the bed in a stopped position when application of force to the bed is stopped. The balanced movement system is (i) configured to enable the bed to be raised or lowered by application of force to the bed in a selected direction, and (ii) configured such that when application of the force ceases the bed will come to a stopped position and be maintained in the stopped position by the balanced movement system. In order to raise or lower the bed, a relatively modest force is applied (preferably manually) to the bed in a selected direction.
US07874021B2 High tactility glove system
This invention is directed to a glove system for operating an electronic device. The glove system may include an inner liner and an outer shell. The liner may be formed from any suitable material, including a material that is thin, electrically conductive, has low thermal conductivity, and/or has an “anti-sticky” finish. The outer shell may include at least one aperture through which the inner liner may extend to operate the input mechanism of an electronic device (e.g., on at least one finger tip). In some embodiments, the aperture may be at a finger tip of the outer shell. In some embodiments, a closing mechanism may be used to maintain the aperture closed when the user is not operating the electronic device. For example, an elastic ring may surround the aperture such that, in its non-deformed state, the aperture is substantially closed. The user may elastically deform the ring to allow the liner to pass through the outer shell.
US07874020B1 Gloves having snap-on cleaning pads
The gloves having snap-on cleaning pads include a front cleaning pad and a rear cleaning pad. Both the front and the rear cleaning pad are capable of contouring the knuckle regions of the hand, and attach to the glove via a plurality of snap buttons and/or nylon hook and loop fasteners. The front and rear cleaning pads are disposable and are made of a scouring material such as metal wool. The gloves themselves are made of a waterproof material such as rubber or latex.
US07874018B2 Clothing with elastically extendable region
Elastically deformable sheet (18) is bonded, under heat and pressure to a knitted fabric (16). Both the sheet and the knitted fabric (16) are elastically extendable. The sheet is then heat and pressure bonded to a pair of trousers (12) with the clothing of the trousers being extendable. The fibers of the knit (16) allow the clothing of the trousers to extend with the greater elasticity of the sheet (18) subsequently returning the fibers (16) and the clothing to the original shape.
US07877814B2 Content transferring apparatus, content transferring method, and computer program
A content transferring apparatus is disclosed which includes: a source ID list reception unit for receiving a source ID list from a content reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing contents furnished with source IDs included in the source ID list; a first extraction unit for extracting from either one or a plurality of transfer-destined contents a content furnished with a source ID included in the source ID list; and a content transmission unit for transmitting the content extracted by the first extraction unit to the content reproducing apparatus.
US07877811B2 Method for retransmission of use authorization information
In order to reduce the multitude of data for transmitting and converting use authorizations, which are received either encoded or non-encoded together with sound and/or picture contents in signals from optional networks, it is proposed to reduce the hierarchically structured use authorization information in the form of a tree structure before transmitting it further, such that non-occupied tree branches are detected and marked as not relevant, wherein the tree branches marked as not relevant are not included during the further transmitting of the use authorization information.
US07877808B2 Using differential information entropy to detect bugs and security flaws in computer programs
Embodiments of the present invention provide program code auditing systems and methods that detect unsafe code and possible errors, such as bugs or security flaws. In some embodiments, the concept of entropy of information is used to estimate when a section of program code may contain a flaw or bug. One or more histories may be used to calculate these entropy values.
US07877799B2 Performance of a service on a computing platform
A method of performing a service for a requestor on a computing platform includes the requestor providing to the computing platform a specification of the service to be performed, which establishes specified levels of trust for at least some of the processes in the service. The computing platform executes the service according to the specification and logs performance of at least some of the processes for which a level of trust was specified. The computing platform then provides the requestor with a log of the performance of the processes performed according to the specified levels of trust. A computing platform for carrying out services includes a physically and logically protected computing environment for providing trustworthy data to appropriate users of the computing platform. The platform further includes one or more compartments arranged to operate in a sufficiently constrained manner such that processes executed in a compartment are performed reliably.
US07877796B2 Method and apparatus for best effort propagation of security group information
A method and system for best effort propagation of security group information is disclosed. The method includes determining if a reserved group identifier is associated with a destination and, if the reserved group identifier is associated with the destination, indicating that a packet received at a network node can be sent to another network node. The packet includes destination information that identifies the destination as a destination of the packet.
US07877794B2 Relay apparatus, relay method and program therefor
A method and system for relaying communications between a communication terminal and a server. The relay apparatus receives from the communication terminal an access request for a service to be performed by the server. The access request identifies the server and the service, designates use of an inter-server encrypted communication system, specifies performing authentication of the relay apparatus, and specifies an authentication server to issue ticket information including an identification (ID) character string that identifies the relay apparatus. The relay apparatus receives the ticket information from the authentication server. The relay apparatus, encrypts the access request and transmits the encrypted access request and the ticket information to the server. The server uses the ticket information to authenticate the relay apparatus. The relay apparatus decrypts the access reply and transmits the decrypted access reply to the communication apparatus.
US07877783B1 System and method for secure communications with a remote software program
In one embodiment of the present invention, a messaging program at a remote computer can send a first message to a portal computer according to a one-way protocol such as HTTP. A portal program at the portal computer can receive the first message and determine if information should be sent to the portal computer. If so, the portal computer can generate a reply message that includes the information and send the reply message to remote computer on the same connection over which the first message was received. In this manner, the portal computer can send configuration control information and other information to the messaging program without requiring leased lines, dial-up connections or a VPN. Moreover, since the communication according to the one-way protocol was initiated at the remote computer, a firewall will allow the remote computer to receive the reply message.
US07877781B2 Enforcing universal access control in an information management system
A method and apparatus for controlling document access and application usage using centrally managed rules. The rules are stored and manipulated in a central rule database via a rule server. Policy enforcers are installed on client systems and/or on servers and perform document access and application usage control for both direct user document accesses and application usage, and application program document accesses by evaluating the rules sent to the policy enforcer. The rule server decides which rules are required by each policy enforcer. A policy enforcer can also perform obligation and remediation operations as a part of rule evaluation. Policy enforcers on client systems and servers can operate autonomously, evaluating policies that have been received, when communications have been discontinued with the rule server.
US07877773B2 Information descriptor and extended information descriptor data structures for digital television signals
According to an aspect, there is provided a digital television (DTV) data stream including program and system information protocol (PSIP) data associated with content of the DTV data stream, the PSIP data including a virtual channel table (VCT) and an event information table (EIT), the EIT comprising: a source identification field identifying a source of an associated event in a DTV data stream; an event identification field indicating an identification of the event; a start time field indicating a star time of the event; a title field indicating a title of the event; and a descriptor comprising: a descriptor tag identifying the descriptor as a genre descriptor; a descriptor length indicating a total length of the descriptor; and at least one category code for an associated event in a DTV data stream, each category code specifying genre, program type, or category information of the associated event, wherein the at least one category code specifies at least one of a set of basic categories.
US07877772B2 Information descriptor and extended information descriptor data structures for digital television signals
According to an aspect, there is provided a digital television (DTV) data stream including program and system information protocol (PSIP) data associated with content of the DTV data stream, the PSIP data including a virtual channel table (VCT) and an event information table (EIT), the EIT comprising: a source identification field identifying a source of an associated event in a DTV data stream; an event identification field indicating an identification of the event; a start time field indicating a star time of the event; a title field indicating a title of the event; and a descriptor comprising: a descriptor tag identifying the descriptor as a genre descriptor; a descriptor length indicating a total length of the descriptor; and at least one category code for an associated event in a DTV data stream, each category code specifying genre, program type, or category information of the associated event, wherein the at least one category code specifies at least one of a set of basic categories.
US07877771B2 Information descriptor and extended information descriptor data structures for digital television signals
According to an aspect, there is provided a digital television (DTV) data stream including program and system information protocol (PSIP) data associated with content of the DTV data stream, the PSIP data including a virtual channel table (VCT) and an event information table (EIT), the EIT comprising: a source identification field identifying a source of an associated event in a DTV data stream; an event identification field indicating an identification of the event; a start time field indicating a star time of the event; a title field indicating a title of the event; and a descriptor comprising: a descriptor tag identifying the descriptor as a genre descriptor; a descriptor length indicating a total length of the descriptor; and at least one category code for an associated event in a DTV data stream, each category code specifying genre, program type, or category information of the associated event, wherein the at least one category code specifies at least one of a set of basic categories.
US07877769B2 Information descriptor and extended information descriptor data structures for digital television signals
Disclosed is a type of meta data structure that provides data and/or or a link to such data that is used by an EPG generator in a DTV receiver to display visually-compelling information about an event. Such information can include: an icon associated with the broadcaster of the event and/or the source of the event; a graphic representing a rating of potentially-objectionable content in the event; a still image representative of or having a relation to the event; a video excerpt of or having a relation to the event; an advertisement related to the event, its broadcaster and/or its source; etc.
US07877766B1 Method and system of providing a non-skippable sub-advertisement stream
A method and system of providing a non-skippable sub-advertisement stream. The general idea of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention is that when a user of an electronic digital recording/play back device causes it to fast forward through or skip over a recorded television advertisement, an overlay screen corresponding to the skipped advertisement is displayed on a portion of a television screen once the user resumes watching the recorded television show in normal play back mode. As such, the user is exposed to content of the skipped advertisement while viewing the recorded television show. In this manner, the user of the electronic digital recording/play back device is unable to easily avoid viewing content corresponding to the skipped advertisement.
US07877764B2 Chucking mechanism, motor having the same, and method of manufacturing the same
A turn table of a motor includes a first cylindrical portion extending in an axial direction, a first discoid portion radially outwardly extending from the first cylindrical portion, and a second discoid portion radially outwardly extending from the second cylindrical portion. A chucking member arranged on the turn table includes a main body having a diameter substantially the same as that of a center opening of a data storage disk to be arranged on the motor. The chucking member also includes a plurality of chucking claws having radially tip ends arranged radially outside of the outer circumferential surface of the main body and a plurality of coil springs applying bias force pressing the chucking claws in the radially outer direction. A radially inner end of each of the coil springs comes in contact with and is supported by at least one of the radially inner wall of the main body and the second cylindrical portion of the turn table.
US07877763B2 Lens drive apparatus
A lens drive apparatus for use in an optical pick-up apparatus, in which a bending mirror reflects an incident light flux from a light source and an objective lens converges the reflected light flux onto an optical disc through an objective lens, the lens drive apparatus includes: a base; a holder which holds the objective lens, being capable of moving with respect to the base; a pair of coils provided to interpose the objective lens held by the holder; and a pair of magnets attached to the base to face the pair of coils, respectively. The holder includes at least one surface which faces the incident light flux from the light source, among surfaces opposing to the pair of magnets, is shifted inwardly with respect to a surface of the holder that is close to the objective lens.
US07877752B2 Method and system for efficient audio scheduling for dual-decode digital signal processor (DSP)
Methods and systems for coordinating the handling of information are disclosed herein and may include scheduling multiple processing tasks for processing multimedia data by a processor. A portion of the scheduled multiple processing tasks may be preprocessed and the preprocessed portion may be buffered within a modifiable buffer that handles overflow and underflow. A portion of the buffered preprocessed portion of the scheduled multiple processing tasks may be executed. The scheduling may utilize a non-preemptive scheduling algorithm, such as an earliest deadline first (EDF) scheduling algorithm and/or a rate monotonic (RM) scheduling algorithm. The scheduled multiple processing tasks may include at least one maximum real deadline. The preprocessed portion of the scheduled multiple processing tasks may be outputted during processing of the blocking task, if a current task of the scheduled multiple processing tasks comprises a blocking task.
US07877751B2 Maintaining level heat emission in multiprocessor by rectifying dispatch table assigned with static tasks scheduling using assigned task parameters
According to an aspect of the present invention, heat emissions of processors are level among the processors, and it is possible to suppress occurrence of stop of process due to overheating. The control IC assigns tasks to the processors, and thereafter rectifies an assignment result such that temperatures of the processors become almost level among the processors, on the basis of the temperatures of the processors obtained by temperature sensors. This structure enables level heat emissions among the processors, and suppresses occurrence of stop of process due to overheating.
US07877750B2 Scheduled job execution management
Scheduled jobs can be managed by monitoring the veracity of the data sets processed by these jobs. A multi-processing environment includes remote processing devices generating the data sets. A central processing device executes scheduled job, also known as batch processes, using the data sets. For each of the scheduled jobs, a scheduled job management device tracks the data set generated by the remote processing devices. Through tracking these data sets, the execution of the scheduled jobs may be managed. If one or more of the data sets are not the proper data for the scheduled job, the management device may thereupon control the execution of the job. Through the utilization of the management device, the execution of improper scheduled jobs may be avoided.
US07877749B2 Utilizing and maintaining data definitions during process thread traversals
A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for traversing a process tree in a digital video editing system. A process tree is loaded into a digital video-editing system. The process tree has parent nodes that are dependent on output data from child nodes. Each parent node and each child node represents a digital video processing task to be performed during a traversal of the process tree. Each parent node declares a data definition and data default values. The data definition defines a structure of the data used by that parent node. For each parent node processed, a determination is made regarding whether the data definition for the output data received from a dependent child node is compatible with the data definition declared for that parent node. If the data definition is incompatible, the parent node utilizes the data default values.
US07877748B2 Method and apparatus for timing information flow in a distributed system
A computer and software method and apparatus for distributed data processing which provides agreement between data sources (sensors) and data sinks (actuators) as to what data has been written into a shared buffer. The invention further provides methods and means for meeting data timeliness requirements. Invention employs a programming primitive which recognizes semantics so as to provide a consistent view of computation modules over prescribed time intervals, called “epochs”. Application-level control of the asynchrony and timing of information flow between various computation modules is realized. The invention has applications which include sensor fusion and network gaming.
US07877746B2 Personalized installation files
A method includes personalizing a software installation file. The personalizing includes providing the file with a unique identifier included as part of a file name associated with the file. Another method includes installing a software application from the personalized installation file, extracting the indication from the file name and using the indication to personalize the software application.
US07877743B2 Program translation method and notifying instruction inserting method
The present invention comprises: a converting step for converting a source program into a machine language program; an inserting step for inserting notifying instructions for notifying that the source program has been executed in the machine language program; and a program generating step for generating the executable program from the machine language program in which the notifying instructions are inserted. Further, in the inserting step, the notifying instructions are placed at the entry points of each basic block that constitutes the machine language program and the notifying instructions to which the same conditions as those of the conditional instruction groups are granted are placed at the entry points of conditional instruction groups provided in the machine language program. In the program generating step, identification information for identifying the notifying instructions is granted to each of the notifying instructions. According to this, the present invention enables analysis of the executed range in the program that includes the conditional instructions as well.
US07877741B2 Method and corresponding apparatus for compiling high-level languages into specific processor architectures
A method and corresponding apparatus for compiling high-level languages into specific processor architectures are provided. In this embodiment, the specific processor is encapsulated in a virtual processor interface with simple instruction set architecture, and a compiler translates application programs into corresponding assembly codes. Further, the difficulty of the compiler design is reduced.
US07877736B2 Computer language interpretation and optimization for server testing
A method, software application and computer system provides computer language interpretations and optimization for web server testing by first recording user actions associated with an instance of a user interaction with a web server. The actions are analyzed to determine a collection of actions which alter communications with the server or have side effects which alter a future communication with the server. A test program is generated from the collection of actions. The test program is used to perform one or more of functional, load, and monitoring testing of a web server.
US07877734B2 Selective profiling of program code executing in a runtime environment
An apparatus, program product and method associate a unique key with routines in an application to enable a profiler to ascertain whether to collect profile information for a routine during its execution. A key may be generated, for example, during deployment or installation of an application in an application server or other runtime environment, and subsequently associated with the routines in the application, e.g., by storing the key in the class and/or library files for the application. By doing so, each application in a runtime environment may be uniquely identified by a profiler during execution, such that profile information will only be collected for those applications for which profiling has been enabled.
US07877732B2 Efficient stress testing of a service oriented architecture based application
A method for efficiently stress testing a service oriented architecture based application. A business process flow is recorded between a client and a server. When an XML document is extracted from the recorded business process flow, an XML document file is created for the extracted XML document, an XML document descriptor file is created comprising XPath queries for data elements in the XML document file, a configuration file is created comprising user input parameters obtained from the recorded business process flow, and test input data file is created. The user input parameters in the configuration file are used to generate a test script to test the service oriented architecture based application, wherein data values from the test input data file are inserted into a template of the XML document file at locations specified by the XPath queries in the XML document descriptor file. The test script is then executed.
US07877728B2 Sequence program editing apparatus
Replacement of a signal address referred to in a sequence program is carried out by storing in advance, before-after replacement information which specifies the relationship between signal addresses before replacement and signal addresses after replacement in a format with a specifying of range. Based on the stored before-after replacement information, all the signal addresses to be replaced are searched for in the editing target sequence program or replacement target symbol information. Replacement of a searched signal address with a corresponding after-replacement signal address is executed in accordance with the before-after replacement information.
US07877726B2 Semantic system for integrating software components
A system and method for integrating databases and/or web services into a searchable ontological structure. The structure allows for free-form searching of the combined system and for the discovery of an execution path through the ontology. The discovered execution path (or paths) provides for the generation of code that integrate databases and services for the purpose of fusing information from disparate databases and Web services.
US07877722B2 Systems and methods for creating inspection recipes
Systems and methods for creating inspection recipes are provided. One computer-implemented method for creating an inspection recipe includes acquiring a first design and one or more characteristics of output of an inspection system for a wafer on which the first design is printed using a manufacturing process. The method also includes creating an inspection recipe for a second design using the first design and the one or more characteristics of the output acquired for the wafer on which the first design is printed. The first and second designs are different. The inspection recipe will be used for inspecting wafers after the second design is printed on the wafers using the manufacturing process.
US07877721B2 Methods for producing equivalent field-programmable gate arrays and structured application-specific integrated circuits
Compiler flows are provided that can produce functionally equivalent field programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”) and structured application-specific integrated circuits (“structured ASICs”). The flows may include feeding back design transformations that are performed during either flow so that a later performance of the other flow will necessarily include the same transformations, thereby helping to ensure functional equivalence. The flows may include a comparison of intermediate results in order to prove that functional equivalence is being achieved.
US07877719B2 Fast dual-Vdd buffer insertion and buffered tree construction for power minimization
Integrated circuit apparatus and methods are described for inserting multi-Vdd buffers within an interconnection tree during routing toward minimization of power under a delay constraint. Insertion of level converters is not necessary within the routing trees of the interconnect tree despite the insertion of the multi-Vdd buffers. Techniques are described for controlling the dramatic complexity increment due to simultaneous delay and power consideration and increased buffer choices. Overhead reduction techniques are taught including: sampling based techniques, prediction based pruning techniques (PSP) and (PMP), and escape grid reduction, each of which are directed to multi-Vdd buffer insertion. The resultant integrated circuits are routed with substantial power reductions over conventional routing.
US07877716B2 Computer program products for determining stopping powers of design structures with respect to a traveling particle
A computer program product, comprising a computer readable storage device having a computer readable program code stored therein, said program code including an algorithm adapted to be executed by a computer to implement a method. First, design information of a design structure is provided including a back-end-of-line layer of an integrated circuit which includes N interconnect layers, wherein N is a positive integer. Next, each interconnect layer is divided into multiple pixels. Next, a first path of a traveling particle in a first interconnect layer of the N interconnect layers is determined. Next, M path pixels of the multiple pixels of the first interconnect layer on the first path of the traveling particle are identified, wherein M is a positive integer. Next, a first loss energy lost by the traveling particle due to its completely passing through a first pixel of the M path pixels is determined.
US07877714B2 System and method to optimize semiconductor power by integration of physical design timing and product performance measurements
A system and method is provided for optimizing semiconductor power by integration of physical design timing and product performance measurements. The method includes: establishing a timing run and identifying a sigma code for the timing run; establishing ring oscillator bins and respective code; identifying a required timing run for a second level assembly to satisfy a selected voltage bin; timing a product using the required timing run; testing a ring oscillator of the product using the timing to obtain physical design identification; recording the physical design identification and the sigma code for the timing run; and using the recorded physical design identification and the sigma code to set a voltage for the product to optimize power.
US07877713B2 Method and apparatus for substrate noise analysis using substrate tile model and tile grid
A method is provided to evaluate substrate noise propagation in an integrated circuit design, the method comprising: providing a tile definition that specifies an electrical model associated with instances of the tile; mapping a plurality of respective tile instances to respective locations of the substrate; obtaining respective waveforms indicative of digital switching induced power grid fluctuations associated with the respective identified contacts; and associating a voltage with a selected tile instance of the tile grid that is indicative of substrate noise injection due to waveforms associated with contacts encompassed by the selected tile instance.
US07877708B2 Displaying messages on handheld devices
A method of displaying messages on handheld devices. The device displays messages in a scrollable viewport of vertically arranged fields. Date separators inserted into the vertically arranged list of messages to enable the user to associate the messages with a date. The date separators have “sticky” operation, meaning that the device ensures a date separator always appears within the viewport, even when the viewport has been scrolled to the middle of a long list of messages all associated with the same date. The device may ensure that the top field of the viewport always contains a date separator associated with the message immediately below.
US07877704B2 Radio terminal
A method and terminal for displaying information on a display, where the information is provided with elements. An element is either having a continuous length presenting a length which is equal to or greater than the size of said display, or a wrapped length presenting a length which is less than the size of said display. The display is further provided with a user interface having a menu structure of items. The user interface is provided with a selectable continuous length item and a wrapped length item. The information is displayed according to the selection made in the menu structure of the user interface, in order to allow the user to toggle between continuous length and wrapped length.
US07877695B2 Tailored object
A system for managing user interface events in user interface of a client system. The system includes a service layer including a business object. The system also includes an intermediate object layer comprising an intermediate object associated with the business object, wherein the intermediate object handles user interface messages raised by the business object and retrieves data from the business object for user interface. The system further includes a service manager that provides the retrieved data from the intermediate object for display on the user interface.
US07877688B2 Data processing apparatus
A data processing apparatus generating deletion-data management information indicating a deleted portion of moving image data recorded on a recording medium, in response to an instruction to delete the portion of the moving-image data. The deletion-data management information includes a deleted item corresponding to the deleted portion of the moving image data.
US07877687B2 Persistent visual media player
An apparatus and method for presenting an embedded visual media player included in a web page in a floating mode is disclosed herein. The status of the embedded visual media player and/or the position of the embedded visual media player relative to the current viewable area of a window are monitored to initiate the floating mode. The floating mode keeps the embedded visual media player within the viewable area while the web page is scrolled.
US07877685B2 Persistent adjustable text selector
Embodiments of the present invention provide a computer interface that allows for the amount of text selected using a text selection utility to be changed after the selection has been made. A user may make an initial selection, then later change the amount or portion of text that was selected using selection handles displayed on the selection.
US07877683B2 Self-organizing report
A computer-based method for generating a report. The computer-based method includes: initializing a plurality of report parameters; determining a report editing mode based a selected report editing mode; generating a filtered list of report components based on the plurality of report parameters and the report editing mode; determining a report component based on selection from the filtered list of report components; and inserting the report component into the report at a pre-determined first position derived from a first priority of the report component.
US07877677B2 Methods and apparatus for enabling use of web content on various types of devices
A system and method for configuring web content for display on mobile communicators including receiving an operator-selected web page, selection, by an operator, of at least one cell-based element of the web page, arrangement, by an operator, of the at least one cell-based element at a desired position in a page template; and creating at least one mobile communicator adapted page by automatically placing at least one cell-based element, indicated by the template, of at least another web page, having a page structure similar to the operator-selected web page, at a desired position indicated by the template.
US07877675B2 Semiconductor memory apparatus capable of detecting error in data input and output
A semiconductor memory apparatus capable of detecting an error in data input/output includes a memory cell block including a plurality of memory cells. A data input unit receives data from outside the semiconductor memory apparatus and performs predetermined signal processing to record the received data in the memory cell block. A first global data line is connected between the data input unit and the memory cell block. A data output unit receives data from the memory cell block and performs predetermined signal processing to output the received data to the outside of the semiconductor memory apparatus. A second global data line is connected between the memory cell block and the data output unit. A multiplexer selectively outputs data from the first or second global data line in response to a control signal. An error detection code generator generates an error detection code having a plurality of bits to detect whether the data output from the multiplexer includes an error, and outputs the error detection code to the outside of the semiconductor memory apparatus.
US07877672B2 System and method for performing reed-solomon encoding
An embodiment of the present invention provides a system for implementing a Reed-Solomon computation of parity bytes of a codeword, including an accumulator and a logic circuit. The accumulator is configured to hold a plurality of bits. In an embodiment, each bit held in the accumulator initially corresponds to a bit associated with a data byte of the codeword. In another embodiment, each bit held in the accumulator initially correspond to a fixed value. The logic circuit is configured to iteratively compute a new bit for each bit held in the accumulator. After a last iteration of the computation, the bits held in the accumulator correspond to the parity bytes, wherein for each bit held in the accumulator each iteration of the computation comprises computing an exclusive-OR of a fixed subset of bits held in the accumulator. In an embodiment, the exclusive-OR is computed for the fixed subset of bits held in the accumulator and an input bit of the codeword.
US07877668B2 Memory access system
When a host system outputs a read command to a memory controller, it measures a load count of a memory area on which a read access load is imposed. Then, when the host system judges that the load count of a memory area reaches a predetermined count, it causes the memory controller to perform an error detection on the memory area. Further, when the host system finds that an error occurs in the memory area, it causes the memory controller to perform an error correction on the memory area. This can avoid or reduce unintended rewriting due to repeated readouts.
US07877667B2 Semiconductor memory
In order to correct an error in input data to thereby obtain write data, in a memory core, an EXOR element performs arithmetic processing based on an output result of an output data latch for latching read data and a result of inputted array input data, and a selector selects a result of the arithmetic processing to prepare write data. Thus, data obtained after performance of the arithmetic processing can be generated in a semiconductor memory by an operation performed immediately after data read. In addition, it is unnecessary to transfer data to an external logic circuit. Therefore, the result of the arithmetic processing can be written to a memory cell block in a subsequent clock.
US07877666B2 Tracking health of integrated circuit structures
Methods and apparatus to track the health of integrated circuit structures are described. In an embodiment, a counter may be updated when the status of a portion of a storage unit (e.g., a cache) transitions to a defective status (e.g., as determined by reference to one or more corresponding status bits). The value stored in the counter may be compared with a threshold value, e.g., to generate a signal that is indicative of whether the threshold value has been exceeded. Other embodiments are also described.
US07877665B2 Page by page ECC variation in a memory device
A data structure for a memory device is provided. The device includes an array having a plurality of rows of storage elements divided into logical units composed of a plurality of data structures. The data structure includes a data sector including user data and user attribute data. The user attribute data includes error correction coding (ECC) for the user data. The user attribute data includes information for other sectors in the logical unit. The data sector is provided in one of the plurality of rows having a higher degree of data integrity than others of said plurality of rows.
US07877663B2 Forward error correction decoders
Elements of a coding table which are error-free are found at S2. At S3, corresponding elements in an erasure information table are completed, indicating that the elements in the coding array are correct. A counter is initialized at Nmax, which is the maximum number of errors that can be corrected, at S4. At S5, the row of the erasure information table is scanned beginning from the first parity column for empty elements. Each empty parity date element of the erasure information table row is marked as incorrect at S7 For each such element, the counter is decremented at S8. At S9, the elements of the erasure information table are scanned from the first column of the application data and zero padding section for empty elements. At step S11, an empty element is marked as incorrect. At step S12, the counter is then decremented. It is determined at step S13 whether or not the counter is equal to zero. When the counter becomes is equal to zero, operation proceeds to step S14 where the decoder operates to fill remaining empty elements in the erasure information row as correct. Thus, whilst the count of incorrect elements for the row has not exceeded a maximum and whilst empty elements remain, empty elements of the erasure table row are marked as incorrect beginning with parity data elements and then continuing from the application data end.
US07877661B2 Method for encoding multiword information by wordwise interleaving and wordwise error protection with error locative clues derived from synchronizing channel bit groups and directed to target words, a method for decoding such information, a device for encoding and/or decoding such information, and a carrier provided with such information
Multiword information is encoded as based on multibit symbols disposed in relative contiguity with respect to a medium. It has wordwise interleaving, wordwise error protection code facilities and error locative clues across words of a multiword group. These originate in synchronizing channel bit groups and target data words.
US07877653B2 Address and TMS gating circuitry for TAP control circuit
The disclosure provides a novel method and apparatus for inputting addresses to devices to select the device TAP for access. Further, the disclosure provides a novel method and apparatus for inputting addresses for selecting device TAPs and for inputting commands for commanding circuitry within the device. The inputting of addresses or the inputting of addresses and commands is initiated by a control bit input on TDI that is recognized during the Run Test/Idle, Pause-DR or Pause-IR TAP states.
US07877647B2 Correcting a target address in parallel with determining whether the target address was received in error
As disclosed herein, an interface for a device adapted to couple to an interconnect may comprise decode and error check logic and a plurality of decode logic units. The decode and error check logic may receive error check bits and a target address from the interconnect and may determine whether the target address was received in error. At least one of the decode logic units also may receive the error check bits and correct the target address using the error check bits in parallel with the decode and error check logic determining whether the target address was received in error.
US07877641B2 Forming stack frame signatures
A method of forming a stack signature responsive to execution of a computer program in a digital computer according to one embodiment comprises halting execution of the computer program, tracing the program's call stack to determine a series of stack frames resulting from execution of the program, capturing a selected metric with respect to each stack frame in the series, encoding each captured metric into a corresponding symbol, and assembling the series of encoded symbols into an ordered list thereby forming a stack frame signature that reflects generally the execution of the computer program.
