| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08011220B2 |
Backward extrusion process for inner profiles
A process of producing an inner profile (18)in a tube or hollow profile (11) includes inserting the tube or hollow profile (11) into a supporting sleeve (12), with a first tube end (19) being axially supported; placing a pressure-loaded annular die 16 on to the other tube end (20); pressing a forming die (15) with an outer profile into the tube or hollow profile (11) from the latter tube end (20) for producing the inner profile (18); allowing a return of the annular die (16) under a pressure load in the opposite direction of that of pressing in the forming die (15). |
| US08011211B2 |
Drum assembly in washing machine and method for fabricating the same
Drum assembly, and method for fabricating the same is disclosed, for making a capacity larger and enhancing stiffness and strength. The drum assembly includes a drum for holding laundry, a connector attached to an outside surface of a bottom of the drum, and a driving member coupled to the connector for rotating the drum, wherein the bottom includes an expansion region unoccupied by the connector, the expansion region being protruded toward an outside of the drum, to expand a capacity of the drum. The method includes a first time pressing for pressing a plate for forming a bottom of a drum, for securing a space for expanding a capacity of the drum, and a second time pressing for forming a seat for attaching a connector connecting a driving member and the drum. |
| US08011206B2 |
Cap and cap system for ornaments, charms and accessories
A charm is provided including a body formed from a pliable material including an opening. A first member is at least partly inserted into the opening and is secured to the body. A cap is connected to the first member and is located external of the body. A method for securing such a cap to the charm is also provided. |
| US08011202B2 |
Auger in ice bin and refrigerating machine having the same
Disclosed is the auger in an ice bin mounted in a refrigerator, and the like. The auger in the ice bin is configured to rotate an auger having spiral-shaped transfer blades and to dispose ice in each space between the transfer blades of the auger for transfer. Accordingly, a certain amount of ice can always be discharged without simultaneously discharging a great amount of ice, and a user may select the number of ice, thus to diversity functions of an ice dispenser. In addition, since the auger is made of a flexible material, the ice can be prevented from being crushed during transfer, thereby enhancing the reliability of the ice dispenser. |
| US08011201B2 |
Refrigeration system mounted within a deck
A refrigeration system is provided for use with an ultra-low temperature freezer having a deck and a refrigerated cabinet supported above the deck. The system has a first refrigeration stage and a second refrigeration stage. The first stage defines a first fluid circuit for circulating a first refrigerant. The first stage has a first compressor, a condenser and a first expansion device that is in fluid communication with the first fluid circuit. The second stage defines a second fluid circuit for circulating a second refrigerant. The second stage has a second compressor, a second expansion device and an evaporator that is in fluid communication with the second fluid circuit. The system includes an insulated enclosure supported within the deck and a split-flow heat exchanger that is in fluid communication with the first and second fluid circuits and which is located within the insulated enclosure. |
| US08011198B2 |
Method of preheating inverter-driven compressor and device therefor
To reduce a leakage current when a motor for driving a compressor is energized, with the compressor unoperated. Setting the carrier frequency of an inverter at a value lower than that used during normal operation to cause phase interruption electrification of the motor. |
| US08011192B2 |
Method for defrosting an evaporator in a refrigeration circuit
Method for defrosting an evaporator in a refrigeration circuit (2) for circulating a refrigerant in a predetermined flow direction, the refrigeration circuit (2) comprising in flow direction a compressor unit (4), a heat-rejecting heat exchanger (6), an expansion device (12) and an evaporator (14), wherein the evaporator (14) comprises at least two refrigerant conduits (42; 44) and the method comprises the following steps: (a) operating the refrigeration circuit (2) in the normal cooling mode where the refrigerant exiting the heat-rejecting heat exchanger (6) flows through the expansion device (12) and through the evaporator (14) and towards the compressor unit (4); (b) terminating the cooling mode by interrupting the flow of the refrigerant exiting the heat-rejecting heat exchanger (6) into the evaporator (14); and (c) directing hot gas refrigerant through only a portion of the refrigerant conduits (42; 44) of the evaporator (14) for defrosting the evaporator (14). |
| US08011190B2 |
Product cooling
A cooling system for beverage dispense has a circuit 5 in which binary ice is circulated. A modular heat exchange unit 13 for a plurality of beverage lines 25,27,29,31,33 is connected to the circuit 5 for cooling beverage prior to dispense from a dispense tap 35 in a serving area such as a bar. The ice fraction in the binary ice provides a thermal store that can absorb heat without increasing the temperature of the binary ice and enables the system to respond quickly to changes in the cooling requirements in the circuit 5. |
| US08011189B2 |
Retrofit of simple cycle gas turbine for compressed air energy storage application having expander for additional power generation
A Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) system includes a first combustion turbine assembly (42) having a shaft (52) coupled to a motor (54), a compressor (44) and a debladed turbine element (46). A second combustion turbine assembly (68) has a shaft (74) coupled to an electrical generator (80), a turbine (70) and a debladed compressor (72). A first interconnection (58) is from an output of the compressor (44) of the first combustion turbine assembly to an air storage (66). A second interconnection (87) is from the air storage to the turbine (70) of the second combustion turbine assembly for producing power. An expander (88) and an electrical generator (94) are provided. A third interconnection (90) is from the air storage (66) to the expander (88). A source of heat preheats compressed air in the third interconnection. A fourth interconnection (96) is from the expander to the turbine (70). |
| US08011188B2 |
Augmentor with trapped vortex cavity pilot
A gas turbine engine augmentor includes an annular trapped vortex cavity pilot having a cavity forward wall, a cavity radially outer wall, and a cavity aft wall, an annular cavity therebetween, and cavity fuel injector tubes operably disposed through the outer wall into the cavity. Circumferentially spaced apart radial flameholders with integral spraybars and/or radial spraybars interdigitated with the radial flameholders radially inwardly into an exhaust flowpath of the augmentor just forward and upstream of the trapped vortex cavity pilot at a radially outer portion of a combustion zone of the exhaust flowpath. An annular trapped dual vortex cavity pilot version is operable for producing trapped dual counter-rotating inner and outer vortices of fuel and air mixtures. |
| US08011183B2 |
Resonant stator balancing of free piston machine coupled to linear motor or alternator
A beta-type free-piston Stirling cycle engine or cooler is drivingly coupled to a linear alternator or linear motor and has an improved balancing system to minimize vibration without the need for a separate vibration balancing unit. The stator of the linear motor or alternator is mounted to the interior of the casing through an interposed spring to provide an oscillating system permitting the stator to reciprocate and flex the spring during operation of the Stirling machine and coupled transducer. The natural frequency of oscillation, ωs, of the stator is maintained essentially equal to ω p 1 - α p k p and the natural frequency of oscillation of the piston, ωp, is maintained essentially equal to the operating frequency, ωo of the coupled Stirling machine and alternator or motor. For applications in which variations of the average temperature and/or the average pressure of the working gas cause more than insubstantial variations of the piston resonant frequency ωp, various alternative means for compensating for those changes in order to maintain vibration balancing are also disclosed. |
| US08011182B2 |
Vertical gravity/buoyancy power generator
A power generator utilizing gases and the gravitational force as efficiently as the buoyant force which act on an apparatus in a natural or man-made liquid medium and convert such forces into mechanical energy. The power generator includes methods for a plurality of weighted uniquely configured variable density containers which ascend and descend in a primarily vertical plane and which drive one or more chains, belts or conveyances with rotating sprockets or pulleys on horizontally aligned shafts in primarily a vertical arrangement upon such apparatus. The chains, belts or conveyances driven by the movement of the containers rotate the sprockets or pulleys (FIG. 1) and their associated shafts in both the ascending and descending motion creating mechanical power. Such power can be used to turn electrical generators or other mechanical machines which necessitate such power input. |
| US08011177B2 |
Exhaust particulate filter
A method and system is disclosed for regenerating a particulate filter for an exhaust system. A source of hydrocarbon is injected into the exhaust flow upstream of the filter. The injected hydrocarbon within the filter is caused to oxidize and a temperature within the filter to rise, the temperature rise being initiated at a downstream end of the filter. A temperature change at the filter is sensed in response to the oxidation of the hydrocarbon. The amount of hydrocarbon being injected into the filter is adjusted to increase the temperature within the filter above a defined threshold from the downstream end to an upstream end of the filter, the defined threshold temperature being sufficient to oxidize soot. An operational parameter indicative of the filter regeneration being complete is sensed, and further injection of the hydrocarbon into the exhaust flow is prevented in response to the sensed operational parameter. |
| US08011166B2 |
System for conveying odd-shaped containers
A process for efficiently conveying containers along a table-top conveying system includes the steps of temporarily securing a transfer stabilizing support (1a, 1b) to a bottom end of a formed container (14) so that the container can freely move along a production line using the table-top conveying system where the transfer stabilizing support has a bottom surface (2a, 2b) with an opening (4a, 4b), a sidewall (6a, 6b) extending substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface, and a ridge area (10b) surrounding the opening and inside the sidewall of the support; and after the container has gone through operations of the production line, the transfer stabilizing support is removed so that aesthetic qualities of the formed container shape are revealed. |
| US08011164B2 |
Tile alignment and leveling device
A device for aligning and leveling tiles as they are laid in floors, walls, countertops, or the like. The device has a locking assembly and a bottom plate. The components are combined with a shaft that extends from the bottom plate through the locking assembly so that the locking assembly is movable along the length of the shaft. In use, the device is placed between adjacent tiles so that the locking assembly and bottom plate hold adjacent tiles at a desired height as the setting bed dries. |
| US08011163B2 |
Methods and apparatus for laying marble tile flooring
Methods and apparatus for laying marble tile flooring utilizes a form and method for using the form. The form provides for applying layers of a sealant, mud and thin set to a height determined by the form for laying the first tile in a horizontally level position. Second and subsequent tiles are laid relative to the first laid tile by gauging off the first laid tile and fixing the height of sealant, mud, and thin set such that the second and subsequently laid tiles are level with the first tile and parallel to the edges of the first laid tile. The result is a completely horizontal tiled floor with each tile level to an adjacent tile and parallel and or perpendicular relative to each other tile. |
| US08011160B2 |
Bracket and bridging member for metal stud wall
The present invention is directed to a bracket for use in a metal stud wall having internal bridging members for tying the metal studs and bridging members together. The bracket is an L shaped bracket having a leg for overlying the bridging member joined to an upright for overlying the metal stud. The outside corners of the leg and upright of the L shaped bracket are truncated so that the bracket may be inserted within the channel of a metal stud and rotated to the proper position for attaching to the bridging member and metal stud. |
| US08011153B2 |
Deck fastener and method of use
A clip device for fastening first and second structural members typically decking members. The clip device has a base portion with first and second opposed ends and a thickness a first vertical leg portion integral with the leg base portion is horizontally spaced apart from a second vertical leg portion integral with the base portion. Arm flange portions integral to the first and second vertical leg portions are horizontally spaced from the base and aligned respectively towards said first and second opposed ends. A fastener receiving hole in the base is used to attach the clip device to the joist. The base portion, vertical leg portion and arm flange portion define diametrically opposed U-shaped jaw elements for holding the structural member to the joist. |
| US08011151B2 |
Multi-layer building insulation and wallboard sheet with multi-layer insulation
A multilayer insulation material is provided. The insulation material preferably includes a plurality of substantially air-impermeable material layers joined together, with at least one space being provided between a pair of adjacent material layers thereof. At least one layer of a foam material and/or aerogel material can be interposed between a pair of adjacent material layers. At least one reflective layer can be provided for inhibiting radiative heat transfer across the insulation material. In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a construction panel is provided, having a structural panel portion having predetermined material properties for performing a predetermined function, and a plurality of substantially air-impermeable material layers joined to the structural panel portion, at least one space being provided between a pair of adjacent material layers thereof. |
| US08011150B2 |
Modular building roof-rim parapet structure
Modular, selectively employable building parapet roof-rim structure including (a) gravity-docking reception structure deployed along and adjacent at least a portion of the perimeter of a building roof structure which is adjacent the top of a building frame, and (b) a dockable, modular parapet unit including gravity-docking structure removably and replaceably dockable, under the influence of gravity, with the reception structure to dispose the parapet unit as at least a part of an outwardly visible parapet roof-rim structure associated with the building roof structure. The parapet structure may be associated with moisture-barriering flashing structure which becomes locked into place along the rim of a building roof between inter-engaging components in the parapet structure. |
| US08011149B2 |
Post sleeve assembly
A post sleeve includes a reinforced concrete body preformed around a liner that defines a cavity extending longitudinally within the body, sized to receive a post. Standoff ribs run lengthwise within the cavity and extend inward from inner walls of the cavity. A post in the cavity is supported laterally by the standoff ribs. Drain channels between the ribs permit water to flow past the post and exit the cavity via a lower aperture. A drain tube is coupled to the lower aperture, and extends downward where it is covered with gravel at the bottom of a post hole. Concrete is poured around the post sleeve in the hole. The cavity is adaptable to receive posts of varying sizes, and at various depths. A collar closes a space between the post and the top of the cavity, permitting air circulation within the cavity while shedding water and substantially preventing insects from entering the cavity. |
| US08011143B1 |
Manufactured home/safety shelter system
A slab is fabricated of concrete positionable adjacent to a side wall of a manufactured home. The slab has a periphery. The periphery forms a lower flange. A dome is positioned upon the slab. The dome has a flat face. The flat face is positionable in contact with the side wall. The flat face is formed with an opening in facing contact with the side wall. The dome has a peripheral flange remote from the opening. The peripheral flange of the dome is concentric with and smaller than the peripheral flange of the slab. |
| US08011127B2 |
Merchandise labeling
Disclosed is a unitary sheet-like merchandise labeling article that has a labeling tag flatly conjoined along a unifying flat bond zone with a flexible elastic layer that extends away from the tag and includes an elastic fastening loop. The loop sides that define the loop are wider than the thickness of the elastic layer. Further, the flexible elastic layer that extends away from the tag has a thickness greater than the thickness of the tag and has a dispersion zone adjacent the unifying flat bond zone. The dispersion zone allows dissipation of elastic loop in-line stretching forces sufficiently to reduce transmission of such forces into the bond zone. |
| US08011126B2 |
Price and information tag construction
A price-and-information tag includes front and rear surfaces both having product and price information. The tag includes a pre-fold line and a perforated line dividing the sheet into spaced-apart first and second sections. When bi-folded, the first section fits into an upwardly-open pocket of an extruded tag holder, with the second section in front of the tag holder and hiding the first section. Further, the second section can be torn off along the perforated line to reveal the information on the first section with minimal labor. A picture on the tag allows a non-reading installer to place the tag. Methods related to same are also shown, including double folding the elongated sheet and then using the first section to engage a tag holder with only the information on the second section being visible, the second section being later torn off to reveal the information on the first section. |
| US08011124B1 |
Bracelet identification system and method
A bracelet identification system including a band or bracelet with a locking mechanism that is adjustable, a pocket receptacle for placement of an identification card, and an identification card including an identification number specific to a wearer of the system, a bar code storing additional information about the wearer, a security device, and/or printed information about the wearer. |
| US08011121B2 |
Spread-style coupler with supplemental safety lock
A coupler for a backhoe or other excavator includes a frame with a lock system including a first safety lock that moves relative to a first hook between an engaged position for capturing the first associated attachment pin in the first hook and a disengaged position for releasing the first associated attachment pin from the first hook. An actuator moves the first safety lock between its engaged and disengaged positions. At least a first lock arm is movable between a locked position and an unlocked position. The first lock arm engages and retains the first safety lock in its engaged position when the first lock arm is in its locked position. The first lock arm is movable to its unlocked position by contact with the associated backhoe or excavator arm when the frame is moved to a curled position relative to the associated backhoe or excavator arm. |
| US08011118B2 |
Article of footwear with circular tread pattern
An article of footwear is disclosed. The article of footwear includes an outsole with a circular tread pattern. The circular tread pattern provides sufficient traction in all directions but also allows the wearer to pivot about a pivot portion. The circular tread pattern is generally large, and in some cases, the first and smallest circular tread extends less than 360 degrees. The pivot portion can include a slot that aids in flexibility. The outsole can also include a different tread pattern for the heel portion, or the circular tread pattern may also extend into the heel portion. |
| US08011116B2 |
Substrate proximity drying using in-situ local heating of substrate
A method is provided for removing a residual fluid remaining at a point of contact between a substrate support member and a back surface of a substrate being prepared by a proximity head. According to the method, the proximity head is applied onto the back surface of the substrate and the substrate support member being held by a carrier. The substrate support member is heated after the substrate support member passes the proximity head. The heating of the substrate support member is discontinued once the residual fluid has substantially evaporated. |
| US08011113B2 |
Hot gas generator and drying or dehydration facility implementing such a generator
The subject of the invention is a hot gas generator (8), particularly for a dehydration or drying unit, the generator comprising a burner or hearth (9) and being characterized in that it comprises at least one exchange circuit (10) comprising at least one pipe through which the gas to be heated flows, the pipe comprising a cool gas inlet end (11) and a hot gas discharge outlet (12), the pipe having a surface for heat exchange between the combustion gases generated by the burner or hearth (9) and the gas to be heated which flows through the pipe, the pipe also providing a physical barrier between the heated gases and the combustion gases generated by the burner or hearth. Application to producing a drying or dehydration installation. |
| US08011104B2 |
Cutting members for shaving razors
Cutting members for razors are provided that have been subjected to a localized heat-treating process, e.g., application of laser energy. In some cases, the cutting members include a bent portion, and the localized heat-treating process is used to enhance ductility and thereby facilitate formation of the bent portion. |
| US08011101B2 |
Replacement cartridge for a razor assembly
A replacement cartridge for a razor assembly is provided that includes a shaving aid body for use with the razor assembly. The shaving aid body includes an aperture disposed within a contact surface. The aperture is sized to receive a razor cartridge. Some embodiments of the present replacement cartridge include a base. In some of those embodiments the base includes one or more features for attaching the replacement cartridge to the razor assembly. |
| US08011100B2 |
Method for producing electroplated plastic sanitary articles
In a method for producing plastic sanitary articles having surfaces metallized by electroplating, the sanitary article has at least one electrically nonconductive component, before said article is metallized by electroplating using an external current source. This component at least partially decouples the water-bearing regions of the sanitary article from the current flow during metallization by electroplating using the external current source. The component is preferably a separate component which can be reversibly connected to the sanitary article.The invention also includes the component for decoupling the current itself, and a sanitary article which is provided with the component. |
| US08011097B2 |
Method, system, and computer software code for repairing a transition section of an engine
A method for restoring a crack formed within a turbo charger engine transition section, the method including preparing a crack in the transition section to receive a material within the crack, applying the material within the crack, and retaining structural integrity of the transition section proximate the crack while at least one of preparing the crack and applying the material. |
| US08011094B2 |
Method of converting diesel engine to natural gas engine
A method of converting a diesel engine to a natural gas engine comprising inserting a spark plug into a diesel fuel injector opening in a cylinder head; installing a throttle body on the diesel engine; installing a throttle body adaptor between a throttle body and an intake manifold of said diesel engine; and modifying a piston, whereby the compression ratio of said piston is decreased during operation of said piston. The method also includes installation of a waste gate and waste gate adaptor and a timing mask. |
| US08011092B2 |
Methods of providing semiconductor components within sockets
The invention includes methods of utilizing removable mechanical precising mechanisms and/or optical-based precising mechanisms to align chips within sockets. The sockets can be configured so that compression of the sockets opens a clamping mechanism. A chip can be placed within a socket with a manipulator and aligned during compression of the socket. Subsequently, the compression of the socket can be released while the manipulator remains in contact with the chip to hold the chip in place until the clamping mechanism is retaining the chip in the socket. The chip can then be released from the manipulator. The invention also includes systems for utilizing removable nests to align various chip geometries within generic socket designs. |
| US08011090B2 |
Method for forming and planarizing adjacent regions of an integrated circuit
Various pattern transfer and etching steps can be used to create features. Conventional photolithography steps can be used in combination with pitch-reduction techniques to form superimposed, pitch-reduced patterns of crossing elongate features that can be consolidated into a single layer. Planarizing techniques using a filler layer and a protective layer are disclosed. Portions of an integrated circuit having different heights can be etched to a common plane. |
| US08011089B2 |
Method of repairing segmented contactor
A method of fabricating a large area, multi-element contactor. A segmented contactor is provided for testing semiconductor devices on a wafer that comprises a plurality of contactor units mounted to a substrate. The contactor units are formed, tested, and assembled to a backing substrate. The contactor units may include leads extending laterally for connection to an external instrument such as a burn-in board. The contactor units include conductive areas such as pads that are placed into contact with conductive terminals on devices under test. |
| US08011086B2 |
Method of manufacturing a component-embedded printed circuit board
A method of manufacturing a component-embedded printed circuit board is disclosed. By using a method of manufacturing a component-embedded printed circuit board, which includes: mounting a component on a first copper foil, on which a pattern is formed, such that the component is electrically connected with the pattern; stacking an insulation layer, which has a cavity formed in a position corresponding to the component, on a second copper foil, on which at least one conductive protrusion is formed; stacking together the first copper foil and the second copper foil such that the component is embedded in the cavity and the first copper foil and the second copper foil are electrically connected by the conductive protrusion; and removing portions of the first copper foil and the second copper foil to form circuit patterns, the circuit pattern formed from the first copper foil may be given a buried form, so that it is possible to manufacture a thin printed circuit board, when embedding a flip chip type component. |
| US08011083B2 |
Process of manufacturing a transducer assembly for an ultrasonic fluid meter
Replacement of a transducer assembly for an ultrasonic fluid meter. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including: disconnecting a wiring harness that electrically couples electronics of an ultrasonic meter to a transducer assembly; removing the transducer assembly as a single unit from a transducer housing; inserting a replacement transducer assembly as a single unit into the transducer housing; and reconnecting the wiring harness. |
| US08011081B1 |
Bedknife for reel cutting unit and manufacturing method for same
A method of manufacturing a bedknife for a reel cutting unit comprises providing a base having a tool steel insert that forms a cutting edge of the bedknife. The base comprises a heat treatable steel. Both the base and the insert are heat treated prior to joining the insert to the base. The insert is then integrally joined to the base by brazing the two together using a silver based filler between the two. |
| US08011080B2 |
Hinged wall and ceiling anchor with fins and hinge
An anchoring fastener comprises, in one embodiment, a shaft (100) with straight and tapered portions, a tip (105) at the front end, cam follower surfaces (110, 111) at the rear end, a body (120) with a bore, a head (125) with a hole collinear with the bore in the body, and a pair of fins (115). The shaft and the body are joined at a bendable region by the fins. The anchor is fully inserted into wallboard (600) until the head comes into contact with the outer surface of the wallboard (610). The length of the body is approximately equal to the thickness of the wall. The fins slice into the wallboard, thereby preventing rotation of the anchor during and after insertion. An activating member (900), such as a screw or a pin, is inserted into the hole and bore and urged against the cam follower surfaces, thereby forcing the shaft to rotate until it comes into contact with the inner surface (615) of the wallboard. An object-holding washer (905), restrained by the activating member, is secured to the anchor which in turn is secured to the wallboard. |
| US08011077B2 |
Steering knuckle boot
A method of retrofitting a steering knuckle of an amphibious vehicle to make the knuckle and axle assembly water-tight includes the steps of providing a neoprene rubber boot; attaching a flange to an axle of the vehicle; clamping one end of the boot to the flange; clamping the other end of the boot to the steering knuckle; and attaching a steering stop to either the axle or the flange. |
| US08011074B2 |
Method for manufacture of piezoelectric substrate for a saw device
The present invention provides a composite structure having a supporting substrate between a piezoelectric substrate and a compensation layer. The materials used to form the piezoelectric substrate and the compensation layer in isolation, have higher thermal coefficients of expansion (TCE) relative to the TCE of the materials forming the supporting substrate. Once the composite structure is created, the piezoelectric substrate and compensation layer tend to expand and contract in a similar manner as temperature changes. The expansion and contraction forces applied to the supporting substrate by the piezoelectric substrate due to temperature changes are substantially countered by similar opposing forces applied by the compensation layer, resulting in the opposing forces substantially counteracting one another. Due to the counteraction, the composite structure resists bending or warping, reducing expansion and contraction and increasing stress of the piezoelectric substrate, and thus reducing the effective TCE and TCF of the piezoelectric substrate. |
| US08011067B2 |
Knob handle for transmitting a torque to cables, tubes, or the like
A handle (10) is suitable for transmitting a torque between a rotation knob and a respective output shaft connectable to cables, tubes, or the like, wherein said handle comprises at least first and second transmission lines which operate between a first rotation knob (12) and a first output shaft (22) and between a second rotation knob (14) and a second output shaft (24), respectively. The first and second rotation knobs are co-axially arranged along a common axis (X). The first and second output shafts are arranged on different axes (X, Y). The handle comprises a lock-out mechanism suitable for selecting between the first transmission line and the second transmission line thus preventing the rotation of the one rotation knob while the other is being rotated. The lock-out mechanism alternatively operates on the one of the rotation knobs, while the other is released due to the relative translation of the knobs along the common axis (XI between a first relative position and a second relative position and vice versa. |
| US08011066B2 |
Hinge assembly for electronic device
A hinge assembly includes a first connecting member, a second connecting member, and a pivot subassembly. The pivot subassembly connects the first connecting member to the second connecting member. The pivot subassembly includes a rotatable shaft, a sleeve, and a positioning ring. The rotatable shaft is non-rotatably connected to the first connecting member. The sleeve is sleeved on the rotatable shaft, and non-rotatably connected to the rotatable shaft. The positioning ring is non-rotatably connected to the second connecting member. The sleeve defines two positioning cutouts, and the positioning ring defines two positioning protrusions engaging with the positioning cutouts. When the rotatable shaft rotates, one of the sleeve and the positioning ring deforms, so that the at least one positioning protrusion disengages from the at least one positioning cutout. |
| US08011053B2 |
Resilient pipeline inspection brush
A resilient inspection brush used in electrically inspecting pipelines for abnormalities is described which employs highly conductive metals, such as nickel. Since bristles [330] made from these metals cannot be secured firmly by soldering or epoxy, they are folded over a retaining member [350], or wrapped around the retaining member [350]. The retaining member [350] is secured inside of a base housing [320]. The top [321] portion of the base housing [320] may be crimped or swedged to reduce the size of the opening, thereby physically holding the bristles [330]. This also insures that the retaining member [350] does not pass through the opening, securing the retaining member [350] inside of the base housing [320]. In another embodiment, an inner sleeve [810] is used to further secure the bristles [330] and simplify assembly. |
| US08011052B2 |
Device for cleaning multidiameter pipelines
A trailing pig cleaning device is adapted to be dragged by a pig towing device. The cleaning device collects a predetermined quantity of debris. The cleaning device has a continuous outer surface portion of variable diameter urged into normal contact with the internal wall of the pipeline. The continuous outer surface portion presents a continuous upstream or leading edge portion for scraping debris from the cylindrical internal wall in advance of the outer surface portion. The device has a debris collecting surface portion extending radially inward from the outer surface portion for collecting the predetermined quantity of debris scraped from the cylindrical internal wall. The device has at least one debris and pipeline media bypass opening passing through the debris collecting surface portion permitting excess scraped debris to pass therethrough back into the pipeline and permitting media to pass thereby to propel the pig towing device. |
| US08011051B1 |
Toilet bowl cleaning assembly
A toilet bowl cleaning assembly includes an elongated housing that has a first end and a second end. A cleaning brush apparatus is rotatably coupled to the housing and extends downwardly from the second end of the housing. A drive apparatus is mounted in the housing and is mechanically coupled to the cleaning brush apparatus and turns the cleaning brush apparatus when the drive apparatus is turned on. A shroud is coupled to the housing between the first end of the housing and the cleaning brush apparatus. The shroud has a bottom edge is engageable with an upper edge of a toilet bowl. The cleaning brush apparatus is placed in the toilet bowl and the drive apparatus turned on to clean the toilet bowl. |
| US08011045B2 |
Localized patient support
A localized patient support comprises a base, an annular ring supported above the base and defining a cavity, and a gel pad having a plurality of sections located in the cavity. In some embodiment, the localized patient support includes an insert received in the cavity and located between the base and the gel pad. At least some of the sections of the gel pad located in the cavity are vertically movable substantially independently of adjacent sections of the gel pad. In some embodiments, the base, the annular ring, and the insert comprise foam elements. In other embodiments, the base and the annular ring comprise foam elements and the insert comprises individually inflatable and deflatable air bladders. |
| US08011042B1 |
Organizational device
An organizational device for use with a group of children comprising a substantially-rectangular flexible mat having opposed first and second ends, a length, and a width. In a preferred embodiment, the substantially-rectangular flexible mat has a first plurality of substantially-rectangular areas distributed along the length and a corresponding first plurality of identification pockets affixed to the first plurality of substantially-rectangular areas. In another aspect, the substantially-rectangular flexible mat has at least one end anchoring device coupled to each of the first and second ends wherein the at least one end anchoring device is configured to removably couple to a fixed object. The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing an organizational device for use with a group of children. |
| US08011041B2 |
Devices for prevention of pressure ulcers
A support surface, such as an underpad, for preventing pressure sores in a patient is a multi-layer textile assembly having a skin contact layer formed from a fabric of synthetic filament yarns woven to provide air permeability and moisture vapor permeability and having a thickness of less than 1 mm. An absorbent middle layer is formed from a breathable microfiber fabric woven to provide for moisture transition from an upper surface of the middle layer to a bottom surface of the middle layer. The skin contact layer and the middle layer are stitched together using a stitching pattern optimized to produce an open pattern with minimal puckering. A bottom layer is formed from a breathable, waterproof fabric woven from synthetic yarn to produce a moisture vapor transfer rate within the range of 5,000 to 20,000 grams per meter squared per 24 hours. The three layers are attached together around their outer edges. |
| US08011037B1 |
Swaddle
A swaddle wrap to calm and comfort an infant has two panels. One that is both wide and long enough to wrap entirely both of the infant's arms and a second one to then wrap around the infant's torso and secured arms that then are attached between the legs. Hook and loop fasteners are used to secure the arm restraints, the swaddle and to attach both panels between the legs. |
| US08011034B2 |
Foldable sofa-bed with folding-assist and extension-assist mechanisms
A sofa-bed includes: a frame with opposed arms; a backrest operatively connected to the frame; a seat; a subseat hinged to the seat and pivotable relative thereto; an extension-assist mechanism attached to the frame and at least one of the seat and the subseat; and a folding-assist mechanism attached to the frame and at least one of the subseat and seat. The frame, backrest, seat and subseat are configured to move between a folded position, in which the backrest is generally upright, the seat is generally horizontal, and the subseat is generally horizontal and positioned beneath the seat in a first inverted orientation, and an unfolded position, in which the backrest, subseat and seat are generally horizontal, and the subseat is positioned between the backrest and the seat in a second non-inverted orientation. The folding-assist mechanism is configured such that the sofa-bed is biased toward the folded position as the sofa-bed moves from the unfolded position toward a first intermediate position. Also, the extension-assist mechanism is configured such that the sofa-bed is biased toward the unfolded position as the sofa-bed moves from a second intermediate position toward the folded position. |
| US08011029B2 |
Drain socket
In a drain socket for a toilet stool includes a vertical pipe including an upper end connected with the discharge port of the toilet stool, an adjustable pipe extending substantially horizontally from the lower end of the vertical pipe and a connecting pipe between the adjustable pipe and a drain of a toilet. The vertical pipe has a bend causing the vertical pipe to have at its lower end an axis displaced longitudinally and rearward of the toilet stool from an axis at the upper end to define an eccentrically curved flow path. The flow path includes a part located near the bend and formed by increasing a transverse dimension of a longitudinal front end thereof with respect to the toilet stool so that the part has such a noncircular cross section in which a front portion of the section has a larger area than a rear portion of the cross section. |
| US08011028B2 |
Firefighter's coat with liner in tail pocket
A firefighter's coat including an outer shell and a liner. The outer shell has an inner surface, an outer surface, a front opening with a closure, and a downwardly extending rear tail. The liner has an outer surface facing the inner surface of the shell providing a barrier against the environment. The liner outer surface has a bottom edge loose from the outer shell inner surface to facilitate air circulation for drying when the coat is not in use, and a pocket is defined along the bottom of the outer shell tail and adapted to receive the rear of the liner bottom edge when the coat is in use. A releasable fastener is adapted to releasably secure the liner in the pocket. |
| US08011025B2 |
Multifunctional safety helmet
The present invention is to provide a multifunctional safety helmet which comprises: a shell, having a concavity at each side that forms a protection lump at its front; a chin shield, positioned in the front of the shell where each of the top sides has an ear cover, where the chin shield is pivoted on both sides of the shell with a fixing by a lift adjusting device; a clasp device, located in the interior of the front bottom of the chin shield and the interior of the protection lump of the shell, comprising: a button, linked by a spring for automatic bounce back; a link pole, with one end connecting to the end of the button; a slide, embedded in the seat, and connected to the other end of the link pole; a clasp chunk, positioned under the slide; and a movable clasp body, located inside the protection lump of the shell, and fastened by a cover, where an opening is devised for accommodating the slide, and an elastic element is placed between the clasp body and the cover, while the clasp body further comprises a flat piece, a clasp notch and a clasp hook, and the clasp notch is used for accommodating the clasp chunk and for seizing the clasp hook mutually; and a visor, pivoted within the lift adjusting device; accordingly, the join of the headpieces being firm and tight through the realization of the foregoing mentioned structure. |
| US08011024B2 |
Odor absorbing system and method
An odor absorbing system includes a head covering article of clothing configured to be worn by a person. The head covering article of clothing includes a base layer comprising a cap section configured to substantially cover a head of the person wearing the article of clothing. An odor absorbing insert is removable attachable to the article of clothing. |
| US08011020B2 |
Breathable, vented, flame-resistant shirt
A flame-resistant shirt is described that has vents to facilitate heat release and air circulation while preserving flame-resistant qualities. The shirt has a standard front half, but a back half which includes a cape portion with openings to provide ventilation across the wearer's back. |
| US08011019B1 |
Inflatable protective suit apparatus
A inflatable protective suit apparatus provides separate upper body jacket and lower body pant with self-inflating protection. The apparatus is self-contained so that no external gas supply, electronics or other mechanisms other than the tether clip for removably clipping to an external object are needed. The tether clip can be hooked to a motorcycle, snowmobile, bicycle, AN, and any other of a host of various vehicles. Any vehicle is thereby chosen for use without regard to equipping every vehicle chosen with complimentary equipment. The apparatus places significant importance on style such that the protective mechanisms are not visually discernible. |
| US08015610B2 |
Intrusion detection apparatus and method using patterns
An intrusion detection apparatus includes: a rule generator classifying intrusion detection rules into rules having content examination parts and rules without content examination parts, granting an index to each of the rules so as to output the indices to a unit for performing the matching and to simultaneously store the indices; an extractor extracting payload parts and address parts from the packets and outputting the extracted payload parts and address parts to the unit; and an examination unit examining corresponding rules based on the indices. |
| US08015607B1 |
Messaging stamp authority
Electronic messages may be processed using a stamp authority by receiving an electronic message, identifying a stamp associated the message, determining if the stamp is valid, and, if the stamp is determined to be valid, distinguishing the message from messages with which a valid stamp is not identified. |
| US08015605B2 |
Scalable monitor of malicious network traffic
A monitor of malicious network traffic attaches to unused addresses and monitors communications with an active responder that has constrained-state awareness to be highly scalable. In a preferred embodiment, the active responder provides a response based only on the previous statement from the malicious source, which in most cases is sufficient to promote additional communication with the malicious source, presenting a complete record of the transaction for analysis and possible signature extraction. |
| US08015604B1 |
Hierarchical architecture in a network security system
A network security system having a hierarchical configuration is provided. In one embodiment the present invention includes a plurality of subsystems, where each subsystem includes a plurality of distributed software agents configured to collect security events from monitor devices, and a local manager module coupled to the plurality of distributed software agents to generate correlated events by correlating the security events. Each of the subsystems can report the correlated events to a global manager module coupled to the plurality of subsystems, and the global manager module can correlate the correlated events from each manager module. |
| US08015600B2 |
Employing electronic certificate workflows
An Identity System manages certificate related actions for organization members and affiliates. Examples of certificate related actions include certificate enrollment, renewal, and revocation. The Identity System maintains and employs different certificate related workflows for different organization members and affiliates. After receiving a request for a certificate related action, the Identity System retrieves a workflow for responding to the request. The Identity System selects the workflow from a plurality of workflows for responding to the type of certificate related action being requested. Each workflow in the plurality corresponds to a different set of user characteristics. The Identity System selects the workflow that corresponds to the requested certificate related action, as well as the type of user for which the request is made. |
| US08015596B2 |
Shared credential store
A personal credential store that aggregates a number of physical credential stores beneath an application programming interface (API) and offers tag-based credential look-up. The API of the disclosed system runs on the user's client system, and effectively hides the underlying credential store types from applications using it. The tags used to look up credentials through the API may advantageously include or consist of unique identifiers indicating the functional purpose of the desired credential. The types of physical credential store aggregated together under the disclosed API may include a local credential store, a network-resident private credential store that may be shared across multiple client systems operated by a single user, and a network-resident shareable credential store, that may be used by processes acting on behalf of the user, and/or shared by multiple users. |
| US08015593B2 |
Protecting secret data entry from infrared and audio eavesdropping
A method for protecting a data entry device from eavesdropping includes masking a signature of entry resulting from entry of data by a user of the data entry device so as to reduce the detectability of the signature by eavesdropping. The signature may include a temperature differential in the data entry device from data entry by the user and the masking may include controlling the external temperature of the data entry device to reduce temperature differentials left in the data entry device by the user. Alternatively, the signature may include sound waves emitted from the data entry device and the masking may include masking sound waves emitted from the data entry device to reduce the detectability of the sound waves. A system may also be employed for protecting data entry to a data entry device from eavesdropping. The system includes a data entry device and means for masking a signature of entry resulting from entry of data by a user of the data entry device so as to reduce the detectability of the signature by eavesdropping. |
| US08015592B2 |
System, method and apparatus for enabling transactions using a biometrically enabled programmable magnetic stripe
