| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08046869B2 |
Motor-noise absorbing apparatus of vacuum cleaner
A motor-noise absorbing apparatus of a vacuum cleaner is disclosed. The motor-noise absorbing apparatus includes a body seated and fixed on a peripheral part of an opening of a motor housing to close between the motor housing and a stator core and, thus, to restrict an amount of the air discharged between the motor housing and the stator core, a first air discharging part formed in the middle of the body, so that most of the air comes out of the guide vein is discharged between the stator core and a rotor, and at least one second air discharging part formed to penetrate a peripheral part of the body, so that a portion of the air coming out of the guide vein is discharged between the motor housing and the stator core. |
| US08046865B2 |
Cleaning tool with cleaning pad having a non-woven fiber bundle on both sides
A flexible cleaning tool (22) is disclosed. The cleaning tool (22) includes a handle (24) connected to an elongated flexible support member (26) that includes a plurality of discrete, rotatably interconnected segments (40). A cleaning pad (28) encloses the support rod (26). |
| US08046858B2 |
Gangway handrail and method for manufacturing the same
A handrail for a gangway and a method for manufacturing the same where the handrail comprises a single, continuous piece of plastic. |
| US08046856B2 |
Method for spin-drying textiles after an impregnation process
A method for spin-drying textiles being subjected to a method for the production of a hydrophobic effect in a washing machine. Textiles located within the drum are brought into contact with hydrophobing substances dissolved in the washing liquid. The drum is accelerated for a first number of spin pulses to reach a speed in a first spinning block when the washing liquid is removed from the outer tub, the speed being below a critical speed of rotation. The drum is accelerated in a second spinning block for a second number of spin pulses to reach a speed that is above the critical speed of rotation. The drum is accelerated in a third and final spinning block for a third number of spinning pulses to reach a maximum speed of rotation that is compatible with the washing. |
| US08046853B1 |
Adjustable-length spine-immobilizing backboard
An extendable-length, spine immobilizing backboard is disclosed. The backboard is collapsible to the length of a standard backboard for ease of storage and for use in supporting and transporting patients of average height, and a lower portion is telescopically extendable from an upper portion so as to adjustably accommodate patients of above average height. The upper and lower portions are joined by side shafts that telescopically insert into hollow tubes so as to form hand rails on either side of the backboard, and by a flat, rigid central extension that is slidably insertable into a central cavity so as to provide patient support across a gap between the upper and lower portions. The backboard can be collapsed to a length that is six feet, and extended to a length of eighty inches. In some embodiments, the backboard is wider than a standard backboard, being preferably 21 inches wide. |
| US08046851B2 |
Patient single surface system
This invention is directed towards a patient single surface system, PS3, which is a next generation system solution for patient accommodation, diagnosis, treatment, transfer and transport. PS3 provides a single surface for the patient to remain on from the trauma site through diagnosis, treatment and convalescence. Needs addressed by the PS3 system include improved patient treatment through reduction in time to treatment, reduced or eliminated unnecessary patient movement and injury, as well as improved comfort throughout treatment and convalescence. In addition, the PS3 system solves significant economic considerations. |
| US08051492B2 |
System and method for tracing tardos fingerprint codes
A system and method is provided for identifying the source of an unauthorized copy of content. The method includes embedding a unique user fingerprint code to into each of a plurality of authorized copies of content and identifying an unknown fingerprint code in an unauthorized copy of the content. Each member of the unknown fingerprint code is compared to each corresponding member in each of the user fingerprint codes. A score is assigned to each of the user fingerprint codes based on the comparison and users associated with scores exceeding a threshold are identified as a source of the unauthorized copy. |
| US08051491B1 |
Controlling use of computing-related resources by multiple independent parties
Techniques are described for managing access to computing-related resources that, for example, may enable multiple distinct parties to independently control access to the resources (e.g., such that a request to access a resource succeeds only if all of multiple associated parties approve that access). For example, an executing software application may, on behalf of an end user, make use of computing-related resources of one or more types that are provided by one or more remote third-party network services (e.g., data storage services provided by an online storage service)—in such a situation, both the developer user who created the software application and the end user may be allowed to independently specify access rights for one or more particular such computing-related resources (e.g., stored data files), such that neither the end user nor the software application developer user may later access those resources without the approval of the other party. |
| US08051490B2 |
Computer system for judging whether to permit use of data based on location of terminal
There is provided a computer system comprising a storage system, a terminal, a management server and the terminal, and a positioning module for identifying a location of the terminal. The terminal identifies the location of the terminal by the positioning module in a case of using the data, transmits terminal information including the identified location of the terminal to the management server; and transmits a usage request for the data to the management server. The management server judges whether or not use of the data is to be permitted based on the terminal information, and transmits permit information including usage conditions for the data to the terminal in a case where the use of the data is to be permitted. The terminal selects at least one of the volatile storage area and the nonvolatile storage area based on the usage conditions, and stores the copy of the data therein. |
| US08051488B2 |
Trial usage for encrypted subscription-based data
Subscription based content is decrypted for one or more trial periods without shortening the subscription period for the device. The subscription period for the content does not start until the expiration of the last trial period. The subscription logic included with the device monitors a packet value received in a broadcast to determine when the device is receiving a packet within a trial period. The packet value is time-based such that the subscription logic can determine when the device has exceeded the number of allowed trial periods as well as to determine when the subscription ends. |
| US08051480B2 |
System and method for monitoring and analyzing multiple interfaces and multiple protocols
The present invention is a system and method for providing security for a mobile device by analyzing data being transmitted or received by multiple types of networks. The invention can provide security for many types of network interfaces on a mobile device, including: Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular networks, USB, SMS, infrared, and near-field communication. Data is gathered at multiple points in a given processing pathway and linked by a protocol tracking component in order to analyze each protocol present in the data after an appropriate amount of processing by the mobile device. Protocol analysis components are utilized dynamically to analyze data and are re-used between multiple data pathways so as to be able to support an arbitrary number of network data pathways on a mobile device without requiring substantial overhead. |
| US08051479B1 |
Method and apparatus for detecting shellcode
The invention is a method and apparatus for detecting shellcode such that a set of computer instructions is scanned for the presence of a null operation instruction. The computer instructions are also examined for the presence of a system call instruction, and reviewed for the presence of a decoder instruction set. A null operation weight value is then determined corresponding to the null operation instruction. Also assessed is a system call weight value corresponding to the system call instruction. In addition, a decoder weight value is calculated corresponding to the decoder instruction set. The null operation weight value, the system call weight value, and the decoder weight value are then analyzed to identify a shellcode. |
| US08051478B1 |
Secure browser
A secure browsing manager intercepts load calls, and determines whether intercepted load calls are attempting to load code into the browser. When the secure browsing manager detects that a load call is attempting to load code into the browser, it determines whether that code is trusted. The secure browsing manager processes the attempt to load the code into the browser according to whether or not the code is trusted. If the secure browsing manager determines that the code is trusted, it allows the code to be loaded into the browser, thereby securely allowing the benefits of loaded code. If the secure browsing manager determines that the code is not trusted, it blocks the attempt to load the code into the browser, or alternatively takes other actions, such as allowing the code to be loaded into the browser, but blocking certain user initiated activity. |
| US08051474B1 |
Method and apparatus for identifying trusted sources based on access point
Methods and systems for distinguishing between sources of messages at a computer system resource are provided. In particular, messages are classified according to the physical interface at which the messages are received. A message received at an interface connected to a trusted source has the port address associated with that message mapped to a predefined port address by a firewall computer, before being passed to a server computer or other system resource. A message received at an interface that is connected to an untrusted source is passed to the server computer using the original port address. The server computer may then treat messages associated with one of the reserved port addresses differently from messages associated with a non-reserved port address. |
| US08051473B2 |
Method for operating networks of devices
A method for operating networks of devices (d) wherein said networks are formed by a plurality of domains (D), wherein each of said domains (D) is formed by one or by a plurality of sub-networks (n) of devices (d), wherein each device (d) is assigned to at least one authorized domain (AD) of said domains (D) by assigning and/or carrying/storing in each case at least one type of authorized domain identifier (ADI) to/by said respective device (d), wherein each type of authorized domain identifier (ADI) is descriptive and/or characteristic for said authorized domain (AD) and its type as well as for a membership of said respective device (d) to said respective domain (D), and wherein an access to, the provision of, and/or a transmission of data with respect to audio/video content by each device (d) is in each case ruled on the basis of the respective assigned and/or carried/storied authorized domain identifiers (ADI). |
| US08051472B2 |
Method and apparatus for personalization and identity management
Methods and systems are disclosed for personalization and identity management. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving, from an access provider, a message for a service provider, the message associated with a first identifier of a user of the access provider. A second identifier is obtained, the first identifier is disassociated from the message, and the second identifier is associated with the message. The message associated with the second identifier is then sent to the service provider. |
| US08051470B2 |
Consolidation of user directories
A method for automatic user authentication is described. In response to a coupling of a separate hardware security device to a data processing system, credential information for each of a plurality of applications that the user uses is received from the separate hardware security device into an authentication credential container associated with the user. A plurality of applications accessible by a user are identified by examining authentication credential container of the user. A view of the plurality of applications accessible by the user is generated. The view is a consolidated user directory that contains user authentication information across the plurality of applications. The view may then be displayed to an administrator. |
| US08051453B2 |
System and method for presenting content on a wireless mobile computing device using a buffer
A handheld electronic device for use at a venue hosting a live sporting event, having a receiver for receiving a wireless RF transmission conveying a plurality of video streams derived from video cameras filming the live sporting event, a display and a user interface for selecting a video stream among the plurality of video streams to be displayed on the display. The handheld electronic device is capable to acquire a locked mode of operation and an unlocked mode of operation, in the locked mode of operation the handheld electronic device being precluded from displaying the video streams to a spectator, in the unlocked mode of operation the handheld electronic device being enabled to display the video streams to the spectator, the handheld electronic device capable to acquire the unlocked mode of operation in response to reception of authentication data wirelessly transmitted to the handheld electronic device. |
| US08051452B2 |
System and methods for enhancing the experience of spectators attending a live sporting event, with contextual information distribution capability
A handheld electronic device for use at a venue hosting a live sporting event, having a receiver for receiving a wireless RF transmission conveying a plurality of video streams derived from video cameras filming the live sporting event, a display and a user interface for selecting a video stream among the plurality of video streams to be displayed on the display. The handheld electronic device is capable to acquire a locked mode of operation and an unlocked mode of operation, in the locked mode of operation the handheld electronic device being precluded from displaying the video streams to a spectator, in the unlocked mode of operation the handheld electronic device being enabled to display the video streams to the spectator, the handheld electronic device capable to acquire the unlocked mode of operation in response to reception of authentication data wirelessly transmitted to the handheld electronic device. |
| US08051451B2 |
Digital broadcasting system and method of processing data in digital broadcasting system
A digital broadcast receiver and a control method thereof are disclosed. The digital broadcast receiver includes a reception unit for receiving a broadcast signal which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed, an extractor for extracting transmission parameter channel signaling information and fast information channel signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data, an acquirer for acquiring a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble by using the extracted fast information channel signaling information, the ensemble being a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data, a detector for detecting a descriptor defining Internet access information corresponding to the mobile service data by using the acquired program table, and a controller for controlling such that the Internet access information of the detected descriptor and the mobile service data are displayed. |
| US08051448B2 |
Method and apparatus for displaying entertainment system data upon selection of a video data display
A graphical user interface (GUI) includes a first window that displays video data of a first entertainment selection. A first area of the first window displays entertainment system data that corresponds to the first entertainment selection. The GUI includes a second window that displays video data of a second entertainment selection. A second area of the second window, displays entertainment system data that corresponds to the second entertainment selection. Upon selection by a user of the respective window, entertainment system data regarding the entertainment selection corresponding to the respective window is displayed. |
| US08051440B2 |
Optical read/write device
According to one aspect, an optical read/write device for reading and/or writing an optical disc includes a base, optical pickup head, and a driving mechanism for slidably driving the optical pickup head. The driving mechanism includes a worm gear, a motor for rotating the worm gear, and a rack disposed between the worm gear and the optical pickup head for transferring motion from the worm gear to the optical pickup head. The rack includes a fastening portion for fixing the rack to the optical pickup head, a mesh portion for engaging with the worm gear, a restricting portion connected to the mesh portion for being blocked by the gear seat when the mesh portion is pressed by the worm gear to prevent the mesh portion from disengaging from the worm gear, and a connecting portion for connecting the fastening portion with the restricting portion. |
| US08051439B2 |
Disk device
A disk drive includes: a pair of guide walls, which is arranged in the vicinity of the holder opening of a cartridge holder to define a direction in which a disk cartridge is supposed to be inserted; a first opening/closing lever, which has a first engaging portion that engages with a portion of the disk cartridge and which rotates while the disk cartridge is being inserted or ejected; and a second opening/closing lever, which has a second engaging portion that engages with another portion of the disk cartridge and which rotates while the disk cartridge is being inserted or ejected. The pivots of the first and second opening/closing levers are arranged opposite to the holder opening. The first and second opening/closing levers rotate so as to leave a broader gap between the first and second engaging portions than between the guide walls when the drive gets loaded with the disk cartridge, thereby opening a window in the disk cartridge. |
| US08051436B2 |
SAS expander-side optimization for the re-discovery process
Methods and systems for simplification of the re-discovery process for initiators due to changes in the network. If an initiator subscribes to change reports from a SAS expander, when that SAS expander detects a change in the network, it sends an SMP command back to the initiator, indicating the specific change in the network. Initiator BCN management and re-discovery of the entire network is therefore avoided. |
| US08051434B2 |
Data processing device for renaming virtual device
A data processing device includes a registering unit, a display unit, a status acquiring unit, and a virtual device renaming unit. The registering unit registers a plurality of communicable printers as a plurality of virtual devices. The display unit displays a plurality of virtual device names for the plurality of virtual devices. The status acquiring unit acquires a status of each of the plurality of virtual devices. The virtual device renaming unit changes at least one of the virtual device names for the plurality of virtual devices to a device name representing the status of a corresponding virtual device acquired by the status acquiring unit. |
| US08051430B2 |
Systems and methods for data processing in a service-oriented architecture
Systems and methods are provided for data processing. In one implementation, a data process system is provided having a service-oriented architecture. The service-oriented architecture may include a plurality of foundation business objects and a dependent business object for providing a confirmation service for the plurality of foundation business objects. |