US07877634B2 Data collecting apparatus and gateway apparatus
This invention intends to provide a data collecting apparatus and a gateway apparatus capable of reducing the labor for setting the threshold value or condition used for a real running point, reducing the number of cases where the threshold value or condition is erroneously set and setting the threshold value or condition within a narrow range.The data collecting apparatus includes device value collecting unit 2 for collecting device values from a plurality of devices, abnormal state storage unit 3 for storing the monitored device to be monitored and the threshold value or condition by which it is determined that the monitored device is abnormal, abnormal state confirming unit 4 for comparing the device values of the plurality of devices with the threshold value or condition by which it is determined that the monitored device is abnormal, determining whether or not the device is abnormal and if abnormal, sending the information that the monitored device is abnormal to a host managing device, device feature information detecting unit for detecting the feature information from device value collected by the device value collecting unit 2 and abnormal state editing unit 8 for editing the threshold value or condition by which it is determined that the monitored device is abnormal, stored in the abnormal state storage unit 3, using the feature information detected.
US07877630B1 Trace based rollback of a speculatively updated cache
This invention includes a circuit for tracking memory operations with trace-based execution. Each trace includes a sequence of operations that includes zero or more of the memory operations. Traces execute atomically and become eligible for commitment after all the operations in the trace have executed. The memory operations being executed form a set of active memory operations that have a predefined program order among them and corresponding ordering constraints. At least some of the active memory operations access the memory in an execution order that is different from the program order. Checkpoint entries are associated with each trace. Each entry refers to a checkpoint location. Memory operation ordering entries correspond to each one of the active memory operations. Rollback requests result in overwriting the checkpoint locations associated with the selected trace as well as the checkpoint locations associated with traces that are younger than the selected trace.
US07877619B2 Power mode control method and circuitry
In some embodiments, a power up (or power mode) interface is provided whereby a chip's power up signals are encoded into multiple states to provide more functions than the number of signals used to define the states.
US07877618B2 Systems and methods for power management
Systems and methods for providing smart power management to one or more external interfaces of an information handling system that is capable of acting as a host for charging and/or otherwise powering one or more external devices via external interface/s that have both data exchange and power transfer capability, such as USB or Firewire interfaces. A host-based power source may be provided that is capable of managing power when a host information handling system is in inactive, and a user-based methodology may be implemented to selectively provide power to one or more external interfaces of a host information handling system based on user need or desire for access to external interface power, even when the host information handling system is inactive.
US07877615B2 Semiconductor devices and scrambled data transmission methods thereof
Provided are a semiconductor device and a data transmitting method thereof. The method includes transmitting data into a memory through at least one data line, scrambling the data corresponding to at least one mask data, and determining, using the at least one mask data, data integrity of the data transmitted through the at least one data line. The method may also include storing the data transmitted through the at least one data line in the memory according to a data integrity determination result.
US07877612B2 System and method for controlling user access to an electronic device
A method and system for authenticating a user to access a computer system. The method comprises communicating security information to the computer system, and providing the computer system with an implicit input. The method further comprises determining whether the security information and implicit input match corresponding information associated with the user. The method further comprises granting the user access to the computer system in the event of a satisfactory match. When authenticating the user, the method and system consider the possibility of the user being legitimate but subject to duress or force by a computer hacker.
US07877608B2 Secure inter-process communications
Inter-process communications between a first process and a second process are secured. A first process recognizes that inter-process communications must be initiated with a second process. A first computer that supports the first process submits a request to initiate inter-process communications with a second computer that supports the second process. The second computer replies to a request to initiate inter-process communications by replying to the first computer with a request for information of a digital certificate that authenticates the first process.
US07877607B2 Tamper-evident data management
A tamper-evident data management system uses public-private digital signature keys to control use of data and to ensure the fidelity of data that is stored on a customer's system for later collection by a computer vendor or that is sent to the vendor over a network. A computer system includes an application for collecting usage or metrics data from the computer system, for example. The metering application uses an application private key to digitally sign all metrics data prior to optionally storing the data in a data log file. The vendor can then use an application public key to validate the digitally signed entries. The digitally signed data entries may also be encrypted using a vendor public key prior to storage in the data log and may be decrypted using a vendor private key prior to validating the digitally signed data. The application and application private key may be stored on a smart card to discourage and detect tampering or may be stored on the computer system itself.
US07877604B2 Proof of execution using random function
A physical random function (PUF) is a function that is easy to evaluate but hard to characterize. Controlled physical random functions (CPUFs) are PUFs that can only be accessed via a security program controlled by a security algorithm that is physically bound to the PUF in an inseparable way. CPUFs enable certified execution, where a certificate is produced that proves that a specific computation was carried out on a specific processor. The invention provides an additional layer for generating a proof of execution which any third party can verify. This proof of execution is also useful to provide secure memory and secure interruptible program execution.
US07877603B2 Configuring a storage drive to communicate with encryption and key managers
Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for configuring a storage drive to communicate with encryption and key managers. A storage drive receives a request to access a coupled removable storage media for drive operations. The storage drive obtains encryption status for the coupled removable storage media from an encryption manager. The storage drive determines from the obtained encryption status whether to encrypt the coupled removable storage media to access. The storage drive obtains at least one key from a key manager in response to determining to encrypt with respect to the coupled removable storage media. The storage drive performs data operations using the at least one key to encrypt data.
US07877599B2 System, method and computer program product for updating the states of a firewall
The preferred instance of the present invention is a method and computer program product that specifies an array of elements to be incorporated into a firewall configuration protocol. When added to the configuration protocol, these added attributes allow the existing packet filtering mechanism to accommodate a terminal device that has moved and received a new IP address in a timely and efficient manner.
US07877598B2 Method for transmitting encrypted user data objects
A method for transmitting encrypted user data objects to a first telecommunications terminal includes the following steps: first, in a switching component of a telecommunications network, an encrypted user data object that is to be transmitted to the first telecommunications terminal is provided with a reference for acquiring the description of characteristics of the encrypted user data object; the switching component then determines a profile relating to the capacity of the first telecommunications terminal for processing a user data object; in addition, the switching component transmits a request, together with the profile that has been determined for the first telecommunications terminal, to a data provision component (in particular of the provider of the user data objects), in accordance with an address that is contained in the reference, in order to verify whether the user data object that is to be transmitted can be processed by the first telecommunications terminal; the data provision component then communicates information relating to the verification by the switching component and optionally the latter provides an encrypted user data object according to the information relating to the verification and informs the first telecommunications terminal of said provision.
US07877596B2 Method and computer product to increase accuracy of time-based software verification for sensor networks
A recursive verification protocol to reduce the time variance due to delays in the network by putting the subject node at most one hop from the verifier node provides for an efficient manner to test wireless sensor nodes. Since the software signatures are time based, recursive testing will give a much cleaner signal for positive verification of the software running on any one node in the sensor network. In this protocol, the main verifier checks its neighbor, who in turn checks its neighbor, and continuing this process until all nodes have been verified. This ensures minimum time delays for the software verification. Should a node fail the test, the software verification downstream is halted until an alternative path (one not including the failed node) is found. Utilizing techniques well known in the art, having a node tested twice, or not at all, can be avoided.
US07877593B2 Situation sensitive memory performance
The present invention presents a non-volatile memory system that adapts its performance to one or more system related situation. If a situation occurs where the memory will require more than the allotted time for completing an operation, the memory can switch from its normal operating mode to a high performance mode in order to complete the operation quickly enough. Conversely, if a situation arises where reliability could be an issue (such as partial page programming), the controller could switch to a high reliability mode. In either case, once the trigging system situation has returned to normal, the memory reverts to the normal operation. The detection of such situations can be used both for programming and data relocation operations. An exemplary embodiment is based on firmware programmable performance.
US07877591B2 Hardware abstraction for set-top box operating systems
A standardized system for developing hardware platforms and operating systems for computer systems. The system comprises: (1) a first standardized protocol for developing hardware platforms, wherein the first standardized protocol requires each hardware platform to include a bios program having: a first system for setting up a plurality of control features on the hardware platform; and a second system for collecting a standardized set of abstraction information and storing the abstraction information in a standardized format; and (2) a second standardized protocol for developing operating systems, wherein the second standardized protocol: requires each operating system to include an interface call to obtain the abstraction information in the standardized format; and requires each operating system to be operational on a target hardware platform with the abstraction information.
US07877590B2 Consistent data storage subsystem configuration replication
Consistency for replicating data storage subsystem configurations in accordance with a “golden” configuration file. A data storage subsystem comprises a blade system with a plurality of slots, the blade system configured to support a plurality of blades and a storage system, each arranged in a predetermined slot of the blade system. A management module operates the blade system to first power on the storage system, and subsequently to power on the plurality of server blades in a sequential order that matches a blade system natural boot sequence order, skipping the storage system, and the storage system is configured with the “golden” configuration file to log on the server blades in accordance with the power on sequence to logically configure the server blades in accordance with the “golden” configuration file.
US07877586B2 Branch target address cache selectively applying a delayed hit
In at least one embodiment, a processor includes at least one execution unit that executes instructions and instruction sequencing logic, coupled to the at least one execution unit, that fetches instructions from a memory system for execution by the at least one execution unit. The instruction sequencing logic including branch target address prediction circuitry that stores a branch target address prediction associating a first instruction fetch address with a branch target address to be used as a second instruction fetch address. The branch target address prediction circuitry includes delay logic that, in response to at least a tag portion of a third instruction fetch address matching the first instruction fetch address, delays access to the memory system utilizing the second instruction fetch address if no branch target address prediction was made in an immediately previous cycle of operation.
US07877584B2 Predictive processor resource management
Embodiments include a device and a method. In an embodiment, a device includes a processor having an associated hardware resource and operable to execute an instruction group. The device also includes a resource manager operable to implement a resource management policy for the hardware resource with respect to an execution of the instruction group, the resource management policy responsive to a prediction of a future performance of the hardware resource based at least in part on a historical performance of the hardware resource.
US07877583B2 Method and apparatus for assigning thread priority in a processor or the like
In a multi-threaded processor, thread priority variables are set up in memory. The actual assignment of thread priority is based on the expiration of a thread precedence counter. To further augment, the effectiveness of the thread precedence counters, starting counters are associated with each thread that serve as a multiplier for the value to be used in the thread precedence counter. The value in the starting counters are manipulated so as to prevent one thread from getting undue priority to the resources of the multi-threaded processor.
US07877580B2 Branch lookahead prefetch for microprocessors
A method of handling program instructions in a microprocessor which reduces delays associated with mispredicted branch instructions, by detecting the occurrence of a stall condition during execution of the program instructions, speculatively executing one or more pending instructions which include at least one branch instruction during the stall condition, and determining the validity of data utilized by the speculative execution. Dispatch logic determines the validity of the data by marking one or more registers of an instruction dispatch unit to indicate which results of the pending instructions are invalid. The speculative execution of instructions can occur across multiple pipeline stages of the microprocessor, and the validity of the data is tracked during their execution in the multiple pipeline stages while monitoring a dependency of the speculatively executed instructions relative to one another during their execution in the multiple pipeline stages.
US07877577B2 Information processor and instruction fetch control method
In implementing an encryption algorithm or the like in a computer, it is difficult to align timing at which an instruction is executed regardless of presence or absence of branch in a case of including a conditional branch instruction. In order to solve the problem, provided is an information processor (1), including: an instruction fetch unit (instruction fetch circuit 200) that fetches an instruction code to be executed to output the fetched instruction code; and an instruction decode unit (instruction decode circuit 300) that decodes the instruction code that is output from the instruction fetch unit, in which the instruction decode unit outputs, upon detection of the instruction code being a conditional branch instruction, a control signal to the instruction fetch unit so that fetch timing of the successive instruction code becomes identical with each other regardless of the presence or absence of the branch due to the branch condition.
US07877572B2 Data access in a processor for virtual machines
Apparatus and method are described for a data processing device. The data processor includes features suitable for executing a software virtual machine. The data processor provides an instruction set that supports object-level memory protection suitable for high speed operation. Memory control logic is provided to accommodate a configuration having relatively less random access memory (RAM) as compared to re-programmable, nonvolatile memory, and to improve access to the re-programmable, nonvolatile memory.
US07877570B2 Consolidation of matching memory pages
A method and apparatus for managing memory allocation using memory pages. A first physical memory page is compared with a second physical memory page, wherein the first physical memory page is associated with a first page table and the second physical memory page is associated with a second page table. If the second physical memory page matches the first physical memory page, the second physical memory page is deallocated, and the second page table is associated with the first physical memory page.
US07877569B2 Reduction of fragmentation in nonvolatile memory using alternate address mapping
A nonvolatile storage device can read and write data by receiving a logical address from a host. The nonvolatile storage device includes: a nonvolatile memory writing and reading data based on a physical address; a logical/physical conversion table storing information on correspondence between the logical address and the physical address for each of a plurality of data management units; a duplication table storing information on correspondence between the logical address and the physical address of data arranged over a plurality of areas in a duplicate (redundant) manner in the nonvolatile memory and having a size smaller than a size of a data management unit; and a controller controlling an operation of the nonvolatile storage device. The controller permits duplicate (redundant) writing of data having a same logical address as the data (which has been written in one data management unit in another data management unit), and the controller performs a plurality of write modes for the duplicate (redundant) writing, and selectively switches between the write modes according to situation of a logical address change designated by the host.
US07877568B2 Virtualization controller and data transfer control method
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods of controlling data transfer between a host system and a plurality of storage devices. One embodiment is directed to a virtualization controller for controlling data transfer between a host system and a plurality of storage devices. The virtualization controller comprises a plurality of first ports for connection with the plurality of storage devices each having a storage area to store data; a second port for connection with the host system; a processor; and a memory configured to store volume mapping information which correlates first identification information used by the host system to access a first storage area in one of the storage devices, with second identification information for identifying the first storage area, the correlation being used by the processor to access the first storage area. When data stored in the first storage area is transferred to a second storage area in one of the storage devices, the processor correlates the first identification information with a third identification information for identifying the second storage area and registers the first identification information and the third identification information in the volume mapping information.
US07877566B2 Simultaneous pipelined read with multiple level cache for improved system performance using flash technology
A read command protocol and a method of accessing a nonvolatile memory device having an internal cache memory. A memory device configured to accept a first and second read command, outputting a first requested data while simultaneously reading a second requested data. In addition, the memory device may be configured to send or receive a confirmation indicator.
US07877565B1 Constant versioning for multi-threaded processing
Systems and methods for using multiple versions of programmable constants within a multi-threaded processor allow a programmable constant to be changed before a program using the constants has completed execution. Processing performance may be improved since programs using different values for a programmable constant may execute simultaneously. The programmable constants are stored in a constant buffer and an entry of a constant buffer table is bound to the constant buffer. When a programmable constant is changed it is copied to an entry in a page pool and address translation for the page pool is updated to correspond to the old version (copy) of the programmable constant. An advantage is that the constant buffer stores the newest version of the programmable constant.
US07877564B2 Memory configuration and method for calibrating read/write data based on performance characteristics of the memory configuration
A method and system for storing and retrieving data using flash memory devices. One example system includes an apparatus within a flash memory configuration. The flash memory configuration includes a plurality of memory cells, where each memory cell has a charge storage capacity for use in implementing digital storage. The apparatus includes a processing arrangement configured to access each of the memory cells in a write operation and a read operation. The apparatus also includes an instruction set for instructing the processor to impose target charge levels for defining a plurality of data values for each of the memory cells. The target charge levels are programmably movable with respect to the charge storage capacity.
US07877557B2 Information processing system, information processing method and program
A technology prevents an operational mistake and reduces a labor and a time necessary for the operation in a system which a repetition of the same or similar operation steps is required of. An information processing system includes a first storage module storing step information containing parameters, a second storage module storing values of the parameters, and a module executing steps specified by the step information in a way that replaces a parameter of the step information with a value of the parameter.
US07877555B1 Power-aware RAM processing
Logical memories and other logic functions specified in designs are mapped to power-optimized implementations using physical memories and other device resources. A logical memory may be automatically mapped to numerous potential physical implementations. Power consumption is estimated for each potential physical implementation to select the physical implementation providing the best performance with respect to power consumption and any other design constraints. Potential physical implementations can suppress clock transitions via clock enable inputs when embedded memory is not accessed. Read-enable and write-enable signals can be converted to functionally equivalent clock enable signals. Clock enable signals can be created to deactivate unused memory access ports and to deactivate embedded memory blocks during don't-care conditions. Potential physical implementations can slice logical memory into two or more embedded memory blocks to minimize power consumption.
US07877550B2 Bus controller initiated write-through mechanism with hardware automatically generated clean command
A write-through cache scheme is created. A store data command is sent to a cache line of a cache array from a processing unit. It is then determined whether the address of the store data is valid, wherein the original data from the store's address has been previously loaded into the cache. A write-through command is sent to a system bus as a function of whether the address of the store data is valid. The bus controller is employed to sense the write-through command. If the write-through command is sensed, a clean command is generated by the bus controller. If the write-through command is sensed, the store data is written into the cache array, and the data is marked as modified. If the write-through command is sensed, the clean command is sent onto the system bus by the bus controller, thereby causing modified data to be written to memory.
US07877547B2 Method, system and circuit for efficiently managing a cache storage device
A system, method and circuit for efficiently managing a cache storage device. A cache storage device may include a cache management module. The cache management module may be adapted to generate a management unit and to associate the management unit with new data that is to be written into the cache. The cache management module may be further adapted to assign two or more allocation units for each management unit, to store the new data in the cache. A cache management module may include a management unit module. The management unit module may be adapted to generate management units associated with predefined global cache management functions. The cache management module may further include an allocation unit module in communication with the management unit module. The allocation unit module may be adapted to assign allocation units for storing data written into the cache.
US07877546B2 System, method, and circuit for retrieving data in data blocks into a cache memory from a mass data storage device based on a triggering event
Upon receiving a request for one or a set of data blocks associated with a given data segment, a disk cache controller may retrieve into cache the some part of the entire data segment from a disk. Each data segment on a disk may include a fixed number of data blocks, and all data segments may include the same number of data blocks. Data segments may be dynamically defined and their locations and sizes may vary from segment to segment. Data segments may be defined when data is written to the disk, or may be defined at a later point. A table associated with a cache controller may store information as to the physical location or address on a disk of the starting point and/or size of each data segment.
US07877544B2 Storing redundant segments and parity information for segmented logical volumes
Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device maintains a virtual logical volume that has a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application. At least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments is maintained in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage. A request for data is received, at the first computational device, from a second computational device. At least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy are used to respond to the received request for data.
US07877541B2 Method and system for accessing non-volatile memory
Accessing a non-volatile memory array is described, including receiving a first data and a memory address associated with the first data, writing the first data to the non-volatile memory array at the memory address of the first data without erasing a second data stored in the non-volatile memory array at the memory address of the first data before writing the first data.
US07877540B2 Logically-addressed file storage methods
Files that are mapped to a logical address range by a host become logically fragmented prior to being sent to a memory system. Subsequently, the logically fragmented portions are reassembled when they are stored in blocks in the memory system. The host supplies information to the memory system regarding file-to-logical mapping of data prior to sending the data. The memory selects storage locations for the data based on the files to which the data belong.
US07877536B2 Scalable distributed routing scheme for PCI express switches
A Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express switch is provided. The PCI Express switch includes a first routing information bus connected to the first port; a second routing information bus connected to the second port; a third routing information bus connected to the third port; two routing slaves in the first port, each dedicated to listening to one of the second and the third routing information buses; two routing slaves in the second port, each dedicated to listening to one of the first and the third routing information buses; and two routing slaves in the third port, each dedicated to listening to one of the first and the second routing information buses.
US07877532B2 Communication between an accessory and a media player with multiple lingoes and lingo version information
An interface and protocol allow a media player to communicate with external accessories over a transport link. The protocol includes a core protocol functionality and a number of accessory lingoes. Examples of accessory lingoes include a microphone lingo, a simple remote lingo, a display remote lingo, an RF transmitter lingo, and an extended interface lingo.
US07877531B2 Image processing apparatus and image processing apparatus controlling method
Disclosed herein is an image processing apparatus including an input section, a bus, a memory interface, an output section, and a control section.
US07877530B2 Bus width negotiation
There is provided a method and apparatus for bus negotiation. One such method includes determining a configuration of a first bond pad, the first bond pad indicating whether a host is configured to communicate with a fixed data storage device or a removable data storage device. If the first bond pad indicates the host is configured to communicate with a fixed data storage device, then the method additionally includes determining the configuration of a second bond pad. The second bond pad indicates the supported bus width of the fixed data storage device.
US07877521B2 Processing apparatus and method of modifying system configuration
A virtual PCI Express device 1600 indicates the presence of a pseudo I/O device in a PCI Express initial configuration cycle to reserve a resource space for a device anticipated to be installed in the future, and when an I/O device 1400 is inserted into an unoccupied slot 1605, a virtual PCI Express device control logic 1602 notifies a downstream PCI-PCI bridge 1504 via a hot-plugging control line 1601, and the downstream PCI-PCI bridge 1504 generates an interrupt to a CPU 1100 to notify it of insertion of the I/O device 1400 in conformance with the procedure for hot plugging defined by the PCI-SIG Standards, and configuration software 1000 invoked configures the inserted I/O device 1400.
US07877520B2 Storage device and method of setting configuration information of same
Configuration information settings for a storage device are made highly reliable and facilitated. The storage device includes a service processor for setting storage device configuration information, and a terminal device connected to the service processor via a private line to send a command group, received from an operator and related to the storage device configuration information, to the service processor. The service processor also includes a device for determining approval or denial of execution of the command group prior to execution of the command group received from the terminal device.
US07877518B2 Method and apparatus for updating applications on a mobile device via device synchronization
A method and system for the delivery of updated web platform applications to a mobile electronic device upon synchronization of the mobile device with a computer. Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention discloses a method and system for dynamically creating personalized and up-to-date applications whenever a mobile electronic device is synchronized with a stand-alone computer system that is coupled to remotely located content servers or computers via a communication network, such as the Internet. Conduits act as gateways for synchronization between the mobile electronic device and the plurality of content servers or computers. These conduits coordinate the loading of the personalized and up-to-date applications onto the mobile electronic device. In one example, a user can then access up-to-date information on the applications at a more convenient time and while disconnected from the content servers or computers that provide the information.
US07877516B2 Data management system and method
A method of replicating data on a source to a destination comprising the steps of: extracting data from a source via a user interface in a source format; converting the extracted data from the source's format into a destination format; and uploading the converted data to said destination.
US07877511B1 Method and apparatus for adaptive services networking
Methods and apparatus provide an adaptive load balancer that presents a virtual data system to client computer systems. The virtual data system provides access to an aggregated set of data, such as files or web service objects, available from a plurality of server data systems respectively operating within a plurality of server computer systems. The adaptive load balancer receives a client data access transaction from a client computer system that specifies a data access operation to be performed relative to the virtual data system presented to the client computer system. The adaptive load balancer processes the client data access transaction in relation to metadata associated with the virtual data system to provide access to the file or service object within a server computer system, or to access the metadata. The adaptive load balancer can work in conjunction with other adaptive load balancers to dynamically adjust to demands for access to data by replicating and migrating data such as files or service objects as needed between the server computer systems to accommodate data access demands.
US07877510B2 Domain name resolution making IP address selections in response to connection status when multiple connections are present
Methods, configured storage media, and systems are provided for resolving domain names into IP addresses in a path-sensitive manner, namely, a manner that may consider information about a link to a server and/or information about routers and other path components. The IP addresses given in response to domain name resolution requests are selected to provide increased reliability and/or dynamic load-balancing over paths.
US07877506B2 System, method and program for encryption during routing
Computer system, method and program for routing. A nonencrypted message packet is received. In response, a payload in the message packet is read to determine if the payload contains sensitive information. If the payload contains sensitive information, the message packet is encrypted and subsequently, routed to a nonsecure communication path. If the payload does not contain sensitive information, the message packet is routed to a nonsecure communication path without encrypting the message packet. The payload can be read to determine if it contains sensitive information by determining a standard for a format of the message packet, and based on the standard, determining a location of data within the message packet and a type of the data at the location.
US07877504B2 Techniques for entry lookups
Techniques to store entries so that minimal sequential memory accesses are used to determine all relevant entries. Entries may be grouped into blocks. The order of entries within blocks may be set in a manner so that entry locations can be determined using an input value, such as a destination address. Blocks may be ordered into levels. Blocks of each level may be stored in consecutive storage locations. Accordingly, entry locations may be determined and retrieved with minimal sequential memory accesses by storing entries in a predetermined manner.
US07877503B2 Method and system for an intercept chain of custody protocol
Techniques for establishing a chain of custody for intercepted electronic information are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method, comprising securely negotiating a data collection interval time and protocol support for electronic data collection between network equipment associated with a data collecting party and network equipment associated with a data receiving party, receiving a nonce at a network equipment associated with the data collecting party from network equipment associated with the data receiving party, utilizing the nonce to compute, at least in part, a hash value at network equipment associated with the data collecting party, collecting electronic data at an intercept access device at network equipment associated with the data collecting party, utilizing the nonce and the hash value to transmit the collected electronic data to network equipment associated with the data receiving party, and utilizing the hash value to establish a chain of custody between the data collecting party and the data receiving party.
US07877499B2 Data processing apparatus, data input control method thereof, information processing device, and program for implementing the method
A data processing apparatus capable of transmitting externally received data to a corresponding information processing device even in a case where a plurality of information processing devices are mountable to the data processing apparatus. First device identification information for identifying an information processing device connected to the data processing apparatus is obtained from the information processing device, and first data is received from an external apparatus. When the first device identification information and second device identification information added to the first data match each other, the first data is transmitted to the information processing device connected to the data processing apparatus.
US07877496B2 Bandwidth reservation for authenticated applications
Methods, systems, devices, and software are disclosed for providing application levels of service over a network. Embodiments of the invention maintain a list of registered applications (or application providers) that have registered with a network resources provider. Customers of the network resources provider may authenticate some or all of the registered applications, indicating a desire to allow traffic relating to those applications over their access networks. Customers may further set application levels of service with respect to those authenticated applications. Certain embodiments may manage network traffic to accord with the application levels of service.
US07877488B1 Automatic set up for editing a web site
A system and method is disclosed for automatically setting up a Web site for editing. One embodiment of such a system and method may comprise selecting a common file transfer path from a plurality of common file transfer paths, generating a test file, writing the test file to a storing computer through the file transfer server using the selected common file transfer path, requesting the test file from a Web server hosting the Web site, determining the common file transfer path is valid when the test file is received from the Web server responsive to the requesting, and selecting another common file transfer path from the plurality of common file transfer paths when the test file is not received from the Web server, wherein the method is repeated from the generating step using another common file transfer path.
US07877486B2 Auto-establishment of a voice channel of access to a session for a composite service from a visual channel of access to the session for the composite service
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for deploying and delivering composite services in an NGN network. A method for auto-establishing a voice channel of access to a session for a composite service can include establishing a visual channel of access to a session for a composite service. Responsive to detecting a user interface event in a view for the visual channel which is not related to the establishment of a new channel of access, a separate voice channel of access to the session can be auto-established for the composite service. For instance, the user interface event can include the loading of a page for the view, the receipt of focus for a form in the view, the receipt of focus for a field in a form in the view, or a keystroke or mouse event. Finally, the method can include synchronizing changes of state for the session in a view for each of the visual channel of access and the voice channel of access to the session for the composite service.
US07877485B2 Maintaining session states within virtual machine environments
Sessions states within virtual machine (VM) environments are maintained. Each VM environment hosts a guest operating system (OS) and one or more application programs running. The guest OS and the application computer programs of each VM environment constitute a session. A connection broker maintains a state machine as to states of the sessions and permits transitions among the states in response to messages, commands, and internal decisions. Different types of agents may send the messages, and the commands. The states of the sessions may include a pending state and a number of other states. The pending state is an interim state that indicates a session is being transitioned from one of the other states to another of the other states. These other states may include an offline state, an online-down state, an online-up state, a suspended state, an active state, an idle state, a disconnected state, and a failed state.
US07877476B2 Communication model, counter sign signal, method, and device
It is possible to detect communication partner state information between edge nodes without using a broker. Additional information is needed to achieve the aforementioned object.
US07877475B2 Method and system for display of activity of users
A method for display of activity of users at workstations. Each workstation is in a different geographical location. Data relating to a rate of computer input activity of at least one user at each workstation is continuously collected from each workstation, compiled in a central database, and displayed in a display in a representation of the rate of computer input activity of the at least one user at each workstation as a different musical characteristic for each workstation. Each different musical characteristic for each workstation is displayed in accordance with the combined number of input device clicks of the users in each workstation in a given period. The input device clicks are key clicks, mouse clicks, or a combination of key clicks and mouse clicks. The representation of the rate of computer input activity may alternatively comprise a visual swirl across a screen or an activity of a robot.
US07877474B2 Method for generating and administering templates for event management
A method and an apparatus are provided for automatically generating and administering templates for an event management tool, which is configured for monitoring terminal devices or components of a network. In the templates, monitoring criteria, by which the monitoring of one of the components is to be done, are defined. After the automatic generation of the template, this template is automatically tested. An administration module is also provided, which is configured for organizing and administering all the processes with respect to the templates.