The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus that includes a user device having a magnetic field generator disposed within a substrate that is normally inactive, a biometric sensor mounted on the substrate, a memory disposed within the substrate and a processor disposed within the substrate that is communicably coupled to the magnetic field generator, the biometric sensor and the memory. The processor is operable to process biometric information received from the biometric sensor to verify that a user is authorized to use the apparatus and activate the magnetic field generator when the user is verified. A power source is also disposed within the substrate. The magnetic field generator can create a spatially varying magnetic signal using a magnetic stripe and one or more induction coils, or create a time-varying magnetic signal for emulating data obtained from swiping a magnetic stripe card through a magnetic card reader. |
| US08015591B2 |
Video signal transceiver
A video signal transceiver has a triax port, a baseband port, a demodulator for converting a HF video signal received at said triax port into a baseband video signal for outputting at said baseband port and at least one modulator for converting a baseband control signal received at said baseband port into a HF control signal for outputting at said triax port, a fibre-optical port, an optical receiver for converting an optical video signal received at said fibre-optical port into a baseband video signal, a switch for connecting either an output of said demodulator or of said optical receiver to a video signal line of said baseband port, and an optical transmitter for transmitting, via said fibre-optical port, an optical control signal derived from said baseband control signal. |
| US08015587B2 |
System for monitoring direct broadcast wireless signals
A system and method for monitoring direct broadcast satellite signals. In a most general embodiment, the invention (10) includes a mechanism (20) for receiving direct broadcast wireless signals encoded in accordance with a DSS transport protocol. The received signals are analyzed with respect to various parameters and an output is provided in response thereto. In a specific embodiment, the wireless signals are transmitted via satellite and plural integrated receiver decoders (20) are used, one with an associated channel, to receive the wireless signals and provide audio, video, program guide and conditional access signals in response thereto. These signals are analyzed by software (100) running on a computer (56) which outputs alarm data on the detection of anomalies in the received signals. |
| US08015584B2 |
Delivering interactive content to a remote subscriber
A method for interactive delivery of multimedia content includes accepting interactive multimedia content encoded in a multiplexed data stream, the stream includes segments that at least some include control data for presentation of the content. The method also includes receiving requests from one or more terminals, at least some of the requests identifies particular segments of the multiplexed data stream, and transmitting identified segments of the multiplexed data stream to the terminals in response to the received requests. |
| US08015582B2 |
Channels and services display
The availability of a new information service is publicized by displaying an icon in an EPG when the presence of a new information service is detected. A list of new services is then displayed responsive to a user command. When one of the new services is displayed instead of the list. |
| US08015581B2 |
Resource data configuration for media content access systems and methods
In one of many possible implementations, a system includes a content delivery subsystem providing online resource data and programming data associated with media content. The system further includes a content processing subsystem configured to communicate with the content delivery subsystem via a network. The content processing subsystem is configured to receive the programming data and to generate a program guide user interface including at least a subset of the programming data. The content processing subsystem is configured to access and utilize the online resource data on demand to generate the program guide user interface when the online resource data is accessible via the network. In certain implementations, the content processing subsystem includes offline resource data and is configured to utilize the offline resource data to generate the program guide user interface when the online resource data is inaccessible via the network. |
| US08015579B2 |
Broadcast signal processing apparatus and control method thereof
A broadcasting signal processing apparatus includes: a signal receiver which receives a broadcasting signal, the broadcast signal including an application program for providing broadcasting information; a signal processor which processes the broadcasting signal so that a video is displayed based on the broadcasting signal received by the signal receiver; and a controller which controls the signal processor so that execution of the application program is paused and the video is adjusted if an adjustment condition of the video being displayed is satisfied while the application program is executed. |
| US08015578B2 |
Disk chucking apparatus and disk drive having the same
This disk chucking apparatus may include: a chuck bass having a plurality of holding portions, a plurality of chuck pins which are inserted in the holding portions to be elastically supported, and protrudes out from the chuck base, an elastic fragment which is arranged to be symmetrical to the chuck pin with respect to the rotation center of the chuck base, and elastically supports a disk together with the chuck pin, and wherein the elastic fragment has an inclined surface inclined with respect to a direction of equipment of the disk, and the inclined surface are increased from smaller radius than the inner radius of the disk to larger radius than the inner radius of the disk. This disk chucking apparatus make it possible to align the centers of the chuck base and disk, and to decrease the force in mounting a disk. |
| US08015575B2 |
Disk device with insertion slot capable of preventing double loading of disks
An optical disk device has a casing, an insertion slot and a loading mechanism for loading a disk. A shutter is shiftable transversely to an elongate slot shape of the insertion slot, closes the insertion slot partially when in a closed position, and opens the insertion slot when in an open position. A coupling hole is disposed at an end of the shutter with respect to the elongate slot shape. A shift lever moves the coupling hole in a first direction along the elongate slot shape upon shifting of the loading mechanism for loading, and moves the coupling hole in a second direction upon shifting of the loading mechanism for unloading. A cam mechanism shifts the shutter to the closed position when the coupling hole is moved in the first direction, and shifts the shutter to the open position when the coupling hole is moved in the second direction. |
| US08015574B2 |
Method, system and computer program product for a lightweight directory access protocol client application program interface
A device, including a computer readable medium storing executable computer instructions for implementing an application program interface (API). The API including a function call for enabling communications between a calling application and a client on the device, the client communicating with a directory server. In another aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium, including executable computer instructions for implementing an application program interface (API) on a device. The API, including a function call for enabling communications between a calling application and a client on the device, the client communicating with a directory server. |
| US08015570B2 |
Arbitration mechanisms to deal with conflicting applications and user data
An arbitration policy resolves software applications operating on a single unit of data in a manner conflicting with other applications that operates on the same data or properties of the data. This is accomplished through picking an entity type of one application to have priority over an entity type of another application when both entity types map to a same property which caused the conflict. This allows user to observe the data in a consistent manner when switching between applications. |
| US08015568B2 |
Disk drive/CPU architecture for distributed computing
A disk drive is described which executes distributed computing tasks including a CPU and associated memory. The communication interface with the host computer is modified to allow the host computer to send executable code for a task to the drive and to allow the drive to communicate the results and status information about the task to the host computer. In a preferred embodiment the disk drive has a task control program, task program code, task data and status information for the distributed task. In alternative embodiments, the disk drive can communicate with other similar disk drives in the bus to provide the results of computation to the other processors. The RAM memory, and mass storage are intimately connected through the associated hard disk controller such that the exact location of the required data and program instructions are known. |
| US08015566B2 |
Attributing energy consumption to individual code threads in a data processing system
A data processing system attributes energy consumption to individual program segments or threads includes a processor that executes a first thread during a first portion of a measurement interval and a second thread during a second portion of the interval. An energy monitor measures the total energy during the interval. Energy attribution code attributes a first amount of the total energy to the first thread and a second amount to the second thread based in part on the execution times of the threads. The code may define a range of possible energy values by determining maximum and minimum energy constraints for the threads. The invention may also be extended to a multiprocessor environment and to a simultaneous multithreading (SMT) processor. In addition, the process may be expanded to determine energy consumed by various peripheral units such as hard disk controllers and the like. |
| US08015564B1 |
Method of dispatching tasks in multi-processor computing environment with dispatching rules and monitoring of system status
An embodiment of a method of dispatching tasks in a multi-processor computing environment begins with a step of a dispatcher within the multi-processor computing environment receiving job properties for a plurality of jobs to be processed in the multi-processor computing environment. Each job comprises at least one task. In a second step, the dispatcher employs an initial dispatching rule to assign an initial subset of tasks to processors within the multi-processor computing environment. The method continues with a third step of the dispatcher monitoring system status of the multi-processor computing environment. In a fourth step, the dispatcher selects a second dispatching rule from a plurality of dispatching rules in response to a change in the system status. In a fifth step, the dispatcher employs the second dispatching rule to assign a second subset of tasks to the processors. |
| US08015557B2 |
Methods and apparatus to support mixed-mode execution within a single instruction set architecture process of a virtual machine
Methods and apparatus to support the execution of a managed application that is linked to a native library or application are disclosed. The disclosed methods and apparatus support a virtual machine that is associated with the same ISA as the executing platform, while the ISA of the native library or application is of a different ISA. The disclosed methods and apparatus also support the execution of a managed application that is linked with several native libraries or applications that are associated with several different ISAs respectively. |
| US08015555B2 |
Automaton loop construct (ALC) and method of performing program optimization using the ALC
A method, apparatus and computer program product for performing program optimization using Automaton Loop Construct (ALC) is presented. At least one ALC is defined and a program is constructed utilizing the at least one ALC. The program is optimized, the optimizing including pre-computing as much output as possible using the at least one ALC, the optimizing resulting in optimized program code. |
| US08015554B2 |
Source-to-source transformation for language dialects
An analysis and source-to-source transformation framework covers dialects of programming languages that lack formal definition for all individual dialects. Multiple instantiations of the same compiler front-end tools can be used with different settings to create distinct intermediate forms and maps. Intermediate forms and maps are used in an individual analysis and source-to-source transformation context, and performing the analysis and source-to-source transformation thereupon. A unified tool set is desirably provided, including standard compiler front-end tools and code transformation/generation tools, wherein source code edits are carried out in order to make the source code more amenable to translation to intermediate forms. The analysis results or intermediate forms created by individual tools are used by other tools as well as further analyzed to create a map of the regions of validity and invalidity of the intermediate forms, and tracking the source-code edits performed in order to obtain the same. Among other benefits, this provides a choice of the best tools combination for maximum code analysis coverage. |
| US08015552B1 |
Post-execution software debugger with coverage display
A method of validating a testing procedure in a computer program is disclosed. A sequence of machine code instructions performed by a processor is recorded as trace data. Further, a mapping file is accessed. In addition, a source line is translated into a plurality of machine code instructions according to a mapping found in the mapping file. Accordingly, at least a portion of the trace data is searched through to determine whether each machine instruction in the plurality of machine instructions has been executed. An indication is displayed of whether any of the machine instructions in the plurality of machine instructions has been executed. |
| US08015542B1 |
System and method for creating a graphical program which invokes methods and properties of objects
A method for developing an automation client program in a graphical programming environment is disclosed. The graphical programming environment provides a set of automation nodes and controls which may be dropped and wired together to create a graphical program. The nodes include an automation refnum which references a user-selected automation class from an automation type library; an automation open node which instantiates an object from the selected automation class; an automation invoke node which invokes a user-selected method of the automation class; and an automation property node which invokes, i.e., reads or writes, user-selected properties of the automation class. The nodes enable the displaying, manipulating, cataloging, editing or performance other operations, such as may be performed by an automation server, on data acquired or generated by a virtual instrument. A method for performing class propagation and type propagation checking of automation objects in a graphical program is also disclosed. |
| US08015541B1 |
Business process technology for the enterprise
A system, method and computer program that enables an application designer to automate the process of software development and develop business applications by modeling the constituent business process models is provided. After identifying the business requirements in terms of the underlying business processes, the same are modeled visually using the inter-relationships across processes. The modeling activity is accomplished by using the visual modeling environment in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which, among other tools comprises a set of abstract business components. Each business process is viewed as a collection of business tasks. Each business task is modeled as an instance of an abstract business component. The instance acquires process-specific context with process-specific parameters input by the application designer. Such tasks are then connected together as required for the business process. A runtime execution module of the system executes these business processes at the user's request. |
| US08015540B2 |
Method and system for reducing inter-layer capacitance in integrated circuits
The present invention is directed to a method and system of intelligent dummy filling placement to reduce inter-layer capacitance caused by overlaps of dummy filling area on successive layers. The method and system treats each consecutive pair of layers together so as to minimize dummy filling overlaps between each layer. In particular, dummy fill features on each layer may be placed in a checkerboard pattern to avoid overlaps. As such, the present invention may eliminate large overlap area of the dummy patterns on consecutive layers by utilizing intelligent dummy filling placement. |
| US08015539B2 |
Method and apparatus for performance metric compatible control of data transmission signals
The DC offset of a differential signal can be changed by differentially shifting the DC offset of each of its signals. Techniques are presented for changing, in a controlled way, the DC offset of a differential signal as received by a receiver of a data transmission system. Several classes of example embodiments, utilizing digitally controllable voltage or current sources, are presented. The classes differ based upon such factors as coupling capacitor arrangement and use of termination resistors. Specific embodiments, within each class, differ based upon such factors as whether voltage or current sources are used and the characteristics of such sources. Once the DC offset of a differential signal has been changed, the effect of such change on a performance metric can be measured. Example applications include the ability to determine a differential signal level that results in BER having a particular level and determination of differential signal margin. |
| US08015538B2 |
Design structure with a deep sub-collector, a reach-through structure and trench isolation
The invention relates to noise isolation in semiconductor devices, and a design structure on which a subject circuit resides. A design structure is embodied in a machine readable medium used in a design process. The design structure includes a deep sub-collector located in a first epitaxial layer, and a doped region located in a second epitaxial layer, which is above the first epitaxial layer. The design structure further includes a reach-through structure penetrating from a surface of the device through the first and second epitaxial layers to the deep sub-collector, and a trench isolation structure penetrating from a surface of the device and surrounding the doped region. |
| US08015532B2 |
Optimal timing-driven cloning under linear delay model
A timing-driven cloning method iteratively partitions sinks of the net into different sets of clusters and for each set computes a figure of merit for a cloned gate location which optimizes timing based on linear delay, that is, a delay proportional to the distance between the cloned gate location and the sinks. The set having the highest figure of merit is selected as the best solution. The original gate may also be moved to a timing-optimized location. The sinks are advantageously partitioned using boundaries of Voronoi polygons defined by a diamond region surrounding the original gate, or vice versa. The figure of merit may be for example worst slack, a sum of slacks at the sinks in the second cluster, or a linear combination of worst slack and sum of the slacks. |
| US08015531B1 |
Deferred parameterization
Mechanisms are provided to allow programmable chip systems to support parameter ranges or a parameter space instead of fixed parameters. A system parameter such as signal width, frequency, clock rate, may be accessed and changed at run-time instead of requiring regeneration and reimplementation of the programmable chip system. Optimized parameter values can be determined and used to generate a programmable chip system having fixed parameter values. |
| US08015525B2 |
System and method for accommodating non-gaussian and non-linear sources of variation in statistical static timing analysis
There is provided a system and method for statistical timing analysis and optimization of an electrical circuit having two or more digital elements. The system includes at least one parameter input and a statistical static timing analyzer and electrical circuit optimizer. The at least one parameter input is for receiving parameters of the electrical circuit. At least one of the parameters has at least one of a non-Gaussian probability distribution and a non-linear delay effect. The statistical static timing analyzer and electrical circuit optimizer is for calculating at least one of a signal arrival time and a signal required time for the electrical circuit using the at least one parameter and for modifying a component size of the electrical circuit to alter gate timing characteristics of the electrical circuit based upon the at least one of the signal arrival time and the signal required time. |
| US08015521B2 |
Method and system for performing sequential equivalence checking on integrated circuit (IC) designs
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that performs sequential equivalence checking between integrated circuit (IC) designs. During operation, the system receives a first IC design and a second IC design. Each of the first and second IC designs includes a top design level and a bottom design level, and the bottom design levels include one or more sub-blocks within the corresponding top design levels. The system then verifies if each of the sub-blocks in the bottom design level of the first design is conditionally equivalent to a corresponding sub-block in the second design. Note that two designs are conditionally equivalent if the two designs can become sequentially equivalent by adding registers on the input and output ports of the two designs. The system additionally verifies if the top design level of the first design is conditionally equivalent to the top design level of the second design and if the first design is temporally equivalent to the second design. |
| US08015520B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for automated circuit optimization and verification
Methods and apparatuses to automatically determine conditions at hierarchical boundaries of a hierarchical circuit design and to use the determined conditions in hierarchical optimization and verification. In one embodiment, a hierarchical block is optimized and transformed during design synthesis using one or more lemmas at the boundary of the hierarchical block. For example, the lemmas are automatically generated to specify range information for input boundary nodes. The lemmas are also used for the equivalence checker to perform hierarchical equivalence checking. Equivalence of hierarchical blocks is individually checked, in view of the lemmas. Thus, based on the lemmas, optimizations across hierarchical boundaries can be performed, while the hierarchical structure of the design is preserved so that equivalence checking of hierarchical circuit designs can still be based on the equivalence of individual hierarchical blocks. |
| US08015517B1 |
Library sizing
A cell library is automatically designed. An emphasis of a design methodology is on automatic determination of the desired or needed cell sizes and variants. This method exploits different variants on drive strengths, P/N ratios, topology variants, internal buffering, and so forth. The method allows generating libraries that are more suitable for efficient timing closure. |
| US08015515B2 |
Display designing system and method for designing a display
A display designing system and a method thereof. The display designing system includes a variety of operation modules and an integration module. After receiving initial parameters and selecting operation type parameters, the operation modules generate operation results and transfer the operation results to the integration module. The integration module integrates the operation results and generates a correspondence relation, such as an operation window, a compare-table and an equation. The integration module then transfers the operation results and the correspondence relation to the output module. The output module displays effect variations of a variety of designs corresponding to the initial parameters. Therefore, the method can provide a user with an easy way to obtain ideal design parameters for designing a display pixel circuit. |
| US08015510B2 |
Interconnection modeling for semiconductor fabrication process effects
In one embodiment, an interconnect object in a layout of an integrated circuit design to be created with a photolithographic process is determined. The interconnect object includes a width and a length in the layout. A contour generation of the interconnect object in a drawn design is determined based on processing variation factors for the photolithographic process, which produces a generated contour object. A plurality of segments in the generated contour object may be determined based on processing variations. Segments are then broken up based on the processing variations that result. An adjusted width and adjusted length for each of the plurality of segments of the generated contour object are then determined. Resistances and capacitances may be extracted using the adjusted widths and adjusted lengths. Then, the output of the LVS tool may be sent to a SPICE simulation to verify the electrical behavior of the interconnect. |
| US08015506B2 |
Customizing a menu in a discovery interface
A system provides customized user interface data to a media application, such as a media discovery interface, or to any application for that matter, thereby extending the original application. Via a network connection, elements of a menu in a user interface can be downloaded to the application in a package of resources, including images, text, and links. A user interface framework of the media application processes a menu markup data resident on the local computer system and utilizes packaged resources, local code components, and externally-obtained (e.g., Web resources) to render a customized menu for the media application. |
| US08015502B2 |
Dynamic layout for a search engine results page on implicit user feedback
The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for providing dynamic search results based upon historical data through the use of one or more widgets. The method of the present invention comprises receiving a request for content from a client and generating one or more widgets for providing search result content. A display profile is applied to the one or more widgets and the one or more widgets are combined with static search results to form a search result page that is provided to a requesting client. |
| US08015500B2 |
Data retrieval device with function for modifying retrieval condition classes
When a digital camera is set to retrieval mode, a map-style retrieval screen having a matrix structure is displayed on a display device. The digital camera searches for images photographed in the regions corresponding to each cell in the matrix structure, based on shooting location information appended to the images. The number of found images is displayed within each cell. When the user inputs a zoom in or zoom out command, the regions corresponding to each cell are made smaller or larger, according to the command. At the same time, a new retrieval is performed for images photographed in the regions corresponding to each of the modified cells. The number displayed within each cell is updated according to the number of images found in the new retrieval. When a single cell is selected, a list view of the images photographed in the region corresponding to the selected cell is displayed. |
| US08015497B2 |
Folding text in side conversations
An example of a solution provided here comprises receiving a signal for sending in a side conversation, and in response to the signal for sending, sending a first portion of text, in a side conversation. The first portion of text is new, and the first portion of text is not necessarily revealed to some participants. |
| US08015493B2 |
Data processing method and data processing system
A data processing method is disclosed which includes the steps of: (a) generating edit data which includes a unique material identifier for uniquely identifying material data to be edited and of edit content of the material data; (b) generating management data indicative of the unique material identifier in association with a storage location where the material data identified by the unique material identifier are stored; (c) specifying the storage location where the material data associated with the unique material identifier included in the edit data generated in step (a) are stored, on the basis of the management data generated in step (b); and (d) acquiring the material data from the storage location specified in step (c). |
| US08015486B2 |
Method of and apparatus for displaying messages on a mobile terminal
A method and apparatus simultaneously displays the main text and/or more attached filed of a message received in a mobile terminal. This simultaneous display allows a user to confirm the main text and attached files in the message. The main text and attached files may be shown in respective areas of the display. |
| US08015485B2 |
Multidimensional web page ruler
A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for managing the spatial coordinates and visual attributes of objects within a user interface (UI). A Web UI ruler is executed within a UI comprising a plurality of objects. A first object and second object are selected. The Web UI Ruler then collects the spatial coordinate and visual attribute values for the first and second object and their relationship values are determined. The spatial coordinate and visual attribute values for the first and second objects, along with their corresponding relationship values, are modified and the modifications are applied to the target objects. The values are then stored in the Web UI ruler. These values can then be subsequently applied to one or more target objects. Alternatively, the stored values are exported as a cascading style sheet (CSS) class, which can then likewise be subsequently applied to one or more target objects. |
| US08015484B2 |
Reputation system for web pages and online entities
A method for providing a measure of trust for each participant in a network is disclosed, together with a method to calculate it automatically. In particular, a method for rating online entities, such as online identities is provided, which also takes into account the reputation of the raters. |
| US08015482B2 |
Dynamic anchoring of annotations to editable content
Described is the annotating of computer document content, particularly editable content, by saving annotations in a separate annotation store, and mapping the annotations back to the content. By mapping, no data are added to the original content at runtime, and only minimal data need be added to the content when persisted. An annotation is anchored to a piece of runtime content, such as upon creation of the annotation, by maintaining annotation data as well as start and end pointers mapped to the annotated piece. Upon saving the content, information (e.g., an anchor marker including an identifier) is persisted with the piece of content to allow the annotation to be re-anchored to the piece upon subsequent reload. For example, when loading content from persistent storage that includes an annotation identifier, the annotation identifier is processed to locate a start and end of the portion and an annotation in the annotation store. |
| US08015480B2 |
System and method for media stream indexing and synchronization
An indexing system and method for allowing a viewer to control the mode of delivery of program material. By mapping from time to data position, data delivery can begin at any selected time in the program material. The indexing method also provides for controlling data delivery to begin at the beginning of a frame of data. A synchronizing method is provided to minimize a time offset between audio and video data, particularly in environments using groups of pictures. |
| US08015479B2 |
Information processing apparatus, electronic document processing method, and storage medium
An information processing apparatus stores an application format electronic document having a data structure containing content data, time information, and a program for monitoring the time information. At timing such as the time of power-on, the application format electronic document is loaded to a RAM to be started. Accordingly, the started program can monitor the time information of the application format electronic document. |
| US08015476B2 |
CRC syndrome generation for multiple data input widths
A sequence of cyclic redundancy check syndromes can be produced based on a received sequence of sets of parallel data wherein different ones of the sets can have respectively different parallel data widths. Some of the syndromes are produced based on respectively corresponding ones of the sets that each have a first parallel data width. At least one of the syndromes is produced based on a corresponding at least one of the sets that has a second parallel data width that is less than the first parallel data width. The last syndrome of the sequence of syndromes corresponds to all of the data in the received sequence of sets. |
| US08015474B2 |
Adaptive forward error correction
There are described apparatus and methods for adaptive forward error correction (FEC), one use being for video streaming over a wireless network. The apparatus includes an FEC encoder and an adaptive FEC device. The FEC encoder is for encoding k packets of source data into n packets, where n>k, and the n packets include redundant packets. The adaptive FEC device is for adaptively determining a number of the redundant packets to transmit with the encoded k packets, based upon receiving one or more feedback messages. The one or more feedback messages indicate a condition of the wireless network over which the encoded video is to be transmitted. |
| US08015472B1 |
Triple parity technique for enabling efficient recovery from triple failures in a storage array
A triple parity (TP) technique reduces overhead of computing diagonal and anti-diagonal parity for a storage array adapted to enable efficient recovery from the concurrent failure of three storage devices in the array. The diagonal parity is computed along diagonal parity sets that collectively span all data disks and a row parity disk of the array. The parity for all of the diagonal parity sets except one is stored on the diagonal parity disk. Similarly, the anti-diagonal parity is computed along anti-diagonal parity sets that collectively span all data disks and a row parity disk of the array. The parity for all of the anti-diagonal parity sets except one is stored on the anti-diagonal parity disk. The TP technique provides a uniform stripe depth and an optimal amount of parity information. |
| US08015471B2 |
Symbol rate hardware accelerator
A hardware accelerator includes a first buffer, a second buffer, address generator(s), a translation read-only memory (ROM), a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) generator, a convolutional encoder and a controller. The first and second buffers store information bits. The address generator(s) generate(s) an address for accessing the first buffer, the second buffer and a shared memory architecture (SMA). The translation ROM is used in generating a translated address for accessing the first buffer and the second buffer. The controller sets parameters for the CRC generator, the convolutional encoder and the address generator, and performs a predefined sequence of control commands for channel processing, such as reordering, block coding, parity tailing, puncturing, convolutional encoding, and interleaving, on the information bits by manipulating the information bits while moving the information bits among the first buffer, the second buffer, the SMA, the CRC generator, and the convolutional encoder. |
| US08015467B2 |
Communication system, communication apparatus and communication method
In an interpretation interval INTALL used in a communication system, there are provided a future-direction interval INTF associated with a 5-bit sequence number (LastSendAckNum) transmitted after LastSendAckNum ±0, and a past-direction interval INTP associated with a 5-bit sequence number (LastSendAckNum) transmitted prior to LastSendAckNum ±0. A transmitter side encodes a 13-bit sequence number into the 5-bit sequence number while setting, as an upper limit, the 5-bit sequence number associated with the future-direction interval INTF. |
| US08015462B2 |
Test circuit
A test circuit including a TAP controller specified in IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1149 and a test access port includes a first controller including a selecting circuit and a first TAP controller, the selecting circuit generating an internal TMS signal in accordance with TMS signal and selecting an output destination of the internal TMS signal in accordance with a selection signal, and the first TAP controller changing internal state based on the internal TMS signal, testing corresponding test target block in accordance with instruction code for test, and generating the selection signal in accordance with instruction code for selection, and a second controller including a second TAP controller changing internal state based on the internal TMS signal and testing corresponding test target block in accordance with the instruction code for test. |
| US08015456B2 |
Network fault manager for maintaining alarm conditions
The network fault manager described herein may generate an alarm data table having various columns and rows respectively corresponding to different alarm data fields and different alarms. The alarm data table may be associated with a primary key that includes a subset of the different data fields in the multiple columns to uniquely represent the different alarms in the multiple rows. In response to removing one or more of the different alarm data fields in the subset from the primary key, the primary key may non-uniquely represent the different alarms in a plurality of the multiple rows. Thus, the alarm data table may be collapsed to combine the different alarms non-uniquely represented in the plurality of the multiple rows into one combined row uniquely representing the different alarms, whereby the collapsed alarm data table may replace the plurality of the multiple rows with the combined row. |
| US08015455B1 |
Self-service terminal for making deposits and for permitting withdrawals
Apparatus and methods for initiating remediation of a condition in an electronic self-service device. The apparatus and methods may involve a receiver module and a processor module. The receiver module may receive a fault condition message corresponding to a fault condition in the electronic self-service device. The processor module may conditionally initiate an automatic remedy corresponding to the fault condition if the automatic remedy is available in the electronic self-service device. The processor module may transmit information relating to the fault condition to a remote platform if the automatic remedy is not available in the electronic self-service device. |
| US08015454B1 |
Computer systems and methods for predictive performance management of data transactions
Systems and methods are disclosed for monitoring and managing data transactions, such as SQL transactions. In certain examples, a management subsystem generates an alert identifying degrading database transactions to facilitate preventative tuning or other maintenance. In particular, a monitor module tracks performance measurements (e.g., logical reads) of select transactions. A modeler correlates the performance measurements and assigns first performance model(s) to represent the performance measurements and predicted performance measurements of a particular transaction. A trend change module detects a significant change in a trend and/or variance of the performance measurements and can cause the modeler module to generate a second performance model to represent at least a portion of the performance measurements and the predicted performance measurements of the particular transaction. An interface module triggers an alert when the second performance model indicates that the predicted performance measurements of the particular transaction are degrading at or above a threshold rate. |
| US08015446B2 |
User interface for a remote control application
A hand-held electronic device having a remote control application user interface that functions to displays operational mode information to a user. The graphical user interface may be used, for example, to setup the remote control application to control appliances for one or more users in one or more rooms, to perform activities, and to access favorites. The remote control application is also adapted to be upgradeable. Furthermore, the remote control application provides for the sharing of operational mode information. |
| US08015441B2 |
Verification of computer backup data
A backup method for a computer system network avoids generating hashes from data that may be inaccurate due to network errors affords verification of source data written to backup media includes reading at a network client a portion of the source data from a source storage volume and generating a hash of the source data at the client. The source data and hash are transmitted to a backup server and written to the backup media. The hash is written to the backup media is associated with the backup data corresponding to the source data from which the hash was generated. Verification of the backup data is performed by reading the backup data from the backup media, generating a hash from the backup data read, and comparing that hash with the hash originally stored on the backup media. This enables the backup data to be verified as corresponding to the original source data without the necessity of rereading the source data from the source volume, and enables faster, more accurate off-line verification subsequent to the backup process. |
| US08015438B2 |
Memory circuit
The invention provides a memory circuit comprising a plurality of storage cells for storing data and redundant spare storage cells for replacing defective storage cells, and a memory access logic for accessing said storage cells connected to a replacement setting register which is writeable during operation of said memory circuit to store replacement settings. |
| US08015437B2 |
Restoring data to a distributed storage node
A method is disclosed for operating a data storage system having one or more network interfaces and a plurality of data storage nodes configured to provide redundant storage locations. The method includes storing a set of node partitions on a given storage node of the plurality of data storage nodes. The method also includes, following a recovery by the given storage node from a malfunction, making a determination for a node partition in the set whether the node partition is current or noncurrent, and processing the node partition according to the determination. |
| US08015433B2 |
Disk drive with nonvolatile memory for storage of failure-related data
A disk drive that includes nonvolatile memory monitors the drive's reliability-related parameters to detect real or potential failure events, and records failure-related data in nonvolatile memory, rather than in reserved areas of the disks. The monitoring may be by running a diagnostic routine or by regular or periodic monitoring of disk drive sensors, like temperature and shock sensors. The failure events to be monitored and recorded may include defective data sectors. When a new defective sector is detected after the disk drive has been put into operation, that defective sector is taken out of service and its logical block address (LBA) is mapped to a memory space in the nonvolatile memory rather to a reserved spare sector on the disk. When a read or write command is received for an LBA range that includes the defective sector's LBA, the defective sector is skipped while the whole LBA range of the command is processed and the user data for the defective sector's LBA is read from or written to the mapped memory space in the nonvolatile memory. |
| US08015432B1 |
Method and apparatus for providing computer failover to a virtualized environment
A method and apparatus for providing failover to a virtualized environment. The method and apparatus comprise a standby node having a virtualized environment that supports a plurality of resource partitions that operate within the standby node upon a failover of a server within a computer system. |
| US08015425B1 |
Power reduction techniques for components in integrated circuits
Optimizing the power used in an integrated circuit. A circuit-level transformation/permutation reduces the power consumed by multipliers or other components in integrated circuits. Signals that toggle frequently are assigned to lower power multiplier ports or the number of times a signal changes value is minimized. Large width signals are assigned to the low power port. Large multipliers are divided up and optimized as above. Pipelined multipliers are used with registers so that signals change together. |
| US08015417B2 |
Remote access system, gateway, client device, program, and storage medium
Disclosed is a secure remote access system for improving convenience of a user by utilizing a storage device including an anti-tampering device as a user authentication device in the secure remote access system for making access and execution of job while a user is making the encrypted communication to a server from an unspecified client. Usability can be improved and thereby the job executing function can be used smoothly at the internal and external sides of the working office by providing a server client system where the server can be manipulated remotely by distributing a storage device loading the authorized anti-tampering device to users, connecting the storage device to unspecified clients by users, and using the authentication information and application stored in the storage device. A remote access system having improved security and convenient during usage of client from the user can also be provided by reducing the secret information remaining in the manipulated client. |
| US08015416B2 |
Memory information protection system and methods
An information processing apparatus causes an encryption key data generating section to generate key data stored in a semiconductor memory by using encryption key source data read from the semiconductor memory and cipher generation data stored therein, and stores the key data in a temporary storage section. The information processing apparatus transmits data encrypted by an encryption circuit by using the key data. Upon receipt of the encrypted data, the semiconductor memory executes a command decrypted by a decryption circuit similarly using the key data. This achieves data communication only between the predetermined semiconductor memory and the information processing apparatus. |
| US08015415B1 |
Form count licensing
The present invention provides methods and apparatus that implement techniques for detecting modifications of a form template. The techniques feature receiving a document containing a template definition, and receiving one or more modifications to the document. The techniques further feature identifying one or more data bind nodes within the template definition. The techniques also feature finding any corresponding predetermined hash associated with the document for each of the identified data bind nodes. The techniques additionally feature calculating a hash for each identified data bind node, and comparing the calculated hash for each identified data bind node with the corresponding predetermined hash. The techniques further feature flagging the document if either the calculated hash for each data bind node does not match up with the corresponding predetermined hash or if no corresponding predetermined hash exists for one or more of the data bind nodes. |
| US08015414B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing fraud detection using connection frequency thresholds
An approach provides detection of unauthorized use of data services. A determination is made as to whether connections supporting remote access to a data network are completed. The number of completed connections associated with a selected attribute is tracked over a time period. It is then determined whether the number of completed connections satisfies a connection frequency threshold. A fraud alert is generated if the connection frequency threshold is satisfied. |
| US08015410B2 |
Data processing apparatus and method
A data processing apparatus is operable to identify one of a plurality of code words present in a watermarked version of a material item. The marked version is formed by combining each of a plurality of parts of a code word with one of a plurality of units from which the material item is comprised. The apparatus comprises a recovery processor operable to recover at least one part of the code word from a corresponding unit of the marked material item, and a correlator. The correlator is operable to generate for the marked material unit, a dependent correlation value for the part of the code word recovered from the material unit and the corresponding part of at least one of the re-generated code words from the set. A detector is operable to determine whether at least one of the code words is present in the marked material item from the dependent correlation value for the part of the code word exceeding a predetermined threshold. The data processor may detect the presence of the code word with improved probability, in particular when parts of the material have been corrupted. |
| US08015407B2 |
Pre-control of a program in an additional chip card of a terminal