| US08051429B2 |
Method for associating data bearing objects with user interface objects
The present invention comprises a method for allowing a data controlling object to interface with any number of user interface objects without requiring separate interface code for each user interface object and without restricting the user interface to certain predetermined designs. The present method provides objects called association objects that are interposed between a data controlling object and each user interface object. Each kind of user interface object has a corresponding association object. The association object for a particular kind of user interface object contains code that allows the association object to interact with the specific kind of user interface object with which it is associated. Each association object also presents a standard interface to a data controlling object, regardless of the kind of user interface object with which the association object is associated. The association object takes care of any conversion or translation that must be performed to convert a data value sent by the data controlling object into an appropriate value that can be displayed by the user interface object. Accordingly, instead of requiring different interface code for each kind of user interface object used, a data controlling object requires only a single block of interface code for communicating with all association objects, which in turn provide the user interface specific code needed for each kind of user interface object. |
| US08051423B2 |
System and method for tracking resources during parallel processing
The present invention is directed to a parallel processing infrastructure, which enables the robust design of task scheduler(s) and communication primitive(s). This is achieved, in one embodiment of the present invention, by decomposing the general problem of exploiting parallelism into three parts. First, an infrastructure is provided to track resources. Second, a method is offered by which to expose the tracking of the aforementioned resources to task scheduler(s) and communication primitive(s). Third, a method is established by which task scheduler(s) in turn may enable and/or disable communication primitive(s). In this manner, an improved parallel processing infrastructure is provided. |
| US08051422B2 |
Resource assignment method for query partioning based on processing cost of each partition
In order to improve the unbalance of loads imposed on individual database servers at the time of executing individual SQL processing phases, a management computer partitions an inputted query request into the processing phases which are units executable in parallel, calculates resource costs needed for executing the processing phases, assigns the processing phases to the logical computers on the basis of an access right to databases, calculates resource assignment ratios of the individual logical computers in correspondence with the resource costs for the processing phases assigned to the individual logical computers, and assigns assignable resources of a physical computer to the individual logical computers, the assignable resources being equivalent to resource assignment amounts corresponding to the resource assignment ratios. |
| US08051420B2 |
Method and system for governing access to computing utilities
A method and system for governing resources in a computing utility receives a demand profile associated with an application that identifies the resources required from a pool of resources during one or more demand cycles, admits an application to the computing utility facility if resources required for the application can be provided from the pool of resources in accordance with the demand profile and associated one or more demand cycles and assigns available resources from the pool of resources in response to a request from the application admitted to the computing utility facility. |
| US08051419B2 |
Method of dynamically adjusting number of task request
A method of dynamically adjusting the number of task requests is provided, which is applicable to an Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) protocol. When a target receives a task request transmitted by an initiator or the target completes the task request, the number of transmissible tasks is calculated according to an average access data volume, an current access data volume, and an allowable access data volume in the target, and returned to the initiator, such that the number of the task requests transmitted simultaneously by the initiator does not exceed the number of transmissible tasks, thereby achieving flow control. The allowable access data volume is obtained through interactive and dynamic adjustment between the target and the initiator. |
| US08051418B1 |
Techniques for providing improved affinity scheduling in a multiprocessor computer system
Techniques for controlling a thread on a computerized system having multiple processors involve accessing state information of a blocked thread, and maintaining the state information of the blocked thread at current values when the state information indicates that less than a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the blocked thread ran on the computerized system. Such techniques further involve setting the state information of the blocked thread to identify affinity for a particular processor of the multiple processors when the state information indicates that at least the predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the blocked thread ran on the computerized system. Such operation enables the system to place a cold blocked thread which shares data with another thread on the same processor of that other thread so that, when the blocked thread awakens and runs, that thread is closer to the shared data. |
| US08051417B2 |
Target thread selection in a multi-threaded process
In an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus and method for a target thread selection in a multi-threaded process perform the steps of receiving a signal that may or may not be masked by threads in the process; and searching a thread subset for a target thread that can handle the signal. A signal daemon may search for the target thread if the target thread is not found in the thread subset. |
| US08051413B2 |
Development tool for footprint reduction
A method and apparatus for reducing a memory footprint of an embedded system. The method may include analyzing packages installed in a root file system of the embedded system, and determining which package components are not required for the operation of the embedded system. The method further includes reducing a memory footprint of the embedded system based on the above determination. |
| US08051401B2 |
Post-routing power supply modification for an integrated circuit
A technique for generating a layout of an integrated circuit places standard cells in position and provides power rail conductors formed in a second metal layer overlying power connection conductors formed in a first metal layer via which the power is supplied to the standard cells. Routing connection conductors are added in the first metal layer and are permitted to pass through gaps between the power connection conductors of the first metal layer and underneath the power rail conductors of the second metal layer. Once routing has been performed, gaps between the power connection conductors of the first metal layer underlying the power rail conductors and not being used by routing connection conductors are closed so as form interrupted power rail conductors within the first meal layer. |
| US08051399B2 |
IC design flow incorporating optimal assumptions of power supply voltage drops at cells when performing timing analysis
An aspect of the present invention selects a maximum voltage and a minimum voltage in respective sub-intervals of a timing window in which an output of a cell is expected to switch, and performing timing analysis based on the selected maximum voltage and the selected minimum voltage. By using appropriate smaller sub-intervals within the timing window, more optimal physical layout of the design may be obtained. In an embodiment, the sub-intervals equal a cell delay, i.e., a delay between an input change to an output change for a corresponding cell. According to another aspect of the present invention, the sub-interval for later cells in a timing path are modified based on a modified timing window of previous cells in the timing path, to reduce the computational requirement. |
| US08051398B2 |
Test method and system for characterizing and/or refining an IC design cycle
Systems and methods are provided for refining a design cycle for an integrated circuit. An integrated circuit design is generated. A plurality of non-critical paths within the integrated circuit design are identified. A set of at least one of the plurality of non-critical paths is modified to produce a modified design in which the sensitivity of each of the set of non-critical paths to at least one parameter is enhanced. Each parameter is either a design parameter or a process parameter. An integrated circuit is fabricated according to the modified design. The fabricated integrated circuit is evaluated to measure a set of timing data representing each of the plurality of non-critical paths. The value of the parameter is determined from the measured set of timing data. |
| US08051394B2 |
Yield evaluating apparatus and method thereof
A yield evaluating apparatus and a method thereof are provided. The yield evaluating apparatus includes a spatial correlation module. The spatial correlation module receives at least one process-related data and a plurality of circuit layouts and obtains a correlation coefficient between unit elements in the circuit layouts according to the process-related data. The spatial correlation module calculates a spatial correlation between elements in each of the circuit layouts according to the correlation coefficient and selects one of the circuit layouts according to the spatial correlations. |
| US08051391B2 |
Method for layout of random via arrays in the presence of strong pitch restrictions
Exemplary embodiments provide a method for laying out an integrated circuit (“IC”) design and the IC design layout. In one embodiment, the IC design layout can include a first feature placed on a first intersecting point of a grid. The placed first feature can define a local grid area. The local grid area can further include a plurality of local intersecting points having an outer perimeter spaced from any outermost local intersecting point in a spacing ranging from a length of a grid side to a length of a grid diagonal of a grid unit. A second feature can either be restrictively placed on any local intersecting point of the local grid area, or be randomly placed on any location outside the outer perimeter of the local grid area. |
| US08051382B1 |
Displaying rating indications for drop targets in response to user dragging of mobile icon
When a user drags a mobile icon, ratings indications are displayed for target icons on which said mobile icon can be dropped. |
| US08051378B1 |
Generic mechanism for reporting on backups
The present invention comprises a generic mechanism for reporting on backup operations. An object is abstracted in order to provide a generic reporting object, and the generic reporting object is displayed by the reporting GUI. The GUI is thus provided for handling any object which is abstracted to the generic format. The generic format is applicable to any number of objects which would otherwise require the GUI to contain code specific for displaying the object. |
| US08051377B1 |
Method and apparatus for displaying multiple page files
Embodiments for displaying multiple page files are disclosed. In an example embodiment, a plurality of files may be automatically displayed. For the respective files of the plurality of files, a count of pages may be determined, and at least one of the pages of the file may be displayed. If the count of pages is determined to be greater than one, a plurality of pages of the file may be automatically displayed. |
| US08051376B2 |
Customizable music visualizer with user emplaced video effects icons activated by a musically driven sweep arm
A method for creating a customized music visualization display for a music input involves presenting a user with a plurality of effects icons and a visualizer canvas as a portion of the user interface display. A user places one or more of the visual effects icons on the visualizer canvas. A sweep arm travels in a continuous sweeping motion through an arc and at a speed determined by a musical input and where each effect icon is detected and the effect is displayed when the sweep arm impacts the location of the video effect icon within the visualizer canvas. |
| US08051375B2 |
TV widget multiview content organization
A television Widget movement method involves providing access to a plurality of Widget programs to a television Widget host processor; receiving a dedicated command from a remote controller that activates the plurality of Widget programs, wherein the Widget programs, when in a Display mode, display Widget representations on a display; receiving a command from the remote controller that establishes one of the plurality of displayed Widget programs as the Widget program that is currently in focus; and receiving a command from the remote controller that places the Widget program that is currently in focus in a Move Mode, wherein the Widget representation can be moved about the display while in Move Mode. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. |
| US08051373B2 |
Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure
A method and system are provided for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure based on a schema. The format of the hierarchical data structure may be XML. A hierarchical data structure conforming to a schema is loaded into an application program. The data structure includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship. The schema defines the hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes in the hierarchical data structure. After the hierarchical data structure conforming to the schema has been loaded, a plurality of layout rules is applied to the hierarchical data based on the schema to create a flat data structure. The layout rules determine how the hierarchical data will be inserted in the flat data structure. The layout rules may be applied by identifying properties in the schema which identify occurrence requirements for elements defined in the schema. After the layout rules have been applied to the hierarchical data, the hierarchical data is rendered into a spreadsheet by inserting the data in rows and columns. |
| US08051372B1 |
System and method for automatically detecting and extracting semantically significant text from a HTML document associated with a plurality of HTML documents
A system and method for automatically detecting and extracting semantically significant text from a HTML document associated with a plurality of HTML documents is disclosed. The method may include receiving a HTML document, parsing the HTML document into a parse tree, segmenting the parse tree into one or more segments of one or more unique paths, processing the one or more segments based at least the HTML document, and extracting one or more processed segments from the at least the HTML document based on a predetermined number. |
| US08051371B2 |
Document analysis system and document adaptation system
A document analysis system which can execute a layout analysis intended by a document provider and an exhaustive title analysis and output the analysis result which can be used by a third person is provided by the present invention. The input unit (11) obtains a structured or semi-structured document and renders it. The basic layout analysis unit (14) obtains the rendering result and analyzes the layout by grouping document description elements juxtaposed in a determined direction by referencing an arrangement of the document description elements. The title analysis unit (15) obtains the rendering result and a title analysis rule from the title analysis rule storing unit (23) and analyzes the title by comparing the name, attribute, style or the content of the document analysis elements with the title analysis rule. The layout analysis unit (16) obtains the layout components and the hierarchical relationship thereof and the titles for generating a new layout by grouping the layout components. The output unit (13) obtains the layout components and the hierarchical relationship thereof, the relationship between the components and the titles, shapes them into a format having an expression which uses the reference to the document description elements and output them. |
| US08051369B2 |
System and method for the creation and automatic deployment of personalized, dynamic and interactive voice services, including deployment through personalized broadcasts
A system and method for the creation and automatic deployment of personalized, dynamic and interactive voice services, including information derived from on-line analytical processing (OLAP) systems and other data repositories is disclosed. The system and method includes the ability to deploy personalized voice services through a live or recorded personalized broadcast. In particular, the system and method access personalized information and generate personalized markup documents from the personalized information. The personalized markup document is converted to a form that is suitable for over-air transmission and transmitted to a subscriber of the voice service. |
| US08051365B1 |
Viterbi decoder method and apparatus with RI detector in servo channel detector in servo channel
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for decoding data stored on a data storage medium. A disclosed decoding method and decoder include a radial incoherence (RI) detector that increases the probability of detecting RI and improves the decoding performance in terms of the bit error rate of the decoded signal. RI is detected by comparing an input signal to the decoder against a RI threshold value and generating a RI-type signal. The RI detector may include a filter for filtering out noise and error in the RI-type signal, an adaptive threshold unit that adjusts the RI threshold value based upon the RI-type signal, a transition-based threshold unit that adjusts the RI threshold value based upon each transition in the input signal, or a path-based threshold unit that adjusts the RI threshold value based upon a best surviving path corresponding to the input signal, in combination or alone. |
| US08051361B2 |
Method for lock-free clustered erasure coding and recovery of data across a plurality of data stores in a network
The present invention provides a distributed clustering method to allow multiple active instances of consistency management processes that apply the same encoding scheme to be cooperative and function collectively. The techniques described herein facilitate an efficient method to apply an erasure encoding and decoding scheme across dispersed data stores that receive constant updates. The technique can be applied on many forms of distributed persistent data stores to provide failure resiliency and to maintain data consistency and correctness. |
| US08051354B2 |
Realization method for HARQ in multiple frequency points cell
The present invention relates to a method for realizing HARQ in multi-carrier cell, comprising: when distributing high-speed shared resource for UE, Node B distributes the high-speed downlink packet service to N frequencies, and reports the information of the established physical channel, including the frequency information, to RNC and said UE; after Node B establishes the high-speed shared resource for said UE at N frequencies, it establishes N HARQ sub-entities on the HARQ entity built for said UE, each sub-entity independently processes the high-speed downlink packet service at one frequency; correspondingly, said UE also establishes N HARQ sub-entities on the HARQ entity; Node B configures parameters for each HARQ sub-entity and notifies the configuration information to RNC and said UE through upper-level signaling; Node B and UE complete their configuration for each sub-entity of HARQ entity according to the information, and realize the HARQ function in the service. The present invention can realize HARQ function on multiple frequencies simultaneously and is compatible with current protocol in TD-SCDMA system that utilizes multi-carrier HSDPA technique. |
