最新美国发明专利
Document Document Title
US07937271B2 Audio decoding using variable-length codebook application ranges
Provided are, among other things, systems, methods and techniques for decoding an audio signal from a frame-based bit stream. Each frame includes processing information pertaining to the frame and entropy-encoded quantization indexes representing audio data within the frame. The processing information includes: (i) code book indexes, (ii) code book application information specifying ranges of entropy-encoded quantization indexes to which the code books are to be applied, and (iii) window information. The entropy-encoded quantization indexes are decoded by applying the identified code books to the corresponding ranges of entropy-encoded quantization indexes. Subband samples are then generated by dequantizing the decoded quantization indexes, and a sequence of different window functions that were applied within a single frame of the audio data is identified based on the window information. Time-domain audio data are obtained by inverse-transforming the subband samples and using the plural different window functions indicated by the window information.
US07937268B2 Facilitating navigation of voice data
A system, system, and program for facilitating navigation of voice data are provided. Tokens are added to voice data based on predefined content criteria. Then, bidirectional scanning of the voice data to a next token within the voice data is enabled, such that navigation to pertinent locations within the voice data during playback is facilitated. When adding tokens to voice data, the voice data may be scanned to detect pauses, changes in voice inflection, and other vocal characteristics. Based on the detected vocal characteristics, tokens identifying ends of sentences, separations between words, and other structures are marked. In addition, when adding tokens to voice data, the voice data may be first converted to text. The text is then scanned for keywords, phrases, and types of information. Tokens are added in the voice data at locations identified within the text as meeting the predefined content criteria.
US07937264B2 Leveraging unlabeled data with a probabilistic graphical model
A general probabilistic formulation referred to as ‘Conditional Harmonic Mixing’ is provided, in which links between classification nodes are directed, a conditional probability matrix is associated with each link, and where the numbers of classes can vary from node to node. A posterior class probability at each node is updated by minimizing a divergence between its distribution and that predicted by its neighbors. For arbitrary graphs, as long as each unlabeled point is reachable from at least one training point, a solution generally always exists, is unique, and can be found by solving a sparse linear system iteratively. In one aspect, an automated data classification system is provided. The system includes a data set having at least one labeled category node in the data set. A semi-supervised learning component employs directed arcs to determine the label of at least one other unlabeled category node in the data set.
US07937256B2 Systems and methods of efficient library characterization for integrated circuit cell libraries
A method of efficient library characterization of a circuit of a logic gate having a plurality of transistors and a plurality of nodes defining interconnection points in the circuit is disclosed. The method includes determining a plurality of vectors for a plurality of arcs. Each of the plurality of vectors represents possible data bits to inputs and nodes of the logic gate. The method selects a plurality of substantially distinct vectors from the plurality of vectors for each of the plurality of arcs, and performs circuit pruning for each of the plurality of substantially distinct vectors, taking each one substantially distinct vector at a time. The circuit pruning includes identifying an active circuit for each vector. The active circuit is identified by determining which circuit features are activated when applying a particular one of the substantially distinct vectors. Then, the circuit simulations limited to a plurality of transistors in the active circuit are performed. The circuit pruning and circuit simulations are repeated for remaining ones of the plurality of substantially distinct vectors. The results of the circuit simulations are then stored on a non-volatile compute readable media, for each active circuit corresponding to each of the plurality of substantially distinct vectors.
US07937253B2 Virtual prototyping system and method
A computer method for simulating motion of at least a portion of a virtual body is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: providing a surfaced body model; capturing or computing motion data for an external surface of the surfaced body; dividing the body model into at least two volumes, one of the volumes comprising at least a portion of the external surface of the surfaced body and being a deformable volume, and one of the volumes being a prescribed motion volume, the two volumes defining an interfacial surface; moving the external surface of the surfaced body according to the motion data while computing motion of the interfacial surface; and, simulating motion of the portion of a body by driving motion of the interfacial surface through the computed motion to provide an accurately positioned moving deformable surface that can be used in garment design.
US07937251B2 Method and system for designing and modeling a product in a knowledge based engineering environment
An interactive design system includes a design application that creates and models a geometry of an object. A programming language application defines engineering rules that may be associated with the object. The programming language application associates the geometry of the object with the engineering rules such that any change made to the geometry is automatically reflected in the engineering rules and any change made to the engineering rules is reflected in the geometry. The programming language application may also generate one or more knowledge features that can be used to verify that associated parameter constraints have not been violated as a result of a geometry or engineering rule change before applying the desired changes.
US07937249B2 Computational model of the internal human pelvic environment
A computational model of the internal human pelvic environment. The model comprises meshed finite element regions corresponding to internal tissues or organs selected from the group consisting of pelvic muscles, vagina, vaginal walls, intestinal tissues, bowel tissues, bladder, bladder walls, cervix, and combinations thereof.
US07937248B2 Virtual time reversal acoustics for structural health monitoring
A method, apparatus, and computer program product for monitoring structures using virtual time reversal signal processing. In one embodiment, a signal having a frequency range is sent into a structure in a vehicle from a fixed transmitter to form an original transmitted signal. A response to the original transmitted signal is received at a fixed sensor associated with the structure to form a received response. The received response is reversed. The reversed response is processed using a transfer function to simulate propagation of the reversed response from the fixed sensor to the fixed transmitter to form a simulated time reversed response. The simulated time reversed response is a simulation of a response of the fixed transmitter to receiving the reversed response from the fixed sensor. The simulated time reversed response is analyzed to monitor for anomalies associated with the structure.
US07937247B2 Virtual metering
Methods for improving the accuracy of characterizing unmonitored paths or virtual meters in a utility system. The hierarchical arrangement of IEDs in the utility system is determined. Measured quantities of a characteristic of the utility being monitored are received and error-adjusted using statistical or absolute methods. The statistical method accounts for the mean and standard deviation associated with error measurements of the subject IED, and the absolute method uses the absolute value of the error measurement, expressed as a percentage, to produce ranges of measured quantities within an error tolerance. The differences between the error-adjusted quantities are analyzed to determine whether an unmonitored path exists, and if so, whether the virtual meter is consuming or supplying the utility. The order in which IEDs are read is determined so that a parent and its children are read in sequence to increase synchronicity of the received data and the virtual meter evaluation.
US07937245B2 Rendering of subsurface scattering effects in translucent objects
Embodiments are directed to modifying an existing scheme for providing translucent illumination in order to take account of subsurface scattering. The color of a selected point of a translucent object can be determined using existing methods. The existing methods need not take subsurface scattering into account. Then, a contribution to the color at the selected point due to subsurface scattering may be calculated. The contribution due to subsurface scattering may be calculated based on a photon map. Embodiments of the invention also include the use of different types of photon maps. In some embodiments, a standard photon map may be used. In other embodiments, a photon map may be defined in a manner similar to a depth map. Thus, the entries of a photon map may be defined in terms of an angle from a light source and a distance between an object's surface and a light source.
US07937237B2 Method for recognizing a sensor type
A first condition, which is met when a measuring signal (V_SENS) of a sensor exceeds a first threshold value (V_SW), is checked. A second condition, which is met when a gradient (GRD_V_SENS) of a measuring signal (V_SENS) is greater than a predefined second threshold (GRD_V_SW), is checked. If the first and second conditions are met, this is recognized on a sensor with a signal evaluation area multiplex output for the measuring signal. If at least one of the conditions is not met, this is recognized on a sensor without a signal evaluation area-multiplex output for the measuring signal.
US07937227B2 Method, apparatus, program, and recording medium for evaluating ultraviolet radiation protection effect
A method and apparatus for evaluating an ultraviolet radiation protection effect in a measurement sample is used for evaluating SPF (Sun Protection Factor). First, a temporal change of the spectral transmission spectrum in the measurement sample within a predetermined light wavelength range at predetermined wavelength intervals is measured. Second, a correlation between a light irradiating time and minimal erythema doses by predetermined lime intervals based on the temporal change of the spectral transmission spectrum is set. Third a predicted in vitro SPF in the measurement sample using a time until an accumulated minimal erythema dose that is obtained as a time integration of the minimal erythema doses based on the correlation obtained in the second step reaches 1 MED (Minimum Erythema Dose) is calculated.
US07937217B2 Bearing calculator and error correction method
A bearing calculator provided with a geomagnetic sensor for detecting earth-geomagnetism and a control unit for calculating a geographical bearing based on detection values of the geomagnetic sensor. The control unit can execute offset error correction processing for correcting the offset error to the geomagnetic sensor based on a change in the magnetic field inside the bearing calculator. When detection values of the geomagnetic sensor enter an abnormal state, it performs said offset error correction processing when the abnormal state continues for a predetermined time, while does not perform the offset error correction processing when the abnormal state ends within a predetermined time.
US07937216B2 System for monitoring propane or other consumable liquid in remotely located storage tanks
An improved apparatus and method for monitoring the levels of propane or other consumable liquid in remotely located storage tanks and coordinating delivery of liquid to those tanks, including an improved method of using the remote monitoring data to identify out-of-ordinary conditions at remote tanks, optimally schedule purchases or deliveries, improve safety, and more efficiently operate a propane dealership. More accurate and timely information concerning the status of customer tanks serves to improve operational efficiencies and increase safety. Data received from remote sensors can be collected and organized so that it is easily understood and utilized through the implementation of a user interface accessible via the Internet that allows the information to be presented in an efficient graphical and contextual fashion. Operational efficiencies can also be improved by calculating site-specific Degree-days and K-factors for each tank and by taking historical propane usage for each tank, weather conditions, and projected fuel usage into account.
US07937211B2 Internal combustion engine torque control
In a control device for an internal combustion engine including a throttle valve for adjusting the intake air amount that affects on the torque of the internal combustion engine, when a request for acceleration of the internal combustion engine is made, a torque gradient, which is a change in the torque of the internal combustion engine per unit time during the acceleration, is predicted based on an operating condition of the internal combustion engine before the acceleration, and the operation of the throttle valve is controlled based on the predicted torque gradient during the acceleration of the internal combustion engine.
US07937209B2 Air fuel ratio control system for internal combustion engines
A fuel control system of an engine system comprises a pre-catalyst exhaust gas oxygen (EGO) sensor and a control module. The pre-catalyst EGO sensor determines a pre-catalyst EGO signal based on an oxygen concentration of an exhaust gas. The control module determines at least one fuel command and determines at least one expected oxygen concentration of the exhaust gas. The control module determines a final fuel command for the engine system based on the pre-catalyst EGO signal, the fuel command, and the expected oxygen concentration.
US07937208B2 Apparatus for measuring EGR and method
An air breathing fuel consuming internal combustion engine with EGR and a control for the quantity of EGR. The total gas flow of the engine is calculated by measuring temperature and pressure at the intake to the engine. The fresh air flow is measured by an orifice or venturi at any point in the flow path for fresh air for combustion by the engine prior to the introduction of the EGR flow. The difference between the calculated total flow and fresh air flow is the actual EGR flow which is used to set the EGR relative to total flow according to one of a number of selected control algorithms.
US07937207B2 Exhaust gas purification system for internal combustion engine
An object of the present invention is to provide a technology that enables to enhance the effect of decreasing the NOx emission achieved by an exhaust gas purification system as a whole while favorably achieving both reduction in the amount of NOx generated in an internal combustion engine by means of EGR and reduction reaction of NOx in an NOx catalyst even when a reduction process for the NOx catalyst is performed while EGR is being performed. In the invention, in the case where addition of fuel into an exhaust pipe from a fuel addition valve 28 is performed to carry out the reduction process for the NOx catalyst 20 when EGR is being performed mainly by means of a low pressure EGR passage 23, the amount of the exhaust gas passing through the NOx catalyst 20 is decreased by decreasing the amount of the exhaust gas recirculated by the low pressure EGR passage 23.
US07937202B2 Seat belt/accelerator behavioral system
The computer 26 sends actuating signals to the resistive device 38 to resist the occupant input to the accelerator 22, but only when the vehicle speed exceeds a threshold while the seat belt 24 is not fastened about the occupant 28. This invention is characterized by applying the resistance and adjusting the threshold in proportion to the number of times the seat belt 24 is not fastened while the vehicle speed exceeds the threshold compared with the number of times the vehicle 20 exceeds the threshold speed. Also, the threshold may be adjusted so resistance may be applied at speeds that would normally be acceptable to have the seat belt 24 unfastened when the vehicle 20 is operated at these speeds too often.
US07937201B2 Method for producing a control instruction adaptable to a brake situation for a transmission device of a motor vehicle power train and corresponding device
A device delivers a torque setpoint signal applicable to the vehicle wheels of a motor vehicle including an automatic transmission. The torque setpoint signal has static and dynamic components that are set according to input data supplied by an input unit and based on a recorded list of parameters representing the driver's will, the motor vehicle state, and the environment thereof. The device includes a first unit for computing the dynamic component of a gross torque, a second unit for computing the static component of a gross torque, the second unit being connected to the output of the first unit, and a unit for adaptation to a brake situation producing the static component of the torque adapted to the braking situation according to the list of parameters.
US07937192B2 Detection of derailment by determining the rate of fall
A method and a device for the recognition of a derailment state of a wheel (RAD) of a rail vehicle. The acceleration of the wheel (RAD) is measured perpendicularly to a rail plane (ε) with at least one acceleration sensor (SEN), whereby from an acceleration signal (BSI) generated by the acceleration sensor (SEN) by means of simple integration (INT) over a time window of predeterminable magnitude, one determines a fall speed (FAG) of the wheel (RAD) in the direction of the rail plane (ε), and whereby on the basis of the determined fall speed (FAG), one examines whether a derailed state exists.
US07937188B2 Chip overheating protection
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for controlling the temperature of an internal device while reducing or minimizing the involvement of the host. Thus, some of the heat monitoring and remediation work may be offloaded to the actual device itself. The device may monitor its own temperature and, in the event of high temperature, perform device specific heat reduction actions without involving the host. Furthermore, the device may, upon detecting temperature within a predefined range, alert the host of a high temperature condition in order to allow the host to perform temperature reduction measures. Also, the device may, upon detecting temperature within a predefined range, alert the host of an impending device shutdown and shut the device down. In addition, the device may periodically save its temperature into non-volatile memory in order to create a temperature log.
US07937187B2 Computer controlled fertigation system and method
A system and a method of computer controlled irrigation and fertigation composed of one or more sensors positioned in order to quantify the amount of water and/or nutrients that a plant is consuming. By controlling the fertigation, the plant or a part thereof, has improved yield and quality.
US07937186B2 Device and method for automatically setting interlock between robots
A device and a method for automatically setting an interlock based on a suitable interference area obtained by executing an offline simulation in relation to a system including a plurality of robots. The device executes the simulation on the offline programming system based on a motion program so as to determine a moving path of the robots and a two-dimensional interference area between the robots. Next, the device calculates a first three-dimensional interference area by moving the two-dimensional area in the vertical direction and calculates an accurate second three-dimensional interference area within the first interference area, using three-dimensional models of the robots.
US07937185B2 Stable motion control system and method for a legged mobile robot
The motion of a robot is switched from a first motion, which the robot is currently performing, to a second motion. Postures of the robot in both the motions are pre-defined with a plurality of frames at a plurality of different time points. When switching from the first motion to the second motion, information is acquired on the frames corresponding to the second motion, and the posture of the robot is after the switching is controlled based on the acquired information.
US07937179B2 Dynamic inline yield analysis and prediction of a defect limited yield using inline inspection defects
In one embodiment, a method for predicting yield includes calculating a criticality factor (CF) for each of a plurality of defects detected in an inspection process step of a wafer, and determining a yield-loss contribution of the inspection process step to the final yield based on CFs of the plurality of defects and the yield model built for a relevant design. The yield-loss contribution of the inspection process step is then used to predict the final yield for the wafer.
US07937177B2 Manufacturing work in process management system
A method for addressing high Work In Process (WIP) conditions for increasing throughput while minimizing risk in a manufacturing line. Selected products to be skipped over during high WIP conditions include determining toolsets having work in process exceeding a certain threshold. For each of the toolsets, products which meet a criteria for skipping are selected. The selected products skip over to the toolset used in a subsequent process step ahead of product failing to meet the criteria for skipping. Solutions to this problem also include the WIP of the current process step, nominal WIP and WIP of subsequent process steps. Candidate lots for skipping process steps are identified by referencing a matrix of parameters that includes yield and criticality.
US07937176B2 Hybrid part installation process combining mass part installation techniques with discrete part number assembly activities
A hybrid data collection and component installation scheme for optimizing equipment cost, throughput, and quality practices in a multi-stage manufacturing environment. A kit comprising a plurality of parts corresponding to an order for a product is received from one of the stages in the multi-stage manufacturing environment. The parts in the kit were validated in the stage using data collected about the plurality of parts in the stage. At a subsequent stage in the manufacturing environment, a determination is made if the product qualifies for mass installation. If the product qualifies for mass installation, a set of parts in the kit is selected for mass installation. The set of parts are re-verified using the data collected in the previous stage in the environment to determine if the set of parts selected for mass installation is valid. If valid, the set of parts are installed en masse.
US07937173B2 Base display for an item of value and methods of making same
The present invention is directed to a novel method for creating a display for a valuable item. On one example, the method includes the steps of selecting an item to be display, selecting a base material to create a display, creating a three dimensional map of the item to be displayed, and milling the base using an instruction program to create a cavity within the base that is configured and adapted to receive the valuable item. The present invention is also directed to a novel base display for displaying an item of value.
US07937172B2 Program creating device for programmable controller, program creating method for programmable controller, and recording medium having program recorded thereon
It is an object to acquire a program creating device for a programmable controller which is able to create a sequence program without grasping a procedure of an address of an individual parameter area allocated to an object module when a setting of parameters of various functional modules for the programmable controller is executed.The device constitutes setting information creating means 12 for preparing module setting information of a parameter type for the programmable controller by using specific information which is included a functional module, analysis and conversion means 14 for creating a source file to be converted into a sequence program which programmed an operation of the programmable controller according to an analysis of a parameter of the module setting information, and program converting and inserting means 31 for converting a file created by the analysis and conversion means into the sequence program.
US07937164B2 Multivariate detection of abnormal conditions in a process plant
Methods and systems to detect abnormal operations in a process of a process plant include collecting on-line process data. The collected on-line process data is generated from a plurality of dependent and independent process variables of the process, such as a coker heater. A plurality of multivariate statistical models of the operation of the process are generated using corresponding sets of the process data. Each model is a measure of the operation of the process when the process is on-line at different times, and at least one model is a measure of the operation of the process when the process is on-line and operating normally. The models are executed to generate outputs corresponding to loading value metrics of a corresponding dependent process variable, and the loading value metrics are utilized to detect abnormal operations of the process.
US07937163B2 Medical control device and its system
A medical control system has a medical device, a medical control apparatus for controlling the medical device, and a display operation device for controlling the medical device. With the configuration, the medical device includes: a GUI setting information storage unit storing GUI setting information as setting information relating to design of a GUI screen configuring a graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling the medical device; a GUI setting information transmission unit transmitting the GUI setting information to the medical control apparatus. The medical control apparatus includes: a GUI generation unit generating a GUI screen image according to the transmitted GUI setting information; and an output unit outputting the generated GUI screen image to the display operation device.
US07937162B2 Machine operator interface having linked help feature
An operator interface for a machine is disclosed. The operator interface may have an operator interface device for receiving operator input corresponding to a requested machine function, wherein a machine function signal is generated in response to the received operator input. The operator interface may also have a help request device configured to receive an operator's request for information and generate a help signal. The operator interface may further have a controller in communication with the operator interface device and the help request device. The controller may be configured to provide information to the operator in response to receiving the help signal and the machine function signal. The information may relate to the requested machine function.
US07937160B2 Methods for delivering cortical electrode leads into patient's head
Methods and kits for delivering an electrode lead into the head of a patient are provided. A burr hole is formed within the cranium of the patient, and an electrode lead is threaded through the burr hole. The electrode lead is then placed in a pre-shaped two-dimensional geometry between the cranium and cortical brain tissue of the patient. An access anchor may be mounted into the burr hole to facilitate introduction and removal of the electrode lead and other devices. In some circumstances, it may be desirable to separate the dura mater overlying the cortical brain tissue from the cortical brain tissue to create a pocket in which the electrode lead may be manipulated. In this case, a tissue layer dissection device can be introduced through the burr hole, operated to separate the dura mater from the cranium, and then removed from the burr hole. In one embodiment, the dissection device comprises a balloon that can be inflated to separate the dura mater and cranium, and then deflated prior to removing the dissection device from the burr hole.
US07937156B2 Implantable device having osseointegrating protuberances
A housing for an implantable device to be secured to a patient's bone is disclosed. The housing comprises at least one osseointegrating protuberance extending from one or more surfaces of the housing adapted to abut the patient's bone. The at least one osseointegrating protuberance is configured to be extricated from the bone subsequent to osseointegration. The housing can be used, for example, for an implantable stimulator unit of a cochlear prosthetic device.
US07937153B2 Electrode with increased stability and method of manufacturing the same
An implantable electrode with increased stability having a clustered structure wherein the surface of the electrode is covered with a material comprising openings which are filled with sticks or posts. An implantable electrode with increased stability wherein the surface is of the electrode comprises mesh grids which are filled with sticks which are filed with a conducting or insulating material. A method of manufacturing an electrode with increased stability, comprising: depositing a metal layer on an base layer; applying photoresist layer on the metal layer; patterning the photoresist layer providing openings; electroplating the openings with metal; removing the photoresist layer leaving spaces; and filling the spaces with polymer. A method of manufacturing an electrode with increased stability, comprising: depositing a metal layer on an base layer; applying a polymer layer on the metal layer; applying photoresist layer on the polymer layer; patterning the photoresist layer providing openings; electroplating the openings with metal; and removing the photoresist layer.
US07937151B2 Implantable medical device with embedded programmable non-volatile memory
A system comprising an implantable medical device (IMD). The IMD includes a processor fabricated on an integrated circuit chip (IC), a random access memory (RAM) circuit fabricated on the same IC, and a programmable non-volatile memory (PNVM) circuit also fabricated on the same IC.
US07937144B2 Electric modulation of sympathetic nervous system
A method is described for the treatment of obesity or other disorders, by electrical activation or inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system. This activation or inhibition can be accomplished by electrically stimulating the greater splanchnic nerve or other portion of the sympathetic nervous system using an implantable pulse generator. This nerve activation can result in reduced food intake and increased energy expenditure. Reduced food intake may occur through a variety of mechanisms that reduce appetite and cause satiety. Increased adrenal gland hormone levels will result in increased energy expenditure. Fat and carbohydrate metabolism, which are also increased by sympathetic nerve activation, will accompany the increased energy expenditure.
US07937136B2 Cardiac mapping, including resolution map
A non-contact cardiac mapping method is disclosed that includes: (i) inserting a catheter into a heart cavity having an endocardium surface, the catheter including multiple, spatially distributed electrodes; (ii) measuring signals at the catheter electrodes in response to electrical activity in the heart cavity with the catheter spaced from the endocardium surface; and (iii) determining physiological information at multiple locations of the endocardium surface based on the measured signals and positions of the electrodes with respect to the endocardium surface. Related systems and computer programs are also disclosed.
US07937131B2 PET—MRI hybrid apparatus and method of implementing the same
There is provided a PET-MRI hybrid apparatus and method for integrating a PET image and an MRI image so that anatomical, hemodynamical and molecular information on human tissues are simultaneously presented in a single image. The PET-MRI hybrid system comprises a first scanner for obtaining anatomical and hemodynamical information, and a second scanner for obtaining molecular and functional information on the human tissues. Along a path between the first scanner and the second scanner, a transferring railway system which includes runs, and a movable bed for supporting a subject installed on the railway. The PET-MRI hybrid system also comprises a “RF+ magnetic” shield and a “magnetic” shield between path between the first scanner and the second scanner, which switch between an open status and a close status in a completely synchronized manner to assure a complete magnetic shield for the PET system at any given time. The subject is fastened on the bed and transferred along the railway between the first and second scanner to provide accurately fused MRI and PET images.
US07937128B2 Cyanotic infant sensor
A pulse oximetry sensor comprises emitters configured to transmit light having a plurality of wavelengths into a fleshy medium. A detector is responsive to the emitted light after absorption by constituents of pulsatile blood flowing within the medium so as to generate intensity signals. A sensor head has a light absorbing surface adapted to be disposed proximate the medium. The emitters and the detector are disposed proximate the sensor head. A detector window is defined by the sensor head and configured so as to limit the field-of-view of the detector.
US07937127B1 Radio terminal device
The present invention is for providing a radio terminal device having shock resistance and high rigidity capable of preventing breakage of the housing even in the case it is dropped from a hand, without the risk of deteriorating the performance of the stored antenna. The radio terminal device according to the invention comprises a printed board, a resin housing provided so as to cover one side surface of the printed board, a metal housing provided so as to cover the other side surface of the printed board, and an antenna provided on the one surface side of the printed board, wherein the resin housing and the metal housing are divided in a region elongating from the one side surface to the other side surface of the printed board.
US07937124B2 Versatile system for adaptive mobile station antenna
A system for providing an adaptive antenna system in a mobile communications device is disclosed. An array of antenna elements is provided. A sensing component is disposed along a surface of the mobile communications device, proximal to the array of antenna elements. A processor component is communicatively coupled to the sensing component. An implementation element is communicatively coupled to the processor component, and to the array of antenna elements. The sensor component generates data characterizing the proximity of a foreign object to the array of antenna elements; which the processing component uses to determine a configuration for the array of antenna elements. The implementation element modifies the array of antenna elements, responsive to the configuration determined by the processor component.
US07937122B2 Cellular phone
A plurality of operation portions are arranged at a surface on a sub-display side of a cellular phone with a camera so that various kinds of setting, selection and control can be performed without opening the cellular phone in its folded state, and the cellular phone can achieve improved operability and convenience. Cellular phone includes a first display portion at a surface of a first body opposed to a second body in the folded state, and includes a second display portion, an image taking portion and a plurality of operation portions arranged at a rear surface of the first body remote from the first display portion.
US07937120B2 System, apparatus and method for frequency based current reduction in wireless portable devices
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method, comprising reducing power consumption in a wireless device by adapting the bias current of active devices in the apparatus to the RF carrier frequency of the wireless device.
US07937118B2 Wireless audio distribution system with range based slow muting
A wireless audio distribution system includes a wireless headset for receiving a serial, digital bitstream including control data interspersed with digital data related to the audio channels, a manual audio channel selector switch; a manual volume adjustment control, an error detector and a muting circuit selectively reducing the volume level of the audio reproduced by the wireless headset in multiple steps based on errors detected by the error detector.
US07937115B2 Method for developing a personalized musical ring-tone for a mobile telephone based upon characters and length of a full name of a user
A method for developing a personalized music based (preferably blues-music based) ring-tone for a mobile telephone based upon characters and length of a full name of a user of the mobile telephone. The method includes the steps of logging onto an appropriate website having an appropriate algorithm programed therein, navigating through the appropriate website to an appropriate input box therein, entering the full name of the user in the appropriate input box of the appropriate website to form an inputted full name, activating the appropriate algorithm in the appropriate website, correlating by the appropriate algorithm each letter of the inputted full name of the user to a look-up table stored in a memory that correlates alphabetic letters to notes to form correlated notes based on a 5-note music scale and applied to one of several pre-determined rhythm tracks, keys, and tempos and based upon the length of the full name of the user, retrieving the correlated notes, playing back to the user using an MIDI instrument the correlated notes to form the personalized blues-based ring-tone for the mobile telephone based upon the characters and the length of the full name of the user of the mobile telephone, and downloading by the user of the mobile telephone the personalized blues-based ring-tone to the mobile telephone.
US07937113B2 Graphical display
A device may include logic to play songs. The device may also include a two level display. A first level of the display may display information to a user of the device, where the information is not associated with a song. A second level of the display may display graphical information to the user while a song is being played by the device.
US07937111B2 Wireless base station apparatus and wireless communication control method
A wireless base station apparatus (100) used in a wireless communications system includes a statistical processing unit (140) that performs statistical processing on downlink radio quality information reported from a wireless communications terminal device; a radio quality information offsetting unit (160) that adjusts the statistically processed downlink radio quality information based on a downlink transmission confirmation (ACK/NACK/DTX) message transmitted from the wireless communications terminal device and a required downlink quality; a transport format determination unit (170) that determines a downlink transport format based on the statistically processed radio quality information or the offset-adjusted radio quality information; and a transmitting unit (111) that transmits a downlink channel with the determined downlink transport format.
US07937109B2 Current source driver for common ground signal interface
A mobile computing device comprises a housing, a memory, a first current source driver, an audio interface and a processing circuit. The housing is configured to be held in a hand during use. The memory is configured to store audio data. The audio interface comprises a first terminal, a second terminal, and a common ground terminal for the first and second terminals. The processing circuit is configured to control the first current source driver to provide a first audio signal on the first terminal based on the audio data.
US07937107B2 Method and system for Bluetooth, near field communication and simultaneous FM transmission and reception functions
Methods and systems for wireless communication are disclosed and may comprise generating a first signal to enable transmission and/or reception of Bluetooth signals, and clocking direct digital frequency synthesizers (DDFSs) via the first signal to enable simultaneous transmission and reception of FM and NFC signals. The first signal may be generated via a Bluetooth LOGEN or PLL, and may comprise in-phase and quadrature components. The frequency of the first signal may be within the range of 2.4 GHz to 2.483 GHz, or mixed to result in a frequency within the same range. Control word inputs may be generated to control the DDFSs, and may be adjusted to compensate for changes in frequency of the first signal. Simultaneous NFC transmission and reception may be simulated by switching the control word inputs between a plurality of values in successive time intervals to perform time division duplexing, and may occur at different frequencies.
US07937106B2 Systems and methods of RF power transmission, modulation, and amplification, including architectural embodiments of same
Methods and systems for vector combining power amplification are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a plurality of signals are individually amplified, then summed to form a desired time-varying complex envelope signal. Phase and/or frequency characteristics of one or more of the signals are controlled to provide the desired phase, frequency, and/or amplitude characteristics of the desired time-varying complex envelope signal. In another embodiment, a time-varying complex envelope signal is decomposed into a plurality of constant envelope constituent signals. The constituent signals are amplified equally or substantially equally, and then summed to construct an amplified version of the original time-varying envelope signal. Embodiments also perform frequency up-conversion.
US07937101B2 System and method for performing communication in a wireless communication network
A wireless communication network is provided in which a plurality of radio devices achieve frequency diversity. By utilizing cognitive capability within the radio devices to iteratively select frequency sets, a lowest cardinality frequency set is generated and used to communicate amongst the plurality of radio devices. Each radio device can have different hardware, as the iterative selection of frequency set can take into account the different hardware capabilities of the radio devices.
US07937100B2 Method of updating channel information by a mobile station that is in power saving mode
A method of updating channel information by a mobile station (MS) that is in power saving mode is disclosed. More specifically, the method includes the MS which receives status information of a first channel descriptor and transmission frame information which includes when the first channel descriptor is to be transmitted. Furthermore, the MS compares status information of the first channel descriptor with status information of a second channel descriptor. Here, the second channel descriptor is stored in the MS. Lastly, if the compared status information are different, the MS receives the first channel descriptor according to the transmission frame information.
US07937096B2 Method and associated apparatus for distributed dynamic paging area clustering under heterogeneous access networks
In a telecommunication system, paging areas may be automatically reconfigured as required. Paging areas can be adaptively reconfigured in accordance with changes in movement traffic of mobile hosts. The system and method work under a constraint that only a limited number of area IDs are permitted for each paging unit area. Also, the system and method work over heterogeneous access networks. Thus, according to the presently disclosed embodiments, paging areas reconfigure themselves according to changes in movement traffic of mobile hosts.
US07937092B2 Method for providing a location information service in mobile communications system
In a method for providing a location information service based upon a user's location, when a user is currently located within a preferred location or preferred area set by the user to apply privacy with respect to a transmission of location information thereto, a procedure for requesting the user's authorization is performed before transmitting the user's location information, namely, a location server checks a location information request for the user located within the preferred location or preferred area according to a privacy profile within the corresponding location or area and performs a user notification and verification process according to the privacy profile, to thereafter determine whether to forward the location information according to the result of the verification.
US07937085B2 3G/GSM and WLAN integration of telephony
A Dual mode mobile terminal (MT2) comprising a WLAN interface (WLAN_NIC) and a cellular radio interface (GSM_NIC) has been described wherein when receiving a Page Request (6) message over the cellular radio interface (GSM_NIC), indicating an incoming voice call over the cellular radio interface, or upon receiving an indication from the user of the dual mode terminal to perform an outgoing voice call, performing a determination (7) as to whether a WLAN coverage is possible from an AP providing WLAN telephony calls, and if so responding, by issuing a WLAN call message (8) to a WLAN AP over the WLAN interface to an interworking node (IWFN). There is moreover provided an Interworking node (IWFN) comprising a cellular control unit (CTRL_SIP), a cellular unit (GSM_U), a voice over IP unit (VO_IP) and a router (R), which upon receiving a WLAN call (9) from a dual mode terminal via a WLAN AP, is establishing a connection against a serving mobile switching centre (S_MSC/VLR) (10,10a, 10b), is performing a call initiation procedure (12-15), a assign traffic channel procedure (16-20) and a call confirmation and call accepted procedure (22-27) between the dual mode terminal (MT2) and the serving switching mode centre (S_MSC/VLR), is initiating duplex GSM/IP translation (29) and is routing the cellular call between the AP and the serving mobile switching centre (S_MSC).
US07937079B2 Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication network and software upgrading method
A base station control portion 200 selects one or plural signals from signals received by plural settable communication paths in accordance with the state of the wave. A wireless communication apparatus 110 communicates with a wireless terminal 300 and a wired communication network. When the wireless communication apparatus 110 receives a request for upgrading software from a network management device 250, the wireless communication apparatus 110 controls the state of the transmission wave of a wireless interface so as to switch a communication path in which communication services are being provided to another wireless communication apparatus 110 without blackouts, rewrites the set software to software having been received through a wired interface in advance, returns the state of the transmission wave of the wireless interface and upgrades software without blackouts of the supply of communication services to the wireless terminal 300.
US07937077B2 Electronic apparatus and computer-readable recording medium
An electronic apparatus, such as a mobile phone, that has a plurality of applications, displays an icon menu listing icons corresponding to the plurality of applications on its display section. The electronic apparatus stores an application operation setting table, which stores, for each of the plurality of applications, setting information regarding whether or not an RF block is to be driven in parallel with execution of the application. When displaying the icon menu, the electronic apparatus displays an icon corresponding to an application which is set not to drive the RF block in parallel with execution of it, by adding an icon indicating that the RF block is not to be driven, based on the setting information stored in the application operation setting table or setting information input from an input section.
US07937075B2 Mode changing of a mobile communications device and vehicle settings when the mobile communications device is in proximity to a vehicle
A driver of a vehicle is identified and a command is sent to a mobile communications device that is associated with the identified driver and that is in proximity of the vehicle to force the mobile communications device to change modes such as to enter a hands-free or other suitable mode. The driver may be identified through one or more techniques including biometric sensing, key detection, switch controls, and so forth. Additionally, the driver and/or feature settings preferred by the current driver may be identified by receiving data from the mobile communications device. The data may identify the driver ID with preferred feature settings, the mobile communications device which has an association to a driver ID with preferred feature settings, or the data may specify the preferred feature settings.