Prior to the execution of a program contained in a second chip card inserted in a terminal such as a mobile radio telephone terminal, in addition to a first chip card containing data and connected to a telecommunication network to which the terminal is linked, one of the cards is authenticated by the other, or the two cards are authenticated mutually. This double authentication ensures the authenticity of the program for its overall execution in the terminal and the origin of the second card, distributed through conventional channels, for the network operator. |
| US08015399B2 |
Communication apparatus, communication system, certificate transmission method and program
A communication apparatus includes an authentication part for authenticating another communication apparatus with a first digital certificate, and a certificate transmission part for transmitting a second digital certificate when the authentication part succeeds in authenticating the other communication apparatus with the first digital certificate. |
| US08015398B2 |
Set membership proofs in data processing systems
A method and apparatus for proving and a method and apparatus for verifying that a secret value is a member of a predetermined set of values. The proving mechanism receives a set of signatures which has respective values in the predetermined set signed using a private key. The proving mechanism sends to the verifying mechanism a commitment on the secret value of the proving mechanism. The proving mechanism and verifying mechanism then communicate to implement a proof of knowledge protocol demonstrating knowledge by the proving mechanism of a signature on the secret value committed to in the commitment, thus proving that the secret value is a member of the predetermined set. |
| US08015397B2 |
System and method for determining an optimum number of remotely-booted information handling systems
Systems and methods for reducing problems and disadvantages associate with remotely booting multiple information handling systems are disclosed. A method may include obtaining system-specific parameters regarding a system including a plurality of remotely-booted clients, the system-specific parameters including a average client boot time threshold. The method may also include generating a plurality of client boot threads based on at least one or more of the system-specific parameters. The method may additionally include measuring an actual average client boot time of the plurality of client boot threads. The method may further include determining a number of remotely-booted clients for substantially simultaneous remote booting based on at least the actual average client boot time and the average client boot time threshold. |
| US08015396B2 |
Method for changing booting configuration and computer system capable of booting OS
In a computer system in which a server has, in addition to a disk used for booting, an operation transfer destination disk that has the same content as the boot disk, a method for changing the disk used by the server or another server in the computer system for booting to the operation transfer destination disk is realized by changing the content of the operation transfer destination disk to enable the OS and applications installed in the operation transfer destination disk to be booted from the destination disk and by changing the setting of a boot program of the server to enable booting from the operation transfer destination disk. |
| US08015392B2 |
Updating instructions to free core in multi-core processor with core sequence table indicating linking of thread sequences for processing queued packets
A method of updating execution instructions of a multi-core processor comprising receiving execution instructions at a processor including multiple programmable processing cores integrated on a single die, selecting subset of at least one of the cores, and loading at least a portion of the execution instructions to the subset of cores and replacing existing execution instructions, associated with the first subset of programmable processing cores, with the received execution instructions while at least one of the other cores continues to process received packets, wherein a sequence of threads provided by the cores sequentially retrieve packets to process from at least one queue, the sequence proceeding from a subsequence of at least one thread of one core to a subsequence of at least one thread on another core and wherein the sequence of threads is specified by data identifying, at least, the next core in the sequence. |
| US08015390B1 |
Dissimilar processor synchronization in fly-by-wire high integrity computing platforms and displays
A flight control system includes an output device, a first processor, and a second processor. The second processor is dissimilar to the first processor. The flight control system also includes a first arbitration device coupled to the first processor and a second arbitration device coupled to the second processor. The second arbitration device is configured to coordinate transaction synchronization with the first arbitration device and the first arbitration device is configured to coordinate transaction synchronization with the second arbitration device. A comparator processor is coupled to the first arbitration device and the second arbitration device. The comparator processor is configured to compare transaction synchronized outputs of the first and second processors and the comparator processor effectuates a command to the output device if the comparison is valid. |
| US08015389B2 |
Memory device, memory controller and memory system
An image memory, image memory system, and memory controller that are capable of efficiently accessing a rectangular area of two-dimensionally arrayed data are provided. The memory device has: a memory cell array that has a plurality of memory unit areas, each of which is selected by addresses; a plurality of input/output terminals; and an input/output unit provided between the memory cell array and the plurality of input/output terminals. Each of the memory unit areas stores therein data of a plurality of bytes or bits corresponding to the plurality of input/output terminals respectively, and the memory cell array and the input/output unit access a plurality of bytes or bits stored in a first memory unit area corresponding to the input address and in a second memory unit area adjacent to the first memory unit on the basis of the input address and combination information of the bytes or bits in response to a first operation code, and then, from the plurality of bytes or bits within the accessed first and second memory unit areas, associate a combination of the plurality of bytes or bits based on the combination information, with the plurality of input/output terminals. |
| US08015383B2 |
System, method and program to manage virtual memory allocated by a virtual machine control program
Management of virtual memory allocated by a virtual machine control program to a plurality of virtual machines. Each of the virtual machines has an allocation of virtual private memory divided into working memory, cache memory and swap memory. The virtual machine control program determines that it needs additional virtual memory allocation, and in response, makes respective requests to the virtual machines to convert some of their respective working memory and/or cache memory to swap memory. At another time, the virtual machine control program determines that it needs less virtual memory allocation, and in response, makes respective requests to the virtual machines to convert some of their respective swap memory to working memory and/or cache memory. |
| US08015376B2 |
Methods and systems for management of copies of a mapped storage volume
Methods and systems for rapid creation of copies of a mapped storage volume. A new copy of a mapped storage volume is created by copying the mapping table and updating meta-data associated with the new copy and any ancestral parents thereof. The physical blocks remain untouched when creating a new copy as does any meta-data associated with the physical blocks. Rather, reference meta-data associated with each physical block is updated only in response to processing of a write request to an identified block of an identified copy of the mapped storage volume. Thus copy creation is rapid as compared to prior techniques reliant on reference counters. |
| US08015374B2 |
Method, system and computer program for backing-up data with centralized control
A back-up solution (300) is proposed for use in a data processing system, wherein different host machines support multiple guest machines. For this purpose, a master one of the host machines owns (306) a scheduling file, which indicates which guest systems are enabled to back-up their data, and when the back-up process must be performed. Every day, each other host machine verifies (309-318) whether the corresponding guest machines are included in the scheduling file for the current day. If so, the path of the respective data to be backed-up is added (324-330) to a control file on the master host machine. At the end of the procedure, the master host machine may then back-up the required data of the different guest machines (as indicated in the control file); at the same time, any critical guest machine automatically shuts-down (342-345), so as to ensure the consistency of the corresponding backed-up data. |
| US08015372B2 |
Apparatus and method for memory migration in a distributed memory multiprocessor system
A distributed memory multiprocessor system including a plurality of cells interconnected via an inter-cell network, each of the plurality of cells including at least one cache, a memory, a memory controller, and a directory managing a status of data stored in the memory, the distributed memory multiprocessor system includes a directory information updating unit of a first cell that updates the directory of the first cell, and a directory information transmitting unit of a second cell that transmits the directory information contained in the directory of the second cell. The directory information transmitting unit of the second cell transmits the directory information, which is read out from the directory of the second cell, to the first cell. And, the directory information updating unit of the first cell receives the directory information transmitted by the directory information transmitting unit of the second cell and updates the directory of the first cell. |
| US08015367B1 |
Memory management methods in a computer system with shared memory mappings
A host computer system is configured to present each of multiple resident contexts with an address space that may be mapped, at least in part, to corresponding portions of a host memory. The address space of a selected context is sampled, and, for each of a plurality of sampled portions of the address space of the selected context that are backed by a corresponding portion of host memory, a count of the number of portions of address spaces of any contexts that are backed by the same portion of the host memory is obtained. A metric is then computed as a function of the count. A decision about swapping out or reclaiming the allocation of the memory of the contexts is based on the metric. The metric is preferably a function of a mean (such as harmonic, geometric or arithmetic) or median of the counts for each context. |
| US08015366B2 |
Accessing memory and processor caches of nodes in multi-node configurations
A method for communicating between nodes of a plurality of nodes is disclosed. Each node includes a plurality of processors and an interconnect chipset. The method issues a request for data from a processor in a first node and passes the request for data to other nodes through an expansion port (or scalability port). The method also starts an access of a memory in response to the request for data and snoops a processor cache of each processor in each node. The method accordingly identifies the location of the data in either the processor cache or memory in the node having the processor issuing the request or in a processor cache or memory of another node. |
| US08015365B2 |
Reducing back invalidation transactions from a snoop filter
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for receiving an indication of a pending capacity eviction from a caching agent, determining whether an invalidating writeback transaction from the caching agent is likely for a cache line associated with the pending capacity eviction, and if so moving a snoop filter entry associated with the cache line from a snoop filter to a staging area. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08015363B2 |
Cache consistency in a multiprocessor system with shared memory
A process to make the cache memory of a processor consistent includes the processor processing a request to write data to an address in its memory marked as being in the shared state. The address is transmitted to the other processors, data are written into the processor's cache memory and the address changes to the modified state. An appended memory associated with the processor memorizes the address, the data and an associated marker in a first state. The processor then receives the address with an indicator. If the indicator indicates that the processor must perform the operation and if the associated marker is in the first state, the data are kept in the modified state. If the indicator does not indicate that the processor must perform the operation and if the processor receives an order to mark the data to be in the invalid state, the marker changes to a second state. |
| US08015362B2 |
Method and system for handling cache coherency for self-modifying code
A method for handling cache coherency includes allocating a tag when a cache line is not exclusive in a data cache for a store operation, and sending the tag and an exclusive fetch for the line to coherency logic. An invalidation request is sent within a minimum amount of time to an I-cache, preferably only if it has fetched to the line and has not been invalidated since, which request includes an address to be invalidated, the tag, and an indicator specifying the line is for a PSC operation. The method further includes comparing the request address against stored addresses of prefetched instructions, and in response to a match, sending a match indicator and the tag to an LSU, within a maximum amount of time. The match indicator is timed, relative to exclusive data return, such that the LSU can discard prefetched instructions following execution of the store operation that stores to a line subject to an exclusive data return, and for which the match is indicated. |
| US08015360B2 |
Memory system having nonvolatile and buffer memories, and reading method thereof
Disclosed is a method for reading data in a memory system including a buffer memory and a nonvolatile memory, the method being comprised of: determining whether an input address in a read request is allocated to the buffer memory; determining whether a size of requested data is larger than a reference unless the input address is allocated to the buffer memory; and conducting a prefetch reading operation from the nonvolatile memory if the requested data size is larger than the reference. |
| US08015356B2 |
Fast hit override
In one embodiment, a cache comprises a tag memory and a comparator. The tag memory is configured to store tags of cache blocks stored in the cache, and is configured to output at least one tag responsive to an index corresponding to an input address. The comparator is coupled to receive the tag and a tag portion of the input address, and is configured to compare the tag to the tag portion to generate a hit/miss indication. The comparator comprises dynamic circuitry, and is coupled to receive a control signal which, when asserted, is defined to force a first result on the hit/miss indication independent of whether or not the tag portion matches the tag. The comparator also comprises circuitry coupled to receive the control signal and configured to inhibit a state change on an output of the dynamic circuitry during an evaluate phase of the dynamic circuitry to produce the first result responsive to an assertion of the control signal. |
| US08015351B2 |
Computer system having an expansion device for virtualizing a migration source logical unit
A migration destination storage creates an expansion device for virtualizing a migration source logical unit. A host computer accesses an external volume by way of an access path of a migration destination logical unit, a migration destination storage, a migration source storage, and an external volume. After destaging all dirty data accumulated in the disk cache of the migration source storage to the external volume, an expansion device for virtualizing the external volume is mapped to the migration destination logical unit. |
| US08015349B2 |
Semiconductor memory card access apparatus, a computer-readable recording medium, an initialization method, and a semiconductor memory card
A predetermined number of erasable blocks positioned at a start of a volume area in a semiconductor memory card are provided so as to include volume management information. A user area following the volume management information includes a plurality of clusters. A data length NOM of an area from a master boot record & partition table sector to a partition boot sector is determined so that the plurality of clusters in the user area are not arranged so as to straddle erasable block boundaries. Since cluster boundaries and erasable block boundaries in the user area are aligned, there is no need to perform wasteful processing in which two erasable blocks are erased to rewrite one cluster. |
| US08015347B2 |
Memory system and control method thereof
A memory system includes a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of blocks as data erase units, a measuring unit which measures an erase time at which data of each block is erased, and a block controller which writes data supplied from at least an exterior into a first block which is set in a free state and whose erase time is oldest. |
| US08015343B2 |
Providing executing programs with reliable access to non-local block data storage
Techniques are described for managing access of executing programs to non-local block data storage. In some situations, a block data storage service uses multiple server storage systems to reliably store block data that may be accessed over one or more networks by programs executing on other physical computing systems. Users may create block data storage volumes that are each stored by at least two of the server block data storage systems, and may initiate use of such volumes by one or more executing programs, such as in a reliable manner by enabling an automatic switch to a second volume copy if a first volume copy becomes unavailable. A group of multiple server block data storage systems that store block data volumes may in some situations be co-located at a data center, and programs that use volumes stored there may execute on other physical computing systems at that data center. |
| US08015339B2 |
Storage router and method for providing virtual local storage
A storage router (56) and storage network (50) provide virtual local storage on remote SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) to Fibre Channel devices. A plurality of Fibre Channel devices, such as workstations (58), are connected to a Fibre Channel transport medium (52), and a plurality of SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) are connected to a SCSI bus transport medium (54) The storage router (56) interfaces between the Fibre Channel transport medium (52) and the SCSI bus transport medium (54). The storage router (56) maps between the workstations (58) and the SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) and implements access controls for storage space on the SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64). The storage router (56) then allows access from the workstations (58) to the SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) using native low level, block protocol in accordance with the mapping and the access controls. |
| US08015337B2 |
Power efficient interrupt detection
Interrupt request detection circuitry is disclosed for detecting and outputting interrupt requests to a processor. The interrupt request detection circuitry comprises: an interrupt signal input for receiving an interrupt signal; an input for receiving a signal from the processor indicating whether the processor is currently processing an interrupt; a detection circuit for detecting an interrupt request and outputting an interrupt request signal to a data processing apparatus; disabling logic for disabling at least a portion of the detection circuitry; wherein in response to detecting the processor is currently processing an interrupt; the detection circuit is configured to detect a change in value of the interrupt signal caused by assertion of the interrupt signal indicating an interrupt request and to output an interrupt request signal to output circuitry in response to detecting the interrupt signal assertion; and in response to detecting the processor is not currently processing an interrupt; the disabling logic is configured to disable at least a portion of the detection circuit; and the detection circuit with the at least a portion disabled, is configured to output the interrupt signal as the interrupt request signal to the output circuitry. |
| US08015334B2 |
Power-on signal transmitting system and power-on signal transmitting method
The invention discloses a power-on signal transmitting system, which includes a first electronic device, a second electronic device and a cable coupled between the two electronic devices. The first electronic device includes a power-on control unit. The second electronic device includes a power-on detection unit. The cable includes at least one information wiring and a signal level wiring. The at least one information wiring is used for transmitting an information signal between the first electronic device and the second electronic device. When the second electronic device is at a power-off state, the power-on control unit of the first electronic device is used for transmitting a power-on signal through the signal level wiring to the second electronic device. The power-on detection unit senses the power-on signal and turns on the second electronic device. |
| US08015333B1 |
Method and apparatus for the detection of the end of a daisy chain
A method and apparatus for detecting the end of a daisy chain are described. A node receives an M-wide bit input, terminates K bits of the input, shifts and outputs the remaining M-K bits, and drives from the node K bits onto the output. |
| US08015329B2 |
Data transfer coherency device and methods thereof
Methods and a device for performing coherent access requests are disclosed. The methods include receiving a first address associated with a first write or read request. During a write operation, if the first address is associated with a coherent access register, data to be written is stored at a data latch that is connected to a plurality of coherent data access registers. A second address and second data associated with a second write request are received. If the second address matches the first address, the second data and the latched first data are written to the coherent access register. By latching the first data and simultaneously writing the latched first data and the second data, overall coherency of the written data is maintained. |
| US08015324B2 |
Method for data transmission
The invention relates to a method for data transmission in a serial bus system comprising a control unit and bus users. The method comprises steps: receiving a first data telegram by a bus user from the control unit, wherein the data telegram has a data field containing output data; reading out the data field intended for the bus user from the first data telegram; preparing input data as a response to the read out data field; checking whether a predefined criterion is met, wherein if the criterion is met a second data telegram is newly generated and the input data is attached to the second data telegram and if the criterion is not met, the input data is attached to a data telegram previously received from another bus user; and transmitting the input data to the control unit by the second data telegram. |
| US08015321B2 |
Computer, IO expansion device and method for recognizing connection of IO expansion device
A computer main unit and a PCI_Box (#0) are connected to each other in a loop connection manner by two paths. A first path is formed of an SMBus and a PCI_Box connection cable and a second path is formed of another PCI_Box connection cable. A monitoring and control unit (MMB) recognizes a connection path by reading out, through the second path, connection setting information written to the PCI_Box (#0) via the first path. |
| US08015319B2 |
Method, system, client and server for implementing data sync
This invention discloses a method for synchronizing a plurality of devices, including: obtaining, by a first device, an extended address of an informational node of a plurality of informational nodes of a second device, the plurality of informational nodes arranged in a hierarchical tree structure; and utilizing the extended address to locate the informational node amongst the tree structure to enable synchronization of the informational node; wherein the extended address includes a hierarchical location of the informational node. This invention further discloses a system, client and server for data sync, and the folder-level data sync can be implemented by using the method of this invention. |
| US08015318B2 |
Electronic file processor, electronic file processing program recording medium, and electronic file processing method
An electronic file processor includes an acquisition unit that acquires, through a communication network, a first electronic file having a first file format and a second electronic file having a second file format which differs from the first file format, by reference to a linkage relationship between the first electronic file and the second electronic file; a conversion unit that converts at least one of the first electronic file and the second electronic file so that the first electronic file and the second electronic file have a same file format; and a generation unit that combines the first electronic file and the second electronic file to generate a combined electronic file. |
| US08015314B1 |
Method for configuring a network element having an unknown protocol address
A method and system of simplified configuration of a network element. A network element having a direct access module and an arbitrary unknown address is coupled to a same physical subnet as a management node. The management node broadcasts a discovery broadcast to identify the existence of the network element. If a response is received indicating an address outside an access range of the management node, it sends an additional broadcast targeted to the network element force the network element to change its address to one within an access range of the management node. Once the address is changed, the management node may connect to and configure the network element using standard protocols. |
| US08015313B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing transmission of TCP data segments
A communication device is arranged to transmit data segments over an interface, wherein the communication device comprises transmission management logic. In response to receipt of a data segment for transmission over the interface, the transmission management logic is arranged to determine a sequence number of a data segment to be transmitted and compare the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted with at least one pending sequence number of a previous data segment. Based on the comparison, the transmission management logic either discards the data segment to be transmitted if the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted matches the at least one pending sequence number of the previous data segment; or adds the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted to the at least one pending sequence number and transmits the data segment over the interface if the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted does not match the at least one pending sequence number. |
| US08015302B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing media channel services
Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing media channel services are disclosed. A method includes provisioning an Internet-Protocol (IP)-enabled media channel in response to a request to create a media channel account, which includes creating an account record for the media channel account, assigning a media device identifier to the account record, assigning a network address to the IP-based media channel, and storing the network address in the account record. The method also includes populating a storage system with editable and non-editable content. The editable content is received and controlled by a user of the media channel account via a media device, and the non-editable content is controlled by a network media services application. The method further includes creating and presenting a media channel page that includes the editable and non-editable content in response to a request by the user to initiate a session for the channel. |
| US08015300B2 |
Traversal of symmetric network address translator for multiple simultaneous connections
Handling of multiple connections during NAT traversal for a node behind a symmetric NAT is disclosed. The likelihood of connection failure during symmetric NAT traversal may be reduced by serializing critical time windows after port prediction. Once a connection request has been sent for a first connection, port prediction for a subsequent connection may be delayed until a connectivity check has begun for the first connection. This process may be repeated to handle NAT traversal for multiple simultaneous connections to different nodes. |
| US08015296B2 |
System and method for implementing MBMS handover during downloaded delivery
An improved system and method for implementing Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) handover during download delivery. Various embodiments of the present invention involve the use of the HTTP/1.1 “chunked” mode to deliver updates of the file delivery table (FDT) of a session in a push-like mode. In order to allow for push delivery of the contents of a FLUTE session, each FDT instance is encoded as one part of a multipart MIME message and is sent as a separate chunk. The receiver can interpret each of the separate chunks to extract the FDT instance from the chunks. The content type of each part of the message is set to “text/xml” or another MIMI type in order to indicate that the content is an FDT instance. After parsing the FDT instance and updating the FDT, the receiver is able to identify which files of the session are of interest and can perform a HTTP GET request to retrieve a specific file. |
| US08015293B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer program products for clustering and communicating between internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) entities
Methods, systems, and computer program products for clustering and communicating between Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) entities are disclosed. According to one aspect, an IMS cluster node includes a serving call state control function (S-CSCF) for controlling media sessions between IMS users. The cluster node further includes a home subscriber service (HSS) function for storing and providing IMS subscription information to the S-CSCF function. A shared memory is operatively associated with the S-CSCF function and the HSS function. The S-CSCF function obtains IMS subscription information from the HSS function via the shared memory. |
| US08015290B2 |
Group driver
The invention is a method system and apparatus for a group driver. In the event that a system-wide application is needed, a plurality of devices that belong to the system are identified and divided into groups. The groups include a processor and at least one device such as a switch. Once the groups are determined, the system-wide application is transmitted to the devices via the group processors. |
| US08015288B2 |
Virtual system and method in a virtual system
A virtual system, which realizes virtual computing environments for performing communication processing, includes a user virtual machine which is provided as a virtual machine environment to be used by users, and a service virtual machine which has a physical communication interface with a real network for communication between the real network and the user virtual machine, provides a virtual communication interface with the user virtual machine by Ethernet (registered trademark), and performs an interface conversion process for the communication between the real network and the user virtual machine if the physical communication interface is not by using Ethernet (registered trademark), in which the physical communication interface is converted to an equivalent interface using Ethernet (registered trademark). |
| US08015287B2 |
Reducing configuration errors for managed services in computer networks
A method of configuring a network element such that a Virtual Private Network (VPN) site can connect to the network element is disclosed. An interface on a Provider Edge (PE) router is configured in restricted mode. A request is received from the interface to authenticate a user associated with a VPN requesting to connect to the interface. A determination is made as to whether the user is authorized to submit requests to the interface. If the user is authorized, an activation request is received from the interface to allow the VPN can connect to the interface. A determination is made as to whether the user is authorized to connect to the interface via the VPN. If the user is authorized, VPN site parameters are configured at the PE router and the PE router is configured in unrestricted mode. |
| US08015285B2 |
Monitoring application for automatically requesting content
Embodiments of the instant invention are directed to a system, apparatus and method for monitoring a user's activities and displaying and presenting unsolicited content to users over a wide area network. Embodiments of the instant invention include a monitoring system comprising an activity monitor and a content transfer and display means, wherein the activity monitor comprises an event identifier and a timer. The monitoring system monitors user activities, identifies trigger events, measures the elapsed time of inactivity of the user and initiates the presentation of unsolicited data, or content, to the user computer. In general, the monitoring system identifies trigger events and measures the elapsed time between trigger events. If the elapsed time between the trigger events exceeds a predefined time period the monitoring system causes unsolicited data to be presented on the user computer. |
| US08015283B2 |
Cooperative monitoring of peer-to-peer network activity
Particular embodiments include cooperative monitoring of peer-to-peer activity on a network including maintaining communication between a local monitoring process and a network monitoring process such that a process can use both network monitoring and local monitoring. The cooperative monitoring includes monitoring a local peer using local monitoring of a point in the network by monitoring packets passing through the point, monitoring the network using network monitoring by a monitoring system or agent coupled to the network, and analyzing the result of network monitoring and local monitoring to determine at least one file transfer association with the local peer. |
| US08015278B1 |
Automating alarm handling in a communications network using network-generated tickets and customer-generated tickets
Systems and methods are provided for monitoring events impacting service in a network communications system. One embodiment includes monitoring an event data structure for one or more events. The events are based on faulty network components in the communications system. One or more tickets based on the events are created. The tickets may be used to address the events. Further, creating one or more lists of network components impacted by the events, and, based on the lists of impacted network components, correlating the tickets one to another. Finally, based on the correlation, updating the events in the event data structure. |
| US08015274B2 |
Automated validation of peripheral director hardware
A system and method of automating the validation and control of peripheral director hardware in a switched fabric network. A system is provided that includes a script language processor for interpreting high-level statements and generating command functions understood by an application programming interface (API) associated with the switched fabric network, wherein the command functions include a query switch command, a query interface switch command, a write switch command, and a display result command; and a system for generating an output in response to a set of command functions submitted to the switched fabric network. |
| US08015273B2 |
Information exchange system
An information exchange system comprising at least one network for the transmission of information, at least one system computer accessing said at least one network, at least one peripheral device for exchanging said information with said at least one system computer, said at least one peripheral device being of sensor or actuator type and having no communication interface with said at least one network, at least one data concentrator associated with at least one associated peripheral device, accessing said at least one network and enabling said associated peripheral device to exchange said information with said at least one system computer, said data concentrator comprising data processing means, network interface means for interfacing said data processing means and said at least one network and device interface means for interfacing said data processing means and said at least one associated peripheral device, said information exchange system further comprising connection means for connecting said at least one associated peripheral device to said device interface means or said at least one network to said network interface means, said connection means comprising a connector, cable or connector accessory type connection element in which said data concentrator is incorporated in such a way as to be separable from said at least one associated peripheral device by disconnection from said connection element. |
| US08015271B2 |
Method and system of provisioning a desired communication service for a user across a network
Disclosed is a provisioning tool and method for a communications network, particularly a broadband communications network which is arranged to provision a service for a user based on information available via another user connection; this facilitates provision. In a preferred embodiment, a user device address is obtained from a user IP address. Provisioning and other network tools with additional or alternative advantageous features are disclosed and the provisioning tools disclosed may communicate with a variety of other tools including planning and inventory applications and agents associated with equipment, all of which are also independently provided, enabling provision of a variety of novel services and features dealing with a spectrum of problems arising in a communications environment, particularly a broadband environment. |
| US08015270B2 |
Redundant appliance configuration repository in standard hierarchical format
A configuration of a first storage resource is written to a first instance of a single file in a standard hierarchical format that is stored locally in nonvolatile memory and updatable by the first resource. A configuration of a second storage resource is written to a second instance of the single file in the standard hierarchical format stored locally in nonvolatile memory and updatable by the second resource. The first instance and second instance of the single file are updated so that all configurations are present and identical in all instances of the single file. |
| US08015269B2 |
Node device, shared information update processing program, shared information update method, and information sharing system
The present invention is to provide a node device, a shared information update processing program, a shared information update means, and an information sharing system, which can quickly and assuredly update the shared information in each of the node devices without applying an excessive load to a specific apparatus such as a server.According to the present invention, there is provided a plurality of node devices mutually connectable through a network, each of the node devices saving shared information, used in common with the nodes, and in a case where each of the node devices transmits predetermined data to the node device, being a connection counterpart, the node device describing version information indicative of a version of the shared information, saved by the own node device, including: a data receiving means; a version judgment means; and a shared information update means. |
| US08015266B1 |
System and method for providing persistent node names
A system and method for providing persistent node names is provided. The system and method stores the node name associated with a given storage system in the root volume associated with the storage system. Thus various components of the storage appliance may be modified without changing the node name associated with a given storage system. This enables clients to have a consistent and persistent node name to connect to in a given network environment. |
| US08015265B2 |
System for designing and performing Web application
When an application server for performing a Web application is developed, a framework describing each of the modules of data, a logic, and a screen is provided. To attain this, the input contents of a Web page are converted into a data object, the combination of the type of the data object and a command is mapped in each process routine using a first foreign definition file, a process routine to be executed is determined from among prepared process logics based on the type of the data object, the command, and the first foreign definition file, and the combination of an execution result of the process logic and the type of the displaying data object is mapped in the displaying component using a second foreign definition file. These files are provided in the application server. |
| US08015259B2 |
Multi-window internet search with webpage preload
Methods are described to preload a plurality of webpages from a hyperlink list either previously saved or returned by one or more search engines, where said webpages are displayed on demand in a web browser. The web browser has been augmented to display multiple webpages simultaneously and to allow changing the number of webpages displayed. Any displayed portion of this plurality of webpages can be captured to a standard graphics format for later use. The viewing magnification factor can be changed for this plurality of webpages both globally for preloaded webpages not displayed and selectively for displayed webpages. The hyperlinks associated with any portion of this plurality of webpages can be saved as a list of hyperlinks (group bookmark) for later retrieval. A queue of favorite webpages can be dynamically created from this plurality of webpages by selecting one or more webpages and having the associated hyperlinks to said selected webpages appended to a queue of hyperlinks which is available for preloading, display, or saved as a group bookmark. |
| US08015255B2 |
System and method for network device communication
The disclosure is directed to a method for communicating with a monitoring device. The method includes sending an unsolicited-type message from a client program resident on the monitoring device coupled to a first secure network. The unsolicited-type message is sent to a computing system coupled to a second network separated from the first secure network by a firewall. The method also includes receiving a response message to the unsolicited-type message from the computing system. The response message includes an embedded unsolicited-type message. The client program is resident on the monitoring device receiving the response message. The method further includes providing the embedded unsolicited-type message to a server program resident on the monitoring device. |
| US08015253B1 |
System and method for controlling inter-device media exchanges
Systems and methods for enhancing the exchange of data, particularly media data, among remote locations. In one embodiment, instructions are added to a delivered media message. The instructions are such as to control the processing of the media at the receiving device as well as controlling response messages. This then allows a sending device to enable a return connection from the target location thereby facilitating the return to the sending device of data. The retuned data can be specified by the sender, by the target or by a combination of them. In one embodiment, a intermediary server is used to control the data flow across the network. |
| US08015251B2 |
Method and system for selectively requesting an acknowledgement to recipients of an electronic mail
The present invention provides a method, system and computer program in a client side of an electronic mail management application, for selectively requesting a read mail acknowledgment to one or a plurality of recipients of a mail among a plurality of recipients. |
| US08015246B1 |
Graphical user interface for chat room with thin walls
A method, system and graphical user interface for a chat room system is disclosed. One aspect of certain embodiments includes sending messages that originate from a user's current chat room as well as messages that originate from nearby chat rooms to the user. Both types of messages are displayed in a single context to the user. |
| US08015242B2 |
Communication method and apparatus, server and client on network, and program codes realizing communication thereof
An end user is provided with an environment to easily remote-control a video camera via a general network such as the Internet. For this purpose, on a client side, the content of camera control is described in file-transfer protocol description, and the description is transferred to a camera server on the Internet via a browser. The camera server interprets the description, controls a camera in accordance with the designated content, to perform image sensing, and returns the obtained video image as the content of a file to the client. The client performs various controls while observing the video image. When a desired angle has been found, the client instructs to register the angle in a bookmark, then angle information displayed at that time is registered. Thereafter, when the user of the client can see the video image obtained on the same image-sensing conditions by merely select-designating the angle information registered in the bookmark. |
| US08015232B2 |
Thin terminal computer architecture utilizing roaming keyboard files
A thin client server system including a client server configured to transfer at least one roaming keyboard file to at least one thin client terminal is described. The thin client terminal includes a touch-sensitive interface, session layout module and a client processing module. The session layout module generates a selection configuration for selecting the type of interaction with the client server system. The client processing module applies the at least one roaming keyboard file and to dynamically generate, input sub-modules for receiving communication from at least one user and an output sub-module for generating output to at least one user. The generated input sub-module including, a virtual keyboard sub-module, and a pointer-pad sub-module and the generated output sub-module including a virtual screen sub-module for generating output to at least one user, wherein the client sever allows modular collaboration while multiplexing input and output message between sub-modules. |
| US08015228B2 |
Data processing apparatus and method for performing a reciprocal operation on an input value to produce a result value
A data processing apparatus and method are provided for performing a reciprocal operation on an input value d to produce a result value X. The reciprocal operation involves iterative execution of a refinement step to converge on the result value, the refinement step performing the computation: Xi=Xi−1*M, where Xi is an estimate of the result value for the i-th iteration of the refinement step, and M is a value determined by a portion of the refinement step. The data processing apparatus comprises a register data store having a plurality of registers operable to store data, and processing logic operable to execute instructions to perform data processing operations on data held in the register data store. The processing logic is responsive to a single refinement instruction to implement the portion of the refinement step by performing at least a multiply-accumulate operation in which the input value, a value derived from the previous estimate of the result value, and a constant are used as inputs of the multiply-accumulate operation. The constant is determined from the single refinement instruction without reference to the register data store. Such an approach improves code density, and improves efficiency of use of registers of the register data store. |
| US08015226B2 |
Methods and apparatus for performing reduced complexity discrete fourier transforms using interpolation
Methods and apparatus are provided for performing reduced complexity discrete Fourier transforms using interpolation An input sequence of length N is transformed by extending the input sequence to an extended input sequence of length M, where M is greater than N (a power of two greater than N); performing a discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), such as a power-of-two DFT, on the extended input sequence to obtain an interpolated sequence; and applying a conversion matrix to the interpolated sequence to obtain a DFT output for the input sequence of length N. The input sequence of length N can be extended to an extended input sequence of length M, for example, by employing a zero padding technique, a cyclic extension technique, a windowing of a cyclic extended sequence technique or a resampling-based interpolation technique to extend the input sequence. The conversion matrix is substantially a sparse matrix. |
| US08015225B2 |
Multi-step non-linear time-discrete processing