| US08051346B2 |
Fault injection
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with programmable application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) fault injection are described. One example ASIC includes a serializer de-serializer (SERDES). The example ASIC may also include logics to process data in the ASIC. At least one of the logics either receives data from the SERDES and/or provides data to the SERDES. The example ASIC may also include an embedded fault injection logic (EFIL) to control injection of a fault to a path (e.g., data, control) associated with at least one of the logics. The example ASIC may also include an embedded set of multiplexers (ESOMs) controlled by the EFIL. The ESOMs are controllable by the EFIL to inject a fault signal to the data path. |
| US08051344B2 |
Semiconductor memory testing device and method of testing semiconductor using the same
The semiconductor memory testing device includes a test signal decoder decoding burn-in test mode signals which generates a first test signal for use in controlling entire main wordlines and which generates a second test signal for use in controlling sub wordlines. When the first and second test signals are in an disabled state, the semiconductor memory testing device also includes a plurality of bank control units generating a multi wordline test mode signal as a multi wordline test signal corresponding to a bank control signal, and simultaneously enabling a plurality of wordlines in accordance to the multi wordline test signal to perform a test. The semiconductor memory testing device reduces a testing time and current consumption and thus enhances a more stable voltage drop when performing continuous multi wordline test on a per bank basis. |
| US08051341B2 |
Semiconductor memory device having test address generating circuit and method of testing semiconductor memory device having a test address generating circuit
A semiconductor memory device includes a test address generating circuit configured on the device. The test address generating circuit generates a plurality of test addresses for a test of the semiconductor memory device in response to at least one externally applied test address generation signal. As a result, the number of DUTs can increase, based on a reduction of required address pins, and manufacturing productivity and test efficiency of semiconductor memory devices can increase. |
| US08051338B2 |
Inter-asic data transport using link control block manager
An apparatus includes a SerDes circuit and a link control block (LCB). The SerDes circuit is a first end of a SerDes circuit pair of a SerDes lane. A SerDes lane includes the SerDes circuit pair coupled by a communications medium. The LCB includes an error tracking circuit and a controller. The controller includes an error recovery module configured to retry a data communication when an error is detected and deactivate the SerDes lane when a rate of errors on the SerDes lane exceeds a threshold error rate value. Other devices, systems, and methods are disclosed. |
| US08051337B2 |
System and method for fast cache-hit detection
A system and method for fast detection of cache memory hits in memory systems with error correction/detection capability is provided. A circuit for determining an in-cache status of a memory address comprises an error detect unit coupled to a cache memory, a comparison unit coupled to the cache memory, a results unit coupled to the comparison unit, and a selection unit coupled to the results unit and to the error detect unit. The error detect unit computes an indicator of errors present in data stored in the cache memory, wherein the data is related to the memory address. The comparison unit compares the data with a portion of the memory address, the results unit computes a set of possible in-cache statuses based on the comparison, and the selection unit selects the in-cache status from the set of possible in-cache statuses based on the indicator. |
| US08051334B2 |
Enabling SAS expander loops for increased fairness and performance
The use of loops in SAS networks is enabled by designating ports connected to loop connections as table loop ports (TLPs). Under normal operating conditions, each TLP is blocked from receiving BCNs, appears to the expander to have nothing connected to it, and is made invisible to initiators. The loop connection and TLPs may be enabled and used to access devices when a problem is detected. In particular, the TLP will now appear in a list of destination ports within the expander to which a BCN should be propagated. In addition, during a subsequent self-configuration, the TLP is allowed to populate its route table with devices accessible through it, and the existence of the TLP is also reported back to initiators. After re-discovery is complete, communications between the initiator and a target can resume, with traffic re-routed through the TLPs as needed, bypassing the failure point. |
| US08051330B2 |
Fault location in telecommunications networks using bayesian networks
A method for locating a fault in a communication network, includes receiving status information relating to alarms, events, polled statuses or test results in the communication network; and locating the fault based on the received status information, wherein locating the fault includes identifying a limited region of the communication network in which the fault has occurred based on the received status information and on topological and functional information relating to network apparatuses that have generated the status information; constructing a probabilistic model relating faults and status information in the identified limited region of the communication network; and locating the fault based on the constructed probabilistic model and on status information received from the identified limited region of the communication network. |
| US08051329B1 |
Method and system for initializing a computing system
Method and system for executing instructions out of a non-volatile memory that may have defective blocks is provided. During an initialization process, a processor reads operating system instructions from the non-volatile memory that may have defective blocks. While reading the operating system instructions, the processor expects a valid signature at a known offset. If the processor does not receive a valid signature at the expected offset, the processor continues to search for a valid signature for X more blocks after the offset. The X blocks are the number of defective blocks in a memory partition where the operating system instructions are stored. |
| US08051328B1 |
Recovering from a system failure
On or more techniques and/or systems are provided for rapidly resuming processing of client requests after a system failure event. Accordingly, during a boot-up process, a storage system, upon detecting a system failure event of the storage system, conditions its system memory to reflect a state of the system memory at a time of the failure by processing client requests or commands stored in a non-volatile operations log. The storage system can resume processing client requests after processing the operations in the nonvolatile operations log and prior to flushing data to storage devices. |
| US08051327B2 |
Connection between machines and power source
Machines may be connected to power distribution units (PDU/STSs) in such a way that if one PDU/STS fails or is taken out of service, the machines' loads are shifted more-or-less evenly to the other PDU/STSs. Several PDU/STSs may be provided for a group of dual-corded machines. The two cords of each machine are connected to a pair of PDU/STSs. Different pairs of PDU/STSs may be used for different machines. In normal operation, each machine may draw part of its power through each of the two cords. If one PDU/STS to which a machine is connected fails or is taken out of service, the entire load on that machine may be shifted to its remaining cord. Since redistribution may be approximately even across PDU/STSs, tolerance for one PDU/STS failure can be implemented with relatively little over-sizing of the PDU/STSs. |
| US08051323B2 |
Auxiliary circuit structure in a split-lock dual processor system
A multiple-processor system 2 is provided where each processor 4-0, 4-1 can be dynamically switched between running in a locked mode where one processor 4-1 checks the operation of the other processor 4-0 and a split mode where each processor 4-0, 4-1 operates independently. Multiple auxiliary circuits 8-0, 8-1 provide auxiliary functions for the plurality of processors 4-0, 4-1. In the split mode, each auxiliary circuit 8-0, 8-1 separately provides auxiliary functions for a corresponding one of the processors 4-0, 4-1. To ensure coherency when each processor 4-0, 4-1 executes a common set of processing operations, in the locked mode a shared one of the auxiliary circuits 8-0 provides auxiliary functions for all of the processors 4-0, 4-1. |
| US08051309B2 |
Method and apparatus to combine power and control signals in a mobile computing device
A mobile computing device is described that includes multiple device components, a power supply and a power line connected to each device component. The power supply is operative to provide power signals to the device components over the power lines. The mobile computing device also includes a processor operative to generate a control signal for one or more device components. A power line communications control module is connected to the power supply and the processor, the power line communications control module is operative to receive a power signal and a control signal for a device component, combine the power signal and control data from the control signal to form a power data signal, and send the power data signal to the device component over a corresponding power line. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08051305B2 |
Motherboard device and computing apparatus capable of selectively controlling electric power supplied to one of two graphics cards
A motherboard device includes a first connecting interface coupled to a first graphics card, a second connecting interface coupled to a second graphics card, a power source connected electrically to the first connecting interface for supplying electric power to the first graphics card via the first connecting interface, and a switch unit interconnecting electrically the power source and the second connecting interface, and operable so as to switch between an ON-state, where the power source supplies electric power to the second graphics card via the second connecting interface, and an OFF-state, where the electric power from the power source is not supplied to the second graphics card. |
| US08051303B2 |
Secure read and write access to configuration registers in computer devices
The disclosed embodiments relate to a secure configuration space for a computing device. Each of the configuration resisters in a configuration space are divided into security bits and configuration data bits. The security bits are assigned a predetermined value. When reading from or writing to a given configuration register, the data in the bit positions corresponding to security bits must match the predetermined values or read/write access is denied. |
| US08051301B2 |
Memory management system and method providing linear address based memory access security
A memory management unit (MMU) is disclosed for managing a memory storing data arranged within a plurality of memory pages. The MMU includes a security check unit (SCU) receiving a linear address generated during execution of a current instruction. The linear address has a corresponding physical address residing within a selected memory page. The SCU uses the linear address to access one or more security attribute data structures located in the memory to obtain a security attribute of the selected memory page. The SCU compares a numerical value conveyed by a security attribute of the current instruction to a numerical value conveyed by the security attribute of the selected memory page, and produces an output signal dependent upon a result of the comparison. The MMU accesses the selected memory page dependent upon the output signal. |
| US08051294B2 |
Methods for audio watermarking and decoding
The presently claimed invention relates generally to encoding and decoding audio signals to include auxiliary information. One example encoding technique includes steganography. One method recites: using a microphone, obtaining an audio signal carried by sound waves; utilizing an analog-to-digital converter to convert the audio signal into a digital audio signal; utilizing a programmed electronic processor, extracting auxiliary data from a series of segments of the digital audio signal, the segments conveying the same auxiliary data, yet the segments represent the auxiliary data differently as code signals carrying the same auxiliary data change over the blocks, the auxiliary data being steganographically hidden in the digital audio signal; and utilizing a programmed electronic processor, utilizing the auxiliary data from the series of segments to increase confidence of accurate extraction of the auxiliary data, the auxiliary data being separately decoded from the segments and combined to increase the confidence of extraction of the auxiliary data. Of course, other combination and claims are provided as well. |
| US08051291B2 |
Unique block header patterns for media verification
Authenticating the source of digital media is performed by using unique, randomly generated variably encoded frequency patterns to create mastering specific, profiles for sets end user media which can be verified by a manufacturer. A method for verifying the authenticity of an optical storage device includes the steps of: reading a randomly generated signature key value for the optical storage device; determining manufacturing information for the optical storage device; and matching read randomly generated signature key values and manufacturing information with known valid key the to determine the authenticity of the device. |
| US08051287B2 |
Imparting real-time priority-based network communications in an encrypted communication session
This specification describes technologies relating to imparting real-time priority-based network communications in an encrypted session. In general, aspects of the subject matter described can be embodied in methods that include establishing, based on cryptographic information in a reserved, random-data portion of a handshake communication, a session, receiving parameter values relating to a sub media stream, included in a header of a network communication, storing the parameter values, obtaining state information and a data payload included in a second network communication, identifying, from the state information, a purpose of the second network communication, and whether a header of the second network communication includes one or more new values corresponding to one or more of the parameters, updating one or more of the stored values based on the one or more new values, and processing the data payload based on the identified purpose and the stored parameter values. |
| US08051285B2 |
Battery processor circuitry with separate public and private bus
Systems and methods for providing a battery module 110 with secure identity information and authentication of the identity of the battery 110 by a host 120. In one embodiment, the system for providing a battery module with secure identity information includes: (1) a tamper resistant processing environment 200 located within the battery module 110 and (2) a key generator configured to generate a key based on an identity of the battery module 110 and cause the key to be stored within the tamper resistant processing environment 200. |
| US08051283B2 |
Message security processing system and method for web services
A message security processing system and method for Web services are provided. In the message security processing system in which messages are exchanged between a client and a server with a SOAP-RPC format, each of the client and the server includes: a security interface allowing information related to digital signature, encryption, and timestamp insertion to be set in a security context object for an application program to meet security requirements of the client or the server; a security handler receiving the security context object from the security interface, and performing security processing of a request message by calling security objects stored in a request queue of the security context object one by one in order or performing security processing of a response message by calling security objects stored in a response queue of the security context object one by one in order; and an XML security unit supporting an XML security functions by called by the security handler. |
| US08051282B2 |
Low voltage reset determination and operational flow modification for microprocessor-controlled devices
A method of identifying a reset condition includes the steps of determining if a stored value is equal to a specified value, executing a first mode if the stored value is not equal to the specified value, and executing a second mode if the stored value is equal to the specified value. The second mode also includes the step of setting the stored value to a value different than the specified value. |
| US08051268B2 |
Memory controller, nonvolatile storage device, nonvolatile storage system, and nonvolatile memory address management method
For address management of a nonvolatile memory, the whole logical address space is divided into logical address ranges (0 to 15), and the physical address space is divided into physical areas (segments (0 to 15)). The logical address ranges are respectively associated with the physical areas (segments) to manage the addresses. The sizes of the logical address ranges are equalized. The size of the physical area (segment (0)) corresponding to the logical address range (0) in which data of high rewrite frequency such as an FAT is expected to be stored is larger than those of the other physical areas, and the logical address ranges and the physical areas are allocated. Alternatively, the sizes of the physical areas are equalized, and the size of the logical address range (0) is set as a smaller one than those of the other logical address ranges. With this, the actual rewrite frequencies of the physical areas (segments) are equal to one another, and consequently the life of the nonvolatile memory can be prolonged. |
| US08051257B2 |
Non-volatile memory and method with control data management
In a nonvolatile memory with block management system, critical data such as control data for the block management system is maintained in duplicates. Various methods are described for robustly writing and reading two copies of critical data in multi-state memory. In another aspect of the invention, a preemptive garbage collection on memory block containing control data avoids an undesirable situation where a large number of such memory blocks need be garbage collected at the same time. |
| US08051256B2 |
Storage system construction managing device and construction management method
The device of the present invention manages changes in the construction of a storage system in a unified manner, and optimally disposes resources. The servers are logically divided into a plurality of virtual servers, the switches are logically divided into a plurality of zones, and the storage devices are logically divided into a plurality of virtual storage devices. The respective logical devices are respectively managed by respective managing parts. These respective managing parts are connected to a managing device via a network used for management. The managing device re-disposes resources in application program units on the basis of the load states of the respective resources in the storage system. |
| US08051251B2 |
Method and apparatus for setting status of cache memory
One aspect of the embodiments utilizes a system controller which has a broadcast transmitting and receiving unit that receives a memory access request from each of CPU and notifies to the other system controllers and a snoop control unit that judges when the memory access request from any of the CPUs for each of the cache memories in the CPU is received, whether object data conflicts with object data requested by a prior access request received earlier than the memory access request and whether the object data is present in any of the cache memories, selects the status of the cache memory of the CPU, notifies the other system controller of a snoop processing result in which the status selected and the cache memory are associated, and set a final status as the status of the system controller based on priority of each status of other system controllers. |