US07937074B2 Information terminal, and event notifying method
An information terminal of the present invention aims at informing the user of an occurrence of an event during the reproduction of contents without an unexpected feeling. An information terminal of the present invention, includes a contents reproducing unit 10 for reproducing contents, a contents reproducing unit 20 for informing an occurrence of an event by reproducing the contents, a superposing unit 70 for superposing respective outputs of the contents reproducing unit 10, 20, and a controlling unit 50 for causing an information of the occurrence of the event and a superposition of respective outputs of the contents reproducing unit 10, 20 to execute in a previously set reproducing procedure.
US07937073B2 Data session authentication credentials update for a wireless communication device
Methods and apparatus of a wireless portable communication device for maintaining appropriate authentication credentials for accessing a data application maintained in a service network are provided. A default access point name (APN) or network access identifier (NAI) is maintained in memory of the wireless device. The wireless device submits, via a default wireless network, the default APN or NAI for establishing a data session in the default wireless network. The wireless device is then able to receive, in the data session via the default wireless network, a message service using the common data application maintained in the service network. In response to a change in service subscription for the wireless device, the wireless device receives, via a current cellular network, a current APN or NAI and stores it in its memory. The wireless device then submits, via the current wireless network, the current APN or NAI for establishing a data session in the current wireless network. The wireless device is then able to receive, in the data session via the current wireless network, the message service using the common data application maintained in the service network.
US07937071B2 Device management system and method of controlling the same
A device management (DM) system and a method of controlling the same, are discussed. According to an embodiment, the DM system comprises a DM server for transmitting a notification message in response to a device control request of a user, the notification message including unique authentication information having previously stored unique information of a device and basic authentication information having a setup value for setting up communication; and a device having a DM client, for receiving the notification message, performing authentications using the basic authentication information and the unique authentication information, and discarding the notification message if the authentications using the basic authentication information and the unique authentication information fail.
US07937069B2 System and process for switching between cell phone and landline services
A system and a method for determining which type of telephone communication service to use. The system can include at least one base station, and at least one telephone communication system in communication with the base station. There can also be at least one computer which is in communication with at least one of the base station or the telephone communication system. There can also be at least one database system in communication with the computer. The database system can be for storing data for assisting the computer in selecting a particular telecommunication service to place a telephone call based upon a user's preferences. The database system can include a matrix which sets the price of the telephone call vs. the signal or reception quality of the call so that the computer or system will select the most desired calling plan based upon a user's criteria or preferences.
US07937066B2 Emergency conference calling system
An apparatus for the location of an object of value, such as a vehicle, includes a cell phone disposed in the vehicle and under microprocessor control. The cell phone is adapted to call an owner on detection of an alarm condition as well as to place a call to 911. The cell phone, according to a preferred embodiment, places the call to 911 under command by the owner and then establishes a three-way conference call between the owner and a 911 dispatcher who answers the 911 call. Other methods of creating the conference call and of using the apparatus are disclosed including call transfer and call relay modes of operation. Other features, including GPS coordinate acquisition and transmission, are described.
US07937060B2 Self-improving channel-access protocol for ad-hoc networks
A communication system includes devices configured to communicate with each other through a temporal sequence of frames. Each of these frames includes multiple sub-channels and network information. Note that the network information in a given frame transmitted from a first device includes identification information for a second device that is communicating with the first device and corresponding sub-channels used by the first device and the second device to transmit data. Furthermore, the first device and the second device are configured to dynamically reserve one or more sub-channels based on the network information when communicating with each other, and dynamic-reservation conflicts may occur in which the first device and the second device both reserve a common sub-channel.
US07937059B2 Converting an electromagnetic signal via sub-sampling
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for down-converting an electromagnetic (EM) signal by aliasing the EM signal are described herein. Briefly stated, such methods, systems, and apparatuses operate by receiving an EM signal and an aliasing signal having an aliasing rate. The EM signal is aliased according to the aliasing signal to down-convert the EM signal. The term aliasing, as used herein, refers to both down-converting an EM signal by under-sampling the EM signal at an aliasing rate, and down-converting an EM signal by transferring energy from the EM signal at the aliasing rate. In an embodiment, the EM signal is down-converted to an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. In another embodiment, the EM signal is down-converted to a demodulated baseband information signal. In another embodiment, the EM signal is a frequency modulated (FM) signal, which is down-converted to a non-FM signal, such as a phase modulated (PM) signal or an amplitude modulated (AM) signal.
US07937057B2 Radio communication device
A spatial filtering adaptable for an interference wave that appears unsteadily can be implemented and also an interference canceling ability can be increased even in a condition that the interference wave does not steadily exist. At a time of non-active communication, the signals from a plurality of interference source radio communication devices 2 are received in advance by an interference signal receiving section 6 as the pre-process mode, then a resultant interference correlation matrix RI is stored in a storing section 7, and then an interference wave receiving antenna weight WI used to receive selectively the transmission signals from the interference source radio communication devices 2 is prepared based on the resultant interference correlation matrix RI. At a time of communication, the operation goes to the receiving process mode to normally receive the signal by a signal separating section 9, and a variation of the interference wave component is detected by an interference wave level detecting section 8 based on a signal power received using the interference wave receiving antenna weight WI. When the interference wave appears or changes, a desired wave separating/receiving antenna weight used to reduce the interference by using a new interference correlation matrix is changed adaptively.
US07937055B2 Timeshifting for a multiple-tuner vehicle radio system
Methods and apparatus are provided for timeshifting audio content in a multiple tuner audio system comprising a first tuner and a second tuner. One operating method involves maintaining a first data storage element for the first tuner, maintaining a second data storage element for the second tuner, receiving first audio content in realtime by the first tuner, and storing data representing the first audio content in the first data storage element, resulting in first stored content. The method also receives second audio content in realtime by the second tuner, and stores data representing the second audio content in the second data storage element, resulting in second stored content. The method thereafter generates a timeshifted audio signal corresponding to the first stored content or the second stored content.
US07937046B2 Wireless communication device for receiving mobile broadcasting signal and transmitting/receiving bluetooth signal with single antenna
Provided is a wireless communication device for receiving a mobile broadcasting signal and transmitting/receiving a Bluetooth® signal through a single antenna, which allows separation of the two signals using a difference in their frequency bands. A diplexer separates the signals using different band-pass filters. The signals are respectively input into a mobile broadcasting module and a Bluetooth® module. The wireless communication device allows reception of mobile broadcasting and Bluetooth signals within different frequency bands through a single antenna, thus achieving a compact and thin device with a reduced antenna mounting space.
US07937045B2 Softmultiband radio for ultra wide band
An ultra wide band device may announce a first idle message on a first ultra wide band sub-band associated with a first beacon group, announce a second idle message on a second ultra wide band sub-band associated with a second beacon group, and switch between the first and the second ultra wide band sub-bands to maintain a first connection with the first beacon group and a second connection with the second beacon group.
US07937040B2 Modulator apparatus having a mechanism for charging electronic devices and/or digital file decoding capabilities
A modulator apparatus comprising: an elongate housing having a distal portion and a proximal portion that flares outwardly from the distal portion; a cigarette lighter power adapter formed into the distal portion of the elongate housing; a user control panel located on the proximal portion of the elongate housing; an audio input jack in the elongate housing; a battery charging mechanism in the elongate housing for charging a battery of an external electronic device; a circuit located within the elongate housing and operably coupled to the cigarette lighter power adapter, the battery charging mechanism, the audio input jack, and the user control panel; and the circuit comprising means for transmitting an audio signal received by the audio input jack to a radio tuner.
US07937039B2 Object tagging system and method
A method of indexing information stored on a portable electronic device. The method includes receiving an association signal by the portable electronic device the association signal providing an indication of adjacent resources, accessing a database including a table storing relationships between data stored on the portable electronic device and the association signal, and indexing the data based on the relationships accessed in the database.
US07937037B2 Cleaning apparatus having an upper housing with varied thickness and image forming apparatus having the same
A cleaning apparatus include a cleaning member to remove a waste toner remaining in a photoconductive medium and a housing to support the cleaning member, including a waste toner admission portion to provide a transfer path of the waste toner removed by the cleaning member, and a waste toner collecting portion to store the waste toner. The housing has a first thickness corresponding to the waste toner admission portion and a second thickness corresponding to the waste toner collecting portion so that the first thickness is smaller than the second thickness.
US07937036B2 Collected developer conveying device and image forming apparatus which vents a developing container
A collected developer conveying device includes: a conveying passage through which collected developer is conveyed; a conveying member that is disposed in the conveying passage, and conveys the developer in the conveying passage by rotation thereof; a developer carrying body that holds developer on a surface thereof, and that is relatable; and a ventilation passage through which air passes from a developing container including the developer carrying body, wherein the conveying passage includes an air flow region formed in a part thereof upper than a rotational center of the conveying member in a gravitational direction, in a side of the conveying passage in which the conveying member rotates from an upper part of the conveying passage to a lower part thereof in the gravitational direction.
US07937035B2 Image forming apparatus including cleaning unit provided with cleaning member having free end facing upward and friction reducing unit, and image forming method
An image forming apparatus including: a rotatable image-carrier; a charging unit that contacts and charges a surface of the image-carrier; an exposing unit that exposes the surface and forms a latent-image; a developing unit that develops the latent-image with a developer; a transfer unit that transfers a developed-toner-image onto a transfer-receiving member; a cleaning unit that is provided with a plate shaped cleaning member having a free end that faces upwards a corner portion of the free end contacting the surface, the cleaning member cleaning off developer remaining on the surface after transfer, and a developer pooling member provided between the cleaning member and the transfer unit, that temporarily pools the cleaned off developer at the free end; and a friction-coefficient reducing unit that reduces a friction-coefficient at the surface, and that reduces the friction-coefficient during non-image forming period to less than that during image forming period is provided.
US07937033B2 Separating plate, fixing device having the separating plate with an edge part that abuts with the fixing member, method for producing the separating plate and image forming apparatus
A fixing device (55) including a fixing member (6), a pressure member (7) forcibly contacting with the fixing member, and a separating plate (1) for separating a transfer paper (9) ejected from a nipping part (8) formed by the fixing member and the pressure member contacting with the fixing member, from the fixing member, the separating plate including an edge part (2) disposed close to the fixing member, the separating plate being disposed relative to the fixing member so that a sum of a thickness of the edge part of the separating plate and a gap (10) formed between the edge part and the fixing member is lesser than a minimum lift height of the transfer paper ejected from the nipping part.
US07937024B2 Image forming apparatus utilizing technology of periodically varying rotational speed of motor
The image bearing member to improve transfer efficiency at an occasion of transferring a toner image from the image bearing member. A rotational speed of a motor rotating the image bearing member in a short period and thereby disorder in a toner image can be restrained to reach a low level. On the other hand, circumferential velocity between the image bearing member and paper can be provided large. Therefore improvement in transfer efficiency can be designed.
US07937023B2 Method and a composition for producing an undercoat layer using dialkyl malonate blocked isocyanates (for electrophotographic applications)
A method and a composition for the production of surface smoothing polyurethane layers for application to a substrate prior to subsequent application of a charge generation layer for electrophotographic applications by preparing a coating solution containing a dialkyl malonate capped isocyanate or polyisocyanate, a polyol and at least one finely-divided metal oxide, coating the substrate with the coating solution and heating the coating solution to a temperature up to about 140° C.
US07937022B2 Non-removable CRU light shield replacement for pull strip
This is a shroud for housing a replacement photoconductive drum. The shroud has an open gap at its top portion and this gap is covered by at least two overlapping flexible strips that are configured to allow a handle structure to pass therethrough on its way to an exit in the shroud where the photoconductive drum is pushed out of the shroud when installing the drum in a marking machine.
US07937017B2 Image forming apparatus
The belt cleaning unit receives a biasing force, receives a rotating force of an output gear connected to an input gear, and further receives a reaction force from a cleaning roller rotationally driven to be opposed to a transfer belt while in contact with it during a cleaning operation, thus the belt cleaning unit is pressed against a front wall of a front side support member.
US07937014B2 Image forming apparatus with cooling fan for cooling image holding members
An image forming apparatus includes plural image holding members that hold toner images, a belt unit, an apparatus side portion, and a fan unit. The belt unit includes a belt member disposed facing the plural image holding members. The apparatus side portion is disposed on an outer side of the belt unit in an axial direction of rotating shafts of the plural image holding members. The fan unit is disposed between the apparatus side portion and the belt unit and aerates end portions of the belt unit in the axial direction of the rotating shafts.
US07937011B2 Image forming apparatus and image controlling method
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; toner image formation means for forming a toner image on the image bearing member; removing means for removing deposited matter deposited on the image bearing member; detecting means for detecting a toner image to be detected, formed on the toner image formation means; control means for controlling a toner image forming condition of the toner image forming means in accordance with a result of detection of the toner image to be detected by the detecting means; the apparatus being operable in a mode in which the removing means operates to remove the deposition, and the detecting means operates to detect the toner image to be detected, executing means for executing an operation in the mode; and an operating portion for manually starting execution of the operation in the mode by the executing means.
US07937009B2 Image forming apparatus and method of controlling the same according to bias voltages
An image forming apparatus includes a photoconductive medium electrified by an electrifying apparatus to a predetermined electric potential, a plurality of color developing apparatuses which are fixed around the photoconductive medium, each color developing apparatus having a developing roller to adhere a predetermined color toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductive medium by a laser scanning unit, and a supplying roller to supply a toner to the developing roller, a voltage supplying apparatus to apply a predetermined bias voltage to the developing roller and the supplying roller, and a controlling apparatus to control a degree and a timing of applying the bias voltages to the developing roller and the supplying roller to control a movement state of the toner between the supplying roller and the developing roller.
US07937006B2 Image forming apparatus with improved pressure control
An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a fixing/pressurizing roller pair that nips a transfer sheet and transports to fix toner on the transfer sheet; a pressure control unit that controls a pressure demonstrated by the fixing/pressurizing roller pair in consideration of the type of the transfer sheet; a transfer sheet compatibility determining unit that determines whether or not the pressure set by the pressure control unit is compatible with the transfer sheet to be inserted between the fixing/pressurizing roller pair; and a control unit that performs a process to cause to notify a user of incompatibility and/or a process to forbid printing if the transfer sheet compatibility determining unit determines that the pressure set by the pressure control unit is not compatible with the transfer sheet.
US07937005B2 Image forming apparatus for processing an image in accordance with a sheet size of an image transfer sheet
A ROM (18) stores image forming driver information associated with a plurality of size groups into which a plurality of sets of sheet sizes close to each other are respectively sorted. When a sheet size of an image transfer sheet designated by an operator through an operating section (19) and a sheet size of an image transfer sheet detected by an image transfer sheet sensor (21) are different from one another, but both of the image transfer sheet sizes fall in the same size group, a CPU (15) allows an image forming section (16) to execute an image forming processing in accordance with image forming driver information corresponding to the image transfer sheet size designated by the operating section (19).
US07937004B2 Image forming apparatus having replaceable components
Disclosed is an image forming apparatus which forms an image on a paper including a detection unit to detect a present temperature of one component or a plurality of components to be replaced among components constituting the image forming apparatus and a control unit to determine whether the component is replaceable or not based on the detected present temperature and to execute a replacement guide for the component which is determined to be replaceable.
US07937002B2 Original document reading apparatus
A document reading apparatus has a controller for conveying original documents from a section for loading documents via a section for reading documents to a section on which the documents are stacked, and controlling an operation of reading the documents. The apparatus includes respective sections for reporting apparatus information, detecting a start instruction when reading a document, and counting sheets conveyed to the reading section. If the reading operation is suspended in the event of an error, the controller instructs the reporting section, when resuming the reading operation, to report the loading on the loading section of documents, including already-read documents, the controller subsequently controls conveyance of documents when the detecting section detects the start instruction, to set the conveyance speed of the already-read documents faster than the conveyance speed of subsequent documents on which the reading operation was suspended, based on the number of sheets counted until the suspension.
US07936985B2 Lens barrel and image pickup apparatus
A lens barrel having an increased strength against external impact. The lens barrel is configured to move in an optical axis direction. A photographic lens unit moves in the optical axis direction. A cylindrical unit is engaged with the photographic lens unit, and has an outer periphery formed thereon with a first cam groove followed by the photographic lens unit. The cylindrical unit performs rotation to thereby move the photographic lens unit in the optical axis direction. A rectilinear motion-causing restriction member is engaged with the cylindrical unit to restrict motion of the photographic lens unit to rectilinear motion. A second cylindrical unit is disposed around the photographic lens unit and the cylindrical unit to guide the photographic lens unit for rectilinear motion. A second rectilinear motion-causing restriction member restricts motion of the rectilinear motion-causing restriction member and the second cylindrical unit in a direction of rotation.
US07936983B2 Imaging device and apparatus installed with the same
An imaging device includes a light source layer having imaging light source units for radiating the imaging light containing a first wavelength on an object to be imaged, a detection layer having detection elements for detecting the light of the first wavelength radiated from the light source units, and a light-blocking unit interposed between the light source layer and the detection layer. The light source layer is held between the detection layer and the object to be imaged. The light-blocking unit is arranged in such a manner as to block the direct radiation of at least part of the light radiated from the light source units to the detection elements.
US07936980B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936979B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936978B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936975B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936974B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936973B2 Detecting a content item in a digital video stream
The invention relates to a method of detecting a boundary of a content item in a digital video stream. The method comprises the steps of determining (130) an average bit rate of the video stream over a period of time, and detecting (140) a change of the average bit rate indicating the boundary of the content item. A moving average of the bit rate may be determined. The method can be used for an encrypted digital video stream. The invention also relates to a device for detecting a boundary of a content item in a digital video stream. The invention further relates to a receiver for receiving at least one content item in a digital broadcast video stream, and a video recorder for recording at least one TV program.
US07936972B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936970B2 Information storage medium and information recording/playback system
There are provided an information storage medium capable of real-time recording/playback of digital moving picture information, and a digital information recording/playback system using this medium. In a medium that records/plays back data including video data and control information, the control information (DA21 in FIG. 4; RTR_VMG in FIG. 30) includes information (VOBU entry in FIG. 31) for accessing a specific portion (VOBU) of the video data.
US07936962B2 High density optical fiber distribution enclosure
An optical fiber distribution enclosure includes a housing defining an interior, a first fiber distribution area disposed within an upper portion of the interior, a second fiber distribution area disposed within a lower portion of the interior and a signal splitting area disposed between the fiber distribution areas. A splitter module secured within the signal splitting area has a connectorized splitter input optical fiber and connectorized splitter output optical fibers. A fiber parking area is movably disposed within the lower portion adjacent the second fiber distribution area for temporarily storing splitter output optical fibers that are not routed to the fiber distribution areas. An input fiber distribution area disposed within the interior interconnects an optical fiber of a feeder cable with the splitter input optical fiber. The splitter output optical fibers are eventually routed to a fiber distribution area and interconnected with a corresponding optical fiber of a distribution cable.
US07936960B2 Optical fiber slack storage for splice trays and splice assemblies
There is provided splice trays and splice assemblies that include one or more optical fiber routing guides for optical fiber slack storage. The optical fiber routing guides are associated with individual or select groupings of splice holders in order to eliminate slack storage generally around the perimeter of the splice tray. Therefore, the optical fibers of one or a select number of splices may be routed separately from other optical fibers to enable technicians to more easily manipulate the fibers. In addition, optical fiber routing guides are included with a splice assembly in order to eliminate slack storage generally around the splice tray. The optical fiber routing guides additionally may define bend radiuses of between about 0.1 inch and about 0.5 inch. Therefore, splice trays and splice assemblies comprising the optical fiber routing guides may provide more convenient access and/or define smaller sizes compared to previous splice trays and splice assemblies.
US07936955B2 Waveguide for thermo optic device
A waveguide and resonator are formed on a lower cladding of a thermo optic device, each having a formation height that is substantially equal. Thereafter, the formation height of the waveguide is attenuated. In this manner, the aspect ratio as between the waveguide and resonator in an area where the waveguide and resonator front or face one another decreases (in comparison to the prior art) thereby restoring the synchronicity between the waveguide and the grating and allowing higher bandwidth configurations to be used. The waveguide attenuation is achieved by photomasking and etching the waveguide after the resonator and waveguide are formed. In one embodiment the photomasking and etching is performed after deposition of the upper cladding. In another, it is performed before the deposition. Thermo optic devices, thermo optic packages and fiber optic systems having these waveguides are also taught.
US07936954B2 Optical rotary joint with high return loss
An optical rotary joint comprises a first collimator arrangement for coupling-on first light-waveguides and a second collimator arrangement for coupling-on second light-waveguides, with the second collimator arrangement being supported to be rotatable relative to the first collimator arrangement about a rotation axis. A Dove prism is provided between the collimator arrangements as a derotating element. An intermediate layer is provided on at least one boundary face of an optical constituent part to a surrounding medium, which the intermediate layer comprises a nano-structure having a mean refractive index lying between a refractive index of a material of the optical constituent part and a refractive index of the medium of the surroundings.
US07936947B1 Method of processing image data
A method of processing image data for registration of multiple images to a common reference space comprising the step of computing a mapping between each image and a common reference image comprising an average of all of the images.
US07936946B2 Migration for old image database
Techniques are described for causing digital image data to be interpreted according to a particular technique of a plurality of techniques. According to an embodiment, digital sensor data is received, and user input is received that specifies which technique of a plurality of techniques to use to generate a display that depicts an unmodified image from the sensor data, wherein each technique of the plurality of techniques generates a display from the sensor data in a different manner than each other technique of the plurality of techniques.
US07936943B2 Correcting luminance non-uniformity in a tiled projection system
A method of correcting luminance non-uniformity in a tiled projection system is disclosed. The method includes projecting with a plurality of projection devices a composite image wherein the composite image comprises a plurality of tiled images on a display surface with an overall luminance and correcting a luminance non-uniformity of the plurality of tiled images, wherein the luminance non-uniformity is based on a dimmed at least one of the plurality of tiled images, wherein correcting the luminance non-uniformity comprises utilizing at least one of the plurality of projection devices to adjust the overall luminance of the plurality of tiled images on the display surface.
US07936937B2 Image processing apparatus and method for attribute data encoding
M×N attribute data for M×N pixels, where M and N are integer multiple of “L” are input. Data expressed by L bits are encoded, A first encoding control step supplies the M×N attribute data to be encoded in an input order, causing encoding to be executed. A second encoding control step converts the M×N attribute data input into bit planes of bit 0 to bit L−1, extracts L-bit data from one converted bit plane, and supplies the extracted L-bit data for each bit plane, causing encoding to be executed. An amount of encoded data generated by the encoding under the control of the first encoding control step is compared with an amount of encoded data generated in the encoding under the control of the second encoding control step, and encoded data with a smaller amount are selected. The selected encoded data and identification information representing the selected data are then output.
US07936931B2 Image encoding apparatus and image decoding apparatus
A conversion control unit divides a transform coefficient into code blocks. A storing device has a storage capacity corresponding to data size of the code blocks. To the conversion control unit, rotation/inversion control information including information of the rotation angle and the inverting direction is input. The conversion control unit generates a control signal on the basis of the rotation/inversion control information and sub-band information of the transform coefficient. An address generating unit generates a write address on the basis of a control signal. By accessing the storing device in predetermined order on the basis of the write address at the time of writing the code block to the storing device, an image rotating/inverting process is performed.
US07936922B2 Method and apparatus for segmenting images
Method and apparatus for extending regions in two-dimensional (2-D) image space or volumes in three-dimensional (3-D) image space that are generated by a test area-based region growing mechanism. Embodiments of a dilation mechanism may perform post-processing of a region or volume generated by the test area-based region growing mechanism to correct for an edge inset resulting from a radius used to define the test area. The dilation mechanism may perform a morphological dilate to expand the region or volume to the proper edge of the desired object in the image data within the tolerance range of the threshold, and thus corrects for the inset error introduced by the test area radius used by the region growing mechanism. The dilation mechanism may be limited to extending the region or volume to the radius distance from the edge of the original region or volume generated by the region growing mechanism.
US07936918B2 Method of printing from digital camera system
A method of printing from a digital camera system. The method includes the steps of: retrieving a planarized linear image from a memory of the camera system; producing a dithered image in real-time from the retrieved planarized linear image; and printing the dithered image using a printhead supplied with colored inks.
US07936914B2 Authenticity determination method, apparatus, and program
To determine authenticity of a solid body simply and precisely, a reference area of a paper sheet which is genuine is optically read from two different directions, and the image is registered as a reference image. A check area of a paper sheet subjected to the authenticity determination, including the reference area and having a size larger than the reference area, is read from two different directions with a scanner, and data on a partial area having the same size as the reference area are extracted from each set of check data collected by the reading. For a set consisting of the reference image and the check image optically read from the same direction, the value of the correlation with the reference image is repetitively calculated by the normalized correlation method while the partial area is shifted within the check area. The maximum correlation value and the normalized score of the maximum correlation value are compared with respective thresholds to determine the authenticity of the paper sheet. If the paper sheet is determined to be “genuine” for the authenticity determination of each set, the paper sheet subjected to the authenticity determination is finally determined to be “genuine.”
US07936908B2 Graphical user interface for displaying a radiology image for a patient and an associated laboratory report summary
A user interface embodied on at least one computer readable medium for displaying a healthcare image for a patient and a clinical report for a patient simultaneously is provided. The interface comprises a first display area configured to display a healthcare image for a patient and a second display area configured to display a clinical report associated with the healthcare image simultaneously with the healthcare image for the patient, where the clinical report is created based on results other than the healthcare image.
US07936905B2 Method, system and program for authenticating a user by biometric information
A personal authentication method is provided for authenticating a user by cross-relation between an enrolled image and a verification image of biometric information of the user. Upon registration of the biometric information, the method generates a filter for scrambling the image and an inverse filter thereof, and applies the filter to the enrolled image generated from the biometric information to generate a registration template which is then stored to a memory. Upon authentication of the user, the method applies the inverse filter to the verification image generated from the biometric information collected from the user, and then verifies the identity of the user based on cross-relation between the verification image after application of the inverse filter and the registration template.
US07936902B2 Face feature point detection apparatus and feature point detection apparatus
Plural nodes are arranged at predetermined initial positions, and feature values at plural sampling points around each node are obtained as a node feature value of each corresponding node. An error estimator indicating displacement between the current position of each node and the position of corresponding feature point is obtained based on correlation information on a difference between the node feature value obtained in a state in which the plural nodes are arranged at correct positions of the corresponding feature points and the node feature value obtained in a state in which the plural nodes are arranged at wrong positions of the corresponding feature points in a learning image, correlation information on a difference between the correct position and the wrong position, and a node feature value of each node. The position of each feature point is estimated in an input image based on the error estimator and the current position of each node.
US07936901B2 System and method for encoding high density geometric symbol set
A system and related techniques provide a platform for encoding high density geometric symbol sets, for example a triangular barcode-type of encoding which may be used to encode drivers' licenses, biometric IDs, passports, or other transaction or identification media. According to embodiments of the invention in one regard, an inkjet, laser or other printer or output device may imprint a paper, plastic or other media with geometric symbols such as triangles in a defined array, to represent, for instance, name, address, or other identifying information, for instance such as digital facial photographs, iris or retinal scans, fingerprints, signatures, or other information. The geometric symbols may in one regard be arranged in a staggered format, separated in embodiments by a white space that may serve to reduce aliasing effects and other distortions. Because triangular symbols may in general be packed more closely together, and the number of distinct individual symbols may scale according to the range of color space employed for the symbol set, information densities high enough to satisfactorily encode biometric iris or retinal scans, digital facial photographs, or other identification or other information may be achieved. In embodiments, error correcting processing such as Reed-Solomon techniques may be employed to enhance scanning accuracy. In further embodiments, a reference palette may be embedded within the imprinted media, to provide a scale against which color fading or other distortion may be measured.
US07936885B2 Audio/video reproducing systems, methods and computer program products that modify audio/video electrical signals in response to specific sounds/images
An audio/video reproducing system is automatically electronically controlled in response to specific sensed sounds, specific sensed images and/or specific sensed patterns of nonvisible electromagnetic radiation that are identified electronically from a predefined set of specific sounds, a predefined set of specific images and/or a predefined set of electromagnetic radiation patterns. User preferences may be set to identify specific combinations of sensed patterns. The sensed patterns may be ambient sensed patterns and/or remote sensed patterns. Related systems, methods and computer program products are also described.
US07936881B2 Method and system for transmitting signaling information over a data transport network
A method for transmitting signaling information, such as cryptographic key synchronization information, over a data path of a network, the data path having an originating end and a terminating end. The method uses in-band signaling to transmit the signaling information from the originating end of the data path to the terminating end of the data path without consuming any bandwidth of the data path. More specifically, the method includes the steps of receiving user data to be transmitted over the data path and encrypting this user data with a cryptographic key, thereby generating cipher data. The method next includes processing the cipher data such that the cipher data includes the signaling information, and mapping the cipher data including the signaling information into a traffic unit for transmission over the data path.
US07936873B2 Secure distribution of content using decryption keys
For digital rights management (DRM) of e.g. digitally delivered music or video, a technique to make the decryption keys more secure. The technique fragments a message (song or video or other) into a number of portions, and uses a different decryption key for each portion. Each of the various keys is a function of the preceding key, in one version. In another version, each key is a function of a seed value and of the particular portion of the material with which the key is associated.
US07936870B2 Rotation of keys during encryption/decryption
Data is encrypted according to a plurality of data keys. During the encryption of the data, the data keys are rotated according to a data key rotation pattern, and the rotation of the data keys includes repetitive use of the data keys during the encryption of the data. The encrypted data is transmitted to a receiver. Additionally or alternatively, encrypted data is received from a transmitter. The encrypted data is decrypted according to a plurality of data keys. During the decryption of the encrypted data, the data keys are rotated according to a data key rotation pattern, and the rotating of the data keys includes repetitive use of the data keys during the decryption of the encrypted data.
US07936864B2 Voice communication terminal, media server, and method for control of locking voice communication
A lock control technique suitable for voice communication terminals. A voice communication terminal includes an unattended state detecting unit which detects an unattended state of the terminal, when its user leaves the terminal, and a lock control unit. The lock control unit determines whether the unattended state detected by the unattended state detecting unit has continued for a given time period or longer. If determining that the unattended state has continued for the given time period or longer, the lock control unit controls the terminal's communication so that voice input to the terminal will not be transmitted to other parties in conversation and voice of any other party will not be output from the computer.
US07936863B2 Method and apparatus for providing communication tasks in a workflow
Methods and apparatus are provided for developing and processing workflows that include communication tasks. A workflow is generated according to the present invention by inserting at least one communication node in the workflow. The communication node associated is with a communication task having at least one property that is resolved at run time. For example, the media type, recipient list, or timing of a communication may be resolved at run-time. A workflow generation tool is provided that generates a workflow based on (i) a user selection of at least one communication node to insert in a workflow, and (ii) a user specification of one or more properties of the communication task, wherein at least one property of the communication task is resolved at run time. At run-time, a workflow engine parses at least communication node in a workflow associated with a communication task and having at least one property that is resolved at run time.
US07936860B2 X-ray condensing method and its device using phase restoration method
An X-ray condensing method and its device are provided with an X-ray mirror that has a wavefront adjustable function to finely adjust a wavefront of a reflecting X-ray, measure an X-ray intensity distribution in the vicinity of a focus, measure an X-ray intensity distribution in the vicinity of the X-ray mirror or use a known X-ray intensity distribution of an incident X-ray, calculate a complex amplitude distribution at the reflective surface by using a phase restoration method from the X-ray intensity distribution in the vicinity of the focus and the X-ray intensity distribution in the vicinity of the reflective surface, calculate a wavefront aberration of an X-ray condensing optical system from the complex amplitude distribution, and control the reflective surface of the X-ray mirror with the wavefront adjustable function so that the wavefront aberration is minimized.
US07936857B2 Phase selector for data transmitting device
A phase selector is disclosed. The phase selector is utilized for outputting an output clock to a flip-flop according to an input data signal latched by the flip-flop. The phase selector includes: a clock phase adjustor, for adjusting the delay of an input clock to generate a first clock and a second clock, wherein the clock phases of the first clock and the second clock are different; a phase detector, for detecting phase relation between the input data signal and the first clock to generate a detecting signal; a decision circuit, coupled to the phase detector, for generating a selecting signal according to the detecting signal; and a selection circuit, coupled to the decision circuit, for selecting the input clock or the second clock to generate the output clock to the flip-flop according to the selecting signal.
US07936854B2 Method and system of cycle slip framing in a deserializer
A method and system for cycle slip framing is disclosed. The method includes receiving an asynchronous signal and generating a synchronous pulse after receiving the asynchronous signal. The method further provides that the synchronous pulse be used to affect a bit slip that results in the moving of a character frame in the recovered data of a deserializer. According to one embodiment of the invention, the moving of the character frame is prompted by a single control signal of a clock divider circuit which causes the removal of a single clock cycle of a clock signal supplied to said deserializer.
US07936853B2 False frequency lock detector
A system and method are provided for detecting a false clock frequency lock in a clock and data recovery (CDR) device. The method accepts a digital raw data signal at a first rate and counts edge transitions in the raw data signal, creating a raw count. A clock signal is also accepted at a second rate. The clock signal is a timing reference recovered from the raw data signal. The raw data signal is sampled at a rate responsive to the clock signal, generating a sampled signal. Edge transitions are counted in the sampled signal, creating a sampled count. Then, the raw count is compared to the sampled count, to determine if the first rate is equal to the second rate. The method is used to determine if the second rate is less than the first rate—to detect if the clock signal is incorrectly locked to the first rate.
US07936848B2 Apparatus and method for estimating channel in broadband wireless access (BWA) communication system
An apparatus and a method for estimating a channel in a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) communication system are provided. The apparatus includes a subcarrier demapper for extracting pilot symbols at preset positions for a channel estimation; and a channel estimator for acquiring channel estimate values of subcarriers through an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filtering using the pilot symbols provided from the subcarrier demapper and a preset filter factor. Thus, the channel condition can be estimated by taking into account the channel change.
US07936847B2 Removal of matched waveform interference
Methods and systems of signal cancellation/separation for use in multi-signal communication environments are provided herein. Embodiments of the present invention use a feedback-optimized multi-signal multi-stage estimator with data-aided signal parameter estimation. Embodiments of the present invention require minimal information about the received signals and can be used to separate a desired signal from an interfering signal or two desired signals received on the same frequency. In the latter case, embodiments of the present invention effectively double the capacity of the communication system. Embodiments of the present invention are suitable for environments with intentional and/or unintentional jamming or interference. System embodiments of the present invention can be used as in-line solutions that can be inserted at different points in a receive chain.
US07936846B2 Low gate count sequential multitap correlator
A system and method of achieving a reduced time for first fix in a global positioning system receiver (GPS). The GPS receiver includes a low gate count sequential multitap correlator (102) in combination with a digital signal processor (106) and a down converter (101). The low gate count sequential multitap correlator (102) conducts sequential correlation on the incoming GPS signals using a multitapping and pipelining scheme. The multitapping process involves tapping the shift register and simultaneously correlating the signal samples and tapped chips. The pipelining process includes sampling data, mapping incoming samples, shifting carrier acquisition code, multiplying and accumulating the code and signal products. The digital signal processor conducts the frequency search.