A non-linear processing device (1) is presented, in which fractional-delay filtering (20)—fractional as compared with a sample rate used in the processing steps—is used between successive processing steps (10). A corresponding method is also presented. The fractional delay (20) exposes the signal in-between the original samples to the non-linear processing (30, 40). A lower sample rate or a higher signal quality can thus be achieved. The so-called fractional sample delays are preferably chosen differently for different systems depending on bandwidths, number of channels, number of non-linear processing steps (10) and other varying factors. The multi-step non-linear processing (10) concept of the invention is preferably used within a cascade of non-linear modifications and/or filtering steps (10). |
| US08015224B1 |
Entropy source for random number generation
In a device having a data channel, in which random numbers are needed, such as a data storage device that uses random numbers to generate keys for cryptographic applications, random numbers are generated by a deterministic random bit generator seeded by bits derived from noise on the channel itself. The bits may be extracted from the least significant bits of the data signal after it is digitized, because those bits correspond to the noise in the signal. The extraction may occur immediately after digitization, or after subsequent filtering. A data signal emulator may be provided to simulate a data signal if a seed is required at a time when there is no data activity on the channel. The extracted bits may be post-processed to remove bias before the seed is provided to the deterministic random bit generator. |
| US08015223B1 |
System and method for the translation of telecommunications trouble tickets
A computer system is configured to translate telecommunications trouble tickets. The computer system receives a native telecommunications trouble ticket from a first telecommunications trouble ticket system, and translates the native telecommunications trouble ticket into a master telecommunications trouble ticket. The computer system then stores first data from the native telecommunications trouble ticket in a database, and retrieves second data related to the native telecommunications trouble ticket from the database. Next, the computer system merges at least some of the second data into the master telecommunications trouble ticket, translates the master ticket into a first enhanced telecommunications trouble ticket configured for use by the first telecommunications trouble ticket system, and sends the first enhanced telecommunications trouble ticket to the first telecommunications trouble ticket system. |
| US08015217B2 |
Method and system for obtaining user data having user-defined data types
The present invention relates generally to data retrieval, and more particularly but not exclusively to obtaining referentially converted user data having user-defined data types. In one implementation, the present invention is a method for retrieving user data in a data system using one or more application programs for defining a layout for each user data type, defining one or more conversion routines for non-standard data types, calling a coordination call to map standard and non-standard data types, and retrieve the user data from the data storage device. |
| US08015216B2 |
Systems and methods of providing possible value ranges
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to incremental computing. Specifically, embodiments of the invention include systems and methods that provide for the concurrent processing of multiple, incremental changes to a data value while at the same time monitoring and/or enforcing threshold values for that data value. For example, a method is provided that determines whether multiple incremental changes to a data field could pass a threshold based on keeping track of a possible value range for the data field. |
| US08015205B2 |
Method and system for implementing and managing an enterprise identity management for distributed security
An Enterprise Identity Management system includes a registration component, an ownership component, and an audit component. The registration component is configured to associate a user ID with specific accounts that are accessible via a computer system. The ownership component is configured to verify the ownership of the accounts. The audit component is configured to perform periodic checks to ensure the validity of the association between the user ID and the ownership of the accounts. |
| US08015202B2 |
Grouping predicted database queries
Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for aggregating database queries for energy efficiency. In one embodiment, queries received by a DBMS are aggregated and staged according to hard-disk drives required for query execution. Each group of queries accessing a given drive may be dispatched for execution together. Further, the queries received by a DBMS may be matched to patterns of previously received queries. The matching patterns may be used to predict other queries which are likely to be received by the DBMS. The received queries may be staged to be dispatched with the predicted queries. By aggregating queries to be executed, access to each hard-disk drive may be optimized, thus reducing the overall energy consumption required for executing the queries. |
| US08015199B1 |
Generating query suggestions using contextual information
A search engine receives a query from an end-user. The search engine executes the query on a content database and identifies a set of matching content. The search engine utilizes the matching content to generate a query vector describing the end-user query. The search engine searches a repository of other vectors, called “centroids,” to produce a ranked set of centroids matching the query vector. These centroids are converted into search queries and form a set of candidate queries. The search engine filters the candidate queries to identify ones that are likely to be meaningful to the end-user. The selected candidate queries are returned to the end-user as query suggestions. |
| US08015196B2 |
Geographic feature name search system
A computer-based software tool for performing intelligent searches for geographic names data utilizing a fuzzy-logic search as well as linguistic principles and allowing the user to select various search criteria is disclosed. Geographic feature names can be searched for exact matches, similar geographic names based on misspellings or phonetic similarities, similar geographic names based on language dialects, historic place name variants, features with similar name Romanization, similar names with the type of feature, such as city, river, or mountain included in the name, in reversed or reading order, and similar names with inconsistent Unicode. With the aid of a displayed geographic map, the search can be localized. |
| US08015194B2 |
Refining based on log content
A method and an apparatus for performing a refining operation based on content of a log are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises analyzing one or more metadata entries in a set corresponding to a digital object that is stored separately from the set of one or more metadata entries and selecting one or more digital objects for display based on analysis of content in the metadata entries. |
| US08015192B2 |
Cliprank: ranking media content using their relationships with end users
A method of ranking pieces of media content is provided. Each of the plurality pieces of media content has at least one relationship with at least one user. Each of the users has at least one relationship with at least one of the pieces of media content. Weights are associated with each piece of media content, user and relationship. The weight of a particular piece of media content is determined by recursively calculating and updating the weights of the pieces of media content and the users. The weight associated with a piece of media content or a user is calculated based on the weights of the at least one relationship and the weights of the at least one piece of media content or the at least one user with which the piece of media content or the user has the at least one relationship. |
| US08015189B2 |
Customizable connections between media and meta-data via feeds
Meta-data from any meta-data source or feed, whose selection is customizable, is associated with media objects, such as photographs or video. In specific example embodiments, the meta-data from the custom-selected feeds are used to provide selectable feed tags that can be used to tag media objects. An architecture is provided that allows any combination of feeds to be selected for creation of a custom set of selected feeds that are to be used as sources of feed tags for media objects, and this custom set of selected feeds is extensible. In specific applications, different sets of feeds and feed tags may be utilized for facilitating the annotation of media objects. |
| US08015187B2 |
Phone book group management method for mobile terminal
A phone book group management method includes: providing a display field for entering a contact name and a group name of a phone book; receiving a contact name and at least one group name consecutively in the display field; analyzing the received contact name and at least one group name; and registering contact information in a group according to the analyzed contact name and at least one group name. A new group may be created while registering a contact name in a phone book or while editing phone book data of a registered contact. Accordingly, the procedure for registering a contact may be simplified, and management of user groups may be executed more easily and efficiently. |
| US08015185B2 |
Method and system for detecting search terms whose popularity increase rapidly
The present invention relates to a method and system for detecting a keyword whose number of being inputted from a user terminal is rapidly increased, and more particularly, to a method and system which generate rapid increase standard quotient by using the average and standard deviation for each keyword and compare the rapid increase standard quotient with measured input number in order to detect a keyword whose input number is rapidly increased. |
| US08015183B2 |
System and methods for providing statstically interesting geographical information based on queries to a geographic search engine
Under one aspect, an interface program stored on a computer-readable medium causes a computer system with a display device to perform the functions of: accepting search criteria from a user, the search criteria including a domain identifier identifying a domain and a free text query entry; in response to accepting said search criteria from the user, receiving a set of document-location tuples from a corpus of documents, wherein each document: (a) contains information that is responsive to the free text query entry; and (b) contains location-related information that refers to a location within the domain; requesting and receiving a result from an additional query based at least in part on the domain identifier, the result not being a document-location tuple; and displaying a visual representation of at least a subset of the document-location tuples and a visual representation of the result of the additional query on the display device. |
| US08015177B2 |
Performing a collaborative search in a computing network
Method for performing a collaborative search in a computing network. In one implementation, the method may include receiving a search criteria from a user, identifying one or more agents who have performed a search using the search criteria, the agents and the user belonging to the computing network, identifying one or more search results that the agents have previously selected as being relevant to the search criteria, ranking the search results, and displaying the search results according to the ranking. |
| US08015175B2 |
Language independent stemming
A stemming framework for combining stemming algorithms together in a multilingual environment to obtain improved stemming behavior over any individual stemming algorithm, together with a new language independent stemming algorithm based on shortest path techniques. The stemmer essentially treats the stemming problem as a simple instance of the shortest path problem where the cost for each path can be computed from its word component and its number of characters. The goal of the stemmer is to find the shortest path to construct the entire word. The stemmer uses dynamic dictionaries constructed as lexical analyzer state transition tables to recognize the various allowable word parts for any given language in order to obtain maximum speed. The stemming framework provides the necessary logic to combine multiple stemmers in parallel and to merge their results to obtain the best behavior. Mapping dictionaries handle irregular plurals, tense, phrase mapping and proper name recognition. |
| US08015172B1 |
Method of conducting searches on the internet to obtain selected information on local entities and provide for searching the data in a way that lists local businesses at the top of the results
The invention utilizes local search engines to view a display of local business listings in order of relevance to the user. Relevance to the user depends on a variety of factors whose importance varies by user and business—these factors include distance from user-defined starting location, business size, whether or not the business is local, content provided with listing, and relevance based on user-defined search terms. The system collects and parses business information from Web pages and other sources, stores the information in a format that facilitates searches, provides a simple way for users to initiate searches, analyzes all the factors mentioned above each time a search is performed, retrieves listings in order of factor importance, and displays results to the user in order and formatted to make further inspection and use of the results easy for the user. |
| US08015171B2 |
Document analysis and retrieval
A computer system configured to implement a method for document analysis and retrieval. A document that includes text is received from a host. Document keys (i.e., keywords and keyphrases) associated with the text are generated. In first embodiments, a provided document taxonomy has categories and associated category keys (i.e., keywords and keyphrases). The category keys of each category are compared with the document keys to determine a distance between the document and each category as a measure of how close the document is to each category. A subset of the categories is returned to the host, wherein the subset of the categories reflects the determined distances. In second embodiments, a search string is created as a logical function of a subset of the document keys. The search string is submitted to a search engine. Links to related documents are received from the search engine and returned to the host. |
| US08015170B2 |
Personalized network searching
Personalized network searching, in which a search query is received from a user, and a request is received to personalize a search result. Responsive to the search query and the request to personalize the search result, a personalized search result is generated by searching a personalized search object. Responsive to the search query, a general search result is generated by searching the general search object. The personalized search result and the general search result are provided to a client device, an advertisement is selected based at least in part upon the personalized search object, and the advertisement, the personalized search result, and the general search result are displayed. |
| US08015168B2 |
String pooling
A start index and a length are obtained for a subset of a text sequence buffered within a parser. A string pool containing a plurality of pooled string objects is polled to determine whether any of the pooled string objects contain the subset of the text sequence buffered within the parser by using the start index and the length. One of the pooled string objects is used if it contains the subset of the text sequence, otherwise, the generation of a new pooled string object in the string pool containing the subset of the text sequence is initiated. Related techniques, apparatus, systems, and articles are described. |
| US08015165B2 |
Efficient path-based operations while searching across versions in a repository
A technique and mechanism for efficiently searching across multiple versions of a resource is provided. New operators are provided that take into account the versions of a particular resource. The query engine evaluates the new operators using either an index-based approach or a functional approach. Under an index-based implementation, a hierarchical index is traversed to find a particular resource (or resources) associated with a specified path and the version history identifier associated with the particular resource(s). A version history table containing references to all versions of the particular resource(s) are then obtained. Under the functional implementation, a link table, which contains all paths in a user's workspace, is examined to determine whether the version history identifier of a particular resource matches a version history identifier of a resource specified in the link table and whether the path to the resource in the link table is related to the path specified. |
| US08015163B2 |
Detecting duplicative user data on computing device
A client-side device is capable of wirelessly receiving user data for the device. The device is capable of removing duplicative user data items among data wirelessly received and data already existing on the device. The duplicative data may be “de-duped” even though duplicative data items may arise as a result of synchronization operations using different synchronization engines used to synchronize different sets of data types. |
| US08015160B2 |
System and method for content management over network storage devices
The present invention is a system and method for managing content across one or more storage device systems. A typical system according to the present invention includes one or more indexing systems and a set of storage device systems. Each indexing system monitors usage of content stored on the storage systems. Based upon usage of particular content, an indexing system may issue requests such as move, delete or copy to more efficiently utilize the overall storage capacity of the storage system. All indexing systems monitor the servicing of such requests and update stored data concerning the file subject to the request accordingly. |
| US08015159B2 |
System and method for real-time media searching and alerting
A method and system for continually storing and cataloguing streams of broadcast content, allowing real-time searching and real-time results display of all catalogued video. A bank of video recording devices store and index all video content on any number of broadcast sources. This video is stored along with the associated program information such as program name, description, airdate and channel. A parallel process obtains the text of the program, either from the closed captioning data stream, or by using a speech-to-text system. Once the text is decoded, stored, and indexed, users can then perform searches against the text, and view matching video immediately along with its associated text and broadcast information. Users can retrieve program information by other methods, such as by airdate, originating station, program name and program description. An alerting mechanism scans all content in real-time and can be configured to notify users by various means upon the occurrence of a specified search criteria in the video stream. The system is preferably designed to be used on publicly available broadcast video content, but can also be used to catalog private video, such as conference speeches or audio-only content such as radio broadcasts. |
| US08015156B2 |
Systems and methods for a snapshot of data
In one embodiment, a user or client device is connected to a distributed file system comprised of one or more physical nodes. The data on each of the physical nodes store metadata about files and directories within the file system. Some of the embodiments permit a user to take a snapshot of data stored on the file system. The snapshot may include a single file, a single directory, a plurality of files within a directory, a plurality of directories, a path on the file system that includes nested files and subdirectories, or more than one path on the file system that each includes nested files and directories. According to one embodiment, the system stores representations of the snapshots that govern a file or directory and its descendants within metadata associated with that file or directory. In one embodiment, before modifying a file or directory, the system updates the representations of the governing snapshots by traversing the metadata of ancestors of the file or directory. |
| US08015148B2 |
Selective profiler for use with transaction processing applications
A server system suitable for processing transactions includes transaction processing means to process requests issued by client systems. A transaction profiler records information regarding transactions processed by the server. Profiled transactions are selected for inclusion in a cumulative database according to a selection criteria. The transaction processor may be an HTTP server, a file server, or a database server. The profiler may be enabled by the processing means just before processing a request and disabled upon completion. In one embodiment, the transaction profiler is configured to calculate a transaction response time as the difference between the time the transaction processing means enables the profiling means and the time the transaction processing means disables the profiling means. In this embodiment, the selection criteria includes a minimum transaction response time wherein only transaction profiles indicating a response time in excess of the minimum transaction time are included in the cumulative database. |
| US08015136B1 |
Algorithmic method for generating a medical utilization profile for a patient and to be used for medical risk analysis decisioning
An algorithmic method for generating a medical utilization profile for a patient to facilitate decision making in the medical risk analyses, wherein the algorithmic method is comprised of four key components: (1) key independent variables recognized including medical data sources; (2) an ontology based process to organize these variables; (3) rules (probability distributions etc.) that can be used to draw correlative information from the given data and its ontological organization; and (4) usage of reasoning engine to process the gathered information and draw inferences. |
| US08015134B2 |
Determining a corrective action based on economic calculation
A computer-implemented method is provided for determining a corrective action. The method may include obtaining diagnostic data and calculating, using the diagnostic data, a prognostic. The method may also include retrieving, when the prognostic is above an alarm level, historical records and calculating a Bayesian posterior probability using the diagnostic data and the historical records. Further, the method may include calculating a prognostic prescience metric using the diagnostic data and the historical records and determining, based on the Bayesian posterior probability, the prognostic prescience metric, and an economic calculation, the corrective action. |
| US08015129B2 |
Parsimonious multi-resolution value-item lists
Systems and methods are provided for parsimonious representation of large sets of multi-resolution value-item lists. A hierarchical data structure associated with the lists and conditioning variables is learnt while exploiting both semantics encoded in target variables and a notion of nearness among nodes at the same detail level in the hierarchical data structure. Such a level of description can be dictated by a depth in a tree data structure. A compression scheme that relies on (i) a similarity metric and (ii) recursive greedy pairing of value-item lists in order to promote elements populating a specific tree node upwards in the tree facilitates a parsimonious representation of the compressed hierarchic structure. |
| US08015126B2 |
Scalable feature selection for multi-class problems
In a feature filtering approach, a set of relevant features and a set of training objects classified respective to a set of classes are provided. A candidate feature and a second feature are selected from the set of relevant features. An approximate Markov blanket criterion is computed that is indicative of whether the candidate feature is redundant in view of the second feature. The approximate Markov blanket criterion includes at least one dependency on less than the entire set of classes. An optimized set of relevant features is defined, consisting of a sub-set of the set of relevant features from which features indicated as redundant by the selecting and computing are removed. |
| US08015125B2 |
Multi-scale segmentation and partial matching 3D models
A scale-Space feature extraction technique is based on recursive decomposition of polyhedral surfaces into surface patches. The experimental results show that this technique can be used to perform matching based on local model structure. Scale-space techniques can be parameterized to generate decompositions that correspond to manufacturing, assembly or surface features relevant to mechanical design. One application of these techniques is to support matching and content-based retrieval of solid models. Scale-space technique can extract features that are invariant with respect to the global structure of the model as well as small perturbations that 3D laser scanning may introduce. A new distance function defined on triangles instead of points is introduced. This technique offers a new way to control the feature decomposition process, which results in extraction of features that are more meaningful from an engineering viewpoint. The technique is computationally practical for use in indexing large models. |
| US08015121B2 |
System for franking mail items with data document or file associated therewith
This invention relates to a machine for franking mail items, comprising means for printing postal indicia on a mail item and means for also printing on this mail item a unique identification number for this mail item, means for creating at least one data document or file associated with this unique identification number printed on the mail item and means for communicating, through a secure link, the or each data document or file to an information server remote from the franking machine. |
| US08015120B2 |
Linking customs entry packets to electronic entries
The disclosures herein relate to methods of managing customs data and shipment data. The methods include procedures for correlating various types of data related to a single shipment of goods, including data received from customs brokers and data received with shipments of goods. The methods extend to importing operations comprising many shipments of goods. |
| US08015119B2 |
Methods and systems for the display and navigation of a social network
Systems and methods for the display and navigation of a social network or set forth. According to one embodiment a method comprising identifying a first profile in a social network, identifying associated profiles associated with the first profile, ranking the associated profiles, wherein ranking is not based exclusively on a degree of separation, and outputting the associated profiles based at least in part on the ranking is set forth. According to another embodiment a method comprising identifying a user profile, identifying a member profile, determining an association path for the user profile and the member profile, and outputting the association path is set forth. |
| US08015118B1 |
System and method for biometric signature authorization
A system and method of obtaining and storing a signed agreement authorizing the use of a user's biometric data for the purpose of offering legal consent to agreements and transactions with one or more operators. The present invention imparts a process by which merchants and other service providers can access a verifying agreement indicating a user's intent to submit biometric data as a substitute for a written signature and the user's consent to abide by the terms and conditions of any agreements entered into by the submission of biometric data. |
| US08015112B2 |
Embedded license data file distribution and processing system
A document distribution system transfers a document from a source computer to a destination computer in the form of a print file. The print file defines the appearance of the document in a code suitable for telling a printer how to print the document. The source computer executes “license stamper” software for embedding an encoded license stamp into the print file before it is sent to the destination computer. Viewer software executed by the source computer receives and parses the print file to determine whether it contains the license stamp. If so, the viewer may generate a video display of the document defined by the print file or may print the document by sending the print file to a printer. However if the viewer receives a print file not containing the embedded license stamp, the viewer refrains from displaying or printing the document. |
| US08015108B2 |
Consumer behaviors at lender level
The present disclosure generally relates to financial data processing, and in particular it relates to lender credit scoring, lender profiling, lender behavior analysis and modeling. More specifically, it relates to rating lenders based on data derived from their respective consumers. Also, the present disclosure relates to rating consumer lenders based on the predicted spend capacity of their consumers. |
| US08015107B2 |
System and method for interactively simulating a credit-worthiness score
A system and method is provided to allow a consumer to interactively explore his credit score by submitting hypothetical values based on his actual credit data. The system uses the consumer's real credit data and the submitted hypothetical values to calculate a simulated credit score based on a simulator scorecard. The consumer may then observe the changes in the resultant scores. The system and the scorecard may utilize fewer data elements than a complete credit-worthiness scorecard and may instead focus on the key elements affecting a consumer's credit score. The system may be implemented in part on a web server or as a stand-alone application. The system may also update the score dynamically as the consumer adjusts the hypothetical values or may require the consumer to affirmatively submit the new hypothetical data. |
| US08015102B2 |
System and method for a trading interface incorporating a chart
A graphical interface and method are provided for displaying market information corresponding to a tradeable object. One graphical interface includes a chart region for displaying historical market data in relation to a first value axis, and a market grid region in alignment with the chart region. The market grid region comprises a plurality of areas for receiving commands from a user input device to send trade orders, and the areas are displayed in relation to a second value axis. A plurality of values displayed along the second value axis is a subset of values displayed in relation to the first value axis, and can be modified to a new plurality of values that corresponds to a new subset of values on the first value axis. |
| US08015094B2 |
Fair value model based system, method, and computer program product for valuing foreign-based securities in a mutual fund
A system and method for determining fair value prices of financial securities of international markets includes steps of selecting a universe of securities of a particular international market, computing overnight returns of each security in the selected universe over a predetermined past period of time, selecting at least one return factor of a domestic financial market from a plurality of return factors, computing, for each selected return factor, the return factor's daily return over said predetermined past period of time, calculating, for each selected return factor, a return factor coefficient for each security in the selected universe by performing a time series regression to obtain the contribution of each return factor's return to the security's overnight return, and storing each calculated return factor coefficient in a data file. |
| US08015093B2 |
Randomized trading apparatus and method
An apparatus and method of training helps separate emotions from decisions. A user account with single masked login allows selective access to a live account with actual funds and a demo account with false funds. A program randomly causes trading in the live and/or demo accounts according to a predetermined percentage, allowing the user to place trades/bets but without letting the user know which account is active. The present method further determines if trades/bets on the live and demo accounts are not offset/flat, and potentially forces the user to continue trading on the same accessed account. When the user logs out, the present method syncs the demo account to the live account, generates data concerning differences between live and demo accounts, and gives feedback to at least one of the user and a system controller. |
| US08015086B2 |
System and method for calculating employee expenses
A method and apparatus for calculating employee expenses is disclosed herein. One embodiment of the method may include transferring first data from a first computer to a second computer. The first data causes the second computer to display text, wherein a portion of the text is a first inquiry related to at least one expense item of the employee. Second data is transferred from the second computer to the first computer, wherein the second data is representative of a response to the first inquiry and wherein the second data is smaller than the first data. A second inquiry related to the at least one expense item based on the response to the first inquiry is then determined. Third data representative of the second inquiry is transmitted from the first computer to the second computer. A portion of the text is modified upon receipt of the third data by the second computer, wherein the modified portion of the text is related to the second inquiry. |
| US08015084B1 |
System and method for linked account having sweep feature
A linked account instrument is used to access funds in an existing demand deposit account held at a financial institution. Merchant or other transactions are first processed against a demand deposit account via an electronic authorization network. If the demand deposit account does not have sufficient funds, the transactions may be processed as a credit charge against a designated credit account. The demand deposit account may subsequently be swept at predetermined times in search of funds to defray the overdraft. If adequate funds are present, they will be withdrawn from the demand deposit account, and the credit account will be cleared. Otherwise, the instrument holder's daily purchasing abilities may be temporarily suspended until the credit account is settled. The processing of overdraft amounts may be on a FIFO, smallest-first or other basis. |
| US08015079B2 |
Pick release performance using a multi-threaded architecture to distribute the workload across multiple processors
In various embodiments, methods and systems can provide highly efficient order processing suitable for high volume order processing businesses. A batch of orders can be preprocessed to create smaller data sets that group orders for the same item together. The smaller data sets can then be analyzed and processed in parallel without causing database locks. Thus, the time required to complete the order fulfillment cycle may be reduced, which may in turn, increase one or more of operation efficiency, customer satisfaction, sales volume and profits. |
| US08015075B2 |
Value added benefits franchising
Technical systems and related methods for accounting and bookkeeping operations in an ecommerce enterprise combining elements of both franchise and multilevel business operations are provided that allow a franchisor to establish ecommerce franchisees as direct sales agents while maintaining the accounting and bookkeeping functions within the franchisor. The accounting and bookkeeping operational system allows for the use of a multilevel marketing organizational structure within an ecommerce franchise to motivate direct sales agents to make sales while maintaining the accounting functions at the franchisor and providing direct sales agents with the ecommerce sales tools needed to be successful. |
| US08015072B2 |
Shipping address population using online address book
A method for automatically generating a custom name list for use in an order form which can be submitted to an Internet shopping site to complete an order. The method utilizes address book data, stored primarily online utilizing a third party service. In one method according to the invention, names and addresses are read from an address book database and incorporated into a form which enables the user to easily select recipients for one or more gifts. |
| US08015069B2 |
System and method for asset utilization
The present invention is a computer system or method for obtaining, maintaining and controlling an exchange of tangible assets over a global computer network. In one embodiment, the present invention is a computer system having memory, the system being adapted to identify one or more art assets which may be categorized into a collective art asset pool, to obtain an initial appraisal value for the art asset pool from third party appraisers or from an automated appraisal process, to calculate an appraisal value for the art asset based upon the appraisal information it obtained, to obtain orders from potential investors and/or brokers, process such orders, to continuously monitor art asset value against appraisal information, and is further adapted to automatically switch ownership units amongst art asset pools based upon pre-defined triggering threshold events. The present invention creates a dynamic buy-sell environment for art assets over a global computer network which utilizes typically non-utilized art assets in a way that creates demand and appreciation, while concurrently having little or no change or impact on the control and use of the actual art asset. |
| US08015068B2 |
Systems and methods for managing orders made via a computer network
A system and method for allowing a user to schedule pickup of an ordered item provides a user interface having user interface elements for allowing a user to specify a frequency with which an order is it to be picked up, for informing a user as to availability of the item for pickup, and/or for allowing a user to request that an item be held in reserve for pickup within a given period of time, such as 24 hours. Frequency options provided to the user for selection when scheduling an order for pickup may include a one-time frequency, a daily frequency, a weekly frequency, a monthly frequency, and user specified dates. The information as to availability of the item for pickup is determined considering a time of order and real-time stocking information for the item. |
| US08015067B2 |
Deleted account handling for hosted services
An application service server provides hosted services to clients. Upon receiving a request to delete a user account associated with a user of the hosted services, the server deactivates the user account to prevent the user from accessing the user account for a predefined probation time period. If the server receives an account revival request before the predefined probation time period is over, the server then undoes the deactivation and transfers the user account's status from “inactive” to “active”. If no account revival request is received at the end of the probation time period, the server then deletes the user account from the client-server environment. |
| US08015064B2 |
System and method of providing advertisements to cellular devices
A method of advertising is disclosed and includes monitoring transmission data of one or more cellular towers located along a freeway and recording an identification and a time and date stamp for one or more cellular devices that establish communication via the one or more cellular towers as the at least one cellular device travels within a user vehicle along the freeway. Further, the method includes determining one or more types of media files that are supported by the cellular device and monitoring the movement of the one or more cellular devices along the freeway. The method also includes transmitting one or more advertisements to the at least one cellular device when the cellular device is within a predetermined range of a freeway exit. The one or more advertisement is transmitted in a format of the one or more types of media files supported by the cellular device. |
| US08015054B2 |
Method and system for generating recommendations
A method and system for generating recommendations are described. The method of generating a recommendation list of products to a customer comprises using OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) to analyze raw data in a multilevel and multidimensional manner. Furthermore, the method includes applying a plurality of filtering processes to the raw data to generate a plurality of preliminary recommendation lists. Moreover, the method further comprises generating the recommendation list based on the plurality of preliminary recommendation lists. |
| US08015053B2 |
Processor, system and method for accommodating high priority print jobs
Disclosed herein is a production planning processor comprising an admissions control module in communication with a queue management module, the admissions control module calculating a proposed profit for expedited handling of a new print job, the queue management module determining a revised print job queue based upon data received from the admissions control module. A corresponding method of processing print jobs is also disclosed, along with a system and a method for determining the profitability of accommodating a rush print job. |
| US08015048B2 |
System and method for matching human resources to human resource needs
A system for matching entities having needs to entities having capability to meet the needs. A plurality of needs profiles are created, where each need profile comprises a data record specifying attributes about a need. A plurality of capability profiles are also created, where each capability profile comprises a data record specifying set of attributes of an entity having a capability of meeting a need. A matching engine is coupled to repetitively and automatically examine the needs profiles and capability profiles to identify matched profiles, wherein a match comprises a set of profiles judged to be substantially compatible based upon correspondence of the attributes specified therein. |
| US08015047B2 |
Method, system, and computer program product for employment market statistics generation and analysis
A method of generating employment market characteristics from a network includes the steps of accessing an employment resource including data via a network, matching the data to one of a plurality of employment market categories, and updating at least one statistical indicator associated with the matched employment market category. |
| US08015046B2 |
Dynamic representations of processes
A computer-based method for representing a project includes accessing a description of the project, generating a graphic display of at least a portion of the project based on the description, and dynamically updating the graphic display in response to a change in the description of the project. A computer program product for representing a project includes instructions that cause a processor to convert a description of the project into display instructions for displaying relative progress of the project relative to, but independently of, an expectation of progress and displaying a relative rate of progress of the project relative to, but independently of, an expectation of a rate of progress. The computer program product is tangibly stored on machine readable media. |
| US08015041B2 |
System and method for managing purchasing contracts
A system and method of managing purchasing contracts between supplier entities and customer entities for the purchase of products includes the step of generating at least one purchasing contract between at least one supplier entity (e.g., a product originator such as an airline company or a distributor such as travel agency) and at least one customer entity. The purchasing contract generated is one that is applicable to one or more contracted purchasing transactions effected, at least partially, through a computerized system. The generating step includes identifying one or more contract terms, wherein each contract term has one or more term attributes, and storing a term data set of the term attributes associated with each contract term in one or more computer databases. The method also involves collecting transaction data relating to one or more purchasing transactions and storing the transaction data in one or more computer databases. Preferably, a computer program is executed to identify one or more of the purchasing transactions as a contracted transaction (i.e., applicable to a specific contract) by selecting at least a portion of the transaction data for a purchasing transaction and comparing the selected portion with the term attributes for a contract term. In this way, the transaction may be identified as a contracted transaction if the selected portion is identified with one or more of the term attributes. |
| US08015039B2 |
Enterprise verification and certification framework
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for verifying business objects. In one exemplary aspect, the business object and a predetermined contract defining the business object are received. The received business object is verified based on one or more tests defined by the predetermined contract. Based on the results of the verification of the business object, an indication is provided of whether the business object complies with the predetermined contract. |
| US08015035B1 |
System and method for establishing rates for a property insurance policy
Property insurance rates are established by performing calculations for defining a single tier placement dependent upon a combination of mutually exclusive factors based on applicant data. In the case of a renewal policy, the factors include determining a protection class and a previous paid loss history. In the case of a new policy, the factors also include determining an insurance credit score. No single factor is the sole determinant for placement in a tier. |
| US08015032B2 |
Broadcasting medical image objects with digital rights management
Techniques are disclosed for efficiently and securely handling of patient medical images and data. In one particular embodiment, an acquisition service and picture archive communication system (PACS) architecture are provided that facilitate the transmission and storage of medical image objects using reliable IP multicasting, packet encoded transmission, and digital rights management (DRM). The system effectively creates a broadcast signal in which all listening computers can securely receive medical image objects at once for purposes of interpretation/diagnosis, assisting in surgery, and other such appropriate medical uses. |
| US08015031B2 |
Method and computer readable medium for merging studies
A method and a computer readable medium for merging two or more separate unique studies based upon context-specific content, and merging the two or more separate studies, each with a unique identifier, into a composite study containing artifacts of the two or more merged studies, with the composite study having a single unique identifier. |
| US08015028B2 |
Method for direct-to-patient marketing and clinical trials recruitment with outcomes tracking and method for confidential appointment booking
Generally, the present invention is directed to marketing techniques and more particularly to direct-to-patient marketing for medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, and biotechnology products. The approach presented here may also be applied to the recruitment of patients for clinical trials evaluation including tracking outcomes after treatment. An embodiment of the invention includes the steps of finding potential patients, qualifying potential patients, connecting potential patients to preferred physicians, and tracking the patient's progress through the appointment phase and tracking outcomes. |
| US08015024B2 |
System and method for managing patient-related data
A system and method for managing patient-related data includes transmitting a power signal to an orthopaedic implant, receiving implant identification data from the orthopaedic implant, and retrieving patient-related data from a database based on the implant identification data. The method may also include receiving security code data and determining the validity of such security code data prior to the retrieving the patient-related data from the database. The method may further include updating an electronically-stored patient queue based on the patient-related data, assigning a patient room to a patient identified by the patient-related data, and transmitting the patient related data to a client machine located in the patient room and/or a portable media device. |
| US08015023B1 |
Package or mail delivery notice and confirmation
A system for providing notification related to package delivery is provided. The system comprises a recipient terminal configured to receive a notification of a package delivery, a delivery mobile terminal configured to determine its own location, and a server configured to send the notification to the recipient terminal based on the location of the delivery mobile terminal and based on information associated with the recipient terminal. |
| US08015021B2 |
Method and system for enabling personalization of services