US07877473B2 Mode detection of data transfer between a source device and a connected portable device
A method of exchanging content between a source device and a connected device based on a detected transfer mode. In a first mode, the source device retrieves data from a connected device and revokes the access right information corresponding to the content at the connected device. In a second mode, which is based on the detection of a group identification scheme included in the content, the content may be copied back and forth between the source device and the connected device without any revocation of access rights.
US07877470B2 Management system using scripts to transfer data among devices connected to a network
A management system including: a management apparatus including a first control unit functioning as an agent; and at least one piece of field equipment connected to the management apparatus with communication connection, the field equipment including a field equipment main body and a second control unit functioning as a first service associated with the field equipment main body. The first service provides at least one of inputting and obtaining information to the corresponding field equipment main body, and the agent performs at least one of the inputting and the obtaining of the information to the field equipment main body through the corresponding first service based on a script describing access destinations and access contents in order.
US07877468B2 Systems and methods for vertically integrated data distribution and access management
Scheduled data is received and distributed in a system, such as a DSDD system. A schedule director receives a schedule representing inventory of data available from a data source and desired times for distributing the data. The schedule director coordinates with one or more resource managers that maintain information regarding resource utilization in the system. The schedule director negotiates with the resource managers to reserve resources in the system for receiving the scheduled data from the data source, storing the received data, and/or preparing the received data for delivery to a user. Resources are reserved based on the schedule and the resources determined to be available. The resources are reserved to perform at least one task, independent of other resources in the system.
US07877465B2 Providing artifact and configuration cohesion across disparate portal application models
Under the present invention, a client-based editor is launched (e.g., from a web server or the like) within a client interface such as a browser. Upon being launched, initial configuration parameters are passed from a portal server to the editor. The present invention also provides a “communications tunnel” between the editor and the portal server in the form of a portlet interface on the web server. This is so that any characteristics expressed by the portal server (e.g., changes to the initial configuration parameters) can be pushed to the editor. Moreover, the portlet interface allows the editor to query the portal server to obtain any needed services (e.g. a spreadsheet computation).
US07877460B1 Methods and systems for facilitating the distribution, sharing, and commentary of electronically published materials
The present invention shows methods and systems for facilitating the distribution, sharing and commentary of electronically published materials such as educational textbooks. The system incorporates a common system for receiving and publishing the documents. Features of the system including layering, iconic mark-up, user notes and comments, user communication and documents/action sharing.
US07877458B2 System, computer program product and method for managing documents
A system, method and computer program product for managing documents. The system includes an image forming apparatus configured to display interactive menus so as to allow an operator of the image forming apparatus to interact with a document manager. The display interactive menus are downloaded from the document manager to the image forming apparatus based on a request by the operator. The document manager is configured to search for application services providers (ASPs) over a network and based on operator inputs. The document manager can search documents within the ASPs, retrieve documents and URLs, store documents and data. The system can provide basic and/or customized interactive menus displayed on the screen of the image forming apparatus.
US07877454B1 Electronic messaging
Methods of producing and sending an e-message include receiving addressee instructions from a sender for a single sender e-message indicating addresses of first and second intended destinations of at least portions of content of the single sender e-message; associating a first content portion of the single e-message with the first intended destination, the first content portion being intended to be received by the first intended destination; and sending the first content portion toward the first intended destination in a destination e-message such that the first content portion is accessible at the first intended destination and is inhibited from being accessed at the second intended destination.
US07877452B2 Composing, browsing, replying, forwarding e-mail
Method for composing, browsing, replying, forwarding e-mail's in an e-mail system and an e-mail client that can reduce e-mail traffic by not sending the original e-mail content in replying or forwarding e-mail's. In accordance with this invention, each e-mail has a Global-ID and each reply e-mail has a Reply-to-ID which corresponds to the Global-ID of the original e-mail, thereby the content of the original e-mail is not contained in the reply e-mail. During browsing e-mail's, the original e-mail is retrieved from repositories which stores sent and received e-mail's, and is incorporated into the browsed e-mail.
US07877449B2 Push type scanner apparatus for transmitting over a network
A push type scanner apparatus according to the present invention can transmit image data read by the push type scanner apparatus through a network to a desired personal computer only by operating the push type scanner apparatus without transmitting any operation command from the personal computer. In the push type scanner apparatus, for transmitting image data, a destination address is specified; a mail to be transmitted to the specified destination address is created; an appended file comprising the image data read by the scanner apparatus and appended to the mail is created; and the created mail and appended file are outputted to the network.
US07877446B2 Recording medium, and apparatus and method for transmitting e-mail
In a recording medium, a program for making a computer execute processing is stored. The processing includes detecting a recipient's domain name of an e-mail to be transmitted with data attached to the e-mail from a recipient's address of the e-mail, deciding a format of the data depending on the detected recipient's domain name, formatting the data into the decided format, and transmitting the data formatted into the decided format to the recipient's address as an attachment of the e-mail.
US07877444B2 Method and apparatus for providing a web page to a call member
One problem with web-based information is that it is typically presented without being personalized or tailored to fit a particular user's needs and requirements. Another problem relates to calls such as telephone calls, video calls or other multimedia calls made between two or more call members. Here it is often required to provide detailed information during the call. By storing a plurality of web pages and associating each of those web pages with information about one or more potential calls, it is possible to select one of those web pages for provision to a particular call member. For example, a user may store a web page for provision to family members, another for customers, and another for new inquiries. Information about a call is obtained and used to select an appropriate one of the stored web pages. This selected web page is then provided to the call member which is for example a wireless terminal with a web browser arranged to display the web page. The web pages may be stored on a web server or alternatively on the terminal used by the call member to take part in the call.
US07877437B1 Method and apparatus for a distributable globe graphical object
A method and system for an interactive globe, which is use to view web content and which adds a geographic context to such content.
US07877436B2 Mechanism to provide reliability through packet drop detection
A method and a data processing system for completing checkpoint processing of a distributed job with local tasks communicating with other remote tasks via a host fabric interface (HFI) and assigned HFI window. Each HFI window has a send count and a receive count, which tracks GSM messages that are sent from and received at the HFI window. When a checkpoint is initiated by a master task, each local task forwards the send count and the receive count to the master task. The master task sums the respective counts and then compares the totals to each other. When the send count total is equal to the receive count total, the tasks are permitted to continue processing. However, when the send count total is not equal to the receive count total, the master task notifies each task of the job to rollback to a previous checkpoint or kill the job execution.
US07877434B2 Method, system and apparatus for presenting forms and publishing form data
A method for presenting forms and publishing form data are provided. A software component determines if a request for a network resource containing a form has been received. The software component then determines whether a previously compiled class file should be utilized to respond to the form request. If a previously compiled class file cannot be utilized, the software component compiles a class file capable of generating the fields of the requested form. When the class file is compiled, a field engine table is consulted and field names for the fields to be placed on the requested form are retrieved. A field name specified in the field engine table is associated with the correspondence fields in a form. When a submission containing response data for the fields in the form is received, the software component saves the response data in an output table having fields named identically to the fields in the form.
US07877433B2 Infrastructure by contract
One embodiment in accordance with the invention is a method that can include generating a repository of computing system architecture designs. An offer can be generated to instantiate a host environment for an application, wherein the offer includes a plurality of options. A selection of an option of the offer can be received and utilized to identify a computing system architecture design of the repository. The computing system architecture design can be utilized to instantiate the host environment for the application.
US07877431B2 Floating point encoding systems and methods
Systems and methods for encoding floating point numbers. A system can include encoding logic which encodes invalid floating point representations as valid data. Decoding logic can be used to recognize the invalid floating point representations and map can provide the invalid floating point representations to valid data values. The decoding logic then can provide the valid data values so that operations on the valid data values can be performed in accordance with instructions received from an associated program.
US07877430B2 Method and apparatus for accelerating processing of adaptive finite impulse response filtering
Finite impulse response filtering is achieved by broadcasting to at least one compute unit an instruction having a plurality of data samples, a conditional field associated with each compute unit, and a set of operator values for operating on each data sample; providing a function of each the data sample in accordance with an associated set of operator values identified by the conditional field; and combining the functions to obtain an intermediate finite impulse response of the data samples.
US07877429B1 Movable tap finite impulse response filter
FIR filter apparatus comprises an input responsive to an input signal and an FIR filter that comprises three filter stages. A first delay circuit has a first time delay coupled between two of the three filter stages. A second delay circuit has a second time delay coupled between another two of the three filter stages. The first time delay and second time delay are different.
US07877425B2 Method for managing file using network structure, operation object display limiting program, and recording medium
A computer file management system allowing at least one of one file (F1) and/or one directory (D3) to belong to two or more directories (D1, D2). The file management system is characterized in that a file or directory specified by an operator of the computer or a program operating on the computer as an object to be operated has all the directories present on the directory path as parent directories. This system is a novel file management system capable of classifying/organizing files and directories more easily and naturally than in the conventional system without requiring additional operation.
US07877424B2 Quota enforcement with transacted file systems
Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate enforcing quotas in transactional file systems. In aspects, a filter monitors operations that may affect quota usage/charge of a file system object having a quota allotment. In doing so, the filter determines a quota value outside of any transaction for the object and a quota value associated with at least one transaction affecting the object. The filter receives a request that involves the use of additional quota. The filter then determines whether to allow or fail the request depending on whether enough quota is available to satisfy the request.
US07877419B2 Information processing apparatus and method, and program storage medium
In an information processor which records many contents or has many contents already recorded therein, and can generate an arbitrary combination of the contents, a weight is computed for each of the contents based on either data stored in a history data file or data stored in a display data file and data stored in a filtering data file, and a content is selected from the contents stored in a content file based on the weight. The selected content is related with a package corresponding to the data stored in the filtering data file.
US07877417B2 Method and apparatus for exchanging data with a database
A data exchange system for communicating with a database having a plurality of data tables includes a plurality of internal classes adapted to represent data from the data tables in a business entity format, a plurality of query structures corresponding to the plurality of data tables and a plurality of document classes referencing one or more of the plurality of query structures. The data exchange system allows an application to communicate with the database without having to know the structure of the database. Moreover the data exchange system allows the database to communicate with a document without having to know any business logic governing the creation, retrieval, update, deletion, etc., of the document.
US07877416B2 System and program product for displaying a logical structure
The present invention provides a methodology for truncating a logical structure having data matching a predefined pattern. For example, the present invention truncates a logical structure so that branches of the structure are automatically ceased at a recursive ancestor instead of at a descendant. By using the methodology of the present invention, the total number of nodes of the logical structure that will be automatically displayed for a user is represented by the formula N*N+1. Thus, when N=10, the total number of nodes that are automatically displayed for the user is 101. This quantity is far more user friendly than the 9,864,101 nodes that would be displayed when N=10 under previous approaches.
US07877410B2 System and method for providing private inference control
A system and method for providing private inference control is presented. A query count and database including records are maintained. Each record includes attributes, wherein the attributes form inference channels. A data structure is constructed including ciphertext keys, which each relate to one attribute and record. A seed for a pseudorandom function and a secret key for non-malleable encryption are chosen. A query is specified by providing indices identifying one record and attribute by homomorphic encryption. A secure function evaluation is executed upon the inference channels, seed, secret key, query count, and the set of ciphertext keys. An output is generated including the pseudorandom function and an updated set of ciphertext keys subject to sum-consistency of the set of ciphertext keys and a non-inference enabling query. A table of entries is formed by combining each attribute for each record with an output from the pseudorandom function. The entry is provided.
US07877408B2 Digital audio track set recognition system
A system and method are provided for matching a track set from a digital audio recording to metadata relating to the recording. Track duration data is obtained for the track set, and the track duration data is rounded. A search is performed for matching records in a first database based on the rounded track duration data, each resulting matching record having an identifier. Track duration data is retrieved from a second database based on the identifiers associated with the matching records. If more than one matching record is found, the track duration data retrieved from the second database is compared to the track duration data obtained for the track set to find a best matching record of in the second database. Metadata contained in the best matching record of the second database is output.
US07877404B2 Query classification based on query click logs
Methods are provided for the classification of search engine queries and associated documents based on search engine query click logs. One or more seed documents or queries are provided that contain content that is representative of a category. A query click log containing information regarding queries entered by at least one user into the search engine and documents subsequently clicked in search engine results corresponding with the queries is analyzed to determine which one or more queries resulted in clicks on the seed documents. Information is stored associating the one or more queries with the category if they resulted in clicks on the seed documents.
US07877403B2 System and method for database searching using fuzzy rules
An apparatus and method for database searching using fuzzy rules is presented. The apparatus and method may accept a word or word phrase such as a persons name and returns fuzzy rules for database searching. Applicable search rules are selected and word or word phrase equivalents are displayed to a user. The user accepts or rejects each of the word or word phrase. The word or word phrase along with the user's acceptance or rejection are stored in a sample database. The fuzzy rules are modified according to the data in the sample database. The database is filtered by training and testing portions of the database for accuracy and purging the least accurate portions.
US07877395B2 Systems and methods for identifying premium content items in a result set
The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for identifying premium content items (such as video content items) that are responsive to a query. According to one embodiment, a method for identifying one or more items of video content responsive to a given query comprises receiving a query comprising one or more terms from a given user, identifying one or more items of video content responsive to the received query and generating a result set comprising one or more links to the one or more items of video content responsive to the received query. The one or more links the result set associated with items of premium video content are identified and the one or more links in the result set associated with items of premium video content are filtered on the basis information associated with the user from which the query was received.
US07877394B2 Hierarchical table
Various example embodiments are disclosed. According to one example embodiment, a method may include storing a plurality of database records, storing a value associated with each database record, receiving a request to sort the database records, sorting the database records, and sending a response message.
US07877387B2 Systems and methods for promotional media item selection and promotional program unit generation
Disclosed are embodiments of systems and methods for selection of promotional media items and/or generation of promotional or advertising units. In one embodiment, a set of promotional media items may be dynamically identified responsive to an input set of media items. In another embodiment, a promotional program unit is generated in response to receipt of user taste data for a user or group of users. The promotional program unit is an integral unit made up of one or more media items and one or more promotional media items.
US07877383B2 Ranking and accessing definitions of terms
A method of processing information is provided. The method includes collecting text strings of definition candidates from a data source. The definition candidates are ranked based on the text strings.
US07877381B2 Progressive refinement of a federated query plan during query execution
A way for progressively refining a query execution plan during query execution in a federated data system is provided. Re-optimization constraints are placed in the query execution plan during query compilation. When a re-optimization constraint is violated during query execution, a model of the query execution plan is refined using a partially executed query to form a new query execution plan. The new query execution plan is compiled. The compiled new query execution plan is executed.
US07877380B2 System for query scheduling to maximize work sharing
A system of query scheduling to maximize work sharing. The system schedules queries to account for future queries possessing a sharability component. Included in the system are operations for assigning an incoming query to a query queue based on a sharability characteristic of the incoming query, and evaluating a priority function for each member of a plurality of query queues to identify one highest priority query queue. The priority function accounts for the probability that a future incoming query will contain the sharability characteristic common to a member of the plurality of query queues. The system of query scheduling to maximize work sharing selects a batch of queries from the highest priority query queue, and dispatches the batch to one or more query execution units.
US07877376B2 Supporting aggregate expressions in query rewrite
In one embodiment, a plurality of materialized views is stored, where each view includes a set of aggregate expressions. Storing each materialized view comprises identifying one or more disjuncts in the set of aggregate expressions, generating a set of disjunct trees that represent the set of aggregate expressions, and storing the set of disjunct trees. When a query that requests aggregated data is received, one or more disjuncts are identified in an aggregate expression specified in the query. A disjunct tree for the disjuncts in the query is generated. Based on the disjunct tree for the query and on the set of disjunct trees for each materialized view, a particular materialized view is determined from the plurality of materialized views. The query is rewritten into an equivalent query that references the particular materialized view, where the equivalent query would retrieve the requested aggregated data from the particular materialized view.
US07877373B2 Executing alternative plans for a SQL statement
Under automated alternate plan analysis, a query optimizer generates candidate execution plans. The candidate execution plans are selected as alternate execution plans for the query and execution. Output describing characteristics of each alternate execution plan and/or its execution is generated and/or compared. From this information, it may be determined, for example, whether results returned by any of the alternate execution plans are the same and whether the least cost execution plan is actually the most efficiently executed.
US07877370B2 Systems and methods for data storage and retrieval using algebraic relations composed from query language statements
Systems and methods for storing and accessing data. A query language statement may reference a plurality of data sets and a plurality of algebraic relations between the data sets may be composed from the query language statement. The algebraic relations may be used to define new data sets and to optimize access to data sets. A store of algebraic relations may be accumulated over time. Alternative collections of algebraic relations may be generated and evaluated to determine an optimized collection of algebraic relations to use in calculating and providing a requested data set. The optimization may be performed using the algebraic relations rather than retrieving underlying data sets from storage. As a result, optimization may be performed at processor speeds to minimize the amount of time required for data to be retrieved from slower storage.
US07877365B2 Document integrity verification preparation
A system and method are disclosed for rendering published documents tamper evident. Embodiments render classes of documents tamper evident with cryptographic level security or detect tampering, where such security was previously unavailable, for example, documents printed using common printers without special paper or ink. Embodiments enable proving the date of document content without the need for expensive third party archival, including documents held, since their creation, entirely in secrecy or in untrustworthy environments, such as on easily-altered, publicly-accessible internet sites. Embodiments can extend, by many years, the useful life of currently-trusted integrity verification algorithms, such as hash functions, even when applied to binary executable files. Embodiments can efficiently identify whether multiple document versions are substantially similar, even if they are not identical, thus potentially reducing storage space requirements.
US07877362B2 System and method for containerized data storage and tracking
The invention provides a method and system for automatically aggregating data items and storage media and placing each in a container, based on a storage preferences. The items in the container are generally of a similar type or classification. The container may be tracked by the system instead of individually tracking and monitoring each of the data items and storage media contained in the container. The location of the container is tracked within the storage system and at offsite storage, for administrative, reporting or other uses.
US07877361B2 Management device and method for storage device executing CDP-based recovery
A management device of a storage device that executes CDP-based recovery comprises: a data protection term acquisition section that acquires a data protection term which is a term in which recovery of a data volume is ensured from a predetermined duration for which a predetermined time is a reference point; and a control section that executes control using the data protection term.
US07877356B1 Retaining intermediate states of shared groups of objects and notification of changes to shared groups of objects
A method of sharing a group of one or more objects between a plurality of users, the method comprising providing the group of one or more objects to each user; allowing at least one user to effect a change to an object; providing each change effected by a user to the other users; and providing each user with an indication of all changes made to an object. In addition or instead, the method may comprise providing a notification to the other users of the change. The group may be a calendar and each object may be an event in the calendar.
US07877355B2 Job scheduling for automatic movement of multidimensional data between live datacubes
Techniques are described for sharing multidimensional data between software systems, such as enterprise software systems. Specifically, the techniques provide mechanisms for defining inter-application “links” for automatically moving data among different databases associated with the enterprise software systems. For example, a system may include a first database storing multidimensional data for a first software application, and a second database storing multidimensional data for a second software application. The system further includes an interface by which an administrator defines a link that specifies a source area of the first database and a target area of the second database. A link control module automatically moves multidimensional data from the source area to the target area in accordance with the link. The link control module may automatically move the multidimensional data directly between live portions of the respective databases.
US07877348B2 Layout aware calculations
A method for analyzing data from a database using an analytic database function includes receiving a selection of measured items from a user, receiving a placement item from the user, and determining a partitioning of the selection of measured items from the placement item. A placement item can be a column, a row, or an axis. A template associated with the analytic database function is adapted to define at least one partitioning relative to the placement item. The template is further adapted to define an ordering parameter for the analytic database function and optionally an aggregation level for the analytic database function. A database query is created with the partitioning. The database query can be an SQL statement.
US07877340B2 System and method for resolving gamma-ray spectra
A system for identifying radionuclide emissions is described. The system includes at least one processor for processing output signals from a radionuclide detecting device, at least one training algorithm run by the at least one processor for analyzing data derived from at least one set of known sample data from the output signals, at least one classification algorithm derived from the training algorithm for classifying unknown sample data, wherein the at least one training algorithm analyzes the at least one sample data set to derive at least one rule used by said classification algorithm for identifying at least one radionuclide emission detected by the detecting device.
US07877339B2 Method and system of creating an approximate kernel matrix to train a kernel machine
A method and system of creating an approximate kernel matrix to train a kernel machine. In one embodiment of the invention, a set of kernel machine training data is partitioned into a set of partitioned training data based on a set of partition parameters. The set of partition parameters includes one or more of, an axis-aligned grid location, or an axis-aligned grid resolution in one embodiment of the invention. A partition matrix that approximates a kernel machine kernel matrix is created from the set of partitioned training data and the partition matrix is used to train a kernel machine in one embodiment of the invention.
US07877333B2 Method and system for solving integer programming and discrete optimization problems using analog processors
Discrete optimization problem are solved using an analog optimization device such as a quantum processor. Problems are solved using an objective function and at least one constraint corresponding to the discrete optimization problems. The objective function is converted into a first set of inputs and the at least one constraint is converted into a second set of inputs for the analog optimization device. A third set of inputs is generated which are indicative of at least one penalty coefficient. A final state of the analog optimization device corresponds to at least a portion of the solution to the discrete optimization problem.
US07877331B2 Token based new digital cash protocols with combined blind digital signature and pseudonym authentication
Digital cash token protocols use a combination of blind digital signatures and pseudonym authentication with at least two pairs of public and private keys. A user is provided with one master pair of private and public keys and as many pseudonym pairs of private and public keys as desired. The resulting digital cash token based hybrid protocols combine the advantages of blind digital signature and pseudonym authentication. Blind digital signatures based on the master pair of keys are used to withdraw digital cash from the user's bank account under the user's real identity. A pseudonym pair of keys is used for converting digital cash into digital cash tokens by a digital cash issuer. All pseudonyms can be used for spending the digital cash tokens. These protocols ensure anonymity when withdrawing digital cash from the user's account under the user's real identity in addition to providing pseudonym authentication when spending digital cash tokens under a pseudonym.
US07877330B2 Method and system for managing access to media files
Access to selected content in different file formats can be managed by conducting, in a single purchase transaction, a user purchase of access rights that allow a user to acquire multiple copies of the same selected content in media files having different file formats. An authorization signal is communicated to a content provider or multiple content providers who did not conduct the purchase transaction. The authorization signal contains information that allows the content provider or the multiple content providers to authorize the user to acquire multiple copies of the same selected content in different file formats without requiring the user to conduct multiple transactions. Each copy of the selected content acquired from a content provider is in a media file having a different file format.
US07877324B2 Method and system for issuing letters of credit
A system and method for issuing letters of credit. The system and method issue a first letter of credit from a second party to a third party, and issue at least one second letter of credit from the third party to at least one fourth party. The system and method also provide a credit facility from the second party to a first party, the credit facility associated with the first and second letters of credit. The system and method also transfer credit risk from the credit facility to at least one fifth party under a participation agreement.
US07877318B2 Method for directing and executing certified trading interests
Preferred embodiments of the subject invention comprise: (a) electronically receiving securities order-related data regarding a set of securities market participants; (b) electronically storing the received order-related data regarding the set of securities market participants; (c) electronically receiving a securities order-related query (or order parameters) from a first securities market participant; (d) based on the order-related query (or order parameters) received from the first securities market participant and on the securities order-related data regarding the set of securities market participants, computing a dissemination list of securities market participants based on ranking likely contras by probability of execution; and (e) transmitting that dissemination list to an entity who has been granted the privilege of receiving such lists in exchange for being contractually bound to respect confidentiality of the dissemination list and to use the list only for the purpose of sending securities-related information to members of the list.
US07877309B2 System and method for analyzing analyst recommendations on a single stock basis
A system and method for measuring and creating a score for the performance of one or more contributor recommendations on a single stock. According to one embodiment, the score may be derived via a payoff function that depends on a variety of factors. For example, the factors may include one or more of: i) the performance of the stock; ii) the performance of a selected benchmark; iii) the recommendation of the contributor for the stock; and/or iv) other factors. According to one embodiment the payoff function may be designed such that certain desired characteristics are satisfied.
US07877302B2 Construction payment management system and method with automated electronic document generation features
A system and method for managing a construction payment process. One method embodying the invention can include generating a budget for a construction project, receiving an invoice amount from at least one participant in the construction project, generating at least one of an automated invoice and an automated sworn statement based on the invoice amount and the budget, generating at least one automated lien waiver based on at least one of the automated invoice and the automated sworn statement, and electronically executing at least one of the automated invoice, the automated sworn statement, and the at least one automated lien waiver to create at least one of a legally-binding invoice, a legally-binding sworn statement, and a legally-binding lien waiver. Another method embodying the invention can include electronically receiving a lien waiver from a participant in a construction project, electronically transmitting payment to the participant in response to receipt of the lien waiver, and releasing the lien waiver in response to the payment.
US07877300B2 System and method for processing orders involving full truck shipments
A system and method of processing an order comprises receiving an order for desired items, and calculating a collective physical parameter(s) of the items such as a total weight of the items, a total volume of the items and/or a total number of cases of the items. The calculated collective physical parameter(s) is compared with a predetermined threshold(s) reflecting a physical capacity or capability of one standard full carrier. The processing of the order is stopped if the collective physical parameter exceeds the threshold.
US07877296B2 Method and/or system for extending payment system architectures and/or legacy order processing systems to mobile commerce applications via text messaging
A text message order processing system includes: means for receiving text messages from consumers purchasing products from one or more merchants, each of the text messages being addressed to an address selected by the consumer and including an identification of the product being purchased and an identification of a device from which the text message was sent; means for parsing each text messages to extract the identification of the product and the identification of the device from the text massage; means for selecting based upon each received text message a payment instrument to be used to pay for the purchase; means for establishing payment information related to the selected payment instrument and delivery information indicating where the purchased product is to be delivered; means for generating for each received text message an order including the established payment information, delivery information and identification of the product being purchased; and, means for submitting the generated order to an order management system of the merchant.
US07877295B2 System and method for transaction automation
A system and method provides a user of a network-based commerce system drag and drop functionality that allows a user to purchase goods from a network-based transaction system through the use of links and images.
US07877294B2 Computer implemented method and system for formulating haircolor
A computer implemented method and system for determining the formula or formulas of haircoloring agents to be used in the process of coloring hair, including the steps of receiving input on the current color, state, and desired color of the hair, and using a database of haircoloring formulas to determine the coloring agents to be used, quantities of such coloring agents, application time of such coloring agents, and refreshing options that can be applied to the hair to treat and correct faded hair ends. The computer in some embodiments is portable, and includes a processor, an electronic storage means in which the haircolor formula database is stored, and software that defines the process by which the correct haircolor formula is determined. The computer software determines the best formula and process steps to be taken to achieve the desired haircolor.
US07877293B2 User context based distributed self service system for service enhanced resource delivery
Disclosed is a method and system of providing user context-based services over computer networks, using mechanisms for collecting and specifying one or more user context elements, each element representing a context associated with the current buyer state and having context attributes and attribute values associated therewith, mechanisms for collecting affective (emotive) data to inform the user context, and also an interactive graphical view to gain insight into available services for assisting in understanding available service information and making decisions on purchasing.
US07877292B2 Merchandise sales data processing apparatus
A receipt issuance facility included in a receipt printer incorporated in a merchandise sales data processing apparatus is utilized in order to print a role assigned to a key together with a frame matched with the size of the key.
US07877288B1 Manufacturer's offer redemption system
A manufacturer's offer (“coupon”) redemption system used to validate and verify a manufacturer's offer and authenticate and substantiate an offer redemption transaction while minimizing fraud. The system is a closed system in a controlled environment. The system includes a central registry where manufacturers register their offers, a manufacturer's offer redemption terminal in communication with a retailer's point-of-sale (“POS”) system, and a manufacturer's offer clearinghouse. The POS system communicates with the registry to maintain an updated database of valid offers. The POS system communicates with the manufacturer's offer redemption terminal to validate and verify offers presented for redemption. The manufacturer's offer redemption terminal includes a means to generate an encrypted identifier (“token”) which is unique to each manufacturer's offer redemption transaction. The encrypted token is attached to the purchase event transaction log, and the purchase event transaction log (including the token) is transmitted to the manufacturer's offer clearinghouse. The clearinghouse independently recreates the token based on the offer redemption record and the purchase event transaction log and authenticates the transaction as having originated under the controlled conditions imposed by the system, which includes destruction of the redeemed offer.
US07877283B2 Multi-perspective business process configuration
A computer-implemented method for configuring a business process includes configuring a solution map and deriving a pre-configured set of collaborative business scenarios based on the solution map. The pre-configured set of collaborative business scenarios is then configured and a pre-configured set of event driven process chains is derived based on the configured set of collaborative business scenarios. Finally, the pre-configured set of event driven process chains is configured.
US07877282B2 System and method for a planner
A planning system and method is disclosed. The planning system includes at least one business rule remote from at least one client, a meeting editor, and at least one tracker communicately connected to the meeting editor, wherein the at least one tracker tracks at least two data items selected from the group consisting of invitees to at least one of the at least one meetings, respondents to invitations to the meeting, at least one speaker of the meeting, at least one host of the meeting, finances of the meeting, and a venue of the meeting, and wherein the at least one tracker communicates the at least two data items with the meeting editor.
US07877278B1 Method and system for reporting fraud and claiming insurance related to network-based transactions
A method and system that allows a user to report fraud and claim insurance related to network-based transactions. A submission of a complaint is facilitated to a network-based facility in which the complaint relates to a network-based transaction. The complaint is associated with an identifier. A resolution of the complaint associated with the identifier is facilitated, and if the complaint is not resolved, an insurance claim is facilitated for the unresolved complaint.