US07936845B2 Apparatus, method and computer-readable recording medium for setting signal correction-magnitude
Equal-length group data obtained by grouping together slot pairs connected by a wiring pattern of equal length is stored in advance. Error rate is determined while changing a pre-emphasis (PE) setting value and an equalizer (EQ) setting value of a signal transmitted between a specified slot pair. The slot pairs belonging to the same equal-length group as the specified slot pair are selected based on the equal-length group data, and optimum PE and EQ setting values, determined based on the error rate, are set for the signals transmitted between the selected slot pairs.
US07936838B2 Wireless communication system, receiving apparatus, modulating method for use therein, and program therefor
It is an object to provide a receiving apparatus which is capable of demodulating signals with a very simple arrangement. Receiving apparatus 1 has N reception antennas 11-1-11-N, and reception antennas 11-1-11-N receive signals. Channel coefficient estimator 12 estimates and outputs channel coefficients from the signals received by respective reception antennas 11-1-11-N. QR decomposer 13 is supplied with a channel matrix having the channel coefficients as its elements, performs QR decomposition on the channel matrix, and outputs a Q matrix and an R matrix. A QH processor 14 is supplied with the Q matrix and the received signals, multiplies the received signals by a complex conjugate transposed matrix of the Q matrix, and outputs converted signal z. A transmitted sequence estimator 15 is supplied with converted signal z and the R matrix and estimates transmitted sequences.
US07936833B2 Method and system for efficient transmission and reception of RF energy in MIMO systems using polar modulation and direct digital frequency synthesis
Aspects of a method and system for efficient transmission and reception of RF energy in MIMO systems using polar modulation and direct digital frequency synthesis are provided. A plurality of carrier signals in a MIMO system may be polar modulated utilizing polar modulation. One or more direct digital frequency synthesizer may be utilized to phase modulate the plurality of carrier signals. The direct digital frequency synthesizer may be modulated utilizing a single reference clock. The clock may be a single fixed-frequency reference clock. The plurality of carrier signals may be amplitude modulated by controlling a gain of a power amplifier.
US07936830B2 Active rectifier with load impedance switching
Active rectification with load impedance switching for communication across a pulse transformer is presented. Load impedance switching is used for communicating data from the secondary side of the transformer to the primary side during data frames. During power frames, the load impedance is switched to a capacitor for the storage of charge from received power pulses, which may then be converted into a power source. The active rectifier circuit is configurable to accommodate different power requirements and transformer characteristics, and may be implemented with half-wave or full-wave configurations. In active mode, switches are enabled to short out diodes such that diode voltage losses are overcome in the recovered power supply voltage.
US07936827B2 Information processing apparatus having receiving device that receives video data
An information processing apparatus includes a receiving device and a control unit. The receiving device includes a plurality of processing unit containing an interface unit. The control unit includes an input source detection module, a transfer instruction detection module and a power-saving control module. The input source detection module detects an input source necessary for execution of a video reproduction program. The transfer instruction detection module detects a video data transfer instruction from the video reproduction program. When the video data transfer instruction is detected, the power-saving control module enables some of the processing units except the interface unit and sets the others of the processing units in power-saving mode. The enabled processing units receive a video signal from the input source detected by the input source detection module and convert the video signal into video data of given format.
US07936825B2 Moving image coding method and moving image decoding method
A moving picture coding apparatus (10a) according to the present invention includes a level analyzer (100a) that decides the maximum number of intra frame pixels which can be coded (Nfpx) and the maximum number of storage pixels which can be stored in a picture memory of a decoding apparatus (Nspx) on the basis of a level identifier (Lst) indicating a coding level that is designated by the user, thereby judging whether coding of an input image is possible or not and calculating the maximum number of reference pictures (Nrpn) as the number of reference candidate pictures which can be referred to at inter picture prediction coding, on the basis of the maximum number of intra frame pixels (Nfpx) and the input image size (the number of vertical pixels (Nhpx) and the number of horizontal pixels (Nwpx)). A decoding apparatus to which a bit stream from the moving picture coding apparatus (10a) is supplied can always decode the bit stream satisfactorily, and perform inter picture prediction decoding corresponding to the inter picture prediction coding on the coding end. Consequently, memory areas of a coding apparatus and a decoding apparatus that are adapted to a coding method in which there is no restraint on the capacity of the memory area can be designed.
US07936824B2 Method for coding and decoding moving picture
Provided is a method of coding and decoding a moving image, which can optimize the coding rate and reduce the time required for decoding the first image frame during an operation of displaying the image. The coding method includes receiving an image, determining the number of frames in a GOP to be decoded with respect to the image, performing a 3D wavelet transformation on the GOP, and coding the results of the 3D wavelet transformation.
US07936823B2 Moving picture encoding method and decoding method
A moving picture decoding method, which generates a predicted image using information on motion vectors and information on reference images, the moving picture decoding method having a prediction mode including a mode without motion vector decoding, including: selecting a frame(s) to be referenced to in the prediction of each prediction direction in the prediction mode from among multiple candidate reference frames; and selecting motion vector information used in the prediction mode, wherein the selecting of a motion vector information is performed based on whether candidate blocks including the block adjacent to the left side of or the upper side of a current block have a motion vector; and moving picture decoding is performed by generating the predicted image using the information on the selected reference frame and the information on the selected motion vectors in the prediction mode.
US07936821B2 Moving picture encoding method and decoding method
A moving picture encoding method which generates a predicted image using information on motion vectors and information on reference images, the moving picture encoding method having multiple prediction modes including a mode without motion vector encoding, including: a step of selecting a frame(s) to be referenced to in the prediction of each prediction direction in the prediction mode from among multiple candidate reference frames, and a step of selecting motion vector information used in the prediction mode, wherein said step of selecting motion vector information is performed based on whether blocks adjacent to a current block have a motion vector; and moving picture encoding is performed by generating said predicted image using the information on said selected reference frame and the information on said selected motion vectors in said prediction mode.
US07936818B2 Efficient compression and transport of video over a network
Provided is an enhancement to the Video Encoder component of the MPEG standard to improve both the efficiency and quality of the video presentation at the display device.
US07936814B2 Cascaded output for an encoder system using multiple encoders
Plural encoders operating in parallel to achieve a desired data rate have their respective outputs combined by an autonomously operating arrangement for transfer of data to a direct memory access arrangement from respective encoders in order in response to a signal asserted upon completion of encoding and output of encoded data corresponding to a predetermined portion of input data. Buffering of encoder output can be either internal or external to the encoders. Zero bytes which may be inherently generated at the beginning and end of an encoder output stream may be suppressed to improve encoded signal quality and efficiency.
US07936811B2 Modulation apparatus, modulation method, and demodulation apparatus
A modulating device capable of generating an OFDM signal and having a drastically improved frequency use efficiency. The modulating device has modulators (6, 8 (11, 13, 106, 108, 111, 113)) for modulating a signal to be modulated and having a Nyquist roll-off frequency characteristic with a carrier frequency having a difference two times the Nyquist frequency and combiners (10(15, 110, 115)) for generating modulation output having a speed two times that of the signal to demodulated and the same Nyquist roll-off slope as the signal to be modulated by combining the outputs of the modulators (6, 8 (11, 13, 106, 108, 111, 113)). Thus a double speed wave can be superposed on the same frequency without varying the roll-off slope of the Nyquist characteristic, and therefore an OFDM signal (19) having a drastically improved frequency use efficiency is provided.
US07936806B2 Method and apparatus for multiplexing frequency hopping in a communication system
A method and apparatus for multiplexing frequency hopping in a wireless communication system using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is provided. The frequency hopping multiplexing method and apparatus efficiently indicates time division multiplexing for global hopping and local hopping by indicating and using the number and positions of slots for global hopping and local hopping to time-division-multiplex global hopping and local hopping in a reverse link, depending on information the number of Distributed Resource CHannels (DRCHs), provided from a transmitting side over a Forward link Secondary Broadcast Control CHannel (F-SBCCH), which is one of the forward common channels.
US07936803B2 External cavity semiconductor laser
An external cavity semiconductor laser including a first and second input-output section disposed on a common end surface via a center axis, and a semiconductor laser device emitting a first and second laser light from the first and second input-output sections in two directions. The laser device includes a first reflecting unit for reflecting the first laser light emitted from the first input-output section and returning the reflected first laser light to the first input-output section, a second reflecting unit for reflecting the second laser light emitted from the second input-output section and returning the reflected second laser light to the second input-output section, a third reflecting unit provided to a second end surface disposed opposite a first end surface having first and second input-output sections for reflecting laser light returned to one of the input-output sections so as to be emitted from the other one of the input-output sections.
US07936802B2 Co-extruded multilayer polymers films for all-polymer lasers
A polymer film laser is provided that comprises a plurality of extruded polymer layers. The plurality of extruded polymer layers comprises a plurality of alternating dielectric layers of a first polymer material having a first refractive index and a second polymer material having second refractive index different than the first refractive index.
US07936801B2 Two-dimensional photonic crystal surface emitting laser light source
An objective of the present invention is to provide a surface emitting laser capable of selectively generating a laser oscillation in the fundamental mode and thereby emitting a single-wavelength laser light. In a surface emitting laser including an active layer and a two-dimensional photonic crystal provided on one side of the active layer, a reflector 45 or 46 is provided at least at a portion of the circumference of the two-dimensional photonic crystal. The reflector has a reflectance distribution in which the reflectance has a maximum value at a position where the amplitude envelope of the fundamental mode of an internal resonance light created within the two-dimensional photonic crystal. This design strengthens the fundamental mode while suppressing the second mode, thus enabling the laser oscillation in the fundamental mode to be selectively obtained, so that a single-wavelength laser light can be emitted.
US07936800B2 Light source device and projector
A light source device includes a plurality of light emission sections disposed in parallel with an interval, wherein the interval for the light emission sections near each end portion in an array of the light emission sections is narrower than the interval near a center portion in the array.
US07936797B2 Laser apparatus and output control method of laser apparatus
A laser apparatus includes: a laser light source; an output member for receiving and transmitting a laser light flux generated by the laser light flux, and outputting a laser light flux; an optical aligning member for positioning the laser light flux generated by the laser light source to the output member; a drive for driving the optical aligning member; a drive controller; an output detector for outputting a detected output representing an intensity of a laser light flux outputted from the output member; and an output controller. The drive controller controls the drive to drive the optical aligning member and the output controller changes a power of the laser light flux generated by the light source, based on the detected output.
US07936796B2 Apparatus for providing optical radiation
In one embodiment, a photo-darkening resistant optical fiber includes a waveguide having a numerical aperture less than 0.15. The waveguide includes a core having a refractive index n1 and a pedestal having a refractive index n2, and wherein the fiber includes a first cladding having a refractive index n3 surrounding the pedestal, wherein n1 is greater than n2, n2 is greater than n3. The core includes silica, a concentration of alumina of between approximately 0.3 to 0.8 mole percent, a concentration of phosphate of substantially 15 mole percent, a concentration of ytterbium substantially in the range 20000 to 45000 ppm. The pedestal can include silica, phosphate and germania. The core can have substantially zero thulium dopant.
US07936791B2 Frame transmission system and frame transmission apparatus
A frame transmission apparatus collects a plurality of frames supplied via multiple cables forming a single logic path based on link aggregation setting and outputs the collected frames to a single output line. The frame transmission apparatus includes a delay information storage unit which stores delay information indicating a transmission delay of each of the multiple cables, a reception timing correcting unit which corrects reception timings of the plurality of frames supplied via the multiple cables for the delay information corresponding to the multiple cables through which the plurality of frames have been supplied, and a data recovery unit which collects the plurality of frames supplied via the multiple cables in an order of the reception timings corrected by the reception timing correcting unit and outputs the collected frames to the output line.
US07936790B2 Synchronizing related data streams in interconnection networks
A method and apparatus for synchronizing related data streams in interconnection networks. Some embodiments of an apparatus include a transmitter to transmit a data stream to a second apparatus, where the transmitter transmits a data packet to the second apparatus. The apparatus further includes a clock, with the apparatus providing a first timestamp for the data packet using the clock upon transmission of the data packet. The apparatus includes a receiver to receive responses from the second apparatus, with the apparatus providing a second timestamp upon receiving a returned packet from the second apparatus, with the returned packet containing timestamps for the receipt and transmission of the packet by the second apparatus. The apparatus includes a network unit to direct the operation of the apparatus, the network unit to determine a start time for decoding of the data stream by the second apparatus based at least in part on the timestamps for the packet.
US07936789B2 Disparate clock domain synchronization
Disparate clock domains are resynchronized after circuits in one of the clock domains awake from a reduced power state. Parallel test data is routed from a core circuit to a parallel-to-serial converter in an input/output (I/O) circuit. The parallel-to-serial converter clocks the parallel test data in response to a load signal. The load signal is varied until the clock domains are synchronized.
US07936787B2 Technique for data compression by decoding binary encoded data
This disclosure relates to the transmission of binary data over a network between a transmission host and a receiving host. The transmission host receives packets of data including data in a first format which may be ASCII formatted and contain 6 bits-per-byte words, and including data which had an original binary format containing greater than 6 bits-per-byte words (such as 8 bits-per-byte) and which has been encoded (such as Uuencoded) to 6 bits-per-byte words. The transmission host searches the packets and identifies the encoded data and reverse codes the encoded data to its original binary format, before transmitting the data on a suitable network transmission media that can transmit both ASCII formatted data and data having greater than 6 bit-per-byte formats. The transmission host also includes an application packet demultiplexer for separating the incoming data according its application such as HTTP, NNTP, FTP, etc. The transmitting host includes an identifier in the packets for identifying the reverse coded data. The receiving host responds to the identifier and may encode the previously reverse coded data.
US07936786B2 Digital broadcasting system and method of processing data in digital broadcasting system
A digital broadcasting system and a data processing method are disclosed. A receiver receives a broadcast signal including mobile service data and main service data. A known data detector detects known data from the broadcast signal. An equalizer performs channel equalization on the mobile service data received by means of the detected known data. An RS frame decoder acquires an RS frame from the channel-equalized mobile service data. A management processor extracts a Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE) packet from a GSE Base Band (BB) constructing one row of the RS frame, and calculates an IP datagram from the extracted GSE packet. A presentation processor displays broadcast data using data contained in the calculated IP datagram.
US07936784B2 Method and system for offloaded transport layer protocol switching
A method for using offloaded transport layer protocols involves signaling a network interface controller (NIC) with a signal to use one of multiple transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC, and transmitting a data packet via the NIC using the transport layer protocol.
US07936783B1 Load balancing with unequal routing metrics in a meshed overlay network
In general, the invention is directed to techniques of load balancing network traffic among paths on a point-to-multipoint overlay network. In load balancing the network traffic, the techniques take into consideration costs associated with paths through the overlay network and costs associated with paths beyond the egress points of the overlay network, even when such costs may be unequal.
US07936781B2 Bandwidth control apparatus, bandwidth control method, and bandwidth control system
The present invention provides a bandwidth control apparatus, a bandwidth control method, and a bandwidth control system for effective utilization of bandwidths resource in data transmission. The bandwidth control apparatus measures downstream effective bit rate of own access lines and notifies downstream effective bit rate information of each access line to a remote bandwidth control apparatus which communicates with the bandwidth control apparatus via a network. The bandwidth control apparatus allocates and controls upstream bandwidths of own access lines on the basis of corresponding downstream effective bit rate information of access lines notified from remote bandwidth control apparatus via the networks.
US07936778B2 Method and system for 10GBASE-T start-up
Certain aspects for the start-up procedure of transceivers supporting higher data rates over twisted-pair copper cabling are provided for 10 Gbit/sec Ethernet links (10GBASE-T). During a PMA (physical medium attachment) training period of the start-up procedure, long PMA training frames are exchanged periodically between link partners. A significant portion of each PMA training frame consists of known pseudo random sequences simultaneously transmitted over four wire pairs. PMA training frames include an InfoField for exchanging parameters and control information between link partners. For example, the InfoField's payload comprises fields for indicating current transmit power backoff (PBO), next PBO, requested PBO, transition count, control information, and for communicating precoder coefficients. Information in InfoFields is repeated and is not necessary that a link partner decodes every InfoField. For example, by occasionally reading the transition count, a link partner can determine when a change in transmit PBO and/or a state transition is to occur.
US07936776B2 Smooth capacity expansion method and system for data communication products
This invention discloses a method for smooth capacity expansion of data communication product, and a smooth capacity expandable system of data communication. Architecture of the system at least comprises circuit card and switched network card; and further comprises interface card of switched network, interface transfer card and connection optical fiber. Based on these, it provides one kind of multiple frameworks structure with interconnection between frameworks. When the capacity is expanded, the original circuit cards and switched network cards keep unchanged, only smoothly increases the switched network cards and numbers of circuit card frameworks. Therefore, it implements smooth capacity expansion and client investment protection at the same time. With adding backup cards, it also implements capacity expansion without interrupting the service.
US07936773B2 Communication channel establishment method and system
The present invention provides a communication channel establishment method that establishes a communication channel used particularly when a cipher communication is carried out. Where a packet indicative of an ISAKMP message transmitted from a second communication device to a first communication device is awaited when a communication channel between the first and second communication devices is established via an IP network, the time taken to wait for the packet is counted by a corresponding packet waiting timer at random intervals. When a packet other than the sequence of each packet expected to be transmitted from the second communication device is received, the packet is accepted to establish the communication channel.
US07936772B2 Enhancement of end-to-end network QoS
A network endpoint system and related method and computer program product for use in a network to support enhanced end-to-end QoS in the network. The network endpoint system is adapted to receive network data of varying priority on behalf of a data consumer operating at the application layer of a network protocol stack implemented by the network endpoint system. The network endpoint system includes a network interface controller adapted to receive network frames containing the network data, plural network data handling channels each having an associated priority, and priority processing logic adapted to transfer the network data from the network interface controller to the plural data handling channels on a prioritized basis according to the network data priority. Also disclosed are a network interface controller and a network node to support enhanced end-to-end QoS in a network.
US07936770B1 Method and apparatus of virtual class of service and logical queue representation through network traffic distribution over multiple port interfaces
A method and apparatus are provided that allows for the representation of a larger number of classes of network traffic and logical queues than is physically available on a per port basis within a network device. A number of logical queues, whose number can match the number of classes of network traffic a network device handles, may be supported across an aggregated set of ports even though the network device has fewer physical queues per port than there are classes of network traffic. The method and apparatus improve the management of network traffic sensitive to time delay and jitter, and further facilitates the operation of these applications in a simultaneous or near simultaneous manner.
US07936768B2 Method for operating a decentralized data network
A decentralized data network contains a plurality of network nodes. The network nodes are able to direct requests into the data network with the aid of checking values. The network nodes are each assigned one or more table entries in a value table distributed between the network nodes, with each table entry containing a checking value and the data associated with the checking value. Each of the plurality of network nodes are monitored to determine the frequency with which requests for the checking values assigned to a respective network node are directed to the respective network nodes. If it is found that the frequency of the requests for one or more checking values to a respective network node exceeds a predetermined threshold value, at least the table entry or entries for this or these checking values is or are assigned to at least one other network node.
US07936767B2 Systems and methods for monitoring high speed network traffic via sequentially multiplexed data streams
Systems and methods for monitoring high-speed network traffic via sequentially multiplexed data streams. Exemplary embodiments include a switch module system, including a first switch module configured to be coupled to a first server chassis, a first data port disposed on the first switch module and a set of first port data links configured to be coupled to a set of data port data links, each data link configurable to channel at least one of a normal data stream and a monitored data stream.
US07936765B2 Method and apparatus for dynamically allocating bandwidth by hierarchical weight round robin
Provided are method and apparatus for dynamically allocating unlink bandwidth in Ethernet PON. In the method and apparatus, report value, which are received for each logical link identifications (LLID), is controlled to be less than a maximum gate value set for each LLID in sequence for all of LLIDs without a predetermined interval. A gate having a length corresponding to the restricted report value is generated. LLIDs are grouped into classes and processing is done class by class. For each class processing, if maximum processing time is reached or maximum total allocation is reached, the processing is switched to a lower class. Also each class processing, if any higher class has its maximum yield processing time or maximum yield allocated gate reached, the processing is switched to that higher class.
US07936764B1 Method for optimizing IP route table size through IP route aggregation
A subset of route entries having the same next hop is identified in a route table. The subset of entries falls within a range of prefixes. Gaps in the subset of route entries that prevent the subset from being contiguous are identified. The gaps in the subset are filled with route entries to make the subset contiguous. All of the route entries in the contiguous subset of route entries have the same next hop, thus the contiguous subset can be aggregated into a single route entry in a forwarding table. For each gap-filling entry added to the route table, an additional route entry having forwarding priority over the gap-filling entry is added to the forwarding table.
US07936758B2 Logical separation and accessing of descriptor memories
A packet header processing engine includes a memory having a number of distinct portions for respectively storing different types of descriptor information for a header of a packet. A packet header processing unit includes a number of pointers corresponding to the number of distinct memory portions. The packet header processing unit is configured to retrieve the different types of descriptor information from the number of distinct memory portions and to generate header information from the different types of descriptor information.
US07936757B2 Packet fragment reassembly
An apparatus for packet fragment reassembly includes a memory and a fragment processing block coupled to the memory. The memory caches information contained in the headers of a plurality of packet fragments, wherein the plurality of packet fragments are identified as belonging to a particular packet. The fragment processing block directly performs operations to each packet fragment according to the information cached in the memory and a predetermined standard, wherein the information cached in the memory is used to track whether all packet fragments associated with the particular packet have been received at the apparatus.
US07936753B1 Method and system for reliable multicast
Method and system for transmitting a multicast message with one or more packets to a plurality of destinations is provided. The system includes an adapter including an entry port to receive the multicast message from a source for transmission to the plurality of destinations; one or more egress ports of the adapter that transmit one or more packets of the multicast message to the plurality of destinations and receives acknowledgement for the one or more packets from the one or more destinations; and a message manager that monitors the delivery status for one or more packets to the plurality of destinations without using a plurality of dedicated individual connections between each of the plurality of destinations and the source.
US07936748B2 Method and apparatus for connecting a network device to a daisy chain network
A network device configured to allows the connection of the network device to a network in a daisy chain configuration using a single cable. The network device is connected to a cable with two conductors by a socket that is adapted to receive a plug connected to the end of the cable. When the plug on the end of a cable is inserted into the socket, a first conductor in the cable is connected to an input port of a network component and a second conductor of the cable is connected to an output port of a network component. A signal from the network is transmitted down a first conductor in a cable to a network device and the signal is then transmitted back from the network device down a second conductor in the same cable.
US07936747B1 Communication system
A method and an arrangement are provided for actuating and operating a heterogeneous transport network which includes connection elements, such as ATM and Ethernet connections, by controlling a TDM-based switching system. In the area of the transport network, there are gateways and routers which are actuated by the central control device for the purposes of setting up and clearing down a connection. Information relating to the accessibility of specific communications subscribers by a communication medium and communications protocol is either stored in the area of a central control mechanism or is available locally in the area of local access devices for subscriber terminals.
US07936744B2 Network telephony system
The present invention includes a network telephone having a microphone coupled to provide voice data to a network, a speaker coupled to facilitate listening to voice data from the network, a dialing device coupled to facilitate routing of voice data upon the network, a first port configured to facilitate communication with a first network device, a second port configured to facilitate communication with a second network device and a prioritization circuit coupled to apply prioritization to voice data provided by the microphone.
US07936742B2 Digital signal demultiplexing device and multiplexing device
A frequency digital signal demultiplexing apparatus including: demultiplexing filter bank units connected in a multistage manner to form a demultiplexing filter bank, wherein each unit includes at least one filter for filtering an input signal in series with a down-sampler, and frequency conversion and decimator part to receive at least one of the received signal and output signals of each unit demultiplexing filter bank, which includes a frequency conversion part, for each input signal, to shift a frequency of an input signal, and at least one decimator part serially connected to an output of each frequency conversion part, the decimator part including a filter for performing band limitation of an input signal and a down-sampler for down-sampling an output signal of the filter and output a down-sampled signal.
US07936741B2 Dynamic uplink control channel gating to increase capacity
The specification and drawings present a new method, system, apparatus and software product for dynamic gating of an uplink (UL) control channel, e.g., dedicated physical control channel (DPCCH) for increasing capacity of communications, e.g., wireless communications, wherein said gating is defined, using a predetermined criterion, by instructions provided by a network and by a transmission gap in a discontinuous data signal, e.g., transmitted on an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH).
US07936734B2 Portable cellular enhancer
An apparatus for sharing user-defined media content with a peer. The apparatus comprises a repository for storing media content inputted by a user of the apparatus and a wireless interface for establishing a wireless personal area network (WPAN) with a first communication entity of the peer in a proximity to said apparatus. The WPAN allows the peer to access the media content using the first communication entity, thereby allows the user to share said media content with the peer.
US07936731B2 Method of processing HARQ by considering measurement gap
A HARQ processing method is disclosed, by which a measurement gap is considered. In particular, as a terminal performs an inter-measurement operation, if HARQ feedback information reception is impossible, the terminal determines HARQ feedback information, which is not received for a next HARQ operation, as ACK or NACK by itself and is then able to perform the next HARQ operation. Specifically, in case that the terminal operates by determining the non-received HARQ feedback information as ACK, a corresponding uplink signal keeps being stored in an HARQ buffer and can be retransmitted according to a new UL grant reception from a base station.
US07936727B2 Transmission device, transmission method, system LSI, and program
One transmission rate of a physical layer (PHY rate) is selected from among a plurality of PHY rates of a protocol stack by calculating one or more effective values of transmission rates of an upper layer of the protocol stack with respect to one or more PHY rates of the plurality of PHY rates respectively, and making a comparison with use of the calculated one or more effective values. Each of the one or more effective values is calculated based on (i) an ideal value of corresponding one of the transmission rates and (ii) a retransmission ratio via the physical layer that corresponds to a reception power value detected in the reception apparatus.
US07936724B2 Adaptive beamforming configuration methods and apparatus for wireless access points serving as handoff indication mechanisms in wireless local area networks
In one illustrative example, a wireless access point of a wireless local area network (WLAN) includes an antenna array, a wireless transceiver array coupled to the antenna array, and one or more processors which are coupled to the wireless transceiver array. The one or more processors are adapted to operate the wireless access point in a configuration mode and a handoff indication mode. In the configuration mode, the one or more processors are adapted to operate the wireless access point to receive, via the wireless transceiver array, RF signals from one or more communication devices and determine and set wireless transceiver parameters for adjusting boundaries of an RF coverage region of the wireless access point based on these RF signals. In the handoff indication mode, the one or more processors set the wireless access point with the adjusted RF coverage region (adjusted from the configuration mode), where handoff indications are communicated in response to mobile devices leaving the WLAN coverage region through the adjusted RF coverage region for handoff to a wireless wide area network (WWAN).
US07936717B2 Apparatus and method for performing initial network entry in broadband wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for performing initial network entry in a broadband wireless communication system are provided. A communication method includes broadcasting, by a Base Station (BS), a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD) message including information on a different Frequency Allocation (FA) of the BS using all FAs; connecting, by one of a plurality of Media Access Control (MAC) processors of a Mobile Station (MS), using an arbitrary FA of the BS; obtaining, by the MS, information on the different FA of the BS by analyzing the DCD message received using the arbitrary FA; and performing, by one or more of the remaining MAC processors of the MS, a network entry process using the different FA of the BS according to the different FA information. Accordingly, when an MS having a plurality of MAC addresses connects to a system that performs communication through multiple FAs, different MAC processors of the MS can perform initial network entry using different FAs in the same cell (or sector or BS) without collisions.
US07936715B2 Method and a device for reconfiguration in a wireless system
A method and a device for reconfiguration in a wireless system utilizing flexible layer one (FLO). In proposed solution one TFC (Transport Format Combination) is selected and reserved (504) exclusively for signalling use. The TFC may contain only one active transport channel and always utilize the same CRC and transport block size in order to unambiguously define the proper settings for signalling. Considering uplink transmission in a wireless system and special case of TFCI (Transport Format Combination Identifier) size change due to the TFCS (Transport Format Combination Set) reconfiguration that also generates a need to switch to a new dedicated basic physical subchannel (DBPSCH); whenever the network notices that the mobile station does not switch to the new DBPSCH (518), it concludes that the TFCS reconfiguration message sent was lost and stays with the existing configuration (520). Otherwise the new configuration is taken into use (514).
US07936714B1 Spectrum allocation system and method for multi-band wireless RF data communications
A dual band spectrum allocation system and method for wireless data communications uses discrete bands for upstream and downstream data communications. A preferred embodiment uses unlicensed UNII bands for license-free data transmissions from a subscriber to a hub, and uses relatively interference free licensed bands for data transmissions from a hub to subscribers, thereby allowing use of greater bandwidth, simplifying system licensing and reducing filtering requirements for subscribers.
US07936712B2 Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method, and program
In a signal processing apparatus adapted to process a signal transmitted via a transmission path, an acquisition unit acquires a signal value of a specific symbol from a signal transmitted via the transmission path, and a prediction unit predicts a signal value of the specific symbol for each of values allowed to be taken by the specific symbol, on the basis of values taken by a plurality of symbols transmitted before the transmission of the specific symbol and on the basis of characteristics of influences of the signal values of the plurality of symbols transmitted before the transmission of the specific symbol on the signal value of the specific symbol. A determination unit determines the value taken by the specific symbol, on the basis of the signal value of the specific symbol acquired by the acquisition unit and the predicted values for respective values allowed to be taken by the specific symbol.
US07936709B2 Distributed beacon enabled wireless networks
In a wireless network that includes multiple nodes, each periodic announcement cycle of a communication schedule is partitioned into a set of time slots, including a set of management time slots, a set of beacon time slots, and a set of superframe time slots. Management frames are broadcast during the management slot to specify beacons. Beacons are transmitted during the beacon slots to specify when to transmit the superframes during the superframe time slots.
US07936706B2 Method of addressing messages and communications system
A method of establishing wireless communications between an interrogator and individual ones of multiple wireless identification devices, the method comprising combining tree search and Aloha methods to establish communications between the interrogator and individual ones of the multiple wireless identification devices without collision. A system comprising an interrogator, and a plurality of wireless identification devices configured to communicate with the interrogator in a wireless fashion, the respective wireless identification devices having a unique identification number, the interrogator being configured to employ tree search and Aloha techniques to determine the unique identification numbers of the different wireless identification devices so as to be able to establish communications between the interrogator and individual ones of the multiple wireless identification devices without collision by multiple wireless identification devices attempting to respond to the interrogator at the same time.
US07936694B2 Sniffing-based network monitoring
A method is provided of monitoring a packet-switched network via which real-time data is transmitted. Data packets containing real-time data are sniffed by a monitor subagent to monitor a quality-of-service parameter. A monitor agent is notified in response to a breach of the threshold of the quality-of-service parameter about the breach. A network node manager is notified about the breach, and a root cause analysis is performed.
US07936690B2 Method and apparatus for controlling transmit power of multiple channels in a CDMA communication system
Techniques to support independent power control of multiple channels in CDMA systems (e.g., a W-CDMA system) that define a single power control feedback stream on the uplink, which is to be used for downlink power control. In one aspect, the single feedback stream is “time shared” among multiple channels requiring individual power control. Various time-sharing schemes may be used to implement multiple (substantially parallel) feedback substreams based on the single feedback stream, and different combination of feedback rates may also be achieved for the substreams. Each feedback substream may be assigned to, and used for power control of, a respective channel. In another aspect, multiple feedback substreams are implemented based on multiple fields in newly defined slot formats.
US07936689B2 System and method for the measurement of service quality in a communication network
A system and method for the measurement of communication network performance over a secondary communication channel sends an inquiry signal containing information pertaining to network performance from a near end communication device to a far end communication device. From the inquiry signal the far end communication device can determine the number of packets of information lost through the network. Once received the inquiry signal, a reply signal with additional information is sent to the near end communication device. The near end communication device receives the reply signal and can determine therefrom various network performance parameters.
US07936685B2 Intelligent fast switch-over network tap system and methods
An intelligent fast switch-over network active tap system enables active monitoring of a network segment connected between network devices. A fail-safe relay subsystem is coupled between a pair of network ports, enabling transmission of network communications signals through a passive cross-connect between the network ports or through an active bridge subsystem. The active bridge subsystem is capable of independently establishing network links with the network devices, and a separate network link with a monitoring device. A controller manages operation of the relay and active bridge subsystems, including switches between passive and active network transmission through the tap system and to determine and establish the active network links subject to symmetric network link parameters and state. Thereby, the network link status of the connected network devices is preserved on switch between active and passive transmission and correctly reflected in the presence of link and power failures.
US07936681B2 Cross-layer design techniques for interference-aware routing configuration in wireless mesh networks
Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to facilitating increased throughput in wireless mesh networks. Generally, according to one implementation of the present invention, routing nodes in a wireless mesh network combine metrics corresponding to the link and network layers to select a route to a root node in the wireless mesh network. In one implementation, for each neighbor, a given routing node computes a routing metric, which is based on the computed route cost and hop count, and selects a preferred neighbor as the parent routing node based on the best routing metric.
US07936678B2 Energy aware early detection
An incoming data packet is received, and a rate of change of residual capacity of a portable power supply is determined. From the determined rate of change it is decided to enqueue or drop the incoming data packet. If the decision is to enqueue, the packet is transmitted. If the decision is drop, the packet is deleted without transmitting. Additional factors may be considered in the decision, such as total energy capacity, residual energy capacity, and first and second derivatives of the residual energy capacity. Real time traffic may be treated differently than non real time traffic, and video enhancement layer packets can be weighted to drop more frequently than video base layer packets for the same flow. If used in the network, congestion probe packets are dropped at a rate matched to the rate at which data packets are dropped to give other nodes an accurate view of link quality.
US07936676B2 Autonomic load balancing in wireless local area networks
A wireless network access point is described which provides the resources of a backbone network to wireless clients. The access point is able to balance loads by deferring association of new clients and thereby directing clients to associate with alternative access points having improved backbone connectivity. Where the client is unable to find an alternative access point, the client will eventually make a second association request to the access point. The access point, in identifying the second association request of the client, proceeds to associate the client in response to the second association request. Specific time limits can be imposed relative to the second association request.
US07936675B2 Bandwidth packing rate controller for optimizing resource utilization
A bandwidth packing rate control technique includes altering bandwidth allocations of existing flows on a link depending on a current utilization of a current bandwidth allocation for a flow. A disclosed example decreases the bandwidth allocation for flows that are utilizing a current bandwidth allocation below a selected target utilization rate. Flows with higher utilization can receive increased bandwidth allocation, which provides increased throughput for such flows. One overall result of a disclosed example is increased utilization and increased throughput using existing bandwidth resources.
US07936672B2 System and method for buffer management in a packet-based network
A communication system for use with a packet-based network is disclosed. A first node is configured to transmit circuit data in data packets across the network. A second node is configured to receive the data packets from the network and serialize the synchronous data. The second node comprises a configurable buffer, the buffer being configurable to adjust to network packet delay variance through analysis of packet delay variance as measured over at least one period of time.