A method and system for enabling personalization of services for a user. A first and second computerized service system that includes a first and second server, respectively, is utilized. An information server of a computerized information system receives a different request from the first and second server for first and second personalization information of the user, respectively. The first and second personalization information enables a first and second entity that uses the first and second server to provide a service to the user in response to the user having previously requested the service from first and second entity, respectively. The information server determines that first and second criteria for the first and second entity to receive the first and second personalization information, respectively, have been satisfied, after which the information server sends the first and second personalization information to the first and second server, respectively. |
| US08015019B1 |
Methods and systems for providing a document
Systems and methods for providing a document are described. In one described method, a document comprising a portion selected by a first member of a social network is hosted for the first member. The portion is dynamically updated with content. An audience criterion for the portion and a type of relationship between the first member and a second member of the social network are identified. If the type of relationship between the first member and the second member satisfies the audience criterion, the second member is provided access to at least the portion. |
| US08015018B2 |
Multichannel decorrelation in spatial audio coding
Each of N audio signals are filtered with a unique decorrelating filter (38) characteristic, the characteristic being a causal linear time-invariant characteristic in the time domain or the equivalent thereof in the frequency domain, and, for each decorrelating filter characteristic, combining (40, 44, 46), in a time and frequency varying manner, its input (Zi) and output (Z-i) signals to provide a set of N processed signals (X i). The set of decorrelation filter characteristics are designed so that all of the input and output signals are approximately mutually decorrelated. The set of N audio signals may be synthesized from M audio signals by upmixing (36), where M is one or more and N is greater than M. |
| US08015011B2 |
Generating objectively evaluated sufficiently natural synthetic speech from text by using selective paraphrases
A synthetic speech system includes a phoneme segment storage section for storing multiple phoneme segment data pieces; a synthesis section for generating voice data from text by reading phoneme segment data pieces representing the pronunciation of an inputted text from the phoneme segment storage section and connecting the phoneme segment data pieces to each other; a computing section for computing a score indicating the unnaturalness of the voice data representing the synthetic speech of the text; a paraphrase storage section for storing multiple paraphrases of the multiple first phrases; a replacement section for searching the text and replacing with appropriate paraphrases; and a judgment section for outputting generated voice data on condition that the computed score is smaller than a reference value and for inputting the text after the replacement to the synthesis section to cause the synthesis section to further generate voice data for the text. |
| US08015008B2 |
System and method of using acoustic models for automatic speech recognition which distinguish pre- and post-vocalic consonants
Disclosed are systems, methods and computer readable media for training acoustic models for an automatic speech recognition systems (ASR) system. The method includes receiving a speech signal, defining at least one syllable boundary position in the received speech signal, based on the at least one syllable boundary position, generating for each consonant in a consonant phoneme inventory a pre-vocalic position label and a post-vocalic position label to expand the consonant phoneme inventory, reformulating a lexicon to reflect an expanded consonant phoneme inventory, and training a language model for an automated speech recognition (ASR) system based on the reformulated lexicon. |
| US08015006B2 |
Systems and methods for processing natural language speech utterances with context-specific domain agents
Systems and methods for receiving natural language queries and/or commands and execute the queries and/or commands. The systems and methods overcomes the deficiencies of prior art speech query and response systems through the application of a complete speech-based information query, retrieval, presentation and command environment. This environment makes significant use of context, prior information, domain knowledge, and user specific profile data to achieve a natural environment for one or more users making queries or commands in multiple domains. Through this integrated approach, a complete speech-based natural language query and response environment can be created. The systems and methods creates, stores and uses extensive personal profile information for each user, thereby improving the reliability of determining the context and presenting the expected results for a particular question or command. |
| US08015002B2 |
Dynamic noise reduction using linear model fitting
A speech enhancement system improves the speech quality and intelligibility of a speech signal. The system includes a time-to-frequency converter that converts segments of a speech signal into frequency bands. A signal detector measures the signal power of the frequency bands of each speech segment. A background noise estimator measures a background noise detected in the speech signal. A dynamic noise reduction controller dynamically models the background noise in the speech signal. The speech enhancement renders a speech signal perceptually pleasing to a listener by dynamically attenuating a portion of the noise that occurs in a portion of the spectrum of the speech signal. |
| US08014999B2 |
Frequency compensation for perceptual speech analysis
The invention provides a softscaled frequency compensation function that allows the evaluation of a first quality measure indicating a global impact of all distortions in an audio transmission system, including linear frequency response distortions and second quality measure that only lakes into account the impact of linear frequency response distortions. The softscaled frequency compensation function is derived from a softscaled ratio between a time integrated output and a time integrated input power density functions. The first quality measure is derived from the difference loudness density function as function of time and frequency, using the frequency compensated input loudness density function and the gain compensated output loudness density function both as a function of time and frequency, in the same manner as carried out in ITU standard P.862. The second measure is established from a difference loudness density function as function of frequency only that is derived from a time integration of a second frequency compensated input loudness density function and the gain compensated output loudness density function both as a function of time and frequency. |
| US08014993B1 |
Transportable volume, local environment repository
An operating environment emulation system includes a separate peripheral emulation system having a memory device. The memory device is operable to store one or more executable programs, referred to as emulators. The emulators are operable to emulate an original operating environment. Multiple emulators may be deployed on the emulation system to allow execution and presentation of an original operating environment on several different host computers. The system also includes a method for connecting the emulation system to a host computer or accessory device upon which the emulation will run. The emulator may employ insulation processes to limit interaction between the emulation system and host computer resources. |
| US08014991B2 |
System and method for using first-principles simulation to characterize a semiconductor manufacturing process
A method, system and computer readable medium for facilitating a process performed by a semiconductor processing tool. The method includes inputting data relating to a process performed by the semiconductor processing tool, and inputting a first principles physical model relating to the semiconductor processing tool. First principles simulation is then performed using the input data and the physical model to provide a simulation result for the process performed by the semiconductor processing tool, and the simulation result is used as part of a data set that characterizes the process performed by the semiconductor processing tool. |
| US08014987B2 |
Modeling the transient behavior of BHA/drill string while drilling
A method, system and computer program product for performing a drilling operation for an oil field, the oil field having a subterranean formation with geological structures and reservoirs therein. The method involves creating a finite-difference model to simulate behavior of a drilling assembly used to drill a wellbore in the drilling operation, performing a simulation of the drilling operation using the finite-difference model, analyzing a result of the simulation, and selectively modifying the drilling operation based on the analysis. |
| US08014985B2 |
Setting and visualizing a virtual camera and lens system in a computer graphic modeling environment
A virtual camera and lens system in a three dimensional computer graphic modeling environment is set using a nominal focal length and a focus distance. A true focal length is calculated. An optical axis object that represents the optical axis of the virtual camera and lens system is created in the three dimensional computer graphic modeling environment. An object is attached to the optical axis at a location that visualizes the setting of the virtual camera and lens system as determined from the true focal length. The focal length of the virtual camera and lens system is set to the calculated true focal length. The focus distance and f-stop may be determined from near and far focus points. |
| US08014981B2 |
Angular-domain channel model and channel estimation
A method of modeling wireless communication channels in angular domain is disclosed. The method includes considering radiation patterns 101, 102 of the transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna, wherein the radiation patterns are represented by antenna characteristics sampled at a plurality of angular directions. A method of channel estimation based on the method of modeling wireless communication channel in angular domain is also disclosed. |
| US08014980B2 |
Method for simulating deviations in surface appearance of plastics parts
A forming process of plastic parts is simulated. The position and time of plastics particles which exceed at least one defined critical limit are detected. The final positions of particles in the surface layer of the plastics part are computed. The positions of the particles in the surface layer are defined as positions with deviations in the surface appearance. |
| US08014977B1 |
Serial interface amplitude selection for a disk drive in an unknown interconnect environment
A method for determining an amplitude for signal transmission over an interconnect is disclosed. The method includes transmitting a first signal to a host over a transmission medium at a first transmission frequency according to a first speed negotiation process and receiving a second signal from the host at the first transmission frequency. The method also includes measuring a first voltage amplitude of the second signal and transmitting a third signal to the host at a second transmission frequency according to a second speed negotiation process. The method further includes receiving a fourth signal from the host at the second transmission frequency, measuring a second voltage amplitude of the fourth signal, and determining an approximate voltage loss in response to the first and second voltage amplitudes. |
| US08014974B2 |
System and method for analyzing and reporting machine operating parameters
A system and method for analyzing and providing exception-based reports for machine data. The machine data is relayed to a remote system for automated analysis based on tests and parameters defined by an owner. If any exceptions are detected in the data based on the operator-defined input, output is generated. The output may take the form of exception-based printed or electronic reports, or the exception information may be relayed to a hand held device, preferably maintained by service personnel at the work site. |
| US08014973B1 |
Distance histogram for nearest neighbor defect classification
A method for constructing a distance histogram for nearest neighbor classification. A training sample is determined for each of two classes. For each defect, a distance is measured in the feature space between the defect and the training sample for each of the classes. All of the distances for a given defect are normalized by dividing each distance for the given defect by the sum of all of the distances for the given defect. A histogram is constructed by plotting a chart of the normalized distances versus the number of defects having the distances. A threshold bar is placed on the center of the histogram to construct a normal nearest neighbor classifier. The threshold bar can be adjusted to the left or to the right to construct a weighted nearest neighbor classifier. |
| US08014972B1 |
Computerized method for creating a CUSUM chart for data analysis
A method for evaluating the success of a manufacturing process that includes creating a CUSUM chart permitting a mathematical determination of when a step change in an industrial process has occurred. |
| US08014968B2 |
Self-test circuit for high-definition multimedia interface integrated circuits
A high-definition multimedia interface circuit uses a high-definition multimedia interface encoder to produce a plurality of channels of data. An output circuit, connected to the high-definition multimedia interface encoder, produces a plurality of channels of high frequency data from the data produced by the high-definition multimedia interface encoder. A multiplexer selects a channel for sampling, and a capacitive coupler capacitively couples the multiplexer to a sampling circuit. The sampling circuit produces sampled data corresponding to the high frequency data having a clock rate less than a clock rate of the high frequency data. A test circuit compares the sampled data with the data produced by the high-definition multimedia interface encoder. |
| US08014965B2 |
Spectral estimation of spectrometers time-sampled signals using fast implementation of the reverse non-uniform discrete fourier transform
A spectrometric system has a primary channel with a signal waveform and a reference channel with a signal waveform. A digital representation of the primary signal waveform and a digital representation of the reference signal waveform to provide a digital output representing the primary signal at datum points synchronized with the reference signal are processed by computing the Fourier transform of the primary signal waveform and using a fast reverse non-uniform discrete Fourier Transform technique to compute the reverse non-uniform discrete Fourier transform of the Fourier transform of the primary signal waveform to provide the digital output representing the primary signal at datum points synchronized with the reference signal. |
| US08014962B2 |
Method and apparatus for analyzing multi-channel chromatogram
A method for analyzing a multi-channel chromatogram is realized for accurately resolving overlapping peaks on a multi-channel chromatogram to permit analysis of the composition of a sample. First, components of overlapping peaks are specified. A data matrix Dij is determined, and compressed in the wavelength direction to obtain a data matrix vector Di. Next, the two-dimensional data is deconvoluted, final standard deviation s0 is registered, and the deconvoluted two-dimensional data is reconvoluted to a retention intensity matrix. A quantitative spectral intensity matrix is computed, components are identified, and the identified components are quantified. Subsequently, an eigenvalue problem is solved, and the number n of components is estimated. The deconvolution and computation of the eigenvalue problem are iteratively executed until the peaks are isolated. Then, elution profiles are calculated, the components are identified, and the identified components are quantified. |
| US08014959B2 |
Population of background suppression lists from limited data in agent detection systems
Methods and systems are disclosed for detection of agents such as pathogens or toxic substances and, in particular, to methods and systems for determining the most important background constituents to suppress in a sample, e.g., in a bulk aerosol sample, in order to reduce the probability of false alarms and improve the level of detection of potentially harmful airborne agents. |
| US08014958B2 |
Method for confirming positions on which probes are immobilized in nucleic acid array
The present invention provides a method for accurately and easily confirming that nucleic acid probes immobilized on a nucleic acid array are correctly arrayed on predetermined positions. |
| US08014957B2 |
Genes associated with progression and response in chronic myeloid leukemia and uses thereof
The invention provides molecular markers that are associated with the progression of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and methods and computer systems for monitoring the progression of CML in a patient based on measurements of these molecular markers. The present invention also provides CML target genes, and methods and compositions for treating CML patients by modulating the expression or activity of these CML target genes and/or their encoded proteins. The invention also provides genes that are associated with resistance to imatinib mesylate (Gleevec™) treatment in CML patients, and methods and compositions for determining the responsiveness of a CML patient to imatinib mesylate treatment based on measurements of these genes and/or their encoded proteins. The invention also provides methods and compositions for enhancing the effect of Gleevec™ by modulating the expression or activity of these genes and/or their encoded proteins. |
| US08014956B2 |
MicroRNA precursors
Disclosed are methods of identifying microRNA motifs or microRNA precursors for a target gene or a set of target genes. Also disclosed are related computer-readable media. |
| US08014953B2 |
RNA surveillance among curated proteins
Computational methods for systematically characterizing putative protein isoforms as apparent targets of nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) comprise: (a) identifying a dataset of target putative protein isoform sequences for characterization; (b) identifying from an mRNA dataset corresponding mRNA sequences representing transcripts encoding the protein isoforms; (c) determining corresponding gene intron-exon structures by mapping the mRNA sequences to corresponding genomic sequences; and (d) determining if the transcripts are apparent targets of NMD. Methods for regulating the expression of a gene encoding a protein isoform characterized as an apparent target of NMD comprise biasing expression of the isoform by modulating transcript splicing or modulating NMD activity. |
| US08014952B2 |
Serum biomarkers in lung cancer
Certain biomarkers and biomarker combinations are useful in a qualifying lung cancer status in a subject. A diagnostic methodology employing these biomarkers and combinations can detect whether a subject has lung cancer. MARKER IDMWFRACTION IM-12011A IM-22030A IM-32069A IM-42128A IM-52146A IM-62186A IM-72232A IM-82277A IM-92295A IM-102318A IM-112411A IM-122434A IM-132467A IM-142482A IM-152498A IM-162565A IM-172574A IM-182586A IM-192605A IM-202722A IM-212746A IM-222788A IM-232855A IM-242871A IM-252984A IM-263030A IM-273144A IM-283243A IM-293273A IM-303290A IM-313369A IM-323445A IM-333483A IM-343676A IM-353779A IM-363793A IM-373893A IM-383960A IM-393972A IM-403984A IM-414068A IM-424178A IM-434287A IM-444297A IM-454309A IM-464484A IM-474649A IM-484798A IM-495104A IM-505918A IM-516122A IM-526192A IM-536452A IM-546660A IM-557768A IM-568145A IM-578954A IM-589312A IM-599449A IM-6010272A IM-6111683A IM-6213376A IM-6314698A IM-6415190A IM-6466758A IM-6515951A IM-6615172A IM-6715925A IM-6823436A IM-6939794A IM-7044166A IM-7148890A IM-7254028A IM-7360170A IM-7574372A IM-7675545A IM-7777543A IM-7879507A IM-7988854A IM-80101831A IM-81104301A IM-82125160A IM-83132978A IM-84149099A IM-852016B IM-862029B IM-872144B IM-882130B IM-892168B IM-902164B IM-912200B IM-922284B IM-932299B IM-942314B IM-952414B IM-962428B IM-972451B IM-982468B IM-992483B IM-1002565B IM-1012583B IM-1022597B IM-1032697B IM-1042715B IM-1052740B IM-1062752B IM-1072767B IM-1082885B IM-1092882B IM-1102967B IM-1112977B IM-1122994B IM-1133031B IM-1143048B IM-1153148B IM-1163166B IM-1173283B IM-1183308B IM-1193332B IM-1203432B IM-1213450B IM-1223561B IM-1233615B IM-1243714B IM-1253730B IM-1263834B IM-1273899B IM-1283969B IM-1293986B IM-1303997B IM-1314013B IM-1324181B IM-1334297B IM-1344311B IM-1354465B IM-1364484B IM-1374579B IM-1384608B IM-1394669B IM-1404747B IM-1414862B IM-1424891B IM-1435033B IM-1445077B |
| US08014947B2 |
Method and system of locating printouts
Methods and apparatus for locating printouts are provided. In a method embodiment, a method of providing information generally includes generating directions to a first printer from a first location based on the location of the first printer and the first location. The method also includes presenting the directions to a user. |
| US08014946B2 |
Digital mapping system
Various methods, systems, and apparatus for implementing aspects of a digital mapping system are disclosed. One such method includes sending a location request from a client-side computing device to a map tile server, receiving a set of map tiles in response to the location request, assembling said received map tiles into a tile grid, aligning the tile grid relative to a clipping shape, and displaying the result as a map image. One apparatus according to aspects of the present invention includes means for sending a location request from a client-side computing device to a map tile server, means for receiving a set of map tiles in response to the location request, means for assembling said received map tiles into a tile grid, means for aligning the tile grid relative to a clipping shape, and means for displaying the result as a map image. Such an apparatus may further include direction control or zoom control objects as interactive overlays on the displayed map image, and may also include route or location overlays on the map image. |
| US08014943B2 |
Method and system for displaying social networking navigation information
A mapping system associated with a social network includes determining that a social networking map object (“MO”) is outside a visible area of a map displayed; calculating the direction, distance and travel-time to the MO (e.g. a social network member, a location, a meeting place, etc.), creating an object vector indicator (“OVI”) and displaying the OVI on a map-display application. The OVI may be displayed on the periphery of the displayed map and may be positioned in the general direction of the MO. The position of the electronic device, as well as a current position of the MO, are factored into the calculations and placement of the OVI. The OVI may include a graphical representation, obtained from the social network, of the MO it references. |
| US08014942B2 |
Remote destination programming for vehicle navigation
Remote destination programming enables a user to define a desired destination (402, 406, 410) in advance of a journey. The destination may be stored in a user profile (502, 504) on a remote navigation server (400, 500). It may be uploaded there via a web interface (402), or through land-line or wireless telecom communications (410). Subsequently, for example beginning at a rental car agency, the navigation server supports navigation through any of several modes of operation, including a first mode in which the desired destination information is downloaded from the server (520) so as to program target navigation equipment (522) on-board the rental vehicle. In another mode, the user's GPS-enabled communication device (428) interacts with the navigation server (500) to upload periodic location data (430), and receive turn-by-turn directions (530) for the user. In this mode, there is no need for separate on-board navigation equipment to assist the user to the desired location. |
| US08014940B2 |
System and method for navigating a mobile device user interface with a directional sensing device
An electronic mobile device includes a display, a tilt sensor and a processor. The display is for displaying a graphical element. The tilt sensor is configured to measure a tilt angle of the mobile device. The processor is configured to store the measured tilt angle as a reference tilt angle, subsequently determine a delta tilt angle as the difference between a currently measured tilt angle and the reference tilt angle, compare the delta tilt angle to different thresholds, and alter the position of the displayed element on the display at a rate that is based on the number of the thresholds the delta tilt angle has exceeded. |
| US08014937B2 |
Method of creating a virtual traffic network
A computer-implemented method of creating a virtual traffic network includes inputting map data representing a road system, inputting flow data related to traffic flow on the road system and integrating the map data and the flow data to produce a virtual traffic network representing traffic conditions on the road system. |
| US08014934B2 |
Starter drive assembly and method of starting an engine
A starter drive assembly includes a starter output shaft having a plurality of circumferentially-spaced axial grooves, a clutch assembly, and a barrel assembly. The clutch assembly includes a clutch plate configured to engage the axially grooves of the output shaft such that the output shaft and the clutch plate rotate together during an engine starting operation. The clutch assembly further includes a screw shaft selectively matingly couplable to the clutch plate, wherein the screw shaft is configured to engage the clutch plate during rotation in a first direction and disengage the clutch plate in a second direction such that the screw shaft and the clutch plate rotate together in the first direction. The barrel assembly includes a first end configured to threadably engage the screw shaft, and a second end that includes a pinion gear configured to engage the ring gear during the engine starting operation. |
| US08014933B2 |
Method to determine a fuel composition
The invention deals with a method to determine the fuel composition of a fuel mixture from a first fuel and a second fuel for the operation of an internal combustion engine, wherein the first and the second fuel have different octane numbers and wherein the internal combustion engine has at least one knock sensor and a closed-loop knock control. Provision is made according to the invention for the composition of the fuel mixture to be determined by means of an output signal of the knock sensor. Provision is made in many cases for the knock sensor to already be in the internal combustion engine, so that it does not present any additional expenditure of money or effort. Because the octane number of the fuel mixture is determined by the mixing ratio of the fuels involved, which have different octane numbers, in retrospect the composition of the fuel mixture can be suggested from the signal of the knock sensor under suitable operating conditions. |
| US08014925B2 |
Control apparatus for automatic transmission for vehicle
A control apparatus for an automatic transmission includes an operational condition detecting unit for detecting a vehicle operational condition, a slope detecting unit for detecting a road surface slope, and a shift characteristic selecting unit for selecting one of a plurality of shift maps preliminarily set according to the road surface slope. The control apparatus further includes an acceleration/deceleration calculating unit for calculating an acceleration or deceleration from the degree of increase or decrease in vehicle speed per unit time, a deceleration shift characteristic for deciding a gear position according to the deceleration and the vehicle speed, and a brake detecting unit for detecting a brake operation. When the road surface slope is determined to be a downhill slope and the brake operation is detected, the selected shift map is changed to the deceleration shift characteristic and the gear position is decided according to the deceleration shift characteristic. |
| US08014924B2 |
Systems and methods for improving haul road conditions
A method for improving haul road surface conditions comprises collecting performance data associated with at least one machine operating on a haul route and determining a rolling resistance of each of the at least one machine based on the performance data. An average rolling resistance associated with one or more portions of the haul route is determined based on the rolling resistance of each of the at least one machine. The one or more portions of the haul route are identified as irregular if the average rolling resistance of the one or more portions exceeds a threshold resistance value. A proposed modification to the irregular portion of the haul route is generated, and performance of the at least one machine is simulated based on the proposed modification. The method also includes outputting results of the simulated performance. |
| US08014921B2 |
Ultrasonic sensor-based side impact sensing system
A side-impact threat assessment system that uses at least one ultrasonic sensor is provided. A method of detecting a potential side-impact collision on a host vehicle is also provided. The method calls for using at least one ultrasonic sensor for presence detection and for providing sensed data used in estimating closing velocity. |
| US08014918B2 |
Vehicular drive assist system and vehicular drive assist method
A vehicular drive assist system that analyzes information collected from a vehicle and sends a result of analysis to the vehicle and/or another vehicle, including a vehicle-mounted apparatus (101) mounted in the vehicle, and a communication center (102) that communicates with the vehicle-mounted apparatus (101). The vehicle-mounted apparatus (101) detects a present position of the host vehicle, detects a vehicular state of the host vehicle, and sends the present position and the vehicular state at the position detected to the communication center (102). The communication center (102) performs statistic processing of the vehicular state received, separately for each predetermined area on a road, by using the present position, calculates a tendency of the vehicular state separately for each predetermined area, evaluates ease of travel on the road in the predetermined area from the tendency calculated, and sends a result of evaluation to the vehicle and/or another vehicle. |
| US08014916B2 |
Internal-combustion-engine ignition diagnosis apparatus and internal-combustion-engine control apparatus
The internal-combustion-engine ignition diagnosis apparatus is configured in such a way that the first duration setting unit sets the first detection duration in a predetermined duration including a time instant when the spark discharge is generated, the second duration setting unit sets the second detection duration after the first detection duration, the diagnosis unit determines normality of the spark discharge, based on a signal state in the second detection duration, and regardless of the signal state in the second detection duration, determines abnormality of the spark discharge, based on a signal state in the first detection duration. |
| US08014913B2 |
Aircraft engine management for fuel conservation method and apparatus
A method includes controlling an aircraft during descent, and controlling the engine pressure ratio of a jet engine so that the engine has a substantially equal pressure at the exhaust, and at the front of the engine during the descent. |
| US08014912B2 |
Method and device for aiding the piloting of an airplane during an approach phase
A method and device for aiding the piloting of an airplane includes: (1) determining current values of flight parameters of the airplane, (2) determining, with the aid of the current values, an approach distance that corresponds to a distance in a horizontal plane between the current position of the airplane and a position of contact with the ground, and (3) presenting the approach distance on a screen. |
| US08014911B2 |
Methods and systems for imposing a momentum boundary while reorienting an agile vehicle with control moment gyroscopes
Methods and systems are provided for reorienting an agile vehicle, such as a satellite or spacecraft, using a control moment gyroscope (CMG) array. The CMG array comprises a plurality of CMGs onboard the agile vehicle. A method comprises obtaining an input torque command for reorienting the vehicle using the CMG array and, when the angular momentum of the CMG array violates or is approaching a momentum boundary criterion, decreasing the input torque command in the kinetic momentum direction, resulting in a modified torque command, and operating the CMG array using the modified torque command. |
| US08014907B2 |
Method of assisting in the navigation of an aircraft with an updating of the flight plan
The invention relates to a method of assisting in the navigation of an aircraft comprising a step for updating a flight plan according to a new clearance originating from an air traffic control authority and received on board by a ground/onboard communication system. The clearance comprises an action conditional on the flight plan linked to a floating point of the path defined by a time constraint of the aircraft; on receipt of the new clearance, the update is performed directly by means of the FMS linked to the communication system. This is a predictive method. |
| US08014906B2 |
Multi-axis trim processing
Systems and methods are disclosed herein to provide trim for a vehicle, such as an aircraft. For example, a method for providing trim may include generally simultaneously determining values for a plurality of trim variables in a plurality of degrees of freedom. In this manner, the iterative aspect of contemporary methods for providing trim is substantially mitigated and a more efficient, robust system is provided. |
| US08014905B2 |
System and method for demand limiting resistive load management
An electricity demand limiting system for limiting the electricity consumption of at least one resistive load device. The demand limiting system includes a consumption controller associated with the resistive load device that is operable to infinitely vary the amount of electricity being consumed by the load device. The consumption control device is in operative communication with a load controller such that the load controller can generate a control signal to affect the operation of the consumption control circuit. Preferably, the consumption control circuit is a triac-based circuit that receives the control signal from the load controller and limits the amount of electricity consumed by the resistive load device. The load controller can receive input signals from sensors monitoring the electricity delivery system or from the premise electricity meter. Further, the load controller can receive external inputs from a third party that determine the operation of the load controller in limiting the electricity demands of the resistive load device. |
| US08014904B1 |
Hybrid modular/decoder irrigation controller
A plurality of receptacles in an irrigation controller removably receive a plurality of modules. At least one station module is configured for insertion into a first one of the receptacles and is connectable to a corresponding solenoid actuated valve through a dedicated field valve line and common return line. The station module includes at least one switching device for selectively providing a first power signal that energizes the corresponding solenoid actuated valve. At least one encoder module is configured for insertion into a second one of the receptacles and is connectable to a multi-wire path for sending encoded signals and a second power signal along the multi-wire path for selectively energizing one of a plurality of solenoid actuated valves connected to corresponding decoder circuits connected along the multi-wire path. A processor executes the stored watering program and controls the station module and/or the encoder module in accordance with the stored watering program. |
| US08014902B2 |
Method and apparatus for energy-efficient temperature-based systems management
A system for load control in an electrical power system is described, wherein one or more temperature-monitoring devices are provided to control operation of a pool pump. When ambient temperatures are relatively high, and thus, electrical power demands from air conditioning systems are relatively high, the temperature-monitoring devices can remove power from the controlled device during the hottest portions of the day. The temperature-monitoring devices can provide power to the controlled devices during the cooler portions of the day. During heat waves or other periods of relatively continuous high heat, the temperature-monitoring devices can schedule power to the controlled devices to reduce overall power demands and to run the controlled devices during the cooler portions of the day when air conditioning electrical loads are reduced. The temperature-monitoring devices can also coordinate operation of the pool pump and a pool heater. |
| US08014898B2 |
Controller of robot used combined with machine tool
A robot controller (7) controlling a robot (1) used combined with a machine tool (5, 6) provided with a communication unit (9) connecting the robot controller to a machine tool, a detection unit (52) detecting through the communication unit a type and number of machine tools, and a setting unit (55) setting the robot controller based on the type and number of machine tools detected by the detection unit. Due to this, machine tool and robot startup work can be simply and easily performed without requiring skill or increasing the startup man-hours. The setting unit selects one setting file from among a plurality of setting files for the robot controller, stored in the robot controller, based on the type and number of machine tools detected by the detection unit. |
| US08014897B2 |
System, apparatus, and method for managing and controlling robot competitions
A system and method for operating robots in a robot competition. One embodiment of the system may include operator interfaces, where each operator interface is operable to control movement of a respective robot. A respective operator interface may be in communication with an associated operator radio, where each radio may have a low power RF output signal. A robot controller may be coupled to each robot in the robot competition. A robot radio may be coupled to a respective robot and in communication with a respective robot controller and operator radio. The robot radios may have a low power RF output signal while communicating with the respective operator radios. Alternatively, the radios may be short range radios, where a distance of communication may be a maximum of approximately 500 feet. |
| US08014893B2 |
Method of machining workpiece with offset tool
A groove (Da) extending in a Y-axis direction of a workpiece (D) is finish machined with an offset tool (T) that has a cross-section with a shape (L3) offset in a reducing direction by only a predetermined offset amount relative to a finished shape (L1) of the groove (Da) and that rotates around an axis of rotation parallel to a Z axis. Each time an incising step in which the offset tool (T) is relatively moved within the X-Z plane only by a predetermined distance on the circumference of an imaginary circle (C) having an initial position as its center and the offset amount (o) as its radius is carried out, a cutting step in which the entire length of the groove (Da) is cut while relatively moving the offset tool (T) in the Y-axis direction is carried out repeatedly. This enables the load imposed on the offset tool (T) to be suppressed compared with the case of a forming tool, which cuts a wide region of the groove (Da) of the workpiece (D) all at once, thus providing a method of machining a workpiece with an offset tool (T), the method allowing the durability of the offset tool (T) to be enhanced and the finishing precision of a machined face to be increased. |
| US08014892B2 |
Method and device for compensating for positional and shape deviations
A method for compensating for at least one of positional deviations and shape deviations in NC-controlled cutting production machines where the method includes the steps of securing a new workpiece, processing the workpiece using the nominal data of the NC program, acquiring the set deviation data, optimizing the NC program using the acquired data and repeating these steps until at least one of required positional and shape tolerances have been achieved. |
| US08014891B2 |
Etching amount calculating method, storage medium, and etching amount calculating apparatus
An etching amount calculating method that can stably and accurately calculate the amount of etching even if a disturbance is added. Superposed interference light resulting from superposition of interference light of reflected light from a mask film and reflected light from the bottom of a concave portion on other interference light is received. A waveform in a predetermined time period is extracted from a superposed interference wave calculated from the superposed interference light. The period of an interference wave of the reflected light from the mask film and the reflected light from the bottom is detected from the distribution of frequencies of the extracted waveform. The steps described above are repeated while shifting the predetermined time period by a predetermined time, and the detected periods are integrated and averaged at each repetition. The etching amount of the concave portion is calculated based on the integrated and averaged periods. |
| US08014890B2 |
Method for manufacturing a high-frequency assembly
In the manufacture of a high-frequency assembly, a plurality of components, at least one (12) of which is frequency-specific, are placed with respect to each other using a placing apparatus and are interconnected. In a specimen of the frequency-specific component (12, 30) a feature (23, 24) which encodes the frequency is looked for. The specimen is built in if the feature (23, 24; 26) is found in the specimen and is judged to be correct; otherwise the specimen is rejected. |
| US08014886B2 |
Method and system for generating an assembly configuration
A bill of material and a design layout are aligned to generate a configuration for a virtual vehicle. The bill of material includes a part number and usage associated with a part. The design layout includes a CAD model of the part. CAD models in vehicle position are generated from the design layout. Logical positions are identified based on the usage and the CAD models in vehicle position are associated with the logical positions. Feature conditions are applied to the CAD models in vehicle position representing content and position configuration. |
| US08014881B2 |
Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
In a lithographic apparatus, a feedforward transfer function of a control system is determined by: a) iteratively learning a feedforward output signal of the control system by iterative learning control for a given setpoint signal; b) determining a relation between the learned feedforward output signal and the setpoint signal; and c) applying the relation as the feedforward transfer function of the control system. A learned feedforward, which has been learned for one or more specific setpoint signals only, can be adapted to provide a setpoint signal dependent feedforward output signal. The learned feedforward can be made more robust against setpoint variations. |
| US08014879B2 |
Methods and systems for adaptive control
A digital controller includes a sampling component that samples an output signal from a system and an input signal to the system at a first sampling rate, which is at least equal to a predetermined operating rate. An input parameter obtaining component obtains a plurality of input parameters from the samples at the first sampling rate. A decimator component generates subsampled values for the plurality of input parameters at a second sampling rate, which is slower than the first sampling rate. An adaptive plant estimator component generates a model of the system based on the subsampled values. A compensator design component determines compensator parameters based on the model. The compensator parameters reflect changes in the system and are sampled at the second sampling rate. A feedback compensator adjusts the input signal to the system based on the compensator parameters. |
| US08014877B2 |
Treatment apparatus for applying electrical impulses to the body of a patient
The present invention provides a treatment device for applying electrical impulses to a living body through the skin, for treating a variety of clinical conditions. The device comprises a pair of electrodes for contact with the skin, and a waveform generator for repeatedly generating an AC waveform for applying electrical impulses through the electrodes to the skin. A detector detects changes in the skin impedance and generates detector output signals representing the skin impedance. Means responsive to the detector output signals for monitor the responsivity of the skin, and indicator means activated by the monitoring means generate a first indication when a predetermined level of responsivity is reached and a second indication when a pre-determined treatment has been administered. |
| US08014876B2 |
Treatment apparatus for applying electrical impulses to the body of a patient
The present invention provides a treatment device for applying electrical impulses to a living body through the skin, for treating a variety of clinical conditions. The device comprises a pair of electrodes for contact with the skin, and a waveform generator for repeatedly generating an AC waveform for applying electrical impulses through the electrodes to the skin. A detector detects changes in the skin impedance and generates detector output signals representing the skin impedance. Means responsive to the detector output signals for monitor the responsivity of the skin, and indicator means activated by the monitoring means generate a first indication when a predetermined level of responsivity is reached and a second indication when a pre-determined treatment has been administered. |
| US08014875B2 |
Lead having reinforcing member
An implantable medical device, such as a lead or lead extension, includes a body having a distal end portion and a proximal end portion configured to be at least partially received by an apparatus. The device further includes a conductive member at the distal end portion of the body and an electrical contact at the proximal end portion of the body. The electrical contact is electrically coupled to the conductive member and is positioned such that, when received by the apparatus, at least a portion of the apparatus is capable of electrically coupling to the electrical contact. The device further includes a reinforcement member integrated in the body. The reinforcement member: (i) may be located in the body at a location that receives a compressive force when the proximal end portion is received by the apparatus; (ii) may be non-conductive and may be in contact with the electrical contact, and may extend distally within the body from the electrical contact; or (iii) may be located in the body at a location receivable by the apparatus. |
| US08014874B2 |
Connection structures for extra-vascular electrode lead body
Connection structures on an extra-vascular electrode lead body improve strain relief and strengthen the transition region where electrical conductors carried by the lead body are joined to individual electrodes at the distal end of the lead. The electrodes include structure or mechanisms for externally securing the electrode assembly to a body part. A first connection structure is located on the lead body proximal the electrodes to anchor the lead body to a first anchor location in the body that generally moves in concert with the body part. A second connection structure is located on the lead body proximal to the first connection structure to anchor the lead body to a second anchor location that is at least partially independent of movement of the body part. The first and second anchor location are offset by a distance that is less than a distance between the first and second connection structures to provide strain relief for the electrodes. |
| US08014870B2 |
Method and apparatus for the treatment of tinnitus
A method and apparatus for electrically stimulating the brain to alleviate tinnitus. In one aspect of the invention the areas of the brain to which stimulation is applied are determined by a procedure which first involves analysis of the patient to determine the nature of the sound perceived by the patient to produce tinnitus. These sound frequencies are then provided to the patient while imaging studies are made of the patient's brain. These studies may include magnetoencephalography (MEG) and/or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). These studies are then analyzed to determine the locus of the tinnitus, and one or more electrodes are placed at the indicated region in the patient's brain and a stimulation device for outputting a varying control pattern of electrical signals to the electrodes is also implanted. |
| US08014868B2 |
Electrode array for even neural pressure
The present invention is an electrode array for neural stimulation. In particular it is an electrode array for use with a visual prosthesis with the electrode array suitable to be positioned on the retina. The array includes multiple attachment points to provide for even pressure across the electrode array surface. The attachment points are arranged so as to not damage retinal tissue stimulated by the electrode array. |
| US08014864B2 |
Cardiomechanical assessment for cardiac resynchronization therapy