US07877277B1 System and method for predictive modeling in disease management
A method and system for administering a disease management program to improve healthcare quality, reduce healthcare costs, and optimize delivery of healthcare services. A multi-condition risk assessment is conducted for all or a substantial portion of a population of program participants, and collected multi-condition risk assessment data are combined with claims data for predictive modeling of future healthcare risk and expense. Participants are risk-stratified into one or more classifications of future healthcare cost risk, and appropriate intervention or delivery of healthcare services is made based on the risk classification.
US07877276B2 Messaging to remote patients in a networked health-monitoring system
A networked health-monitoring system configured to collect and process patient health-related data. A plurality of remote patient sites each includes at least one display, a data management unit for collecting patient health-related data, a memory, and stored program instructions for generating health-monitoring related information on the display. A central server connects to the data management unit at each patient site. The system transmits messages for display at the patient sites and at least one of these messages is a message selected by a health care professional.
US07877270B2 Systems and methods for profiling clinic workflow
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a clinical information workflow profiling system including a workflow engine adapted to collect profiling data for a healthcare workflow task and a profiling processor adapted to analyze the profiling data to determine an alternative configuration of the healthcare workflow task.
US07877265B2 System and method for automated customer feedback
A system and method for automated customer feedback allows for automatically collecting and analyzing customer feedback data regarding customer satisfaction and customer task completion with respect to self-service applications and live agents. When contacting a customer service center, customers provide one or more customer tasks. The customers are routed within the customer service center based on the customer task and/or one or more customer characteristics. While interacting with the customer service center, the customers are automatically asked one or more specific survey questions relating to the customers' interaction with the customer service center and the customers' satisfaction levels. The customers provide one or more survey responses to the survey questions. The survey responses are recorded and analyzed in order to modify and update the customer service center and the survey questions in order to increase customer satisfaction and increase customer task completion.
US07877263B2 Signal processing
In an audio signal processing procedure, auto-regressive (AR) modeling is used to create a residual signal from an input audio signal. The residual signal is further added to the input audio in order to produce a processed output audio signal. The AR modeling can be performed frame-by-frame or sample-by-sample employing frequency warped Burg's method.
US07877262B2 Displaying a menu of commands in a video game environment
In a gaming system, a user controls actions of characters in the game environment using speech commands. In a learning mode, available speech commands are displayed in a command menu on a display device. In a non-learning mode, the available speech commands are not displayed. A speaker-independent context-sensitive speech recognition module contains a vocabulary of available speech commands. Use of speech commands is combined with input from a controller device to control actions of a character or characters in the game environment.
US07877259B2 Prosodic speech text codes and their use in computerized speech systems
A method of, and system for, acoustically coding text for use in the synthesis of speech from the text. The method includes marking the text to be spoken with one or more graphic symbols to indicate to a speaker a desired prosody to impart to the spoken text. The markups can include grapheme-phoneme pairs each wherein a visible prosodic-indicating grapheme is employed with written text and a corresponding digital phoneme is functional in the digital domain. The invention is useful in the generation of appealing, humanized machine speech for a wide range of applications, including voice mail systems, electronically enabled appliances, automobiles, computers, robotic assistants, games and the like, in spoken books and magazines, drama and other entertainment.
US07877257B2 Method and system to parameterize dialog systems for the purpose of branding
A method and system to parameterize a spoken language dialog system, includes providing a storage area to store at least one parameter value, integrating a subcomponent with at least one module of the spoken language dialog system, and configuring the subcomponent to access the at least one parameter value and to adjust an operation or output of the module based on the at least one parameter value.
US07877255B2 Speech recognition using channel verification
A method for automatic speech recognition includes determining for an input signal a plurality scores representative of certainties that the input signal is associated with corresponding states of a speech recognition model, using the speech recognition model and the determined scores to compute an average signal, computing a difference value representative of a difference between the input signal and the average signal, and processing the input signal in accordance with the difference value.
US07877251B2 Document translation system
A document translation system is described. In various embodiments, the document translation system improves translations of text or speech (“documents”) that are performed by computing devices (“machine translations”). Upon translating a document into a target language, the system can provide a user interface containing both the original document and a translated document. The translated document can include portions that are translated automatically by a machine translation service, and other portions that have been amended or modified by users. Upon providing the translated document, the system may receive input from a user describing portions of the translated document that should be modified. These modifications may then be stored in corpora that the document translation system can employ during future requests to translate the document. When multiple modifications are stored, the system may select one of the stored modifications during translation, such as based on the document type, reputation of the user who provided the modification, and so forth. The stored corpora can then be employed to improve future machine translations.
US07877250B2 Creation of resource models
Operational resource modeling is usable to analyze application and computer system performance over a wide range of hypothetical scenarios. Operational resource modeling involves creating and training one or more resource models, and/or simulating hypothetical scenarios using resource models.
US07877246B2 System and method for performing oilfield simulation operations
The invention relates to a method of performing an oilfield operation of an oilfield having at least one wellsite, each wellsite having a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir therein. The method includes determining a time-step for simulating the reservoir, the reservoir being represented as a plurality of gridded cells and being modeled as a multi-phase system using a plurality of partial differential equations, calculating a plurality of Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) conditions of the reservoir model corresponding to the time-step, the plurality of CFL conditions comprising a temperature CFL condition, a composition CFL condition, and a saturation CFL condition, simulating a first cell of the plurality of gridded cells with an Implicit Pressure, Explicit Saturations (IMPES) system, and simulating a second cell of the plurality of gridded cells with a Fully Implicit Method (FIM) system.
US07877245B1 Graphical functions
A method, system and computer program product to define and utilize functions graphically is provided which may be used in the simulation of finite state machines. The functions may combine mathematical, logical, non-linear and comparative operations. The graphical elements of the function may be hidden for ease of display of various portions of a model.
US07877242B2 Computer based CAE FSI models for simulating the physical behavior of diapers, diaper materials, and/or diaper machines during diaper manufacturing processes
Computer based CAE FSI models for simulating the physical behavior of diapers, and/or diaper materials, and/or diaper machines during diaper manufacturing processes.
US07877235B2 Method and system for tracking and managing various operating parameters of enterprise assets
Various embodiments of methods and systems described herein relate to tracking and/or managing any combination of energy consumption, GHG emissions, carbon credits, and/or costs associated with one or more pieces of equipment, one or more sites, or an entire enterprise.
US07877228B2 Method and system for detecting artifacts in ICU patient records by data fusion and hypothesis testing
A method for monitoring a patient employs hypothesis testing against each of several monitored signals to determine whether an artifact is present in the monitored signals. In the hypothesis testing, a null hypothesis includes an assumption that pairs of samples of highly correlated monitored signals of the several monitored signals have a predetermined distribution. The method determines that an artifact may exist in one of the monitored signals when the likelihood that the null hypothesis is true falls below a predetermined confidence value. This method can be embodied in an intelligent module for processing multiple data from one or more patients to filter out clinically significant changes in the patient from those changes caused by artifacts.
US07877220B2 Flowmeter
An electromagnetic flowmeter assembly is described in which an excitation field is set up across a flow conduit and electrodes are used to sense the electromagnetic field generated across the flow conduit as a result of interaction between the excitation field and fluid flowing along the flow conduit. The signals obtained from the electrodes are processed, together with stored calibration data, by processing circuitry to determine flow measurements and means is provided for dynamically updating the calibration data.
US07877219B2 System and method for analyzing a signal displaying a non-monotonic transition
A system for analyzing non-monotonic of signals is provided. The system is configured for receiving a signal and displaying changes of the signal using a waveform curve. The system is configured for analyzing data of the signals and the waveform curve in order to locate peak points on the waveform curve. The system is also configured for storing the signal data and data generated during the analyzing process. A related method is also provided.
US07877218B2 Signal outage detection
Disclosed are various embodiments for outage detection. In one embodiment, an outage detection system includes a signal sampler configured to sample a signal on a communications link and to determine a noise level and a signal level of the sample. An outage detection system also includes a comparator configured to compare a critical value with a sum of signal and noise of the sample. An outage detection system further includes a binomial probability analyzer configured to calculate a binomial probability of false outage of the sample and the previous N samples.
US07877217B2 Electric ultimate defects analyzer detecting all defects in PCB/MCM
A method and a system of testing electronic components assemblies, each assembly comprising a multiplicity of tracks, each connecting a multiplicity of ports. The system may enable applying heat energy upon at least one part of the at least one track; measuring energy diffusion within a predefined time interval of the heated part of the track; calculating at least one distribution energy diffusion profile associated according to the measured diffusion, where the profile represents the diffusion of energy versus time; and identifying defects in the at least one track, according to the analysis of the diffusion profile.
US07877213B2 System and methods for automated processing of multiple chemical arrays
A system and method of operating a data processing system to provide feature extraction from an image obtained from a plurality of chemical arrays is disclosed. The method includes bifurcating processing of the image by performing image processing and post-processing. The image processing includes processing parts of the image, each part corresponding to a different one of the arrays, in an automated batch process, to produce image-processed outputs that are different from the image and contain information extracted from the image. The post-processing includes processing the image-processed outputs according to different post-processing protocols with respect to different ones of those parts of the image corresponding to at least two of the arrays, to produce post-processed outputs. The method includes outputting at least one of the image-processed outputs and/or at least one of the post-processed outputs.
US07877203B2 Map information processing apparatus and storage medium of map information
In a map information processing apparatus including a processor 5 for updating map information containing map data stored in a map information storage device 3, road network data contained in the map data stored in the map information storage device has a data structure in which the road network data is composed of link strings each of which represents a series of roads in a road network as a series of links connecting nodes, the road network being represented by the nodes and the links; each of the link strings is represented by a link string record in which link records defining the links are arranged in order of the series of the links; each link constituting the link strings is provided with an invariable link identifier proper to each link; and node indication information for designating each node included in the link strings is represented by the link identifier of the link having the node as its one end.
US07877199B2 System and method for dynamically determining vehicle loading and vertical loading distance for use in a vehicle dynamic control system
A control system (18) and method for an automotive vehicle (10) includes a roll rate sensor (34) for generating a roll rate signal, a lateral acceleration sensor (32) for generating a lateral acceleration signal, a longitudinal acceleration sensor (36) for generating a longitudinal acceleration signal, and a yaw rate sensor (28) for generating a yaw rate signal. A safety device or system (44) and the sensors are coupled to a controller. The controller (26) determines an added mass and the height of the added mass on the vehicle, or a roll gradient, a roll acceleration coefficient, and/or a roll rate parameter that take into account the added mass and height from the roll rate, the lateral acceleration, the longitudinal acceleration, and the yaw rate of the vehicle, and controls the safety system in response thereto.
US07877198B2 System and method for identifying fuel savings opportunity in vehicles
A system and method of identify fuel savings opportunity in a fleet of vehicles based on a determination of fuel consumption due to modifiable use conditions is described. Modifiable use conditions, such as unauthorized usage, speeding and excessive idling, which represent opportunities for fuel savings are identified and fuel consumption based on the modifiable use conditions is determined. A user-defined statistical metric for the fleet, or a portion of the fleet, can be determined for each of the modifiable use conditions evaluated. Fuel consumption of an individual vehicle, or a group of vehicles, resulting from modifiable use conditions can be compared with a larger group of vehicle, or the fleet, to determine vehicles which correspond to a metric of the fleet. Fleet managers can use this information to modify the use conditions of individual or group of vehicles to provide fuel savings for the fleet.
US07877194B2 Diagnosis method for solenoid valve based on noise detection
A solenoid valve includes cyclically energizing and deenergizing a solenoid of the solenoid valve to repeatedly fully open and fully close the solenoid valve. When the energizing and deenergizing causes collisions of a moving member of the solenoid valve against at least one of a first and a second seat formed in a housing of the solenoid valve, noises are thus generated by the collisions and occurrence intervals of the noises are detected. Whether the solenoid valve is in normal or abnormal condition is diagnosed based on the detected occurrence intervals of the noises.
US07877191B2 Method of adapting an internal combustion engine to the quality of the fuel used
A process for controlling supplying fuel for an internal combustion engine, employed when the engine is started, including: measuring at least one characteristic value of an engine speed representative of a richness of a fuel/oxidant supply mixture for the engine, comparing the measured characteristic value with a reference value so as to determine a value of the difference between these two values, and controlling the supply unit using a control signal emitted by a control unit (3) and dependent on the difference value. The process also includes an updating step of producing an updated reference value (21), when an aging threshold of the engine is passed.
US07877188B2 Control system for internal combustion engine and control method for internal combustion engine
A control system for an internal combustion engine includes: a fuel amount detector; a smoothing calculation unit that calculates a smooth output value, which is obtained by smoothing an output value of the fuel amount detector in a temporal direction; a continuous low speed condition detection unit that detects a continuous low speed condition in which the vehicle speed remains in the low speed region continuously beyond a predetermined time period; a calculation processing unit that successively calculates a maximum value and a minimum value of the smooth output value; a reference setting unit that updates and stores a reference value in response to the engine stoppage and in accordance with the current minimum value calculated by the calculation processing unit; and a fuel supply determination unit that detects a fuel supply to the fuel tank during the continuous low speed condition.
US07877179B2 Mechanical and electrical locking coordination security strategy for an active front steer system
A system as described herein relates generally to automotive active front steering control systems having a main processor and a redundant sub-processor. The system provides a way of controlling the electrical and mechanical locking of an actuator motor in a variable gear ratio active front steering system. The method enables the sub-processor to electrically lock the active front steer actuator motor via the main processor to reduce mechanical wear or damage to the variable gear ratio system if the main processor is unable to electrically lock the actuator motor before it mechanically locks the actuator motor. The system also provides an error detecting technique that is robust to false failures and allows the active front steering system to safely transition into a fail safe mode if an error occurs.
US07877178B2 System and method for dynamically determining vehicle loading and vertical loading distance for use in a vehicle dynamic control system
A control system (18) and method for an automotive vehicle (10) includes a roll rate sensor (34) for generating a roll rate signal, a lateral acceleration sensor (32) for generating a lateral acceleration signal, a longitudinal acceleration sensor (36) for generating a longitudinal acceleration signal, and a yaw rate sensor (28) for generating a yaw rate signal. A safety device or system (44) and the sensors are coupled to a controller. The controller (26) determines an added mass and the height of the added mass on the vehicle, or a roll gradient, a roll acceleration coefficient, and/or a roll rate parameter that take into account the added mass and height from the roll rate, the lateral acceleration, the longitudinal acceleration, and the yaw rate of the vehicle, and controls the safety system in response thereto.
US07877176B2 Method and system for remote telltale reset
A system and method for telltale reset from a remote processing center. A method includes receiving a telltale indication 200, establishing communication with the remote processing center through a telematics device 202, and resetting the telltale indication from the remote processing center through the telematics device 204.
US07877173B2 Method and apparatus for determining a satellite attitude using crosslink reference signals
A method and apparatus for determining the attitude of a satellite using crosslink information is disclosed. The method and apparatus integrates data from the crosslinks with data available from other sources including, for example, star sensors, inertial sensors, and earth limb sensors to derive an accurate estimate of the satellite attitude, even in harsh nuclear environments.
US07877162B2 Method and apparatus for the manufacture of a surface on a gas turbine blade
A process and apparatus for the manufacture of adapted, fluidic surfaces on a gas turbine blade is disclosed. In an embodiment, the process includes: (a) generating a nominal milling program for the manufacture of fluidic surfaces in the region of one flow inlet edge and/or one flow outlet edge for an ideal gas turbine blade; (b) measuring the area of an actual gas turbine blade in the region of one flow inlet edge and/or one flow outlet edge thereof; (c) generating a milling program adapted to the actual gas turbine blade, where measured values determined in step (b) are used to adapt the nominal milling program generated in step (a) to the milling program for the actual gas turbine blade; and (d) manufacturing of the fluidic surfaces on the actual gas turbine blades by milling with the use of the milling program generated in step (c).
US07877148B2 Extraocular device
A medical device for use on the human eye is described. The device is placed in an extrocular location in a patient and delivers an electrical current that stimulates the retina of patients who are blind or have vision disorders. It has at least one electrode that makes contact with the scleral surface of the eye, the electrode typically being activated by an electrical stimulator. The device produces electrical pulses which pass through the electrodes on the scleral surface of the eye, to activate the retina of the eye, which causes the patient to experience improved vision, visual sensations or the prevention of deterioration of vision. By this means, sight can be restored or improved where patients have disorders of their retina or other parts of their visual system.
US07877145B2 Systems and methods for managing the longevity of an implantable medical device battery
A method for managing battery longevity of an implantable medical device (“IMD”) battery includes calculating a total IMD battery longevity value for an IMD and determining whether the total IMD battery longevity is below an optimal battery longevity value. At least one IMD parameter to be modified to improve the total IMD battery longevity value is automatically identified. The at least one automatically identified IMD parameter is adjusted to improve the total IMD battery longevity. Additionally, the improved total IMD battery longevity is displayed.
US07877141B1 PAC therapy
An exemplary method includes detecting a first atrial event, initiating a detection window after detecting the first atrial event, detecting a second atrial event during the detection window, classifying the second atrial event as a premature atrial contraction and calling for delivery of an atrial extrastimulus in response to the premature atrial contraction. Various other exemplary technologies are also disclosed.
US07877138B2 Method and apparatus for anti-tachycardia pacing and defibrillation
An implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) includes an Anti-Tachycardia Pacing Before Charge (ATP-BC) mode according to which one or more high-voltage capacitors for storing defibrillation energy are charged in preparation of delivering a defibrillation shock only if a ventricular tachycardia (VT) sustains after an ATP delivery. Fast ATP delivery and effect verification methods are applied to avoid significant delay in delivering the defibrillation shock when found necessary to terminate the VT. A switch is provided such that a user decides whether to activate the ATP-BC mode or to deliver the defibrillation shock without delivering the ATP.
US07877135B2 Image data processor, computer program product, and electronic endoscope system
An image data processor comprising an image signal receiver, a histogram generator, a gain calculator, an amplifier, and a signal feeder, is provided. The image signal receiver receives an autofluorescence image signal. The autofluorescence image signal is generated by an imaging device when the imaging device captures an autofluorescence image. The histogram generator generates a histogram of luminance in the autofluorescence image based on the autofluorescence image signal. The gain calculator calculates a gain based on the histogram and a predetermined luminance value. The amplifier amplifies the autofluorescence image signal by the gain. And then the amplifier generates an amplified autofluorescence image signal. The signal feeder outputs the amplified autofluorescence image signal to a monitor. The monitor displays an amplified autofluorescence image.
US07877127B2 Hat-based oximeter sensor
A method for use and an improved oximeter sensor substrate that is conforming to the shape of the patient's forehead. In one embodiment, the present invention is an oximeter sensor, having a substrate with a shape similar to a shape of at least a portion of a patient's forehead and including a section adapted to substantially fit over a portion of a forehead of a patient; an emitter disposed on the substrate at a position located on the section; and a detector disposed on the substrate at a distance from the emitter. In one embodiment, the substrate includes a hat that holds the emitter and the detector in a spaced-part manner against the patient's forehead.
US07877126B2 Hat-based oximeter sensor
A method for use and an improved oximeter sensor substrate that is conforming to the shape of the patient's forehead. In one embodiment, the present invention is an oximeter sensor, having a substrate with a shape similar to a shape of at least a portion of a patient's forehead and including a section adapted to substantially fit over a portion of a forehead of a patient; an emitter disposed on the substrate at a position located on the section; and a detector disposed on the substrate at a distance from the emitter. In one embodiment, the substrate includes a hat that holds the emitter and the detector in a spaced-part manner against the patient's forehead.
US07877124B2 Hands-free mobile phone
A hands-free mobile phone includes a housing and a hands-free unit. The housing defines two outer slide channels and two inner slide channels inside the corresponding outer slide channels. Each outer slide channel includes an access hole, a pivot hole, and a coupling passage communicating the access hole with the pivot hole. Two pivot portions are formed on the hands-free unit. Each pivot portion includes a pivot shaft and a plugging end formed on the pivot shaft. The plugging ends of the pivot portions are respectively inserted in the inner slide channels through the access holes of the corresponding outer slide channels and the pivot shafts thereof are respectively placed in the corresponding access holes and slid into the pivot holes of the outer slide channels through the corresponding coupling passages. Thus, the hands-free unit is pivotably secured to the housing via pivot of the pivot portions.
US07877123B2 Method and apparatus for RF signal transmission in a slider phone
A method and apparatus for internal RF signal transmission between the fixed base portion and the sliding portion of a mobile communication terminal using capacitive coupling are disclosed. The method and apparatus provide internal RF signal transmission when the sliding portion is open (SO) and when the sliding portion is closed (SC). The method for internal RF signal transmission in a mobile communication terminal includes a first capacitor plate for forming a first capacitor when the two parts are at a first position relative to each other and for forming a second capacitor when the two parts are at a second position relative to each other.
US07877122B2 Folding portable electronic device
In a folding mobile phone (folding portable electronic device), a cam mechanism (support mechanism) includes a first guide groove, a second guide groove, a first guide pin engaged into the first guide groove, a second guide pin engaged into the second guide groove, and a link member connecting the first and second guide pins. The cam mechanism supports a liquid crystal display part to allow the liquid crystal display part to turn clockwise and counterclockwise as viewed from the front, thereby allowing the liquid crystal display part to be changed between a vertical position and a horizontal position. Furthermore, the cam mechanism includes an urging mechanism urging the second guide pin to allow the liquid crystal display part to reach the vertical or horizontal position in either turning direction.
US07877116B2 Method and apparatus allowing for user-selectable acoustic equalizer settings for voice calls
A user is allowed to select an acoustic equalizer setting from among a plurality of predetermined acoustic equalizer settings. Upon receiving an indication of a selection of a given acoustic equalizer setting, a handheld telephony device processes voice call downlink audio, based on the given acoustic equalizer setting and drives an audio output device with the processed audio signal.
US07877113B2 Transmission parameter control for an antenna apparatus with selectable elements
A system and method for improved data transmission on a wireless link to a remote receiving node includes a communication device for converting packets to RF at a physical data rate, an antenna apparatus having a plurality of antenna configurations for transmitting the RF, and a processor for selecting the antenna configuration and the physical data rate based on whether the remote receiving node indicated reception of the data transmission. A plurality of antenna configurations may be mapped, as well as a plurality of physical data rates. A logical antenna and a logical data rate may be selected for transmission of a packet. The logical antenna may be changed based on whether the packet is received by a remote receiving node.
US07877111B2 Mobile device for enabling interaction with a printed email document
A mobile device for enabling interaction with a printed email document, the email document including human-readable first email information and machine-readable coded data, the mobile device including: a transceiver for sending and receiving signals via a wireless telecommunications network; sensing means for sensing at least some of the coded data while the mobile device is used to interact with the email document; processing means for decoding at least some of the sensed coded data and generating indicating data on the basis of the decoded coded data; the mobile device being programmed and configured to: (a) transmit, using the transceiver, the indicating data to a remote computer system via the wireless telecommunications network; (b) receive, using the transceiver, response data from the computer system; (c) generating, using the processing means, a layout based on the response data, the response data representing further email information; and (d) outputting the layout in a human-readable form.
US07877101B1 Locating a WLAN station using signal propagation delay
A wireless network device comprises a first RF transceiver module and a control module. The first RF transceiver module transmits a first data frame to a second RF transceiver module and receives a first acknowledgement (ACK) frame from the second RF transceiver module after a first delay period. The first RF transceiver module transmits a second data frame to the second RF transceiver module and receives the second ACK frame from the second RF transceiver module after a second delay period. The control module communicates with the first RF transceiver module and determines a total delay period based on the first and the second delay times. The control module determines an actual delay period between the first and the second RF transceiver modules based on the total delay period.
US07877099B2 Computing system with off-load processing for networking related tasks
A method is described that comprises executing a service selection method on an off load processor of a computing system to select an available network service for handling traffic sent to/from a handheld device. The execution of the service selection method is performed while a main CPU of said computing system is in a low power state.
US07877095B2 Method and device for adapting a radio network model to the conditions of a real radio network
A method of adapting a radio network model to conditions of a real radio network consists of the following steps: defining different measuring positions; carrying out measurements of variables at the different measuring positions, thereby generating measured data; providing position-dependent modelling values, using the measured data for the modelling values from the real radio network obtained at the measuring positions; setting a fine grid in a radio cell, defining small area portions, wherein one or more of the modelling values is attributed to each area portion by the radio network model. Mathematical operations are then established for modifying the modelling values of all area portions of the fine grid by adapting the modelling values to the measured data. In this manner, the mathematical operations are for each area portion and directly dependent on the measured data and the position of the respective area portions.
US07877092B2 Mobile communication terminal for service type signaling
A mobile communication terminal operatively coupled to at least two mobile radio communication systems in respectively associated mobile radio networks, each of which provides a user of the communication terminal with a number of services of different type. The user may thus effect efficient management of the services provided for him by virtue of the communication terminal being designed to receive and effect further processing of data records which are associated with one respective type of the services.
US07877091B2 Method and system for executing a container managed application on a processing device
There is provided a system for executing a container-managed application in a processing device, the system comprising a shared service container providing at least one common service for the processing device, executed in at least one process and at least one container-managed application, each comprising an application executed in a given process and accessing at least one service of the application and the at least one common service using a single service discovery API.
US07877086B2 Processing location information among multiple networks
Gathering location information from a first wireless network to determine whether to anchor a communication session in a second wireless network, a mobile node capable of communicating with both the first wireless network and the second wireless network, includes receiving location information from the first wireless network as the mobile node moves through one or more service areas of the first wireless network. It is determined whether a triggering event occurs. If the triggering event occurs, the location information is stored to determine whether to anchor a session in the second wireless network.
US07877083B2 Method and system for verifying telephone numbers across service providers
A system for verifying and updating a telephone number across service providers. After dialing a telephone number, a contact name and a timestamp in a central repository is compared with a contact name and a timestamp in a storage device. If the contact name in the central repository does not match the contact name in the storage device and the timestamp in the central repository is not more recent than the timestamp in the storage device, a determination is made as to whether the central repository indicates that a new telephone number is associated with the contact name. If a new telephone number is indicated for the contact name, the central repository is queried for the new telephone number. In response to the new telephone number being found, the dialed telephone number is routed to the new telephone number. Also, the storage device is updated with the new telephone number.
US07877077B2 Multi-band low noise amplifier and multi-band radio frequency receiver including the same
A multi-band low noise amplifier (LNA) includes multiple low noise amplifying circuits configured to selectively operate in corresponding frequency bands. The low noise amplifying circuits include corresponding amplifying units and degenerating units. The degenerating units include first inductors, which are arranged in loop patterns isolated from each other on a same layer, such that one first inductor surrounds at least one other first inductor. A current flows through a selected first inductor included in a selected low noise amplifying circuit of the low noise amplifying circuits.
US07877076B2 Error calculation circuit for mixer
An error calculation circuit used for compensating a carrier leak at an output signal of a mixer has a sign extraction unit for extracting the sign of a baseband signal which is applied to the mixer, an envelope detecting unit for performing envelope detection on the output signal of the mixer, and a signal processing unit for generating an error compensation signal to compensate the carrier leak based on the result of the sign extraction and envelope detection. The signal processing unit preferably calculates the compensation signal by using multiplication of the sign of the baseband signal by an amplitude of the envelope.
US07877072B2 System and method for adaptively controlling receiver gain switch points
Accordingly, a system and method are provided for adaptively controlling amplification in a wireless communications device receiver. The method comprises: receiving a signal with a variable signal strength; amplifying the received signal in response to the signal strength, to supply an amplified signal. More specifically, amplifying the received signal in response to signal strength includes selecting a gain state in response to a plurality of signal strength switch point. The method further comprises: measuring signal quality; measuring signal energy; and, modifying a relationship between receiver performance and amplified signal strength, in response to the measured signal quality and measured signal energy. Other aspects of the method comprise processing the amplified signal, so that a processed signal quality and processed signal energy can be measured. Then, the relationship between receiver performance and amplified signal strength is modified in response the processed signal quality and the processed signal energy.
US07877071B2 Unified STTD/CLTD dedicated pilot processing
Apparatus and method to provide unified STTD/CLTD dedicated pilot processing in a wireless receiver. The technique allows different set of parameters to be introduced to a same processing module to process STTD and CLTD diversity signals to recover a pilot signal. Introducing another set of parameters to the processing module also allows processing of a non-diversity signal to recover a pilot. The unified processing of STTD/CLTD signals is achieved by converting STTD/CLTD pilot bits as Hadamard-like bits and processing these bits along with orthogonal pilot bits which are encoded as Hadamard encoded bits.
US07877067B2 Method for selecting receiver mode of mobile terminal with two receivers
Provided is a method for selecting a receiver mode of a mobile terminal having two receivers and that can receive a signal using either or both of the two receivers depending on a channel environment. A method for selecting a receiver mode of a wireless communication terminal having at least two receivers includes computing at least one parameter for determining the receiver mode from a received signal; comparing the at least one parameter with a preset threshold; and selecting one only of a single receiver mode in which either of the two receivers is activated and a dual receiver mode in which both of the receivers are activated according to the comparison result. The method enables a receiver mode to switch between single and dual receiver modes adaptively according to a wireless environment, thus achieving stable signal reception without compromising reception sensitivity.