| US08051246B1 |
Method and apparatus for utilizing a semiconductor memory of a node as a disk cache
A method and apparatus for utilizing a semiconductor memory of a node as disk cache is described. In one embodiment, a method of utilizing a semiconductor memory of a second server for a first server, comprising generating a storage access request at a first server, routing the storage access request through a communication link to a second server and performing the storage access request using a semiconductor memory of the second server. |
| US08051245B2 |
Information processing system capable of recognizing and accessing removable external storage device in simple scheme, method for controlling information processing system, and image input and output apparatus
It is recognized that an attached USB memory is an unanalyzable USB memory. Then, disconnect setting is made. A USB connection process is performed. A PC is instructed through a connection line to establish USB connection. The PC recognizes that the attached device is a USB-connected MFP. The PC acquires data control information of the MFP. The MFP then transfers, through the connection line, the data control information output from the USB memory. |
| US08051244B2 |
Storage system for sending an access request from a host to a storage subsystem
A disk storage system for controlling a plurality of disk devices in multiple disk array systems consisting of disk array switches in a fiber channel connection where the disk devices are organized as multiple logical units. The multiple logical units are mapped between each other to improve high speed operation of the disk storage system and the disk storage system transfers data mutually between the two or more disk array switches improving performance and throughput. |
| US08051243B2 |
Free space utilization in tiered storage systems
Embodiments of the invention include first storage mediums having first storage characteristics for making up a first pool of capacity of a first tier of storage, and second storage mediums having second storage characteristics for making up a second pool of capacity of a second tier of storage. Free capacity of the first and second pools is shared between the first and second tiers of storage. When the first pool has an amount of free capacity available over a reserved amount of free capacity reserved for first tier data, a first quantity of second tier data is moved from the second tier to the first tier. In exemplary embodiments of the invention, the first and second storage mediums are contained within one or more thin provisioning storage systems, and data is moved between the first and second tiers by allocating thin provisioning chunks to the data being moved. |
| US08051241B2 |
Wear leveling technique for storage devices
A method for managing wear levels in a storage device having a plurality of data blocks, the method comprising moving data to data blocks having higher erasure counts based on a constraint on static wear levelness that tightens over at least a portion of the lives of the plurality of data blocks. |
| US08051239B2 |
Multiple access for parallel turbo decoder
A memory bank contains a plurality of memories, a first Butterfly network is configured to apply memory addresses to the memory bank, and a second Butterfly network is configured to pass data to or from the memory bank. A control signal is generated for the first and second Butterfly networks in accordance with a multiple access rule to enable parallel access to the memory bank, without memory access conflict, for one of a linear order and an interleaved order. The method and apparatus is particularly advantageous for use in turbo decoding. |
| US08051238B2 |
On-chip bus architectures with interconnected switch points, semiconductor devices using the same and methods for communicating data in an on-chip bus architecture
An on-chip bus includes a plurality of switch points including first and second switch points, a plurality of inter-switch links including at least one inter-switch link coupled between the first switch point and the second switch point and configured to communicate data between the first switch point and the second switch point, and a plurality of functional block cores including first and second functional block cores coupled directly to the first switch point and configured to communicate data through the first switch point. Data transmitted from the first functional block core to the second functional block cores may pass through the first switch point without traversing any of the plurality of inter-switch links. Methods for communicating data on an on-chip bus are also disclosed. |
| US08051234B2 |
Multiprocessor system
The present invention provides a technique capable of processing a plurality of interrupt causes sharing one interrupt request in different processors. An interrupt controller outputs an interrupt request when the interrupt request shared by a plurality of interrupt causes is notified. The interrupt request output by the interrupt controller is accepted by one of the processors. The processor accepting the interrupt request determines whether the interrupt cause that the processor must process has occurred, executes an interrupt processing when such interrupt cause has occurred, and notifies the generation of the interrupt request to another processor that processes another interrupt cause of the plurality of interrupt causes sharing the interrupt request when the relevant interrupt cause has not occurred. |
| US08051233B2 |
Method and system for addressing a plurality of ethernet controllers integrated into a single chip which utilizes a single bus interface
A method for processing network data is disclosed and may include receiving data via a single bus interface to which each of a plurality of Ethernet controllers are coupled, where the Ethernet controllers are integrated within a single chip. A particular one of the integrated Ethernet controllers may be identified based on information within the received data. The particular one of the integrated Ethernet controllers may be granted access to a shared resource within the single chip. The access to the shared resource may be granted using at least one semaphore register within the shared resource. The particular one of the integrated Ethernet controllers may be granted access to the single bus interface. The information may include a bus identifier, a bus device identifier and/or a bus function identifier. The shared resource may include a nonvolatile memory (NVM). |
| US08051231B2 |
Data communications among electronic devices within a computer
Data communications among electronic devices within a computer, including transmitting, from a transmitting device to a first translation device, data communications encoded according to an unreliable wireline data communications protocol; translating, by the first translation device, the data communications from the encoding of the unreliable wireline data communications protocol to an encoding of a reliable wireless data communications protocol; transmitting, by the first translation device to a second translation device, the data communications according to the reliable wireless data communications protocol; translating, by the second translation device, the data communications from the encoding of the reliable wireless data communications protocol to the encoding of the unreliable wireline data communications protocol; and transmitting, by the second translation device to a receiving device, the data communications according to the unreliable wireline data communications protocol. |
| US08051228B2 |
Physical interface macros (PHYS) supporting heterogeneous electrical properties
An integrated processor design includes physical interface macros supporting heterogeneous electrical properties. The processor design comprises a plurality of processing cores and a plurality of physical interfaces to connect to a memory interface, a peripheral component interconnect express (PCI Express or PCIe) interface for input/output, an Ethernet interface for network communication, and/or a serial attached SCSI (SAS) interface for storage. |
| US08051225B2 |
Storage controller and controlling method therefor
A storage controller that performs user-friendly information display, simplifies updating of support information, has external storage controllers to provide sufficient input/output performance, and expands the range of external storage controllers to be supported; and a controlling method for that storage controller. The storage controller includes a code extract/convert unit for converting a first code indicating a vendor name and/or device name of an external storage controller, obtained based on inquiry data transmitted from the external storage controller, into a second code indicating a real vendor name and/or real device name of the external storage controller. The storage controller creates support information that compiles information of each model regarding whether or not it can be connected to the respective external storage controllers. Furthermore, a path control system and a timeout time can be set for the respective external storage controllers. |
| US08051220B2 |
Input/output device with configuration, fault isolation and redundant fault assist functionality
A process control system is provided having a plurality of I/O devices in communication using a bus. A primary redundant I/O device and a secondary redundant I/O device are coupled to the bus, where the secondary redundant I/O device is programmed to detect a primary redundant I/O device fault. The secondary redundant I/O device, upon detecting the primary redundant I/O device fault, publishes a primary redundant I/O device fault message on the bus. The controller may deactivate the primary redundant I/O device and activate the secondary redundant I/O device responsive to the primary redundant I/O device fault message. |
| US08051214B1 |
Laser data communication system
A system and method are provided for accelerating data transfer between networked databases. First provided are a plurality of databases coupled by a network. At least one laser unit is coupled to each database. In operation, such laser units are capable of communicating data between the databases via free space by way of a laser beam. This allows data communication at a rate faster than that which the network is capable. |
| US08051211B2 |
Multi-bridge LAN aggregation
A method and system for multi-bridge LAN aggregation is disclosed. The method includes aggregating a plurality of LANs coupling a host to a first and a second intermediate network device. The system includes an intermediate network device. The intermediate network device includes a multi-bridge engine. The multi-bridge engine includes a tunnel engine coupled to a bridge interconnect port and a first physical port. |
| US08051209B2 |
Minimizing conflicts when synchronizing interrelated data between two systems
A method is presented for resolving conflicts between interrelated data on a client computer and a server computer. Information for one or more tasks stored on a client computer is published to a server computer. When one or more of the tasks are edited, at least one bit is set in a data structure for each task in which a task attribute is changed. When a sync operation is performed, tasks on the client computer are compared with a task list from the server computer. If any of the bits in the data structure for the task are set, and the date and time that the task was last modified on the server computer is later than the date and time that the client computer last initiated a sync operation, the user is alerted to a conflict in the task and is permitted to manually resolve the conflict. |
| US08051204B2 |
Information asset management system, log analysis server, log analysis program, and portable medium
An information asset management system in a network environment includes a monitoring program 11 that monitors operation events performed by users and creates terminal logs 12, a terminal log collection program 21 that stores an integrated log 22 created by collecting the terminal logs 12, and a correlation analysis program 31 that analyzes the whereabouts of information assets using the integrated log 22. When the user exports an information asset from the network environment and when the user imports the information asset into the network environment, the monitoring program 11 monitors these export and import events including feature values of the information assets. The correlation analysis program 31 compares a pre-export feature value of each information asset with a post-import feature value of each information asset to determine whether the information assets are identical and reports a list of information assets in the organization. |
| US08051201B2 |
Method for providing scalable multicast service in a virtual private LAN service
Multicast capability in a virtual private LAN service (VPLS) is provided in a provider IP/MPLS infrastructure without headend replications by encapsulating a customer data packet to use an established multicast protocol, such as IP multicast. In one example, the customer data packet is encapsulated by an IP header having an IP multicast group address and an Ethernet header. In one implementation, a DNS type mechanism is provided to distribute the IP multicast addresses for VPLS use. Such IP multicast group address can be set aside from an administratively scoped address range. An efficient IP routing algorithm running on the provider's network provides an efficient distribution tree for routing IP-encapsulated customer packet for the VPLS. |
| US08051199B2 |
Self-routing address assignment in packet-switched networks
A method and system for assigning self-routing addresses to nodes in a network with arbitrary, including irregular, topology is provided. The method and system are useful in packet-switched networks and in particular optical packet-switched networks for reducing processing associated with routing packets. Each self-routing address encodes a set of paths from all nodes in the network to the destination node. In an embodiment of the invention each output port of each node in a network sends a packet in response to the state of a bit in the self-routing address in a packet. Alternatively, each node address in the network is mapped to a bit in a self-routing address. Furthermore, a node can have multiple self-routing addresses encoding different sets of paths from all other nodes in the network to the node. In addition, hierarchical networks are included among the networks suitable for self-routing addresses. |
| US08051198B2 |
Communication system and communication method
A communication system enabling significant reduction in delay in handover between MAPs without increasing the number of MAPs to install. In the communication system, MAP(101) issues a Router Advertisement to AR(111) to AR(118). Particularly, MAP(101) assigns a plurality of Router Advertisements of a source of care-of address (RCOA) to register with HA to AR(118) of a cell on either side of a boundary of areas for each MAP. MN(107) receives a Router Advertisement transmitted from AR that is a communicating party among AR(119) to AR(126), and using the Router Advertisement, generates care-of addresses, RCOA and LCOA. AR(111) to AR(118) transmit the Router Advertisement RA generated by MAP(101) to MN in communication. Further, AR(111) to AR(118) transmit the care-or-addresses, RCOA and LCOA, issued from MN(107) to MAP(101). |
| US08051196B2 |
Download and data transfer gaming method
A download and data transfer gaming method utilizes a hybrid peer-to-peer, segmented file distribution protocol to vastly improve the download capabilities of a gaming system by improving the upload cost burdened by the download host. The method redistributes this cost to the download clients by allowing clients on the gaming system to upload pieces of a file to each other. This method is much more redundant by eliminating the possibility of a client missing a download broadcast. The method alleviates this possibility of missing packets and bad data integrity by using SHA-1 verification of the file pieces. The benefits of the improved bandwidth capabilities enable the download of much larger files, thus enhancing the game play experience. |
| US08051195B1 |
Method and system for providing data streams in a virtual environment
A method and system for providing content in a virtual environment. A host computer hosting a region in a virtual environment provides an event stream including a plurality of event data segments identifying activity occurring in the virtual environment to a client computer participating in the virtual environment. The host computer receives a request to provide virtual environment content including imagery data associated with the virtual environment to the client computer, and provides a content stream including a plurality of content data segments containing virtual environment content at a content stream bandwidth based on an event stream bandwidth associated with the event stream to the client computer. |
| US08051191B2 |
Ethernet extensibility
A networked computer with a networking framework that can operate in accordance with a standard protocol or may be configured to perform one or more functions that alter or extend processing according to the standard. The framework includes extensibility points and a mechanism to receive plug-ins that may perform extensibility functions. Network profile information indicates configuration of the extensibility points, including specific extensibility functions to be executed at the extensibility points. This information may be used to configure the extensibility points so that, as the computer operates, the extensibility functions are selectively executed instead of or in addition to standard functions. |
| US08051187B2 |
Methods for automatic categorization of internal and external communication for preventing data loss
Disclosed are methods for automatic categorization of internal and external communication, the method including the steps of: defining groups of entities that transmit data; monitoring data flow of the groups; extracting the data, from the data flow, for learning traffic-flow characteristics of the groups; classifying the data into group flows; upon the data being transmitted, checking the data to determine whether the data is designated as group-internal; and blocking data traffic for data that is group-internal. Preferably, the step of monitoring includes assigning data weights to the data using Bayesian methods. Most preferably, the step of classifying includes classifying the data using Bayesian methods for evaluating the data weights. Preferably, the step of blocking includes blocking data traffic between members of two or more groups. Preferably, the method further includes the step of: enabling an authorized entity to unblock the data traffic. |
| US08051186B2 |
Method for device capability negotiation, method, system and device for synchronization
Method for device capability negotiation, and method, system and device for synchronization. The synchronization system includes a synchronization server and a synchronization client. The synchronization server or the synchronization client is adapted to skip the device capability negotiation and directly perform a synchronization with the synchronization server and the synchronization client when the negotiated device capability or status ID, or the status ID indicating that the device capability has not been changed and has been stored. The method for device capability negotiation includes receiving an operation request carrying a parameter requesting a device capability negotiation; determining that the session is a device capability negotiation session according to the parameter requesting the device capability negotiation, carried by the request; returning a response and performing the device capability negotiation; storing results of the device capability negotiation. Embodiments of the present invention can improve the synchronization efficiency. |