A first lead provides therapeutic stimulation to the heart and includes a first mechanical sensor that measures physical contraction and relaxation of the heart. A controller induces delivery of therapeutic stimulation via the first lead. The controller receives signals from the first mechanical sensor indicative of the contraction and relaxation; develops a template signal that corresponds to the contraction and relaxation; and uses the template signal to modify the delivery of therapeutic stimulations. In another arrangement, a second lead, with a second mechanical sensor also provides signals to the controller indicative of contraction and relaxation. The first mechanical sensor is adapted to be positioned at the interventricular septal region of the heart, and the second mechanical sensor is adapted to be positioned in the lateral region of the left ventricle. The controller processes the signals from the first mechanical sensor and the second mechanical sensor to develop a dysynchrony index. |
| US08014863B2 |
Heart attack or ischemia detector
A system including an implantable trigger event detector and an implantable ischemia detector. The implantable trigger event detector is adapted to detect at least one first condition and to output a responsive trigger signal including information about whether the first condition has been detected. The implantable ischemia detector is adapted to detect a second condition indicative of one or more physiologic cardiovascular events in a subject that are indicative of ischemia. The ischemia detector is coupled to the trigger event detector to receive the trigger signal, and the ischemia detector is enabled upon the trigger signal indicating that the first condition has been detected. |
| US08014861B2 |
Systems, devices and methods relating to endocardial pacing for resynchronization
Tools and methods are particularly suited for certain cardiac conditions advantaged by pacing of the right and left ventricles from a lead in the right ventricle, e.g., to facilitate mechanically and/or electrically synchronous contractions for resynchronization. Certain aspects involve pacing and/or mapping by delivering pulses to a cardiac site useful for improving heart function as measured, e.g., by QRS width, fractionation, late LV activation timing, mechanical synchronicity of free wall and septal wall, effective throughput/pressure, or a combination thereof. Other specific aspects include: determining a pacing threshold, beyond the capture threshold, to improve heart function; delivering pulses of opposite polarity to achieve such heart-function improvement; bi-ventricular pacing from a lead in the right ventricle for such improved heart function; delivering pulses of opposite polarity at a site near the His bundle; electrode-based His-pacing, without penetrating the myocardium; generating and/or delivering multiple pacing profiles including a pacing profile that delivers pulses of opposite polarity and another pacing profile; delivering a pacing profile to generate a synchronous contraction of the septal wall and free wall of the LV from a RV pacing location; and treating one or more of distal LBBB and/or diffuse LBBB by pacing at a site near the His bundle. |
| US08014848B2 |
Visualization of procedural guidelines for a medical procedure
The visualization of procedural guidelines for a medical procedure, in which a medical instrument is shown in an image representation of a body portion including an area in which a medical procedure is to be carried out, wherein, in the vicinity of the functional portion of the instrument, regions or locations are indicated which are of special relevance to the procedure according to established guidelines for said procedure. |
| US08014832B1 |
Managing power consumption in a wireless device
A property of a wireless signal over time is monitored while a processor is maintained in a first power state that utilizes less power than a second power state. While the processor remains in the first power state, a measure of the property is compared to a first threshold and to a second threshold. The processor can be transitioned from the first power state to the second power state if the measure crosses the first threshold and the second threshold, and otherwise the processor is maintained in the first power state. |
| US08014829B2 |
Method and apparatus of displaying output of mobile station
A mobile station includes a wireless interface, which gains wireless access to Internet via a BTS of a mobile communication network, a storage, which stores bookmark information including information on a title, a URL, or a display mode of at least one WAP page/Web page, a display, which displays the WAP/Web page, an input, which receives the information on the title, the URL, or the display mode of the WAP/Web page, and a central processing unit, which stores the bookmark information, including the information on the title, the URL, or the display mode of the WAP/Web page input through the input, in the storage, and displays the WAP/Web page, based on data downloaded from a server on the Internet accessed through the wireless interface, through the display using the display mode information corresponding to the title information or the URL information of the WAP/Web page. |
| US08014828B2 |
Method and device for transmitting signals in a wireless communication system and method and device for receiving signals in a wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a transmitting device (1) for transmitting signals in a wireless communication system, wherein said signals are transmitted in consecutive frames (23a, 23b, 23c), each frame comprising a beacon (BSF) and data frames (DF), said transmitting device (1) comprising a first set of narrow beam antennas (2a, 2b, 2c), each narrow beam antenna (2a, 2b, 2c) having a different beaming direction corresponding to one of a number of different transmission paths (P0, P1, P2) from said transmitting device (1) to a receiving device, and a first control means (5) adapted to control the transmission of said frames (23a, 23b, 23c), whereby the data frames (DF) of respectively two consecutive frames (23a, 23b, 23c) are transmitted via different narrow beam antennas (2a, 2b, 2c).The present invention further relates to a receiving device (10) for receiving signals in a wireless communications system as well as to a method for transmitting signals in a wireless communications system and to a method for receiving signals in a wireless communication system. |
| US08014827B2 |
Base station which communicates according to a retransmission control
There are provided scheduling and a resend control system, which match simultaneous communications using a plurality of carriers. For individual carriers to be used, the simultaneous resend control of the carriers is made by notifying channel information and a data decoding result and by managing the resend numbers. Even in case the communications are performed by using the carriers simultaneously between a base station and a terminal, the scheduling can be done to contain the resend control. It is also possible to improve the communication quality and the throughput. |
| US08014820B2 |
Baseband / RFIC interface for high throughput MIMO communications
Analog signal paths are utilized between a baseband processor and a radio front end to support high throughput communications for a multiple in multiple out radio transceiver that support communications over two or more antennas. Specifically, analog differential I and Q path communication signals are exchanged between a radio front end core and a baseband processor to maximize throughput capacity for high data rate signals. Along the same lines, the impedances of traces and the interface are matched to reduce I/Q imbalance. |
| US08014817B2 |
Wireless communication terminal and antenna switching control method
A wireless communication terminal able to change a resonance frequency of a sub antenna, able to reduce interference to a main antenna, and able to suppress deterioration performance in a dual terminal compatible with a plurality of transmission systems, wherein, in a wireless communication unit, at the time of a CDMA2000 1xEVDO mode, a first receiver circuit, a second receiver circuit, and a transmitter circuit are in an operative state, and, in the second receiver circuit, an input impedance is held at the 50 ohm input impedance of a LNA by an impedance control unit, while at the time of a CDMA2000 1x mode, the first receiver circuit and the transmitter circuit are in the operative state, the second receiver circuit is in an inoperative state, and, in the second receiver circuit, the input impedance is controlled so as to be shifted from the 50 ohm input impedance of the LNA by the impedance control unit, and an antenna switching control method for the same. |
| US08014815B2 |
Radioterminals including satellite interlocks and related methods
A radioterminal may include a transceiver, a hands-free interface, and a satellite/hands-free interlock. The transceiver may be configured for space-based communications and for terrestrial wireless communications. The satellite/hands-free interlock may be configured to prevent the transceiver from transmitting space-based communications unless the hands-free interface is activated. Related methods are also discussed. |
| US08014813B2 |
Feedback control for multicast or broadcast services
The invention relates to a method for controlling feedback of mobile terminals receiving via an air interface of a mobile communication system a multicast or broadcast service transmitted or forwarded by a feedback control entity and to a mobile terminal, the feedback control entity using this method. Further, a system comprising a feedback control entity and a mobile terminal receiving a multicast or broadcast service is provided. To enable configurable and adaptive feedback for multicast or broadcast services provided via an air interface maintaining the end-to-end session concept the invention suggests selecting a subset of the mobile terminals of the mobile communication system and which receive the multicast or broadcast service for providing feedback to a feedback control entity. In one embodiment of the invention the terminals may decide whether to provide feedback based on a probabilistic experiment performed based on parameters determined and provided by the feedback control entity. |
| US08014810B2 |
Cognitive radio terminal
A cognitive telecommunication terminal designed to coexist with a primary telecommunication system using a set (B) of transmission frequencies comprising a plurality of spatially distributed transmitters, each transmitter being suitable for transmitting within a coverage area in a plurality of frequency bands in said set allocated to the transmitter. The terminal comprises positioning means, a database storing information defining the coverage area for each transmitter, calculation means suitable for determining the maximum power that the terminal can transmit for each frequency band in said set, and for sorting frequency bands as a function of the maximum powers thus obtained. Finally, the terminal comprises radio transmission/reception means suitable for detecting the presence of a signal in the frequency bands thus sorted, beginning with the frequency band associated with the highest maximum power. |
| US08014809B2 |
Method and system for decentralized power control of a multi-antenna access point using game theory
Power control for uplink channels with non-cooperative and rational mobile stations (MS) provided using game theory. As a game leader, a multi-antenna access point (AP) determines the network parameters (bandwidth and the number of receiving antennas) for the power control game played between the mobile stations (MSs) (follower), so as to maximize the network utility per system resource (bandwidth and antennas). |
| US08014806B2 |
Dynamic creation of a communication group that includes contacts identified in one or more contact levels
A method (500) for dynamically creating a communication group. The method can include identifying a first contact (100) and automatically identifying a plurality of contacts (110, 120, 130, 140, 150) within a number (N) of levels removed from the first contact. The first contact can be included as one of the plurality of contacts or excluded from such plurality of contacts. The method further can include selecting at least a portion of the identified contacts to include within the communication group. Identifying the first contact can include processing an image that includes first contact. In another arrangement, a selection of the first contact from a contact list can be received. In yet another arrangement, a selection of the first contact from a recent call list can be received. |
| US08014805B2 |
Reservation multiple access
A mobile station accesses a base station by randomly selecting a first reverse link common control channel from a set of random access channels. The mobile station transmits a request portion of an access probe over the first reverse link common control channel. The request portion is subject to collision with other signals. The request portion comprises a hash identification which is derived from a uniquely identifying number using a hash function. The hash identification quasi-uniquely identifies the mobile station. The mobile station receives a channel assignment message from the base station designating the hash identification and a reserved access channel. The reserved access channel provides communication with a low probability of contention. The mobile station transmits a message portion of the access probe over the reserved access channel. |
| US08014804B2 |
Associating a wireless station with an access point
A station associates with an access point in a wireless local area network conforming to, e.g., an IEEE 802.11 standard. The station measures the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the downlink from each of the access points sending either a beacon or a probe response, and forms a first list of access points in decreasing order of received downlink SNR. The station transmits a link test request to each access point to query the access point for the SNR of the link test request received at the corresponding access point. Access points respond to the link test request with corresponding link test responses containing the corresponding SNR. The station i) forms a second list of access points in decreasing order of received uplink SNR and ii) compares the first and second lists to determine which access point to associate with based on overall quality of the uplink and downlink channels. |
| US08014803B2 |
Mobile communication system, mobile station, base station, and control channel allocation method
A disclosed mobile station includes a storage unit configured to establish a correspondence between an identifier for a downlink Layer-1 control channel associated with a downlink data channel and a physical channel parameter for an uplink Layer-1 control channel and to store the identifier and the physical channel parameter; and a unit configured to determine the physical channel parameter based on the identifier and generate the uplink Layer-1 control channel. A disclosed base station includes a storage unit; a unit configured to measure reception quality based on a signal transmitted from the mobile station, select the physical channel parameter and generate the downlink Layer-1 control channel corresponding to the physical channel parameter; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit control information on the generated downlink Layer-1 control channel. |
| US08014802B1 |
Transmit power adaptation algorithm using 802.11H
A first wireless device includes a signal strength module and a control module. The signal strength module is configured to receive a signal from a second wireless device, wherein the signal includes transmit power data indicating a transmit power of the second wireless device, and estimate a signal strength of the signal. The control module is configured to estimate a path loss between the first wireless device and the second wireless device based on (i) the signal strength and (ii) the transmit power data, and generate a control signal to control a transmit power of the first wireless device based on (i) the path loss and (ii) a sensitivity of a receiver of the first wireless device, where the sensitivity of the receiver is a minimum signal strength that the receiver is able to detect. |
| US08014799B2 |
System for providing application and management service and modifying user interface and method thereof
Disclosed is a system for downloading an application from a server and providing the same to a client by using a short message or a subscriber interface module (SIM) card. The system modifies a function key for each application according to a client's selection, and randomly modifies a user interface used for selecting an application. The system extends a usage range of the SIM card. The system periodically checks and analyzes the client' use log for a predetermined time, presents at least one application to the client according to the analysis result on the use log, provides a single application selected by the client to the client, and updates at least one application stored in the client mobile terminal according to the analysis result on the use log. Therefore, the system increases service satisfaction for the client. |
| US08014797B2 |
Location information system for a wireless communication device and method therefore
The present application is directed to location information systems for wireless communication devices. In one implementation, a location information system sends location information to a wireless communication device present in a predetermined area in a facility over a short-range wireless communication channel. The location information informs the wireless communication device a location of the wireless communication device in the facility. The location information system sends the location information to the wireless communication device from a location in the facility other than the location of the wireless communication device in the facility. |
| US08014796B2 |
Map version control methods and apparatus for updating the use of network-maintained map data sets for mobile communication devices
A map version control method of providing updates of network-maintained map data sets in mobile communication devices includes the steps of receiving a version of map data from a network database through a wireless communication network; causing the map to be visually displayed in a display in accordance with the version of the map data; maintaining storage of the version of the map data in a cache; receiving, through the wireless communication network, an indication indicating that an alternative or updated version of the map data corresponding to the map is available in the network database. The map corresponding to the alternative version of the map data may include one or more map objects that are unavailable in the map of the other version or an appearance that is different from the appearance of the map of the other version, where the map data may be obtained from a plurality of different network databases. |
| US08014795B2 |
GPSS-based system and method for enabling or disabling cellphones in predefined zones
A system and method are described for initiating, enabling, disabling or restoring cellphone operations when the cellphone is in a zone, which is where cellphone operation has to be so altered. A courtesy signal transmitter transmits a courtesy signal containing zone data, which is received by the cellphone's courtesy signal receiver. A GPSS receiver, embedded in the cellphone, outputs the current cellphone location. A cellphone's processor compares this location to the zone's coordinates; if it determines that the cellphone is in the zone, the cellphone's processor initiates, enables, or disables operations in it as directed by bits in the zone's data. Spread-spectrum technology securely passes zone data from courtesy signal transmitters to courtesy signal receivers in cellphones, using GPSS data to make this coding scheme more secure. Finally, the courtesy signal transmitter GPSS location is checked to determine if the courtesy signal transmitter has been moved after it is initialized. |
| US08014793B2 |
Use of previously-calculated position fix for location based query
A computing device is provided for responding to a location-based query. The computing device receives the query, determines that a current position fix is unavailable, retrieves from memory a previously-calculated position fix calculated before receipt of the location-based query, and provides a response to the query based on the previously-calculated position fix. |
| US08014790B2 |
Base station device for setting up the access rights for user terminals in response to user actuation of switches or buttons
The uplink signal circuitry of the base station device includes an authenticating unit, an access right setup unit, and a changeover switch for changeover between the setup of the access right and the authentication process. When a user performs the operation of setting up the right to access to the base station device, the changeover switch is flipped to select the access right setup unit. The access right setup unit executes authentication process on the basis of the IMSI (code unique to user terminal) sent from the user terminal. If the result of authentication is successful, the IMSI of the user terminal is registered in the authentication memory. Thereafter, the changeover switch is flipped to select the authenticating unit to authenticate the user terminal on the basis of the IMSI of the user terminal registered in the authentication memory. The authenticated user terminal is then connected with an upper device. |
| US08014784B2 |
System and method for allocating a channel in a communication system
A method and system for allocating a channel are provided in a communication system including a plurality of Mobile Stations (MSs) and Base Stations (BSs) for providing a communication service to the plurality of MSs. A BS transmits an average Channel Quality Information (CQI) request to MSs. The MSs measure CQI with respect to their channels in response to the request from the BS, compute average CQI from the measured CQI, and transmit the average CQI to the BS. The BS selects a predefined number of MSs according to the average CQI received from the MSs and sets an MS group. The BS transmits a CQI request to the MS group. The MSs of the MS group transmit the CQI to the BS. The BS receives the CQI from the MS group and allocates a channel according to the CQI. |
| US08014781B2 |
Intra-cell common reuse for a wireless communications system
To avoid or reduce intra-cell interference, each sector of a cell is associated with a sector-specific set of system resources (e.g., subbands) and at least one non-overlapping common set of system resources. Each common set for each sector includes system resources observing little or no interference from at least one other sector in the cell. The channel condition for a terminal in a given sector x is ascertained based on forward and/or reverse link measurements for the terminal. The terminal is assigned system resources from a common set or a sector-specific set for sector x based on the terminal's channel condition. For example, if the terminal observes high interference from another sector y, then the terminal is assigned system resources from a common set that observes little or no interference from sector y. The techniques may be used for an OFDMA system that uses frequency hopping. |
| US08014779B2 |
Wireless network connection switching management system and method
A system and method for wireless network connection switching management is shown. The system notifies a mobile user that his portable terminal is within an area where it can be provided with local fast wireless communication service such as a hot-spot service versus using a low speed, but wide coverage wireless access network. Radio waves for communication transmitted by a mobile wireless terminal are received at a WWAN receiving system provided in a WLAN system. The radio waves are capable of communicating with a WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) system utilizing a third generation mobile phone network and a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) system providing a hot-spot service. Instructions are output to the terminal via the Internet and a base station of the WWAN system that the mobile terminal is within an AP service area of an access point of the WLAN system. The user may choose to switch wireless network access networks in order to achieve faster access to the Internet. Additionally, the method incorporates mechanisms to achieve reduced power consumption by the mobile terminal. |
| US08014774B2 |
Scanning neighboring base stations in wireless access system
Scanning neighboring base stations in a wireless access system is provided. In one embodiment, a method of scanning neighboring base stations for assessing channel quality includes receiving from a serving base station information associated with at least one neighboring base station, and transmitting a scanning request message from a mobile subscriber station to the serving base station, wherein the scanning request message comprises a requested scan duration and a requested scan iteration, the requested scan iteration being associated with a requested number of iterations of the scanning of the at least one neighboring base station. The method also includes receiving a scanning response message from the serving base station, wherein the scanning response message comprises an allowed scan duration and an allowed scan iteration, the allowed scan iteration being associated with an allowed number of iterations of the scanning of the at least one neighboring base station. |
| US08014769B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving control information through PDCCH
A method for efficiently transmitting and receiving control information through a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is provided. When a User Equipment (UE) receives control information through a PDCCH, the received control information is set to be decoded in units of search spaces, each having a specific start position in the specific subframe. Here, a modulo operation according to a predetermined first constant value (D) is performed on an input value to calculate a first result value, and a modulo operation according to a predetermined first variable value (C) corresponding to the number of candidate start positions that can be used as the specific start position is performed on the calculated first result value to calculate a second result value and an index position corresponding to the second result value is used as the specific start position. Transmitting control information in this manner enables a plurality of UEs to efficiently receive PDCCHs without collisions. |
| US08014766B2 |
Method and system for filtering wavetable information for wireless devices
A method for providing wavetable information to a wireless device from a content server over a wireless network, the wavetable information including a plurality of samples corresponding to a plurality of notes, comprising: in response to a request from the wireless device, receiving at a proxy server the wavetable information from the content server; filtering the wavetable information in accordance with a selection of samples contained in the request; and, transmitting the filtered wavetable information to the wireless device. |
| US08014765B2 |
Real-time captioning framework for mobile devices
A system for providing caption information for one or more mobile devices includes a communication network, and one or more mobile devices connected to the communication network. The one or more mobile devices can include a cellular device, a personal digital assistant, or a wireless device. The system includes a captioning device to present caption data on a display, and a transcription device to transcribe data. The transcription device provides near real time delivery of the data transcription. The system uses the communication network to send text from the caption data to at least one of the mobile devices, while the system sends the caption data to one or more captioning devices simultaneously. |
| US08014763B2 |
Wireless communications with proximal targets identified visually, aurally, or positionally
A method of exchanging data comprises specifying in a first electronic device a recipient via perceptual addressing, and sending information from the first electronic device indicating an intent to conditionally communicate with the recipient only upon an expression of interest from the recipient in communicating with a user of the first electronic device. In a further example, a conditional message is sent from the first electronic device to the specified recipient electronic device such that the conditional message is visible to a recipient device user only upon the expression of interest from the recipient in communicating with a user of the first electronic device. |
| US08014761B2 |
Mobile device that uses removable medium for playback of content
A service that provides playback of media content, that may include advertising content, to a user. The system comprises device, that may be a portable wireless device, where the wireless device has a media drive and an application that reads content from a medium inserted in the media drive. The system further comprises a service that communicates with the wireless device via a wireless network. The service provides control commands to the application program for controlling playback of content from the medium when inserted in the media drive. The service may also provide advertising content to the user based on a user profile. A fee may be paid for the delivery of the content and/or the advertising to the user. |
| US08014760B2 |
Missed telephone call management for a portable multifunction device
In one aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is disclosed for use in conjunction with a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. A list of items comprising missed telephone calls is displayed. Upon detecting user selection of an item in the list, contact information is displayed for a respective caller corresponding to the user selected item. The displayed contact information includes a plurality of contact objects that include a first contact object, comprising a telephone number object having a first telephone number associated with the missed telephone call, and a second contact object. Upon detecting user selection of the second contact object, a communication with the respective caller is initiated via a modality corresponding to the second contact object. |
| US08014755B2 |
System and method of managing contactless payment transactions using a mobile communication device as a stored value device
A method and apparatus handling payment transactions in a system using mobile communication devices as stored value devices are disclosed. A transaction operations server receives multiple records of the transaction from the stored value device—one via a communication channel through the telecommunication provider network, and another via an independent communication channel. The records are reconciled at the transaction server for transaction verification. |
| US08014754B2 |
Method and system for location-dependent billing for services
A method for location-dependent billing for a service available to a user with a mobile terminal having an identification module. Via a wireless interface of the identification module, a local communication connection is set up to at least one external location tag with a corresponding wireless interface. The method includes determining a location identification through evaluation of data of the at least one external location tag; and selecting a billing rate for billing for the service available to the user based on the determined location of the at least on external location tag. |
| US08014751B2 |
Method and system for assigning wireless special number call routing among call answering positions
A method for assigning special number wireless call routing responsibilities among special number call answering positions, each respective special number call answering position having a respective designated special number service area, includes: (a) in no particular order: (1) establishing a plurality of cell sector areas for wireless call service; and (2) establishing respective special number service areas in the vicinities of the plurality of cell sector areas; (b) associating respective cell sector areas with the respective special number service areas to establish cell sector-special number areas; (c) establishing at least one population area in the vicinity of the cell sector-special number areas; (d) associating the cell sector-special number areas with the at least one population area to establish cell sector-special number-population areas; (e) determining portions of population attributed to each respective cell sector-special number-population area; and (f) assigning the responsibilities in proportion with the portions of population. |
| US08014748B2 |
Communication system having a communication device
A communication system is enclosed. In one embodiment, the communication system includes a communication device configured to puts itself into an activated state or into a deactivated state at alternate times. The communication device receives time information in a first operating state of the activated state, takes the received time information as a basis for ascertaining the later time at which useful information is transmitted to the communication device, receives the useful information at the later time in a second operating state of the activated state, and with individual components of the communication device being able to be put into an activated state or into a deactivated state independently of one another. |
| US08014747B2 |
Amplitude detecting device
An amplitude detecting device of the present art increases the slope of the change in output voltage corresponding to the change in amplitude of an input signal to improve the detection accuracy of amplitude change of input signal, without changing the dynamic range of the device. An amplitude detecting device of the art includes a plurality of amplifiers that amplify an input signal according to a predefined amplification rate, an amplitude detector that detects the amplitude of the signal amplified by the amplifiers, an operation circuit that operates the signal detected by the amplitude detector and obtains the amplitude value of the input signal, and a switch circuit that sets whether the signal detected by the amplitude detector is to be transmitted to the operation circuit or not. |
| US08014737B2 |
Power control system for a wireless communication unit
A wireless communication unit comprises a transmitter having an analogue feedback power control loop with an input and a power amplifier having a power amplifier output, where the analogue feedback power control loop is arranged to feedback a signal to the input to set an output power level of the transmitter. The wireless communication unit further comprises an outer digital loop operably coupled from the power amplifier output to the transmitter.In this manner, the inner analogue loop is used to linearise a response obtained from the power amplifier and an outer digital loop wherein the outer digital loop controls the inner analogue loop with regard to saturation detection and correction as well as facilitating multi-mode operation of the wireless communication unit. |
| US08014736B2 |
Distortion compensating apparatus, wireless communicating apparatus, and distortion compensating method
A distortion compensating apparatus includes following units. An information measuring unit measures a distortion component and an electric power component based on a radiation signal. A compensation coefficient calculating unit calculates a compensation coefficient based on the distortion component and the electric power component. A signal transmitting unit outputs a signal corrected by the compensation coefficient as a transmission signal. A signal converting unit converts the transmission signal into a high frequency signal. An amplitude separating unit amplifies the high frequency signal and separates a portion thereof as a signal to be fed back. A feeding-back unit processes the portion and outputs the result as a feedback signal to the information measuring unit. An electric power information extracting unit outputs a portion of the high frequency signal as the radiation signal, extracts electric power information from the radiation signal, and directly outputs the electric power information to the information measuring unit. |
| US08014734B2 |
Method, apparatus and system for controlling a transmit diversity device
A method of operating a transmit diversity device, wherein upon detection of a phase instability condition a power setting, such as a ratio of transmission power between different antennas, may be modified. |
| US08014732B2 |
Programmable antenna assembly and applications thereof
A programmable antenna assembly includes a configurable antenna structure, a configurable antenna interface, and a control module. The configurable antenna structure includes a plurality of antenna elements that, in response to an antenna configuration signal, are configured elements into at least one antenna. The configurable antenna interface module is coupled to the at least one antenna and, based on an antenna interface control signal, provides at least one of an impedance matching circuit and a bandpass filter. The control module is coupled to generate the antenna configuration signal and the antenna interface control signal in accordance with a first frequency band and a second frequency band such that the at least one antenna facilitates at least one of transmitting and receiving a first RF signal within the first frequency band and facilitates at least one of transmitting and receiving a second RF signal within the second frequency band. |
| US08014731B2 |
Electric circuit module, circuit module arrangement and use of said circuit module and of said circuit module arrangement
Circuitry includes a voltage-controlled switch having a transmitter input, a receiver input, and an output that connects to one of the transmitter input and the receiver input. Passive components form a low-pass filter that is electrically connected to the transmitter input. The passive components are part of a multilayer ceramic passive module that includes a base body made of superimposed dielectric layers and electrically conductive layers. The voltage-controlled switch is on an upper portion or a lower portion of the base body. |
| US08014728B2 |
Pulsed interval radio calibration
Transmitter calibration of a wireless device is initiated based upon an operational value of the wireless device. The calibration operations are performed over a plurality of calibration time periods, each calibration time period divided into a plurality of first interval portions interspersed with a plurality of second interval portions, for each calibration time period of the plurality of calibration time periods, respective calibration settings are applied. During the first interval portions substantially fixed first current input is applied to at least one gain adjustable element of the RF circuitry. During the second interval portions, varying current input is applied to the at least one gain adjustable element of the RF circuitry. Output levels of the RF circuitry are measured over the calibration time period. Operational calibration settings for the baseband processing circuitry and analog signal path components of the transmitter are selected based upon the calibration operations. |
| US08014722B2 |
Provisioning of wireless connectivity for devices using NFC
The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates connecting a wireless device to a secure network. A device can establish a near field communication link with a verified device on a network, wherein the near field communication link can be a secure and/or encrypted link to provision the device without comprising security constraints within the network. An installation component can invoke the transfer of provisioning data to the network via the near filed communication link to secure a wireless connection for the device to the network. |
| US08014718B2 |
Wireless communication system and lift system having the same
A wireless communication system for providing a radio frequency (RF) link between an enclosed environment that is at least substantially shielded from RF signals, and the outside of the enclosed environment is disclosed. The wireless communication system includes at least one gateway antenna arranged at an entrance point of the enclosed environment. The gateway antenna radiates downlink RF signals into and receives uplink RF signals from, the enclosed environment, respectively. The system also includes at least one auxiliary repeater arranged within the enclosed environment, a donor antenna and a server antenna. Both the donor and the server antenna are coupled to the auxiliary repeater. The auxiliary repeater relays the downlink and the uplink RF signals using the donor antenna and the server antenna. A lift system including the wireless communication system is also disclosed. |
| US08014712B2 |
Fusing device and image forming apparatus having the same
A fusing device to fuse an image to a printing medium, the fusing device including: a heating roller; a first pressing roller, which presses the printing medium against the heating roller; and a second pressing roller which attached to the first pressing roller, to detach the printing medium from the first pressing roller. The first and second pressing rollers are biased against the heating roller such that the first and second pressing rollers move according to a change in a position of the heating roller. |
| US08014711B2 |
Fixing unit having enhanced temperature control and image forming apparatus using the same
A fixing unit includes a rotatable fixing member and a rotatable pressure applying member. The rotatable fixing member has a heat generating layer to generate heat when subject to a magnetic flux. The rotatable pressure applying member contacts the rotatable fixing member and applies pressure to the fixing member. The rotatable fixing member and the rotatable pressure applying member form a nip therebetween, to which a recording medium is passed through to fix an image on the recording medium. The rotatable fixing member includes a magnetism regulating layer deformable when subject to pressure from the rotatable pressure applying member. |
| US08014710B2 |
Conveyor-belt apparatus and image heating apparatus
An image heating apparatus including: an endless belt; a heating rotary member for heating a toner image on a sheet at a heating nip between the belt and the rotary member; a pressure member provided slidably on an inner surface of the belt at the heating nip, for bringing the belt into pressure contact with the rotary member; and a lubricant applying roller including a lubricant retaining layer for retaining a lubricant and a lubricant applying amount controlling layer for controlling an applying amount of the lubricant, the lubricant applying roller abutting against the inner surface of the belt to apply the lubricant onto the inner surface of the belt while rotating, in which the lubricant applying roller is brought into contact with the belt and includes a high frictional portion having a coefficient of friction higher than that of the lubricant applying amount controlling layer. |
| US08014708B2 |
Belt member, transfer unit incorporating same, image forming apparatus incorporating same, and method of evaluating same
A multi-layer endless belt member with a high-resistance surface layer for use in an image forming apparatus. A volume resistivity thereof ranges from approximately 8.0 to approximately 11.0 in log [Ω·cm]. An amount of resistivity change of a first surface thereof is greater than an amount of resistivity change of a second surface thereof by 0.05 or greater in log [Ω/square], where the amount of resistivity change of the first surface indicates a difference between surface resistivity values measured after a given voltage is applied for 1 second and for 100 seconds on the first surface thereof and the amount of resistivity change of the second surface indicates a difference between surface resistivity values measured after a given voltage is applied for 1 second and for 100 seconds on the second surface thereof. |
| US08014707B2 |
Developing device and blade assembly
A developing device includes: a developing roller, a casing which rotatably supports the developing roller; a thickness regulation blade; and first and second holding members which fix the thickness regulation blade on the casing. The first holding member includes: a first nipping surface which contacts the thickness regulation blade; and a first fixing surface. The second holding member includes: a second nipping surface which opposes the first nipping surface; and a second fixing surface contacting the first fixing surface. The thickness regulation blade includes a positioning opening and is sandwiched between the first nipping surface and the second nipping surface. The first nipping surface includes a projection which is fitted into the positioning opening of the thickness regulation blade. |
| US08014705B2 |
Developing device, image supporter unit, and image formation apparatus
A developing device includes: a developer supporter that includes: a magnet member that has a plurality of magnetic poles; and a cylinder member; and a thickness regulation member wherein, of the plurality of the magnetic poles, a magnetic pole, which is placed at a position nearest to the thickness regulation member downstream in a rotation direction of the cylinder member from the thickness regulation member, has a maximum position of a normal magnetic flux density distribution, and the maximum position is placed outside the area of angle α downstream in the rotation direction of the cylinder member from the thickness regulation member, and wherein the diameter of the cylinder member is D, the projection width is W in a case where the thickness regulation member is projected onto the surface of the cylinder member, and the angle α is 180×W/(D×π). |
| US08014703B2 |
Development device and image forming apparatus
The development device includes a development member and a circulation member. The development member develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrier with a developer including toner and a carrier to make the electrostatic latent image visible. The circulation member receives the developer discharged from the development member and conveys the developer back to the development member. The circulation member includes a container provided upstream from the development member in a conveyance direction of the developer to store the developer. The container includes an agitator provided inside the container and agitates and mixes the developer and fresh toner supplied to the container. The agitator includes a rotatable agitation member in which one or more holes are formed through which the developer passes to mix the fresh toner and the developer to be agitated in the container. |
| US08014701B2 |
Contacting and separating mechanism and image forming apparatus
A contacting and separating mechanism which causes a first member to contact a second member and separates the first member contacting the second member from the second member is disclosed. The contacting and separating mechanism includes a pressure applying member which is rotated together with the first member by using a force of a first force applying member with a first supporting point as the center and causes the first member to contact the second member and separates the first member contacting the second member from the second member, and separates the first member contacting the second member from the second member by rotating with the first member with a second supporting point as the center by changing the position of the first supporting point. |
| US08014698B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a main body in which a cassette unit to accommodate a plurality of sheets of paper, a toner cartridge unit to contain toner, an imaging unit to flow into the toner contained in the toner cartridge unit, a transfer unit which transfers an image formed by the imaging unit onto the paper, and a waste toner collection unit to collect waste toner discharged from the imaging unit and the transfer unit, and a control panel unit to receive user commands, wherein at least four of the cassette unit, the toner cartridge unit, the imaging unit, the transfer unit, the waste toner collection unit, and the control panel unit are disposed so as to be accessed by a user in the same direction. |
| US08014696B2 |
Image forming device
An image-forming device includes a main casing, a process casing, a photosensitive member, a charger, a first duct member, a fan, and a duct moving unit. The process casing is accommodated in the main casing and removably mounted thereon. The process casing has a casing inlet formed therein. The photosensitive member is disposed in the process casing. The charger is disposed in the process casing for charging a photosensitive member. The first duct member has a duct outlet. The fan blows air on the charger through the duct outlet of the first duct member and the casing inlet. The duct moving unit moves the first duct member between a first position in which the duct outlet of the first duct member is adjacent to the casing inlet formed in the process casing, and a second position in which the duct outlet is separated farther from the casing inlet than in the first position. |
| US08014693B2 |
Image forming apparatus having improved serviceability
An image forming apparatus including maintenance function for maintaining the image forming apparatus at a given operating condition includes an operation screen unit. The operation screen unit is useable for conducting maintenance on the image forming apparatus. The maintenance is categorized into a service-maintenance work conductable by a service engineer within service-operation content, and a user-maintenance work conductable by a user within user-allowed-operation content. The operation screen unit includes a user-specific operation screen, with which the user-maintenance work is conductable for adjusting the maintenance function within the user-allowed-operation content. The user-specific operation screen displays the user-allowed-operation content, which is different from the service-operation content. |
| US08014691B2 |