US07877064B2 Methods, apparatus and systems for terrestrial wireless broadcast of digital data to stationary receivers
The present invention provides methods, apparatus and systems for delivery of digital data to stationary receivers over a terrestrial wireless link at a low data rate using a new coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM) scheme. Digital data is encoded and modulated using coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM) to produce a data stream. The data stream is communicated to a stationary receiver via a terrestrial wireless link having a ratio of (i) 50% coherence bandwidth to (ii) allocated channel bandwidth of not greater than 50%. The COFDM scheme employed by the present invention overcomes the degradation of multipath fading induced by terrestrial channels, such as the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) broadcast channel.
US07877062B2 Mobile phone and ambient noise filtering method used in the mobile phone
An exemplary ambient noise filtering method includes: sampling ambient noise signals to obtain multiple groups of sampled signals; analyzing each group of the sampled signals in each sampling period to determine ambient noise frequency band(s) in each sampling period, wherein the ambient noise frequency band is a frequency band where the ambient noise distributes; determining main noise frequency band(s) by statistically analyzing all the ambient noise frequency bands, wherein the main noise frequency band is a frequency band where the ambient noise concentrates and mainly distributes; and filtering the ambient noise out of signals generated during a communication by filtering the determined main noise frequency band(s) if the main noise frequency band(s) does not have a same range as that of a speech frequency band. Related exemplary mobile phone performing the method is also provided.
US07877060B1 Fast calibration of AM/PM pre-distortion
A system and method are provided for calibrating Amplitude Modulation to Phase Modulation (AM/PM) pre-distortion in a transmitter operating according to a polar modulation scheme. In general, phase modulation is disabled during transmission of an actual polar modulation signal. As a result, the transmitter provides a radio frequency (RF) output signal having an amplitude modulation component and ideally a constant phase. However, the AM/PM distortion of the transmitter creates a phase modulation component in the RF output signal. The phase component of the RF output signal, which is the AM/PM distortion of the transmitter, is measured by test equipment. The AM/PM pre-distortion applied by the transmitter is then calibrated based on the measured AM/PM distortion such that the AM/PM distortion of the transmitter is substantially reduced.
US07877058B2 Compact low loss high frequency switch with improved linearity performance
A switch element includes a switch device having a drain, a source and a plurality of gates, and at least one additional interconnect located between the plurality of gates, the additional interconnect operative to establish a constant potential between the at least two gates.
US07877055B2 Paper type determination device
A paper type determination device of the invention drives plural light emitting points different from one another and having sequentially increasing distances from a reference point to emit light in such a manner that each is identified for irradiating one surface of a sheet of paper subjected to determination. A photodetection device set at a specific detection field of view having the center at the reference point is disposed on the other surface side of the sheet of paper, and it receives light having passed through the sheet of paper from the respective light emitting points at positions on inside and outside of the detection field of view to detect intensity of light for each light emitting point. A diffusing characteristic of the sheet of paper is obtained on the basis of the intensity of light from each light emitting point detected by the photodetection device, and a paper type is determined on the basis of the diffusing characteristic.
US07877051B2 Fusing unit and image forming apparatus having the same
A fusing unit for an image forming apparatus, including a heating roller to apply heat to a printable medium; a first pressing roller facing the heating roller so as to press the printable medium against the heating roller; a second pressing roller disposed in front of the first pressing roller in a proceeding direction of the printable medium press the printable medium against the heating roller; and a driving unit to transmit a rotation force to the second pressing roller so that a surface linear speed of the second pressing roller is greater than a surface linear speed of the heating roller.
US07877047B2 Developing device, process cartridge and image forming apparatus to inhibit the increase of the rate of uncharged toner during prolonged operation
A developing device, which can inhibit the increase of the rate of uncharged toner caused by long hours of operation and develop an excellent image, and a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus that use such a developing device. A developing sleeve is rotary driven, and has, as magnetic field generating means that is fixedly disposed within the developing sleeve, a magnet roll composed of a plurality of stationary magnets. The magnet roll has five magnetic poles, P1 (south pole), P2 (north pole), P3 (north pole), P4 (south pole) and P5 (north pole), which are arranged in the direction of rotation of the developing sleeve in this order starting from a developing position that is a region facing a photoreceptor. On the periphery of the developing sleeve, there is disposed blade-shaped developer accumulation means, which is attached to a developer container at a position between a doctor blade and a stirring section and in the vicinity of the stirring section, with a predetermined space between the developing sleeve and the developer accumulation means.
US07877045B2 Charging device and image forming apparatus
There is provided a charging device having high durability, of which controllability of charged potential of a photoreceptor is hardly impaired even with a some amount of contaminants such as a toner so that control of charged potential of a photoreceptor can be stably carried out to fall in an appropriate range over a long period of time, and moreover which is inexpensive. As a grid electrode, one prepared by forming a composite plated layer composed of three layers of an Sn plated layer, an Sn—Co plated layer and a Ni plated layer is used. More preferably, an upper layer is an Sn plated layer, an intermediate layer is an Sn—Co plated layer and a lower layer is a Ni plated layer.
US07877044B2 Image forming apparatus with an image bearing member that rotates with the same speed as an intermediate transfer member
There is provided an image forming apparatus including: a rotatable image bearing member; an intermediate transfer member which makes contact with the image bearing member and bears a toner image transferred from the image bearing member; a first driving means which transmits driving to the intermediate transfer member; and a second driving means which transmits driving to the image bearing member when rotating speed of the image bearing member is lower than a predetermined speed, wherein the rotatable image bearing member rotates faster than the predetermined speed by receiving rotating friction force from the intermediate transfer member.
US07877043B2 Constant-velocity joint and image-forming device
A constant-velocity joint includes an outer ring having an annular space therein and an opening at one axial end thereof. The annular space is defined by a radially outer wall and a radially inner wall of the outer ring. At least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall has three axially extending track grooves circumferentially spaced apart from each other by 120 degrees. A cage is inserted in the annular space. The cage has pockets at positions corresponding to the track grooves, respectively. A ball is received in each of the pockets so as to roll along one of the track grooves. A pair of diametrically opposed protrusions is formed at radially inner and outer open ends of the pockets of the cage to prevent the balls from coming out of the pockets of the cage.
US07877040B2 Image recording apparatus
A supporting apparatus for supporting a movable member such that the movable member is movable along a predetermined path. The apparatus includes a main frame which defines a reference plane parallel to the predetermined path; at least one base member which is supported by the main frame and which supports the movable member such that the movable member is movable on the at least one base member along the predetermined path; at least one positioning device which positions the at least one base member relative to the main frame in at least one first direction parallel to the reference plane and a second direction perpendicular to the reference plane, such that the at least one base member is permitted to be displaced relative to the main frame in a third direction opposite to the second direction; and at least one biasing device which biases the at least one base member toward the main frame in at least the second direction.
US07877035B2 Electronic device and image forming apparatus
An electronic device includes: a first electrical component; a second electrical component; a drive control unit that controls a driving of the second electrical component; and a power supply unit that supplies power to the first electrical component, wherein the drive control unit is connected via the first electrical component to the power supply unit to control the driving of the second electrical component by power supplied from the first electrical component.
US07877033B2 Image forming apparatus
There is provided an image forming apparatus, including: a image bearing member; a charging member; a developing device; a transfer member that forms a transfer portion, thereby transferring a toner image on the image bearing member, to a transfer material; a first toner charging member disposed on the lower stream side of the transfer portion and on the upper stream side of the charging member in a rotating direction of the image bearing member, thereby charging the toner on the image bearing member by applying voltage; wherein the developing device develops the electrostatic latent image and recovers the toner charged by the first toner charging member, the image forming apparatus further including: a first current detecting portion that detects a current value flowing through the first toner charging member; and a changing portion that changes a transfer condition according to the detected current value.
US07877032B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a toner image forming member, an intermediary transfer member for forming a primary transfer portion, and a primary transfer member supplied with a transfer voltage. The apparatus also has a voltage source for supplying, to the primary transfer member, a transfer voltage and a voltage of a polarity opposite to the transfer voltage, an image bearing member cleaning apparatus for removing toner from the image bearing member, a secondary transferring member, and an intermediary transfer member cleaning apparatus for electrostatically removing toner from the intermediary transfer member. The apparatus further has a voltage source control apparatus for controlling the voltage source so as to apply, to the primary transfer member, a voltage having an absolute value larger than a discharge threshold and having the polarity opposite to the transfer voltage, when a non-recording toner pattern passes through the primary transfer portion.
US07877031B2 Image forming apparatus having toner density control
An image forming apparatus capable of setting a criterion individually for respective image forming apparatuses, which is used in determining whether or not a developer is properly supplied to a developing unit, thereby stabilizing a developer toner density. With a shutter member closed, reflection light from a reflection sheet is received by a toner density detection sensor, and an output voltage is stored in a memory. After the shutter member is opened, reflection light from a developing sleeve is received by the sensor, and an output voltage is stored in the memory. If an amount of change in voltage per unit toner density calculated based on the output voltages does not fall within a predetermined range, an operation of a main unit of the image forming apparatus is stopped. If the amount of voltage change falls within the predetermined range, the amount of voltage change is stored in the memory.
US07877029B2 Image forming apparatus and fog control method
An image forming apparatus includes a fog controller to control a fogging level of a toner image carrier by adjusting a fog control parameter on the basis of the fogging level detected by a fogging level detection section and the target fogging level stored in a memory section. While varying a value of the fog control parameter, the fog controller makes a detection pattern forming section to form a series of detection patterns between toner images for each page on the toner image carrier, makes the fogging level detection section to detect each of fogging levels of the series of detection patterns, determines a target fog control parameter value on the basis of each fogging level of the series of detection patterns detected and the target fogging level stored, and adjusts the fog control parameter on the basis of the target fog control parameter value.
US07877027B2 Image forming apparatus and paper discharge speed control method for image forming apparatus
A sheet temperature sensor which detects temperature of a recording medium that is fed is provided downstream in a sheet feeding direction from a fixing device. A controller counts the number of sheets on which an image is continuously formed, and controls the number of sheets discharged by the fixing device per unit time in accordance with the counted number of sheets and the temperature detected by the sheet temperature sensor.
US07877026B2 Radio frequency transmitter with on-chip photodiode array
A radio transmitter integrated circuit includes a photodiode array circuit, a digital conversion module, a transmit baseband processing module, an analog conversion module, an up-conversion module, and a power amplifier circuit. The photodiode array circuit is coupled to convert received light into electrical image signals. The digital conversion module is coupled to convert the electrical image signals into digital image signals. The transmit baseband processing module is coupled to convert the digital image signals into digital transmit baseband or low IF signals. The analog conversion module, the up-conversion module, and the power amplifier circuit are coupled to convert the digital transmit baseband or low IF signals into transmit radio frequency (RF) signals.
US07877025B2 Phase monitor apparatus, phase control apparatus and methods thereof for optical DQPSK receiver
I branch is provided with a first interferometer, a first balanced optical detector, and a first data recovery circuit. Q branch is provided with a second interferometer, a second balanced optical detector and a second data recovery circuit. In I branch, a mixer multiples input signal of the first data recovery circuit with output signal of the second recovery circuit. An averaging circuit averages output signal of the mixer. In Q branch, a mixer multiples input signal of the second data recovery circuit with output signal of the first recovery circuit. An averaging circuit averages output signal of the mixer. A first phase control apparatus controls the phase of a phase shifter comprised in the first interferometer based on the output signal of the averaging circuit. A second phase control apparatus, in the same manner, controls the phase of a phase shifter comprised in the second interferometer.
US07877024B2 Infrared signal decode circuit and infrared signal decode method
According to one embodiment, an infrared signal decode circuit includes: a comparator; a correlation signal generator generating a sum of a first detection signal and a second detection signal as a correlation signal, the first detection signal being obtained by performing an absolute value calculation on a first correlation signal, the second detection signal being obtained by performing an absolute value calculation on a second correlation signal, the first correlation signal corresponding to a correlation between a binary signal and a first reference signal with a frequency substantially identical to a base frequency of a subcarrier of an infrared signal, the second correlation signal corresponding to a correlation between the binary signal and a second reference signal with a phase that differ from a phase of the first reference signal by 90 degrees; and a decoder binarizing the correlation signal generated by the correlation signal generator.
US07877018B2 Method and apparatus for correcting color imbalance of visible light in wavelength division parallel visible light communications
Disclosed is a method and an apparatus for correcting a color imbalance of visible light in wavelength division parallel visible light communications. The method includes the steps of: inverting an original signal including information by a visible light communication transmitter; transmitting the original signal including the information and an inverted signal from the visible light communication transmitter to a visible light communication receiver, receiving the original signal including the information and the inverted signal by the visible light communication receiver, reinverting the inverted signal among the received signals by the visible light communication receiver, restoring the inverted signal back to its state prior to the inversion by reinverting the inverted signal by the visible light communication receiver, and performing a diversity combination on the original signal and a restored signal.
US07877010B2 Device for monitoring the quality of an optical signal by filtering its beat component
An optical signal quality monitor device includes a local oscillator that generates a local oscillation signal, with which a mixer mixes an input optical signal to output a mixed signal, of which at least one beat component a filter that extracts. An intensity detector detects intensity of the extracted beat component. The monitor device may thus accurately and rapidly monitor the quality of an input optical signal transmitted even at a higher bit rate.
US07877009B2 Method and system for electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
A method and system of measuring the spectroscopic impedance of a sensor and its immediate surroundings. The sensor is disposed on an engineered structure and is coated with a protective coating. The method includes providing a first optical signal having a first modulation frequency and amplitude. The method also includes transmitting the first optical signal and a second optical signal from a first location to a sensor location. The method also includes modulating the second optical signal with a second modulation frequency and amplitude, the second modulation frequency and amplitude converted from the first optical signal. The method also includes comparing the first modulation frequency to the second modulation frequency to determine one of a phase difference and a time lag and calculating the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of the sensor and its immediate surroundings as a function of frequency.
US07877007B2 Omni-directional stereo camera and method of controlling thereof
An omni-directional stereo camera and a control method thereof. The omni-directional stereo camera includes two or more omni-directional cameras, and a supporting member installed within a shooting range between the omni-directional cameras to interconnect the omni-directional cameras and including compensation patterns formed at the surfaces.
US07877005B2 Commander flash apparatus and slave flash apparatus
A commander flash apparatus for use in a wireless flash system which continuously emits light from the commander flash apparatus, transmits from the commander flash apparatus to a slave flash apparatus the data corresponding to the emission time interval of the commander flash apparatus, and controls the flash emission of a slave flash apparatus includes: a data setting unit for setting emission control data for control of the emission of the slave flash apparatus and emission amount determination data for determination of an amount of emission of the slave flash apparatus as the transmission data; and a data transmission control unit for controlling the emission of the commander flash apparatus so that the emission time interval per bit of the digital data configuring the emission control data can be longer than the emission time interval per bit of the digital data configuring the emission amount determination data.
US07877004B2 Imaging apparatus and imaging method
An imaging apparatus is disclosed which analyzes image data of a subject acquired by an image pickup device to select an appropriate combination of exposure time, aperture, and exposure sensitivity upon shooting in order to perform exposure control. As an example of image data analysis methods, there is shown a method of detecting the movement of a characteristic point in an image, or a method of detecting luminance variations in a specific block or area in the image to detect the subject movement. As another exemplary method, a face of the subject is detected. The present invention can also be combined with a shake reduction mode.
US07877002B2 Reproduction device, program, and reproduction method
A BD-ROM playback apparatus for selecting and playing back one among text subtitle streams together with a moving picture. PSR 48-61 store Decode Capability flags whose set values indicate, for each language, whether or not a decode capability is present. Procedure executing unit 20 judges whether each text subtitle stream can be displayed, by referring to the set values of the flags. Stream selection unit 17 selects a text subtitle stream judged as being able to be decoded.
US07877001B2 Recording and reproducing apparatus and video and audio signal editing method therefor
A plurality of standard television broadcast programs recorded on a recording medium are selected. Video and audio signals of one of the selected plurality of standard television broadcast programs are reproduced. Markers are attached to a standard video-and-audio part of the reproduced video and audio signals of the one of the selected plurality of standard television broadcast programs. The standard video-and-audio part is registered. Video and audio signals of another one of the selected plurality of standard television broadcast programs are serially reproduced. The reproduced video and audio signals are compared with the standard video and audio signals of the registered standard video-and-audio part to thereby determine a video-and-audio part of the reproduced video and audio signals, which is substantially matched with the registered standard video-and-audio part.
US07876994B2 Optical fiber array
An optical fiber array is formed by including m number of optical fibers (where, m is a natural number other than 0), an optical fiber aligning member on a surface of which, at least m number of grooves are formed in parallel, and a cover. An end portion of the optical fiber is disposed in the groove of the optical fiber aligning member, and is held by the optical fiber aligning member and the cover. Furthermore, when being held by the optical fiber aligning member and the cover, by setting a line segment which has connected a point on an outer periphery in contact with the cover, of the optical fiber to be a straight line, the optical fiber is supported at three points by the groove and the cover. Moreover, by setting an angle of formation of the groove to be constant for all the grooves, and by setting arbitrarily a depth of the groove to differ, and by setting arbitrarily a cladding diameter of the optical fiber arranged in the groove, a line segment which has connected a center of each of the m number of optical fibers disposed in the groove is set to be an arbitrary non straight line shape.
US07876993B2 Drawer arrangement with rack and pinion
A cable management panel including chassis, a sliding drawer, and a rack and pinion arrangement. The rack and pinion arrangement including a first length of track located on an interior surface of the chassis, a second length of track provided on a drawer slide, and a gear that engages both the first track and the second track to control the movement of a sliding radius limiter mounted to the drawer.
US07876992B2 Drumless cable reel
Disclosed are disposable reels and assemblies for holding a cable, thereby aiding the craft in routing cables such as fiber optic drop cables. The reel has a first flange having at least one first tab and at least one first tab slot and a second flange having at least one second tab and at least one second tab slot. First flange is attached to the second flange to form the disposable reel by at least one first tab engaging at least one second tab slot and at least one second tab engaging the at least one first tab slot, thereby forming a hub for the disposable reel that has an accessible space therein. Additionally, fiber optic cable assemblies can further include a connector on one or more ends.
US07876991B2 Optical fiber
An optical fiber which reduces transmission loss increase even in a high humidity environment or under water is provided. To solve the above issue, an optical fiber according to the present invention comprises a glass optical fiber coated with at least two coating layers, soft and hard layers. The optical fiber is further coated by a colored resin to make a colored optical fiber. The hard layer and the color layer of the colored optical fiber have a free volume radius of at least 0.290 nm according to positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy.
US07876990B1 Low loss optical fiber
An optical waveguide fiber is provided that includes a core and a cladding, where the core includes an alpha profile, wherein alpha (α) is greater than 2.5 and less than 3.0. The core and the cladding provide a fiber with an attenuation of less than 0.331 dB/km at a wavelength of 1310 nm, an attenuation of less than 0.328 dB/km at a wavelength of 1383 nm, an attenuation of less than 0.270 dB/km at a wavelength of 1410 nm, and an attenuation of less than 0.190 dB/km at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Methods for producing the optical fiber are also provided.
US07876988B2 Optical fiber mounting waveguide device and method for fabricating same
An optical fiber mounting waveguide device and a method for fabricating the same, which provide a low optical connection loss and a high productivity. An under cladding layer (3u), a core (4), and an over cladding layer (3o) are sequentially formed on a substrate (8) to constitute an optical fiber mounting waveguide device (1). An optical fiber mounting groove (2) for mounting an optical fiber (6) is formed on the optical fiber mounting waveguide device (1). An end surface (3a) of the over cladding layer (3o) faces to the optical fiber mounting groove (2). The core (4) and the under cladding layer (3u) are projected toward the optical fiber mounting groove (2) with respect to the end surface (3a) of the over cladding layer (3o).
US07876986B2 Shared slab AWG circuits and systems
Planar AWG circuits and systems are disclosed that use air trench bends and shared MMI slabs to increase planar circuit compactness.
US07876983B2 Method and apparatus for a wavelength insensitive 90-degree hybrid device
Provided are a method and apparatus directed to hybrid electromagnetic processing devices. The apparatus includes a planar integrated optical device. The planar integrated optical device has at least one input optical waveguide, a free space optical region and a plurality of output optical waveguides. The optical waveguides end connecting to the free space optical region. The at least one input optical waveguide has an offset in a core thereof at joined ends of an input portion and an output portion of the at least one input optical waveguide.
US07876982B2 Surface temperature sensing system
A sensor apparatus for sensing parameters of an object may include at least one optical fiber, one or more attaching members and a tensioner. The one or more attaching members may be coupled to the optical fiber and may attach the one optical fiber to an object. The tensioner may be coupled to the optical fiber and may secure the one or more optical fiber against a surface of an object.
US07876981B2 Optical switch
An optical switch comprises a plurality of input ports and a plurality of out port ports; a plurality of displaceable optical elements for directing beams from a selected input to a selected output; wherein the number of displaceable elements substantially corresponds to either the number of input ports or the number of output ports.
US07876977B2 Image processor and method of image rotation
A method of rotating a digital image includes performing a first pass to process a selected image tile of a source image. The first pass includes copying a set of pixels of the selected image tile from a first memory to a processor memory, where the set of pixels comprises a portion of the selected image tile. The first pass further includes grouping the set of pixels into blocks of pixels and writing each of the blocks of pixels to a memory location. The method further includes repeating the first pass until each of the pixels of the selected image tile is processed, performing a second pass to process the blocks of pixels, and repeating the second pass until each of the blocks of pixels is processed. The second pass includes copying blocks of pixels, regrouping the blocks of pixels, and writing the regrouped pixels to a destination image location.
US07876975B2 Method for deriving noise statistical properties of a signal
The invention relates to a method for deriving noise statistical properties (NSP) for a signal (S) wherein first distorted noise statistical properties (DNSP) are derived from a distorted signal (DS). In addition the distorted noise statistical properties (DNSP) are subjected to a deconvolution/inversion process (S3) to thereby derive un-distorted noise statistical properties (NSP) for said underlying un-distorted signal (S).
US07876967B2 Icosahedral modified generalized balanced ternary and aperture 3 hexagon tree
A method for assigning path address-form location codes to objects represented using aperture 3 hexagon discrete global grid systems in both vector systems and bucket and raster systems in which hexagons in a first resolution are given a linear code and hexagons in subsequent finer resolutions have identifiers added to the linear code, the method iteratively applying the assigning step to further finer resolutions to a maximum resolution. In vector systems each hexagon has seven hexagons in a finer resolution and in raster and bucket systems each hexagon is assigned to be an open or closed generator class, an open generator creating a closed generator in a finer resolution, and a closed generator generating six open generator hexagons and a seventh closed generator hexagon.
US07876966B2 Switching between coding schemes
Methods and units are shown for supporting a switching from a first coding scheme to a Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT) based coding scheme calculating a forward or inverse MDCT with a window (h(n)) of a first type for a respective coding frame, which satisfies constraints of perfect reconstruction. To avoid discontinuities during the switching, it is proposed that for a transient frame immediately after a switching, a sequence of windows (h0(n),h1(n),h2(n)) is provided for the forward and the inverse MDCTs. The windows of the window sequence are shorter than windows of the first type. The window sequence splits the spectrum of a respective first coding frame into nearly uncorrelated spectral components when used as basis for forward MDCTs, and the second half of the last window (h2(n)) of the sequence of windows is identical to the second half of a window of the first type.
US07876958B2 System and method for decomposing a digital image
A system and method for decomposing a digital image is provided. A digital image is represented as a word-graph, which includes words and visualized features, and zone hypotheses that group one or more of the words. Causal dependencies of the zone hypotheses are expressed through a learned generative zone model to which costs and constraints are assigned. An optimal set of the zone hypotheses are inferred, which are non-overlapping, through a heuristic search of the costs and constraints.
US07876955B2 Image processing system which calculates and displays color grade data and display image data
An image processing system is used for dentistry. Upon creating a false tooth of a patient (59), a plurality of illuminating light of LEDs with different wavelengths emit light and a photographing apparatus (1A) photographs a tooth portion of the patient (59), thereby obtaining image data. The image data is sent to a dentistry filing system (2A) serving as a processing apparatus, and color reproducing data is obtained by calculation. The color reproducing data is sent to a dentistry factory (55) via a public line. Data is searched from a database (56) for calculating a ceramic compounding ratio, compound data of the ceramic false tooth is obtained, matching the color of the tooth portion of the patient (59), and the false tooth approximate to the tooth color of the patient (59) is created.
US07876954B2 Method and device for generating a disparity map from stereo images and stereo matching method and device therefor
For stereo matching, edge images are extracted from stereo images. An edge mask matching an edge form of a window relating to a reference edge pixel is searched for from among predefined edge masks mapped to predefined edge forms capable of appearing within a predetermined size window having a center of the reference edge pixel among edge pixels of a reference edge image of the edge images. Among edge pixels of a search edge image of the edge images, an edge pixel located at a center of a window having an edge form matching the searched edge mask is searched for and is set to a corresponding edge pixel mapped to a corresponding point with respect to the reference edge pixel. Among the edge pixels of the reference edge image, the reference edge pixel is used to currently search for the corresponding edge pixel from the search edge image.
US07876951B2 Machine for inspecting glass containers
A machine for inspecting the finish of a glass container rotating at an inspection station. A pair of light sources, which are repeatedly turned on and off, have horizontal light axes which are orthogonally related and intersect the container axis. The light sources illuminate the container finish to identify checks. The illuminated checks are imaged by a camera which has a camera axis coincident with the container axis and the intersecting light axes. The camera axis makes an angle of 45 degrees with both light axes and the horizontal. The camera is exposed through multiple images.
US07876948B2 System for creating microscopic digital montage images
An imaging apparatus. The imaging apparatus may find an area in which a specimen is present, then focus on the specimen and capture images of the specimen during continuous stage motion.
US07876942B2 System and method for optical position measurement and guidance of a rigid or semi-flexible tool to a target
A system for measuring the position of a hand-held tool relative to a body in six degrees of freedom employs a camera attached via a mechanical linkage to the tool so that the camera moves together with the proximal portion of the tool and has a field of view including the distal end of the tool. A processing system processes images from the camera to determine a position of at least part of the tool. By employing optically identifiable fiducial reference points defined on the external surface of the body, a projection of the tool tip position onto a plane containing the target can be derived and displayed together with the target position, thereby facilitating guiding the tool to the target.
US07876934B2 Method of database-guided segmentation of anatomical structures having complex appearances
A method for segmenting an anatomical structure of interest within an image is disclosed. The anatomical structure of interest is compared to a database of images of like anatomical structures. Those database images of like anatomical structures that are similar to the anatomical structure of interest are identified. The identified database images are used to detect the anatomical structure of interest in the image. The identified database images are also used to determine the shape of the anatomical structure of interest. The anatomical structure of interest is segmented from the image.
US07876931B2 Face recognition system and method
A method of automatically recognizing a human face includes developing a three-dimensional model of a face; and generating a number of two-dimensional images based on the three-dimensional model. The generated two-dimensional images are then enrolled in a database and searched against an input image to identifying the face of the input image.
US07876929B2 Personal identification device
A thin personal identification device that in which the infrared light source, transmission light quantity control element array, and light receiving element array are positioned on the same side of a living body. A microcomputer controls the array to combine a first image, which is obtained from the living body when one region of the living body is radiated with light transmitted from the infrared light source, with a second image, which is obtained when another region of the living body is radiated, and identifies a person in accordance with the combined image.
US07876928B2 Method and device for authenticating a person, and computer product
In a personal authentication device, a storing unit of each group stores therein biometric information of the persons belonging to that group. When a subject is to be authenticated, an acquiring unit acquires subject biometric information that is biometric information of the subject. A collating unit decides whether the subject is authentic based on whether there is a match for the subject biometric information in the biometric information in the storing unit. If the subject is determined to be not authentic, the subject biometric information is collated with biometric information in the storing unit of another group.
US07876924B1 Robust diaphragm for an acoustic device
A rigid, flat plate diaphragm for an acoustic device is illustrated. The internal supporting structure of the diaphragm provides a combination of torsional and translational stiffeners, which resemble a number of crossbars. These stiffeners brace and support the diaphragm motion, thus causing its response to not be adversely affected by fabrication stresses and causing it to be very similar in dynamic response to an ideal flat plate operating in a frequency range that extends well beyond the audible.
US07876918B2 Method and device for processing an acoustic signal
For reducing wind noise effects in a hearing instrument, a converted acoustic signal is processed in a number of frequency bands, a low frequency band of which is chosen to be a master band. A wind noise attenuation value is determined in each frequency band, based on a signal level in the frequency band concerned and on a signal level in the master band. A further wind noise reducing effect may be achieved in hearing instruments with at least two microphones where in the presence of wind noise the instrument may be switched from a directional mode to a omnidirectional mode in which an average of the output signals of the two microphones is used as signal. In single microphone hearing instruments, the microphone signal and a delayed version of this signal are used to improve wind noise detection and reduction.
US07876915B2 Audio apparatus having tuner unit and digital reproducing unit
An audio apparatus comprises a tuner for receiving broadcast waves; a digital reproducing unit; operation switches for operating the tuner and the digital reproducing unit; and a control unit for controlling the tuner and the digital reproducing unit in response to an operation of the operation means. In a first mode of operation, the control unit controls if an audio signal from the tuner is selected as a source such that the power of the digital reproducing unit is turned on, and wherein, in a second mode operation, the control unit controls if an audio signal from the tuner is selected as a source such that the power of the digital reproducing unit is turned off, alternatively if an audio signal from the digital reproducing unit is selected as a source, the power thereof is turned on.
US07876911B2 Headphone driver and methods for use therewith
A headphone driver includes a driver module for generating a plurality of headphone driver signals including a filtered stereo sum signal.