US07936670B2 System, method and program to control access to virtual LAN via a switch
System method and program for controlling access to a VLAN via a port of a VLAN switch system. In response to receipt of a message packet at the port, the switch system determines if a MAC address of the packet matches a MAC address for which the port has been programmed to recognize as a MAC address of a device authorized to communicate with the port. The MAC address of the packet does not match a MAC address for which the port has been programmed to recognize as a MAC address of a device authorized to communicate with the port. In response, the switch system blocks the packet if a rate of ill-formed packets and/or packets from an unrecognized MAC address exceeds a threshold pass rate. The threshold pass rate can be adjusted based on the rate of change of receipt of ill-formed packets and/or packets from an unrecognized MAC address.
US07936669B2 Systems and methods for flow control and quality of service
Various embodiments of methods and systems for pausing and shaping data flow while supporting both parameterized and prioritized Quality of Service are disclosed. In some embodiments, a system for pausing and shaping data flow comprises an input buffer, a first pause controller coupled to the input buffer and an output buffer for flow control messages. Various embodiments also include a hop-1 buffer coupled to the input buffer and a hop-2 buffer comprising a plurality of queues coupled to the hop-1 buffer. Additionally, in some embodiments, a second pause controller is coupled to the queues. The second pause controller selects a queue or queues that will cause a pause to be generated based on a predetermined condition. A two-hop process controller controls the data packet flow from the input buffer to the hop-1 buffer and from the hop-1 buffer to the hop-2 queues based on packet classification.
US07936667B2 Building backup tunnels for fast reroute in communications networks
In one embodiment, a method includes identifying at a node, a destination for which a primary path is defined between the node and the destination, transmitting a request message to a neighbor node for routing information for a backup path between the node and the destination, receiving a reply message containing an address identifying the backup path, and building a backup tunnel to the address. The request message includes at least one node identified as a node to be avoided in the backup path and a request cost. An apparatus for building backup tunnels is also disclosed.
US07936663B2 Protection of clear channel connections in communications networks
A method for protection of STM-n/OC-n clear channel connections calls for a protection diagram allowing protection of STM-n/OC-n clear channel signals transmitted from a source point to a destination point. This protection allows overcoming a fall along the path between source point and destination point. It can be used in different types of network structure, for example “ring” or “mesh”. The method calls for duplication of STM-n/OC-n signals at the transmitting end of the subnetwork and transmission over two different routes which can be defined as work and protection paths. To ensure success of the protection diagram the work and protection channels follow different routes. At the receiving end, the signal is selected from the work path or the protection path depending on the quality of the received signals, the protection state and the external commands.
US07936661B2 Optical information recording medium
Provided is an optical information recording medium that can be recorded with data with only a special recording apparatus and the recorded data can be read out with a general recording/reproducing apparatus. The optical information recording medium includes a disc-like light-transmissive substrate having a surface provided with a spiral groove WB having a wobble and a land LN between adjacent segments of the groove WB, a light-absorbing layer disposed on the surface of the light-transmissive substrate, and a light reflection layer disposed on the light-absorbing layer. The groove WB has a depth Ds of about 140 nm≦Ds≦155 nm, the light-absorbing layer has a recess with a depth Dd of about 95 nm≦Dd≦105 nm in the groove, and a push-pull signal before recording has a value of about 0.3 or less. The optical information recording medium may include an anti-illegal copy measure.
US07936656B2 Optical disc apparatus, focus position control method and optical disc
An optical disc apparatus and a focus position control method can highly accurately record recording marks representing information on or reproduce such recording marks from an optical disc. A blue light beam is irradiated onto the target depth to be irradiated by driving an objective lens to focus a red light beam in a reflection/transmission film formed in the optical disc and displacing a movable lens, which is a focus moving section, of a relay lens. A blue light reflection region is formed as part of the reflection/transmission film and the position of the blue light reflection region where the red light focus and the blue light focus are aligned is defined as reference position. The movable lens is displaced by an arbitrarily selected quantity from the reference position according to the target depth.
US07936655B2 Read circuit of a disk drive system and method of signal processing thereof
A read circuit of a disk drive system that adaptively reduces signal-dependent noise including a sequence detector, a signal-dependent adaptive engine and a signal-dependent post-processor. The sequence detector recovers a data sequence from equalized data. The signal-dependent adaptive engine generates signal-dependent coefficients, a mean value and a standard deviation of a signal-dependent error. The signal-dependent post-processor corrects the signal-dependent error.
US07936645B2 Optical disc device
This optical disc drive can read and/or write data from/on an optical disc 20 with multiple information layers including first and second information layers. The drive includes: a light source 3, 4 that emits the light beam; an objective lens 1; an actuator 2 for moving the objective lens perpendicularly to the information layers; a focus error generator 7 for generating a focus error signal representing how much the light beam has been converged on a target one of the information layers; and focus control means for forming a focal point of the light beam on the target information layer by driving the actuator in accordance with the focus error signal. According to the present invention, while a focus jump is being made to shift the focal point of the light beam from the first information layer of the optical disc 20 to the second information layer thereof by moving the objective lens 1, wavelengths and/or numerical apertures for the light beam are changeable while the objective lens 1 is moving.
US07936644B2 Optical pickup device and information processing apparatus incorporating the optical pickup
A highly reliable optical pickup which is not likely to collide with an optical disk is provided. Relative positions of two objective lenses 100 and 101 (along a focus direction) on a lens holder 102 are determined so that, while the objective lens 101 having a longer working distance is focused on an optical disk 200, the objective lens 100 having a shorter working distance and a protective member 103 are at positions which are more distant from the optical disk 200 than a height h of a protrusion which is present in an inner peripheral region of the optical disk optical disk 200.
US07936641B2 Engine and technique for generating an acoustic signal
An embodiment of a device for generating an acoustic signal in a fluid includes an engine operable to repeat a thermodynamic process to vibrate a membrane of the engine to generate an acoustic signal having more than one period. The thermodynamic process includes heating mass inside a chamber of an engine to generate pressure inside the chamber; in response to generating the pressure, moving in a first direction a portion of a membrane of the engine; removing mass from inside the chamber to decrease the pressure inside the chamber; and in response to decreasing the pressure inside the chamber, moving the membrane portion in a second direction. In an embodiment, because the engine repeats the thermodynamic process, the engine can generate and sustain an acoustic signal for a significant amount of time.
US07936638B2 Enhanced programmable pulsewidth modulating circuit for array clock generation
A pulsewidth modulation circuit uses a plurality of programmable paths to connect its output line to ground connections. The paths have different numbers of serially-connected NFETs to provide different pulldown rates. A desired programmable paths is selected based on encoded control signals, with decode logic integrated into the programmable paths. The decode logic includes, for each path, at least two transistors controlled by one of the encoded signals or their complements. A default path to ground may also be provided for use when none of the programmable paths is selected. For example, two encoded signals may be used to select 1-in-4 among the default path and three programmable paths. Integration of the decode logic into the programmable paths results in smaller overall circuit area, leading to reduced power usage, while still retaining the orthogonal benefit of encoded control signals.
US07936634B2 Memory control circuit and memory accessing method
A control circuit applied in a memory that comprises a first memory block and a second memory block, and each of the first and the second memory blocks includes a boundary cell. The control circuit comprises an address decoder, a first Y-multiplexer, and a second Y-multiplexer. The address decoder provides a plurality of column selection signals capable of being a boundary value. The first Y-multiplexer corresponds to the first memory block and provides a first boundary data channel for a boundary cell of the first memory block. The second Y-multiplexer corresponds to the second memory block and provides a second boundary data channel for a boundary cell of the second memory block. The first and the second boundary data channels are enabled simultaneously in response to the boundary value for outputting boundary data stored in the boundary cell of the first memory block and that of the second memory block.
US07936633B2 Circuit and method of generating voltage of semiconductor memory apparatus
A circuit for generating a voltage of a semiconductor memory apparatus includes a control unit that outputs a driving control signal in response to an enable signal and a burn-in signal, a first voltage generating unit that generates and outputs a first voltage in response to the enable signal, and a voltage maintaining unit that maintains the first voltage in response to the driving control signal.
US07936630B1 Method and apparatus for calibrating a read/write channel in a memory arrangement
Embodiments of the present invention provide channel estimation for multi-level memories using pilot signals. A memory apparatus includes a memory block comprising a plurality of memory cells and adapted to operate with at least two levels of signals for writing data into and reading data from the memory cells. At least two memory cells are employed as reference cells to output a plurality of pilot signals. The memory apparatus also includes a channel block operatively coupled to the memory block, and adapted to facilitate the writing and reading of data into and from the memory cells. The channel block is also adapted to receive the pilot signals and determine one or more disturbance parameters based at least in part on the pilot signals and to compensate the read back signals based at least in part on the determined one or more disturbance parameters during said reading of data from the memory cells. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US07936624B2 Reduced power bitline precharge scheme for low power applications in memory devices
A method and system are described for a two step precharging of bitlines in a memory array. In the first step a partial precharge of the bitline is accomplished with a lower power supply, the second step completes the bitline precharge with the higher power supply. Since the higher power supply must ultimately supply the final bitline precharge voltage achieving a partial bitline precharge with a lower power supply will result in lower sram and system power.
US07936620B2 Receiver of semiconductor memory apparatus
A receiver of a semiconductor memory apparatus includes a first input transistor configured to be turned ON when an input signal is equal to or more than a predetermined level; a second input transistor configured to be turned ON when the input signal is equal to or less than the predetermined level; a first output node voltage control unit configured to increase a voltage level of an output node when the first input transistor is turned ON; a second output node voltage control unit configured to decrease the voltage level of the output node when the second input transistor is turned ON; a third input transistor configured to increase the voltage level of the output node when an inversion signal of the input signal is equal to or less than the predetermined voltage level; and a fourth input transistor configured to decrease the voltage level of the output node when the inversion signal of the input signal is equal to or more than the predetermined voltage level.
US07936618B2 Memory circuit and method of sensing a memory element
The memory circuit comprises at least one memory element (T1), a sense amplifier (SA) for sensing a state of the memory element (T1), a switching device (T2) for selectively coupling the sense amplifier (SA) to the memory element (T1), The sense amplifier (SA) comprises a first module (M1) and a second module (M2). The first module (M1) provides a first current limited to a maximum value (Iref+Ibias). The second module (M2) provides a second current which decreases from a value higher than the maximum value at the start of a sensing operation until a value lower than the maximum value at the end of the sensing operation. The memory circuit has a third module (CS2) for sinking a third current (Ibias) at a side of the switching device (T2) coupled to the memory element (T1).
US07936614B2 Semiconductor memory device and driving method thereof
A semiconductor memory device includes a data input driver and a data output driver for receiving an external power supply voltage, and for inputting and outputting data, respectively; and a voltage detector for detecting the external power supply voltage to generate a detection signal, wherein a drive current of each of the data input driver and the data output driver is controlled by the detection signal.
US07936613B2 Semiconductor memory device
A charge driving circuit and a discharge driving circuit occupy a relatively small area and maintain driving force in a semiconductor memory device having a plurality of banks. The semiconductor memory device includes multiple banks, a common discharge level detector configured to detect a voltage level of internal voltage terminals on the basis of a first target level in response to active signals corresponding to the respective banks, and a discharge drivers assigned to the respective banks. The discharge drivers are configured to drive the internal voltage terminals to be discharged in response to the respective active signals and respective discharge control signals outputted from the common discharge level detector.
US07936612B2 Phase change memory device generating program current and method thereof
A phase change memory device may include a memory cell array, a write driver, and/or a control unit. The memory cell array may include a plurality of memory cells. The write driver may be configured to provide a program current to the memory cell array for setting a state of a phase change material to program a selected memory cell. The write driver may be configured to provide the program current such that the program current has a plurality of steps. The control unit may be configured to receive step information for adjusting a magnitude and a width of each step of the program current during a test operation and provide the step information to the write driver during a normal operation.
US07936606B2 Compensation of back pattern effect in a memory device
In one or more of provided embodiments, a read operation is compensated for back pattern effect. A bit line current is generated by a read operation that biases the word lines. As part of a back pattern effect measurement phase, at predetermined time intervals an indication of the discharge status of the bit line is stored in a latch of a set of N latches coupled to each bit line. At the end of the measurement phase, the set of latches contains a multiple bit word that is an indication of the back pattern effect experienced by that particular series string of memory cells. This back pattern effect indication is used in subsequent read operations to adjust the timing of the operation.
US07936603B2 Purge operations for solid-state storage devices
A storage system that comprises multiple solid-state storage devices includes a command set that enables a host system to initiate one or more types of purge operations. The supported purge operations may include an erase operation in which the storage devices are erased, a sanitization operation in which a pattern is written to the storage devices, and/or a destroy operation in which the storage devices are physically damaged via application of a high voltage. The command set preferably enables the host system to specify how many of the storage devices are to be purged at a time during a purge operation. The host system can thereby control the amount of time, and the current level, needed to complete the purge operation. In some embodiments, the number of storage devices that are purged at a time may additionally or alternatively be selectable by a controller of the storage system.
US07936600B2 Methods of programming data in a non-volatile memory device with a fringe voltage applied to conductive layer
Methods of programming data in a non-volatile memory cell are provided. A memory cell according to some embodiments may include a gate structure that includes a tunnel oxide layer pattern, a floating gate, a dielectric layer and a control gate sequentially stacked on a substrate, impurity regions that are formed in the substrate at both sides of the gate structure, and a conductive layer pattern that is arranged spaced apart from and facing the floating gate. Embodiments of such methods may include applying a programming voltage to the control gate, grounding the impurity regions and applying a fringe voltage to the conductive layer pattern to generate a fringe field in the floating gate.
US07936597B2 Multilevel magnetic storage device
The present invention includes a memory configured to store data having a pinned layer and a plurality of stacked memory locations. Each memory location includes a nonmagnetic layer and a switchable magnetic layer. The plurality of stacked memory locations are capable of storing a plurality of data bits.
US07936596B2 Magnetic tunnel junction cell including multiple magnetic domains
In a particular embodiment, a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure is disclosed that includes an MTJ cell having multiple sidewalls that extend substantially normal to a surface of a substrate. Each of the multiple sidewalls includes a free layer to carry a unique magnetic domain. Each of the unique magnetic domains is adapted to store a digital value.
US07936591B2 Magnetoresistive random access memory
A word line voltage is applied to a plurality of word lines. A read/write voltage is applied to a plurality of bit lines. The read/write voltage is applied to a plurality of source lines. A word line selector selects the word line and applies the word line voltage. A driver applies a predetermined voltage to the bit line and the source line, thereby supplying a current to the memory cell. A read circuit reads a first current having flowed through the memory cell, and determines data stored in the memory cell. When performing the read, the driver supplies a second current to second bit lines among other bit lines, which are adjacent to the first bit line through which the first current has flowed. The second current generates a magnetic field in a direction to suppress a write error in the memory cell from which data is to be read.
US07936586B2 Nonvolatile semiconductor storage apparatus and data programming method thereof
The semiconductor storage apparatus includes a memory cell array including memory cells each having a rectifying element and a variable resistive element connected in series, the memory cells being arranged in crossing portions of a plurality of first wires and a plurality of second wires, and a control circuit configured to control charging to the first wire. The control circuit charges the first wire connected to a selected memory cell up to a first potential, and then set the first wire in a floating state. Then it charges another first wire adjacent to the first wire connected to the selected memory cell to a second potential. The potential of the first wire connected to the selected memory cell is thereby caused to rise to a third potential by coupling.
US07936585B2 Non-volatile memory cell with non-ohmic selection layer
A non-volatile memory cell and associated method is disclosed that includes a non-ohmic selection layer. In accordance with some embodiments, a non-volatile memory cell consists of a resistive sense element (RSE) coupled to a non-ohmic selection layer. The selection layer is configured to transition from a first resistive state to a second resistive state in response to a current greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.
US07936583B2 Variable resistive memory punchthrough access method
Variable resistive punchthrough access methods are described. The methods include switching a variable resistive data cell from a high resistance state to a low resistance state by passing a write current through the magnetic tunnel junction data cell in a first direction. The write current is provided by a transistor being electrically coupled to the variable resistive data cell and a source line. The write current passes through the transistor in punchthrough mode.
US07936580B2 MRAM diode array and access method
A memory unit includes a magnetic tunnel junction data cell is electrically coupled to a bit line and a source line. The magnetic tunnel junction data cell is configured to switch between a high resistance state and a low resistance state by passing a write current through the magnetic tunnel junction data cell. A first diode is electrically between the magnetic tunnel junction data cell and the source line and a second diode is electrically between the magnetic tunnel junction data cell and the source line. The first diode and second diode are in parallel electrical connection, and having opposing forward bias directions.
US07936578B2 Read only memory cell for storing a multiple bit value
A read only memory cell for storing a multiple bit value is disclosed. The read only memory cell comprises: at least three output lines, each of the at least three output lines representing a different multiple bit value; a switching device connected between a single one of the three output lines and a voltage source. The switching device provides an electrical connection between the voltage source and the single one of the three output lines in response to a switching signal, a voltage of the connected output line switching value in response to connection to the predetermined voltage and the multiple bit value represented by the output line is thereby selected. There is also an output device provided for outputting the selected multiple bit value.
US07936577B1 Match line precharge circuits and methods for content addressable memory (CAM) device
A content addressable memory (CAM) may include a plurality of precharge circuits, each coupled to a group of CAM cells and comprising a first precharge path that is temporarily enabled in response to an activated first control signal, and a second precharge path that is temporarily enabled in response to an activated second control signal and a valid indication that indicates whether or not the corresponding group of CAM cells stores valid data, the valid indication being different than the first and second control signals.
US07936576B2 Power controller
A power controller (10) includes a controller (11) and a trigger circuit (12). When the voltage of a power supply received at terminals T1 exceeds a threshold, for example 120 V RMS, reverse-connected Zener diodes Z1 to Z3 conduct and switch on a transistor Q1. This results in a transistor Q2 being switched off and a normally open relay SW1 remaining open. The switching or triggering phase angle of a triac THY1 thus is determined by the speed at which a capacitor C4 is charged to a triggering voltage by current flowing through resistors R6, R7, R8 and VR1. In this situation, the triggering phase angle is such that a 240 V AC input supply provides an effective 110 V AC output at terminals T3 when VR1 is at maximum power setting (zero Ohms). When the voltage of the received power supply is less than the threshold, the transistor Q1 is switched off and the relay SW1 is activated. This bypasses resistor R6 and causes the switching or triggering phase angle to adopt a value of about zero degrees when VR1 is at maximum power setting, such that the voltage of the output power supply terminals T3 is substantially the same as that received at terminals T1.
US07936572B2 Distributor connection module for telecommunication and data technology
The invention relates to a distribution box connection module (1) for telecommunications and data technology, comprising a housing in which externally accessible input and output contacts (10, 20, 30, 40) are arranged for the connection of cables and cores, with the housing having a cavity in which at least one printed circuit board (50) is arranged, with the input and output contacts (10, 20, 30, 40) being arranged on the opposite end faces of the housing, and with the input contacts (10, 20) being associated with one input side and the output contacts (30, 40) being associated with one output side, with the input contacts 10, 20) being in the form of at least two mutually opposite rows of contacts, and the output contacts (30, 40) being in the form of at least one plug connector, with at least two input contacts (10) in the first row and at least two input contacts (20) in the second row being connected to the output contacts (30; 40) in the at least one plug connector, and with the input contacts (10, 20) in the first row and in the second row being connected via the at least one printing circuit board (50) to the output contacts (30; 40) in the plug connector.
US07936570B2 Liquid crystal display device
The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device which can establish the reliable connection between a printed circuit board and a semiconductor device in spite of the simple constitution thereof. The liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel, a printed circuit board arranged close to the liquid crystal display panel, and a semiconductor device arranged between the liquid crystal display panel and the printed circuit board in a striding manner. The semiconductor device includes a flexible printed circuit board and a semiconductor chip. The flexible printed circuit board includes a plurality of first terminals connected to the printed circuit board and a plurality of second terminals connected to a liquid-crystal-display-panel side. The printed circuit board includes a solder resist film, an opening portion formed in the solder resist film, and a terminal portion arranged in the opening portion and consisting of a plurality of terminals connected to the first terminals of the flexible printed circuit board. The terminal portion of the printed circuit board and the first terminals of the semiconductor device are connected with each other by way of an anisotropic conductive film. The anisotropic conductive film overlaps with at least the respective terminals of the terminal portion of the printed circuit board and the solder resist film.
US07936569B2 Circuit device and method of manufacturing the same
In a hybrid integrated circuit device that is a circuit device of the present invention, a conductive pattern including pads is formed on a surface of a substrate. A first pad is formed to be relatively large since a heat sink is mounted thereon. A second pad is a small pad to which a chip component or a small signal transistor is fixed. In the present invention, a plated film made of nickel is formed on a surface of the first pad. Therefore, the first pad and a solder never come into contact with each other. Thus, a Cu/Sn alloy layer having poor soldering properties is not generated but a Ni/Sn alloy layer having excellent soldering properties is generated. Consequently, occurrence of sink in the melted solder is suppressed.
US07936568B2 Capacitor built-in substrate and method of manufacturing the same and electronic component device
A capacitor built-in substrate of the present invention includes; a base resin layer; a plurality of capacitors arranged side by side in a lateral direction in a state that the capacitors are passed through the base resin layer, each of the capacitors constructed by a first electrode provided to pass through the base resin layer and having projection portions projected from both surface sides of the base resin layer respectively such that the projection portion on one surface side of the base resin layer serves as a connection portion, a dielectric layer for covering the projection portion of the first electrode on other surface side of the base resin layer, and a second electrode for covering the dielectric layer; a through electrode provided to pass through the base resin layer and having projection portions projected from both surface sides of the base resin layer respectively; and a built-up wiring formed on the other surface side of the base resin layer and connected to the second electrodes of the capacitors and one end side of the through electrode.
US07936567B2 Wiring board with built-in component and method for manufacturing the same
A method for manufacturing a wiring board with built-in component. The method provides a secure connection between a component and interlayer insulating layers so that the wiring board with built-in component has excellent reliability. The wiring board is manufactured through a core board preparation step, a component preparation step, an accommodation step and a height alignment step. In the core board preparation step, a core board having an accommodation hole therein is prepared. In the component preparation step, a ceramic capacitor having therein a plurality of protruding conductors which protrudes from a capacitor rear surface is prepared. In the accommodation step, the ceramic capacitor is accommodated in the accommodation hole with the core rear surface facing the same side as the capacitor rear surface. In the height alignment step, a surface of a top portion of the protruding conductor and a surface of a conductor layer formed on the core rear surface are aligned to the same height.
US07936566B2 Electronic control unit and waterproof case
An electronic control unit has a respiratory filter mounted on a waterproof case. Raised protective walls formed in the case surround the portion of the case at which the respiratory filter is arranged. At least two concave portions are provided for drainage that each extend through different positions of the protective walls.
US07936561B1 LED heat dissipation aluminum bar and electricity conduction device
A light-emitting diode (LED) heat dissipation aluminum bar and electricity conduction device includes a heat dissipation aluminum bar having a structure formed of multiple sections each having multiple heat dissipation fins. The heat dissipation aluminum bar forms a LED circuit board receiving slot and power channels and each power channel receives therein an insulation that encloses an electrically conductive bars. When an LED circuit board is received and secured in the LED circuit board receiving slot by fasteners, the fasteners, which are made electrically conductive, penetrate the insulations to contact the electrically conductive bars so as to supply electricity to the LED circuit board at the same time of fixing the LED circuit board. The LED circuit board has a structure formed of multiple sections interconnected to each other to allow for adjustment of the overall length thereof.
US07936557B2 Portable electronic device
The portable electronic device according to the present invention comprises a cabinet including an opening defined in a front surface thereof, a cover body opening and closing the opening of the cabinet, and a pivoting mechanism for pivotally supporting the cover body to the cabinet, the pivoting mechanism comprises a shaft and a pair of bearings supporting the shaft, the cabinet has an attaching part for attaching a string-like member, and the attaching part projects from the front surface of the cabinet. In this portable electronic device, the attaching part is disposed adjacent to the pivoting mechanism, the shaft which is a component of the pivoting mechanism includes a projecting part projecting toward the attaching part from one of the bearings closer to the attaching part, and the projecting part extends along a back surface which is a reverse side of the front surface of the cabinet.
US07936555B2 Method for fabricating flexible super capacitor
A flexible super capacitor including a pair of flexible electrodes and a separator film is disclosed. Each flexible electrode includes a carbon fiber layer and a collector formed on a surface of the carbon fiber layer. The pair of flexible electrodes has two outer surfaces, and the collector layers are formed on the outer surfaces of the pair of the flexible electrodes. The separator film is disposed between the flexible electrodes. The collector layer would be formed on the carbon fiber layer with surface metalizing the carbon fiber layer. A method for fabricating the flexible electrode of the flexible super capacitor is also disclosed.
US07936550B2 Fastening assembly including washer for sealing the assembly for lightning strike protection in composite structures
A fastening assembly for a composite structure including a washer sealing the assembly for internal lightning strike protection. The washer includes one or more concentric ribs that are dielectric rings on both sides. When used (e.g., with a nut and bolt) internal to a structure, especially a composite structure, the washer seals the fastener hole (i.e., that the bolt passes through) and contains any sparking and hot gasses that may arise in the fastener hole from entering the structure.
US07936547B2 Circuit breaker electronic trip unit personality module
A method and apparatus providing automatic circuit breaker identification to an electronic trip unit includes a processor and a configuration module comprising configuration data identifying the particulars of a circuit breaker and that is in operable communication with the processor.
US07936540B2 DC-DC converters having improved current sensing and related methods
A DC-DC converter includes a chip including an error amplifier, a pulse width modulator (PWM), and an inductor driven by said PWM in series with an output node (VOUT), wherein a load current flows through the inductor. A circuit for sensing the load current includes a first operational amplifier and a sense resistor having resistance RSENSE; wherein a sense current related to the load current flows through the sense resistor. A reference resistor has a resistance RREFERENCE which is a fixed multiple of RSENSE. A set resistor has a resistance RSET. Tracking circuitry sets a voltage across the reference resistor to be equal to a voltage across the set resistor. A function block receives a current through the set resistor and a current through the reference resistor to find their ratio. A current multiplier provides a measurement current which is proportional to the load current divided by RSET.
US07936538B1 Controlled fly height slider with necked ABS
A slider that includes a necked ABS pad is disclosed. More specifically, the slider includes an ABS pad having a first ABS region and a second ABS region, where the second ABS region is disposed immediately in front of the first ABS region proceeding in the direction of a leading edge of the slider. A transducer and a thermal actuator each may be disposed within the first ABS region. The width of the second ABS region (a necked portion of the ABS pad) is less than a width of the first ABS region.
US07936537B2 Substrate for magnetic recording medium, magnetic recording medium, and magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus
It is possible to improve the recording and reproducing S/N ratio, the reproduction signal intensity, and the degree of high density recording. There are provided a plurality of recording tracks formed on a substrate, each recording track being formed of a magnetic material, and non-recording sections formed on the substrate, each non-recording section separating adjacent recording tracks, each recording track including a plurality of recording sections and connecting sections for connecting the recording sections adjacent thereto in a track longitudinal direction, and each connecting section having a cross-sectional area in a track width direction that is smaller than a cross-sectional area in a track width direction of adjacent recording sections.
US07936534B2 Apparatus for supporting a disk drive about a rotation centre which is outside a disk drive receiving portion for reducing vibrations and a disk drive test apparatus using same
Apparatus for supporting a disk drive with a rotating disk about a disk axis and an arm which pivots over the disk about an arm axis. The disk axis and the arm axis are perpendicular to the plane of the disk. The apparatus includes a disk drive carrier having a disk drive receiving portion where disk drive can be received, and a housing in which the carrier can be received. A mounting arrangement is provided for supporting the carrier within the housing such that the center of rotation of the carrier is outside the disk drive receiving portion of the carrier. Additionally, a mounting arrangement is provided for supporting the carrier within the housing, comprising a forced pivot at or towards the opposite end of the disk drive carrier, and about which the carrier is fixed for pivotal movement in the housing.
US07936530B1 Method to write ramp-track
The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to writing ramp-tracks on a computer readable medium. In some implementations, a trajectory is identified across previously written tracks on a surface of a machine-readable medium for a read-write head to move along and build up velocity. Identifying the trajectory includes identifying one of the previously written tracks as a launch location from which to launch the read-write head. Identifying the trajectory also includes identifying a start writing location near a blank region of the surface of the machine-readable medium at which to turn on a write gate. A current is applied to the read-write head to cause the read-write head to move along the trajectory. In addition, the identified launch location is adjusted until a target velocity is obtained at the start writing location.
US07936528B2 Graded order-sorting filter for hyperspectral imagers and methods of making the same
A graded order-sorting filter for hyperspectral imagers and methods of making the same are provided. The graded order-sorting filter includes a substrate wafer having a first side and a second side and is formed of a material that is substantially transparent to light photons. The graded order-sorting filter also includes an absorption filter deposited outwardly from the first side of the substrate wafer. The absorption filter is tapered along a taper direction and formed of a graded composition semiconductor material with a bandgap graded to decrease outwardly from the substrate wafer and/or graded along the taper direction. The graded composition semiconductor material is substantially transparent to the light photons for photon energies substantially less than the bandgap. The above filter can also be aligned to a two-dimensional array of pixels to form a hyperspectral imager.
US07936526B2 Lens driving apparatus
Disclosed is a lens driving apparatus. The lens driving apparatus includes a base formed at a center thereof with a first opening; a housing coupled with the base and having a second opening corresponding to the first opening; a yoke installed on the base and including a horizontal plate having a third opening corresponding to the first opening and a vertical plate protruding upward from the horizontal plate; a bobbin movably installed in the yoke and coupled with a lens module; a coil fixedly disposed around the bobbin; a plurality of magnets provided at the vertical plate of the yoke to face the coil; and a spring installed on at least one of upper and lower portions of the yoke to return the bobbin, which has moved up due to interaction between the magnet and the coil, to its initial position.
US07936521B2 Method of measuring a deviation of an optical surface from a target shape
A method of aligning at least two wave shaping elements, a method of measuring a deviation of an optical surface from a target shape and a measuring apparatus for interferometrically measuring a deviation of an optical surface from a target shape. The method of aligning at least two wave shaping elements, each of which wave shaping elements has a diffractive measurement structure for adapting part of a wave front of incoming light to a respective portion of the target shape, includes: providing a first one of the wave shaping elements with a diffractive alignment structure, arranging the wave shaping elements relative to each other such that each of the diffractive measurement structures is traversed by a separate subset of rays of the incoming light during operation of the measuring apparatus, and aligning the first wave shaping element and a second one of the wave shaping elements relative to each other by evaluating alignment light having consecutively interacted with the diffractive alignment structure and with the second wave shaping element.
US07936520B2 Optical axis orientating device for liquid lens
The invention provides an optical axis orientating device for a liquid lens. The optical axis orientating device includes a transparent substrate, a symmetric electrode structure, and an insulating layer. The electrode structure is capable of supplying an electric field and defines a central axis. The insulating layer provides an optical axis orientating structure symmetric with respect to the central axis. In particular, at a rest state, an optical axis of the liquid lens and the central axis of electrode are substantially coaxial.
US07936519B2 Head mounted display
Disclosed herein is a head mounted display including: an eyeglasses frame-like frame to be mounted onto an observer's head; and two image display devices, each of the image display devices including an image generating device, and light guide means which is mounted to the image generating device, which as a whole is located on the side of the center of an observer's face relative to the image generating device, on which beams emitted from the image generating device are incident, through which the beams are guided, and from which the beams are emitted toward an observer's pupil.
US07936511B2 Single laser illuminating and pointing systems
Dual-function laser systems and methods are disclosed. In one implementation, an apparatus includes a laser source configured to emit a beam; an optical element spaced apart from the laser source; and a diffractive element positioned to diffract the beam to provide a diffracted beam to the optical element such that the optical element refracts the diffracted beam to form an approximately collimated central portion and a diverging outer portion.
US07936507B2 Screen for projector, process for producing screen for projector, and projector
The invention relates to a screen for projectors which comprises a screen base in which at least two kinds of colorants selected from a colorant having an absorption wavelength region in 400 nm to 440 nm, a colorant having an absorption wavelength region in 470 nm to 510 nm, and a colorant having an absorption wavelength region in 570 nm to 610 nm are carried on the whole image display area of the screen base. Also disclosed are processes for producing the screen and projectors having the screen.
US07936506B2 System and method for displaying images
System and method for projection display with slim cabinet depth. An embodiment comprises a collimating layer positioned in a light path of a display plane, and a diffusion layer positioned in the light path of the display plane after the collimating layer. The diffusion layer increases the viewing angle of the display plane. The collimating layer comprises a first lens having first and second axes orthogonal to each other and to the light path and a second lens positioned in the light path after the first lens, the second lens having first and second axes orthogonal to each other and to the light path. The first lens is configured along its first axis to redirect light towards the light path and the second lens is configured along its first and second axes to redirect light towards the light path so that the light is substantially parallel to the light path.
US07936504B2 Fully articulated periscope camera system
The camera or periscope system may include a taking lens, a beam steering device, a relay device, and an image rotation device. The camera or periscope system can be used to image in situations where the camera is not easily redirected to view a desired object of interest. The camera or periscope system is designed to be fixed to a mounting platform where the taking lens can be configured to point to the desired object of interest.
US07936503B2 Laser scanning microscope
A laser scanning microscope separates fluorescence signals of different fluorophores in accurate unmixing by eliminating positional pixels shifts between different fluorescence images obtained through irradiation of different-wavelength laser lights. The microscope includes a laser light source capable of emitting a wavelength-changeable laser light, a correction amount determination unit that determines a correction amount for correcting an optical axis shift of the laser light, an optical axis adjusting unit that adjusts an optical axis, a scanning unit that performs two-dimensional scanning, an objective lens that focuses the laser scanning light to a specimen and fluorescence emitted from the specimen, a light detector that detects the fluorescence, and a control unit that changes the wavelength of the laser light synchronously with the scanning by the scanning unit while controlling the optical axis adjusting unit based on the correction amount determined by correction amount determination unit.
US07936501B2 Contact microscope using point source illumination
The embodiments of the invention include a microscope having a transparent specimen holder and a digital imaging device positioned within the transparent specimen holder. The digital imaging device can include a wireless transmitter. The transparent specimen holder can have a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the transparent specimen holder is completely transparent between the top surface and the bottom surface. Thus, the transparent specimen holder is completely transparent above and below the digital imaging device. Furthermore, a processor is operatively connected to the digital imaging device, wherein the processor produces an image of a specimen positioned on the specimen holder. A display is operatively connected to the processor, wherein the display displays the image.
US07936500B2 Wavelength-specific optical switch
A wavelength-specific optical switch combines one or more tunable filters and bandblock reflectors such that the absorption or reflection of selected wavelength bands in the optical spectrum (visible, near infrared, or near ultraviolet) can be switched on and off. The wavelength switch is programmable, multifunctional, general-purpose, solid-state optical filter. The wavelength switch may serve as a tunable notch or bandblock filter, a tunable bandpass filter, a tunable highpass or lowpass filter, or a tunable band reflector. The wavelength switch has particular, but not exclusive, application in optics as a filter, band reflector, and as a means of isolating particular wavelengths or wavelength bands from a collimated light stream for transmission to, or rejection from, a sensor.