Method of measuring and adjusting density of liquid developer by detecting movement of moving member in light path
A method of measuring density includes detecting movement of a moving member in a light path of light emitted from a light emitting member, measuring an output of a light receiving member for a case where the moving member is moved in the light path, as a first output, detecting that the moving member is not in the light path, measuring an output of the light receiving member for a case where the moving member is not in the light path, as a second output, and calculating density based on the first output and the second output. |
| US08014690B2 |
Developing unit and image forming apparatus
A developing unit has a voltage-applicator (80) to apply a developing bias voltage to a developing roller (72). The voltage-applicator (80) applies the developing bias voltage for a first duration to apply an AC voltage having a rectangular waveform, and a second duration to stop applying the AC voltage. The AC voltage has a duty ratio of 50% or more in a direction for causing toner to develop an electrostatic latent image. The number of cycles of the AC voltage in the first duration is two or more, and the AC voltage has a voltage in a direction for pulling the toner back to the developing roller, just before transition to the second duration. The developing unit suppresses occurrence of image unevenness due to a fluctuation in developing gap. Thus, an image forming apparatus equipped with the developing unit forms a high-quality image while suppressing image unevenness. |
| US08014687B2 |
Image forming apparatus that determines when a life of a replacement unit has expired
An image forming apparatus includes: a replaceable constituent element; an information storage unit that holds information indicating a type of the constituent element received by a user interface; and a life calculation controller that, when at least one piece of the information stored in the information storage unit indicates a particular type, performs control to suppress calculation of a life of the constituent element. |
| US08014685B2 |
Coherent optical receiver
A coherent optical receiver of the invention combines local oscillator light having orthogonal polarization components in which the optical frequencies are different to each other, and received signal light, in an optical hybrid circuit, and then photoelectrically converts this in two differential photodetectors. Then this is converted to a digital signal in an AD conversion circuit, and computation processing is executed in a digital computing circuit using the digital signal, to estimate received data. At this time, the optical frequency difference between the orthogonal polarization components of the local oscillator light is set so as to be smaller than two times the signal light band width, and larger than a spectrum line width of the signal light source and the local oscillator light source. As a result, it is possible to realize a small size polarization independent coherent optical receiver that is capable of receiving high speed signal light. |
| US08014670B2 |
Method and apparatus for testing and monitoring data communications in the presence of a coupler in an optical communications network
Some optical communications networks include one ingress fiber, an n-way signal coupler, and n egress fibers, where each fiber may carry signals in one or both directions. A method and apparatus for testing and monitoring data communications immediately before and after the coupler is provided. Benefits include improved ability to identify and locate system faults, and improved ability to monitor data quality and content. |
| US08014662B1 |
Autofocus camera systems and methods
A method and system for facilitating focusing of a miniature camera are disclosed. One or more lenses can be attached to a MEMS stage. The MEMS stage can be moved by a Lorentz actuator. The MEMS stage can be configured to limit movement of the lens(es) to a single degree of freedom to inhibit misalignment thereof with respect to an imaging sensor. The stage can be biased to a predefined position thereof, e.g., for focus at infinity. A metal cover can inhibit electromagnetic interference and can limit movement of the lens(es). |
| US08014657B2 |
Photographing apparatus and optical system having an optical image stabilizer for driving an optical group along a sphere centered on an aplanatic point
A photographing apparatus includes a third optical group arranged between a second optical group and an iris, and to stabilize hand tremor, and the third optical group is moved along a sphere that has a center based on a predetermined point on an optical axis. As a result, a photographing apparatus has an efficient hand tremor stabilization. |
| US08014654B2 |
Softbox
A softbox for a spotlight includes a device for mounting the softbox to the spotlight such that in operation, the spotlight shines through the softbox. For limiting the emerging angle of the light shining through the softbox, a light control grid is mounted at the light emitting aperture of the softbox. For mounting the light control grid to the light emitting aperture of the softbox, a frame surrounds the light emitting aperture of the softbox. The control grid for being mounted to the softbox is manufactured by fixing adjacent strips of a light absorbing material to one another. |
| US08014648B2 |
Information recording apparatus, information recording method, program storage medium, and program
An information recording apparatus includes recording means for recording a file and filesystem information on a recording medium; filesystem-information generating means for generating the filesystem information for every application software program using the file; and operation control means for controlling the operation of the recording means so as to allocate the filesystem information, generated for every application software program using the file by the filesystem-information generating means, to virtual addresses as one file. When the file is to be recorded by the recording means, the operation control means controls the recording means so as to update the filesystem information corresponding to the application software program using the file to be recorded and to record the updated filesystem information on the recording medium. |
| US08014645B2 |
Dispersion shifted optical fiber
A 1.55 μm band dispersion shifted optical fiber is provided which has a low loss and low dispersion slope. A core region “a” is heavily doped with GeO2 . A core region “b” is composed of pure SiO2 glass. A cladding section is arranged around the core region. The cladding section has a lot of holes extending in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. The holes of the cladding section are not located at random, but have a honeycomb structure composed of regular hexagons which have a side length of Λ, and serve as a primitive lattice. The center of the core section has a region having a refractive index higher than that of the periphery of the core section. The core section has the refractive index distribution in which the group velocity dispersion at the operation wavelength of the region becomes the normal dispersion. |
| US08014643B2 |
Photonic crystal waveguide inlet structure
Disclosed herein is a photonic crystal waveguide inlet structure for improving coupling efficiency of a strip waveguide and a photonic crystal waveguide. The photonic crystal waveguide inlet structure includes an inlet region of the photonic crystal waveguide. The photonic crystal waveguide includes photonic crystals in which air holes are arranged in a triangle lattice shape in a dielectric, and a hybrid waveguide in which at least one of the air holes is removed, the hybrid waveguide spacing the inlet region apart from the strip waveguide. |
| US08014640B2 |
Optical power monitoring with robotically moved macro-bending
A method may include bending a first optical fiber of a plurality of optical fibers; measuring light leaked from the first optical fiber with a photo detector; robotically moving the photo detector to a second optical fiber of the plurality of optical fibers; bending the second optical fiber; and measuring light leaked from the second other optical fiber with the photo detector. |
| US08014634B1 |
Method and system for approving documents based on image similarity
A system and method for comparing graphical content (e.g., images) of documents for approval, rating, and other uses are provided. Information may be stored about one or more graphical documents. Graphical content of a first graphical document being evaluated for distribution may be compared to at least one second graphical document. An approval determination may be made for the first graphical document based on the stored information about the at least one second graphical document and the comparison. |
| US08014633B2 |
Method and apparatus for suppressing ringing artifacts within super-resolution image processing
Apparatus and methods for reducing ringing artifacts when generating super-resolution pictures and/or videos and for controlling the balance between sharpness and introduction of artifacts. After motion estimation and motion masking for all input frames, the method enters a frame loop within which high frequency information is extracted from the input SR image for each low-resolution input image. Extracted information from each input frame is not directly utilized within the frame loop for changing the SR input as with conventional SR processes, but is used within a means for averaging high frequency information over a desired number of frames (N) and outputting higher resolution versions of low resolution images. Changing (N) alters the tradeoff between ringing suppression and sharpness boosting. Invention can be implemented in a number of imaging apparatus, in particular those having a processor for executing the method steps. |
| US08014632B2 |
Super-resolution device and method
A super-resolution device and method for setting at least one of a plurality of pixels included in image data as target pixels, the image data including pixels arranged in a screen and pixel values representing brightness, an area including the target pixel and peripheral pixels as a target area, and an area for searching pixel value change patterns in the target pixel area; calculating a difference between a first change pattern and second change pattern; comparing a difference between the first and second change patterns; calculating a pixel value of a super-resolution image having a number of pixels larger than a number of pixels included in the image data on the basis of a decimal-accuracy-vector, an extrapolated vector, and pixel values obtained from the image data. |
| US08014630B1 |
Method and apparatus for representing image data using digital filtering and adaptive parameterization
In one embodiment, a method for encoding source data includes defining a source polygon using a parametric representation associated with the source data, and identifying one or more portions of the source polygon. The method further includes passing a filter throughout the entire sequence of the samples representing the source polygon, and performing a piecewise, portion by portion, re-parameterization of the source polygon using the corresponding portions of the filtered polygon to obtain an updated sequence of samples representing the source polygon. The passing of the filter and the performance of the piecewise re-parameterization are then iteratively repeated until a convergence condition is satisfied, to provide encoded data. |
| US08014629B2 |
Image processing apparatus and method
An image processing apparatus capable of reducing frame loss and smoothly playing back vector data-based images is provided. A determination unit determines an intermediate rendering size smaller than a display rendering size by using vector data and its frame rate. A generation unit generates intermediate raster data by rendering at the intermediate rendering size determined by the determination unit. A scaling unit scales up the intermediate raster data generated by the generation unit to the display rendering size. |
| US08014626B2 |
Image processing device, image processing method, and program
An image processing device to correct chromatic aberration of image data is provided. The image processing device includes an overexposed pixel detecting unit configured to detect overexposed pixels by using a luminance signal of the image data; an overexposure distribution information generating unit configured to generate overexposure distribution information indicating distribution of the overexposed pixels detected by the overexposed pixel detecting unit; and a chromatic aberration amount calculating unit configured to calculate the amount of chromatic aberration of each pixel by using the overexposure distribution information generated by the overexposure distribution information generating unit and chromatic aberration amount distribution information indicating distribution of the amount of chromatic aberration, which is the amount of correction regarding chromatic aberration of nearby pixels due to overexposure of a target pixel. |
| US08014622B2 |
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. |
| US08014620B2 |
Image processing system, image compression system, image editing system, computer readable medium, computer data signal and image processing apparatus
An image processing system includes an identification unit, a region division unit and a pixel value change unit. The identification unit identifies a second pixel among an image including a first pixel and the second pixel. A pixel value of the first pixel is not to be changed. A pixel value of the second pixel is to be changed. The region division unit divides the image into regions. The pixel value change unit changes the value of the second pixel to a predetermined value through a filtering process when the second pixel identified by the identification unit is included within the regions obtained by the region division unit. |
| US08014617B2 |
Decoding apparatus, dequantizing method, distribution determining method, and program thereof
A decoding apparatus includes a random number generating section and a decoding section. The random number generating section generates random numbers according to distribution of original data corresponding to respective quantization indexes. The decoding section generates decoded data on a basis of the random numbers generated by the random number generating section. |
| US08014616B2 |
System and method for fixed point continuation for total variation based compressed sensing imaging
A method of compressed sensing imaging includes acquiring a sparse digital image b, said image comprising a plurality of intensities corresponding to an I-dimensional grid of points, initializing points (x(k), y(k)), wherein x(k) is an element of a first expanded image x defined by b=RΦ−1 x, wherein R is a Fourier transform matrix, Φ is a wavelet transform matrix, y(k) is a point in ∂ ( ∑ i = 1 l ( ∇ i Φ - 1 x ( k ) ) 2 ) 1 / 2 , ∇i is a forward finite difference operator for a ith coordinate, and k is an iteration counter; calculating a first auxiliary variable s(k) from x ( k ) - τ 1 ( αΦ ∑ n L n * y n ( k ) + Φ R * ( R Φ - 1 x ( k ) - b ) ) , wherein τ1,α are predetermined positive scalar constants, the sum is over all points n in x, and L* is an adjoint of operator L=(∇1, . . . , ∇I); calculating a second auxiliary variable tn(k) from yn(k)+τ2LnΦ−1x(k), wherein τ2 is a predetermined positive scalar constant; updating x(k+1) from sign(s(k))max{0,|s(k)|−τ1β}, wherein β is a predetermined positive scalar constant; and updating yn(k+1) from min { 1 τ 2 , t n ( k ) 2 } t n ( k ) t n ( k ) 2 . |
| US08014610B2 |
Method of multi-path block matching computing
Disclosed is a multi-path method of block matching computing for image processing, which comprises: determining a searching pattern with a center pixel point and a plurality of surrounding pixel points to perform a block searching operation; computing a plurality of pixel value differences between the center pixel point and the surrounding points of two continuous frames; and utilizing at least two pixel points with a pixel value difference as the center pixel point to perform the next block searching operation, wherein the pixel difference of the at least two pixel points has a difference less than a predetermined value from a minimum pixel value difference. |
| US08014609B2 |
Digital representation of audio waveforms using peak shifting to provide increased dynamic range
A system allows greater dynamic range in fixed-width sample representations of waveforms. Known properties of the waveform are used to determine an unlikely, or impossible, data condition to be used as an exception condition. In a preferred embodiment that is directed to processing of audio waveforms, a first large value transitioning to a second large value of different sign is used to indicate an exception condition. Samples following the exception condition are assumed to be shifted by a predetermined amount so that their representation within the allowable dynamic range of the word results in an extended dynamic range. In a preferred embodiment, pre-processing of a waveform is used to create exception conditions and to perform “peak packing” to shift portions of the waveform that would otherwise become clipped, so that the waveform peaks reside in a shifted position within the digital representation. Analogously, playback processing serves to detect the exception conditions and to restore the peaks of the waveform back to their original status for, e.g., audible digital-to-analog playback, high-resolution processing, etc. |
| US08014606B2 |
Image discrimination apparatus
An image discrimination apparatus includes an inter-frame distance calculating unit 2 for calculating an inter-frame distance which is a distance between features from the feature of a current frame extracted by a feature extracting unit 1 and the feature of an immediately-preceding frame stored in a feature buffer 3, and a cut-point-determination data calculating unit 4 for calculating statistics values of inter-frame distances and calculating a threshold for determination of cut points from the statistics values. The image discrimination apparatus compares the inter-frame distance of the current frame with the threshold for determination of cut points to determine a cut point from the comparison result. |
| US08014605B2 |
Information storage medium storing graphic data and apparatus and method of processing the graphic data
An information storage medium including graphic data and presentation information, and an apparatus and method of processing the graphic data are provided. The information storage medium includes the graphic data, page composition information which defines page composition of the graphic data, and the presentation information indicating when graphic screen data, which is composed with reference to the page composition information of the graphic data, is output to a display screen. Therefore, a graphic object is reusable in graphic data processing, and accordingly, a time taken to process the graphic data is reducible and memory area may be saved. |
| US08014604B2 |
OCR of books by word recognition
Disclosed embodiments of the invention provide automated global optimization methods and systems of OCR, tailored to each document being digitized. A document-specific database is created from an OCR scan of a document of interest, which contains an exhaustive listing of words in the document. Images of each word, taken from all the fonts encountered, are entered into the database and mapped to a corresponding textual representation. After entry of a first instance of an image of a word written in a particular font, each new occurrence of the word in that font can be quickly recognized by image processing techniques. The disclosed methods and systems may be used in conjunction with adaptive character recognition training and word recognition training of the OCR engines. |
| US08014602B2 |
Backlight image determining apparatus, backlight image determining method, backlight image correction apparatus, and backlight image correction method
A backlight image determining apparatus includes: (A) a histogram data generation section that, based on data of pixels constituting an image to be determined, generates data of histograms for respective colors, the histograms representing a distribution of the number of pixels in respect to density values of the respective colors of those pixels; (B) an attribute information obtaining section that obtains, for each color, attribute information relating to a first small region and a second small region by partitioning regions given by the histograms for the respective colors into at least three small regions according to the magnitude of the density values, based on the data of the histograms for the respective colors generated by the histogram data generation section, selecting for each color at least one small region from the at least three small regions as the first small region, and selecting, from the at least three small regions, for each color at least one small region whose density values are larger than those of the first small region and which is not adjacent to the first small region, as the second small region; and (C) a determination section that determines whether the image to be determined is a backlight image, based on the attribute information relating to the first small region for each color and the attribute information relating to the second small region for each color, which is obtained with the attribute information obtaining section. |
| US08014601B2 |
Pattern recognizing apparatus, pattern recognizing method and pattern recognizing program
A pattern recognizing method for matching a binary or ternary reference image and an input grayscale image, having a precision similar to the method in which a plurality of binary reference images are generated by supposing settable various binarization threshold value and comparing the distances between the plurality of binary reference images and the grayscale image, and enabling the processing time to be shorter. The first accumulated histogram of the pixels of the grayscale image corresponding to a high density region of the binary reference image and the second accumulated histogram opposite to it and of the pixels of the grayscale image corresponding to the low density region of the reference image are generated and summated. The existence or absence of a pattern is judged by comparing the minimum value of the summated accumulated histogram and a threshold value. |
| US08014589B2 |
Transforming a submitted image of a person based on a condition of the person
Apparatuses, computer media, and methods for altering a submitted image of a person. The submitted image is transformed in accordance with associated data regarding the person's condition. Global data may be processed by a statistical process to obtain cluster information, and the transformation parameter is then determined from cluster information. The transformation parameter is then applied to a portion of the submitted image to render a transformed image. A transformation parameter may include a texture alteration parameter, a hair descriptive parameter, or a reshaping parameter. An error measure may be determined that gauges a discrepancy between a transformed image and an actual image. A transformation model is subsequently reconfigured with a modified model in order to reduce the error measure. Also, the transformation model may be trained to reduce an error measure for the transformed image. |
| US08014587B2 |
Pattern test method of testing, in only specific region, defect of pattern on sample formed by charged beam lithography apparatus
Disclosed is a pattern test method in which a drawing region is divided into a plurality of deflection regions determined by the deflection width of a deflector of a charged beam lithography apparatus, the charged beam lithography apparatus draws a pattern in each divided deflection region on the basis of pattern design data to obtain a sample, and a defect of the pattern on the sample is tested. The method determines the coordinates of a connecting portion of the deflection regions, divides the pattern design data into boundary region pattern data as the connecting portion of the deflection regions and pattern data except for the boundary region pattern data, and obtains image data of the pattern formed on the sample. The method then compares the boundary region pattern data with the image data. |
| US08014577B2 |
Micro-array analysis system and method thereof
There is described a system and a method for analyzing spots in a micro-array, the spots containing targeted specimen, the method comprising the steps of: providing a slide with a micro-array of the spots thereon; illuminating at least one of the spots; directing the light onto the at least one spot; collecting light emitted from the at least one spot; forming an image of the at least one spot using the collected light; and analyzing the image to distinguish at least one unit of the targeted specimen located within the at least one spot from any undesired material. The analysis results are aimed at the detection, classification and quantification of optically resolvable specimen such as micro-organisms or cells. |
| US08014568B2 |
Method for computer-aided identification of the child octants of a parent octant, which are intersected by a beam, in an octree data structure by means of look-up tables
The present invention relates to a method for computer-aided identification of the child octants of a parent octant, which are intersected by a beam, in an octree data tree. The method firstly determines the number of the child octants of the parent octant which are intersected by the beam and, on the basis thereof, the child octants of the parent octant which are intersected by the beam. It is characterized in that, for determination of intermediate octants which do not correspond to the entry and the exit octant and nevertheless are intersected by the beam, look-up tables are used for identification. |
| US08014566B2 |
Image processing apparatus
An image processing apparatus includes a moving image file storage unit operable to store a moving image file; an area selection receiving unit operable to receive a selection of a predetermined area corresponding to one of a plurality of frames forming the moving image file; a template image generating unit operable to generate as a template image an image of the selected area; an image matching unit operable to obtain the frames from the moving image file storage unit, and to match each of the frames against the template image to search for a matching frame containing an image similar to the template image; and a scene change detecting unit operable to detect a start and an end of a scene containing the matching frame. |
| US08014559B2 |
Information embedding apparatus, information embedding method, information extracting apparatus, information extracting method, computer program product
A first-information obtaining unit that obtains first information and a second-information obtaining unit obtains second information. The second information has a higher degree of importance than that of the first information. A generating unit generates watermark image data including a group of first dot patterns including the first information and a group of second dot patterns including the first information and the second information and having a dot size enlarged from a dot size of the first dot patterns. A superposing unit superposes the generated watermark image data on a target image data. |
| US08014557B2 |
Watermarking electronic text documents
A text watermarking method embeds an auxiliary message in an original electronic text document to form a watermarked text document. The method applies a spreading function to message symbols to spread the symbols over a carrier, which forms a modulated carrier. It maps elements of the modulated carrier to corresponding inter-word spaces in the electronic text document, and applies an embedding function to modify the corresponding inter-word spaces according to elements of the modulated carrier signal such that the modified inter-word spaces hide the modulated carrier signal in the watermarked text document. The message symbols are automatically decodable from the watermarked document without the original electronic text document. A compatible decoder extracts the auxiliary message from a printed or electronic watermarked text document. The decoder automatically measures inter-word spaces in the watermarked text document. It estimates elements of a modulated carrier signal embedded in the inter-word spaces to form an estimated modulated carrier signal, and applies a de-spreading function to the estimated modulated carrier signal to extract message symbols. |
| US08014551B2 |
Behind-the-ear hearing aid whose microphone is set in an entrance of ear canal
There is provided a behind-the-ear hearing aid that makes it easy for a hearing aid wearer to estimate a position of a sound source with respect to a front-back direction and that enables an increase in aesthetic property when the hearing aid is worn. A behind-the-ear hearing aid of the present invention is used while fitted to an ear of a human body, and includes at least a microphone 101 which collects ambient sound, thereby generating an input signal and signal processing unit 102 that generates an output signal from the input signal. The hearing aid also has a behind-the-ear portion 110 that can be fitted to the ear and a receiver 103 that reproduces output sound from the output signal. When the behind-the-ear portion 110 is fitted to the ear, the microphone 101 is arranged in an entrance of an ear canal that lies in the extension of an ear canal 220 and that is disposed closer to an eardrum than to a plane that is defined by a helix 901, a tragus 902, and an earlobe 903. |
| US08014545B2 |
Ceiling or wall-mounted loudspeaker system with anti-diffraction wave launch device
A loudspeaker system includes an enclosure having an open end defining a plane, a baffle, a loudspeaker operating in the 4 kHz to 10 kHz range, and a device, preferably a ribbed portion having a plurality of grooves, coupled to the baffle for modifying the spectral profile of the projected sound waves. The baffle includes first and second angled surfaces each oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the plane. The speaker is coupled to the first angled surface and the ribbed portion is coupled to the baffle along the intersection of the first angled surface and the second angled surface. When mounted in a wall or ceiling, the system projects a sound field substantially indistinguishable from that of a loudspeaker located within the listener's listening plane. The baffle can also have acoustic damping material attached thereto, with grooves formed therein, to prevent reflections of 4 kHz to 10 kHz sound. |
| US08014544B2 |
Computer installed stereo PA amplifier card
The present invention is a stereo PA amplifier that is mounted inside a desktop computer. It is powered by the computer's 12-volt power supply and receives its input via a stereo mini cable from the computer's audio line out. Standard 8-ohm, non-powered speakers are then hooked up directly to the board via its speaker connector board. The volume of the present invention is adjusted by the computer's volume controls. The device eliminates the need for an external stereo amp and external mixer, which thereby reduces the installation time, cost, interconnecting cables, and the space needed for the overall computer system, while at the same time providing quality sound. |
| US08014540B2 |
Remote control interface for replacement vehicle stereos
An interface circuit for interconnecting the fixed controls of a vehicle to a replacement stereo. The interface circuit is capable of receiving control signals from fixed controls, such as steering wheel controls, backseat controls, handlebar controls, and the like, and then transmitting corresponding control signals to a replacement stereo. In one embodiment, the output signals from the interface circuit are comprised of wireless signals, such as IR signals. In another embodiment, the interface device is programmable such that the interface device can be programmed to emit signals corresponding to the same signals that would be emitted from a handheld remote control sold in conjunction with an after-market stereo receiver. |
| US08014539B2 |
Method and apparatus to control output power of a digital power amplifier optimized to a headphone and a portable audio player having the same
A method and apparatus to control output power of a digital amplifier capable of automatically determining an impedance of an earphone or headphone connected to a portable audio device and outputting a power that is optimized according to the impedance. The apparatus is usable with a digital amplification device and includes a signal processing unit to convert a pulse signal into a direct current (DC) voltage by power-amplifying the pulse signal, an impedance measuring unit to connect a resistance device between the signal processing unit and a speaker unit and to detect a voltage value applied to the resistance device and the speaker unit, and a micom unit to generate a pulse signal having a predetermined duty cycle in the signal processing unit if the speaker unit is connected to the device, to determine an impedance of the speaker unit based on the voltage value detected by the impedance measuring unit, to control a power amplification by providing a voltage level control signal to the signal processing unit according to the determined impedance, and to control an audio level in an audio reproduction mode accordingly. |
| US08014538B2 |
Active noise reducing device
An active noise reducing device includes switchover frequency memory which stores a speaker having weaker influence of level drop or dips in gain characteristics of transmission from first speaker and second speaker both working as secondary noise generators to microphone working as a residual signal detector, and also stores a frequency band of that speaker. Output switcher appropriately and selectively switches first speaker over to second speaker in response to the noise frequency at present calculated based on the rpm of engine by frequency calculator. This structure allows the active noise reducing device to work steadily even if level drop or a dip occurs in the gain characteristics of transmission from the speaker to the microphone, and allows suppressing the occurrence of abnormal sound due to divergence or distorted sound due to excessive output. Ideal noise reduction effect can be expected. |
| US08014536B2 |
Audio source separation based on flexible pre-trained probabilistic source models
Improved audio source separation is provided by providing an audio dictionary for each source to be separated. Thus the invention can be regarded as providing “partially blind” source separation as opposed to the more commonly considered “blind” source separation problem, where no prior information about the sources is given. The audio dictionaries are probabilistic source models, and can be derived from training data from the sources to be separated, or from similar sources. Thus a library of audio dictionaries can be developed to aid in source separation. An unmixing and deconvolutive transformation can be inferred by maximum likelihood (ML) given the received signals and the selected audio dictionaries as input to the ML calculation. Optionally, frequency-domain filtering of the separated signal estimates can be performed prior to reconstructing the time-domain separated signal estimates. Such filtering can be regarded as providing an “audio skin” for a recovered signal. |
| US08014535B2 |
Multichannel spectral vector mapping audio apparatus and method
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio. |
| US08014529B2 |
In-band device enrollment without access point support
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for configuring a wireless device, so as to enable the wireless device to join a secured wireless network, by broadcasting a series of broadcast packets encoding a network configuration parameter (e.g., a shared secret key) from a computer coupled to a wireless access point to the wireless device. The information representing the network configuration parameter is encoded, not within the payload portion of the packet, but within the length of each broadcast packet in the series of broadcast packets. Accordingly, a wireless device that has not yet been configured to receive packets from the wireless access point can observe the information encoded in the length of each broadcast packet, and thereby decode the network configuration parameter and join the network. |
| US08014528B2 |
Method for accessing a user operable device of controlled access
A method is provided for accessing a user operable device having limited access ability. The method comprises transmitting an inquiry from a mobile device of a user via a wide area transmission network to a key authority for obtaining an access key for accessing functions of the user operable device, receiving a request for information from the key authority, transmitting the requested information to the key authority, wherein the information is used by the key authority for co-coding the access key with one or more conditions for operating the user operable device, receiving the access key assigned by the key authority via the wide area transmission network, and transmitting the access key to a controller unit of the user operable device via a short range communication network for accessing the functions of the user operable device. |
| US08014526B2 |
Secure wireless local or metropolitan area network and related methods
A secure wireless local or metropolitan area network and data communications device therefor are provided, where the device transmits plain text in an encrypted message including cipher text and an initialization vector. The device may include a seed generator for performing a one-way algorithm using a secret key, a device address, and a changing reference value for generating a seed. Further, a random initialization vector (IV) generator may be included for generating a random IV, and a key encrypter may generate a key sequence based upon the seed and the random IV. Additionally, a logic circuit may be included for generating cipher text based upon the key sequence and plain text, and a wireless communications device may be connected to the logic circuit and the random IV generator for wirelessly transmitting the encrypted message. |
| US08014522B2 |
Optical storage media and the corresponding cryptography for data encryption thereof
Based on the demand of developing a data encryption technique for the optical storage media, the present invention discloses a cryptography for data encryption based on a design of specific hardware conditions, so as to achieve the security requirements for the encrypted digital data stored in the optical storage media and the design requirements for the security issues on the optical storage media for software vendors in the current market. |
| US08014521B2 |
Cryptographic computation method, cryptographic system, and computer program
A system and method for achieving secure and fast computation in hyperelliptic cryptography is realized. Fast scalar multiplication is achieve by executing computing operations including halving as computing processing in scalar multiplication with respect to a divisor D in hyperelliptic curve cryptography. For example, computing operations including halving are executed in scalar multiplication with respect to a divisor D on a hyperelliptic curve of genus 2 in characteristic 2 having h(x)=x2+x+h0, f4=0 as parameters, a hyperelliptic curve of genus 2 in characteristic 2 having h(x)=x2+h1x+h0, f4=0 as parameters, or a hyperelliptic curve of genus 2 in characteristic 2 having h(x)=x as a parameter. Further, reduced complexity and faster computation are realized through the application of a table that records which of k1, k1′, (k0, k0′) is correct on the basis of a computed value of [½iD] with respect to a fixed divisor D, and through a reduction in the number of inversion operations. |
| US08014520B2 |
Exponentiation ladder for cryptography
Method and apparatus for data security using exponentiation. This is suitable for public key cryptography authentication and other data security applications using a one-way function. A type of exponentiation is disclosed here where the bits of an exponent value expressed in binary form correspond to a course (path) in a given graph defining the one-way function. This uses an approach called here F sequences. Each value is in a ladder of a sequence of values, as defined from its predecessor values. This ladder satisfies certain algebraic identities and is readily calculated by a computer program or logic circuitry. |
| US08014517B2 |
Method and apparatus for enhanced convergence of the normalized LMS algorithm
Adaptive filters employing a normalized time domain least mean square algorithm having enhanced convergence rates by virtue of the use of an update gain greater than 2 λ max or 2 3 tr [ R ] . |
| US08014514B2 |
Communication terminal device adapted to physical characteristics of telecommunication network and method for adapting communication terminal device to physical characteristic of telecommunication network
The communication terminal device includes a handset, a central controller, a telephone network adaptor unit for converting analog signals transmitted/received between telecommunication network and the communication terminal device into digital signals, an interface unit physically isolating the central controller from the telephone network adaptor unit, and transmitting/receiving the converted digital signals between the central controller and the telephone network adaptor unit, and a telephone circuit unit which transmits the voice signals generated by processing the digital signals received from the telephone network adaptor unit to a handset through the interface unit and transmits the digital signals generated by processing the voice signals received from the handset to the telephone network adaptor unit through the interface unit. The telephone network adaptor unit is controlled by the central controller and changes the physical characteristics of the analog signals to be adapted to the physical characteristics of the telecommunication network. |
| US08014513B2 |
Caller identification through non-textual output
Caller identification information is conveyed to the called party in manners other than through the display of textual information on a display screen. The caller ID information may be provided as musical tones where the characters of the caller ID information are mapped to the musical tones being output, such as various musical notes and length of the note. The caller ID information may be provided as a light pattern where the characters of the caller ID information are mapped to the elements of the light pattern being output, such as colors, period of light, and flashes. The caller ID information may be provided as tactile patterns where the characters of the caller ID information are mapped to the elements of the tactile pattern being output, such as producing vibration patterns or Braille characters. The called party may then recognize the caller from the conveyed caller ID information. |
| US08014510B2 |
Arrangement for controlling congestion in an SS7 signaling node based on packet classification
A signaling network node is configured for identifying a received signaling message as belonging to one of a plurality of prescribed originating node groups, based on prescribed message class selection criteria. Each originating node group has at least one originating node and is assigned at least one congestion threshold relative to a message rate (e.g., messages per unit time or number of bytes per unit time). The signaling network node determines the message rate for each corresponding originating node group; if the message rate for an originating node group exceeds the corresponding at least one congestion threshold, the signaling network node outputs a congestion signaling message to the originating node having sent the signaling message, for reduction of the corresponding message rate. |
| US08014507B2 |
Providing features to a subscriber in a telecommunications network
A method for processing subscriber calls is disclosed. A call agent receives signals associated with a first call from a first subscriber of a first point of presence. The first subscriber is associated with a first feature set. The call agent receives signals associated with a second call from a second subscriber of a second point of presence. The second subscriber is associated with a second feature set. A feature server is notified of the first call and the second call. A feature from the first feature set is provided to the first subscriber in response to the notification, and a feature from the second feature set is provided to the second subscriber in response to the notification. |
| US08014506B2 |
Methods and systems for communicating and controlling facsimile information
Methods for managing and routine multiple telephone calls through a wireless network provide efficient and cost-effective ways in which a subscriber to the network can take advantage of the multiple services being offered. When the subscriber has only one line in the network, or when the subscriber often uses more than one line, multiple telephone calls may attempt transmission to the subscriber and so the subscriber may miss the call. The inventive methods determine what type of incoming call is attempting to contact the subscriber and routes the call to another location, such as the subscriber's voice mail, if the subscriber is otherwise occupying his or her line or lines in the network. The methods are particular useful for storing and forwarding facsimile messages to subscriber. |
| US08014503B2 |
Network system
In a network system, a notifying apparatus located in the network system is specified. If a predetermined event occurs when a function execution apparatus executes its function, the occurrence of this event can be notified to the specified notifying apparatus via a network. |
| US08014501B2 |
Determining whether to provide authentication credentials based on call-establishment delay
A method of authenticating an authorized entity via the telephone network is disclosed. A telephone call is placed from a telecommunications terminal to a server that comprises a valuable resource and that only provides the resource to authorized entities. When the terminal has already demonstrated its authorization to the server, the server indicates to the terminal that the terminal need not provide its authorization credentials. In contrast, when the terminal has not yet demonstrated its authorization to the server, the server indicates to the terminal that the terminal does need to provide its authorization credentials. The server indicates to the terminal whether or not it needs to provide its authorization credentials by deliberating waiting to establish the call with the terminal, wherein in the length of the wait is indicative of whether or not the terminal needs to provide its authorization credentials. |
| US08014500B2 |
Methods and systems for screening incoming calls
Methods and systems for screening incoming calls for use in a device having telecommunication capability. An incoming call from a caller is received. In response to the incoming call, a prompt is generated to the caller, and a response corresponding to the prompt is received therefrom. It is determined whether the response conforms to a specific answer. If so, the device indicates the reception of the incoming call. The prompt and response may be voice and/or text. |
| US08014497B2 |
Messaging advise in presence-aware networks
A presence aware communications system, comprising a messaging system configured to perform at least one of the following operations: (a) provide a subscriber's communication device with information regarding an incoming contact during a messaging session between the subscriber's communication device and the messaging system; (b) provide the subscriber's communication device with a text message containing information regarding one or more messages when a notification is received that the subscriber's communication device is available; (c) provide the subscriber's communication device with a text message relating to a voice message from a different first party received by the messaging system; (d) in response to the subscriber's communication device requesting a connection with at least one of an inputted telephone number and address, provide the subscriber's communication device with a notification respecting at least one eligible message from a second party associated with the at least one of an inputted telephone number and address; (e) while a contact between the subscriber and a different third party is in progress, provide the subscriber's communication device with information respecting the at least one eligible message from the third party; (f) transform an audio messaging session between the messaging system and the communication device of a contacting party into a graphical user interface-based audio session; and (g) transform the audio messaging session into a session having a video channel or both audio and video channels. |
| US08014493B2 |
Method and devices for assessing the threat status of an article at a security check point
A method for performing security screening at a checkpoint is provided. The method includes providing an X-ray imaging system having a scanning area and providing a supporting device for supporting articles to be scanned in the scanning area, wherein the supporting device has at least two reference areas manifesting respective X-ray signatures when exposed to X-rays, the X-ray signatures being distinguishable from one another. The method further includes placing an article to be scanned on the supporting device, introducing the article to be scanned in the scanning area while the article is supported by the supporting device and using the X-ray imaging system for deriving the X-ray signatures of the reference areas and for obtaining an X-ray image of the article while the supporting device is in the scanning area. The method further includes using the X-ray signatures to derive X-ray attenuation information from the X-ray image and using the X-ray attenuation information in determining if the article is a security threat. |
| US08014492B1 |