US07876905B2 Multichannel spectral mapping audio apparatus and method
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio.
US07876901B2 Alternative design for quantum cryptographic entangling probe
An alternative design is given for an optimized quantum cryptographic entangling probe for attacking the BB84 protocol of quantum key distribution. The initial state of the probe has a simpler analytical dependence on the set error rate to be induced by the probe than in the earlier design. The new device yields maximum information to the probe for a full range of induced error rates. As in the earlier design, the probe contains a single CNOT gate which produces the optimum entanglement between the BB84 signal states and the correlated probe states.
US07876900B1 Hybrid scrambled transmission coding
In one embodiment, a hybrid backplane coding scheme transmits data using lengthy sequences of scrambled data, separated by 8b/10b control character sequences that prepare the receiver for the next scrambled sequence and permit realignment if necessary. Advantageously, the sender of the scrambled data can be changed during the control character sequence. The hybrid backplane coding scheme can be designed such that the power spectral density of scrambled data and control character sequences are similar, which permits good performance with high-speed electrical differential receivers. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US07876896B2 RTP payload format
A data stream is encrypted to form encryption units that are packetized into RTP packets. Each RTP packet includes an RTP packet header, one or more payloads of a common data stream, and a RTP payload format header for each payload and including, for the corresponding encryption units, a boundary for the payload. The payload can be one or more of the encryption units or a fragment of one of the encryption units. The encryption units are reassembled the using the payloads in the RTP packets and the respective boundary in the respective RTP payload format header. The reassembled of encryption units are decrypted for rendering. Each RTP payload format header can have attributes for the corresponding payload that can be used to render the payload. The RTP packets can be sent server-to-client or peer-to-peer.
US07876894B2 Method and system to provide security implementation for storage devices
In one embodiment, method that can be performed on a system, is provided to security implementations for storage devices. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a separate encryption seed for each of a plurality of separate addressable blocks of a non-volatile storage device, wherein a common encryption method is to encrypt data to be stored on the plurality of separate addressable blocks. In one embodiment, the storage device is a portable storage device. In one embodiment, encryption seed is an Initialization Vector (IV). In one embodiment, the encryption seeds comprise at least one of a media serial number and a logical block address corresponding to the respective block of the non-volatile storage device. In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises storing at least a part of the separate encryption seed of the separate blocks of the non-volatile storage device within the respective blocks of the storage device.
US07876892B1 Multiple echo cancellation using a fixed filter delay
There is provided a method for use by an echo canceller to cancel a far echo at a variable delay and a near echo at a fixed delay. The method comprises constructing an echo signal model based on an incoming signal, determining a variable echo delay for a far echo caused by a far echo source, determining a fixed echo delay for a near echo caused by a near echo source, subtracting the echo signal model from an outgoing signal at a window placed around the variable echo delay to cancel far echo, e.g. when the echo canceller determines existence of the far echo, and subtracting the echo signal model from the outgoing signal at a window placed around the fixed echo delay to cancel near echo, e.g. regardless of existence of the near echo, wherein the fixed echo delay is smaller than the variable echo delay.
US07876890B2 Method for coordinating co-resident teleconferencing endpoints to avoid feedback
A method of controlling teleconference signals includes receiving, at a teleconference bridge, endpoint-generated audio signals from each of a plurality of participating endpoints arranged at a plurality of locations. At least two of the participating endpoints are acoustically collocated at one of the locations. A bridge-generated audio signal is generated for each of the participating endpoints based on a set of signals. The set of signals includes all of the endpoint-generated signals received at the teleconference bridge, exclusive of the endpoint-generated signals transmitted to the bridge from each of the acoustically collocated endpoints.
US07876889B2 Automated calling system for conference calls
A method and system are provided in which teleconference calls are scheduled in advance and, at an appropriate predetermined time, calls are automatically made to the designated participants of the conference calls thereby avoiding the need for the participants to call into a teleconference center. In a preferred embodiment, when teconferences are scheduled, the telecon participants are designated and their phone numbers are input or otherwise determined, for example, through access to a centralized database. A calendar is monitored and at a predetermined time relative to the scheduled start of the telecon, a server system application initiates the calling of the participants for connection to the telecon. The system may be configured to require participants to enter a password before the connection is completed. The status of the called participants is determined and displayed on individual display devices of the other participants in the telecon. In one example, designated participants are called back at selected intervals if the initial automated call is unanswered.
US07876887B2 Selectively adding a third party to a collect call
Prior to establishing a collect call, the called party agrees to pay an additional fee for any three-way call that may be established during the proposed collect call. If during the collect call, the called party attempts to add a third party to the collect call, a call processing system determines whether the third party's phone number is blocked from accepting a collect call. If the third party's phone number is blocked from accepting a collect call, the number will be dialed in an attempt to establish a three-way call. If the third person's phone number is not blocked from accepting a collect call, the called party to the original collect call will be advised that the phone number entered is not eligible for three-ways calling during the collect call, and the parties to the original collect call will be reconnected. If the original collect call originates from a custodial facility, the call processing system may additionally verify that that the original calling party is not disallowed from dialing any entered number, including the original called party's phone number and any subsequent third party's phone number that may be entered by the original called party, prior to the call processing system dialing said number(s). Service providers, by selectively allowing a three-way call during a collect call, to add a third party whose phone line is blocked from accepting a collect call, will earn revenues from communications that may never otherwise take place.
US07876886B2 Method and apparatus to provide pay-per-call performance based advertising
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method. The method includes assigning a unique telephone number to an advertiser; providing an advertisement on a media channel on behalf of the advertiser, the advertisement including one of the unique telephone number and a reference to the unique telephone number; monitoring telephone calls to the unique telephone number; and billing the advertiser for telephone calls to the unique telephone number in accordance with a predefined model.
US07876884B2 Concrete radiography
An improved way of using radiographic imagery to capture internal characteristics of a concrete structure, wherein radiographic film is placed on one side of the concrete structure and X-rays are transmitted towards the film from the other side. A target which is selectively radiographically impervious may be interposed to generate location or guidance indicia on the film. The target may itself be non-symmetric, such as being L-shaped, or alternatively or in addition, the location indicia may be non-symmetrically located on the target or alternatively, may be arrayed about the circumference of the target similar to numerals of a clock face. Imagery resulting from radiographic imagery may or may not display inclusions and other anomalies of the concrete structure.
US07876882B2 Automated software system for beam angle selection in teletherapy
A novel approach to generating radiation treatment plans through a nested partitions framework provides an optimization of radiation delivery. The nested partitions approach couples beam angle selection and dose optimization to solve treatment planning problems. An optimal beam angle selection is provided to best treat tumors, while minimizing exposure to the surrounding healthy tissues.
US07876881B2 Linear accelerator with wide bore CT scanner
A system according to some embodiments may include a treatment head to emit a megavoltage radiation beam toward a volume, a plurality of X-ray sources to emit a respective kilovoltage radiation beam toward the volume while the plurality of X-ray sources are substantially stationary with respect to the volume, a detector to receive the plurality of kilovoltage radiation beams after having passed through the volume, and a processor to generate a three-dimensional image of the volume based only on the plurality of kilovoltage radiation beams received by the detector while the plurality of X-ray sources were substantially stationary with respect to the volume.
US07876880B2 Single boom cargo scanning system
The inspection methods and systems of the present invention are mobile, rapidly deployable, and capable of scanning a wide variety of receptacles cost-effectively and accurately on uneven surfaces. The present invention is directed toward a portable inspection system for generating an image representation of target objects using a radiation source, comprising a mobile vehicle, a detector array physically attached to a movable boom having a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is physically attached to the vehicle. The invention also comprises at least one source of radiation. The radiation source is fixedly attached to the distal end of the boom, wherein the image is generated by introducing the target objects in between the radiation source and the detector array, exposing the objects to radiation, and detecting radiation.
US07876872B2 Reactor power control apparatus of natural circulation reactor and method for controlling reactor power of natural circulation reactor
In the present invention, a reactor power control apparatus of a natural circulation reactor comprises a reactor pressure vessel which circulates cooling water using the density difference of the coolant inside, a feed water pipe which is connected to the reactor pressure vessel and supplies cooling water, a power control section which controls the reactor power using a control rod. The feed water pipe has an ultrasonic thermometer sensor. Driving of the control rod is controlled by the power control section based on the feed water temperature detected by the feed water thermometer. The reactor power control apparatus can detect the temperature of the feed water and perform drive control of the control rod preferentially, and obtain stable reactor power.
US07876870B2 Data streaming for non-DMA digital computing devices
High-speed data streams are exchanged between two digital computing devices one or both of which lacks DMA. Data transfers are performed by the devices using High-Level Datalink Control (HDLC) frames. An initiating device indicates that it wishes to exchange data with the other device by sending an HDLC frame with data stream indentification and other information. The initial HDLC frame is sufficiently short that at least an essential portion of the frame can be stored in a receive buffer of the interface circuitry. Although the receiving device may not receive the entire HDLC frame correctly because of the possibility of an overrun condition, enough information is preserved in the interface circuitry to complete the transaction. The responding device then proceeds to read or write data at high speed using a series of exchanges with the initiating device.
US07876861B2 Methods, apparatus, and systems for determining 1T state metric differences in an nT implementation of a viterbi decoder
Methods, apparatus, and systems for generating bit-wise reliability information using a soft output Viterbi algorithm (“SOVA”) in an nT Viterbi decoder implementation devoid of 1T metric information. At each nT clock pulse 1T equivalent metric values are determined from the current nT metric information. 1T equivalent metric information is determined as values that sum to the corresponding nT metric information. Subtraction is then used to determine state metric difference information from the 1T equivalent metric values. The state metric difference information may then be used to estimate log likelihood ratio information for use in the SOVA algorithm to determine bit-wise reliability information.
US07876860B1 Enhancements of soft decoders and detectors on asymmetric channels
Systems and methods for enhancing soft decoders and detectors on asymmetric channels are provided. The methods include acquiring log-likelihood ratios (LLRS) for error-correction code (ECC) encoded data symbols, selecting a quality measure function and a quality threshold based on the LLRs, applying the selected quality measure function to the LLRs to obtain quality measures, comparing the quality measures to the selected quality threshold, and updating the LLRs for selected ECC encoded data symbols based on the comparisons. The updating may occur by multiplying the LLRs for the selected ECC encoded data symbols by a selected scaling factor.
US07876857B2 Data receiving apparatus
A data receiving apparatus which makes it possible to obtain reliable received data during EOP period and a preceding period, and which makes it possible to receive serial data in a reliable manner. Data receiving apparatus 100 is provided with receiving comparator 102 which has first signal line 101a and second signal line 101b for differential input; NOR circuit 105 that outputs a logical output, as a trigger signal, at the time the first signal and the second signal have changed from out-of-phase to in-phase; and D-FF circuit 107 that retrieves, by means of a trigger signal from NOR circuit 105, and holds an output RCV of receiving comparator 102; wherein selection circuit 108 selects the output of receiving comparator 102, when the first signal of first signal line 101a and the second signal of second signal line 101b are out-of-phase with each other, and outputs, as received data, a value held in D-FF circuit, when the first signal and the second signal have changed from out-of-phase to in-phase.
US07876854B2 High data rate closed loop MIMO scheme combining transmit diversity and data multiplexing
Closed loop multiple-antenna wireless communications system with antenna weights determined by maximizing a composite channel signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio minimum. Multiplexed symbol streams over subsets of antennas enhance throughout.
US07876853B2 Phase error de-glitching circuit and method of operating
A system including a phase comparator to compare a first signal and a second signal to generate a phase error signal, and a controller to generate an adjusted phase error signal from the phase error signal in response to an amplitude of at least one of the first signal and the second signal.
US07876852B2 Modulator device for generating an optical transfer signal modulated by binary signal
According to the invention, a very narrow-band transfer signal (LS) is generated by serially connecting a frequency modulator (2) and an amplitude modulator (4). The frequency modulator (2) is operated at a modulation index which at least largely suppresses the carrier signal (TS) while the amplitude modulator (4) suppresses the broadband portion of the spectrum by fading out the transfer signal (LS) during frequency-shift keying.
US07876848B2 Apparatus and method for transmitting a data stream in a wireless communication system with multiple antennas
An apparatus and method for determining a transmission unit for data stream transmission in a wireless communication system in which multiple transmission and reception antennas are used and a receiver provides information on a data stream to be transmitted through a transmission unit. A fading estimator calculates fading values from the multiple transmission antennas to the multiple reception antennas. A channel quality estimator reverse-orders combined weights for multiple transmission units based on the fading values from the multiple transmission antennas to the multiple reception antennas, successively selects transmission units for data stream transmission among the reverse-ordered transmission units, determines a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for each of the selected transmission units, and feeds back the MCS to a transmitter.
US07876847B2 Global minimum-based MLD demapping for soft-output MIMO detection
A method for generating soft bit values for a multi-bit symbol encoded in one or more received signals comprises (a) for a plurality of different combinations of multiple bit values, iteratively generating, for each combination, a metric value based on the one or more received signals. The method further comprises (b) for each iteration, maintaining (i) a global extremum register containing a global extremum of the metric values; (ii) a bit occupancy for the global extremum register; and (iii) a plurality of bit bk registers, one for each bit bk in the symbol. Each bit bk register contains an extremum of the metric values corresponding to combinations of multiple bit values whose bit bk value is opposite the bit bk value of the bit occupancy for the global extremum register. The method further comprises (c) generating, for each bit bk in the symbol, a soft bit value based on a difference between the value in the global extremum register and the value in the corresponding bit bk register.
US07876842B2 Multicarrier transmission method, multicarrier modulation signal transmission apparatus, multicarrier modulation signal reception apparatus, multicarrier modulation signal transmission method, and pilot signal generation method
In a transmitter, at least one pilot carrier which is modulated with a signal sequence including a reference pilot signal sequence represented by any of amplitude modulation vectors {α, α, −α, −α}, {α, −α, −α, α}, {−α, α, α, −α}, and {−α, −α, α, α} where α represents a real number other than 0, is generated, and an OFDM/OQAM multicarrier modulation signal is transmitted. In a receiver, the OFDM/OQAM multicarrier modulation signal is demodulated, and transmission channel characteristics are estimated and corrected based on two successive demodulation vectors in a time direction which are obtained by demodulating the pilot carrier.
US07876840B2 Wireless communication methods, systems, and signal structures
Systems and methods for performing OFDM MIMO communications are provided. These include a frame structure; methods of combining various types of MIMO such as STTD and SM; sub-channel definitions; sub-FFT channel constructions; fast control channels; additional modulations; and group antenna transmit diversity; new incremental redundancy schemes.
US07876835B2 Channel equalizer and method of processing broadcast signal in DTV receiving system
A channel equalizer includes a first transformer, an estimator, an average calculator, a second transformer, a coefficient calculator, a compensator, and a third transformer. The first transformer converts normal data into frequency domain data, where a known data sequence is periodically repeated in the normal data. The estimator estimates channel impulse responses (CIR) during known data intervals adjacent to each normal data block. The average calculator calculates an average value of the CIRs. The second transformer converts the average value into frequency domain data. The coefficient calculator calculates equalization coefficients using the average value, and the compensator compensates channel distortion of each normal data block using the coefficients. The third transformer converts the compensated data block into time domain data.
US07876833B2 Method and apparatus for adaptive up-scaling for spatially scalable coding
Adaptive up-sample filtering is used to improve compression efficiency of spatially scalable coding systems by more effectively predicting the high-resolution (enhanced-layer) video (or image) from the low-resolution lower-layer video (or image). Different up-sample filters adaptive to local image properties are selectively used for different portions of a low resolution frame to generate a better up-sampled image. Selection between different up-sample filters is determined by a variety of different information available to both the encoder and decoder. In one embodiment, the up-sample filters are selected by the encoder and then explicitly identified to the decoder. Other techniques are then used to minimize the cost of transmitting the up-sample filter identifiers. In alternative embodiments, the encoder and decoder independently make up-sample filters selections.
US07876830B2 Video encoder and decoder for achieving inter-and intra-frame predictions with reduced memory resource
A video encoder is composed of a DC/AC prediction unit performing DC/AC prediction, a motion vector prediction unit performing motion vector prediction, and a memory. The memory is accessible from both of the DC/AC prediction unit and the motion vector prediction unit.
US07876829B2 Motion compensation image coding device and coding method
The present invention provides a technology that is implemented in a motion compensation image coding device or a coding method and intended to code motion picture data in real time by performing a decreased number of arithmetic operations so as to determine a motion vector. In motion compensation image coding, macroblocks and sub-blocks into which each of the macroblocks is divided are searched for a motion vector with integer pixel precision. Based on the results of the search, a shape of a block that should be searched for a motion vector with decimal pixel precision is determined as a shape mode. The block of the shape mode is searched for a motion vector with decimal pixel precision, whereby a motion vector needed to produce predictive image data is determined.
US07876825B2 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.
US07876823B2 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.
US07876820B2 Method and system for subband encoding and decoding of an overcomplete representation of the data structure
A bit stream representing n-dimensional data structures may be encoded and decoded. A part of the data can be mappable within predefined similarity criteria to a part of the data of another data structure. The similarity criteria may include, a spatial or temporal shift of the data. The data structures are typically sequential video frames such as is used in motion estimation and/or compensation of moving pictures, and a part of the data structure may be a block of data within a frame. The shift may be any suitable shift such as linear translation, rotation, or change of size. Digital filtering may be applied to a reference or other frame of data to generate subbands of a set of subbands of an overcomplete representation of the frame by calculations performed at single rate. The digital filtering may be implemented in a separate filter module or in software.
US07876818B2 Image encoding device and image decoding device
Multiplexing means of an image encoding device multiplexes object display speed information or image display absolute time information, and an image decoding device performs image processing on the basis of the multiplexed object display speed information or image display absolute time information, whereby image decoding process can be performed smoothly and accurately.
US07876814B2 Modem card configured to compensate for power supply
A modem card includes a connector configured to be detachably connected to a computer. The card also includes electronics configured to be powered by a power supply located in the computer and to transmit wireless signals to a communications network at a transmit power. The electronics are configured to vary the transmit power such that the transmit power does not exceed a maximum transmit power. Increases in the transmit power cause a drop in the voltage of the power. The electronics are also configured to determine an adjusted maximum transmit power. The adjusted maximum transmit power is a transmit power at which the signals can be transmitted to the communications system without the voltage dropping below a shut-down voltage. The electronics are also configured to reduce the value of the maximum transmit power to a value that that is less than or equal to the value for the adjusted maximum transmit power.
US07876812B2 Transmission of multiple independent signals over a communication link
A system for transmitting a plurality of independent data signals between two modules connected to a communication link is provided. The communication link may be a two lead wired connection. A first data signal may be transmitted in form of a differential signal over the communication link. A second data signal may be transmitted between both connected modules by adding the second data signal identically to both leads of the communication link. The second data signal references a ground potential which is common to both connected modules.
US07876808B2 Method and apparatus for adaptive noise and/or signal filtering in an HSDPA channel quality indicator (CQI) selection
Methods and systems for processing signals in a wireless communication system are disclosed. Aspects of the method may include estimating at a receiver, a rate at which a communication channel changes. A length of a filter used to average a noise power estimate and/or a signal power estimate may be adaptively changed based on the estimation of the rate at which the communication channel changes. The communication channel may comprise a common pilot channel (CPICH). At least a portion of a wireless signal received via the communication channel may be descrambled at the receiver to generate a plurality of descrambled bits. At least a portion of the plurality of descrambled bits may be accumulated to generate at least one in-phase (I) component and at least one quadrature (Q) component.
US07876807B2 Asymmetry technique for multipath mitigation in pseudorandom noise ranging receiver
This invention is directed to a method for estimating and compensating for multipath errors in a pseudorandom noise ranging receiver. The method exploits the asymmetry of the correlation function and proportionately relates it to the magnitude of multipath error. In a pseudorandom noise ranging receiver, the correlation function is obtained by generating the local pseudorandom noise sequences at different programmed non-uniform phases resulting in non-uniformly spaced correlators. Numerically controlled oscillators, code generators and shift registers are programmed to determine the correlation values at non-uniformly distributed points on a correlation function. Curve fitting is undertaken to determine the code phase at which the correlation function peaks. A proportionality constant is applied to the measure of asymmetry of the correlation function to determine the multipath error in the pseudorandom noise signal. A filter is used to detect and eliminate outliers.
US07876805B2 Dynamic compensator for controlling stresses on fiber in fiber optic cables
A dynamic compensator for a fiber optic cable having a jacket which is centered along a longitudinal axis, an elongated buffer tube surrounded by the jacket, and an elongated fiber surrounded by the buffer tube and dimensioned to move radially inwards and outwards within the buffer tube. The dynamic compensator includes a cable holder configured to receive and loop a portion of the fiber optic cable so that when the jacket elongates, the fiber extending along the loop is displaced radially inwards so as to release stresses upon end portions of the fiber, and when the jacket shrinks, the fiber is displaced radially outward to increase stresses upon the end portions of the fiber.
US07876802B2 High gain tapered laser gain module
The present invention describes an optically end-pumped laser gain module, comprising a gain medium which is pumped by a light beam that has a larger size on the input face of the medium than on its output face.
US07876801B2 Surface-emitting type semiconductor laser
A surface-emitting type semiconductor laser includes: a lower mirror; an active layer formed above the lower mirror; an upper mirror formed above the active layer; and a lens section formed above the upper mirror, wherein n1>n, where λ is a design wavelength, n1 is a refractive index of a topmost layer of the upper mirror with respect to light of the design wavelength, and n is a refractive index of the lens section with respect to light of the design wavelength, the lens section has a thickness of λ/2n at an anti-node of the zeroth order resonance mode component among light resonating in the active layer, and the lens section has a thickness of λ/4n at at least a portion of an anti-node of the first order resonance mode component among the light resonating in the active layer.
US07876799B2 Integrated semiconductor optical device
A semiconductor laser (a first semiconductor optical device) and an optical modulator (a second semiconductor optical device) are integrated on the same n-type InP substrate. The semiconductor laser butt-joined to the optical modulator. Each of the semiconductor laser and the optical modulator has a Be-doped p-type InGaAs contact layer. The p-type InGaAs contact layers have a Be-doping concentration of 7×1018 cm−3 or more, and a thickness of 300 nm or less.
US07876797B2 Apparatus and method for measurement of dynamic laser signals
A system contains a laser output measurement circuit used in a laser control system (210). The circuits contain a photodiode (109), sample and hold amplifier (202), IC with synchronizer and delay circuits (206), and an analog to digital converter (204). The circuits measure the laser light output (107) while the laser Module (106) transmits signals. The measurement circuit tracks and stores the laser light output (107) signal using a Photodiode Sensor (109) and with a Sample/hold (202). The methods calculate the value of the laser light output (107) from mathematical relationships, which correlate the light output (107) of the laser Module (106) to the current value of the drive signal (100). Some of the distinguishing features in the present invention are 1) feedback information from the photodiode is obtained in a synchronous manner as a snapshot of the laser performance, and 2) the measurements are precise and calibrated, and 3) no disruption of the signal transmission occurs.
US07876785B2 Transport of aggregated client packets
The invention relates to a method for transmitting one or more client signals via a packet transport network. According to the method, packets of the one or more client signals are received at an ingress node of the network. Timing information characterizing the timing of the received packets is determined and the received packets are mapped into a container. The container and the timing information are transmitted via the network. At an egress node of the network, the packets are extracted from the container and the packets are timed for further transmission based on the transmitted timing information.
US07876784B1 Methods and apparatus for providing receivers for use in superposition coded multi-user systems
Methods and apparatus provide low-complexity receivers for use in superposition coded multi-user systems. In a downlink scenario, a superposition coded signal that includes data unique to first and second users is compared with every permutation of the bit positions of the transmitted signal. The values of the received signal that are nearest to the transmitted signal are located to extract the data unique to the first user. In an uplink scenario, a superposition coded signal that includes data unique to the first and second users is compared with every permutation of the bit positions of transmitted signals corresponding to the first and the second users. The values of the received signal that are nearest to the transmitted signal corresponding to the first user are located to extract the data unique to the first user simultaneously with the extraction of the data unique to the second user.
US07876783B2 Method for transmitting and receiving a message using a mobile communication terminal
A method for enhancing a message service of a mobile communication terminal is described. When combining messages, a method for transmitting a message using a mobile communication terminal includes selecting messages stored in a mobile communication terminal; combining the selected messages into at least one message using a predetermined specifier; and sending the combined message to a destination device. In addition, when separating a message, a method for receiving a message from a mobile communication terminal includes selecting a message from a first message box of a destination device; separating the selected message into a plurality of messages; and associating the separated messages with a second message box of the destination device.
US07876782B2 Method for setting user equipment identifier in radio communication system
The present invention is directed to a method for setting a user equipment identifier as user equipment identification information used when data received through a dedicated logical channel is transmitted through a common transport channel. The method includes transmitting data and a message type indicator as user equipment identification information from a RRC layer to an RLC layer; setting a user equipment identifier indicator according to the received message type indicator in the RLC layer and transmitting it with the data to a MAC layer; and selecting a user equipment identifier type and a user equipment identifier according to the set user equipment indication identifier, adding it to a header of a MAC SDU in the MAC layer and transmitting it to a corresponding MAC layer in a receiving device.
US07876779B2 Controller and adapters to enable unlike device integration
A device that schedules the transmission of information between system components, paired with different data adapters, allows for a system that can transmit data between unlike devices. The system focuses on allowing electronic devices to be used in more facets than the intended application. A user is able to hook up multiple source devices including computers, cable boxes, heating systems, et. al. and interact with them on different output devices. Based on the output device television, speakers, monitors, et. al. and the control device, i.e. a remote, keyboard, Wii Mote™, et. al. the interaction with the source device will be tailored to provide the most natural interaction. This will also allow unlike devices to be used together in order to create a synergistic effect.
US07876778B2 Packet transfer apparatus
A packet transfer apparatus connects two networks of different protocols. The packet transfer apparatus, connected to a first communication network and a second communication network, performs the steps of: storing first destination correspondence information; receiving a packet of the first communication protocol; based on the first destination correspondence information, determining destination information of a packet of the second communication protocol corresponding to destination information of the received packet of the first communication protocol; generating the header of the packet of the second communication protocol, based on the determined destination information of the packet of the second communication protocol; converting the received one or more packets of the first communication protocol into one or more packets of the third communication protocol; and adding the generated header of the packet of the second communication protocol to the packets of the third communication protocol.
US07876767B2 Network combining wired and non-wired segments
A local area network (60) within a residence or other building, including both wired (5) and non-wired segments (53). The wired segments are based on new or existing wires (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e) in the building, wherein access to the wires is provided by means of outlets (61a, 61d), such as a telephone system, electrical power distribution system, or cable television wiring system. The non-wired segments are based on communication using propagated waves such as radio, sound, or light (e.g. infrared). The wired and non-wired segments interface in the outlet, using a module (50) that serves as mediator between the segments. The module can be integrated into the outlet, partially housed in the outlet, or attached externally to the outlet. Such a network allows for integrated communication of data units (24b) connected by wires and data units (24a, 24d) connected without wires.
US07876762B2 Ethernet service configuration device, method, and system in passive optical network
An Ethernet service configuration device, method, and system in a passive optical network (PON) are provided. The device includes a PON protocol processing module, an Ethernet module, and at least one service module based on Ethernet which are sequentially connected. The Ethernet module includes a media access control (MAC) bridge port configuration data management entity (ME) and an Ethernet service termination point ME connected with each other. The service module based on Ethernet includes at least one non-Ethernet service functional termination point ME correlated with the Ethernet service termination point ME. According to the device, method, and system, the coupling between Ethernet service configuration and all kinds of service and/or device configurations based on Ethernet is reduced, which is propitious to the ONT maintenance and modularization configuration.
US07876758B2 Method and apparatus for improved voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) transmission in a digital network
Voice services are provided in a network node of a digital networking system. A service signal is provided to at least one user device. One or more voice packets are received from the at least one user device. The one or more voice packets are processed, and transmitted to one or more destinations determined in the packet processing.
US07876756B2 Packet transmitting method, relay node and receiving node
A packet transmitting method wherein an explicit multicast packet can be transmitted with the consumption of communication bands of broadcast media being suppressed. According to this method, a link level multicast is used to transmit an explicit multicast packet only to next hop nodes that, even when receiving the explicit multicast packet through the link level multicast, will not output the same packet to the broadcast media, while a unicast is used to transmit an explicit multicast packet to the other next hop nodes.
US07876754B2 Methods and arrangements for monitoring subsource addressing multicast distribution trees
Methods and arrangements for monitoring at least one interconnection between at least two nodes in a distributed network. At least one subscriber node is prompted to ascertain the integrity of an interconnection with at least one parent node.
US07876744B2 Method for collect call service based on VoIP technology and system thereof
One embodiment of the present invention provides a collect call method and system thereof, more particularly, in order to charge the called party with a uniform toll for collect call, which is determined by only the type and location of called party terminal. In one embodiment, the collect call method, system and a counsel service providing method use a free VoIP network for part of the voice call link and a charge PSTN network for the rest of the voice call link. In one embodiment, if the first link corresponding to the collect call request is established, the collect call switch calls the called party terminal to establish the second link, and billing on the second link is initiated.
US07876743B2 Conversational bearer negotiation
A method of setting up a session between peer user terminals of a communication system, wherein at least one of the user terminals is a dual-mode terminal having access to both an IP-based packet-switched access network and a circuit-switched access network, and the session extends at least in part across the circuit-switched access network. One of the user terminals initiates the session by sending Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling to a SIP server over the IP-based network. The SIP server sends a notification to a gateway server to establish one or more conversational bearers. The gateway server then sends a callback telephone number to the dual-mode terminal. The dual-mode terminal then calls the callback number to establish a circuit-switched session with the gateway server.