US07936499B2 Method and apparatus for driving EPD
A method and apparatus for driving an ElectroPhoretic Display (EPD) are provided, in which upon sensing a request for displaying data in a gradual graphic representation scheme, a plurality of segments for displaying the data are determined, a display changing order of the segments is determined, an inter-segment time interval is calculated, driving voltage pulses are applied to a first segment according to the display changing order, and driving voltage pulses are applied to each of the other segments at the inter-segment time interval after driving voltage pulses are applied to a previous segment according to the display changing order.
US07936493B2 Dot position correcting apparatus, optical scanning apparatus, imaging apparatus, and color imaging apparatus
An optical scanning apparatus that includes a light source unit having plural main light sources that are two-dimensionally arranged in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction, and plural sub light sources that are arranged between rows of the main light sources aligned in the main scanning direction. The optical scanning apparatus also includes an optical system configured to scan light emitted from the light source unit on a scanning object to form an image on the scanning object, and a control apparatus configured to adjust a main scanning direction image position by controlling two of the main light sources that are juxtaposed to each other with respect to the main scanning direction and adjust a sub scanning direction image position by controlling a main light source and a sub light source that are adjacent to each other.
US07936489B2 Holographic information display
In a holographic heads-up display, a first set of data and a second set of data are provided. A three-dimensional image or scenery displaying the first set of data in a first layer and the second set of data in a second layer are created. The first layer is separated from the second layer by a specified distance. A hologram is determined, which corresponds to a recording of the scenery via a reference beam. A plurality of controllable phase delay elements are set according to the determined hologram. The hologram is reconstructed by illuminating the plurality of phase delay elements using a coherent light source. The light of the reconstructed hologram is directed into the visual field of a driver via a wind screen of a vehicle.
US07936485B2 Image reading apparatus, image processing apparatus, and computer program product
An image reading apparatus includes a clamp-ratio controlling unit configured to change at least one of a clamp period and a line period for each read operation mode, wherein the clamp-ratio setting unit provides a control so that a clamp ratio that is a ratio between the clamp period and the line period is constant through all read operation modes. The clamp period is a period for performing clamp processing for setting a black level to a constant, which is an absolute black reference of an analog image signal output according to a quantity of light at a time of receiving reflected light from a document, and the line period is a read period of one line in the sub scanning direction.
US07936484B2 Internet-based synchronized imaging
A internet based method and apparatus is described for automatically processing a captured digital image taken by a smart device at a fixed-location, mobile or virtual event, and synchronizing the combination of that captured primary image with a secondary image, be it a picture frame, or a watermark to create a combined media image. If desired, the combined image may also contain an audio file. Once combined, the image may be stored for later viewing, and/or automatically returned to the user of the smart device or the PC of the user who captured the primary image, forwarded to an online print service website, posted to a photo sharing website, and/or forwarded to a distribution list. The automated post processing of said captured images is handled by a process engine hosted at an Application Provider's website, the process engine containing instructions for the media combining and metadata tagging of said images.
US07936483B2 Digital photo frame with rotatable screen
A digital photo frame for storing and displaying photos. The photo frame has a photo-sized display screen rotatably mounted on a support such that the display screen is configurable in landscape-viewing or portrait-viewing orientations by rotation of the screen. A memory stores photo image files tagged as either landscape orientation or portrait orientation and a user interface receives instructions to display photos stored in the memory. A processor is configured for receiving orientation data regarding an orientation of the display screen, retrieving only photo image files from the memory that are tagged with an orientation corresponding to the orientation of the display screen, and displaying the retrieved photo image files as photos on the display screen.
US07936478B2 Method of printing a compressed image having a bi-level black layer and a contone layer
Provided is a method of printing a compressed image. The method includes the steps of receiving, with a printer controller, the image, having a bi-level black data layer compressed in an Edge Delta and Runlength (EDRL) compression format and a continuous tone (contone) CMYK data layer, from a computer. The method includes the steps of expanding the image by simultaneously decompressing the two data layers in parallel, and halftoning the contone CMYK data layer into bi-level CMYK data layer. Also included are the steps of compositing the bi-level black data layer over the bi-level CMYK data layer to form a composited bi-level CMYK image, transmitting the composited bi-level CMYK image to a memory buffer of pagewidth printer for printing.
US07936475B2 Image display system
An image display system for reading and displaying an image includes an image display device and a scanner device that is connected to the image display device through a network. The image display device, when receiving instructions to read and display an image mounted on the scanner device from a user, specifies a predetermined reserved file name and transmits a file reading request to the scanner device. The scanner device, when receiving the file reading request, reads the image and transmits image data acquired by reading to the image display device using the reserved file name and makes the image display device display the image data.
US07936471B2 Image formation apparatus and image formation system for executing a charging procedure
An image formation apparatus is configured to communicate with a server apparatus. The server apparatus transmits image data to the image formation apparatus, and executes a charging procedure to determine an amount of money to be charged. The image formation apparatus includes an image data receiving unit configured to receive image data, an image output unit configured to output images in accordance with the image data, a display unit, an input unit configured to receive an input command, and an output control unit configured to control the image output unit in accordance with the input command.
US07936469B2 System and method for distributed printer processing
The invention provides a system and method for the distributed processing of print jobs using multiple printer processors and centralized printing. The method can include the operation of dividing the print job into a plurality of print job segments in a print distribution module. The plurality of print job segments is transmitted to one or more distribution responsive printers. A further operation can be processing the plurality of print job segments using the one or more distribution responsive printers. Another operation is receiving the plurality of print job segments from the one or more distribution responsive printers into the print distribution module. In addition, the plurality of print job segments is printed at a target printer.
US07936466B2 Information processing apparatus and its control method for managing distributed processing of at least one of the device information and operation states
An information processing apparatus manages distributed processing by a plurality of devices which are connected to a computer network and have a power-saving mode. The apparatus includes a retriever, arranged to retrieve device information and operation states of the plurality of devices, and a selector, arranged to select target devices of the distributed processing based on at least one of the device information and operation states.
US07936462B2 Optical coherence tomography imaging system and method
An optical imaging system includes an optical radiation source (410, 510), a frequency clock module outputting frequency clock signals (420), an optical interferometer (430), a data acquisition (DAQ) device (440) triggered by the frequency clock signals, and a computer (450) to perform multi-dimensional optical imaging of the samples. The frequency clock signals are processed by software or hardware to produce a record containing frequency-time relationship of the optical radiation source (410, 510) to trigger the sampling process of the DAQ device (440). The system may employ over-sampling and various digital signal processing methods to improve image quality. The system further includes multiple stages of routers (1418, 1425) connecting the light source (1410) with a plurality of interferometers (1420a-1420n) and a DAQ system (1450) triggered by frequency clock signals to perform high-speed multi-channel optical imaging of samples.
US07936459B1 Apparatus with probe
An apparatus adapted to obtain a profile of a density gradient sample independently of fractionation is provided. The apparatus includes a light source, a probe comprising a first probe needle actuatable to extend into a tube containing a sample, a first light-transmitting means to receive light from the light source and transmit light through the sample as the probe needle extends into the sample, a second light-transmitting means to receive light transmitted by the first light-transmitting means and transmit the received light to a signal-producing means capable of translating the received light into a recordable signal to produce a profile of the sample. The apparatus may additionally be adapted to fractionate the sample following generation of the gradient profile.
US07936458B2 Polariscope toy and ornament with accompanying photoelastic and/or photoplastic devices
A variety of toy polariscopes are simpler in design and less costly than precision instruments used in scientific research and stress analysis of materials and structures. The toy polariscopes are designed for a variety of objects that may exhibit photoelastic properties such as glass, plastic, Plexiglas, gel candle material and other gels, and even edible photoelastic objects. They are specially designed for objects of various sizes with a variety of purposes such as objects to enhance learning in a variety of conditions and experiences. Special objects are designed to go with the toy polariscopes such as edible and inedible photoelastic objects, photoelastic candle material, a variety of photoelastic/photoplastic stands capable of a variety of displays in interaction with other designed photoelastic objects capable of a variety of interaction and displays. Other optical phenomena may also be observed.
US07936454B2 Three mirror anastigmat spectrograph
A portable spectrograph including a primary mirror, a secondary mirror, and a tertiary mirror forming a TMA having a common vertex axis, a diffraction grating, and a dispersive prism, where the portable spectrograph can detect wavelengths between 150 nm and 1.1 μm. The portable spectrograph also may include a collimating mirror and an entrance aperture, which form an interchangeable module. Radiation received through the entrance aperture is reflected in a collimated pattern towards an aperture stop. The diffraction grating, located between the collimating mirror and prism, diffracts radiation passed through the aperture stop into multiple beams directed onto the prism. A flat mirror, located to one side of the vertex axis receives and reflects the multiple beams exiting the prism onto the primary mirror, where they are reflected onto the secondary mirror. The secondary mirror reflects the beams to the tertiary mirror where they are reflected onto an image plane located on the other side of the vertex axis.
US07936452B2 Inspection apparatus, exposure apparatus, and method of manufacturing device
An inspection apparatus includes a projecting unit, a first receiving unit, a second receiving unit, and a controller. The projection unit is configured to project linear light on a surface of an object. The first and second receiving units are configured to receive scattered light of the projected linear light. The controller is configured to scan the projecting unit, the first and second receiving units and determine the present or absence of a foreign substance on the surface based on intensity distribution signals output from the first and second receiving units.
US07936449B1 Method and system for fast calibration of three-dimensional (3D) sensors
Rapid calibration of a TOF system uses a stationary target object and electrically introduces phase shift into the TOF system to emulate target object relocation. Relatively few parameters suffice to model a parameterized mathematical representation of the transfer function between measured phase and Z distance. The phase-vs-distance model is directly evaluated during actual run-time operation of the TOF system. Preferably modeling includes two components: electrical modeling of phase-vs-distance characteristics that depend upon electrical rather than geometric characteristics of the sensing system, and elliptical modeling that phase-vs-distance characteristics that depending upon geometric rather than electrical characteristics of the sensing system.
US07936445B2 Altering pattern data based on measured optical element characteristics
A system and method are used to compensate for distortions or aberrations in an image formed in a projection system. Pattern data is generated corresponding to features to be formed on a substrate. At least one of aberrations and distortions of a projection optical system are measured. The pattern data is altered based on the measuring step. The altered pattern data is transmitted to a patterning device to control individually controllable elements coupled to the patterning device. Non uniformities in one or both of a field and pupil of an illumination system can also be measured and used to alter the pattern data.
US07936442B2 Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device fabrication method
An exposure apparatus comprises an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a reticle with a light beam from a light source, a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of the reticle onto a substrate, a measurement unit configured to measure a light quantity distribution in an exposure area on an image plane of the projection optical system, and a detection unit configured to detect an existence of a foreign particle in the illumination optical system and the projection optical system based on the light quantity distribution measured by the measurement unit.
US07936441B2 Projection optical system, exposure apparatus, and exposure method
An immersion projection optical system that prevents leakage of a liquid (immersion liquid) into the optical system and maintains satisfactory imaging capability. The projection optical system of the present invention is a projection optical system that projects a reduced image of a first plane onto a second plane through a liquid. The projection optical system includes an interface optical lens (Lb) having a side towards the first plane that contacts a gas and a side towards the second plane that contacts the liquid. The interface optical element includes a light entering surface (Lba), which has a convex shape facing towards the first plane, and a groove (Gr), which is formed to surround an effective region in a light emitting surface of the interface optical element.
US07936440B2 Exposure apparatus, supply method and recovery method, exposure method, and device producing method
The present invention provides an exposure apparatus that can prevent the degradation of exposure and measurement accuracies. An exposure apparatus (EX) exposes a substrate (P) by irradiating the substrate (P) with exposure light (EL) through a projection optical system (PL) and a liquid (LQ), and comprises: a liquid supply mechanism (10) that supplies the liquid (LQ) between an optical element (2) at the image plane side tip part of the projection optical system (PL) and a substrate (P) that opposes the optical element (2); a timer (60) that measures the time that has elapsed since the supply of the liquid by the liquid supply mechanism (10) was started; and a control apparatus (CONT) that determines, based on a measurement result of the timer (60), whether a space(SP), which is between the optical element (2) and the substrate (P) and includes at least an optical path of the exposure light (EL), is filled with the liquid (LQ).
US07936435B2 Liquid crystal device, method for producing the same, and electronic apparatus
A liquid crystal device includes a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates; a plurality of pixels each including a plurality of pixel regions, each of the pixel regions having a reflective display region and a transmissive display region; a phase difference film provided in the reflective display region, the phase difference film being located at a side of one substrate of the pair of substrates adjacent to the liquid crystal layer; and a partition wall member having light-shielding properties, the partition wall member being provided at the side of the one substrate adjacent to the liquid crystal layer to partition the phase difference film.
US07936432B2 Display device
A display device includes a substrate, a display unit on the substrate, the display unit including a plurality of subpixels, a driver that applies a driving signal to the display unit, a pad unit that applies an electric signal received from the outside to the driver; a plurality of lines that connects the display unit to the driver or the pad unit to the driver; and a plurality of pad electrodes disposed at one ends of the lines connected to the driver. A width of one end of the pad electrode connected to the lines is narrower than widths of other areas of the pad electrode excepting the other end of the pad electrode.
US07936429B2 Liquid crystal display device
A liquid crystal display includes a pair of transparent substrates opposed to each other with liquid crystal therebetween. One of the pair of transparent substrates has a plurality of drain signal lines and a plurality of gate signal lines, and a plurality of pixel regions defined by the drain signal lines and the gate signal lines. The pixel regions have a TFT element, a pixel electrode formed of a transparent electrode having a plurality of slits, and a counter electrode formed of a transparent electrode. The counter electrode is disposed between the pixel electrode and the one of the pair of transparent substrates in overlapping relationship with the transparent electrode of the pixel electrode and the gate signal line, and the counter electrode is connected with the counter electrode of an adjacent pixel region.
US07936427B2 Optical sensor for detecting peripheral light and liquid crystal display device using the same
An optical sensor for detecting peripheral light including: at least two first transistors coupled in parallel between an output line and base power supply for detecting an intensity of peripheral light; and at least two second transistors positioned at a side of the first transistors and between the first transistors and a voltage source.
US07936426B2 Transflective LCD comprising a patterned retardation film
The invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal display (LCD) with a polymerised LC film comprising at least one photoisomerisable compound and having a pattern of regions with different retardation and/or different orientation of the LC material.
US07936422B2 Optical element and display device using the same
An optical element is arranged in such a manner that a screen thereof can be hardly observed from a predetermined direction, and a deterioration of an image quality caused by moire does not occur. The optical element is constituted by a first polarizing layer, a second polarizing layer, and a liquid crystal layer arranged between these two polarizing layers. In the optical element, absorption axes of the first polarizing layer and the second polarizing layer are located parallel to each other; the liquid crystal layer is made of hybrid-aligned discotic liquid crystal; and an alignment axis of the liquid crystal layer is located parallel to, or perpendicular to both absorption axes of the first polarizing layer and of the second polarizing layer.
US07936416B2 Display device, a front frame used therein, and a method of manufacture thereof
A display device, a front frame used therein, and a method of manufacture thereof are provided. The display device includes a display panel and the front frame. The display panel has a display surface which is partially covered by the front frame. The front frame includes a side wall corresponding to the sides of the display panel, a top plate extending from the side wall towards the center of the display panel, and cushion filler. The top plate has an inner surface featuring a groove distributed along the side wall. The cushion filler is contained within the groove while its top protrudes from the groove and contacts the display surface outside an active area.
US07936412B2 Color filterless display device, optical element, and manufacture
A color filterless display device performing color display for expressing one pixel by three RGB sub-pixels includes: a light source; a diffraction grating for separating a light irradiated from this light source into lights of a plurality of wavelength regions; a cylindrical lens array for receiving the separated light and condensing the light while corresponding to each of the sub-pixels; and a liquid crystal cell including a structure portion for correcting an angle of the condensed light for all sub-pixels, wherein, in the structure portion of this liquid crystal cell, a side onto which a light from the cylindrical lens array is made incident is made of a high refractive index layer, an emitting side from which the light is emitted is made of a low refractive index layer, and a Fresnel-type microprism structure is formed by the high refractive index layer and the low refractive index layer.
US07936410B2 Array substrate, display apparatus having the same and method for repairing the same
In an array substrate, a display apparatus having the same and a method for repairing the same, a substrate includes a display area and a peripheral area that is adjacent to the display area. A plurality of signal transmitting lines are formed in the peripheral area of the substrate. A plurality of signal lines are formed in the display area of the substrate and connected to the signal transmitting lines. A repair part is formed in the peripheral area of the substrate. The repair part intersects and is insulated from the signal transmitting lines so as to repair a first opened signal transmitting line of the signal transmitting lines. Thus, the array substrate may be produced in high-yield and prevent signal distortion.
US07936399B2 Digital broadcast receiver and method for processing caption thereof
A digital cable broadcast receiver and a method for automatically processing caption data of various standards and types, is disclosed. The digital broadcast receiver includes: a demultiplexer for dividing a received broadcast stream into video data, audio data, supplementary information; a controller for determining whether caption data included in the video data is digital caption data or analog caption data on the basis of caption information included in the supplementary information, and outputting a control signal according to a result of the determining; a digital caption decoder for extracting and decoding digital caption data from the video data according to the control signal; and an analog caption decoder for extracting and decoding analog caption data from the video data according to the control signal.
US07936397B2 Method and process for electronically posting bulletin board messages
A method of electronically broadcasting messages to a general or targeted audience. A message sender can post messages on electronic bulletin boards by accessing a website or calling a phone number. The user has control of the design and content of the message including font, background, pictures and sound; there is no need to contact another person or organization such as a radio or TV station to post the message; and the user can target a specific audience if so desired. Messages are posted on user-specified electronic bulletin boards for a certain time slot and can be applied to a variety of services such as highway advertising boards, Amber Alerts, and campus message boards, to name a few.
US07936389B2 Solid-state imaging device
In a solid-state imaging device, bus lines are provided at both sides of an imaging area vertically to send vertical-transfer clock pulses to shunt wires disposed on or over the imaging area at both ends of the signal lines of the shunt wires. Bus lines disposed closer to a horizontal transfer register are placed at a boundary area of the imaging area and the horizontal transfer register. Since the bus lines pass through an upper layer of the boundary area, imaging performed by light receiving elements is not performed but dummy pixels having almost the same structure as the light receiving sections are disposed and vertical transfer registers are provided in the boundary area to just transfer signal charges by the vertical transfer registers with a characteristic similar to that in the imaging area to the horizontal transfer register.
US07936382B2 Image pickup device, projector including the image pickup device, and image pickup method
An image pickup device is provided. The image pickup device includes a pickup device that captures an image, a background image processor that determines a pickup object area to be captured to be an illumination image and displays the pickup object area as a background image, a display that displays the background image, and a main controller that generates a control signal that controls the pickup device, the background image processor, and the display. The image pickup device projects the illumination image instead of the background image on the screen, such that the person's image does not overlap with the background image during the image pickup action. A brightness level of the object image in the corrected pickup picture is adjusted according to a brightness level of the background image, such that the object image can be more naturally harmonized with the background image.
US07936381B2 Management and setting of photographing condition of image sensing apparatus
According to a method of managing photographing conditions for an image sensing apparatus, one of images photographed by the image sensing apparatus is selected. The selected image, photographing conditions such as the exposure value and shutter speed in photographing the image, and a separately input photographing status such as the photographing place are stored in association with each other.
US07936380B2 Imaging apparatus having groups with designated representative images
An imaging apparatus for recording image data picked up by an image pickup unit until a recording medium is presented. In response to an instruction from an instruction operation unit capable of arbitrary instruction, a first image data picked up by the image pickup unit is allocated to the same group as a second image data photographed immediately before the first image data so as to allocate the first image data to the same group as the image data picked up immediately before the first image data. In addition, management information containing group information that shows image data within the group is generated.
US07936379B2 Camera with automatic fluorescent lighting mode
A novel method and apparatus for controlling operation of a photosensor array in a portable electronic device to reduce flicker resulting from fluorescent light having a periodic intensity. The method comprises selecting a time zone in which the device is to be operated, correlating the time zone with a corresponding frequency of the fluorescent light, and signaling the photosensor array to operate in accordance with a mode optimized to reduce flicker based on the selected time zone.
US07936369B2 Endoscope
An endoscope includes an insertion unit having an inclined portion in a distal surface of the insertion unit; an illuminating unit provided in the inclined portion of the distal surface, and illuminating an inside of a body cavity; an observation window provided in the distal surface to observe the inside of the body cavity; and an air and water feeding nozzle provided in the distal surface to supply at least one of air and water to the observation window and the illuminating unit. A first contact distal portion and a second contact distal portion are formed in the distal surface. The first contact distal portion comes into contact with a flat surface and is provided in the air and water feeding nozzle, and the second contact distal portion is provided in except for at least one of the observation window and the illuminating unit.
US07936367B2 Image forming apparatus controlling the output level of the light source
An image forming apparatus includes an optical scanning device that scans a scan area on an image carrier with light flux containing image information and writes the image information onto an image area in the scan area. In the optical scanning device, a first light receiving unit receives light flux emitted from a light source and reflected by a reflecting optical unit; a second light receiving unit receives light flux that passes through an aperture of the reflecting optical unit, is deflected by a deflecting unit, and heads for outside the image area within the scan area; and a control unit controls a drive signal of the light source based on signals output from the first and second light receiving units.
US07936365B2 Printing method and apparatus using shuttle thermal print head
A printing method and apparatus using a shuttle thermal print head (TPH), which can print by moving the TPH in a transverse direction. The apparatus and printing method include (a) printing an image on a medium using the TPH while feeding the medium in a positive longitudinal direction; (b) moving the TPH in the transverse direction by a predetermined value; and (c) printing an image on the medium using the TPH while feeding the medium in a negative longitudinal direction.
US07936363B2 Data receiver circuit, data driver, and display device
Disclosed is a data receiver circuit including a differential pair having first and second transistors of a first conductivity type, which receives at first and second inputs thereof a binary signal by which data transfer is performed in a differential form, a load circuit composed of first and second diode-connected transistors of a second conductivity type, connected to the first and second inputs of the differential pair, respectively, an output circuit that charges and discharges an output terminal using currents corresponding to currents that flow through the first and second diode-connected transistors of the second conductivity type, respectively, and a current supply circuit with an output current thereof input to at least one of the first and second diode-connected transistors of the second conductivity type.
US07936362B2 System and method for spreading a non-periodic signal for a spatial light modulator
A method is disclosed for spreading a non-periodic color signal sent to a spatial light modulator across a frame period. The method can include the operation of dividing a frame period into a plurality of time slices. A further operation can be assigning a color to each of the plurality time slices. Another operation can be interleaving one or more colors assigned to the time slices across the frame period in a non-periodic manner.
US07936358B2 Integrated color management
In one embodiment, a display device comprises a timing controller, a first computer readable memory medium coupled to the timing controller and comprising a first color table, a video processor coupled to the timing controller via a communication link and comprising logic to request the first color table from the timing controller, and use data in the first color table to implement a color correction routine.
US07936354B2 Virtual trace-multiple view modeling system and method
A system for generating two-dimensional views of a three-dimensional model is provided. The system includes an active building model system generating one or more user-selected two-dimensional views of a three-dimensional building model. A floor plan view location system receives user control data and places a two-dimensional floor plan view in a user-selected location of a viewing window. An elevation view location system receives user control data and places a two-dimensional elevation view in a user-selected location of the viewing window.
US07936350B2 Display control circuit and display system
In a display control circuit for controlling a display of a display device, data which is stored in a memory is inputted to a FIFO circuit by a DMA controller, and the FIFO circuit transmits the stored data to the display device at a rising edge of an inputted clock PCLK. A clock mask circuit transmits the inputted clock PCLK to the display device as a display clock PCLK′ while the FIFO circuit is not underflow. On the other hand, the clock mask circuit masks the inputted clock PCLK while the FIFO circuit is underflow, and transmits the display clock PCLK′ whose level is kept high to the display device. As a result, a display position of display data does not shift even if underflow occurs in the FIFO circuit.
US07936349B2 Power supply apparatus and flat-screen television set
A safety circuit 16 for monitoring the waveform of a start signal outputted from a microcomputer 40a is provided in a power supply circuit. If a start signal inputted to the safety circuit 16 is not a pulse wave, a power supply cutoff section 16c cuts off the output of the start signal to a DC/AC circuit 13, thereby cutting off the supply of power by the DC/AC circuit 13 from a primary side to a secondary side. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the supply of power by the power supply circuit without providing an additional microcomputer or IC for monitoring a failure and a temporary malfunction of a control microcomputer and to safely prevent the supply of power at the time of a latch-up caused by noise or a breakage.
US07936347B2 Driving system for display device
A driving system of the present invention for use in a displaying device is provided with a pseudo bit-depth extension section. In the pseudo bit-depth extension section, a noise pattern is added to upper-n-bit data of an input signal D0 in m-bit, where (i) m is an integer of 9 or greater, and (ii) n is an integer of 8 or greater, but less than m. Then, upper-n-bit of data D1 thus obtained from the D0 is outputted, as output data D2, from the pseudo bit-depth extension section. The driving system is further provided with an overshoot-driving section for carrying out an overshoot-driving with respect to each of pixels. A noise amount of the noise pattern is 1 or less in 8-bit data, and a calculation in the overshoot-driving section is carried out with n-bit data. With this driving system which adopts a combination of (a) a overshoot-driving method for enforcing liquid crystal to respond at a high speed, and (b) a bit-depth extension technology in which a number of grayscales is increased by adding noise, it is possible to provide, at a low cost, a high-definition displaying device such as a liquid crystal display, having a high-response-characteristics and a high quality of grayscale reproduction.
US07936346B2 Liquid crystal display device implementing photodetector to control backlight
A liquid crystal display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid crystal display panel, a photodetector unit LS1 that is built into the liquid crystal display panel and has a TFT ambient light photosensor, an ambient light photosensor reader Re1 for reading a voltage due to photo-leakage from the TFT ambient light photosensor, and a control means 20 for controlling the photodetector unit and the ambient light photosensor reader, and a backlight 24, etc., according to an output from the ambient light photosensor reader. The photodetector unit has a switching element SW2 coupled between a source line coupled to the TFT ambient light photosensor's source electrode SL and a drain line coupled to the TFT ambient light photosensor's drain electrode DL. The control means 20 makes the source line and the drain line of the TFT ambient light photosensor be coupled to a common potential when changing a gate voltage of the TFT ambient light photosensor by keeping the switching element SW2 turned on. It is therefore possible to provide a liquid crystal display device that utilizes a thin film transistor as an ambient light photosensor and prevents degradation of an ambient light photosensor element due to a biased polarity voltage applied to the gate electrode.
US07936338B2 Display unit and its manufacturing method
The invention provides a display unit which can realize reduction in thickness and weight of the display unit by omitting a void between a touch panel and a display panel, and its manufacturing method. Whole faces of the touch panel and the display panel are directly bonded together with an adhesive layer in between. The display panel has a structure wherein a driving substrate in which organic light emitting devices are formed and a sealing substrate are bonded together with an adhesive layer in between. The touch panel has a structure wherein a lower plastic film in which a transparent electrode is formed and a touch-side plastic film in which a transparent electrode is formed are layered so that the transparent electrodes are placed opposite. The display panel is constructed with only the driving substrate, and the organic light emitting devices are sealed by the touch panel instead of the sealing substrate. Therefore, thickness and weight of the display unit can be further reduced.
US07936328B2 Display panel including amplifier with offset canceling by reversing polarity of amplifier offset
A data driver used for driving a display panel is provided with a grayscale voltage generator circuit generating a plurality of grayscale voltages; and a drive circuitry selecting a selected grayscale voltage from the plurality of grayscale voltages in response to input display data, and outputting a data signal having a voltage level corresponding to the selected grayscale voltage to the display panel. The grayscale voltage generator circuit comprises an amplifier generating a voltage bias; and a voltage generator circuit generating the plurality of grayscale voltages from the voltage bias. The amplifier is designed so that a polarity of an offset voltage of the amplifier is reversible. The polarity of the offset voltage of the amplifier is controlled so that the polarity of the offset voltage of the amplifier used for driving a specific pixel of the display panel in a certain frame period is opposite to that of the offset voltage of the amplifier used for driving the c specific pixel in another frame period.
US07936326B2 Apparatus and method for LCD panel drive for achieving time-divisional driving and inversion driving
A method is provided for driving a liquid crystal display panel including first and second data line sets each including an even number of arrayed data lines, and a plurality of pixels sharing a common electrode having a constant potential. The method is composed of: time-divisionally selecting data lines from each of the first and second data line sets; and providing data signals on the selected data lines to write the data signals into the pixels therethrough. An order of selecting the data lines from each of the first and second data lines and polarities of the data signals written into the pixels are determined so that polarities of the data signals on the data lines selected from the first data line set are opposite to those of the data lines selected from the second data line set.
US07936324B2 Liquid crystal display device and driving method thereof
A driving method of a liquid crystal display (LCD) device including a light source controller controlling red, green, and blue lights to be sequentially transmitted through a pixel formed by a liquid crystal disposed between a first substrate and a second substrate. First grayscale data is applied to the pixel. Second grayscale data to be applied to the pixel is compensated by changing the second grayscale data to third grayscale data corresponding to the first grayscale data and the second gray scale data. Then the third grayscale data is applied to the pixel.
US07936320B2 Driving method of plasma display panel and display device thereof
A plasma display device includes a plasma display panel (PDP) and a driving method for driving the PDP. The PDP includes discharge cells that are formed by scan electrodes, sustain electrodes, and address electrodes. The driving method divides a frame of the plasma display panel into a plurality of subfields having respective weights in which gray scales are represented by a combination of the subfields. The plurality of subfields are divided into a first group and a second group. In an address period of a subfield of the first having a lowest weight subfield of the plurality of subfields, the method applies a scan voltage and an address voltage respectively to the scan electrode and the address electrode of a discharge cell to be selected from the discharge cells. The scan voltage is applied to the scan electrode and the scan electrode is floated.
US07936318B2 Antenna with multiple folds
A wireless device has a module with a communications port and an antenna electrically coupled to the communications port, the antenna having multiple folds. The antenna has a shunt stub connected to a ground plane and a radiating portion that has multiple folds, or wiggles, allowing good electrical performance to be achieved with a minimal size.
US07936314B2 Dual polarized antenna
To provide a dual polarized antenna capable of reducing correlation between antenna elements.A dual polarized antenna is constituted by a vertically polarized antenna and a horizontally polarized antenna formed on a printed circuit board and radiates two kinds of polarized waves. The vertically polarized antenna has a configuration in which: a first microstripline is extended along the longitudinal direction of the printed circuit board from the lower portion of the printed circuit board; a first conductive radiating element is disposed at one end of the first microstripline; a phase delay circuit is serially connected to the first conductive radiating element; a second conductive radiating element is added to one end of the phase delay circuit; and a third conductive radiating element is added to a ground conductor which is disposed on the rear side of the surface of the printed circuit board on which the first conductive radiating element and first microstripline are connected at a corresponding portion thereof.
US07936309B2 Antenna for satellite reception
There is disclosed an antenna for reception of circularly polarized satellite radio signals. The antenna comprises at least one two-dimensional or three-dimensional antenna conductor structure connected with an antenna output connector. The multi-dimensional antenna conductor structure is configured so that it comprises a plurality of antenna conductor sections, which, with reference to a spatial reference point (z) common to the antenna conductor sections, are disposed in pairs, symmetrically and extending in the same direction. The multi-dimensional antenna conductor structure is furthermore configured so that during reciprocal operation of the antenna as a transmission antenna, antenna currents having at least approximately the same size flow in the individual pairs of antenna conductor sections, and the arithmetical average of the current phases of these antenna currents, counted in the same direction, in each instance, in the antenna conductor sections of each pair, has at least approximately the same value in the case of essentially all the pairs of antenna conductor sections, with reference to a common phase reference point (B), during reciprocal operation of the antenna as a transmission antenna. Such an antenna receives left-rotating circularly polarized waves and right-rotating circularly polarized waves equally. The vertical radiation diagram can be filled up towards low elevation angles by means of a vertical, electrically short monopole disposed at the phase reference point (B), whose reception signal is superimposed on that of the antenna conductor structure.
US07936308B2 Low profile full wavelength meandering antenna
A low profile antenna has a meander length based on the full electrical wavelength of the signal being transmitted or received. The antenna can have either an open-loop structure or a closed-loop structure with a matching network. The low profile enables the antenna to be used in a card for a device such as a personal computer, personal digital assistant, wireless telephone and so on with minimal risk of the antenna breaking off, as compared with a prior art antenna having a higher height and thus more likelihood of being broken from its card.
US07936307B2 Cover antennas
The specification and drawings present a new apparatus, method and software product for using a cover antenna (e.g., conductive, metallic, etc.) in an electronic device, with multiple coupled feeds (e.g., dual feed) to the antenna and with one or more switches and a matching circuit. Then it is possible to use a metal plate as a metal cover, e.g., for mobile devices, which will act as an antenna with multiple feedings for cellular and non-cellular radios.
US07936304B2 Method and system for isolating and reducing grating lobe interference
This invention relates to the use of a sufficiently-sampled auxiliary array in combination with one or more under-sampled sub-arrays. The sufficiently-sampled auxiliary array is used to create a signal-free reference (SFR) beam that contains grating lobe interference. The SFR may be used to cancel the interfering grating lobe in an under-sampled main beam by coherently eliminating or subtracting the SFR from the main beam. Exemplary aspects of the invention thus support significant under population of the full aperture and avoid the problems and limitations of previous solution, with consequent savings in sensor hardware cost and weight.
US07936303B2 Methods and apparatus for obtaining GNSS time in a GNSS receiver
A method for obtaining GNSS time in a GNSS receiver includes: obtaining a time relationship between a first clock signal and the received GNSS time; obtaining a clock value B1 of a second clock signal and further obtaining an associated clock value A1 of the first clock signal to obtain a first pulse relationship at a first time point; calculating a GNSS time C1 corresponding to the clock value A1 according to the time relationship; obtaining a clock value B2 of the second clock signal and further obtaining an associated clock value A2 of the first clock signal to obtain a second pulse relationship at a second time point; and calculating a GNSS time C2 according to the GNSS time C1, the clock value B1, and the clock value B2. Exemplary values of A1, B1, C1, A2 B2, and C2 can be TTick1, FN1, TOW1, TTick2, FN2, and TOW2, respectively.
US07936302B2 Unwrapping of phase values at array antenna elements
A method and apparatus are described for the unwrapping of a set of phase values observed for an incoming signal on a phased array antenna. The difference between values observed on adjacent elements in the array forms a first data set. The differences between adjacent ordinates in the first data set forms a second data set. The values in the second data set are rounded to the nearest whole multiple of one complete cycle before the differencing process is reversed to provide the values (representing a whole number of complete cycles) which are added to the observed phase values to provide the unwrapped phase values.