| US08051185B2 |
Network communication through a specified intermediate destination
A method of routing communications over a network includes routing the communications to an intermediate destination, for example, a “universal proxy,” using a first transport control protocol (TCP), and then routing the communications from the intermediate destination to a recipient using a second TCP. The intermediate destination optionally masks the source when transmitting information to the recipient, and performs packet loss recovery. Optionally, the second TCP includes TCP acceleration not utilized by the first TCP. |
| US08051184B2 |
Method for assigning random pairings to data entries
A method for pairing elements of a first set of elements {x(i)} with elements from a second set of elements {y(j)} subject to a plurality of pairing restrictions. In accordance with one embodiment of the method, for each of a plurality of iterations of the method, or until a set of pairings is found that satisfies the plurality of pairing restrictions, a random set of pairings between elements of the second set of elements and elements of the second set of elements is selected. The set of mismatched pairings is identified and, if the number of pairings in the set of mismatched pairings is not greater than a maximum number, pairings in the set of mismatched pairings are interchanged. If the number of pairings in the set of mismatched pairings is greater than one, each mismatched pairing is swapped with another pairing if the resulting pairings satisfy the plurality of pairing restrictions. |
| US08051182B2 |
Communication device, communication system, communication method, communication program, and communication circuit
The present invention is a network layer protocol used for free-space optical transmission utilizing an LED or LD as a light source. In order to connect to a device, the network layer issues a connection request command (LAP_con_req2) to a lower layer when the network layer has received a connection request command (LM_con_req1) from an upper layer. Furthermore, when the network layer has received a connection confirmation command reception notification (LAP_con_conf1) from the lower layer, the network layer issues a connection confirmation command reception notification (LM_con_conf2) to the upper layer without issuing a data transfer request command to the lower layer. Accordingly, the invention provides a network layer protocol with which time for a connection or disconnection is reduced. |
| US08051180B2 |
Methods and servers for establishing a connection between a client system and a virtual machine executing in a terminal services session and hosting a requested computing environment
A method for providing access to a computing environment includes the step of receiving a request from a client system for an enumeration of available computing environments. Collected data regarding available computing environments are accessed. Accessed data are transmitted to a client system, the accessed data indicating to the client system each computing environment available to a user of the client system. A request is received from the client system to access one of the computing environments. A connection is established between the client system and a virtual machine hosting the requested computing environment via a terminal services session, the virtual machine executed by a hypervisor executing in the terminal services session provided by an operating system executing on one of a plurality of execution machines. |
| US08051174B2 |
Framework for joint analysis and design of server provisioning and load dispatching for connection-intensive server
The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates managing a number of active servers in a cluster. A forecast component can predict at least one of login rate or number of connections in the cluster at a future time. A dynamic load analysis component can evaluate dynamic behaviors in login rate and number of connections in the cluster as a result of load dispatching. Moreover, a provisioning component can determine a number of servers in the cluster needed based at least in part on the prediction and dynamic behavior analysis. In addition, the provisioning component can include an additional margin in the number of servers needed in accordance with multiplicative factors. |
| US08051173B2 |
Device and method for controlling and monitoring of monitoring detectors in a node in a cluster system
A monitoring device and a method for monitoring at least two resources at a node in a cluster system are provided. A priority is allocated to each of the at least two resources. In the monitoring device and in the method, one of the at least two resources to be monitored is selected on the basis of the associated priority, and a monitoring detector which is required for the monitoring is selected for the resource. Furthermore, the monitoring detector is run, and the monitoring of the resource is performed once by the monitoring detector. The result of the monitoring performed by the monitoring detector is signaled. Selection via the associated priority and the single monitoring save computation time at the node. The monitoring detector can be a dynamic library. |
| US08051172B2 |
Methods for managing the exchange of communication tokens
A communication system issues tokens in order to control communication received by the system. The tokens are arbitrary symbols which are stored in one or more Token Logs (TLs) for future reference. Those to whom the tokens are issued use specific tokens by including them in messages sent to the token issuer. The communication systems belonging to the potential token users record tokens which they have been issued, so that those tokens may be included in subsequent communication to the token issuers. Incoming messages without tokens are given a tokenless status and possibly rejected. Token-request tokens are automatically issued to allow other individuals to request tokens which can be used in subsequent communication. Multiple Token Logs are synchronized across multiple devices. Functional and informational message address headers are employed when sending messages so that tokens issued to a given user are not divulged to other message recipients who are different from the given user and different from the token issuer. |
| US08051170B2 |
Distributed computing based on multiple nodes with determined capacity selectively joining resource groups having resource requirements
A network provides distributed computing services based on participation in respective resource groups by computing nodes, each resource group including a corresponding resource requirement for any computing node that joins the corresponding resource group for execution of the corresponding distributed computing service. Each computing node, in response to determining its corresponding available node capacity, is configured for selectively creating and joining at least one new resource group for execution of a corresponding distributed computing service having a corresponding resource requirement, and/or selectively joining at least one of the available resource groups, based on the corresponding available node capacity satisfying the corresponding resource requirement. Each computing node also is configured for selectively leaving any one of the joined resource groups based on determined conditions. Hence, each computing node may choose to participate in as many resource groups as needed for respective computing services, based on the corresponding available node capacity. |
| US08051169B2 |
Methods and systems useful in linking from objects to remote resources
An identifier corresponding to an object is used in establishing links to related electronic resources. The identifier can be obtained by decoding a watermark, performing a hashing algorithm on content data, reading a bar code, etc. The object can be physical (e.g., a magazine page) or electronic (e.g., music or image data). Suitable devices useful with this technology include cell phones, PDAs, and the like, which may include sensors for capturing object data. The associated electronic resource can be a web site from which information, image/audio content, etc., is provided. A variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed. |
| US08051157B2 |
Discovery apparatus and method
A discovery apparatus among a plurality of networks including at least one client includes: a transceiver which transmits and receives shared information and a request message to and from the client within the plurality of networks, the shared information being intrinsic information of the clients; a storage unit which receives the shared information from the transceiver and stores the shared information of the transceiver; and a controller which creates a shared space, which stores the shared information in the storage unit, in accordance with the request message received through the transceiver, and manages the shared information stored in the shared space. |
| US08051156B1 |
Managing power and performance
A method for integrating information technology (IT) data with non-IT data, comprising: first identifying a non-IT network for accessing non-IT data, second identifying an IT network from which to access the non-IT data from the non-IT network, first determining that the non-IT network is accessible via at least one interface based on Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control (OPC) for accessing at least one device in the non-IT network, second determining that the IT network includes an architecture for Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) for managing at least one device in the IT network, and providing the IT network with access to data of the at least one device in the non-IT network by accessing the at least one OPC-based interface via either the SNMP-capable architecture or the WBEM architecture of the IT network. |
| US08051155B2 |
Method and apparatus for persisting SNMP variable values
A method of persisting SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) variable values associated with SNMP object IDs for an SNMP managed network element across network element reloads comprises implementing a generic persist operation at the network element; and defining, in conjunction with the generic persist operation, at least one object ID for which a value is to be persisted. |
| US08051151B2 |
System and method for communicating with a network node behind a subscriber station with an IP convergence sub-layer
A system and method for providing service in a network having a wireless component is disclosed. The system and method comprise receiving a request for a dynamic address from a user node connected to a subscriber station having a convergence sub-layer, providing the dynamic address to the user node, associating the dynamic address with a service flow associated with the subscriber station, and sending data addressed to the dynamic address through the service flow. The dynamic address is based on a subscriber identifier associated with the subscriber station and a client identifier associated with the user node. |
| US08051149B2 |
Method and apparatus for provisioning a communications client on a host device
An apparatus for provisioning a data communications client on a host communications device, the host communications device adapted to operate on a communications network, the apparatus comprising: a first data store adapted to store variant configuration information; a second data store adapted to store provisioning information; a provisioning module adapted to select the provisioning information stored in said second data store as a function of the variant configuration information stored in said first data store and apply the selected provisioning information to provision the data communications client; and a user interface interacting with said provisioning module to enable a user of the host communications device to provision the data communications client. |
| US08051147B2 |
Internet access server for isolating the internal network from the external network and a process method thereof
A internet access server for isolating the internal network from the external network and a process method thereof, the server is used to isolate the user computer from internet. The computer server universal-based includes a graphics terminal service module, a graphics terminal network transmission module, a internal network transmission control module, a document transmission control module, a system configuration and user management module, and a internet access transmission module. By using the invention, the isolation and security of the internal network and the external network are realized by the special access mode and transmission control. All the authorized computer in the internal network could access the internet via the internet access server which includes a image terminal. |
| US08051144B2 |
J2EE enterprise information system (EIS) common object request broker architecture (CORBA) connector
Connections between a Java 2 enterprise edition (J2EE) application server and a common object request broker architecture (CORBA) enterprise information system are managed. A resource adapter is integrated with the application server. The resource adapter includes an encapsulated CORBA interface to the enterprise information system. Additionally, a persistent CORBA connection is established between the application server and the enterprise information system. |
| US08051141B2 |
Controlled storage utilization
Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to maintain a repository of stored executable images including a unique instance of an executable image comprising an operating system and at least a portion of one or more applications, and to provide substantially simultaneous executable access to a plurality of virtual or physical machines to execute portions of the executable image without constructing additional instances of the executable image. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. |
| US08051139B1 |
Electronic document classification using composite hyperspace distances
In some embodiments, a layout-based electronic communication classification (e.g. spam filtering) method includes generating a layout vector characterizing a layout of a message, assigning the message to a selected cluster according to a hyperspace distance between the layout vector and a central vector of the selected cluster, and classifying the message (e.g. labeling as spam or non-spam) according to the selected cluster. The layout vector is a message representation characterizing a set of relative positions of metaword substructures of the message, as well as metaword substructure counts. Examples of metaword substructures include MIME parts and text lines. For example, a layout vector may have a first component having scalar axes defined by numerical layout feature counts (e.g. numbers of lines, blank lines, links, email addresses), and a second vector component including a line-structure list and a formatting part (e.g. MIME part) list. |
| US08051135B2 |
Server availability reporting using asynchronous e-mail message
A method and system for reporting availability of a plurality of servers. The method comprises the steps of for each of said plurality of servers, periodically searching a log file for indication of a crash or shutdown or start, computing the time said crash or shutdown or start occurred, and sending said time and indication as an e-mail to a database on a server. The method further comprises the steps of calculating the duration of downtime for each said crash or said shutdown; for each server, sorting said e-mail by order received; and displaying for each of said plurality of servers, said duration of downtime in said order. For example, the sending step includes the step of sending said e-mail to a database on a pre-identified one server; and the sorting step includes the step of sorting said e-mail by order received by said pre-identified one server. Also, with a preferred embodiment, each of the plurality of servers includes an e-mail function; and the sending step includes the step of, each server using its e-mail function to send the time and indication to said database. |
| US08051133B2 |
E-mail filing system and method
An exemplary embodiment providing for one or more improvements includes an e-mail server including at least one client mailbox for the receipt of e-mail over a network, and at least one client apparatus of the client computer coupled to the e-mail server for access to the e-mail in the client mailbox, wherein at least one of the e-mail server and the client apparatus facilitates in the filing of e-mail by providing a number of suggestions to the client user as to where to file the e-mail. One exemplary method facilitates the filing of e-mail by monitoring the filing of e-mail by an e-mail recipient, creating a dynamic shortcut list based upon the monitoring, and displaying the shortcut list to facilitate the filing of e-mail by an e-mail recipient. Another exemplary method to facilitate e-mail filing includes detecting a request for a recommendation as to where to file an e-mail by an e-mail recipient, analyzing the e-mail, comparing the e-mail to a database of e-mail filing information, and displaying a shortcut list to facilitate the filing of the e-mail by the e-mail recipient. |
| US08051132B2 |
Integrated interactive messaging system and method
A system and method for organizations to develop, test, execute and analyze messaging programs defining a message application server comprising (a) a dialog designer configured to provide a user interface to an organization's program designers and marketers, to allow for rapid messaging program creation, to provide the ability to select the type of messaging program, to select service addresses for the messaging program, to schedule messaging programs for execution, to upload messaging user data into lists, to create segments, to download messaging program result data, to test messaging programs, to provide reports, including real-time reports, on messaging programs; (b) a dialog server configured to execute messaging programs by execution of program instructions, to manage substantially simultaneously executed messaging programs, to store messaging user results and message delivery status, to maintain state and session context across message invocations for messaging users within messaging program; and (c) a message exchange configured to route messages to and from messaging service providers, to manage service addresses, to perform message billing and to connect to messaging service providers. The system and method allow organizations to interact with messaging users who own a messaging communication device by using the services of messaging service providers. |
| US08051131B2 |
E-mail addressing and document management
A method and system for managing and manipulating documents sent via e-mail wherein dedicated e-mail addresses associated with daemons, or other programming code, are used to direct the functions carried out on the documents, such as printing, storing, or posting to an Internet file, portions of an e-mail message or attachments. |
| US08051129B2 |
Arrangement and method for reducing required memory usage between communication servers
An arrangement and method for reducing memory usage for communications between servers in a communication network utilizing the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) by controlling establishment of SIP dialogues. A single SIP dialogue for a certain event package is utilized for multiple subscriptions between one instance of a requesting server such as a Resource List Server (RLS) and one instance of an Application Server such as, for example, a Presence Server. The SIP dialogue is then used to send all SIP NOTIFY messages between these two entities to reduce memory usage at both ends by removing the overhead created by SIP. |
| US08051127B2 |
Systems and methods for identifying long matches of data in a compression history