US07876739B2 Method for resolving collision of uplink signals
A method for processing data in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving a first uplink scheduling command indicating a first radio resource, receiving a second uplink scheduling command indicating a second radio resource through a random access response, and stopping a procedure associated with the second uplink scheduling command when the first radio resource and the second radio resource collide.
US07876730B2 Mobile radio communication system, communication apparatus applied in a mobile radio communication system, and mobile radio communication method
In the mobile radio communication system where the UMTS and an another system coexist an idle slot for observing the frequency component of another system is inserted in one superframe of UMTS. The duration of this idle slot is at most half of the duration of one frame that form the superframe and it is inserted at an interval of a specified number of frames. Therefore, the frequency component of the another system can be observed securely from the UMTS. Further, the deterioration of interleaving performance of the compressed mode frames during such observation can be suppressed.
US07876725B2 Wireless communication system for enabling communication between a mobile device and a network device
A network controller for facilitating roaming of a mobile wireless communications device between access points communicates with at least one access point over a wired network which, in turn, communicate with a mobile wireless communications device over a wireless network. The network controller includes a data processing system including a protocol stack that facilitates a communication session between the mobile device and a network device on the wired network, and a session table identifying session information for each said communication session. The session information identifies the current access point with which the mobile device is currently associated. The protocol stack updates the session table from session information received from the current access point, maintains a first virtual circuit with the network device, maintains a second virtual circuit with the current access point, and bridges communication between the virtual circuits in accordance with the session information.
US07876723B2 System and method for updating UATI of an access terminal
A system for communication of an access terminal in a wireless network having a plurality of subnets. The system determines, based upon movement of the access terminal in a dormant state between subnets, and upon ColorCode and SecondaryColorCode values of each subnet, whether or not the access terminal should immediately initiate a Unicast Access Terminal Identifier (UATI) update request, or delay the Unicast Access Terminal Identifier (UATI) update.
US07876715B1 Beamforming multiple-input multiple-output wireless techniques using spatial decomposition for frequency division duplex systems
Techniques are provided herein to combine the advantages of beamforming with the advantages of multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology in a frequency division duplex (FDD) communication system, even when the uplink and downlink frequency separation exceeds the coherent bandwidth of the over-the-air-channels. At a first wireless communication device having M plurality of antennas, a wireless transmission is received that is sent from a second wireless communication device having P plurality of antennas. The first device computes spatial components associated with the transmission received at the M plurality of antennas. The first device selects the N strongest spatial components among the computed spatial components. The first device computes N beamforming weight vectors based on the N strongest spatial components. The first device then computes N MIMO beamforming weight vectors based on the N beamforming weight vectors. The N MIMO beamforming weight vectors are applied to N signal streams to be transmitted via the plurality of antennas of the first device to the plurality of antennas of the second device.
US07876714B2 Techniques for managing conference schedules using groups
A method and apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons includes receiving group data that indicates persons in a first group. Availability data is received from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population of persons that includes the persons from the first group. Quorum data is received that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group; thus the first group is a called a “representative group.” A proposed time interval that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data is determined for the particular conference.
US07876712B2 Overlay network infrastructure
A method and apparatus for processing an overlay network infrastructure. In one embodiment, the method comprises a plurality of transparent access points (TAPs). Each TAP is communicably coupled between one or more clients and servers and a wide area network (WAN) to enable the one or more clients to communicate with the one or more servers, and is coupled to other of the TAPs via permanently, established secure links. The overlay network also comprises a controller coupled to each of the TAPs via a secure connection to configure the TAPs with information to enable each TAP to know what services are available and from which of the TAPs each of the services can be accessed.
US07876711B2 Fibre channel switch that enables end devices in different fabrics to communicate with one another while retaining their unique fibre channel domain—IDs
A Fibre Channel Switch which enables end devices in different Fabrics to communicate with one another while retaining their unique Fibre Channel Domain_IDs. The Switch is coupled to a first fabric having a first set of end devices and a second fabric having a second set of end devices. The Switch is configured to enable communication by the first set of end devices associated with the first fabric with the second set of end devices associated with the second set of end devices using the unique Domain_IDs of each of the first set and the second set of end devices. In one embodiment of the invention, the first and second fabrics are first and second Virtual Storage Array Networks (VSANs) respectively. In an alternative embodiment, the first fabric and the second fabric are separate physical fabrics.
US07876710B2 Layer two MAC flushing/re-routing
A method may include receiving a packet including a destination address, identifying a destination address entry based on the destination address, the destination address entry including an address identifier, comparing the address identifier to an event identifier, determining whether an event occurred based on the comparison, and forwarding the packet on an alternate path if it is determined that the event occurred.
US07876709B2 Mesh network communication systems and methods
A mesh network communication system including one or more mesh networks and a plurality of remote subscriber users employing wireless, spread spectrum type communications for communicating with an access node in one of the mesh networks. The remote subscriber units can be mobile and can use handover to change nodes within a mesh network without a disruption of communication. The system and methods determine the location of a remote subscriber unit in a mesh network by the remote subscriber unit providing the access node with its home address and ID such that if the access node is not the home node, the home node is notified of the visiting node address such that the home node always knows the location of any remote subscriber unit based at the home node. Accordingly, communication between remote subscriber units where one of the remote subscriber units is not currently located at its home node can be accomplished without using the home node.
US07876707B2 Partial build of a fibre channel fabric
In one embodiment, a technique for performing partial build fabric operations when merging two or more Fibre Channel fabrics is provided. By maintaining a Principal Switch already assigned for one of two merging fabrics, a limited “partial build” may be performed for the other merging fabric. As a result, the time required for a Principal Switch selection phase may be greatly reduced.
US07876706B2 Method and apparatus for root node selection in an ad hoc network
Techniques are provided for selecting a root node in an ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes including a first node. According to one implementation of these techniques, a first node can receive a message from at least one of the other nodes. Each message includes a number of primary factors associated with a particular node regarding capabilities of the particular node. The primary factors associated with each node can then be evaluated, and an attempt can be made to select the root node based on the primary factors associated with each node. If the first node is unable to select the root node based on the primary factors associated with each node, then the root node can be selected based on secondary factors associated with each node.
US07876696B2 Adaptive upstream bandwidth estimation and shaping
One embodiment of the present invention includes a method for adaptively estimating available upstream bandwidth in a network. The method comprises monitoring data indicative of a number of lost packets at a near-end communication device. The data indicative of a number of lost packets can be periodically transmitted from a far-end communication device. The method also comprises increasing an amount of upstream bandwidth transmission until the monitored data exceeds a threshold. The method also comprises calculating an estimated available upstream bandwidth based on a portion of a maximum amount of the upstream bandwidth transmission.
US07876691B2 Testing method for network device
A testing method for a network device includes the steps of communicating with the network device through a network protocol by a testing host; and transmitting at least one first network protocol packet to the network device so as to enable a command line interface (CLI) of the network device through a first testing command by the testing host.
US07876690B1 Distributed measurement system configurator tool
A monitoring system gathers both site-to-site measurements, and agent-to-agent measurements, wherein one or more agents are distributed in one or more sites in a distributed network environment. Site-to-site measurements between two sites, such as site one and site two, are obtained by testing between any agent at site one and any agent at site two. A measurement rate between sites and between agents is determined that allows for the detection of events, such as user perceivable events, without overwhelming the set of agents that form the distributed measurement system. With, for example, a scheduling mechanism used to schedule measurement tests of finite duration, as opposed to continuous streams of measurement packets, for each pair of agents, the test can be used as an indication as to whether the measurement system is overwhelmed.
US07876683B2 Managing hierarchically organized subscriber profiles
Methods are provided for managing hierarchically organized subscriber profiles. According to one embodiment, subscriber services are modified without requiring a change to the subscriber's first-level profile identifier and without requiring the subscriber to reestablish a connection with the service provider. A database of hierarchically organized profile identifiers, including multiple lower-level profile identifiers, explicitly defining subscriber services, and multiple first-level profile identifiers, defining service contexts representing combinations of services available to subscribers by (i) explicitly defining the subscriber services or (ii) referring to one or more of the lower-level profile identifiers, are maintained within a virtual router operable within a telecommunications system of the service provider. Updated service profile information, representing a change to the subscriber's service context, is received. Responsive the updated service profile information, lower-level profile identifiers currently associated with the subscriber's first-level profile identifier are replaced with lower-level profile identifiers corresponding to the updated service profile information.
US07876682B2 Admission control method and admission control system
An admission control method for determining a session admission probability with respect to a new session admission of a path, so that a bandwidth measured in the path and corresponding to a sum of bandwidth used converges to a vicinity of a specified target value, includes computing the session admission probability based on a deviation between the measured bandwidth and the bandwidth target value using a feedback control rule, and judging whether or not to accept a new session in the path based on the computed session admission probability, and processing the new session admission based on a result of the judging.
US07876679B2 Connection-oriented data transfer over wireless transmission paths
Providing a data transfer connection according to a connection-oriented data transfer protocol between a first communication entity and a second communication entity using a wireless transmission path, the first communication entity being capable of using at least two wireless transmission paths in data transfer. A data transfer connection is established between said first communication entity and said second communication entity in so that the first communication entity uses one of the wireless transmission paths on the data transfer connection. The data transfer flow is controlled on said data transfer connection using one or more windows that indicate the maximum amount of data to be transferred simultaneously on said data transfer connection. At least one of said windows is adjusted based on the wireless transmission path used.
US07876676B2 Network monitoring system and method capable of reducing processing load on network monitoring apparatus
A network monitoring system capable of effectively monitoring the behavior of traffic through a network is provided with an aggregation apparatus which is connected to access networks which is connected to a telecommunications network. The aggregation apparatus includes: a receiving unit distinctively receiving input side communication data which is input from the telecommunications network to one of the access network and output side communication data which is output from one of the access network to the telecommunications network; and an abnormal traffic detecting unit detecting abnormal traffic on the basis of both the input side communication data and the output side communication data.
US07876675B2 Multicast network monitoring method and multicast network system to which the method is applied
Disclosed is a multicast network system including a multicast network which provides a plurality of relay nodes, and a monitoring server and a plurality of acknowledgment agents connected to the multicast network. The monitoring server includes an acknowledgment request message generating and sending unit that generates and sends an acknowledgment request message storing an acknowledgment probability to the plurality of acknowledgment agents; a collecting unit that collects acknowledgment messages from acknowledgment agents; and a collection number comparing unit that compares the number of acknowledgment messages collected by the acknowledgment message collecting unit with the expected number of acknowledgment messages obtained from the acknowledgment probability and the total number of acknowledgment agents. The acknowledgment agent has an acknowledgment message sending unit that determines whether an acknowledgment is needed for the acknowledgment request message based on the acknowledgment probability stored in the acknowledgment request message to send an acknowledgment message.
US07876674B2 Shared risk group handling within a media gateway
A media gateway controller (MGC) is described herein that implements a shared risk group package to control and prevent a media gateway (MG) from establishing redundant links like a primary link and a secondary link that use resources that share the same risk of failure. Essentially, the MGC uses the shared risk group package to control which resources like ephemeral terminations are used by the MG to establish the primary link and the secondary link such that if any of the resources associated with the primary link fail then the secondary link remains operational within the MG and if any of the resources associated with the secondary link fail then the primary link remains operational within the MG.
US07876673B2 Prevention of frame duplication in interconnected ring networks
A method for communication includes, in a communication network that includes multiple ring nodes arranged in at least first and second ring networks that are connected by two or more of the ring nodes serving as interconnect nodes, accepting at the two or more interconnect nodes respective copies of a data packet, which is sent from a source user node connected to the first ring network.An attribute is extracted from the respective copies of the data packet at each of the interconnect nodes, and a predefined mapping function is applied to the extracted attribute so as to select a single interconnect node for forwarding the data packet to the second ring network. A single copy of the data packet is forwarded to the second ring network only from the selected interconnect node, while refraining from forwarding other copies from the other interconnect nodes.
US07876669B2 Information recording carrier and method of reproducing the same
An information recording carrier according to one embodiment has minute pattern including plural grooves or lands formed to be substantially in parallel and adjacent each other and comprises a supporting body having the minute pattern, a recording layer formed on the minute pattern formed on the supporting layer and a light transmission layer formed on the recording layer. The minute pattern is formed under a relation of P<λ/NA, where a pitch of each groove or land is P, a wavelength of a laser beam is λ and a numerical aperture of an objective lens is NA. The plural grooves or lands have at least a wobbling region and data is recorded wobblingly in the wobbling region by frequency shift modulation. A phase relation between a high frequency portion and a low frequency portion composing the frequency shift modulation is ±(π/20.5) to ±(π/0.75). The data is also recorded wobblingly in the wobbling region by bi-phase modulation.
US07876668B2 Optical recording medium with different wobble characteristics between the user data area and the lead-out area
An optical recording medium has a user data area and a lead-out area, wherein the user data area and the lead-out area each has grooves and lands formed thereon. Wobbles are formed on at least one lateral surface of grooves of the user data area and the lead-out area, and configured such that wobble characteristics are made different between the user data area and the lead-out area. Different types of wobbles are formed on the grooves of either the user data area or the lead-out area, thereby preventing an optical pickup that performs recording/reproduction from deviating from the user data area. Also, in a multi-layer optical recording medium, a whole area of a recording layer is configured to have a same condition, thereby preventing deterioration in reproduction and/or recording due to a difference in light power transmittance of another recording layer.
US07876667B2 Optical information recording medium, and information recording method and information reproducing method using the same
An optical disk medium in which high density recording/reproducing is possible, an information recording method and an information reproducing method using it are provided. A pit composed of a phase change material and a recording film different from it are provided on an optical disk. The phase change pit has a pattern of a single frequency. A mark having a size on the same level as the phase change pit can be formed by melting a single phase change pit while recording and controlling the optical absorbance and the temperature of the recording film at the region. A single phase change pit is molten while reproducing. Since the optical characteristics of the molten region are different from the optical characteristics of other regions, only data at the molten region can be reproduced by a super-resolution effect.
US07876666B2 Write-once information recording medium and coloring matter material therefor
A write-once information recording medium comprises a transparent resin substrate having a concentrically or spirally shaped groove and a land formed thereon, and a recording firm formed on the groove and the land of the transparent resin substrate, a recording mark being formed on the medium by emission of a short wavelength laser light, the recording medium having an L to H feature in which a light reflectivity of the recording mark portion formed by the emission of the short wavelength laser light is higher than a light reflectivity obtained before the emission of the short wavelength laser light.
US07876663B2 Scanning system for a probe storage device
A scanning system includes a base plate, an anchor structure mounted to the base plate, and a first O-topology bracket moveably mounted along a first axis of an X-Y plane to the anchor structure. The first O-topology bracket is resiliently interconnected to the anchor structure by a plurality of parallelization springs. A second O-topology bracket is moveably mounted along a second axis of the X-Y plane to the first O-topology bracket. The second O-topology bracket is resiliently interconnected to the first O-topology bracket through a second plurality of parallelization springs. The first and second O-topology brackets provide a robust, vibration resistant structure that resists both in-plane and out-of-plane deformations to enable sub-nanometer tracking.
US07876658B2 Optical-disk device and record-control method with disc-management information writing features
An optical-disk device includes a record unit recording data onto an optical disk, and a management-information-record unit configured to additionally write the latest disk-management information about the optical disk in management-information-record areas provided on the optical disk. When a first area of the management-information-record areas is short of a vacant area used to additionally write the disk-management information, the management-information-record unit records padding data in an unrecorded area of the first area, and additionally writes the disk-management information in a second area of the management-information-record areas, and wherein when the first area includes an unrecordable area where the disk-management information can be additionally written with difficulty, the management-information-record unit stops additionally writing the disk-management information in the first area, and additionally writes the disk-management information in the second area.
US07876657B2 Information recording apparatus, an information recording system, a program, and a recording medium
An information recording apparatus, an information recording system, a program, and a recording medium are disclosed, by which contents are legally recorded to another information recording medium. Copy-once contents stored in a first optical disk are written to the second optical disk. After this writing is completed, a laser light having power equal to recording power is irradiated to the first optical disk so that reproduction of the copy-once contents in the first optical disk is made impossible. In this way, the copy-once contents stored in the first optical disk are erased, and the contents are moved to the second optical disk without jeopardizing the “copy-once” attribute of the contents. That is, the contents can be legally moved to another information recording medium.
US07876653B2 Recording and reproducing apparatus and receiving apparatus
Where a clock frequency based on which encoding is performed has deviated over time, problems such as that an appropriate digital signal can not be outputted occur. To solve the problems, it is arranged such that when a decoder decodes video data and audio data, a control variable for controlling a frequency of a clock recovered by a clock generating portion is recorded as needed in a recording portion, and when the decoder decodes data recorded in the recording portion, the clock generating portion is controlled by using the control variable so that system time information generated by the counter synchronizes with time information extracted upon reception of a digital broadcasting program.
US07876652B2 Disc recording medium, disc drive apparatus, and reproduction method
First data representing user data and third data use the same error correction codes. The first data has a first error correction block structure and the third data has a second error correction block structure. That is to say, the first data and the third data have their respective error correction block structures proper for them. In particular, the recording density of the third data is made less dense than the recording density of the first data, and the number of correction codes in the first error-correction block is set at a multiple of m whereas the number of correction codes in the second error-correction block is set at n/m times the number of correction codes in the first error-correction block so that a data-piece count in the second error-correction block is also n/m times a data-piece count in the first error-correction block. As a result, it is possible to provide a good technique of recording shipping-time information onto a high-recording-density disc.
US07876651B2 Method of writing data to a disc, disc drive
The invention relates to a method of writing data to a disc (OD). The method comprising a) performing a writing action in which a first data portion is written to the disc; a2) deciding to perform b) or not and b) verifying at least part of the first data portion that is written to the disc and deciding to replace the first data portion that is written to the disc or not. Finally the method comprises c) performing a further writing action in which a second data portion is written to the disc.
US07876649B2 Optical disc recording and reproducing apparatus
A DSP of the DVD recorder includes a balance value setting portion for determining an appropriate value of a focus balance value α when information is reproduced from an optical disc so as to record the determined focus balance value α0 in a balance value storing portion and to set the same in a first amplifier of a focus error signal generating circuit, and a correction executing portion for reading the focus balance value α0 stored in the balance value storing portion when information is recorded in the optical disc 2 so as to correct the read value to be a focus balance value α1, which is set in the first amplifier of the focus error signal generating circuit.
US07876644B2 Polarizaton diversity for optical fiber applications
At least two light beams with polarization diversity are generated that each carry a representation of the same information. Separate optic fibers carry each of the at least two beams through a region subject to vibration to a remote location where the information is recovered by an optical receiver based on the separate light beams. Using separate fibers to carry polarization diverse information minimizes polarization noise at the optical receiver due to vibration of the fibers.
US07876640B2 Control voltage tracking circuits, methods for recording a control voltage for a clock synchronization circuit and methods for setting a voltage controlled delay
Memories, clock synchronization circuits, clock synchronization controller circuits, and methods for setting a voltage controlled delay of a clock synchronization circuit and tracking and recording the control voltage are disclosed. For example, a clock synchronization controller provides an initial control voltage to the voltage controlled delay during initialization of the synchronization circuit until a phase dependent control voltage stabilizes. The stable phase dependent control voltage is substituted for the initial control voltage. Following stabilization of the phase dependent control voltage, a phase detector of the clock synchronization circuit is activated. A recovery control voltage is provided by the clock synchronization controller to the voltage controlled delay during recovery of the clock synchronization from a power-saving mode until the phase dependent control voltage stabilizes.
US07876637B2 Semiconductor device and memory
A semiconductor device of the present invention comprises a first step-down voltage circuit to generate a first step-down voltage lower than an externally-supplied power supply voltage, and a second step-down voltage circuit to generate a second step-down voltage lower than the first step-down voltage. The first step-down voltage circuit has a withstand voltage no lower than the power supply voltage and the second step-down voltage circuit has a withstand voltage no lower than the first step-down voltage.
US07876635B2 Sense amplifier driving control circuit and method
A sense amplifier driving control circuit has a stable discharge characteristic by differently controlling the discharge of a node having a driving voltage according to the change of an organization of a semiconductor memory device. The sense amplifier driving control circuit includes a pull-down driving block configured to provide a pull-down voltage for a pull-down operation of the sense amplifier, a pull-up driving block configured to sequentially provide a first voltage for the overdrive and a second voltage for the normal drive as a pull-up voltage for a pull-up operation of the sense amplifier, wherein a voltage level of the second voltage is lower than that of the first voltage, and a discharging block configured to discharge the node having the second voltage by controlling a amount of the discharging according to an organization of the semiconductor memory device.
US07876622B2 Read method for MLC
Memory devices adapted to process and generate analog data signals representative of data values of two or more bits of information facilitate increases in data transfer rates relative to devices processing and generating only binary data signals indicative of individual bits. Programming of such memory devices includes programming to a target threshold voltage range representative of the desired bit pattern. Reading such memory devices includes generating an analog data signal indicative of a threshold voltage of a target memory cell. Cell reads are performed multiple times and the read threshold voltages averaged to more closely approximate actual threshold voltage and to compensate for random noise.
US07876621B2 Adaptive dynamic reading of flash memories
Each of a plurality of flash memory cells is programmed to a respective one of L≧2 threshold voltage states within a threshold voltage window. A histogram is constructed by determining how many of some or all of the cells have threshold voltages in each of two or more of m≧2 threshold voltage intervals within the threshold voltage window. Reference voltages for reading the cells are selected based on estimated values of shape parameters of the histogram. Alternatively, the cells are read relative to reference voltages that define m≧2 threshold voltage intervals that span the threshold voltage window, to determine numbers of at least a portion of the cells whose threshold voltages are in each of two or more of the threshold voltage intervals. Respective threshold voltage states are assigned to the cells based on the numbers without re-reading the cells.
US07876619B2 Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device comprises: a write circuit including a latch circuit configured by two inverters having a positive side power supply terminal supplied with a first voltage and a negative side power supply terminal supplied with a second voltage; and a write state machine controlling the first and second voltages. When writing data to a memory cell, the first voltage is changed to a second value that is lower than a first value. When writing data to a memory cell, the second voltage is changed to a third value that is lower than the second value. The write state machine lowers the second voltage to an intermediate value between the second value and the third value and, while maintaining this intermediate value, lowers the first voltage from the first value to the second value.
US07876618B2 Non-volatile memory with reduced leakage current for unselected blocks and method for operating same
A memory device with reduced leakage current during programming and sense operations, and a method for operating such a memory device. In a non-volatile memory device, current leakage at the drain select gates of NAND strings can occur in unselected blocks when a selected block undergoes a program or read operation, and the bit lines are shared by the blocks. In one approach, in which a common transfer gate driver is provided for both blocks, the drain select gates are pre-charged at an optimum level, which minimizes leakage, and subsequently floated while a program or read voltage is applied to a selected word line in the selected block. In another approach, a separate transfer gate driver is provided for the unselected block so that the optimal select gate voltage can be driven in the unselected block, even while the program or read voltage is applied in the selected block.
US07876614B2 Multi-bit flash memory device and program and read methods thereof
The flash memory device of the present invention is configured to program a plurality of bits per unit cell, wherein a program condition of a selected bit is set according to whether a program for the most previous bit to the selected bit for programming is skipped or not skipped. As a result, an accurate programming and reading operation is possible even in case a program for a middle bit is skipped.
US07876613B2 Multi-bit flash memory devices having a single latch structure and related programming methods, systems and memory cards
Multi-bit flash memory devices are provided. The multi-bit flash memory device includes an array of memory cells and a page buffer block including page buffers. Each of the page buffers has a single latch structure and performs a write operation with respect to memory cells according to loaded data. A buffer random access memory (RAM) is configured to store program data provided from an external host device during a multi-bit program operation. Control logic is provided that is configured to control the page buffer block and the buffer RAM so that program data stored in the buffer RAM is reloaded into the page buffer block whenever data programmed before the multi-bit program operation is compared with data to be currently programmed. The control logic is configured to store data to be programmed next in the buffer RAM before the multi-bit program operation is completed.
US07876611B2 Compensating for coupling during read operations in non-volatile storage
Capacitive coupling from storage elements on adjacent bit lines is compensated by adjusting voltages applied to the adjacent bit lines. An initial rough read is performed to ascertain the data states of the bit line-adjacent storage elements, and during a subsequent fine read, bit line voltages are set based on the ascertained states and the current control gate read voltage which is applied to a selected word line. When the current control gate read voltage corresponds to a lower data state than the ascertained state of an adjacent storage element, a compensating bit line voltage is used. Compensation of coupling from a storage element on an adjacent word line can also be provided by applying different read pass voltages to the adjacent word line, and obtaining read data using a particular read pass voltage which is identified based on a data state of the word line-adjacent storage element.
US07876605B2 Phase change memory, phase change memory assembly, phase change memory cell, 2D phase change memory cell array, 3D phase change memory cell array and electronic component
A phase change memory having a memory material layer consisting of a phase change material, and a first and second electrical contact which are located at a distance from one another and via which a switching zone of the memory material layer can be traversed by a current signal, wherein the current signal can be used to induce a reversible phase change between a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase and thus a change in resistance of the phase change material in the switching zone. The invention also relates to a phase change memory assembly, a phase change memory cell, a 2D phase change memory cell array, a 3D phase change memory cell array and an electronic component.
US07876603B2 Spin current generator for STT-MRAM or other spintronics applications
Spin current generators and systems and methods for employing spin current generators. A spin current generator may be configured to generate a spin current polarized in one direction, or a spin current selectively polarized in two directions. The spin current generator may by employed in spintronics applications, wherein a spin current is desired.
US07876601B2 Variable sized soft memory macros in structured cell arrays, and related methods
The logic cells (HLEs) of a structured application-specific integrated circuit (structured ASIC) can be used to provide memory blocks of various sizes. Any one or more of several techniques may be employed to facilitate doing this for various user designs that may have different requirements (e.g., in terms of size) for such memory blocks. For example, pre-designed macros of memory blocks may be provided and then combined as needed to provide memory blocks of various sizes. Placement constraints may be observed for certain portions of the memory circuitry (e.g., the memory core), while other portions (e.g., address predecoder circuitry, write and read data registers, etc.) may be located relatively freely.
US07876600B2 SRAM and method of controlling the SRAM
An SRAM and a forming method and a controlling method thereof are provided. The above-mentioned SRAM includes a tracking column, a normal column, a cell voltage control circuit and a cell voltage pull-down circuit. Each of the tracking column and the normal column includes a plurality of memory cells. The cell voltage control circuit is coupled to the tracking column and the normal column for connecting an operation voltage to the two columns before a write operation of the SRAM starts and for disconnecting the operation voltage from the two columns after the write operation starts. The cell voltage pull-down circuit is coupled to the two columns for pulling down the cell voltages of the two columns after the write operation starts and for ceasing pulling down the cell voltage of the normal column when the cell voltage of the tracking column drops down to a predetermined voltage.
US07876594B2 Memory emulation using resistivity-sensitive memory
Interface circuitry in communication with at least one non-volatile resistivity-sensitive memory is disclosed. The memory includes a plurality of non-volatile memory elements that may have two-terminals, are operative to store data as a plurality of conductivity profiles that can be determined by applying a read voltage across the memory element, and retain stored data in the absence of power. A plurality of the memory elements can be arranged in a cross-point array configuration. The interface circuitry electrically communicates with a system configured for memory types, such as HDD, DRAM, SRAM, and FLASH, for example, and is operative to communicate with the non-volatile resistivity-sensitive memory to emulate one or more of those memory types. The interface circuitry can be fabricated in a logic plane on a substrate with at least one non-volatile resistivity-sensitive memory vertically positioned over the logic plane. The non-volatile resistivity-sensitive memories may be vertically stacked upon one another.
US07876584B2 Circuit and method for controlling the secondary FET of transformer coupled synchronous rectified flyback converter
A secondary FETsc control circuit is disclosed for controlling FETsc of transformer coupled synchronous rectified flyback converter (TCSC). The control circuit includes source-drain voltage VSD sense trigger with output VSD-trigger activated upon positive 0-crossing of VSD. Drain-source current IDS sense trigger with output IDS-trigger activated upon positive 0-crossing of IDS. Secondary coil voltage Vsec sense trigger with output Vsec-trigger activated upon sensing negative Vsec. A multi-trigger gate driver (MTGD) has trigger inputs coupled to VSD-trigger, IDS-trigger, Vsec-trigger and drive output driving the FETsc gate. The MTGD has logic states of state-I where FETsc is turned off and latched, state-II where FETsc is turned off but unlatched, state-III where FETsc is turned on but unlatched. The MTGD is configured to enter state-III upon VSD-trigger, enter state-I upon IDS-trigger and enter state-IT upon Vsec-trigger. The control circuit thus avoids false triggering of the FETsc by numerous undesirable Vsec ringings.
US07876583B2 Flyback power supply with forced primary regulation
A flyback converter with forced primary regulation is disclosed. An example flyback converter includes a coupled inductor including a first winding, a second winding, and a third winding. The first winding is coupled to an input voltage and the second winding is coupled to an output of the power converter. A switched element is coupled to the second winding. A secondary control circuit is coupled to the switched element and the second winding. The secondary control circuit is coupled to switch the switched element in response to a difference between a desired output value and an actual output value to force a current in the third winding that is representative of the difference between the desired output value and the actual output value. A primary switch is coupled to the first winding. A primary control circuit is coupled to the primary switch and the third winding. The primary control circuit is coupled to switch the primary switch to regulate the output of the power converter in response to the forced current.