US07936301B2 Stepped frequency radar
A multi-port junction is fed with a frequency-stepped source and has one of its ports connected to an antenna that can serve either as a transmit-and-receive antenna or as a receive antenna only, with the outputs of the multi-port junction being used to estimate a complex reflection coefficient for each frequency of interest. The subject system requires no IF stages, down-conversion mixers or oscillators, and therefore may be provided adjacent each antenna at low cost. An embodiment involving co-located separate transmit and receive antennas is used to minimize the power requirements for the multi-port junction, whereas in a third embodiment, an array of transmit/receive antennas is used, fed by the same RF source but in which digitally-controlled phase shifters are used for beam-forming purposes.
US07936300B2 Method for reducing multipath propagation effects during the processing of replies in mode “S”
The processing method according to the invention is a method of processing replies from targets interrogated by a surveillance radar according to a mode S interrogation of all the targets present in the receiving lobe of the radar, whereby the different targets present in the receiving lobe of the radar are interrogated at least once, the set of the mode S reply signals received for this lobe are collected after each interrogation, a reply detection processing operation is performed for each target and errors are detected and, if necessary, corrected then the corresponding blips are extracted, and this method is characterized in that said signal quality detection and determination processing operation consists in forming a synthetic message with the set of replies to each interrogation for each target, establishing, for each bit of the message, the value and the quality of this bit and performing the error detection and correction using this synthetic message, and the three variables Σ, Δ and monopulse of all the failed replies from the same target are exploited to construct the synthetic message.This processing operation is useful in highly polluted electromagnetic environments where the existing methods are inadequate: the same target may be asked the question again for reasons other than a reply failure.
US07936296B2 AD converter, data receiver and data reception method
An AD converter includes a first amplitude circuit, a second amplitude circuit, and a determination circuit. A control signal line controls a first amplitude gain of the first amplitude circuit and a second amplitude gain of the second amplitude circuit.
US07936292B2 Diode smart track
Systems and methods to achieve a logarithmic digital-to-analog converter (DAC), which is easy to be implemented, and requiring reduced chip space have been disclosed. The logarithmic DAC is created by a simple and easy to scale linear DAC, which is linearly scaling a predefined voltage range. The output voltage of the linear DAC is converted to a logarithmic current value directly by the voltage-current characteristic of an integrated diode.
US07936287B1 Interactive web-based codeset selection and development tool
An interactive, web-based codeset selection and development tool transmits hypertext documents from a web server to a web browser of a developer of microcontroller code for a new remote control device. The hypertext documents include selection criteria for groups of codesets stored in a central database of codesets. The developer selects the most appropriate codesets for the new remote control device using the selection criteria. The selection and development tool converts each of the selected codesets into a plurality of strings of timing information. The strings are encrypted and transmitted to the developer along with a signal engine. The developer loads the encrypted strings and the signal engine into a new microcontroller that has a factory-programmed decryption key. The microcontroller decrypts the encrypted strings of timing information and uses them and the signal engine to generate operational signals that control various functions of electronic consumer devices.
US07936286B2 Emergency information and transportation control system
A system for providing transportation information to passengers during an emergency, such as a terrorist attack. The system links emergency responders, public transportation operations (including subways, buses and other mass transit systems), and network operations in a coordinated evacuation of a crowded metropolitan area. Information is provided to the public via system of networked kiosks and displays provided strategically throughout a city. In another embodiment of the present invention, the system provides transportation and routing information to passengers during a non-emergency.
US07936277B2 Apparatus and method for width detection
An apparatus and method for detecting a difference in width of a strip of material from a desired width of material. The apparatus may comprise a light source, a light detector, an alarm, a first fiber optic cable coupled with the light source, a second fiber optic cable coupled with the light detector, and a housing. The housing may comprise a material slot for passing the strip of material therethrough such that edges of the strip of material may at least partially intersect a plurality of light fields directed from the first fiber optic cable to the second fiber optic cable. The amount of light detected by the light detector is dependant on the amount of light blocked by the strip of material. If the amount of light received is outside of a range of tolerance from the desired width of material, the alarm may be actuated.
US07936276B2 Method and apparatus to facilitate light source flashing
An apparatus (500) can be comprised of a light source interface (503), an animate object detector (502), and a controller circuit (501) that couples to the light source interface and the animate object detector. This controller circuit is configured and arranged to, upon detecting (101) an animate object via the animate object detector, cause (103) energy as is provided via the light source interface to be only temporarily temporally intermittent in order to cause a light source that is energized by the light source interface to flash and thereby draw attention to the animate object.
US07936274B2 Shield for radio frequency ID tag or contactless smart card
We have found that to effectively shield inductively coupled RFID systems, the shield does not have to be present on all the sides of the device. It is also not required that one side be covered completely. In fact, a shield of any shape that allows a current to flow in a closed loop may be enough to shield the RFID. The only requirement is that the back electromagnetic field (EMF) from the shield induces sufficient flux to cancel all or part of the magnetic flux coming from the reader. It is possible for the shield to work even if the induced flux is small: the shift in the self-inductance of the RFID or contactless card coil due to the presence of the material in the shield can be enough to cause a shift in a resonant frequency of the circuit and thus in the power delivered to the chip. The current invention is a shield that does not completely cover a smartcard or RFID tag and/or has a hole or void within the shield. The advantage of this invention is that it will allow optical and mechanical access to the surface and the body of the smartcard or RFID tag and/or to parts of the smartcard/RFID coil. It also leads to significant cost savings since less shielding material is used.
US07936271B2 Anti-tamper cargo container locator system
The present disclosure relates to location and communication systems that can be utilized for locating cargo containers using tags with a radio communication subsystem in the form of a transponder or micro-transponder. Each cargo container tag (CCT) is capable of communicating with either other cargo container tags or a base-station (BS) locator devices. The tags can be arranged for tracking the opening and closing of doors on individual cargo containers using radio communication methods. Lost cargo container can be located using communications from a base station and the cargo container tags. CCT devices can also detect intrusions and/or tampering with cargo containers, and store a variety of collected data for later retrieval.
US07936266B2 Shipping container seal monitoring device, system and method
A container seal device is provided that comprises a seal device for a shipping container, comprising a first unit that is affixed to a shipping container. A control system is contained in the first unit containing a control system. A second unit is provided that is configured to engage with an element of a door of a shipping container to which the first unit is affixed and to electrically connect with the control system in the first unit. The control system in the first unit is configured to detect a breach of the second unit indicative of access being made to the shipping container.
US07936263B2 Remote monitor system with radio dispatch
The present invention is directed toward systems and methods for providing a remote monitoring system with radio dispatch. In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a central monitoring unit for receiving a first event signal from a first remote monitoring device, identifying the first remote monitoring device as the originator of the first event signal, accessing a first prerecorded dispatch message associated with the first event signal, and transmitting the first prerecorded dispatch message. The present invention may also include multiple remote monitoring units for detecting events at a plurality of remote monitoring locations. Upon detection, the remote monitoring units transmit an event signal to the central monitoring unit.
US07936259B1 Alarm management system
The present embodiments generally relate to an alarm management system for providing a time to manage value enabling a user to respond to an abnormal situation for at least one device and prevent the at least one device from reaching a trouble point value.
US07936257B2 Emergency intervention system and appropriate method for automatically redressing malfunctions in means of transport
The invention proposes an emergency intervention system and a method for automatically redressing malfunctions in means of transport (41). A sensor system (401) in an emergency intervention system (80) is used to detect occurring malfunctions and an activation apparatus (203) is used to generate dedicated activation signal data on the basis of a detected malfunction. The activation signal data are transmitted to an appropriate, automated intervention means (40) which is used to redress the malfunction. A switching module (104) in the emergency intervention system (80) enables the activation apparatus (203) if a cumulative stack memory level value for two stack memories (102/202) reaches a defined cumulative stack memory level value. The two stack memories (102/202) are preliminarily incremented on the basis of activation parameters transmitted by network units and are decremented in line with the dedicated activation signal data during the enabling. When a predefinable time window has elapsed, the emergency intervention system (80) is reset using a clearing module and the enabling is interrupted by means of the switching module (104).
US07936255B2 Group analysis system and group analysis equipment
Face-to-face detection by infrared-ray communication is effective in grasping interaction between persons. However the problem here is that infrared rays have a high directivity and detection fails unless the persons face each other right in front. Sensor signals having a high directivity and sensor signals having a low directivity are obtained from a sensor terminal (TR) carried by a person. Firstly, information on relative position is obtained with a sensor (TRIR) of infrared rays or the like having a high directivity and an initial group is formed at an application server (AS). A feature amount such as sound that has a low directivity and can sense surrounding environmental information is extracted from among the terminals (TRs) belonging to the initial group by personal feature extraction (ASIF), correlation with terminals (TRs) not belonging to a group is obtained, and thereby whether or not those terminals (TRs) belong to an identical group is judged.
US07936254B2 System and method of communicating emergency alerts
A set-top box device is disclosed. The set-top box device includes a processor and a memory device accessible to the processor. The memory device includes instructions to communicate with a multi-cast alert server to receive a multicast emergency alert message. The multicast emergency alert message includes data related to a location code and data related to a set-top box action. The memory device stores location information and includes instructions to execute the set-top box action when the location code matches the location information.
US07936252B2 Adaptive control for improved RFID transponder read and write performance
System, methods and computer program product are provided for an adaptive control for adjusting the electromagnetic interrogation signal of an RFID transceiver where said signal is used to read and/or write to an RFID transponder, or to adjust the gain of the RFID transceiver, or adjust both the gain and the signal strength. The system includes a RFID transceiver having at least a transmitter portion and a receiver portion and capable of generating electromagnetic signals, a signal-to-noise ratio module, and an adaptive control module that adjusts the power of the electromagnetic signal of the transmitter portion or the gain of the receiver portion according to the signal-to-noise ratio of a first electromagnetic signal. In one embodiment the system may be employed in printer-encoder devices for reading or encoding RFID transponders during a printing process.
US07936248B2 Ti(N) thin-film resistor deposited on ALN substrate and attenuator using same
The present invention relates to a thin-film resistor for an attenuator that is utilized in the fourth generation mobile communication, and more specifically, to a thin-film resistor having a Ti(N) thin film formed on an aluminum nitride (ALN) substrate. The thin-film resistor of the invention has superior electrical characteristics, such as sheet resistance, and superior characteristics in change of attenuation and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) with respect to changes of frequency and L/W, and thus the thin-film resistor can be utilized in a high frequency domain of up to 6 GHz.
US07936245B2 Stacked structure of a spiral inductor
A stacked structure of a spiral inductor includes a first metal layer, a second metal layer, a first set of vias, and a second set of vias. The first metal layer includes a first segment, a second segment, and a third segment, wherein the layout direction of the third segment is different from the layout direction of the first and second segments. The second metal layer includes a fourth segment, a fifth segment, and a sixth segment connected to the fifth segment, wherein the layout direction of the sixth segment is different from the layout direction of the fourth and fifth segments. The first set of vias connects the first and fourth segments, and they construct a first shunt winding. The second set of vias connects the second and fifth segments, and they construct a second shunt winding. The third and sixth segments construct a crossover region.
US07936244B2 Highly coupled inductor
A highly coupled inductor includes a first ferromagnetic plate, a second ferromagnetic plate, a film adhesive between the first ferromagnetic plate and the second ferromagnetic plate, a first conductor between the first plate and the second plate, and a second conductor between the first plate and the second plate. A conducting electromagnetic shield may be positioned proximate the first conductor for enhancing coupling and reducing leakage flux. A method of manufacturing a highly coupled inductor component includes providing a first ferromagnetic plate and a second ferromagnetic plate, placing conductors between the first ferromagnetic plate and the second ferromagnetic plate, and connecting the first ferromagnetic plate and the second ferromagnetic plate using a film adhesive.
US07936238B1 Protection device with a sandwiched cantilever breaker mechanism
The present invention is directed to an electrical wiring device that includes a housing assembly including a plurality of line terminals, a plurality of load terminals, and a plurality of receptacle load terminals. A circuit assembly includes at least one signal detection circuit and an interrupting contact assembly. The interrupting contact assembly includes four sets of interrupting contacts being at least partially disposed on four cantilevered members. The four cantilevered members include a first set of two cantilevered members and a second set of two cantilevered members. The first set of cantilevered members is configured to rotate around a first axis in a first direction and the second set of cantilevered members being configured to rotate around a second axis in a second direction opposite to the first direction. The four sets of interrupting contacts are configured to provide electrical continuity between the plurality of line terminals, the plurality of load terminals, and the plurality of receptacle load terminals in a reset state and decouple the four sets of interrupting contacts in a tripped state.
US07936237B2 Multi-band transmit-receive switch for wireless transceiver
A transmit-receive switch has a transmit port, an antenna port, and a receive port. A first switch couples the transmit port to the antenna port when a signal TxON is asserted. A LOW_BAND signal indicates the selection of a lower band of frequencies. A tuning structure is formed by a second and third switch in series which couple the antenna port to ground through a first capacitor when TxON and LOW_BAND are both asserted, and LOW_BAND may be provided to one or more such tuning structures for multi-band frequency operation. A second capacitor couples the antenna port to ground when a fourth switch is enabled. An inductor couples the antenna port to the receive port. A third capacitor is placed across the receive port and ground. A fifth switch is closed when TxON is asserted. The first through fifth switches can be a CMOS FET with an isolated substrate coupled to ground through an associated resistor.
US07936236B2 Switchable combiner/divider with multiple inputs/outputs
A switchable combiner/divider with multiple inputs/outputs is provided. The switchable combiner/divider with multiple inputs/outputs includes multiple input ports for receiving multiple incoming signals, multiple output ports, a switching part for alternately connecting the multiple input ports to output ports as a circulating configuration, and a controller for providing switching control signals to the switching part.
US07936234B2 Marchand balun with air bridge
A microwave or millimeter-wave balun is provided. The balun uses three edge-coupled lines along with a plurality of air bridges instead of two edge-coupled lines used in a conventional planar Marchand balun. The first edge-coupled line and the second edge-coupled line are substantially parallel, and the third edge-coupled line is disposed also substantially in parallel between the first edge-coupled line and the second edge-coupled line. The plurality of air bridges are transmission lines between the first edge-coupled line and the second edge-coupled line. The air bridges have total width longer than one half of the total length of the first edge-coupled line or the second edge-coupled line. By combining three edge-coupled-lines and a plurality of air bridges, the Marchand balun has a higher coupling coefficient and increases the operation bandwidth. The microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) mixer based on the balun can provide compact size compared to conventional ones.
US07936232B2 Substrate for semiconductor package
A substrate for a semiconductor package includes a dielectric substrate, a circuit pattern formed on a first surface of the dielectric substrate, and an electromagnetic band gap (EGB) pattern. The EGB pattern includes multiple unit structures formed on a second surface of the dielectric substrate, where each unit structure includes a flat conductor electrically connected to the circuit pattern through a ground connection, and multiple spiral-patterned conductors electrically connected to the flat conductor. The second surface is formed on an opposite side of the dielectric substrate from the first surface. Each flat conductor is electrically connected to a flat conductor of another one of the unit structures. At least one of the spiral-patterned conductors in each one of the unit structures is electrically connected to another one of the spiral-patterned conductors.
US07936228B2 Frequency modulator and FM transmission circuit using the same
An input signal is input via a first resistor to an inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier. A second resistor is provided on a feedback path between an output terminal and the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier. A control voltage Vcnt output from the operational amplifier is input to a VCO. A frequency divider frequency-divides an output signal Sout of the VCO. A phase comparator compares an output signal from the frequency divider with a reference clock signal and outputs a voltage according to a phase difference. A loop filter removes a high-frequency component of an output voltage Vcp of the phase comparator and outputs the voltage to a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier.
US07936226B2 Circuit and method for a wireless accessory of a moblie device
The invention relates to a circuit and method for a wireless accessory of a portable computer. The circuit comprises an oscillator circuit, a control circuit connected to the oscillator circuit, and a quenching circuit connected to the oscillator circuit. According to the invention, the oscillator circuit is formed of an LC resonator, the quality factor of which is at least 10, and the quenching circuit is formed in such a way that the energy of the oscillator circuit is discharged by a predefined current.
US07936225B2 Voltage controlled oscillator circuit, phase-locked loop circuit using the voltage controlled oscillator circuit, and semiconductor device provided with the same
A VCO circuit includes: a control portion to which a first voltage is inputted and from which a second voltage corresponding to the first voltage is outputted; a current source portion to which the second voltage is inputted and from which a current corresponding to the second voltage is outputted; and an oscillator circuit to which the current is inputted and from which a signal with a frequency in accordance with the current is outputted. The control portion includes an adjusting circuit which changes the second voltage in conjunction with fluctuation of a power supply voltage. Accordingly, fluctuation of the frequency Fo of an output signal of the VCO circuit can be suppressed even when the power supply voltage of the VCO circuit fluctuates.
US07936221B2 Computation spreading for spur reduction in a digital phase lock loop
A novel and useful apparatus for and method of spur reduction using computation spreading in a digital phase locked loop (DPLL) architecture. A software based PLL incorporates a reconfigurable calculation unit (RCU) that is optimized and programmed to sequentially perform all the atomic operations of a PLL or any other desired task in a time sharing manner. An application specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) incorporating the RCU is adapted to spread the computation of the atomic operations out over and completed within an entire PLL reference clock period. Each computation being performed at a much higher processor clock frequency than the PLL reference clock rate. This functions to significantly reduce the per cycle current transient generated by the computations. Further, the frequency content of the current transients is at the higher processor clock frequency. This results in a significant reduction in spurs within sensitive portions of the output spectrum.
US07936220B2 Techniques for improving amplifier linearity
Techniques for improving the linearity of a cascode amplifier. In an exemplary embodiment, an auxiliary common-gate amplifier is provided in parallel with the principal cascode branch. The auxiliary common-gate amplifier samples a cascoded node in the principal cascode branch. The auxiliary common-gate amplifier generates a current which, when combined with the current generated by the principal cascode branch, cancels a distortion component to generate an output current with improved linearity characteristics. In an exemplary embodiment, a phase shifting network couples the cascoded node to the auxiliary common-gate amplifier, and may include, e.g., a capacitor coupled to an inductor.
US07936219B2 Power amplifier bias circuit
A power amplifier and bias circuit includes a combination circuit in which a voltage drive bias circuit and a current drive bias circuit are connected in a parallel relationship with each other. The power amplifier bias circuit also includes an idle current control circuit which uses the collector voltage of amplifier transistors. When the collector voltage of the amplifier transistors is lower than the threshold voltage of a first transistor (approximately 1.3 V), the first transistor is turned off. At that time, since the reference voltage (2.4-2.5 V) is higher than the voltage for turning on both a second transistor and a diode (namely, approximately 1.3 V plus 0.7 V), a current flows and the first transistor turns on. As a result, a current is drawn from the bases of the amplifier transistors to GND through two resistances, so that the idle currents of the amplifier transistors decrease.
US07936217B2 High-linearity complementary amplifier
A complementary amplifier includes an NMOS transistor coupled to a PMOS transistor in a stacked configuration. The NMOS transistor and the PMOS transistor receive and amplify an input signal. The NMOS and PMOS transistors operate as a linear complementary amplifier and provide an output signal. The NMOS and PMOS transistors may have separate bias voltages, which may be selected to overlap the low-to-high and high-to-low transitions of the transconductances of these transistors. The width and length dimensions of the NMOS and PMOS transistors may be selected to match the change in input capacitance and the change in transconductance of the NMOS transistor in moderate inversion region with the change in input capacitance and the change in transconductance of the PMOS transistor in moderate inversion region. The complementary amplifier may have an approximately constant total input capacitance and an approximately constant total transconductance over a range of voltages.
US07936213B2 Doherty amplifier and signal amplification system having the same, method for amplifying signal
A Doherty amplifier is provided. The Doherty amplifier includes a first path circuit including a carrier amplifier and a first impedance adjusting circuit connected with the carrier amplifier; and a second path circuit including a peaking amplifier, a second impedance adjusting circuit connected with the peaking amplifier, and a peaking amplifier bias circuit connected with the peaking amplifier. At least one among an impedance of the first impedance adjusting circuit, an impedance of the second impedance adjusting circuit, and a bias of the peaking amplifier bias circuit is adjusted in response to a control signal.
US07936212B2 Progressive power generating amplifiers
A power amplifier circuit includes an unequal power splitter that splits an input signal using an unequal power split and provides a first power level signal and a second power level signal. A first amplifier path includes a first transistor amplifier that amplifies the first power level signal, and a second amplifier path includes a second transistor amplifier that amplifies the second power level signal. The second transistor amplifier is configured to turn on at a different power level of the input signal than the first transistor amplifier. An unequal combiner combines the amplified first power level signal and the amplified second power level signal.
US07936211B2 Controlling the performance of a thermionic tube
Controlling the performance of the thermionic tube (102) having a cathode (103), a plate (104) and a grid (105) is disclosed. The tube is configured to provide amplification of an audio derived signal (106) and is arranged to apply a grid bias voltage to the grid. The absence of an input audio signal is detected whereafter output current between cathode and plate is measured to identify actual output current. The actual output current is compared against a preferred output current and the grid bias voltage is adjusted so as to bring the actual output current value towards the preferred output current value.
US07936209B2 I/O buffer with low voltage semiconductor devices
Described embodiments provide for protecting from DC and transient over-voltage conditions an input/output (“I/O”) buffer having first and second I/O transistors. The first I/O transistor is coupled to a first over-voltage protection circuit adapted to prevent an over-voltage condition on at least the first I/O transistor. The second I/O transistor is coupled to a second over-voltage protection circuit adapted to prevent an over-voltage condition on at least the second I/O transistor. First and second bias voltages are generated from an operating voltage of the buffer. A third bias voltage is generated from either i) the first bias voltage, or ii) an output signal voltage of the buffer and a fourth bias voltage is generated from either i) the second bias voltage, or ii) the output signal voltage of the buffer. The third and fourth bias voltages are provided to the first and second over-voltage protection circuits, respectively.
US07936205B2 Leakage reduction in electronic circuits
In one embodiment, an apparatus for reducing leakage in an electronic circuit (e.g., a CMOS circuit) includes a power switch transistor configured to selectively couple or decouple a voltage to a logic portion of the electronic circuit. The power switch transistor receives a first voltage during an active mode of the electronic circuit and receives a second voltage during a sleep mode of the electronic circuit. The power switch transistor has a bulk region that is biased using the first voltage during sleep mode. The power switch transistor has a gate region that is biased using the first voltage during sleep mode.
US07936203B2 Temperature compensation via power supply modification to produce a temperature-independent delay in an integrated circuit
A method and circuitry for adjusting the delay of a variable delay line (VDL) in a delay locked loop (DLL) or other delay element or subcircuit on an integrated circuit is disclosed. Such delay circuitry will inherently have a delay which is a function of temperature. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, such temperature-dependent delays are compensated for by adjusting the power supply voltage of the VDL, delay element, or subcircuit. Specifically, a temperature sensing stage is used to sense the temperature of the integrated circuit, and hence the VDL, delay element, or subcircuit. Information concerning the sensed temperature is sent to a regulator which derives the local power supply voltage from the master power supply voltage, Vcc, of the integrated circuit. If the temperature sensed is relatively high, which otherwise would increase the delay though the VDL, delay element, or subcircuit, the regulator increases the local power supply voltage, thus decreasing the delay and offsetting the increase in delay due to temperature. Through this scheme, and assuming the temperature sensing stage is properly tuned, temperature-dependent delays can be reduced to approximately zero.
US07936202B2 Method and apparatus for robust mode selection with low power consumption
A low power method and apparatus for selecting operational modes of a circuit. One circuit according to the teachings of the disclosed method and apparatus includes a first current limiting circuit coupled between a selector terminal and a first voltage bus. The first current limiting circuit is adapted to vary a current limit out of the selector terminal in response to a voltage on the selector terminal. The circuit also includes a second current limiting circuit coupled between the selector terminal and a second voltage bus. The second current limiting circuit adapted to vary a current limit into the selector terminal in response to the voltage on the selector terminal.
US07936201B2 Apparatus and method for providing a signal for transmission via a signal line
An apparatus for providing a signal for transmission via a signal line includes a controller circuit having an output for a signal indicating whether the signal line is or will be in an inactive state and a switching circuit coupled to the controller circuit and having an output coupled to the signal line. The output is switched between different signal levels, if the signal indicates that the signal line is in an inactive state.
US07936200B2 Apparatus and method for providing a clock signal
A clock circuit which may include a first clock input for receiving a first clock signal and a second clock input for receiving a second clock signal. A clock calibration unit is connected to the first clock input and the second clock input. The calibration unit may calibrate the second clock signal relative to the first clock signal. The clock calibration unit may have a calibration output for outputting a calibrated clock signal. The clock circuit may include a switch unit connected to the first clock input and the calibration output. The switch unit can select a selected clock signal selected from the first clock signal and the calibrated signal. The switch unit has a switch output for outputting the selected clock signal. A switch control unit is connected to the switch unit for controlling which signal is selected based on a selection criterion and a clock circuit output is connected to the switch unit for outputting the selected clock signal.
US07936198B2 Progamable control clock circuit for arrays
A programmable clock control circuit includes a base block, a chop block, and a pulse width variation block coupled between the chop block and the base block that receives the chop block output and provides a pulse width variation output to the base block. The pulse width variation block is programmable to vary the chop block output to provide at least three different output pulse widths. The circuit also includes a clock delay block coupled an output of the base block to delay the output pulse and having a clock signal output.
US07936197B2 Programmable high-speed cable with boost device
An HDMI cable carries high speed encoded data which are transmitted differentially over data channels, along with a clock. High-frequency loss and differential skew within a differential signal may be compensated by analog circuits embedded in the cable. These embedded circuits are tuned at production for best performance by observing the quality of the recovered analog signal. The embedded circuits are powered by a combination of power sources, both carried within the cable, and harvested from the high-speed signals themselves.
US07936194B2 Dual-reference delay-locked loop (DLL)
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a dual-reference delay-locked loop that includes a first delay element that delays a clock signal. The rising phase and the falling phase of the delayed clock signal are used as a first and a second reference phases, respectively, for a phase detector. A second delay element delays the first reference signal with a tracking phase that centers between the two reference phases. The phase detector detects a difference between the average of the reference phases and the tracking or resultant phase and outputs a difference signal that biases the delay elements to slew to the left or the right so that the resultant phase is centered between the reference phases corresponding to the rising and falling edges of the incoming clock.
US07936193B2 Multi-phase clock system
The invention relates to multi-phase clock system for receiving a plurality of clock signals (CLKo-n) comprising actual time events (aTE) defining different clock phases, the clock signals all having a same clock frequency but different clock phases, the system further arranged for receiving a reference clock signal (REFCLK) for providing reference time events (rTE) for the plurality of clock signals (CLKo-n), the reference clock signal (REFCLK) having a reference frequency different from the clock frequency, the reference frequency being selected such that each one of the subsequent reference time events (rTE) coincides with a desired time event (dTE) for a single one of the plurality of clock signals (CLKo-n).
US07936189B2 Driver circuit and method for reducing electromagnetic interference
An apparatus and a method switch a load through a power transistor. The apparatus includes: a first current generator for generating a current to charge a capacitance of a control terminal of the power transistor during power on of the power transistor; a second current generator for generating a current to discharge the capacitance during power off of the power transistor. The apparatus is equipped with control circuitry having a storage element for storing a voltage value representative of the potential difference between the control terminal and a conduction terminal of the power transistor when the power transistor operates in the saturation region and a discharge circuit for generating an additional current to discharge the capacitance during the power-off process. The additional current is a function of the potential difference of the control terminal and the stored voltage value from the conduction terminal.
US07936183B2 IC output signal path with switch, bus holder, and buffer
An electronic integrated circuit includes a signal path connected between the functional logic (15) thereof and an external output terminal. The signal path includes a switch (S), a bus holder circuit (121B), and an output buffer (19).
US07936176B2 Method for providing alignment of a probe
A method for aligning a probe relative to a supporting substrate defining a first planar surface, an edge, and a first crystal plane includes the steps of masking the surface of the substrate to define an exposed area on the first surface at the edge; and etching, using an etch reagent, a recess in the exposed area, the recess defining first and second opposed sidewalls, an end wall remote from the edge, and a bottom wall. The method further includes the step of providing a probe substrate defining a second planar surface and a second crystal plane identical to the first crystal plane, and positioning the probe substrate so that the first and the second crystal planes are positioned identically when forming a probe from the probe substrate using the etch reagent, wherein the probe defines congruent surfaces to the first and second sidewalls.
US07936174B2 Coupling loop
A coupling loop or antenna is provided that can be used with a system that determines the resonant frequency of a sensor by adjusting the phase and frequency of an energizing signal until the frequency of the energizing signal matches the resonant frequency of the sensor. In one embodiment multiple energizing loops energize an implanted sensor and a sensor coupling loop connected to an input impedance that is at least two times greater than the inductance of the sensor coupling loop receives the sensor signal.
US07936169B2 Polarization analyzer orientation with nuclear magnetic resonance gyroscope
An apparatus in one example comprises a polarization filter and a polarization analyzer. The polarization filter comprises a first polarization axis. The polarization analyzer comprises a second polarization axis. The polarization filter is configured to polarize detection light for a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) cell along the first polarization axis. The polarization analyzer is configured to receive the detection light from the NMR cell and pass a portion of the detection light to a processor for determination of angular rate information. The portion of the detection light passed to the processor is based on an orientation of the second polarization axis relative to the first polarization axis. The orientation is selected to maximize a signal-to-noise ratio of the detection light.
US07936167B2 Rotary velocity sensor and rotary position and velocity sensor
A rotary velocity sensor includes a stator having a coil and a rotor having a permanent magnet. The rotor is substantially coaxially aligned with the central longitudinal axis of the stator, surrounds the coil, and is rotatable with respect to the stator about the axis. A rotary position and velocity sensor includes a non-magnetic stator having a magnetosensitive device and having at least one coil and includes a non-magnetic rotor having at least one permanent magnet. The magnetosensitive device has a sensing surface with a normal axis aligned substantially perpendicular to the stator axis. The at-least-one coil has a central coil axis aligned substantially perpendicular to the stator axis. The rotor is substantially coaxially aligned with the central longitudinal axis of the stator, surrounds the at-least-one coil, and is rotatable with respect to the stator about the stator axis.
US07936164B2 Folding current sensor
The invention provides a current sensor that may be folded over a conductor without the need to sever the conductor or thread the conductor through the current sensor. In one embodiment, the current sensor includes an outer body having a first folding portion and a second folding portion coupled to the first folding portion. The current sensor also includes a soft ferromagnetic body disposed within the outer body comprising a first core element and a second core element. The first and second core elements form a lumen when the first and second folding portions are folded. The lumen is configured to receive a conductor. The current sensor also includes a magnetic field detector to sense a current in the conductor. The magnetic field detector is disposed at least partially between the first and second core elements when the first and second folding portions are folded.
US07936160B1 Apparatus and method for valley emulated current mode control
A valley current mode switching regulator is provided. When the main switch of the switching regulator is closed, the current through the main switch is sensed and sampled. The sensed main switch current is held while the main switch is off. While the main switch is off, the inductor current is emulated. Emulated valley current mode control is provided based on the sensed main switch current and the emulated flywheel current.
US07936159B2 Method and apparatus for a high voltage power supply circuit
A control circuit for use in a power supply is disclosed. An example control circuit according to aspects of the present invention includes a signal generator coupled to generate an output signal to control switching of a power switch to be coupled to the control circuit. A feedback circuit is coupled to receive a feedback signal, which is representative of an output of the power supply during a feedback portion of an off time of the power switch. The signal generator generates the output signal in response to the feedback circuit to control a fraction of the feedback portion of the off time of the power switch that the feedback signal is above a threshold and another fraction of the feedback portion of the off time of the power switch that the feedback signal is below the threshold.
US07936158B2 Switching regulator configured to detect and shutdown reverse current
A switching regulator includes a first switch, an inductor, a second switch, a controller to control a switching operation by switching the first switch and switching the second switch complementally to the first switch, and a reverse current detector to detect a reverse current that flows from an output terminal toward the second switch. The reverse current detector generates a proportional voltage that is proportional to a voltage at a junction node between the second switch and the inductor, and detects a generation or an indication of the reverse current based on the proportional voltage. The controller turns the second switch off to create a shutdown state when the reverse current detector detects the generation or the indication of the reverse current.
US07936157B2 Switching power supply system
A switching power supply system, in which a DC voltage obtained by full-wave rectification of an AC voltage is turned on and off by a switching device, converted to a desired DC voltage and outputted, includes a slope compensating circuit and an overcurrent protecting circuit, and a full-wave rectified voltage inputted to a terminal Tm is subtracted from a reference voltage Vref inputted to a terminal Tr to produce a reference voltage waveform signal (OCP correction value) Vocp to eliminate the influence of slope compensation. The reference signal of the overcurrent protection circuit is varied by a signal having a reverse phased waveform relative to the phase of the full-wave rectified waveform. This enables highly accurate overcurrent protection with a net overcurrent protection level unaffected by the slope compensation varied by the input voltage when the system is operated in a current mode.
US07936153B2 On-chip adaptive voltage compensation
Measurement circuit components are included in an integrated circuit fabricated on a semiconductor substrate. These measurement circuits are connected to a voltage regulation circuit that provides the integrated circuit voltage source. These measurement circuits provide signals to control the voltage regulation circuit to adjust the voltage output to the integrated circuit based upon a measurement values obtained on the semiconductor device. These measurements include temperature and IR drop at locations on the semiconductor substrate, along with the frequency response of integrated circuit.
US07936151B2 Battery state monitoring circuitry with low power consumption during a stand-by-state of a battery pack
A battery pack including at least one battery cell, a switch, and battery state monitoring circuitry. The battery state monitoring circuitry may be configured to control an ON resistance of the switch to a first ON resistance when the switch is ON and the battery pack is in a stand-by-state and to control the ON resistance to a second ON resistance when the switch is ON and said battery pack is not in said stand-by-state, the first ON resistance greater than the second ON resistance. A cordless electrical device and method consistent with embodiments are also provided.
US07936148B2 Battery-operated screwdriver and charger shell therefor
A battery-operated screwdriver has a housing with a handle, a rechargeable battery, charge contacts for charging the battery on a charger shell having at least one detachably mounted bit holder for storing tool inserts of the battery-operated screwdriver in captive fashion, so that the battery-operated screwdriver is placeable on the charger shell and a charging mode is produced automatically, and a charger shell for a battery-operated screwdriver has at least one detachable mountable bit holder configured to receive a plurality of bits which in operation are insertable in communication with the battery-operated screwdriver.
US07936146B2 Motor control device
A motor control device has: a motor current detecting portion for detecting, based on a current flowing between an inverter and a direct-current power supply, a motor current flowing through a three phase motor; a specified voltage value producing portion for producing a specified voltage value based on the motor current; a specified voltage value holding portion for holding an earlier specified voltage value outputted from the specified voltage value producing portion; and a specific period setting portion for setting a specific period based on a voltage difference between two of U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase voltages. Outside the specific period, the motor is controlled based on the specified voltage value outputted from the specified voltage value producing portion, and, within the specific period, the motor is controlled based on the specified voltage value held by the specified voltage value holding portion.