Systems and methods of storing previously transmitted data and using it to reduce bandwidth usage and accelerate future communications are described. By using algorithms to identify long compression history matches, a network device may improve compression efficiently and speed. A network device may also use application specific parsing to improve the length and number of compression history matches. Further, by sharing compression histories, compression history indexes and caches across multiple devices, devices can utilize data previously transmitted to other devices to compress network traffic. Any combination of the systems and methods may be used to efficiently find long matches to stored data, synchronize the storage of previously sent data, and share previously sent data among one or more other devices. |
| US08051126B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing an integrated network of processors
A novel network architecture that integrates the functions of an internet protocol (IP) router into a network processing unit (NPU) that resides in a host computer's chipset such that the host computer's resources are perceived as separate network appliances. The NPU appears logically separate from the host computer even though, in one embodiment, it is sharing the same chip. |
| US08051125B2 |
Methods and systems for obtaining imaging device event notification subscription
Aspects of the present invention relate to systems, methods and devices for imaging device event notification administration and subscription. Some aspects relate to selective imaging device event notification based on user credentials and/or job execution timing. Some aspects may limit notification subscription to authorized credential holders. Some aspects relate to event notification message formats and destinations. |
| US08051124B2 |
High speed and efficient matrix multiplication hardware module
A matrix multiplication module and matrix multiplication method are provided that use a variable number of multiplier-accumulator units based on the amount of data elements of the matrices are available or needed for processing at a particular point or stage in the computation process. As more data elements become available or are needed, more multiplier-accumulator units are used to perform the necessary multiplication and addition operations. To multiply an N×M matrix by an M×N matrix, the total (maximum) number of used MAC units is “2*N−1”. The number of MAC units used starts with one (1) and increases by two at each computation stage, that is, at the beginning of reading of data elements for each new row of the first matrix. The sequence of the number of MAC units is {1, 3, 5, . . . , 2*N−1} for computation stages each of which corresponds to reading of data elements for each new row of the left hand matrix, also called the first matrix. For the multiplication of two 8×8 matrices, the performance is 16 floating point operations per clock cycle. For an FPGA running at 100 MHz, the performance is 1.6 Giga floating point operations per second. The performance increases with the increase of the clock frequency and the use of larger matrices when FPGA resources permit. Very large matrices are partitioned into smaller blocks to fit in the FPGA resources. Results from the multiplication of sub-matrices are combined to form the final result of the large matrices. |
| US08051123B1 |
Multipurpose functional unit with double-precision and filtering operations
A multipurpose arithmetic functional unit selectively performs planar attribute interpolation, unary function approximation, double-precision arithmetic, and/or arbitrary filtering functions such as texture filtering, bilinear filtering, or anisotropic filtering by iterating through a multi-step multiplication operation with partial products (partial results) accumulated in an accumulation register. Shared multiplier and adder circuits are advantageously used to implement the product and sum operations for unary function approximation and planar interpolation; the same multipliers and adders are also leveraged to implement double-precision multiplication and addition. |
| US08051114B2 |
Optimized startup verification of file system integrity
A computer system having a transaction based file system is disclosed. The computer system includes file system software that manages the file data and the file system structure of files stored on a persistent data storage device and maintains a transaction file that includes a plurality of transaction records. Each of the transaction records has a header section and a data section. The header section of each transaction record includes one or more fields that are designated to store information corresponding to a file transaction that is represented by the transaction record. The file system software executes a startup process in which a reconstructed file system is generated in random access memory. The startup process skips verification of the data section of a transaction record when the transaction record meets one or more predetermined criterion. |
| US08051113B1 |
Method and system for managing clustered and non-clustered storage systems
Method and system for managing a storage environment having a cluster based storage system and a non-cluster based storage system is provided. A management application collects information regarding components of both the cluster based storage system and the non-cluster based storage system. A layout having a plurality of data structures is generated and maintained by the management application. The data structures include information regarding the components and their relationships with each other, if any. The layout is used for responding to user requests and presenting an integrated view of the storage environment on a display device with selectable options for selecting the cluster based storage system components and the non-cluster based storage system components. |
| US08051112B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing online content service for product warranties
A data-processing system including an information inputting device for inputting one or more information; a transmitting/receiving device for transmitting/receiving the one or more information; and a processing device for processing the one or more information, the processing device including: an image processing module; a data extraction module; a data storage device; and a data tracking module; wherein the data tracking module is in operable communication with a user of the information inputting device to allow the user to organize the one or more information. |
| US08051104B2 |
Editing a network of interconnected concepts
Systems and methods that create and edit a network of interconnected concepts are disclosed. In one embodiment, a semantic engine implements a method comprising receiving a primary term representing a first concept to be added to a network of interrelated concepts, receiving at least one related term related to the primary term, receiving at least one relationship between the first concept and a second concept, receiving a strength value associated with the relationship, and adding the first concept to the network. |
| US08051103B1 |
Systems and methods for creating documents from templates
A merge application creates a particular set of documents for a particular matter. The merge application receives a selection of a particular master template corresponding to the particular set of documents, where the selected master template specifies a plurality of slave templates, and also receives a selection of a data structure from a database with data relating to the particular matter. The selected master template and the selected data structure are employed to produce the set of documents for the particular matter in an electronic form, where a corresponding document of the set is produced for each specified slave template in the selected master template. Each corresponding document is produced according to common content in the slave template and data in the selected data structure in the database referred to by placeholders in the slave template. |
| US08051101B2 |
Methods and procedures to provide complete test copy environment of hosted applications
Systems and methods that create a duplicate database instance on which database testing may be performed. The techniques for creating a test database instance enable database testing to proceed without impacting other organization's access to their data in the database or corrupting an organization's data. The ability to allow one organization (“org”) to test their portion of a database without interrupting other organizations from using their portions of the database enables a database system to support more than one organization as tenants. |
| US08051099B2 |
Energy efficient data provisioning
A method and system for provisioning data that has been collected and stored in a source database. The source database is a database that consumes a large amount of power and drains the company's database resources. The method and system determine which data should be provisioned and sent to a target server, the target server being more energy efficient than the source database and less exhausting of company resources. Various factors, such as the amount of data being requested and the frequency of change of the requested data, determine whether a transfer of data from the source database to the more energy efficient target database should be performed. |
| US08051097B2 |
System and method for authentication using a shared table and sorting exponentiation
Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable media for authentication using a shared table. The method receives an authentication challenge from a first entity including an accumulator with an initial value, lists of elements in a shared table, and a list of sorting algorithms, each sorting algorithm is associated with one of the lists of elements and modified to include embedded instructions operating on the accumulator. The method then generates a temporary table for each list of elements in the shared table by copying elements from the shared table as indicated in each respective list of elements, each temporary table being associated with one sorting algorithm in the list of sorting algorithms. The method sorts each generated temporary table with the associated sorting algorithm, thereby updating the accumulator with the embedded instructions. Finally, the method transmits the updated accumulator to the first entity for verification. |
| US08051086B2 |
Enhancing call center performance
Some general aspects of the invention relate to systems and methods of processing data, for example, to improve customer interactions. One aspect, in particular, relates to a computer-implemented method that includes accepting user input for analysis of a database having media data and metadata. The media data includes a group of audio recordings and the metadata includes descriptive information of the group of audio recordings. A representation of a set of call series is formed based on user input, and processed to generate an analysis report. A visual representation of the analysis report is formed for presentation to a user. |
| US08051085B1 |
Determining regular expression match lengths
A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining the lengths of one or more substrings of an input string that matches a regular expression (regex) The input string is searched for the regex using an non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA), and upon detecting a match state a selected portion of the input string is marked as a match string. The NFA is inverted to create a reverse NFA that embodies the inverse of the regex. For some embodiments, the reverse NFA is created by inverting the NFA such that the match state of the NFA becomes the initial state of the reverse NFA, the initial state of the NFA becomes the match state of the reverse NFA, and the goto transitions of the NFA are inverted to form corresponding goto transitions in the reverse NFA. The match string is reversed and searched for the inverted regex using the reverse NFA, and a counter is incremented for each character processed during the reverse search operation. The current value of the counter each time the match state in the reverse NFA is reached indicates the character length of a corresponding substring that matches the regex. |
| US08051078B2 |
System and method for common interest analysis among multiple users
A multi-media broadcasting system that links a user profiles associated with a first user with a second user profile associated with a second user, where the first and second user profiles each comprise an indication of an interest common to the first and second users. The user profiles allow a user to customize a viewing experience via the broadcasting system. In addition, the system detects a content update to the first user profile, wherein the content update is associated with a content item that comprises content having a characteristic within the interest common to the first and second users. Furthermore, the system notifies the second user of the content update if the second user profile has not been updated with the content update. |
| US08051072B2 |
Learning ranking functions incorporating boosted ranking in a regression framework for information retrieval and ranking
Embodiments of the present invention provide for methods, systems and computer program products for learning ranking functions to determine the ranking of one or more content items that are responsive to a query. The present invention includes generating one or more training sets comprising one or more content item-query pairs, determining preference data for the one or more query-content item pairs of the one or more training sets and determining labeled data for the one or more query-content item pairs of the one or more training sets. A ranking function is determined based upon the preference data and the labeled data for the one or more content-item query pairs of the one or more training sets. The ranking function is then stored for application to query-content item pairs not contained in the one or more training sets. |
| US08051063B2 |
Aggregating context data for programmable search engines
Search results are generated using aggregated context data from two or more contexts. When two or more programmable search engines relate to a similar topic, context data associated with the programmable search engines are aggregated. The context is then applied to a query in order to present, in an integrated manner, relevant search results that make use of context intelligence from more than one programmable search engine. |
| US08051062B2 |
Optimal stochastic auctions for constrained sponsored search
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for processing an auction for sponsored search according to a set of constraints. In accordance with one embodiment, a polyhedron that incorporates a set of one or more restrictions is defined, wherein the polyhedron that incorporates the set of one or more restrictions represents a plurality of allocations, wherein each of the plurality of allocations is a subset of a plurality of ads to be displayed on a particular occurrence of a search query received via a search engine. A subset of the plurality of allocations is obtained via application of an analysis tool to the polyhedron. One of the subset of the plurality of allocations is then identified, enabling the ads in the allocation to be displayed. |
| US08051056B2 |
Acquiring ontological knowledge from query logs
Methods are disclosed for acquiring ontological knowledge using query logs. In one embodiment, query logs are first utilized as a basis for identifying important contexts associated with terms belonging to a semantic category. Then, those contexts are as a basis for identifying new terms belonging to the same category or, in another embodiment, as a basis for removing extraneous or obsolete terms identified as being in the same category. |
| US08051048B2 |
System and method for automated transfer and evaluation of the quality of mass data of a technical process or a technical project
The invention relates to a system and a method for automated transfer and subsequent evaluation of the quality of mass data of a technical process or a technical project in a standardized environment (70) of one or more data processing devices with an assignment module (20) for allocating the mass data from one or more data sources (10) to structure elements in the standardized environment of the data processing device (70) and for generating a defined mapping of the mass data to be read in. The assignment module (20) interacts with a read-in module (30), into which the mass data can be read in an automated operation according to the selected assignment. The data read in can be fed to a checking module (40) for automated checking and/or for generation of a report for evaluation of the quality of the measured data read in. The check results generated by the checking module (40) can be fed to a processing module (60) for automated logging in predefined structures, and the results of the check can be transferred into the standardized environment (70) of the data processing device. |
| US08051047B2 |
Document management system, document management method, and search apparatus
A document management system includes a reception unit that receives a designated document that has been designated by a user, an extraction unit configured to extract signature information from the received designated document, a search unit configured to search a database for another document having signature information that matches the signature information extracted by the extraction unit, the another document being a different version of the designated document, and a display control unit configured to, based on a result of the search, perform control to display document information of the designated document and document information of the another document in association with version information determined based on the signature information. |
| US08051042B2 |
Apparatus and method for managing data
An apparatus for and a method are provided for managing data by dividing file identifier descriptors (FIDs) included in metadata of a universal disk format (UDF) file system, and arranging them. The apparatus for managing data includes an input unit that receives a command for generating data in a file system environment, a controller that determines a data type corresponding to the command, a data generator that generates the data by referring to the command, and a metadata updater that arranges an FID with respect to the generated data according to the data type. |
| US08051040B2 |
Electronic publication system
A system and method for modifying publication data in a publication system are described. An example embodiment includes receiving proposed publication data and accessing a success measurement associated with past publications within a publication system. The success measurement may indicate a measurement of success associated with the past publications. An example system and method may generate modification data to be used to modify the proposed publication data. The modification data may be based on the success measurement and proposed publication data. |
| US08051031B2 |
Metadata for software aircraft parts
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for creating a data structure residing on a computer recordable medium for verifying whether a software aircraft part can be loaded. The data structure comprises a set of aircraft identification objects. An aircraft identification object within the set of aircraft identification objects contains a level of specificity about a set of aircraft on which the software aircraft part can be loaded. The set of aircraft identification objects are capable of being read from the computer recordable medium to verify whether the software aircraft part can be loaded in an aircraft. |
| US08051030B2 |
System and method for automated population splitting to assist task management through analytics
Task management supported by analytics has enhanced effectiveness through automated population splitting for generating models that predict task associated outcomes. Subpopulations are automatically analyzed for adequate sample size and selectively recombined based on characteristics of the subpopulations, such as to combine homogeneous subpopulations or to optimize a subpopulation characteristic. As an example, outbound calling campaign models are generated for time periods by splitting a sample population into time period subpopulations and combining subpopulation time periods having inadequate sample size so that combined subpopulations have a minimized total time period or greater similarity relative to other subpopulations. |