US07876582B2 Compensating on-time delay of switching transistor in switching power converters
A switch controller compensates the total on-time delay of the switch in a switching power converter. The intended on-time of the switching transistor for the present switching cycle is reduced by the time difference between the actual on-time and the intended on-time of the switching transistor in the previous switching cycle in the switching power converter. The total delay of the switch in the switching power converter, including propagation delay, switch turn-on delay, and switch turn-off delay, can be compensated in real time, cycle by cycle.
US07876581B2 Power converter transformer for suppressing conduction EMI and power supply having its transformer
In accordance with the present invention, a power converter transformer for suppressing conduction EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) includes a primary winding positioned at a primary side; a secondary winding positioned at a second side and coupled with the primary winding; a parasitic capacitor connected between one end of the primary winding and one end of the secondary winding; a switching unit connected to the other end of the primary winding; a Y-capacitor connected between the switching unit and a ground terminal; an auxiliary winding positioned at the secondary side and coupled with the secondary winding; and an auxiliary capacitor connected between the one end of the primary winding and the auxiliary winding.
US07876579B1 Anti-electromagnetic interference corner shield unit for a shielding device
An anti-electromagnetic interference (anti-EMI) corner shield unit for a shielding device is disclosed. The shielding device is designed for fastening to a printed circuit board and includes an upper lid and a frame, and the frame includes a plurality of sequentially connected side walls with a gap left at each joint of two adjacent side walls. The anti-EMI corner shield unit includes an L-shaped shield plate having a first and a second shield plate for mounting to an inner side of each corner of the frame formed at the joint of any two adjacent side walls, so as to completely shield the gap left at the joint; and a clip provided at a lower edge of each of the first and the second shield plate for receiving and firmly clamping on the side wall of the frame.
US07876572B2 Wiring board and semiconductor apparatus
A wiring board of the present invention includes a dummy wiring in a semiconductor-chip mount area on which a semiconductor chip is to be mounted. The dummy wiring is arranged in a manner such that all wiring-lines included in the dummy wiring each have a free end within the semiconductor-chip mount area. This prevents a defect due to vaporization and expansion of moisture inside a semiconductor apparatus, with a simple structure and without raising costs.
US07876571B2 Wiring board and method of manufacturing wiring board
A board comprises a cavity for placing an electronic component on a base, a pair of pads for mounting said electronic component, each of said pads is formed on said base, a pair of through holes piercing through said board from said base, each of said through holes includes a land, and wires which electrically connect said lands and said pads, respectively.
US07876570B2 Module with embedded electronic components
In a module with embedded electronic components, connection electrodes are formed on the component mounting surface of a substrate. The electrode portions of each of the electronic components are placed on the individual connection electrodes and connected in fixed relation thereto by using a solder. The electronic components are encapsulated in an encapsulating resin. When the distance between the lower surface of the main body portion of each of the electronic components and the component mounting surface is assumed to be a and the thickness of the portion of the encapsulating resin which is located above the main body portion of the electronic component is assumed to be b, if b/a is set to a value of not more than 6, it becomes possible to prevent, when the module with embedded electronic components is reflow-mounted on a printed wiring substrate or the like, the occurrence of a short circuit failure resulting from the melting and flowing of the solder which causes a short circuit between the two electrode portions.
US07876560B2 Electronic device
An electronic device is directly disposed on a lamp base and is powered by the lamp base. The electronic device includes a connection base matching with a specification of the lamp base, and an air-flow generator. The connection base may be directly screwed into the lamp base to power the air-flow generator, so that the air-flow generator operates to generate an air flow.
US07876558B2 Bag computer with interior access coupling
Disclosed is a bag computer comprised of a bag with holder and computer with display panel and body panels hinged together. The computer body installs into the holder so the display panel pivots near the top of the bag front with its display facing outward/upward so the bag wearer can store the display against the bag front or pivot it into his line of sight. To provide access between peripherals, memory or batteries inside the bag and the computer outside the bag, the bag's front wall may have; 1) an opening with coupling matching the computer back side; 2) a pattern of holes matching a computer with inside and outside body parts which join with attachments through the pattern of holes; 3) an electrical connection in the holder which connects the computer to a connection box inside bag.
US07876556B2 Disk array system
A disk array system capable of efficiently cooling the canisters and achieving the high-density mounting of the canisters without reducing the number of canisters is provided. In the disk array system having a HDD box which stores a plurality of canisters, a canister on an upstream side of cooling air and a canister on a downstream side of the cooling air both standing upright are arranged with a difference in level therebetween in the HDD box. The canister on the upstream side has a reliability assurance temperature lower than that on the downstream side, and a disk size of the canister on the upstream side is smaller than that on the downstream side. Also, the canister on the downstream side is arranged higher than that on the upstream side so that an alarm indicator LED and a ready indicator LED can be checked visually.
US07876554B2 Notebook computer
A notebook computer includes a host, a supporting frame and a display portion. The supporting frame is pivotally connected with the host and comprising a sliding slot. The display portion has a sliding member, which is pivotally connected with the supporting frame and slidably connected with the sliding slot, wherein the sliding member comprises a through hole. The signal cable is led through the through hole and extended within the supporting frame to electrically couple the display portion and the host. The signal cable comprises a bendable section. The signal cable is moved substantially along a plane by adjusting a bent angle of the bendable section when the display portion is slid along the sliding slot.
US07876549B2 Solid electrolytic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same
One aspect of the embodiment provides a solid electrolytic capacitor that comprises: an anode; a dielectric layer formed on the surface of this anode; an electrically-conductive polymer layer formed on the dielectric layer; and a cathode layer formed on this electrically-conductive polymer layer. At least manganese is contained in the dielectric layer, and the manganese distributes in a way that the manganese is present more in a part of the dielectric layer that is closer to the cathode (or in the interface between the dielectric layer and the electrically-conductive polymer layer).
US07876547B2 Vertical parallel plate capacitor structures
Vertical parallel plate (VPP) capacitor structures that utilize different spacings between conductive plates in different levels of the capacitor stack. The non-even spacings of the conductive plates in the capacitor stack decrease the susceptibility of the capacitor stack of the VPP capacitor to ESD-promoted failures. The non-even spacings may be material specific in that, for example, the spacings between adjacent conductive plates in different levels of the capacitor stack may be chosen based upon material failure mechanisms for plates containing different materials.
US07876541B2 Electrostatic discharge protection circuit and electrostatic discharge protection method of a semiconductor memory device
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit protects a gate oxide of elements in an internal circuit against ESD. During an ESD test, if the sum of driving voltages of ESD protectors connected between a power pad and a ground pad is higher than the gate oxide breakdown voltage of elements in the internal circuit, the structure of the ESD protector is changed or another ESD protector is additionally provided so as to protect the gate oxide of the elements in the internal circuit against ESD.
US07876537B2 Magnetoresistive element incorporating conductive film disposed on peripheral surface of layered structure including spacer layer, free layer and pinned layer, the conductive film allowing conduction between the free layer and the pinned layer
An MR element incorporates a layered structure. The layered structure includes: a spacer layer having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions; a free layer disposed adjacent to the first surface of the spacer layer and having a direction of magnetization that changes in response to a signal magnetic field; and a pinned layer disposed adjacent to the second surface of the spacer layer and having a fixed direction of magnetization. The spacer layer is a layer at least part of which is made of a material other than a conductor, and the spacer layer intercepts the passage of currents or limits the passage of currents as compared with a layer entirely made of a conductor. The MR element further incorporates a conductive film that is disposed on the peripheral surface of the layered structure and allows conduction between the free layer and the pinned layer.
US07876536B2 Multilayered film having crystal grains grown at an inclination to a substrate, and magnetoresistive head using the film
Embodiments of the present invention provides sufficiently high exchange coupling with a magnetic layer and improve the yield and reliability of a magnetoresistive head. By using a tilted growth crystalline structured antiferromagnetic film manufactured by an oblique incident deposition method, a high exchange coupling field with a ferromagnetic film can be obtained. As a result, excellent reliability and high output can be obtained in a magnetoresistive head utilizing features in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
US07876535B2 Magnetoresistive device of the CPP type, and magnetic disk system
A magnetoresistive device of a CPP (current perpendicular to plane) structure includes a magnetoresistive unit sandwiched between a first substantially soft magnetic shield layer from below, and a second substantially soft magnetic shield layer from above, with a sense current applied in a stacking direction. The magnetoresistive unit includes a non-magnetic intermediate layer sandwiched between a first ferromagnetic layer, and a second ferromagnetic layer. At least one of the first and second shield layers is configured in a window frame of a planar shape, including a front frame-constituting portion and a back frame-constituting portion partially comprising a combination of a nonmagnetic gap layer with a bias magnetic field-applying layer. The combination of the nonmagnetic gap layer with the bias magnetic field-applying layer forms a closed magnetic path with magnetic flux going all the way around the window framework, turning the magnetization of the front frame-constituting portion into a single domain.
US07876533B2 Stainless steel balancer having recess formed at a side surface, and head stack assembly with the same
A balancer installed on an overmold of an head stack assembly to adjust balance of the head stack assembly is formed of stainless steel and demagnetized through a thermal treatment after the stainless steel is processed to have a balancer shape. The balancer has a recess formed at a side surface of the balancer to prevent separation of the balancer from the overmold. The stainless steel is austenite based stainless steel.
US07876532B2 Low-profile rotary motor with fixed back iron
A rotary actuator motor is provided including a stationary coil section and a rotating magnet. The magnet is incorporated with the pivot bearing assembly, and the coil section is aligned with the magnet along an axis of rotation of the actuator. The magnet fully encircles the axis of rotation. The coil comprises one or more closed loops of electrically conductive material. The motor in this arrangement maintains a much smaller profile in comparison to a traditional voice coil motor that is mounted to a yoke extending away from the axis of rotation of the actuator.
US07876525B2 Method of expanding a storage media library having interconnected doors and a replaced panel
An expandable storage library for storing digital storage media, such as storage tapes or disks is provided. The library includes a base unit and robotic system to which additional expansion units may be added. Several expansion units may be installed in the library with the base unit so that the robotic system can access media storage racks in any of the expansion units or in the base unit. Doors on the base unit and expansion unit may be interlocked together to function as a single door. A Z pole guide on the base unit may be extended by adding expansion guide poles that guide the movement of the robotic system through the library.
US07876524B2 Library apparatus and transporting mechanism therefor
When a rotation shaft reaches a first standstill position, a contact piece is received in a first hooked groove. A grasping mechanism unit is forced to enjoy a change in the attitude around the rotation shaft by the rotation angle of 90 degrees. When the rotation shaft further reaches a first terminal position, the grasping mechanism unit is forced to restore the predetermined attitude around the rotation shaft by the rotation angle of 90 degrees. The linear motion of the rotation shaft is in this manner interconnected to the rotational movement of the grasping mechanism unit in a library apparatus. A pulley, a timing belt and an electric motor can be omitted from the driving mechanism for the grasping mechanism unit. This results in a simplified structure. The production cost is thus reduced. The transporting mechanism can have a longer service life.
US07876522B1 Disk drive updating estimate of voice coil resistance to account for resistance change prior to unload operation
A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk and a head actuated over the disk by a voice coil motor (VCM) comprising a voice coil, wherein the VCM is controlled by a VCM control loop comprising an IR voltage detector. The IR voltage detector is updated by measuring a first back EMF voltage of the voice coil, and after measuring the first back EMF voltage, applying a first control current to the voice coil for a first interval and applying a second control current to the voice coil for a second interval. After the second interval, a second back EMF voltage is measured, and a delta voltage is computed relative to a difference between the first back EMF voltage and the second back EMF voltage. The IR voltage detector is adjusted in response to the delta voltage and at least one of the first and second control currents.
US07876517B2 Measurement of round trip latency in write and read paths
A method and apparatus for measuring latency in a communication path is provided. The technique includes driving a signal such as a square wave on the communication path, such as a write path such that it travels around the write-read path, and sensing a returned signal at one end of the write-read path. A square wave signal corresponding to the square wave driven on the write path is delayed by a predetermined phase thus generating a delayed signal. The returned signal and the delayed signal are mixed, producing a mixed signal. The mixed signal is integrated to obtain an integrated output. The phase by which the delayed signal is shifted is successively adjusted. Returned signals are mixed with such delayed signals until the integrated output is equal to zero. The phase shift amount that results in a nulled integrated output, less a quarter cycle of the square wave, is equal to the round trip latency of the write-read path.
US07876516B2 Rewrite-efficient ECC/interleaving for multi-track recording on magnetic tape
For writing data to multi-track tape, a received data set is received and segmented into unencoded subdata sets, each comprising an array having K2 rows and K1 columns. For each unencoded subdata set, N1-K1 C1-parity bytes are generated for each row and N2-K2 C2-parity bytes are generated for each column. The C1 and C2 parity bytes are appended to the ends of the row and column, respectively, to form encoded C1 and C2 codewords, respectively. All of the C1 codewords per data set are endowed with a specific codeword header to form a plurality of partial codeword objects (PCOs). Each PCO is mapped onto a logical data track according to information within the header. On each logical data track, adjacent PCOs are merged to form COs which are modulation encoded and mapped into synchronized COs. Then T synchronized COs are written simultaneously to the data tape where T is the number of concurrent active tracks on the data tape.
US07876512B2 Apparatus for assembling lens module
An apparatus for assembling a lens module is provided. The lens module comprises a lens barrel and at least one optical element received therein. The apparatus includes an element-grasping member, an assembly station and two guiding members. The element-grasping member is configured for grasping the at least one optical element and mounting the at least one optical element into the lens barrel. The assembly station has a support surface. Each of the two guiding members includes a stationary element fixedly positioned on the support surface, a movable element and an elastic element. The movable element includes a positioning surface and a clamping surface. The positioning surface is configured for pressing the element-grasping member. The clamping surface is configured for pressing the lens barrel. The elastic element is positioned between the stationary element and the movable element.
US07876511B2 Subminiature imaging optical system
There is provided an imaging optical system including: a first lens element having a convex object-side surface; a second lens element having an object-side planar surface in contact with an image-side surface of the first lens element and an image-side planar surface; and a third lens element having an object-side surface in contact with an image-side surface of the second lens element, wherein the object-side surface of the first lens element and an image-side surface of the third lens element are aspherical, and the third lens element has a point of inflection formed within an effective aperture thereof such that the image-side surface is convexed toward an image plane at a central portion to have positive refractive power and concaved toward the image plane at a peripheral portion to have negative refractive power.
US07876493B2 Electrophoretic display device and method for fabricating the same
Disclosed is an electrophoretic display (EPD) device capable of delaying or preventing a sealant from leaking down by forming a dam pattern prior to a sealing process using the sealant, and a method for fabricating the same. The EPD device comprises: gate lines and data lines crossing each other to define a pixel region, and formed on a lower substrate; a thin film transistor (TFT) electrically connected to the gate lines and the data lines; a passivation film covering the TFT; a pixel electrode electrically connected to the TFT; a display layer formed on the pixel electrode and the passivation film, and having an electrophoretic substance; a common electrode formed on an entire surface of the display layer; an upper substrate formed on the common electrode; a seal pattern formed on each outer circumferential surface of the lower substrate, the upper substrate, and the display layer; and a dam pattern formed on the lower substrate adjacent to the seal pattern.
US07876492B2 Spatial light modulator and mirror array device
The present invention provides a spatial light modulator, comprising: a plurality of mirror elements; a plurality of address electrodes for controlling the movement of each of the mirror elements; and first and second control circuits for generating a voltage in the address electrode, wherein the second control circuit applies a voltage to the address electrode when the mirror element is in a moving state.
US07876490B2 Reflection type display apparatus
A reflection type display apparatus using an electroplating for modulating light includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and an electrolyte solution arranged between the first and second electrodes. A first electroplating is formed from the electrolyte solution onto the first electrode by setting a first direction of current flowing between the first and second electrodes, and a second electroplating is formed from the electrolyte solution onto the second electrode by setting a second direction of current flowing between the first and second electrodes. A first surface of the first electroplating is formed on the first electrode such that the first electroplating contacts the first electrode through the first surface and is different in at least one of a light reflectance and a light absorptance from a second surface of the second electroplating formed on the second electrode such that the second electroplating does not contact the second electrode through the second surface. Displaying is performed by a reflection light from the first surface in case that the first electroplating is formed on the first electrode, while a displaying is performed by a reflection light from the second surface in case that the second electroplating is formed on the second electrode.
US07876486B2 Optical scanning apparatus, optical writing apparatus, and image forming apparatus
F-theta lenses, included in scanning lens systems, are arranged on a main scanning plane facing an optical deflector and substantially linearly symmetrically on the main scanning plane with reference to a rotational center of the optical deflector. Each f-theta lens has a no-power portion in the main scanning direction. Synchronization-detecting light passes through the no-power portion of the f-theta lens, thus enabling reduction in color shift due to temperature variation in an image forming apparatus without increasing the cost and complexity in controlling color shift.
US07876484B2 Actuator, optical scanner, and image forming apparatus
An actuator includes: a first vibration system including a driving member having a frame shape, and a pair of first axial members each one end of which supports the driving member so as to allow the driving member to rotate about an X-axis; a second vibration system including a movable plate provided inside the driving member, and a pair of second axial members each one end of which supports the movable plate so as to allow the movable plate to rotate about a Y-axis perpendicular to the X-axis; a driving unit including a ferromagnetic member, a coil generating a magnetic field on the ferromagnetic; and a positioning portion that places the ferromagnetic member or the coil symmetrical with respect to an intersection point of the X and Y-axes.
US07876481B2 Patterned optical structures with enhanced security feature
A security image and method for forming said image is disclosed wherein an image having a layer with a hologram therein has an additional layer of magnetically aligned flakes together forming an image that is difficult to counterfeit and is highly attractive. Preferably windows of an opaque layer provide additional means of encoding or forming the image.
US07876477B2 Image reading method and image expansion method
An image reading method and an image expansion method are provided whereby a low-resolution imaged picture can be expanded to have a high image quality even if an input image sequence is motionless, that is to say, even if a subject is motionless. An image expansion device has an image input unit, which shoots an input image, a reading position determination unit, which determines the reading position of a mixed image and a decimated image, an image reading unit, which reads the mixed image and the decimated image at the reading position from the input image, a positioning unit, which positions a plurality of mixed images to calculate a motion vector indicating the amount of displacement among the images, a displacement compensation unit, which compensates for the motion vector based on the amount of movement of the reading position, and an image expansion unit, which uses a plurality of decimated images to perform super-resolution reconstruction, based on the post-compensation motion vector, and expands the image.
US07876476B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a scanner unit which performs an exposure process by irradiating beams to the image carrier, a scanner supporting plate which supports the scanner unit, a pair of sidewall frames which supports both lateral ends of the scanner supporting plate, a beam structure which is disposed between the pair of sidewall frames in at least one of a front side and a rear side of the scanner unit, and a reinforcing plate which is disposed opposite to the scanner supporting plate with interposing the scanner unit therebetween and is disposed between the pair of the sidewall frames in a non-fixed state to the scanner supporting plate and the scanner unit.
US07876467B2 System for printing and interacting with a document
A system for printing and interacting with a document. The system comprises a computer system, a printer connected to the computer system and an optically imaging pen. When the computer receives a request for printing the document, it allocates a document identity and determines coded data for the document. The printer prints the document including visible information and the coded data. The printed document is interactive with respect to the optically imaging pen, which reads the coded data and sends corresponding data to the computer system for interpretation. The sent data may be used to generate an e-mail.
US07876463B2 Image outputting system and computer-readable medium for outputting image
In an image outputting system, a monitor simultaneously outputs a plurality of input image data. A management server stores a management table including display starting time regarding each piece of image data. A detecting unit detects an event which requests the monitor to display new image data. A determining unit determines whether or not new image data corresponding to the detected event can be output to the monitor based on the output management information regarding each piece of the image data stored in the storing unit. When it is determined that the new image data can be output to the monitor, the monitor outputs the new image data instead of previous image data determined based on the output management information among image data previously output.
US07876461B2 Image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and control program
An image processing apparatus which is capable of extracting embedded information from the back side of a printed document without causing degradation of reading efficiency. A scanner unit reads an image on a first side of a sheet. An encoded information processing section extracts embedded information embedded in the image read by the scanner unit. When embedded information indicating that embedded information is embedded in an image on a second side of the sheet is extracted by the encoded information processing section, an automatic second-side reading section reads the image on the second side of the sheet, and the encoded information processing section extracts the embedded information embedded in the image read by the automatic second-side reading section.
US07876456B2 Intensity compensation for interchangeable chromatic point sensor components
Methods for providing compensation for non-uniform response of a light source and wavelength detector subsystem of a chromatic point sensor (CPS) are provided. Light from the light source is input into an optical path that bypasses the measurement path through a CPS optical pen and provides the bypass light to the wavelength detector to provide a raw intensity profile distributed over the pixels of detector. The resulting set of raw intensity profile signals are analyzed to determine a set of error compensation factors for wavelength-dependent intensity variations that occur in the raw intensity profile signals. Later, the error compensation factors may be applied to reduce distortions and asymmetries that may otherwise occur in the shape of the signals in the peak region of CPS distance measurement profile signal data. The disclosed methods may provide enhanced accuracy, robustness, field-testing, and interchangeability for CPS components, in various embodiments.
US07876452B2 Interferometric position-measuring devices and methods
Process tools and methods are disclosed that involve interferometric and other measurements of movements and positions relative to a process position, such as movements and positions of a stage relative to a lithographic optical system. An exemplary apparatus includes a stage that places a workpiece relative to the tool, and that is movable in at least one direction relative to the tool. At least one first interferometer system is situated relative to the stage to determine stage position in a movement direction relative to the process position. A movement-measuring device determines displacement of the tool from the process position. Using data from the interferometer system and movement-measuring device a processor determines a position of the stage relative to the tool. The processor also corrects the determined position for displacement of the tool.
US07876449B2 Laser interferometer
A laser interferometer includes: a laser source for emitting a laser beam while stabilizing a center wavelength of the laser beam by modulating the laser beam using a modulation signal of a predetermined frequency; and a reference mirror and a measurement mirror for reflecting the laser beam. The laser interferometer further includes: a sampling unit for acquiring a sampling value by sampling interference light reflected by the reference mirror and the measurement mirror with a sampling frequency that is a multiple by an integer of two or more of a frequency of the modulation signal; and an average calculator for calculating an average value by averaging a time-series sampling value acquired by the sampling unit in accordance with the sampling frequency. The laser interferometer calculates a displacement of the measurement mirror based on the average value calculated by the average calculator.
US07876448B2 Fiber-optic current sensor with sum detection
To measure a sum of electrical currents in different conductors, light is led in an optical sensing fiber around all the conductors. The sensing fiber can be wound around the conductors in a single loop or in several individual loops. Interspersed polarization maintaining fibers and retarders can be used to transfer the light between individual loops for preventing undesired signals from stray magnetic fields. The method has high accuracy is particularly suited for measuring large currents that sum up to zero.
US07876447B2 Monofibre optical meter for chemical measurement
Apparatus for determining a parameter of a sample has an optical sensor in the form of a monofibre waveguide having a distal end coated with a film that is placed in a sample. The waveguide has an input channel connected to a radiation light source and an output channel connected to a photodiode and amplifier to receive signals representative of the interference patterns created at the interface between the film and the sample. A computer receives the signals via an analogue to digital converter for processing the information and providing a measurement of the parameter. The measurement of the parameter may be used to control a process or system.
US07876444B2 Plasmonic conveyor apparatus, system and method
A plasmonic conveyor, system and method of plasmonic conveyance employ a surface plasmon that is controllably moved on a surface of a plasmonic element. The conveyor includes a first plasmonic element and a second plasmonic element that individually supports a respective surface plasmon. The conveyor further includes a controller that provides controlled movement of a location of the respective surface plasmon on a surface of the plasmonic element. The controlled movement facilitates translocation of an analyte particle around a periphery of the respective plasmonic element using a high field region of the respective surface plasmon. The system includes the conveyor and an excitation signal source that provides an excitation signal having one or both of a polarization and a frequency that are controllably variable. The method includes exciting a surface plasmon with the excitation signal and moving a location of the excited surface plasmon.
US07876440B2 Apparatus and methods for detecting overlay errors using scatterometry
Disclosed are apparatus and methods for determining overlay between a plurality of first structures in a first layer of a sample and a plurality of second structures in a second layer of the sample. Targets A, B, C and D that each include a portion of the first and second structures are provided. The target A is designed to have an offset Xa between its first and second structures portions; the target B is designed to have an offset Xb between its first and second structures portions; the target C is designed to have an offset Xc between its first and second structures portions; and the target D is designed to have an offset Xd between its first and second structures portions. Each of the offsets Xa, Xb, Xc and Xd is different from zero, and Xa is an opposite sign and differ from Xb.
US07876435B2 Method for determining background and correction of broadband background
A method to determine and correct broadband background in complex spectra in a simple and automatized manner includes carrying out a background correction with respect to broadband background before a calibration step. The background correction may involve recording a spectral graph and smoothing the recorded spectral graph, determining all values in the initially recorded graph having a value higher than the value of the smoothed graph and reducing such values to the value of the smoothed graph, and repeating these two steps. The background graph obtained is then subtracted from the initial graph. The smoothing of the graph is carried out by moving average, where each intensity value I at the position x in the spectrum is replaced by an average value. The characteristics of the found peaks can be stored in a file so that the calibration can be used at any time.
US07876432B2 Method for detecting position of defect on semiconductor wafer
A method of this invention involves: detecting a shape of an outer periphery of a semiconductor wafer with a first detecting device; determining a center position of the semiconductor wafer based on a detected result by the first detecting device; receiving a light beam reflected from a surface of the semiconductor wafer with a second detecting device; detecting an alignment part based on a detected result by the second detecting device to determine a position of the alignment part; and detecting a defect based on the detected result by the second detecting device to determine a position of the defect.
US07876431B2 Foreign matter inspection apparatus and foreign matter inspection method
A foreign-matter inspection apparatus is implemented which allows the stable detection sensitivity to be maintained. A laser beam emitted from a laser apparatus is applied to a beam irradiation sample via an irradiation unit and a mirror. Then, the laser beam is captured into a beam-capturing camera via an image-forming lens and a beam-direction switching mirror. Based on the captured beam image, an image computational processing unit judges inclination of the laser beam, then adjusting the irradiation unit thereby to correct the inclination of the laser beam. Also, the beam is captured into the beam-capturing camera in specified number-of-times while focus of the laser beam is being changed by an arbitrary amount by the irradiation unit. Based on the captured beam, the focus of the laser beam is corrected by adjusting the irradiation unit.
US07876430B2 Laser scanning for mooring robot
A profile scanner for locating a target zone on a profile of a vessel comprising an emitter adapted to progressively or instantaneously radiate towards the vessel; a receiver providing a signal indicative of radiation incident thereon; a controller or processor including stored instructions, for energizing the emitter and receiving the signal, and adapted to determine the vertical location of the target zone relative to scanner.
US07876426B2 Optical topology for multimode and singlemode OTDR
A network test instrument for singlemode and multimode OTDR testing employs an optical topology providing for combined singlemode and multimode use of a detector for reduced cost and instrument size.
US07876424B2 Distance estimation based on image contrast
The determination of an apparent distance between an object and a surface is disclosed. One disclosed embodiment comprises illuminating the object with a spatially inhomogeneous irradiance from the surface, an intensity variation in the spatially inhomogeneous irradiance in a plane parallel to the surface responsive to a distance between the plane and the surface. Next, an image of the object is acquired while the object is illuminated by the spatially inhomogeneous irradiance, and the apparent distance of the object from the surface is determined based on a brightness contrast in the image of the object due to the spatially inhomogeneous irradiance.
US07876423B1 Simultaneous noncontact precision imaging of microstructural and thickness variation in dielectric materials using terahertz energy
A process for simultaneously measuring the velocity of terahertz electromagnetic radiation in a dielectric material sample without prior knowledge of the thickness of the sample and for measuring the thickness of a material sample using terahertz electromagnetic radiation in a material sample without prior knowledge of the velocity of the terahertz electromagnetic radiation in the sample is disclosed and claimed. The process evaluates, in a plurality of locations, the sample for microstructural variations and for thickness variations and maps the microstructural and thickness variations by location. A thin sheet of dielectric material may be used on top of the sample to create a dielectric mismatch. The approximate focal point of the radiation source (transceiver) is initially determined for good measurements.
US07876422B2 Spatial information detecting device and photodetector suitable therefor
A spatial information detecting device is provided, which is capable of reducing the possibility that a saturation phenomenon is caused by the influence of an environmental light. This device includes a photoelectric converting portion for receiving a signal light from a target space to generate electric charges, a charge separating portion for separating electric charges corresponding to a constant amount of a bias component as undesired electric charges from the electric charges generated by the photoelectric converting portion, a charge accumulating portion for accumulating the remaining electric charges as effective electric charges reflecting a fluctuation component of the signal light, a barrier control electrode for forming a potential barrier between the charge separating portion and the charge accumulating portion, and a charge take-out portion for outputting the effective electric charges as an received-light output. By controlling a voltage applied to the barrier control electrode to change a height of the potential barrier, it is possible to adjust an amount of electric charges flowing from the charge separating portion into the charge accumulating portion over the potential barrier.