Multi-step method of nondestructively measuring a region within an ultra-hard polycrystalline construction
A method for nondestructively obtaining measurement information of a region within one or more ultra-hard polycrystalline constructions comprises conducting a first measurement using x-ray fluorescence by directing x-rays onto a surface of the diamond body, receiving x-ray fluorescence from the diamond body, and deriving measurement information regarding the region therefrom. A second method can be used on the same or other ultra-hard polycrystalline constructions to obtain measurement information regarding the region in a manner that is relatively more time efficient than the first method to facilitate use of the measurement method on a large number of constructions. The second measurement can be selected from the group including beta backscatter, x-ray radioscopy, eddy current, magnetic induction, and microresistance. In an example embodiment, the method is used to determine the thickness of a region within the diamond body that comprises less catalyst material than another region within the body. |
| US08014488B2 |
Shift register
A shift register is disclosed, which can prevent malfunctioning of device by decreasing the load on a discharging voltage source line, and can decrease a size of stage. The shift register comprises a plurality of stages to sequentially output scan pulses through respective output terminals, wherein each of the stages comprises a pull-up switching unit controlled based on a signal state of node, and connected between the output terminal and any one among a plurality of clock transmission lines to transmit the clock pulses provided with sequential phase differences; and a node controller to control the signal state of node, and to discharge the node by using the clock pulse from any one among the plurality of clock transmission line. |
| US08014487B2 |
High-frequency counter
A counter circuit and method of controlling such a counter circuit, including a first counting section that counts in accordance with a state-cycle, and a second counting section clocked by the first counting section. At least one invalid counting state is introduced by controlling the second counting section to change its state before the first counting section has completed the state-cycle; and the invalid counting state is then detected and corrected. Thereby, some redundancy is introduced in the counter, which can be used to detect and correct incomplete switching of counter states. |
| US08014486B2 |
Generating a frequency switching local oscillator signal
Methods and systems of generating a frequency switching local oscillator signal are disclosed. One method includes generating a reference clock signal, and clocking a counter with the reference clock signal. The counter controls selection of a one of a plurality of analog values stored in at least one of a plurality of periodic signal generators. The frequency switching local oscillator signal is generated by selecting an output of a one of the plurality of periodic signal generators. |
| US08014479B2 |
Method and system for communicating sub-synchronization signals using a phase rotator
A system and method of communicating sub-synchronization information into a transmitted digital audio stream and extracting sub-synchronization information from a received digital audio stream is provided. The method includes the steps of having a transmitter introduce sub-synchronization information into a data stream at a period less than that of existing transmitter pre-amble signals, and transmitting that data to a receiver. The method further includes the steps of receiving the transmitted data stream in the receiver circuitry, extracting the synchronization information, and using the synchronization information to accurately decode the received audio data. |
| US08014477B1 |
Receiver employing selectable A/D sample clock frequency
A receiver is set forth that includes a tuner circuit and a converter circuit. The tuner circuit provides an analog signal corresponding to a modulated signal that is received on a selected channel. The converter circuit includes a sample clock that is used to convert the analog signal to a digital signal at a conversion rate corresponding to the frequency of the sample clock. The sample clock is selectable between at least two different clock frequencies. |
| US08014475B2 |
Method and arrangement for automatic frequency control in a communication system
An arrangement (900), method and unit for AFC in a communication system (100) having: a frequency estimator (980) producing a decision-directed frequency estimate from a received signal; and an AFC loop receiving the decision-directed frequency estimate and performing therewith frequency control. The AFC process may use a CRC-decision directed frequency estimate as the final stage in a multi-stage AFC process (preceded by SCH- and midamble-derived frequency estimate stages), such that a verified received data sequence is used to re-construct a local copy of the ideal received data symbols expected at the output of a detector. This local copy is then correlated with the actual detector output and the results used to estimate the frequency error present on the received signal. The AFC process is inherent suited for discontinuous receive (DRX) applications. This provides the advantage of allowing required frequency correction accuracy to have minimal impact on the error rate of the received data in various channel configurations. |
| US08014474B2 |
Method and RFID reader for detecting a delimiter pattern in a signal stream
A method for detecting a delimiter pattern (SOF) in a signal stream containing a carrier or subcarrier modulated by the delimiter pattern comprises: specifying an expected delimiter occurrence time (t1) of an occurrence of the delimiter pattern and a tolerance zone (tz) within which the expected delimiter occurrence time (t1) may jitter; approximating, within the tolerance zone (tz), a zero of a cross correlation function (CCF) of the data stream with the delimiter pattern, or detecting the phase (φ) of the carrier or subcarrier in respect to an arbitrarily defined reference position within the tolerance zone (tz), e.g. in respect to the expected delimiter occurrence time (t1); calculating a first maximum of the cross correlation function (CCF) within the tolerance zone (tz) by use of the approximated zero or phase (φ); calculating all other maxima of the cross correlation function (CCF) within the tolerance zone (tz); detecting the highest maximum among the calculated maxima, which highest maximum is representative for the moment in time of occurrence of the delimiter pattern. |
| US08014473B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting messages with unknown signaling characteristic
Techniques for detecting received sequences when certain signaling characteristics (e.g., transport formats, rates) are not known a priori at the receiver. In one method, a sequence for a transmitted message is received, and a metric value is computed for each of a number of hypothesized messages corresponding to a number of hypotheses for the unknown signaling characteristic of the transmitted message. The metric value is computed based on a MAP metric derived to approximately maximize a joint a posteriori probability between the received sequence and the hypothesized messages. The hypothesized message having the best metric value is selected as the transmitted message. The specific form of the MAP metric is dependent on the particular signaling scheme used to map the message to its corresponding sequence, and may be used for blind transport format detection (BTFD) in a W-CDMA system and blind rate detection in an IS-95 CDMA system. |
| US08014469B2 |
Pipeline architecture for multi-slot wireless link processing
A wireless communication device processes N Radio Frequency (RF) bursts contained within N slots of a digital communications time divided frame, wherein N is a positive integer greater than one. The wireless communication device includes an RF front end, a baseband processor, and an equalizer module. The RF front end is operable to receive the plurality of received RF bursts and to convert the RF bursts to corresponding baseband signals. The baseband processor is operable to receive the baseband signals, to pre-equalization process the baseband signals to produce processed baseband signals, and to post-equalization process soft decisions. The equalizer is operable to equalize the processed baseband signals to produce the soft decisions. These RF bursts may be contained in adjacent slots or, in non-adjacent slots, or in a combination of adjacent slots and non-adjacent slots. |
| US08014467B2 |
Transmitter pre-distortion across wide transmit power dynamic range
An integrated circuit radio transceiver and method therefor includes an integrated circuit radio transceiver operable to provide pre-distortion settings that correspond to specified analog transmit path gain levels. Further, a change in gain is provided solely through digital gain when the new gain is within a specified range. If the gain change is not within the specified range, the gain is provided by a new transmit path gain module and, if necessary, with additional digital gain. Additionally, a new pre-distortion setting is applied to correspond to the new analog transmit path gain setting. |
| US08014466B2 |
Wide-band direct conversion transmission apparatus
There is provided a wide-band direct conversion transmitting apparatus including: a local oscillation unit generating first, second, and third oscillation signal pairs each including a pair of signals having a phase difference of 90°; an image rejection mixer unit mixing baseband transmission signals including an I signal and a Q signal having a phase difference of 90° with the first oscillation signal pair; a harmonic rejection mixer unit mixing each of the first, second, and third oscillation signal pairs with the baseband transmission signals; and an output signal selecting unit selecting output signals from the image rejection mixer unit or from the harmonic rejection mixer unit. |
| US08014462B2 |
Apparatus for performing alternating quadratures differential binary phase shift keying modulation and demodulation
Methods, apparatus, and systems for alternating quadratures differential binary phase shift keying (AQDBPSK) modulation and demodulation radically increase overall energy efficiency of a communication system due to the combined effect of efficient utilization of transmitter power, high noise immunity of modulation and demodulation, fast synchronization, and simple implementation. |
| US08014461B2 |
Scalable system to adaptively transmit and receive including adaptive antenna signal and back-end processors
An adaptive baseband processing system having a scalable architecture to allow scaling to support adaptive transmission and receive, at different granularity, channel vs. subchannel, for different number of antennas and/or users, including their components, are described herein. In various embodiments, the components include a front-end processor, an AAS processor and a back-end processor. |
| US08014458B2 |
Transmitter
A transmitter employing an OFDM system, having a phase rotating portion which gives a same phase rotation amount to each group configured with a plurality of consecutive subcarriers modulated by data or a known signal, a rotation amount determining portion which sets a phase rotation for each antenna set or each transmitter; and, and an allocating portion which allocates a plurality of groups to a receiver. |
| US08014455B2 |
Feedback of differentially encoded channel state information for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and subband scheduling in a wireless communication system
Techniques for efficiently sending channel state information using differential encoding are described. Differential encoding may be performed across space, across frequency; across space and frequency, across space, frequency and time, or across some other combination of dimensions. In one design, spatial state information may be determined for multiple spatial channels on multiple subbands. The spatial channels may correspond to different antennas, different precoding vectors, etc. Channel quality indicator (CQI) values may be obtained for the multiple spatial channels on the multiple subbands. The CQI values may be differentially encoded across the multiple spatial channels and the multiple subbands to obtain differential CQI information. In another design, CQI values may be obtained for multiple spatial channels on the multiple subbands in multiple time intervals and may be differentially encoded across space, frequency and time. The differential CQI information and the spatial state information may be sent as feedback. |
| US08014451B2 |
Video encoder/decoder with macroblock arrangement of significant item
A video encoder/decoder and a video encoding/decoding method and medium. The video decoder includes a decoding unit which receives a video packet in which more significant items of items included in blocks of macroblocks, which make up the video packet, are arranged in a front part of the video packet and less significant items are arranged in a rear part of the video packet. The decoding unit sequentially decodes the items arranged in the video packet. Accordingly, an FGS encoding function is effectively performed without degrading the bit rate. |
| US08014450B2 |
Flexible range reduction
Techniques and tools are described for flexible range reduction of samples of video. For example, an encoder signals a first set of one or more syntax elements for range reduction of luma samples and signals a second set of one or more syntax elements for range reduction of chroma samples. The encoder selectively scales down the luma samples and chroma samples in a manner consistent with the first syntax element(s) and second syntax element(s), respectively. Or, an encoder signals range reduction syntax element(s) in an entry point header for an entry point segment, where the syntax element(s) apply to pictures in the entry point segment. If range reduction is used for the pictures, the encoder scales down samples of the pictures. Otherwise, the encoder skips the scaling down. A decoder performs corresponding parsing and scaling up operations. |
| US08014448B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding and/or decoding moving pictures
A method of encoding moving pictures using a plurality of quantization matrices. The method involves selecting one of the plurality of quantization matrices in consideration of an at least one characteristics of an input image; transforming the input image; and quantizing the transformed input image using the selected quantization matrix. |
| US08014447B2 |
Process and arrangement for encoding video pictures
Today's video codecs require the intelligent choice between many coding options. This choice can efficiently be done using Lagrangian coder control. But Lagrangian coder control only provides results given a particular Lagrange parameter, which correspond to some unknown transmission rate. On the other hand, rate control algorithms provide coding results at a given bitrate but without the optimization performance of Lagrangian coder control. The combination of rate control and Lagrangian optimization for hybrid video coding is investigated. A new approach is suggested to incorporate these two known methods into the video coder control using macroblock mode decision and quantizer adaptation. The rate-distortion performance of the proposed approach is validated and analyzed via experimental results. It is shown that for most bit-rates the combined rate control and Lagrangian optimization producing a constant number of bits per picture achieves similar rate distortion performance as the constant slope case only using Lagrangian optimization. |
| US08014446B2 |
Method and apparatus for store and replay functions in a digital radio broadcasting receiver
A method is provided for receiving and processing a digital radio broadcasting signal. The method includes the steps of receiving a digital radio broadcasting signal including content, storing encoded content, and decoding the stored encoded content to recover decoded content. The stored encoded content can include protocol data units or packets. The stored encoded content can be recovered by decoding the encoded content according to a logical protocol stack. |
| US08014444B1 |
System and method for DC offset, amplitude and phase imbalance correction for I and Q baseband calibration
An algorithm is provided that computes values for correcting for DC offsets of baseband I and Q signals, compensates for amplitude imbalance between the baseband I and Q signals and compensates for phase imbalance between the baseband I and Q signals. Test signals are injected into the I and Q signal processing paths (either or both of the receiver path and baseband path in a modem). Samples of the I and Q signals produced in the I and Q signal processing paths are generated and analyzed to determine DC offsets of the I and Q signals, amplitude imbalance between the I and Q signals and phase imbalance with respect to a desired orthogonal relationship between the I and Q signals. |
| US08014438B2 |
Method and apparatus to compute a noise power estimate in a WCDMA network based on dedicated physical control channel (DPCCH) processing
A method to process DP bits within a WCDMA receiver where a noise estimation that may be implemented within hardware is provided for improved flexibility and performance. DPCH pilot symbols are received, quantized, channel compensated and combined. The computation of an SNR estimate based on the combined DPCH pilot symbols is provided. Noise estimation is used as part of the SNR estimation of the DP bits (used for downlink power control). This method does not rely on the assumption that the channel is constant over the DP field, while prior methods did. |
| US08014436B2 |
Multi-dimensional signal of reduced peak-to-RMS ratio
A transmitter and a method are described herein that can generate a radio signal with a reduced ratio of peak amplitude to root-mean-square amplitude which helps to improve the transmit efficiency of the transmitter's power amplifier. In addition, a receiver is also described herein that can decode the radio signal. |
| US08014421B2 |
Systems and methods for adjusting the maximum transmission unit by an intermediary device
The present invention is generally directed towards a remote access architecture for providing peer-to-peer communications and remote access connectivity. In one embodiment, the remote access architecture of the present invention provides a method for establishing a direct connection between peer computing devices via a third computing device, such as a gateway. Additionally, the present invention provides the following techniques to optimize peer-to-peer communications: 1) false acknowledgement of receipt of network packets allowing communications via a lossless protocol of packets constructed for transmission via a lossy protocol, 2) payload shifting of network packets allowing communications via a lossless protocol of packets constructed for transmission via a lossy protocol, 3) reduction of packet fragmentation by adjusting the maximum transmission unit (MTU) parameter, accounting for overhead due to encryption, 4) application-aware prioritization of client-side network communications, and 5) network disruption shielding for reliable and persistent network connectivity and access. |
| US08014418B2 |
Allocating burst data units to available time-slots
A network device of a network environment may support burst switched technology. The network device may comprise a burst generator, a scheduler, and a content addressable memory to allocate the bursts to earliest available time slots. The burst generator may generate bursts, which may comprise packets having a common destination address. The scheduler may generate one or more content addressable memory entries comprising bits, which represent the time slots, generate key based on the size of the burst, and allocating the bursts to the earliest available time slots. The available time slots may be determined by comparing the key with the content addressable memory entries. |
| US08014410B2 |
Automatic packet protection forwarding to an MPLS network by a dual-homed ethernet bridge
A method and a system for forwarding Ethernet packets by an Ethernet bridge in an Ethernet Layer 2 VPN network is provided. The method includes: notifying the first Ethernet bridge about the primary internal port associated with the receiving MAC-address and to the given VLAN identification; notifying the first Ethernet bridge about the backup internal port directly associated with the backup MPLS port acting as a backup MPLS port in an event of failure of the primary MPLS port; and, if the corresponding primary MPLS port has failed, forwarding Ethernet packets to the backup egress port of the receiving MAC-address having the given VLAN identification. |
| US08014409B1 |
Virtual router identifier that spans multiple interfaces in a routing device
A virtual router spans a number of physical routing devices. One of the physical routing devices is designated as master, and the other physical routing devices are designated as backups to the master. The virtual router may be situated between a first local area network and a second local area network. A virtual router identifier can be associated with multiple interfaces on each of the physical routing devices. |
| US08014408B2 |
Network with several subnetworks
The invention relates to a network with several subnetworks, which are organized either decentrally or centrally and can be connected in each case each by bridge terminals, a proxy terminal for a bridge terminal being set up in at least one of the subnetworks, which proxy terminal during an absence (dictated by frequency, time, code, or other factors) of the bridge terminal accepts all data directed to the bridge terminal or to be forwarded thereby, temporarily stores the data, and forwards said data to the bridge terminal when this is present again. |
| US08014400B2 |
Method for allocating data packet transmission among multiple links of a network, and network device and computer program product implementing the method
A method for intelligently distributing packets of a data stream to multiple links of a network for simultaneous transmission via the multiple links, and for periodically re-allocating the distribution, achieves higher network throughput. The method has particular application for streaming audio-video traffic on a home local area network that has a source device, like a media server PC, and a destination device, like a digital TV. One of the links is assigned as the primary link (PL), and another link is assigned as a backup link (BL). Periodically a signal is sent from the source device over each link to the destination device and the round-trip travel time (RTT) for the signal and response for each link is measured. The RTT for a link is a good measure of the current end-to-end link status and generally will change during the time that the data stream is being transmitted as a result of certain events, such as traffic load and interference. The RTT on the PL (RTT-PL) and the RTT on the BL (RTT-BL) are used to adjust the allocation of packets simultaneously transmitted on the links. |
| US08014398B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing delivery of stream data
This invention is to cope with users requesting the delivery of stream data, flexibly. In this invention, a user terminal requesting the delivery of the stream data is used as a node in a delivery tree whose root is a delivery source device connected to a camera, and relays the stream data to a lower stage. This delivery tree is managed by a delivery management server. Then, it executes: receiving a delivery request of specific stream data; identifying an apparatus whose number of stages from the root of the delivery tree is the least and having a remaining relay resource with reference to a delivery management database storing the number of stages from the root of the delivery tree, data representing a remaining relay resource and access destination data for each of apparatuses including a root device of the delivery tree and terminals as nodes in the delivery tree; and reading out the access destination data of the identified apparatus from the delivery management database, and transmitting the read access destination data as request destination data of the specific stream data to the delivery requesting terminal. |
| US08014389B2 |
Bidding network
Disclosed are systems and/or apparatuses of transmitting digital objects to a destination. In particular, disclosed are systems and/or apparatuses of facilitating bidding for the business of forwarding digital objects in a data transmission network. |
| US08014386B2 |
Method for providing VoIP services for wireless terminals
The present invention relates to a system and method for wireless telecommunication in a packet-based network comprising a Software Radio Port (SRP) which functions as a radio base station and a VoIP gateway to interconnect the wireless network with the VoIP packet network. Together with a Network Server Platform (NSP) and VoIP call-server, the SRP combines mobile call processing signaling with the VoIP call signaling to establish calls between the mobile and VoIP device or between mobiles. The SRP establishes the voice path to the mobile station over the air and the RTP media path to a party over a packet network for a call. These two paths are interconnected at the SRP so that an end-to-end voice path is established. |
| US08014384B1 |
Intelligent network interface device for caller identification multicasting
The present invention relates to a network interface device and a communication network incorporating the network interface device. The network interface device may receive incoming calls placed from a copper loop network, a cable network or wireless network, determine CallerID information of the call and the IP address of at least one end device and multicast the CallerID information to at least one end device such as a television, stereo or computer, for example. |
| US08014383B2 |
Communication system
A communication system capable of improving telephone communication service by effectively integrating communications with IP phones and with mobile phones. A connection controller controls a connection interface with a mobile phone and obtains the phone number of the mobile phone being connected thereto. A connect information transmitter transmits connect information including identification information and the phone number. A connect information manager stores and manages the received connect information. When a calling IP phone sends a request to call the mobile phone, a communication controller determines based on the connect information whether the mobile phone is connected to a receiving IP phone. If yes, the communication controller makes a call to the receiving IP phone to establish communication between the calling and receiving IP phones. |
| US08014379B2 |
Correlation of access code for bluetooth synchronization
A circuit for processing a packet based signal received over a Bluetooth radio link has a correlator to detect at least part of the access code. A correlator controller, reconfigures the correlator according to a timing of the access code, to detect at least part of the EDR synchronization sequence, and a demodulator demodulates the payload according to the detection. The correlator has an input signal register, a buffer for a sequence of at least part of the wanted signal values, and a series of comparators arranged to compare input signal values with corresponding ones of the wanted signal values at more than one offset. By such dual use of the same correlator, the receiver can be made more cost effective. |
| US08014378B1 |
Method and apparatus for automatic control of time-of-day synchronization and merging of networks
A method and apparatus for synchronizing time of day (TOD) information between radio nodes of a network and for detecting and merging otherwise isolated radio networks. In this manner individual isolated networks are able start when they are ready and once connectivity is detected with another network, the two networks can merge. Radio nodes within each network periodically send out TOD messages and periodically receive TOD messages issued by other nodes look to identify networks within communication range. Upon detecting another network a radio node informs a central control node that uses network detection information received from its members to determine the extent of the connectivity between the two networks and whether to merge the two networks. Network searching is optimized to limit impact on the overall network performance, resulting in little or no degradation in network performance. |
| US08014375B2 |
Spread spectrum communication device and spread spectrum communication method
In a compressed mode, a spread spectrum communication device interleaves bit units across multiple frames using an interleaver, reduces the spreading factor using a framing/spreading unit, outputs the compressed mode frames at a predetermined compressed mode frame timing, and increases the average transmission power in the compressed mode at a radio frequency transmitter. Furthermore, a handover between different frequencies is carried out by establishing synchronization to another frequency carrier, based on a first search code and a second search code which have been detected, and moreover, a handover between different communication systems is carried out by establishing synchronization to a GSM, based on an FCCH and a SCH which have been detected. |
| US08014368B2 |
Gateway for interconnecting ad-hoc network and infrastructure network, and methods for discovering and registering service provider using gateway
A service provider discovery method in a wireless network environment, includes receiving, by the gateway, a service request (SREQ) packet which is broadcast from a first mobile node in the ad-hoc network; updating and transmitting, by the gateway, the SREQ packet to a service repository which stores at least one service provider information, in the infrastructure network; transmitting, by the service repository, a service reply (SREP) packet containing information relating to a service provider which provides a service requested by the SREQ packet to the gateway, and updating and transmitting, by the gateway, the SREP packet to the first mobile node. Accordingly, the service can be used in association with the ad-hoc network and the infrastructure network. |
| US08014366B2 |
WLAN capacity enhancement using SDM
A method for communication over a wireless local area network (WLAN) includes receiving uplink signals from a plurality of stations in the WLAN. Responsively to the uplink signals, a set of the stations is selected for inclusion in a spatial multiplexing group. Downlink signals are transmitted simultaneously to the stations in the set using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). |
| US08014360B2 |
Apparatus and method for performing sequential scheduling in multiple-input multiple-output system
An apparatus and method for performing sequential scheduling in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) system is provided. The method includes the steps of: selecting a user which reports the greatest partial feedback information among a plurality of pieces of partial feedback information of all users in an initialization operation, and requesting channel feedback information to the selected user; and broadcasting the channel feedback information of the selected user to remaining unselected users upon receiving the channel feedback information from the selected user. Accordingly, a maximum capacity can be obtained by using only selective channel feedback information without having to feed back channel state information of all users. |
| US08014356B2 |
Optimal-channel selection in a wireless network
A machine-implementable method of optimizing the performance of a wireless network includes collecting, with a first discovery component of the wireless network, a first set of information describing at least one transmission characteristic of each access point of a first set of at least one access points within a detection area of the first discovery component. Each access point of the first set transmits data over a respective channel of a set of channels. The method further includes determining, based on the first-set information, an optimal channel of the set of channels, the optimal channel having associated therewith the lowest probability of interference with the channels over which the access points of the first set are transmitting. |
| US08014354B2 |
Dynamically configured wireless communications, for example, in automatic data collection environment
Dynamic configuration of a wireless environment, for example a wireless automatic data collection environment adjust various thresholds that trigger searching or scanning for new wireless access points (WAPs) and/or roaming. Thresholds may be increased or decreased based on various outcomes. |
| US08014353B2 |
Method and system for bits and coding assignment utilizing Eigen beamforming with fixed rates for closed loop WLAN
A method and system for bits and coding assignment utilizing Eigen beamforming with fixed rates for a closed loop WLAN is provided. Aspects of the method for communicating information in a communication system may comprise transmitting data via a plurality of radio frequency (RF) channels utilizing a plurality of transmitting antennas and receiving feedback information related to the plurality of RF channels. Bits may be assigned for transmission via at least one of the plurality of RF channels based on the feedback information. At least a portion of subsequent data having at least a first coding rate based on the assignment of bits may be transmitted via at least one of the plurality of RF channels. The method may also comprise receiving data via a plurality of RF channels utilizing a plurality of receiving antennas, and transmitting feedback information related to the plurality of RF channels. |
| US08014352B2 |
Adaptive transport format uplink signaling for data-non-associated feedback control signals
One or more dynamically selected signaling bits are added in a downlink from a base station to user equipment (UE) so that the UE can use an adaptive “symbol space” for uplink feedback (CQI/HARQ) signaling and know from the extra added downlink signaling bits and the MCS currently signaled in parallel how big a symbol space to use at the moment for the uplink feedback. |
| US08014347B2 |
Establishment of radio resource control connection in wireless communication system
A method for controlling a user equipment (UE) having at least an upper layer which is above a radio resource control (RRC) layer, wherein the UE is capable of receiving a point-to-multipoint service and performing cell reselection in a wireless communication system comprises receiving an establishment parameter from the upper layer. The method also includes transmitting an RRC connection request to a network, and determining, in the RRC layer upon the cell reselection, whether to continue an RRC connection procedure to the network based on the establishment parameter. The method also includes terminating the RRC connection procedure to the network based on a result of the determining step. The RRC connection procedure may be terminated if the establishment parameter indicates a point-to-multipoint service reception. |
| US08014346B2 |
Method for enabling periodic scanning in wireless communication networks
A method is provided for enabling periodic scanning in a mesh network. The method includes transmitting from a first access point an announcement that it will be temporarily unavailable, wherein the announcement includes: a first information element for quieting a station associated with the access point during a time period; and a second information element for instructing a neighboring access point to temporarily suspend transmissions to the access point during the time period that the stations are quieted. |
| US08014342B2 |
Data sharing among radio access technologies
By adapting its search procedures, a user equipment in a mobile communication system can shorten the time needed to find a cell or public land mobile network. If a first cell in a first radio access technology has been found, the equipment can exclude one or more frequencies from a search for cells in a second radio access technology. Thus, time and power are not wasted searching for cells in the second radio access technology that cannot be found. |
| US08014339B1 |
Methods for providing universal network access within a wireless communication system
A wireless network access point that is compatible with multiple wireless network access profiles. The wireless network access point of the present invention allows devices with heterogeneous wireless network access profiles to access the network over the same network access point (NAP). This enables existing networks to upgrade NAPs without being forced to upgrade all the wireless devices within the network. In addition, the NAP of the present invention enables wireless devices to utilize network access profile features available in network access profiles other than the one loaded on the wireless device itself. |
| US08014335B2 |
Wireless network system, relay terminal and program
A wireless network system relays a broadcast signal in multiple stages and distributes data to terminals there around, and relay terminals determine whether to relay broadcast packets according to the direction vector and the position information, specified by the information transmission source terminal, referring to their own position information and direction, and relay and accept the packets or ignore them. |
| US08014331B2 |
Method and apparatus for using a MAC protocol for broadcast
Method and apparatus that provide for broadcast multicast services in an ultra mobile broadband network are disclosed. A broadcast transmission structure provides for efficient indexing of subbands reserved for BCMCS. Transmissions on the logical channels are segmented into error control blocks beginning with zero or one MAC packet received by a MAC layer. A transmitting entity appends parameters relating to content change within a next ultraframe at end of every broadcast packet that is not a stuffing packet. A mapping message of multiple Physical Layer groups addresses a single logical channel when SFN (Single Frequency Network) coverage of an associated subband group is different from SFN coverage of the logical channel. |
| US08014328B2 |
Method of translating protocol at translator, method of providing protocol translation information at translation server, and address translation server
A translator is connected to a first network for transferring data in a first protocol, to a second network for transferring data in a second protocol, and to a translation server to which other translators are connected, for retaining translation information for a protocol translation between the first protocol and the second protocol. The translator generates a second address in the first protocol corresponding to a first address in the second protocol provided to a terminal accommodated in the second network. It retains a correspondence between the first address and the second address as the translation information and registers the correspondence at the translation server. |
| US08014325B2 |
Communication scheduling method for wireless relay systems
In the P-MP wireless data communication via relay stations, a wireless base station forms a communication schedule between the relay station and the relay station and a communication schedule between the relay station and the subscriber station. For each subscriber station (SS), a connected station, an interference at downloading, an interference at uploading, a burst profile between the BS and the SS, and a burst profile between the RS and the SS are registered in an SS management table of the BS. An interference during downloading is generated by allowing each SS to send an identifier of a BS or an RS acting as an interference to a BS to which the SS is connected. An interference during uploading is generated by allowing the BS to capture ranging fixed at the starting time and the like from an SS being under the control of the RS. |
| US08014321B2 |
Rendezvousing resource requests with corresponding resources
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for rendezvousing resource requests with corresponding resources. Doubly linked sorted lists are traversed using modulo arithmetic in both directions. Sorted lists can be partitioned based on a multiple proximity metrics. Node routing tables provide a logarithmic index to nodes within the ID space of the federation infrastructure to facilitate more efficient routing. Messages can be routed to nodes within a ring and proximally routed to nodes in other partitioned rings. |
| US08014316B2 |
System, method and computer-readable storage medium for calculating addressing and bandwidth requirements of a network
Apparatuses, methods and computer-readable storage mediums are provided for calculating estimated addressing and bandwidth requirements of a customer domain, such as to facilitate designing the respective domain. A method includes selecting customer premises equipment (CPE) of a domain including a plurality of CPEs, where each CPE includes one or more devices, and one of the one or more devices include an interface with which the domain communicates with the respective CPE. The method also includes determining if the interface of the selected CPE comprises a router, and calculating an addressing requirement of the selected CPE, where the addressing requirement includes a number of device addresses for the selected CPE. The method may additionally or alternatively include analyzing traffic patterns of the selected CPE with respect to one or more other CPEs, and based on the analysis, calculating a bandwidth requirement of the selected CPE. |
| US08014315B2 |
Method for scoring queued frames for selective transmission through a switch
A method includes determining a priority of each of a plurality of frames, wherein the priority is a function of an initial value dependent on content of each said frame and one or more adjustment values independent of content of each said frame, and selecting the frame with the highest determined priority for transmission through the device prior to transmission of any other of the frames. A system includes a receiving port configured to receive frames and assign an initial priority to each frame, a queue configured to insert queue entries associated with received frames on the queue, each queue entry being inserted at a queue position based on the initial priority assigned to the queue entry, the queue further configured to reorder queue entries based on readjusted priorities of the queue entries; and a transmitter switch configured to transmit the frame having the highest priority before transmitting any other frame. |
| US08014314B1 |
Apparatus for and method of providing and measuring data throughput to and from a packet data network
A digital subscriber link data network incorporates a throughput test server (TTS) to provide fault identification, isolation, and verification of DSL service availability and data rates. An asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) terminal unit-remote (ATU-R) is connected to an ADSL terminal unit-central office (ATU-C) over a conventional copper loop or equivalent. Data connectivity via a packet switch provides access to high speed data networks, TTS connectivity and interfaces to service providers (SPS). Upon receiving a test request, a technician routes a customer to the TTS. The customer uses a web browser to access the TTS and download executable testing software, e.g., a JAVA applet. The applet causes test messages to be sent to and received from the TTS and computes upstream and downstream data rates that is displayed to the customer together with whether the measured data rates are consistent with a specified class of service. |
| US08014308B2 |
Hardware architecture for cloud services
The claimed subject matter provides systems and/or methods that facilitate dynamically allocating resources (e.g., hardware, software, . . . ) supported by a third party service provider. The third party service provider can support any number of services that can be concurrently requested by several clients without user perception of degraded computing performance as compared to conventional systems/techniques due to improved connectivity and mitigated latencies. An interface component can receive a request from a client device. Further, a dynamic allocation component can apportion resources (e.g., hardware resources) supported by the third party service provider to process and respond to the request based at least in part upon subscription data. Moreover, a user state evaluator can determine a state associated with a user and/or the client device; the state can be utilized by the dynamic allocation component to tailor resource allocation. |
| US08014302B2 |
Communication node, communication method, and computer program
A communication node includes: a routing information storing unit configured to store, as routing information, node information indicating a succeeding node and a preceding node in a ring network using a distributed hash table; and a routing information updating unit configured to update the node information, wherein when the succeeding node becomes inaccessible, the routing information updating unit acquires node information from one predetermined node accessible on the network at all times, determines, based on the acquired node information, whether the node that has supplied the node information satisfies a determination criterion for becoming its succeeding node, and designates the node that has supplied the node information as its succeeding node if the determination criterion is satisfied, while acquires node information from the preceding node indicated by the acquired node information if the determination criterion is not satisfied, and determines whether the node that has supplied the node information satisfies the determination criterion. |
| US08014301B2 |
System and method for providing network route redundancy across layer 2 devices
Systems and methods are described for providing network route redundancy through Layer 2 devices, such as a loop free Layer 2 network having a plurality of switching devices. A virtual switch is coupled to the loop free Layer 2 network, the virtual switch having two or more switches configured to transition between master and backup modes to provide redundant support for the loop free Layer 2 network, the switches communicating their status through use of a plurality of redundancy control packets. The system also includes means for allowing the redundancy control packets to be flooded through the Layer 2 network. The means may include time-to-live data attached to the redundancy control packet which is decremented only when the packets are transferred through devices which are configured to recognize the protocol used in redundancy control packets. |
| US08014296B1 |
Method and apparatus for enabling LCAS-like feature through embedded software
A technique controls the capacity of a virtual concatenation group (VCG) carried on a SONET path of a data network. Efficient control of VCG capacity is provided by emulating aspects of a Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) protocol in software. A hardware poller facility is employed to manage the status and state of the VCG, as well as members belonging to the VCG. The hardware poller contains one or more VCG state machines (VSMs) and member state machines (MSMs) configured to maintain the status and states of the VCGs and their members. |
| US08014292B1 |
Dynamic location routing protocol
Methods and computer-readable media are provided to select the optimal route for communicating a signaling message in a telecommunications networking environment. The method includes receiving a signaling message at a sending proxy that is responsible for sending the signaling message to its destination. To determine the best route, the sending proxy inspect its dynamic routing table to identify one or more potential routes that can be used to communicate the signaling message to its destination. The optimal route is determined by a numeric value, which may be based on one or more of a cost, the relationship between service providers, quality, or the like. Once the optimal route is determined, it is communicated from the sending proxy to the receiving proxy, often through one or more intermediary proxies. |
| US08014288B1 |
Packet latency based arbitration technique for a packet switch
A packet switch including input ports having various input bandwidths initializes credit values for the input ports. An arbiter of the packet switch selects input ports based on the credit values and routes data packets from the selected input ports to a switch fabric of the packet switch. The switch fabric routes data packets from the selected input ports to output ports of the packet switch. Moreover, the arbiter modifies the credit value of each selected input port based on the latency for routing the data packet from the selected input port to the switch fabric. In this way, the arbiter promotes fairness in routing additional data packets through the packet switch. In some embodiments, the switch fabric includes a buffered crossbar and the arbiter modifies credit values of crosspoints in the buffered crossbar based on the latency for routing data packets from the crosspoints to the output ports. |
| US08014285B2 |
Data forwarding method for reliable service in sensor networks
A method for relaying received data by a relay node in a sensor network that includes a sink node, a source node for collecting and transmitting data requested by the sink node, and the relay node for relaying the data transmitted from the source node to the sink node. The relay node determines whether the source node that transmits the data is a previously identified source node, stores the data in a buffer and forwards the data to a neighbor node when the source node transmitting the data is the previously identified source node according to the determination. The data is managed based on the relay node having the buffer, rather than the source node and the sink node as in the related art. Further, the data error can be promptly handled. |