| US08051028B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating configuration rules for computing entities within a computing environment using association rule mining
A method and apparatus for generating computer configuration rules comprising receiving configuration data regarding a plurality of computers, analyzing the configuration data to determine associations within the configuration data, and generating configuration rules from a result of the analysis. |
| US08051027B2 |
Method and system for transitioning from a case-based classifier system to a rule-based classifier system
A computer implemented method including determining whether a predetermined condition is satisfied with respect to a case-based dataset stored within memory accessible by at least one processor; generating, for each of a plurality of rule-based classifiers, rule-based classification data identifying class boundaries between the records upon determining that the predetermined condition has been satisfied; computing a structural risk of the rule-based classification data for each of the rule-based classifiers with respect to the records identified within the record data; selecting rule-based classifiers having generated rule-based classification data identifying class boundaries between the records with a structural risk below a predetermined threshold; identifying selected rule-based classifiers having rule-based classification data that is within a predetermined degree of similarity with the case-based classification data; and replacing the case-based dataset stored within the memory with rule-based classification data of at least one of the identified rule-based classifiers, wherein determining whether the predetermined condition is satisfied comprises determining whether the number of records identified within the record data exceeds a predetermined record threshold. |
| US08051025B2 |
System and method for intelligent data management of the transport of items within a transport network
A system and method for intelligent data management enables the transport of items within a network by creating a first database defining a transport path of an item from an origin facility to a destination facility, and operations that affect the transport of items. In order to update the transport path and operations, a data management application receives changes. The application, and associated data storage device, includes user profile, table, network model and development model databases. Modules within the application manage users and data, implement ad hoc and holiday schedules, report errors, verify changes and create new databases to reflect the changes. |
| US08051024B1 |
Example-based creation and tuning of motion recognizers for motion-controlled applications
Techniques for tuning motion recognizers in motion detections are described. The motion recognizers are created or generated in advance by trained users. The motion recognizers are then loaded into a processing unit that receives motion signals from a handheld motion sensitive device being controlled by an end user. While motion recognition of the motion signals is being made, some or all of the motion recognizers are tuned by the motion signals to make the motion recognizers more adaptive to the user. |
| US08051023B2 |
System, method and computer program product for interfacing a decision engine and marketing engine
A system, method and computer program product for interfacing a decision engine and a marketing engine in order to provide vendor-related data in response to decision-related data is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the system and method may include providing a decision engine on a user-accessible network; interfacing a marketing engine with the decision engine on the network; receiving a plurality of user inputs with the decision engine; processing decision-related data with the decision engine in accordance with the plurality of user inputs; sharing the decision-related data with the marketing engine; processing the decision-related data with the marketing engine; and transmitting vendor-related data via the network. |
| US08051021B2 |
System and method for resource adaptive classification of data streams
A system and method for resource adaptive classification of data streams. Embodiments of systems and methods provide classifying data received in a computer, including discretizing the received data, constructing an intermediate data structure from said received data as training instances, performing subspace sampling on said received data as test instances and adaptively classifying said received data based on statistics of said subspace sampling. |
| US08051020B2 |
Base oil properties expert system
A method for predicting properties of lubricant base oil blends, comprising the steps of generating an NMR spectrum, HPLC-UV spectrum, and FIMS spectrum of a sample of a blend of at least two lubricant base oils and determining at least one composite structural molecular parameter of the sample from said spectrums. SIMDIST and HPO analyses of the sample are then generated in order to determine a composite boiling point distribution and molecular weight of the sample from such analysis. A composite structural molecular parameter is applied, and the composite boiling point distribution and the composite molecular weight to a trained neural network is trained to correlate with the composite structural molecular parameter composite boiling point distribution and the composite molecular weight so as to predict composite properties of the sample. The properties comprise Kinematic Viscosity at 40 C, Kinematic Viscosity at 100 C, Viscosity Index, Cloud Point, and Oxidation Performance. |
| US08051018B1 |
Method for the design and optimization of morphing strategies for reconfigurable surfaces
The present invention relates to a method for optimizing the design of a shape morphing structure using a genetic algorithm. The method includes defining design parameters of a surface having variable properties into a chromosome. The variable properties of the chromosome are the actual properties of the chromosome. The chromosome has a total of Nmax genes, where each gene corresponds to a variable property element in the surface. Additionally, each gene has n design parameters, wherein the design parameters are incremental changes to the actual properties of the chromosome. A genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the genes until a fitness level for at least one chromosome has been exceeded. When the fitness value for any chromosome in the population is above a predetermined threshold, then the design process is terminated and the final design solution[s] are the design parameters of the chromosome[s] that exceed the predetermined threshold value. |
| US08051016B2 |
System and method of billing for printing service costs by examining the content of a page
A method of billing for printing service costs is presented. The method entails examining the content of a page and applying a cost function to approximate the cost of printing the page. Examining the content of the page may include detecting at least one object in the page and determining an approximate area of coverage of the detected object within the at least one object in the page. The cost function can approximate the cost of printing the page using the detected object and the determined approximate area of coverage of the detected object. |
| US08051013B2 |
System and method for providing a system that includes on-line and off-line features in a network environment
An apparatus for coordinating a relationship in a network environment is provided that includes a central web site operable to interface with one or more end users and to manage information related to one or more of the end users. The central web site includes an on-line component and an off-line component such that one or more of the end users can communicate and gather information about each other at the central web site and the central web site can facilitate a meeting in person between two of the end users. |
| US08051009B2 |
Method and apparatus for maintaining software at a third-party server
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates maintaining software at a third-party server. During operation, the system receives the software at the third-party server, wherein the end-user has rights to the software. The system also receives information which is associated with the software at the third-party server. The system then stores the software and the information at the third-party server on behalf of the end-user. Furthermore, note that storing the software and the information at the third-party server facilitates subsequent installations of the software on a client. |
| US08051005B2 |
Automated method and article of manufacture for fully insuring large bank deposits via a network of banks with limits on amount of orders that a bank and/or customer can place with the network
An automated method is provided for processing large deposits that exceed an established deposit insurance limit so that the large deposits are fully insured. The large deposits are received from a plurality of unaffiliated banks from their respective depositors. Orders are received at a processor from the plurality of banks to process large deposits. The processor automatically compares each order to a preset maximum order amount. Each of the large deposits for each order are partitioned using the processor into a plurality of deposit portions if the order does not exceed a preset maximum order amount. The partitioning is performed in a manner so that each deposit portion does not exceed the established deposit insurance limit. The processor assigns at least some of the deposit portions for each of the large deposits for each order to at least some banks that are unaffiliated with the bank that received the large deposit for deposit therein if the order does not exceed the preset maximum order amount. |
| US08051002B1 |
Performance based auto loans
Disclosed are systems and methods for providing a loan having an interest rate and a loan period. The systems and methods dynamically adjust the interest rate during the loan period based on actual payment performance of a borrower, thereby resulting in an improved reward structure, greater borrower loyalty and an improved experience for the borrower. |
| US08050997B1 |
Instant availability of electronically transferred funds
A system and method for making proceeds of an ACH (Automated Clearinghouse) transaction available to a user before the transaction is completed. The system may be part of an on-line system or traditional merchant configured to facilitate payments or fund transfers from users. A user requests the transfer of funds to an entity (e.g., another user, a merchant, the user's account with the system) via an ACH entry. The system calculates a risk associated with the user, while considering various data (e.g., number of previous ACH entries, how many failed, how many succeeded, amount of the transfer). If the risk is low enough, the ACH entry is initiated and the desired funds are released for the transfer even before the ACH entry clears. The ACH entry may be presented as a default choice for funding the transfer. |
| US08050995B1 |
Retirement on-ramp
Apparatus and methods for providing a banking service are provided. The method may use an electronic information processing platform. The method may include storing, in a computer memory, information relating to a current balance in a first customer account. The method may also include storing information relating to a retirement balance. The retirement balance may be a projected balance that will be present in the first customer account upon the customer's retirement. The method may further include storing information relating to a period of time. The period of time may relate to a time span that spans from a predetermined pre-retirement date to a customer's projected retirement date. The systems and methods of the invention may also include activating a series of withdrawals. The series of withdrawals may withdraw funds from the first customer account and deposit the withdrawn funds in a second customer account. The amount of funds withdrawn from the first customer account may increase at least once during the duration of the series of withdrawals. The funds withdrawn from the first customer account may modify the current balance to be similar to the retirement balance at least once during the duration of the series of withdrawals. The amount of funds withdrawn by each withdrawal may be based at least in part on the stored information relating to the current balance, the retirement balance, and the period of time. |
| US08050992B2 |
Secure card with stored biometric data and method for using the secure card
A secure card comprising biometric data of an individual for identifying or confirming authority of the individual. Prior to issuing the secure card a cardholder's biometric data is stored in the secure cards memory. When the secure card is used the cardholder inputs biometric data. This input biometric data is then compared to the biometric data stored in the card. If the input biometric data matches the stored biometric data the identity of the cardholder is confirmed. The secure card also comprises a transparent input area to separate the cardholder from an identity verification machine. |
| US08050990B2 |
Method of and system for generating purchase orders using an auction process
A method of generating a purchase order includes receiving purchasing data for the item to be purchased in a computerized system and generating the purchase order based on received purchasing data for the item to be purchased, determining whether a sufficient amount of funds is available for the purchase order, submitting the purchase order for a remedial action to obtain the sufficient amount of funds if the sufficient amount of funds is not available, determining a supplier for the item to be purchased from a plurality of potential suppliers using an automated auction system if a sufficient amount of funds is available, and modifying the purchase order to include data from the automated auction regarding the supplier. |
| US08050988B2 |
Method and system of generating audit procedures and forms
The present invention provides a computer-implemented method for automatically generating and placing documents associated with a tax and accounting related engagement, for example assessing risks associated with an audit. A user is presented with a plurality of audit items and a set of risk levels associated with the audit items and may also be presented with a plurality of prompts designed to elicit a set of responses from the user. The set of user responses being associated with a set of risks associated with the audit. The set of risk levels being associated with a set of assertions associated with the audit items and may include first and second risk levels of different degrees. The method further includes processing a set of responses received from the user in response to the items presented. The method includes automatically generating a suggested audit approach that is based at least in part on the processed responses. The method further includes automatically generating documents associated with the suggested audit approach and placing the automatically generated documents within a predefined set of folders. The method may also determine a set of procedures that are based on the responses. The set of procedures are presented to the user based on the suggested audit approach. |
| US08050978B2 |
Method and system for an electronic marketplace for information products
In one embodiment, a method for an electronic auction transaction includes organizing by a computer each of a plurality of task requests into one or more respective groups. Each task request corresponds to a respective desired use of one or more resources. In addition, each task request has a respective task bid. The computer determines a group bid for each group at least in part by comparing the products calculated by multiplying each first bid within the group by a respective multiplier. The group bid is indicative of a collective value associated with the task bids of the group. The respective multiplier is a number indicative of the comparative value of the task bid relative to the other task bids in the group. The computer determines one or more winning group bids by comparing the group bids to each other. |
| US08050977B2 |
Supply unit ordering system, image forming apparatus, supply unit ordering method and supply unit ordering program
An image forming apparatus comprises: a readout portion that reads out from a memory of a supply unit that is replaceably loaded on the image forming apparatus itself, information about a plurality of vendors, which is stored in the memory; and a transmitter that transmits to a terminal apparatus the readout information about the vendors. And a terminal apparatus comprises: an obtainer that obtains information about the supply unit from respective servers owned by the vendors, by making access thereto according to the information about the vendors, which is received from the image forming apparatus; a display that displays on itself the obtained information; and an ordering portion that transmits an order for a supply unit to one of the servers, according to an order instruction issued by a user. After order transmission, information about a vendor owning the server that receives that order is stored in a storage. |
| US08050973B2 |
Reverse billing in online search
There is disclosed reverse billing in online search. A telephony server may receive a request from a user to cause a telephone call to be established between the user and a merchant. A notice to the merchant may be generated. The notice may include an offer to establish a telephone call with the user in exchange for payment of a definite fee. An acceptance of the offer may be received from the merchant. A first voice communication leg with the user and a second voice communication leg with the merchant may be bridged to establish the telephone call between the user and the merchant. The definite fee may be appear on the merchant's bill for telephone service. |
| US08050971B2 |
Method and system for providing commodity information in shopping commodity searching service
A method and system for providing product information, which can retrieve an advertising shopping mall that has suggested a bidding price for an upper display area, and can sort product information of the retrieved advertising shopping mall according to a predetermined standard, and display the sorted product information in the upper display area and also can sort product information according to various types of standards, such as a popularity, a sales volume, and the like, and display the sorted product information in a remaining area excluding the upper display area, when sorting and displaying product information on a product search result page. |
| US08050969B2 |
Interactive marketing network and process using electronic certificates
A data processing system issuing electronic certificates through “online” networks of personal computers, televisions, or other devices with video monitors or telephones. Each electronic certificate includes transaction data and identification data, and can be printed out on a printing device linked to a consumer's personal input device, or electronically stored in a designated data base until a specified expiration date. The certificate can be used for various purposes, including use as a coupon for a discounted price on a product or service, proof of a gift or award, proof of reservation, or proof of payment. Consumers access the data processing system online, browse among their choices, and make their selections. The data processing system provides reports on the selected certificates and their use following selection. Certificate issuers also have online access to the data processing system and can create or revise offers, and provide various instructions pertaining to the certificates, including limitations as to the number of certificates to be issued in total and to each individual consumer. |
| US08050965B2 |
Using a directed graph as an advertising system taxonomy