US07936145B2 Electronically commutated asynchronous motor
An electronically commutated asynchronous motor (12) features a stator (202), a short-circuit rotor (204), a controller (FOR 20) for field-oriented regulation of the motor (12), a sensor magnet (274) in thermally conductive connection with the short-circuit rotor (204), a rotor position sensor (14A; 18; 18′) arranged at a predetermined distance (d) from the sensor magnet (274) to generate an output signal (HALL, U, U1, U2) that is dependent upon the spatial orientation of the sensor magnet (274), and a temperature evaluation apparatus (CALC_T 44) configured to ascertain, during operation, from the sensor output signal (HALL, U, U1, U2), a temperature value (T) that characterizes a temperature (T_SM, T_S) in the motor (12).
US07936144B2 Self-calibration algorithms in a small motor driver IC with an integrated position sensor
A motion control device for controlling a motor is presented. The motion control device is operable to scale or adjust an input relative to an input range that is based on calibration values and to use that scaled input to produce a drive signal to drive the motor. The motion control device performs a self-calibration to produce the calibration values. The self-calibration involves measuring home position and full travel position values for the motor.
US07936138B2 Motor controller for radio control
Provided is a motor controller for controlling a motor installed at an object such as an electric car operated using a transmitter. A manipulation of a manipulation tool of the transmitter is allocated for brake and reverse modes. A specific value of brake power contained in a signal demodulated by a receiver is stored in a memory unit as a changeover reference value, and a changeover determining unit compares the changeover reference value with the brake power. If the brake power is greater than the changeover reference value, the changeover determining unit transmits a changeover signal to a control unit, and if the manipulation tool is manipulated to a neutral point after the control unit receives the changeover signal, the control unit changes the state of the manipulation tool from brake mode to reverse mode. The changeover reference value can be changed by an operator using an external device.
US07936132B2 LED lamp
An LED lamp is provided in which the output light intensity of the LEDs in the LED lamp is adjusted based on the input voltage to the LED lamp. The LED lamp comprises one or more LEDs, and an LED driver configured to receive an input voltage and provide regulated current to said one or more LEDs, where the LED driver is configured to adjust the regulated current to said one or more LEDs according to the input voltage to adjust the output light intensity of said one or more LEDs. The LED lamp can be a direct replacement of conventional incandescent lamps in typical wiring configurations found in residential and commercial building lighting applications that use conventional dimmer switches that carry out dimming by changing the input voltage to the LED lamp.
US07936129B2 Lighting conversion system
An adapter for a T12 fluorescent light fixture that is used to convert the fixture into a T5 or T8 fixture. The adapter includes a male input for receiving power supplied by the T12 ballast. The adapter has circuitry that adjusts the power supplied by the T12 ballast to parameters usable by a T5 or T8 fluorescent lamp. Also, the adapter includes a female output for outputting the usable power from the circuitry. The usable power drives the T5 or T8 fluorescent lamp.
US07936126B2 Light emitting diode lamp tube
A light emitting diode (LED) lamp tube includes a circuit board and a tubular enclosure. The circuit board is disposed in the enclosure such that the enclosure is divided into a non-illuminated portion and a light-receiving portion. The light-receiving portion has two light-condensing side sections corresponding respectively to two sides of the circuit board, and a light-diffusing middle section connected between the light-condensing side sections. An outer surface of the light-receiving portion has a smoothly varying curvature. The light-condensing side sections cooperate with the light-diffusing middle section to diffuse uniformly LED light transmitted from an outer surface of the enclosure.
US07936119B2 Wide-angle LED lighting lamp with high heat-dissipation efficiency and uniform illumination
LED lighting lamps provide optimum heat dissipation efficiency, wide illumination beam angles, and substantially uniform illumination intensity. Generally, the disclosed LED lamps comprise at least one LED lighting element and a substrate with a plurality of inclined planes.
US07936114B2 Piezoelectric vibrator manufacturing method, piezoelectric vibrator, oscillator, electronic device, and radio-controlled watch
The piezoelectric vibrator of the invention comprises a base substrate, a lid substrate in which cavity recesses are formed and which is bonded to the base substrate in such a state that the recesses face the base substrate, a piezoelectric vibration member bonded to the upper face of the base substrate in such a state that it is housed in the cavity formed of the recess between the base substrate and the lid substrate, an external electrode formed on the lower face of the base substrate, a through-electrode formed in and through the base substrate and electrically connected with the external electrode with keeping the airtightness inside the cavity, and a routing electrode formed on the upper face of the base substrate to electrically connect the through-electrode to the bonded piezoelectric vibration member; wherein the through-electrode is formed through hardening of a paste containing a plurality of metal fine particles and a plurality of glass beads.
US07936112B2 Apparatus and method for converting energy
Exemplary embodiments relate to an energy converting apparatus and a method for converting energy, which may convert energy of an applied signal into electrical energy. The energy converting apparatus may include at least one nanowire which resonates in response to the applied signal. The resonating nanowire may contact an electrode allowing a current to flow through the electrode and the nanowire by a Schottky contact between the electrode and the nanowire. The method for converting energy may include applying a signal to at least one nanowire to resonate the nanowire, and generating electrical energy through the contact between the resonating nanowire and an electrode.
US07936107B2 Drive wave generation circuit
To generate a drive wave for driving a piezo-actuator. Drive data concerning the number of drive waves supplied through a serial bus is stored in a drive data storage unit. A comparing circuit detects whether or not the number of drive waves have been generated, the number being specified by the drive data, and the drive wave keeps being generated until such detection is made.
US07936102B2 Magnet holder for permanent magnet rotors of rotating machines
A rotating machine with a permanent magnet rotor that is easier, lower cost, and lighter includes a plurality of permanent magnet assemblies (20) mounted on a rotor body (1). The magnet assemblies (20) are mounted via magnet holders that each include a pair of claws (2, 3) connected by a bridge (5) and forming a seat for a respective magnet assembly (20). The claws have terminal expansions (11) that extend beyond the bridge (5) and form a second seat in which a tightening section (9) is received. The claws (2, 3) can elastically pivot about the bridge (5) when the terminal expansions (11) are squeezed together or forced apart, allowing insertion of and securing the magnet assembly, respectively.
US07936096B2 Canned linear motor armature and canned linear motor
A canned linear motor armature includes an armature winding, a picture-frame-shaped casing, a flat can, and a plurality of refrigerant flow channels. The armature winding includes a coil. The picture-frame-shaped casing has an opening and encloses the armature winding. The flat can has a plate surface to close and seal the opening of the picture-frame-shaped casing. The plurality of refrigerant flow channels are provided within the can to face the coil of the armature winding.
US07936089B1 Adaptive power architecture for hot-swappable electronic modules
A system may include a module that includes a component, a logic device to provide an instruction on behalf of the component, and control logic to generate a desired output voltage signal in response to a constant current, where the desired output voltage signal indicates a determined voltage that the component is configured to operate with when performing an operation. The system may include a board that includes a power supply to produce the determined voltage based on the instruction, and an interface to couple the determined voltage to the component to allow the component to perform the operation on behalf of the board, send the constant current to the control logic, and receive the desired output voltage signal from the control logic.
US07936087B2 Switching controller for parallel power converters
A switching controller for parallel power converters is disclosed. The switching controller includes an input circuit coupled to an input terminal of the switching controller to receive an input signal. An integration circuit is coupled to the input circuit to generate an integration signal in response to the pulse width of the input signal. A control circuit generates a switching signal for switching the power converters. The switching signal is enabled in response to the enabling of the input signal. A programmable delay time is generated between the input signal and the switching signal. The pulse width of the switching signal is determined in response to the integration signal.
US07936084B2 System and method for electric power distribution inside an aircraft
A system and a method for distribution of electric power inside an aircraft. The system includes at least two systems distributing electric power from at least one power source to electric loads of the aircraft via electric and/or electronic protection/switching components, the components being configurable and commandable by dedicated electronics. Each electric distribution system includes command electronics in which a configuration file is downloaded allocating an installation status to each of the protection/switching components.
US07936083B2 Systems and methods for multiple source power conversion
An embodiment of a system for multiple source power conversion is implemented in a vehicle that includes an alternating current (AC) power source and first and second direct current (DC) power sources. The system includes an inverter, a DC-to-DC converter, and a controller. The controller receives external commands, inverter feedback signals, and DC-to-DC converter feedback signals, and executes and inverter control algorithm and DC-to-DC converter control algorithm. An embodiment of a method for multiple source power conversion between an AC power source, and first and second DC power sources includes receiving external commands from a remote source, inverter feedback signals from an inverter, and DC-to-DC converter feedback signals from a DC-to-DC converter. The method also includes executing an inverter control algorithm and a DC-to-DC converter control algorithm to generate drive signals for the inverter and DC-to-DC converter, respectively, based on the received commands and feedback signals.
US07936081B2 Power converter control system for electric powertrains
A power converter control system for electric powertrains is disclosed. The power converter control system may include at least one power producing device and at least one power consuming device. The power converter control system may further include at least one power electronics module configured to convert and condition a flow of electrical current between the at least one power producing device and the at least one power consuming device. The at least one power electronics module may further be configured to serialize a flow of a first set of signals between the at least one power electronics module and at least one controller. The first set of signals may correspond to at least one characteristic of the at least one power electronics module.
US07936079B2 Distributed system of electrical generators utilizing wind driven natural motion of trees
A distributed system of electrical generators utilizing wind driven natural motion of trees includes pull-retract generators deriving torque from the back and forth swaying of neighboring trees and cables, wherein one set of cables acting as support and the other acting as a spring-tensioned flexible rack that drives the pinion gear of the pull-retract generator and also supports the pull-retract generator between the trees. The cables are attached to the pull-retract generators and provide the tension required to support and retract the pull-retract generator mechanism. Tree saddles attach the pull-retract generator cabling to the trees. As the trees sway independently the separations between the trees fluctuate periodically and the pull-retract generators convert these fluctuations into rotational forces that drive the generators. The pull-retract generators make use of a flexible rack and pinion design to convert the relative tree motion into torque and achieves the requisite RPM by cascading a sequence of large-small gear pairs, one such pair in each pull-retract generator utilizing a one-way clutch torque converter, ultimately meshing with a small gear on the generator shaft. Springs are used to return the pull-retract generators to their neutral positions when the trees are stationary and maintain cable tautness when the tree separation periodically lessens by tensioning the rack and pinion cable. The electrical energy derived from the asynchronous motions of the trees, is independent of the direction of the wind and is integrated with other pull-retract generators through rectifiers and to external electrical systems through the use of existing technologies that regulates, conditions and controls the electrical output.
US07936078B2 Variable speed wind turbine having a constant speed generator
A variable speed wind turbine including a variable speed rotor, a large constant speed generator, and a small variable speed generator is characterized by a three-shaft variable ratio gearbox connecting the shaft of the rotor with the two generator shafts. The variable ratio gearbox is an epicyclic gearbox which enables the combination of the high performance of a variable speed rotor with the low cost of a large constant speed generator. The torque of the small variable speed generator controls the rotor speed. Variable frequency power conditioning cost is less than that of a prior art variable speed wind turbine, reduced by the ratio of the rated capacity of the small generator to total rated capacity. Also, the small generator enables efficient low wind velocity energy capture. The low rotational inertia of the small variable speed generator further reduces drive train dynamic stress.
US07936077B2 Internal fluid handling for hydro-generator submerged in water
Hydro-generator unit submerged in water comprised of watertight bulb housing containing a combination of converter transforming the hydraulic energy into mechanical power, drive train transmitting the mechanical power to generator that converts the mechanical power into electricity or into energy bearing media and auxiliary equipment serving control and measurement purpose and wherein all cavities in the watertight bulb housing, converter, drive train, generator and auxiliary equipment are filled with fluid.
US07936072B2 Semiconductor device having dual damascene structure
The semiconductor device includes multilayer wirings of a dual damascene structure. The multilayer wirings include a first wiring layer formed on a semiconductor substrate and a second wiring layer formed on the first wiring layer. The first wiring layer includes a first insulation film, plural first vias provided in the first insulation film, a second insulation film provided on the first insulation film, and a first wiring provided on the first vias and connected to those first vias in the second insulation film. The second wiring layer includes a third insulation film, plural second vias provided in the third insulation film, an adhesive layer provided on the third insulation film, a fourth insulation film provided on the adhesive layer, and a second wiring provided on the second vias and connected to those second vias in the fourth insulation film. In the first wiring layer, the aspect ratio L of a wiring having the minimum wiring width and the via aspect ratio V are in a relationship of L≧V and in the second wiring layer, the aspect ratio L of a wiring having the minimum wiring width and the via aspect ratio V is in a relationship of L
US07936070B2 Semiconductor device and method for fabricating semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes: a copper (Cu) wire having a first region and a second region in which densities of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O) atoms are higher than in the first region; a compound film that is selectively formed on the Cu wire and contains Cu and Si; and a dielectric film formed on a side surface side of the Cu wire.
US07936067B2 Backend interconnect scheme with middle dielectric layer having improved strength
An integrated circuit structure includes a first, a second and a third metallization layer. The first metallization layer includes a first dielectric layer having a first k value; and first metal lines in the first dielectric layer. The second metallization layer is over the first metallization layer, and includes a second dielectric layer having a second k value greater than the first k value; and second metal lines in the second dielectric layer. The third metallization layer is over the second metallization layer, and includes a third dielectric layer having a third k value; and third metal lines in the third dielectric layer. The integrated circuit structure further includes a bottom passivation layer over the third metallization layer.
US07936063B2 Carrier assembly for an integrated circuit
A carrier assembly for an integrated circuit is disclosed. The carrier assembly has a retainer with electrical contacts for receiving the integrated circuit, and island defining portions arranged about the retainer. Each island defining portion is connected to neighboring island defining portions through a serpentine member. This connection allows resilient deflection between the island defining portions.
US07936060B2 Reworkable electronic device assembly and method
An electronic device assembly is provided which includes a substrate, an interposer and an integrated circuit chip. The substrate is fabricated of a first material having a first thermal expansivity, and the interposer and integrated circuit chip are fabricated of a second material having a second thermal expansivity. The second thermal expansivity is different from the first thermal expansivity so that there is a coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between the substrate and the interposer or chip. The interposer is coupled to the substrate via a first plurality of electrical contacts and an underfill adhesive at least partially surrounding the electrical contacts to bond the interposer to the substrate and thereby reduce strain on the first plurality of electrical contacts. The integrated circuit chip is coupled to the interposer via a second plurality of electrical contacts only, without use of an adhesive surrounding the second plurality of electrical contacts.
US07936059B1 Lead frame packaging technique with reduced noise and cross-talk
Broadly speaking, the present invention fills these needs by providing a lead frame package including a substrate stack having opposed sides, one of which includes a plurality of signal traces, with the remaining side including a ground plane. An integrated circuit is mounted to the substrate stack. The integrated circuit includes a plurality of bond pads. A plurality of leads is in electrical communication with a subset of the plurality of signal traces. A plurality of electrically conductive elements placing a sub-group of the plurality of bond pads in electrical communication with a sub-part of the plurality of electrically leads by being bonded signal traces of the subset, spaced-apart from the plurality of leads.
US07936051B2 Silicon wafer and its manufacturing method
A silicon wafer which achieves a gettering effect without occurrence of slip dislocations is provided, and the silicon wafer is subject to heat treatment after slicing from a silicon monocrystal ingot so that a layer which has zero light scattering defects according to the 90° light scattering method is formed in a region at a depth from the wafer surface of 25 μm or more but less than 100 μm, and a layer which has a light scattering defect density of 1×108/cm3 or more according to the 90° light scattering method is formed in a region at a depth of 100 μm from the wafer surface.
US07936048B2 Power transistor and power semiconductor device
In a power semiconductor device, the vertically conducting power transistor has at its front side (11) a source zone (14) and a control input (16). A feedthrough for the control input has an electrode on the front side (11) and an electrode on the rear side (12), with the result that contact can be made with the control input both from the front side (11) and from the rear side (12).
US07936045B2 Integrated circuit with multi-stage matching circuit
An integrated circuit with a multi-stage matching circuit with an inductive conductive structure with a first end and a second end in the integrated circuit and a capacitor structure in the integrated circuit connected to a tap between the ends of the inductive conductive structure between the inductive conductive structure and a reference potential.
US07936042B2 Field effect transistor containing a wide band gap semiconductor material in a drain
A field effect transistor comprising a silicon containing body is provided. After formation of a gate dielectric, gate electrode, and a first gate spacer, a drain side trench is formed and filled with a wide band gap semiconductor material. Optionally, a source side trench may be formed and filled with a silicon germanium alloy to enhance an on-current of the field effect transistor. Halo implantation and source and drain ion implantation are performed to form various doped regions. Since the wide band gap semiconductor material as a wider band gap than that of silicon, impact ionization is reduced due to the use of the wide band gap semiconductor material in the drain, and consequently, a breakdown voltage of the field effect transistor is increased compared to transistors employing silicon in the drain region.
US07936036B2 Solid-state image sensor with two different trench isolation implants
A solid-state image sensor includes: a trench isolation region; a photodiode region for converting incident light to signal charges and accumulating the signal charges therein; a floating diffusion region for accumulating the signal charges of the photodiode region; a gate electrode formed over the element formation region located between the photodiode region and the floating diffusion region, and formed so that both ends of the gate electrode respectively overlap a part of the photodiode region and a part of the floating diffusion region; and an inactive layer formed in a region located in a bottom portion and sidewall portions of the trench isolation region. An impurity concentration in a region located under the gate electrode in the inactive layer is lower than that in a region other than the region located under the gate electrode in the inactive layer.
US07936035B2 Photoelectric conversion element, solid-state image pickup device, and manufacturing method of the photoelectric conversion element
A photoelectric conversion element comprises: a pair of electrodes; and an organic photoelectric conversion layer between the pair of electrodes, wherein one of the electrodes is a first electrode that collects electrons generated in the organic photoelectric conversion layer; the other one of the electrodes is a second electrode that collects holes generated in the organic photoelectric conversion layer; and the photoelectric conversion element further comprises a hole blocking layer that comprises silicon oxide and inhibits injection of holes into the organic photoelectric conversion layer from the first electrode while applying a bias voltage between the electrodes, the hole blocking layer being disposed between the first electrode and the organic photoelectric conversion layer, and an oxygen/silicon composition ratio of the silicon oxide is 0.5 or greater and 1.2 or less.
US07936031B2 MEMS devices having support structures
Embodiments of MEMS devices comprise a conductive movable layer spaced apart from a conductive fixed layer by a gap, and supported by rigid support structures, or rivets, overlying depressions in the conductive movable layer, or by posts underlying depressions in the conductive movable layer. In certain embodiments, both rivets and posts may be used. In certain embodiments, these support structures are formed from rigid inorganic materials, such as metals or oxides. In certain embodiments, etch barriers may also be deposited to facilitate the use of materials in the formation of support structures which are not selectively etchable with respect to other components within the MEMS device.
US07936030B2 Methods of operating semiconductor memory devices including magnetic films having electrochemical potential difference therebetween
Provided are a multi-purpose magnetic film structure using a spin charge, a method of manufacturing the same, a semiconductor device having the same, and a method of operating the semiconductor memory device. The multi-purpose magnetic film structure includes a lower magnetic film, a tunneling film formed on the lower magnetic film, and an upper magnetic film formed on the tunneling film, wherein the lower and upper magnetic films are ferromagnetic films forming an electrochemical potential difference therebetween when the lower and upper magnetic films have opposite magnetization directions.
US07936027B2 Method of MRAM fabrication with zero electrical shorting
An MTJ cell without footings and free from electrical short-circuits across a tunneling barrier layer is formed by using a Ta hard mask layer and a combination of etches. A first etch patterns the Ta hard mask, while a second etch uses O2 applied in a single high power process at two successive different power levels. A first power level of between approximately 200 W and 500 W removes BARC, photoresist and Ta residue from the first etch, the second power level, between approximately 400 W and 600 W continues an etch of the stack layers and forms a protective oxide around the etched sides of the stack. Finally, an etch using a carbon, hydrogen and oxygen gas completes the etch while the oxide layer protects the cell from short-circuits across the lateral edges of the barrier layer.
US07936023B1 High voltage diode
A diode, includes a semiconductor substrate, a first region doped with a first dopant type in the substrate, a second region doped with a second dopant type in the substrate, a first well of the first dopant type in the substrate and surrounding the first region and the second region, and a second well of the second dopant type in the substrate connecting the first region and the second region. The first dopant type is opposite the second dopant type.
US07936022B2 Method and circuit for down-converting a signal
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for down-converting an electromagnetic (EM) signal by aliasing the EM signal are described herein. Briefly stated, such methods, systems, and apparatuses operate by receiving an EM signal and an aliasing signal having an aliasing rate. The EM signal is aliased according to the aliasing signal to down-convert the EM signal. The term aliasing, as used herein, refers to both down-converting an EM signal by under-sampling the EM signal at an aliasing rate, and down-converting an EM signal by transferring energy from the EM signal at the aliasing rate. In an embodiment, the EM signal is down-converted to an intermediate frequency signal. In another embodiment, the EM signal is down-converted to a demodulated baseband information signal. In another embodiment, the EM signal is a frequency modulated (FM) signal, which is down-converted to a non-FM signal, such as a phase modulated signal or an amplitude modulated signal.
US07936021B2 Semiconductor device including a fin field effect transistor and method of manufacturing the same
In a fin field effect transistor (Fin FET) and a method of manufacturing the Fin FET, the Fin FET includes an active pattern inside which insulating layer patterns are formed, an isolation layer pattern enclosing a sidewall of the active pattern such that an opening exposing a sidewall of the active pattern located between the insulating layer patterns is formed, a gate electrode formed on the active pattern to fill the opening, impurity regions formed at portions of the active pattern adjacent to sidewalls of the gate electrode, an insulating interlayer covering the active pattern and the gate electrode and contact plugs formed through portions of the insulating interlayer and the active pattern adjacent to the sidewalls of the gate electrode such that the contact plug makes contact with the impurity region.
US07936017B2 Reduced floating body effect without impact on performance-enhancing stress
A method, gated device and design structure are presented for providing reduced floating body effect (FBE) while not impacting performance enhancing stress. One method includes forming damage in a portion of a substrate adjacent to a gate; removing a portion of the damaged portion to form a trench, leaving another portion of the damaged portion at least adjacent to a channel region; and substantially filling the trench with a material to form a source/drain region.
US07936014B2 Power semiconductor devices integrated with clamp diodes having separated gate metal pads to avoid breakdown voltage degradation
A structure of power semiconductor device integrated with clamp diodes having separated gate metal pad is disclosed. The separated gate metal pads are wire bonded together on the gate lead frame. This improved structure can prevent the degradation of breakdown voltage due to electric field in termination region blocked by polysilicon.
US07936013B2 Charge balance techniques for power devices
A vertically-conducting charge balance semiconductor power device includes an active area comprising a plurality of cells capable of conducting current along a vertical dimension when biased in a conducting state, and a non-active perimeter region surrounding the active area. No current flows along the vertical dimension through the non-active perimeter region when the plurality of cells is biased in the conducting state. Strips of p pillars and strips of n pillars are arranged in an alternating manner. The strips of p pillars have a depth extending along the vertical dimension, a width, and a length. The strips of p and n pillars extend through both the active area and the non-active perimeter region along a length of a die that contains the semiconductor power device. The length of the die extends parallel to the length of the strips of p pillars. Each of the strips of p pillars includes a plurality of discontinuities forming portions of a plurality of strips of n regions. The plurality of strips of n regions extends in the non-active perimeter region perpendicular to the length of the die.
US07936010B2 Power semiconductor having a lightly doped drift and buffer layer
A power semiconductor element having a lightly doped drift and buffer layer is disclosed. One embodiment has, underneath and between deep well regions of a first conductivity type, a lightly doped drift and buffer layer of a second conductivity type. The drift and buffer layer has a minimum vertical extension between a drain contact layer on the adjacent surface of a semiconductor substrate and the bottom of the deepest well region which is at least equal to a minimum lateral distance between the deep well regions. The vertical extension can also be determined such that a total amount of dopant per unit area in the drift and buffer layer is larger than a breakdown charge amount at breakdown voltage.
US07936009B2 Shielded gate trench FET with an inter-electrode dielectric having a low-k dielectric therein
A shielded gate trench field effect transistor (FET) comprises trenches extending into a semiconductor region. A shield electrode is disposed in a bottom portion of each trench. The shield electrode is insulated from the semiconductor region by a shield dielectric. A gate electrode is disposed in each trench over the shield electrode, and an inter-electrode dielectric (IED) comprising a low-k dielectric extends between the shield electrode and the gate electrode.
US07936006B1 Semiconductor device with backfilled isolation
An MOS device has an embedded dielectric structure underlying an active portion of the device, such as a source extension or a drain extension. In an alternative embodiment, an embedded dielectric structure underlies the channel region of a MOS device, as well as the source and drain extensions.
US07936004B2 Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and manufacturing method thereof
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of the memory strings, in which a plurality of electrically programmable memory cells is connected in series. The memory strings comprise a pillar shaped semiconductor; a first insulation film formed around the pillar shaped semiconductor; a charge storage layer formed around the first insulation film; a second insulation film formed around the charge storage layer; and first or nth electrodes formed around the second insulation film (n is natural number more than 1). The first or nth electrodes of the memory string and the first to nth electrodes of at least two other memory strings which are adjacent to the memory string in two directions are shared as first to nth conductor layers spread in two dimensions.
US07936003B2 Semiconductor device having transistor with vertical gate electrode and method of fabricating the same
A semiconductor device includes transistors with a vertical gate electrode. In a transistor structure, a semiconductor pattern has first and second sides facing in a transverse direction, and third and fourth sides facing in a longitudinal direction. Gate patterns are disposed adjacent to the first and second sides of the semiconductor pattern. Impurity patterns directly contact the third and fourth sides of the semiconductor pattern. A gate insulating pattern is interposed between the gate patterns and the semiconductor pattern.
US07935995B2 Photoelectric conversion apparatus and image pickup system using photoelectric conversion apparatus
A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements configured to convert incident light to electric carriers, an amplifier MOS transistor shared by the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a plurality of floating diffusions connected to the gate electrode of the amplifier MOS transistor, and a plurality of transfer MOS transistors arranged corresponding to the respective photoelectric conversion elements, each of the transfer MOS transistors transferring electric carriers from corresponding one of the photoelectric conversion elements to corresponding one of the floating diffusions. In such a photoelectric conversion apparatus, at least two of the floating diffusions are electrically connected to each other with a wiring line included in the same wiring layer as the gate electrode of the amplifier MOS transistor.
US07935991B2 Semiconductor components with conductive interconnects
A semiconductor component includes a semiconductor substrate having at least one conductive interconnect on the backside thereof bonded to an inner surface of a substrate contact. A stacked semiconductor component includes multiple semiconductor components in a stacked array having bonded connections between conductive interconnects on adjacent components. An image sensor semiconductor component includes a semiconductor substrate having light detecting elements on the circuit side, and conductive interconnects on the backside.
US07935987B2 Epitaxial group III nitride layer on (001)-oriented group IV semiconductor
Group III nitride layers have a wide range of uses in electronics and optoelectronics. Such layers are generally grown on substrates such as sapphire, SiC and recently Si(111). For the purpose inter alia of integration with Si-CMOS electronics, growth on Si(001) is indicated, which is possible only with difficulty because of the different symmetries and is currently limited solely to misoriented Si(001) substrates, which restricts the range of use. In addition, the layer quality is not at present equal to that produced on Si(111) material. Growth on exactly oriented Si(001) and an improvement in material quality can now be simply achieved by a modification of the surface structure possible with a plurality of methods.
US07935983B2 Nitride semiconductor device
A nitride semiconductor device includes: a substrate containing Si; a channel layer provided on the substrate and made of nitride semiconductor material; a barrier layer provided on the channel layer and made of nitride semiconductor material; a first and second main electrode connected to the barrier layer; and a control electrode provided between the first main electrode and the second main electrode on the barrier layer. The substrate includes at least one layer having a resistivity of 1 kΩ/cm or more.
US07935982B2 Side view type LED package
In a side view type light emitting diode (LED) package, a lead frame portion and lead frame electrical contact portions are exposed outside a package body to serve as an additional heat dissipation path. The side view type LED package includes an LED chip, a package body having a side surface with an opening for receiving the LED chip, and lead frames for applying a current to the LED chip. The lead frames include inner leads electrically connected to the LED chip within the package body; electrical contact lower legs extending from the inner leads to a lower portion of the package body and exposed outside the package body in the vicinity of a lower surface of the package body perpendicular to the side surface; and a heat dissipation means extending, separately from the electrical contact lower legs, from at least one of the inner leads outside the package body.
US07935975B2 White LED lamp and backlight using the same, and liquid crystal display device using the backlight
Disclosed is a white LED lamp using an ultraviolet light emitting LED, which can simultaneously realize a high level of color rendering and a high level of brightness. Included is an LED chip 2 having a luminescence wavelength between 360 nm and 440nm, and a light emitting part excitable upon exposure to light from the LED chip 2 to emit white light and comprising a phosphor, the phosphor including blue, green, and red light emitting phosphors bonded to each other. A phosphor selected from europium-activated halophosphate phosphors and europium-activated aluminate phosphors is used as the blue light emitting phosphor. A gold- and aluminum-activated zinc sulfide phosphor is used as the green light emitting phosphor. A phosphor selected from europium- and samarium-activated lanthanum oxysulfide phosphors and copper- and manganese-activated zinc sulfide phosphors is used as the red light emitting phosphor.
US07935972B2 Light emission device
The invention relates to a light emission device, comprising at least two light-emitting semiconductor chips and a substrate. At least one first semiconductor chip (12) is fitted on the substrate and a second semiconductor chip (14) is fitted on the first semiconductor chip (12).
US07935970B2 Nitride semiconductor light emitting diode
A nitride semiconductor light emitting diode (LED) comprises an n-type nitride semiconductor layer; an electron emitting layer formed on the n-type nitride semiconductor layer, the electron emitting layer being composed of a nitride semiconductor layer including a transition element of group III; an active layer formed on the electron emitting layer; and a p-type nitride semiconductor layer formed on the active layer.
US07935969B2 Method of manufacturing display device
To provide a method of manufacturing a display device having an excellent impact resistance property with high yield, in particular, a method of manufacturing a display device having an optical film that is formed using a plastic substrate. The method of manufacturing a display device includes the steps of: laminating a metal film, an oxide film, and an optical filter on a first substrate; separating the optical filter from the first substrate; attaching the optical filter to a second substrate; forming a layer including a pixel on a third substrate; and attaching the layer including the pixel to the optical filter.
US07935960B2 Polyacene and semiconductor formulation
The invention relates to novel polyacene compounds, organic semiconducting formulations and layers comprising them, a process for preparing the formulation and layer and electronic devices, including organic field effect transistors (OFETs), comprising the same.
US07935957B2 Memory device and a semiconductor device
The present invention provides a memory device and a semiconductor device which have high reliability for writing at low cost. Furthermore, the present invention provides a memory device and a semiconductor device having a non-volatile memory element in which data can be additionally written and which can prevent forgery due to rewriting and the like. The memory element includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and an organic compound layer, which is formed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and which has a photosensitized oxidation reduction agent which can be an excited state by recombination energy of electrons and holes and a substance which can react with the photosensitized oxidation reduction agent.
US07935955B2 Group III nitride semiconductor multilayer structure
An object of the present invention is to provide a Group III nitride semiconductor multilayer structure having a smooth surface and exhibiting excellent crystallinity, which multilayer structure employs a low-cost substrate that can be easily processed. Another object is to provide a Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising the multilayer structure.The inventive Group III nitride semiconductor multilayer structure comprises a substrate; an AlxGa1-xN (0≦x≦1) buffer layer which is provided on the substrate and has a columnar or island-like crystal structure; and an AlxInyGa1-x-yN (0≦x≦1, 0≦y≦1, 0≦x+y≦1) single-crystal layer provided on the buffer layer, wherein the substrate has, on its surface, non-periodically distributed grooves having an average depth of 0.01 to 5 μm.
US07935951B2 Composite chalcogenide materials and devices
An electrical device includes a composite switching material. The composite switching material includes an electrically switchable component and a non-switchable component. In one embodiment, the composite switching material includes a heterogeneous mixture of at least one chalcogenide material and at least one dielectric material. The composite switching material is disposed between two electrodes and the switchable component is transformable from a resistive state to a conductive state upon application of a voltage between the two electrodes, without changing phase.
US07935950B2 Controllable ovonic phase-change semiconductor memory device and methods of programming the same
An ovonic phase-change semiconductor memory device having a reduced area of contact between electrodes of chalcogenide memories, and methods of programming the same are disclosed. Such memory devices include a lower electrode including non-parallel sidewalls. An insulative material overlies the lower electrode such that an upper surface of the lower electrode is exposed. In one embodiment, the insulative material and lower electrode may have a co-planar upper surface. In another embodiment, an upper surface of the lower electrode is within a recess in the insulative material. A chalcogenide material and an upper electrode are formed over the upper surface of the lower electrode. This allows the memory cells to be made smaller and allows the overall power requirements for the memory cell to be minimized.
US07935946B2 Ion implantation method and apparatus
Using a beam current of an ion beam, a dose amount to a substrate, and a reference scan speed, a scan number of the substrate is calculated as an integer value in which digits after a decimal point are truncated. If the scan number is smaller than 2, the process is aborted. If the scan number is equal to or larger than 2, it is determined whether the scan number is even or odd. If the scan number is even, the current scan number is set as a practical scan number. If the scan number is odd, an even scan number which is smaller by 1 than the odd scan number is obtained, and the obtained even scan number is set as a practical scan number. A practical scan speed of the substrate is calculated by using the practical scan number, the beam current, and the dose amount.
US07935945B2 Ion implantation method and apparatus
Using a beam current of an ion beam, and a dose amount to a substrate, and an initial value of a scan number of the substrate set to 1, a scan speed of the substrate is calculated. If the scan speed is within the range, the current scan number and the current scan speed are set as a practical scan number and a practical scan speed, respectively. If the scan speed is higher than the upper limit of the range, the calculation process is aborted. If the scan speed is lower than the lower limit of the range, the scan number is incremented by one to calculate a corrected scan number. A corrected scan speed is calculated by using the corrected scan number, etc. The above steps are repeated until the corrected scan speed is within the allowable scan speed range.
US07935939B2 Radiotherapy apparatus controller and radiation irradiation method
A radiotherapy apparatus controller includes: a movement collection section; a sensor control section configured to change a first time interval in which a second sensor measures a position of an irradiation area in the subject, based on the movement information; and an irradiation control section. The movement collection section collects movement information indicating a movement of a subject from a first sensor. The sensor control section changes a first time interval in which a second sensor measures a position of an irradiation area in the subject, based on the movement information. The irradiation control section controls a radiotherapy apparatus such that therapeutic radiation irradiated to the irradiation area is changed based on the position.
US07935937B2 Method of forming TEM sample holder
A TEM sample holder is formed from at least one nano-manipulator probe tip and a TEM sample holder pre-form. The probe tip is permanently attached to the TEM sample-holder pre-form to create a TEM sample holder before attachment of a sample to the point of the probe tip inside a FIB. In the preferred embodiment the probe tip is attached to the TEM sample holder pre-form by applying pressure to the pre-form and the probe tip, so as to cause plastic flow of the pre-form material about the probe tip. The TEM sample holder may have smaller dimensions than the TEM sample holder pre-form; in this case the TEM sample holder is cut from the larger TEM sample holder pre-form, preferably in the same operation as attaching the probe tip.
US07935934B2 Photosensor and photo IC equipped with same
The photosensor comprises an insulating layer formed over the silicon substrate; an ultraviolet photosensitive element formed over the insulating layer and having a first diffusion layer, a second diffusion layer provided spaced away from the first diffusion layer, and a third diffusion layer connected with the first diffusion layer and the second diffusion layer respectively; and a visible light photosensitive element formed over the insulating layer with being spaced away from the ultraviolet photosensitive element, and having a fourth diffusion layer, a fifth diffusion layer provided spaced away from the fourth diffusion layer, and a sixth diffusion layer connected with the fourth diffusion layer and the fifth diffusion layer respectively.
US07935929B2 Accessory for attenuated total internal reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy
An accessory for use with a microscope arranged to carry out ATR measurements has a support (40) which can be mounted on the moveable stage of the microscope. A mounting (100) for an ATR crystal (106) is carried on the support. The accessory includes a registration indicium which is located at a fixed position relative to the sample contacting area of the crystal. The registration indicium is preferably provided at the apex region of the crystal. The registration indicium can be used to ensure correct focussing of a sample when obtaining an image of the sample.
US07935928B2 Device and method for producing images
A method and a device for generating images in a motor vehicle are provided. An infrared-sensitive camera generates images of the surroundings of the motor vehicle. An emission source emitting in the near infrared spectral region is used for the pulsed illumination of sub-ranges of the image recording region of the camera. The camera generates the images by recording partial image regions. To record the partial image regions, a synchronization in time is carried out with the pulsed illumination of the sub-range including at least the partial image region. In the preferred exemplary embodiment, the recording of partial image regions of an infrared-sensitive CMOS camera is synchronized in time with a laser diode array emitting in the near infrared spectral region.
US07935924B2 Batch fabricated rectangular rod, planar MEMS quadrupole with ion optics
A quadrupole mass filter (QMF) is provided. The QMF includes a plurality of rectangular shaped electrodes aligned in a symmetric manner to generate a quadrupole field. An aperture region is positioned in a center region parallel to and adjacent to each of the rectangular shaped electrodes. An incoming ion stream enters the aperture region so as to be controlled by the quadrupole field.
US07935922B2 Ion guide chamber
An ion guide chamber comprising a gas-tight elongate chamber, at least one first electrode for generating a field for transporting ions along the elongate chamber and at least one second electrode for generating a field for focusing ions within the elongate chamber. The elongate chamber, e. g. constituted by a glass tube, comprises a resistive structure extending substantially along a main axis of the chamber, whereas the first electrode is constituted by the resistive structure. Furthermore, the second electrode is arranged outside the elongate chamber. Having the RF electrodes arranged outside the vacuum chamber, provides a mechanically simple solution as well as insuring that contamination of the RF electrodes to the analyte gas cannot occur. This allows for a cost-saving design of the RF electrodes and with the corresponding voltages outside the chamber, preferably at atmospheric pressure or high vacuum, avoids discharges within the tube.
US07935913B2 Apparatus and method for thermal processing of substrate
A thermal processing apparatus (1) comprises a chamber body (6), a holding part (7) for holding a substrate (9) inside the chamber body (6), a light emitting part (5) for heating the substrate (9) through light irradiation and a light measuring part (2) for measuring light energy. The light measuring part (2) comprises a calorimeter (24) disposed outside the chamber body (6), a light guide structure (20) for guiding the light inside the chamber body (6) to the calorimeter (24) and a calculation part (25) for performing computations on the basis of an output of the calorimeter (24). In the thermal processing apparatus (1), by measuring the light from the light emitting part (5) by the calorimeter (24), it is possible to measure the energy of light emitted from the light emitting part (5) during thermal processing inside chamber body (6) and obtain a surface temperature of the substrate (9) by the calculation part (25).
US07935912B2 Ceramic heater, and glow plug using the same
The protrusion 16 is formed on one end face of the ceramic member 11, and the positive electrode lead-out section 13a which is electrically connected to the heat generating member 12 is drawn out and exposed on the side face of the protrusion 16 at several positions, while the terminal 14 of the positive electrode lead-out fixture can be connected to each of the exposed portions.
US07935907B2 Contact system for a short-circuiting device in a medium-voltage or high-voltage switchboard plant
A contact system for a short-circuiting device for a switchboard, the contact system including at least one fixed contact piece connected to a main voltage source. The contact system also includes at least one moving contact piece and an insulating screen penetrable using the at least one moving contact piece so as to make contact between the at least one moving contact piece and the at least one fixed contact piece. The screen is disposed between the at least one fixed contact piece and the at least one moving contact piece.
US07935903B2 Visibly enhanced caregiver call device
A call button device includes an electrical connector in electrical communication with an elongated electrical conductor. Also included is a cable housing at least a portion of the elongated conductor. Finally, the device includes a pendant member having an actuable switch that is in electrical communication with the electrical connector through the elongated conductor. The pendant member also includes a luminous portion configured to provide non-electrical illumination in a low light environment.
US07935901B2 Actuator assembly and bed
Actuator system comprising at least one actuator, a control unit, a power supply and an operations panel, where the actuator in a transmission between an activation element (4) and a reversible electric motor is inserted a quick release unit (13) for release of the activation element (4) from the electric motor and the part of the transmission between the motor and the quick release. The actuator comprises at least one electrical switch (30), activated with the quick release. The signal from the electrical switch(es) (30) may be used for various purposes, such as triggering a power supply from sleep mode, activating one or more actuators, or activating an external function such as an alarm etc.
US07935896B2 Matched-impedance connector footprints
Disclosed are methodologies for defining matched-impedance footprints on a substrate such as a printed circuit board, for example, that is adapted to receive an electrical component having an arrangement of terminal leads. Such a footprint may include an arrangement of electrically-conductive pads and an arrangement of electrically-conductive vias. The via arrangement may differ from the pad arrangement. The vias may be arranged to increase routing density, while limiting cross-talk and providing for matched impedance between the component and the substrate. The via arrangement may be altered to achieve a desired routing density on a layer of the board. Increasing the routing density may decrease the number of board layers, which tends to decrease capacitance and thereby increase impedance. Ground vias and signal vias may be arranged with respect to one another in such a manner as to affect impedance. Thus, the via arrangement may be altered to achieve an impedance that matches the impedance of the component. The via arrangement may be also be altered to limit cross-talk among neighboring signal conductors. Thus, the via arrangement may be defined to balance the impedance, cross-talk, and routing density requirements of the system.
US07935895B2 Structuring and circuitizing printed circuit board through-holes
Methods and apparatus for creating independent circuit connections within a through-hole of a substrate are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method includes defining a through-hole in a substrate, applying a conductive plating to a holewall of the through-hole, and selectively removing at least a first area of the plating. The through-hole has a height relative to a first axis, and the perimeter of the through-hole at each point along the first axis is approximately the same. Selectively removing the first area of the plating includes defining second areas of the plating. At least one of the plurality of second areas does not span a height of the hole.
US07935894B2 Flexible wiring cable
A flexible wiring cable includes a flexible flat base, and a plurality of first and second leads wired on first and second surfaces of the base respectively. First and second circuit elements are mounted on the first and second leads respectively. A plurality of terminal electrodes is provided on the first surface of the base. The terminal electrodes include a plurality of first terminal electrodes formed on the first leads and a plurality of second terminal electrodes formed on the second leads, being exposed to the outside of the first surface side via through holes formed in the base.
US07935891B2 Wiring board manufacturing method
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wiring board comprising: a build-up layer, in which wiring patterns are piled with insulating layers; and a core substrate, which is separately formed from the build-up layer, the method comprising the steps of: separably forming the build-up layer on a plate-shaped support; electrically connecting the core substrate to the wiring patterns of the build-up layer on the support; and removing the support from the build-up layer so as to form the wiring board, in which the build-up layer is connected to the core substrate. By separably forming the build-up layer and the core substrate, the wiring board effectively exhibiting characteristics thereof can be produced.
US07935889B1 Cover with tightening hinge
An electrical device cover with a lid coupled to a base unit by a pin and clip hinge. Implementations of a pin and clip hinge may comprise a clip with a rotation stop that tightens against the pin when the lid is opened too far on the base in a way that would ordinarily overextend the hinge.
US07935888B2 Protective cover arrangement for an electrical unit
A protective cover arrangement (1) for a first electrical unit, e.g. a starter unit (3), mountable on a second electrical unit, e.g. a compressor (2). The protective cover arrangement (1) comprises an outer cover (5) and an inner cover (6). The outer cover (5) comprises mounting parts (8) adapted to cooperate with mounting parts (10) on the second electrical unit in order to mount the outer cover (5) on the second electrical unit. The inner cover (6) is sized and shaped to fit inside the outer cover (5), and it is adapted to accommodate a first electrical unit in an interior part (7). The inner cover (6) comprises an opening (12) allowing electrical connectors (4) to pass from the second electrical unit to the interior part (7), thereby providing electrical connection between the first electrical unit and the second electrical unit. The inner cover (6) further comprises a cable entry structure (9) allowing one or more electrical cables to pass from the exterior of the protective cover arrangement (1) to the interior part (7) of the inner cover (6), thereby providing power supply for the electrical units. The cable entry structure (9) defines one or more cable guides, each defining a curved cable path. The inner cover (6) provides additional protection against moisture and/or dust, and it can be added to the arrangement (1) without significantly changing the design of the other components. It is possible to retrofit the inner cover (6) onto operating devices.
US07935886B2 Adjustable variable ring for electrical junction boxes
An adjustable variable ring for electrical junction boxes including a base frame having a guide tab; a sliding insert having a box shaped frame, the sliding insert being configured to slide in and out of the base frame. A ratchet mechanism having a ratchet plate on the base frame including a plurality of steps, and a ratchet spring installed on an inner wall of the box shaped frame including an angled end tab and an angled mid tab protruding from the box shaped frame for engaging one or more of the plurality of steps. The sliding insert is configured to slide in and out of the base frame by disengaging the mid tab from the one or more of the steps by pressing on the end tab, and locks in the base frame by engaging the mid tab with the one or more of the steps.
US07935884B2 Encapsulant layer for photovoltaic module, photovoltaic module and method for manufacturing regenerated photovoltaic cell and regenerated transparent front face substrate
An encapsulant layer for a photovoltaic module enabling recovering and recycling or reusing of reutilizeable resources such as a transparent front face substrate and photovoltaic cell and the like among constituents of a photovoltaic module, and a method for manufacturing a regenerated photovoltaic cell and a regenerated transparent front face substrate. The photovoltaic module is formed by laminating: a transparent front face substrate; a photovoltaic cell carrying a wiring electrode and a takeoff electrode, and an encapsulant layer is placed on at least one surface; and a rear face protecting sheet. The encapsulant layer is a separable layer formed mainly of a thermoplastic resin, and an output maintenance factor of photoelectronic power of the photovoltaic module using the encapsulant layer is in a range of 80% to 100%.
US07935883B2 Thermoelectric material and thermoelectric conversion module using the same
A thermoelectric material has a composition expressed by (Fe1-pVp)100-x(Al1-qSiq)x (0.35≦p≦0.7, 0.01≦q≦0.7, 20≦x≦30 atomic %). The thermoelectric material includes a crystal phase having an L21 structure or a crystal phase having a B2 structure as a main phase.
US07935882B2 Self powered electric generating food heater
A self-powered food heater. The food heater includes a burner with an electric fuel pump and an electric blower, a fire box, a water tank and electronic controls. The food heater also includes a set of thermoelectric modules compressed against a heat transfer surface of the tank. Hot exhaust leaving the burner enters the fire box. Some of the heat from the fire box passes through the thermoelectric modules generating sufficient electric power to power the fuel pump and the blower. Water in the tank is heated to its boiling temperature. Heat from the boiling water heats food also contained in the tank. In a preferred embodiment special compression frames provide substantially uniform compression, within desired ranges, of the modules between a portion of the heat transfer surface of the tank and a module cover plate. Fins may be provided on the cover plate or insulating spacers may be added to assure the hot side temperatures of the modules are within desired ranges to provide desired power output without damaging the modules. In a preferred embodiment the modules are compressed against a heat transfer surface on the outside of the tank within the fire box.
US07935880B2 Dynamically displaying a pitch range
Described are methods, systems, and apparatuses, including computer program products, for dynamically displaying a pitch range in a rhythm-action game. In one aspect this is accomplished by a game platform dividing a musical composition into a plurality of portions each comprising one or more notes. Then the game platform determines a pitch range between a highest note and a lowest note for each portion. Then the game platform determines a display density for each portion based on the pitch range of each portion, or alternatively, a display density for the entire song based on the greatest pitch range of all portions. Then, the game platform displays each portion within a viewable area. The viewable area has a density alterable based on the portion to be displayed or a position that is alterable based on the portion to be displayed, or has both an alterable position and alterable pitch density.
US07935878B2 System, method and computer program for ensuring secure use of music playing data files
A system, apparatus, or method extracts a music playing data file from a given musical work resource such as an electronic music score data file, a printed sheet of music and an audio signals of a musical performance, to be utilized for playing music automatically by means of a tone generator device. The extracted music playing data file is encrypted using an encryption key to be stored in a storage device or to be transmitted to an automatic music playing apparatus. The stored or the transmitted music playing data file is decrypted beforehand to be used for automatic music playing. After the decrypted music playing data file has been utilized, the decrypted music playing data file is deleted from the system so that no unencrypted data file remains in the system.
US07935877B2 System and method for music composition
The present disclosure relates to music composition devices and methods. A system is provided which allows composers of all skill levels to easily create music that is pleasurable to the ear. The system may also assist more advanced composers in creating complex musical arrangements based off of partially completed compositions. The system also streamlines composition and arrangement in multi-instrument environments. The user is able to select from a variety of available music visualizations and instrument views, allowing comparison therebetween. The system may comprise composition error checking functions, free-play performance abilities, and recording and playback features. Certain embodiments incorporate remote access for collaboration between users.
US07935876B1 Method and apparatus for string load reduction and real-time pitch alteration on stringed instruments
A method and apparatus for string load reduction and real-time pitch alteration on stringed instruments. A string load is substantially reduced with a camming surface actuator so that the pitch can be rapidly manipulated by an input force which is generated by human power or an electronically controlled motor. Various types of camming surfaces are provided as well as a load optimization calculation which determines the shape of a variable ratio camming surface. Multiple embodiments are described including a constant force pitch alteration device, a motorized control system with pitch compensation and real-time tracking of string pitch to multiple relative input signals, a control signal generator based on real-time position measurement of a control object relative to an electromagnetic radiation sensor, and methods for generating mechanical looping, vibrato, and polyphonic chorus effects which can be automated or dynamically controlled by a user. Other embodiments are described and shown.
US07935871B2 Cotton variety MCS0711B2RF
The invention relates to the novel cotton variety designated MCS0711B2RF. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants, plant parts and derivatives of the cotton variety MCS0711B2RF. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the cotton variety MCS0711B2RF and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing cotton plants by crossing the cotton variety MCS0711B2RF with itself or another cotton variety and plants produced by such methods.
US07935870B2 Plants and seeds of spring canola variety SCV354718
A canola line designated SCV354718 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of canola line SCV354718, to the plants of canola SCV354718, to plant parts of canola line SCV354718 and to methods for producing a canola plant produced by crossing canola line SCV354718 with itself or with another canola line. The invention also relates to methods for producing a canola plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic canola plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to canola lines or breeding lines and plant parts derived from canola line SCV354718, to methods for producing other canola lines, lines or plant parts derived from canola line SCV354718 and to the canola plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid canola seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing the line SCV354718 with another canola line.
US07935864B2 Spinach line SMB66-1100M
The invention provides seed and plants of the spinach line designated SMB66-1100M. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of spinach line SMB66-1100M, and to methods for producing a spinach plant produced by crossing a plant of spinach line SMB66-1100M with itself or with another spinach plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of spinach line SMB66-1100M, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US07935861B2 Liquid distribution unit and absorbent product having the same
A liquid distribution unit disposed in a position between an absorbent member and a wearer's body. The liquid distribution unit includes a sheet, the sheet including a plurality of openings defined through material which is otherwise liquid impermeable, and a plurality of introductory tubes extending toward the absorbent member, and each one of the introductory tubes includes one first end and one second end. Each first end of the tubes is connected to the sheet so that a center of each of a plurality of openings of the sheet is coincident with a center of an opening of each first end. The introductory tubes are adjacent to one another through an empty space. An absorbent product having the distribution unit is provided.
US07935860B2 Absorbent articles comprising high permeability superabsorbent polymer compositions
An absorbent article can have a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet. In some aspects, at least one of the topsheet, backsheet, and absorbent core is stretchable. In other aspects, the absorbent core can comprise layers, at least one of which includes substantially the superabsorbent material only and at least one of which includes substantially fluff only. In some aspects, the article includes superabsorbent material having a surface additive that includes a surface crosslinking agent, a water-insoluble inorganic metal compound and a polymeric coating.
US07935857B2 Product recovery in gas-solids reactors
A gas-solids reaction system is provided for improving product recovery in a multiple reactor reaction system. The solids of the product gas-solids flows from the multiple reactors are separated out in a separation vessel having a baffled transition zone. Additional product vapor is stripped from the solids as the solids pass through the baffled transition zone. The solids are then returned to the multiple reactors.
US07935853B2 Micronized composition of a 2,4-disubstituted phenol derivative
A composition comprising a 2,4,-disubstituted phenol derivative in its micronized form and its use in the treatment of leukotriene-mediated diseases, gastrointestinal-inflammatory diseases or pulmonary fibrosis. More particularly, 2,4,6-triiodophenol can be used for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis and arthritis.
US07935852B2 Fluoridation method
A method for the fluoridation of an iodonium salt with a fluoride ion source which can be carried out in an aqueous reaction solvent.
US07935850B2 Process for hydroformylation of propylene
Increasing the propylene content of the propylene feed delivered to a continuous hydroformylation process from the 95 mole % maximum level that is usual in typical chemical grade propylene to at least 97 mole %, for example to the 97.5% level obtainable from the conversion of oxygenates to olefins or the 99.5% level of polymer grade propylene, enables adjustments to be made in the syngas feed to the process. This leads to surprising improvements in hydroformylation product yield, in reactor capacity utilization and in the reduction of amounts of waste gases.
US07935848B2 Butone derivatives useful as cooling agents
Cooling compounds of formula (I) wherein R1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, methyl, C1-C3 alkoxy, phenyl, C1-C3 alkylphenyl, C1-C3 alkoxyphenyl, thienyl, pyridyl, furyl, and indoyl; R2 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and hydroxyl, or R2 forms together with the carbon atom to which it is attached a carbonyl group; and R3 is selected from the group consisting of 2,4-dimethylpent-3-yl, 2,3,4-trimethylpent-3-yl, adamantyl and 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-cyclohexyl-1-yl; and, product compositions comprising them.
US07935844B2 Recovery of energy during the production of aromatic carboxylic acids
Energy is recovered during the production of aromatic carboxylic acids by liquid phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons by performing a high efficiency separation on the reactor overhead vapor to form a high pressure gaseous overhead stream comprising water and organic impurities; recovering heat energy from the high pressure gaseous overhead stream by exchanging heat with a suitable heat sink material such that a condensate comprising from about 20 wt % to about 60 wt % of the water present in the high pressure gaseous overhead stream is formed and a high pressure off-gas is formed; and recovering energy in the form of work from the high pressure off-gas. Preferably such work is recovered using isentropic means for energy recovery, for example an expander. Apparatus for such process is also provided.
US07935836B2 Compounds comprising a linear series of five fused carbon rings, and preparation thereof
The present application discloses methods for the production of organic compounds comprising a linear series of five fused carbon rings. Such compounds are useful in the production of electronic components, devices and materials. For example the methods disclosed permit the production of 2,9- and 2,10-disubstituted pentacene compounds and 2,6,9,13- and 2,6,10,13-tetrasubstituted compounds that present particularly advantageous properties for the manufacture of semiconductor materials, and may be used in devices such as for example thin film transistors and solar cells. These features are enhanced by π-π parallel stacking in the solid state. Also disclosed are compounds that are excellent candidates for use in the manufacture of semiconductor materials, and other components of electronic systems, by virtue of their solubility, crystal packing geometries, and electronic properties.
US07935833B2 Compound containing carboxylate ester and N2S2 ligand bi-functional groups and manufacturing method thereof
A compound containing carboxylate ester and N2S2 ligand bi-functional groups and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The S in the N2S2 ligand of the compound containing carboxylate ester and N2S2 ligand bi-functional groups includes a protective group so as to avoid to be oxidized and easy storage. In a complex reaction, the protective group is automatically released As to the active carboxylate ester, it is for reacting with compounds having amino groups such as amines, amino acids, peptides, or protein etc while the N2S2 ligand is for bonding with technetium or rhenium so as to form neutral complex. The compound containing carboxylate ester and N2S2 ligand bi-functional groups is applied to radiopharmaceuticals such as contrast agents for tissues and target agents.
US07935831B2 Process for the preparation of 2-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octane-3-carboxylic Acid Derivatives
The present invention is aimed at a process for the preparation of compounds of the general formula (I). The objective process is in this case based on the Michael reaction of compounds of the general formula (III) with compounds of the general formula (IV), with subsequent hydrogenation and cyclization of the intermediates of the formula (II) obtained.
US07935830B2 Tricyclic indeno-pyrrole derivatives as serotonin receptor modulators
The present invention generally relates to a series of compounds, to pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, and to use of the compounds and compositions as therapeutic agents. More specifically, compounds of the present invention are tricyclic indeno-pyrrole compounds. These compounds are serotonin receptor (5-HT) ligands and are useful for treating diseases, disorders, and conditions wherein modulation of the activity of serotonin receptors (5-HT) is desired (e.g. anxiety, depression and obesity).
US07935825B2 Arylsulfanyl and heteroarylsulfanyl derivatives for treating pain
According to the invention there is provided a compound the formula I; wherein A, X, B, R1, R2, R3 and R4 are as defined in the specification.
US07935818B2 Process for the preparation and purification of valgancyclovir hydrochloride
A process for the preparation of valgancyclovir which comprises: a) reacting a compound of formula 7, in an aprotic solvent, in the presence of a condensing agent, with a compound of formula 8, wherein R1, and R2 may be, each independently, hydrogen, an halogen atom or an hydroxyl group; the double bond may either be in the E or Z configuration or a mixture thereof to yield a compound of formula 9 b) mild hydrolysis of compound obtained in a) to give valgancyclovir.
US07935817B2 Salt form and cocrystals of adefovir dipivoxil and processes for preparation thereof
Provided are a cocrystal of Adefovir dipivoxil and nicotinamide as well as a cocrystal of Adefovir dipivoxil and salicylamide cocrystal and processes for the preparation thereof.
US07935810B2 Probe, probe set, probe carrier, and testing method
A probe, a set of probes, and a probe carrier on which the probe or the set of probes is immobilized, are provided for classification of fungus species. The probe or the set of probes is capable of collectively detecting fungus of the same species and distinguishingly detecting those fungus from fungus of other species. The probe is an oligonucleotide probe for detecting a pathogenic fungus DNA and includes at least one of base sequences of SEQ ID NOS. 1 to 2 and mutated sequences thereof.
US07935800B2 RNA detection assays
The present invention provides novel cleavage agents and polymerases for the cleavage and modification of nucleic acid. The cleavage agents and polymerases find use, for example, for the detection and characterization of nucleic acid sequences and variations in nucleic acid sequences. In some embodiments, the 5′ nuclease activity of a variety of enzymes is used to cleave a target-dependent cleavage structure, thereby indicating the presence of specific nucleic acid sequences or specific variations thereof.
US07935797B2 CCR5 chemokine receptor-specific monoclonal antibodies capable of inhibiting HIV-1 cell fusion
This invention provides methods for inhibiting fusion of HIV-1 to CD4+ cells which comprise contacting CD4+ cells with a non-chemokine agent capable of binding to a chemokine receptor in an amount and under conditions such that fusion of HIV-1 to the CD4+ cells is inhibited. This invention also provides methods for inhibiting HIV-1 infection of CD4+ cells which comprise contacting CD4+ cells with a non-chemokine agent capable of binding to a chemokine receptor in an amount and under conditions such that fusion of HIV-1 to the CD4+ cells is inhibited, thereby inhibiting the HIV-1 infection. This invention provides non-chemokine agents capable of binding to the chemokine receptor and inhibiting fusion of HIV-1 to CD4+ cells. This invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising an amount of the non-chemokine agent capable of binding to the chemokine receptor and inhibiting fusion of HIV-1 to CD4+ cells effective to prevent fusion of HIV-1 to CD4+ cells and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
US07935792B2 Antibody reacting with N-acetylglucosamine-6-O-sulfotransferase product
A polypeptide of N-acetylglucosamine-6-O-sulfotransferase and a DNA encoding the peptide are provided. The polypeptide is (a) or (b) below: (a) a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2; or (b) a polypeptide which includes an amino acid sequence including substitution, deletion, insertion or transposition of one or a few amino acids in the amino acid sequence of (a) and which has an enzymatic activity to transfer a sulfate group from a sulfate group donor to a hydroxyl group at 6 position of an N-acetylglucosamine residue located at a non-reducing end of an oligosaccharide represented the formula I: GlcNAcβ1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc  (I) where GlcNAc represents an N-acetyl-glucosamine residue, Gal represents a galactose residue, β 1-3 represents a β 1-3 glycosidic linkage, and β 1-4 represents a β 1-4 glycosidic linkage.
US07935789B2 Centromeric protein shugoshin
The present invention is to provide meiosis-specific novel kinetochore protein Sgo1 (shugoshin) derived from fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and a homologue or paralogue thereof having a regulatory activity of chromosome segregation; and DNAs encoding them; as a factor ensuring the retention of unidirection and cohesion in sister centromere at meiosis I in cooperation with cohesin. To elucidate the proteins protecting Rec8 during anaphase, the present inventor screened in fission yeast genes for a gene that inhibits mitotic growth and prevents sister chromatid from the separation at anaphase, when co-expressed with Rec8. In this approach, meiosis-specific protein Sgo1 that protects (Shugo) centromeric Rec8 from the degradation at anaphase I was identified. Further, a budding yeast Sgo1 homologue and a fission yeast mitotic paralogue Sgo2 were identified.
US07935788B2 Reverse cumate repressor mutant
Recently, the development of inducible expression systems has involved exploitation of the p-cym operon from Pseudomonas putida. Disclosed herein are novel expression systems and components thereof, which involve the development of a CymR variant with reverse DNA binding activity, such that they exhibit increased affinity for DNA in a presence rather than an absence of an effector molecule such as cumene or an equivalent thereof. Also disclosed are the CymR variant, fusion proteins incorporating such a variant, and its use in the control and expression of polynucleotides. The CymR variant comprises a 142Glu to 142Gly single point mutation of wild type CymR.
US07935778B2 Phenol resin, use of a phenol resin as well as moulded product formed therefrom
The present invention relates to a phenol resin obtained by reacting phenolic compounds with formaldehyde and/or formaldehyde-forming compounds. The present invention furthermore relates to the use of such a phenol resin, as well as to a molded product having a core of solid, inert parts impregnated with such a phenol resin.
US07935777B2 Polycarbonate compositions
Polycarbonate compositions are disclosed. The compositions comprise a polycarbonate polymer (A) having repeating units derived from 2-phenyl-3,3-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)phthalimidine (PPPBP); a polycarbonate polymer (B) which is different from polymer (A); an impact modifier (C) which is different from polymer (A) and polymer (B); and talc filler (D). The resulting composition has an improved combination of properties, particularly heat resistance, low temperature impact performance, and viscosity.
US07935775B2 Mannich bases and processes for the preparation of mannich bases
Disclosed are novel Mannich bases which are produced by using at least one phenolic compound of formula (I): formaldehyde, and at least one polyamine. Also disclosed is a two-step method for producing Mannich bases, by means of which low viscous Mannich bases are obtained.
US07935771B2 Polymer having sulfonic acid group or sulfonic acid ester group and amide group, and toner for developing electrostatic latent image having the polymer
There is provided a polymer including a unit represented by Chemical Formula (1): wherein R represents -A1-SO2R1; R1w and R1x are each independently a halogen atom or a hydrogen atom; R1y is a CH3 group, a halogen atom or a hydrogen atom; A01 is a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring structure or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure; A1 is a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic hydrocarbon structure, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring structure or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure; R1 is OH, a halogen atom, ONa, OK or OR1a; R1a is a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic hydrocarbon structure, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring structure or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure.
US07935770B2 Surface active prepolymers with both fluorine-containing groups and hydrophilic groups
Provided are surface modified contact lenses formed from one or more fumaric- or itaconic-containing prepolymers having polymerizable functionality that is complimentary to polymerizable hydrophilic polymers.
US07935769B2 Method for preparing a living polymer comprising methacrylic and/or methacrylate units
The invention relates to a method for preparing a living polymer comprising methacrylic and/or methacrylate units using a monofunctional or polyfunctional alkoxyamine consisting in polymerising one or several types of methacrylic an/or methacrylate units.
US07935764B2 Composition of carboxyl acryl resin and epoxy acryl resin
The present invention provides a curable resin composition comprising: (A) an acryl resin having (a) a carboxyl group originating in a carboxyl group-containing polymerizable unsaturated monomer selected from acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid and itaconic acid and (b) a carboxyl group originating in a carboxyl group-containing polymerizable unsaturated monomer having a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond and a carboxyl group separated from the double bond by at least 6 carbon atoms, (B) an epoxy group-containing acryl resin and (C) a curing catalyst.
US07935763B2 Thermoplastic vulcanizate compositions having improved extrusion performance and methods of formation thereof
In one embodiment is a thermoplastic vulcanizates having improved extrusion properties formed from a composition that includes from 20% to about 80% by weight of an elastomer, from about 80% to about 20% by weight of a thermoplastic, from about 0.05 to about 12 phr of a multifunctional methacrylate monomer peroxide curing coagent; and from about 0.02 to about 6 phr of a phosphorous containing stabilizer. The resultant thermoplastic vulcanizate may be cured with a peroxide curing agent and shows improved die lip build up compared to conventionally prepared thermoplastic vulcanizates. Methods of forming thermoplastic vulcanizates having improved die lip build up are also taught.
US07935759B2 Golf ball with heat resistant shield layer
The present invention is directed to a golf ball comprising a shield layer having heat resistant properties to facilitate compression molding of a thermosetting polybutadiene-comprising layer over at least one thermoplastic layer. The invention utilizes a thermoplastic inner core comprising of a low vicat highly neutralized ionomer material having a low melting point of less than 100° C., and a Shore C surface hardness of less than 80 and a compression of less than 70, wherein a shield layer is placed around the low vicat softening point temperature thermoplastic to shield it from the high heat necessary to mold a thermoset material about it.
US07935757B2 Process for making a cationic vinyl oligomer composition
A process is described for making an aqueous coating composition comprising a cationic vinyl oligomer comprising the following steps: I. preparation of a cationic vinyl oligomer by solution or bulk polymerization of components: i) 2 to 50 wt % of vinyl monomers bearing amine functional groups selected from the group consisting of non-ionic amine functional groups (a), permanent quaternary ammonium functional groups (b), neutralized amine functional groups (c) and mixtures thereof; and ii) 20 to 98 wt % of Ci to Ci8 alkyl (meth)acrylates; and II. dispersion of the cationic vinyl oligomer in an aqueous medium and neutralization of non-ionic amine functional groups.
US07935755B2 Aqueous polymer dispersions and products from those dispersions
A method for forming a heat sealable coating on a substrate, wherein the substrate is formed from at least one oriented polymer is shown. The method includes depositing an aqueous polymer dispersion on the substrate, wherein the aqueous polymer dispersion includes (A) at least one thermoplastic resin; (B) at least one dispersing agent; and (C) water; wherein the dispersion has a pH of less than 12, and drying the dispersion to form a first layer.
US07935753B2 Surface treated pigment
Surface treated inorganic oxide pigments are provided wherein one or more of the ethylene glycol esters and diesters are applied to the surface of a base inorganic oxide pigment, for example, an anatase titanium dioxide pigment from the calciner of a conventional sulfate route process for making titanium dioxide pigments or especially a rutile titanium dioxide pigment from the oxidizer in a conventional chloride route process for making titanium dioxide pigments.
US07935750B2 Polycarbonate light diffusing resin composition
The present invention provides: a polycarbonate light diffusing resin composition in which a first discoloration is a little, and particularly a photo-deterioration caused by a cold-cathode tube as a light source of liquid crystal displays is suppressed; and a light diffuser panel obtained by molding the same.The polycarbonate light diffusing resin composition comprises: (A) 100 parts by mass of an aromatic polycarbonate resin; (B) 0.01 to 10 parts by mass of a light diffusing agent; and (C) 0.05 to 5 parts by mass of a light-resisting agent having a maximum absorption wavelength at 290 to 330 nm in an ultraviolet light absorption spectrum and the light diffuser panel is a light diffuser panel having a thickness of 0.5 to 2 mm and obtained by molding the polycarbonate light diffusing resin composition.
US07935745B2 Self-assembled nanofiber templates; versatile approaches for polymer nanocomposites
Polymer nanocomposites, nanoparticle-containing organogels utilized in forming the polymer nanocomposites, and methods for forming the polymer nanocomposites and nanoparticle-containing organogels are disclosed. Relatively simple and versatile methods are utilized to form the polymer nanocomposites. The process is based on the format of a three-dimensional network of well-individualized nanoparticles, such nanofibers through gelation thereof with an appropriate non-polymeric solvent. The nanoparticle-containing organogel is subsequently filled with a solution of a desired matrix polymer, the composite is dried and compacted to create the polymer nanocomposite. Polymer nanocomposites can be prepared which exhibit dramatic changes in mechanical properties, such as increased shear modulus, when compared to the neat polymer.
US07935741B2 Ink composition, inkjet recording method, printed material, process for producing lithographic printing plate, and lithographic printing plate
An ink composition is provided that includes a condensed polycyclic aromatic compound, a polymerization initiator, and a polymerizable compound, and the condensed polycyclic aromatic compound is a compound selected from the group consisting of a compound represented by the formula below, a compound having at least three hydroxy groups, alkoxy groups, and/or aryloxy groups on a condensed polycyclic aromatic ring, and a compound having at least one atom having an atomic weight of 32 or greater bonded to a condensed polycyclic aromatic ring and/or one group bonded to the condensed polycyclic aromatic ring via an atom having an atomic weight of 32 or greater. There are also provided a printed material obtained by employing the ink composition, a process for producing a lithographic printing plate employing the ink composition, and a lithographic printing plate obtained by the production process. R4m—Ar-A-SiR1R2R3)n
US07935740B2 Process for producing high melt strength polypropylene
The present subject matter relates to processes for irradiating visbroken propylene polymer compositions or extrudates of propylene polymer compositions containing a propylene polymer having a low polydispersity index and a non-phenolic stabilizer.
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