Embodiments relate to generating and using a directed graph as an advertising network taxonomy. Individual delivery locations provided by publishers for presenting advertisements are identified. A directed graph is generated that includes specific advertising opportunities that each correspond with an individual delivery location. The directed graph also includes multiple general advertising opportunities that correspond with aggregations of delivery locations. Multiple aggregations may each include all or part of the same set of delivery locations. Advertisers may then use the directed graph to purchase advertising opportunities, and advertisements may be served to delivery locations based on the advertiser selections. |
| US08050963B2 |
Method of assessing a parking fee
A method for assessing fees for parking is disclosed. The method includes determining the length of a vehicle and assessing a parking fee based upon that vehicle length. The disclosed method may also include marking at least a portion of the selected parking area in increments of length or marking the length of a vehicle on that vehicle. Embodiments of the method are also disclosed that include calculating the parking fee so that a longer vehicle is charged more than a shorter vehicle for parking in the selected parking area. Other embodiments of the disclosed method include calculating the parking fee based on different length ranges that include at least a first length range and a second length range. The first length range has lengths that are shorter than lengths in the second length range. The parking fee is based on which length range the length of the vehicle falls within. |
| US08050962B2 |
Methods and apparatus for providing mission assurance
Methods and apparatus are provided for assuring content of a product. The method comprises identifying key elements that at least partially specify the content of the product creating assessment criteria for each of the key elements, and defining maturity levels for each of the assessment criteria. The method further comprises developing a planned maturity level for each of said assessment criteria that comprise a relationship between the maturity and the maturity levels and conducting evaluations of the assessment criteria with at least the planned maturity level to determine a plurality of metrics for each of the assessment criteria that at least partially corresponds to the maturity of the content. In addition, the method comprises projecting a future maturity level for at least one of the assessment criteria based at least in part upon a statistical analysis of the metrics of the at least one of the assessment criteria and identifying issues with the content of the product based at least in part upon the future maturity level. |
| US08050961B2 |
Vehicle managing method, vehicle managing apparatus and vehicle managing program
A method is disclosed for performing comprehensive management for vehicles owned by clients, and according to this method, a vehicle managing apparatus, a client terminal, a workshop terminal and a store terminal are connected via a communication network, and the vehicle managing apparatus includes information acceptance unit, maintenance period calculation unit, business efficiency analyzation unit and information providing unit. First, maintenance history information for vehicles, automotive accessories purchase history information, vehicle operating record information and business performance information for a client, entered by the workshop terminal or the store terminal are received. Sequentially, a maintenance period for a vehicle is calculated based on the above information, and business efficiency is obtained based on the above information. Then, maintenance period calculation results and the business efficiency analysis results are transmitted to the client terminal. |
| US08050958B2 |
Systems and methods for planning demand for configurable products
Systems and methods are provided for planning demand of products, such as configurable products. In one embodiment, a method is provided for planning demand for a configurable product in a managed supply chain. In another embodiment, a demand planner is provided for planning demand for a configurable product in a managed supply chain. The method may comprise the steps of: storing master data defining a set of characteristic value combinations relating to the product dependent characteristics of each product; inputting transactional data defining a demand plan with respect to a product or component; specifying at least one product dependent characteristic of one or more products for which an additional characteristic value is to be assigned; automatically generating the additional characteristic value identifying the specified characteristics; and storing the additional characteristic value to the characteristic value combinations in the master data. |
| US08050957B2 |
Systems and methods for planning demand for configurable products
Systems and methods are provided for planning demand of a product, such as a configurable product. In one embodiment, a method is provided for planning demand for a configurable product in a managed supply chain. In another embodiment, a demand planner is provided for planning demand for a configurable product in a managed supply chain. The method may comprise the steps of: providing a data storage system to store data relating to a plurality of configurable products in terms of their respective product dependent characteristics; inputting a selection to be represented for a plurality of products in terms of percentage values for a particular product dependent characteristic, wherein the percentage values relate to respective components or qualities of the particular product dependent characteristic; in response to the inputting step, loading data for the plurality of products from the data storage system on at least the product level; copying the percentage values for the respective components or qualities to the product level; and performing the percentage calculation on the loaded data at the product level to obtain absolute values on the product level. |
| US08050956B2 |
Computer-readable medium, program product, and system for providing a schedule bar with event dates to monitor procurement of a product
The successful monitoring of procurement processes requires that dates in the supply chain be calculated exactly and tracked accordingly. The central calculation of dates ensures that different applications arrive at the same results, optimizing their accuracy. Monitoring the dates will allow a user to quickly gain an overview of the current procurement situation and react on time to potential delays. Dates from a purchase order are transferred to the event management system and used to calculate base dates. A schedule bar is provided in the event management system, and includes dates received or calculated by the event management system. An activity is triggered based upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event by a purchaser order date or a calculated date. |
| US08050951B2 |
Method, computer program product, and system for risk management
Described are a method, computer program product, and system for risk management using readily available, gridded hazard data to estimate and obtain a risk analysis parameter (e.g., expected repair cost) for use in risk management, such as in seismic risk management. The method includes calculating economic risk for buildings in terms of an expected annualized loss (EAL). EAL is the product of a scenario loss estimate called probable frequent loss (PFL) and an economic hazard coefficient (H). H can be created using readily available gridded hazard data produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. The method also includes a technique for calculating shaking intensity, sEBE, which is needed for determining PFL. Incorporated into a system, the system can be utilized by engineering consultants (or others interested in risk management) via the Internet, or on any other computer readable medium. |
| US08050950B2 |
System and method for boarding passengers based on bids
Systems and methods for boarding passengers on flights or other transportation according to bids received from the passengers are provided. Passengers seeking to fly standby on an undersold flight can submit a bid representing the amount the passengers are willing to pay to board the flight. The airline can determine the number of seats available on the flight, and board the highest bidding passengers until the flight is full. Similarly, passengers willing to be bumped from an oversold flight can submit a bid representing the incentive the passengers are willing to accept to be bumped from the flight. The airline can determine the number of passengers that must be bumped from the flight, and bump the lowest bidding passengers (i.e., those willing to accept the least costly incentive) until a sufficient number of passengers have been bumped from the flight. |
| US08050943B1 |
Systems and methods for retaining or shifting prescription market share
Systems and methods are provided for retaining or shifting prescription market share. The systems and methods may include receiving, from a pharmacy computer, a prescription claim associated with a drug requested by a customer; determining that a payor will not cover the prescription claim; subsequent to determining that the payor will not cover the prescription claim, determining that eligibility requirements in accordance with a market share retention program have been satisfied in order to make the drug available for free to the customer; and transmitting, to the pharmacy computer, a notice of availability of the free drug for the customer. |
| US08050938B1 |
Integrated medical software system with enhanced portability
An integrated system for the management of a healthcare provider is disclosed and has a scheduling module for supporting scheduling encounters with the patients, a registration component for registering the patients, an account management module for maintaining patient financial information, and a clinical module for maintaining electronic patient records. The integrated system is stored on a portable computer-readable resource and run on a processor connected to the portable computer-readable resource. |
| US08050934B2 |
Local pitch control based on seamless time scale modification and synchronized sampling rate conversion
This invention locally controls the pitch of speech and audio signals. The invention is based on a seamless time scale modification (S-TSM) scheme connected to a synchronized sampling rate converter that switches between different time scale factors in a seamless manner and controls pitch during playback in a nearly continuous way. |
| US08050932B2 |
Apparatus, and associated method, for selecting speech COder operational rates
An apparatus and an associated method for facilitating selection of CODEC availability from amongst a set of CODECs at a communication device. A battery power measurer measures the stored energy level of a battery power supply that powers a communication device of which the CODEC forms a portion. A selector selects the available CODECs responsive to the measured power level. If the measured level is less than a threshold, then high-sampling-rate CODECs are at least selectably made unavailable for use. If the battery level is higher than the threshold, then the high-sampling-rate CODECs are made available for use. If the level is greater than a threshold then both a high sampling-rate and the low sampling-rate CODEC are available. An indication generator generates an indication of selection made by the selector. |
| US08050928B2 |
Speech to DTMF generation
A method of speech to DTMF generation involving ASR-enabled and DTMF-controlled communications systems. The ASR-enabled system is used to recognize speech received from the DTMF-controlled telecommunications system using sampling rate independent speech recognition. It then identifies a speech segment contained in the speech received from the DTMF-controlled system that corresponds with at least one keyword associated with user-defined data. Then, the ASR-enabled system transmits at least one DTMF signal to the DTMF-controlled system in response to the identified speech segment. This allows a user of an ASR-enabled system such as a vehicle telematics unit to at least partially automate access to the DTMF-controlled system using the telematics unit, so that voice mailbox numbers, passwords, and the like normally entered via a telephone keypad can be automatically sent to the DTMF-controlled system from the telematics unit without having to be manually input each time by the user. |
| US08050927B2 |
Apparatus and method for outputting voice relating to the preferences of a user
Provided is an apparatus and method for output voice, which receives an information item suitable to a user's taste among information items existing on a network such as the Internet in a text format, converts the information item into voice, and then outputs the voice. The apparatus to output voice includes an information search unit searching at least one first information item corresponding to a preset information class among information items existing on a network, an information processing unit extracting a core information item from the first information items in such a manner as to correspond with a preset reproducing time period, a voice generating unit converting the core information into voice, and an output unit outputting the converted voice. |
| US08050925B2 |
Recognizing the numeric language in natural spoken dialogue
A system and a method are provided. A speech recognition processor receives unconstrained input speech and outputs a string of words. The speech recognition processor is based on a numeric language that represents a subset of a vocabulary. The subset includes a set of words identified as being for interpreting and understanding number strings. A numeric understanding processor contains classes of rules for converting the string of words into a sequence of digits. The speech recognition processor utilizes an acoustic model database. A validation database stores a set of valid sequences of digits. A string validation processor outputs validity information based on a comparison of a sequence of digits output by the numeric understanding processor with valid sequences of digits in the validation database. |
| US08050923B2 |
Automated utterance search
A speech analyzer is integrated or otherwise coupled to an audio player. The speech analyzer is used to identify recorded communication sessions in accordance with a search criterion. A search criterion may be spoken or otherwise communicated to the speech analyzer. Results generated by the speech analyzer are converted into visual information that is presented to a user of the speech analyzer. Results generated by the speech analyzer can be cached for real-time user review while the speech analyzer processes additional stored conversations. |
| US08050918B2 |
Quality evaluation tool for dynamic voice portals
A method and system for evaluating the quality of voice input recognition by a voice portal is provided. An analysis interface extracts a set of current grammars from the voice portal. A test pattern generator generates a test input for each current grammar. The test input includes a test pattern and a set of active grammars corresponding to each current grammar. The system further includes a text-to-speech engine for entering each test pattern into the voice server. A results collector analyzes each test pattern entered into the voice server with the speech recognition engine against the set of active grammars corresponding to the current grammar for said test pattern. A results analyzer derives a set of statistics of a quality of recognition of each current grammar. |
| US08050901B2 |
Prediction and control of NBTI of integrated circuits
A modeling system for modeling integrated circuits includes a process variation generator for generating a first statistic distribution of a process parameter; a performance parameter distribution generator for generating a second distribution of a performance parameter; a stress generator for generating a third statistic distribution of the performance parameter under a stress condition; and a circuit simulator for receiving data randomly generated based on the first, the second and the third distributions and for generating a statistic distribution of a target performance parameter. |
| US08050900B2 |
System and method for using first-principles simulation to provide virtual sensors that facilitate 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 performed using the input data and the physical model to provide a virtual sensor measurement relating to the process performed by the semiconductor processing tool, and the virtual sensor measurement is used to facilitate the process performed by the semiconductor processing tool. |
| US08050898B2 |
Method, program product and apparatus for predicting line width roughness and resist pattern failure and the use thereof in a lithography simulation process
A method of generating a model for simulating the imaging performance of an optical imaging system. The method includes the steps of defining the optical imaging system and a process to be utilized by the optical imaging system; defining a first model representing the imaging performance of the optical imaging system and the process, and calibrating the model, where the first model generates values corresponding to a latent image slope. The method further includes the step of defining a second model for estimating a line width roughness of a feature to be imaged, where the second model utilizes the latent image slope values to estimate the line width roughness. |
| US08050896B2 |
Geospatial modeling system providing inpainting with stopping metric and related methods
A geospatial modeling system may include a geospatial model data storage device and a processor. The processor may cooperate with the geospatial model data storage device for selecting and transforming a reference sample of a geospatial model frequency domain data set into a corresponding reference sample geospatial model spatial domain data set, where the geospatial model frequency domain data set has at least one void therein. The processor may further cooperate with the geospatial model data storage device for iteratively inpainting data into the at least one void in the geospatial model frequency domain data set to generate an inpainted geospatial model frequency domain data set, selecting and transforming a test sample of the inpainted geospatial model frequency domain data set into a corresponding test sample geospatial model spatial domain data set, and comparing the reference sample geospatial model spatial domain data set and the test sample geospatial model spatial domain data set to determine whether to stop the iterative inpainting. |
| US08050892B2 |
Method, device, computer program and data carrier for modeling a multidimensional heterogeneous structure, using a digital processing unit
Method, apparatus, computer program and data carrier for modeling a multidimensional, heterogeneous structure using a digital processing unit, by means of a grid built up of stacks of multidimensional cells. A cell is bounded by boundary surfaces and represents at least one property of the structure. The composition of a stack, the position of the stacks in the grid and the properties represented by cells are stored in memory means by the processing unit. For modeling a discontinuity, a respective stack is divided into two or more substacks separated by separating surfaces. The composition and the position of the substacks in a respective stack are stored in the memory means. The modeling method enables an accurate and fast computation of properties of the modeled structure or space. |
| US08050890B2 |
System and method for assessing and indicating the health of components
A system and method for visualization of the components of an enterprise system and the rendering of information about the health or status of the enterprise system, its components, and/or its subcomponents. The invention uses a combination of color codes or other indicators and a combination of algorithms and/or rules-based systems to control the computation of status/severities to associate to components and setup the color codes and indicators. |
| US08050887B2 |
Method and system for determining a potential for icing on a wind turbine blade
An embodiment of the present invention may provide a method and system for detecting icing on at least one wind turbine blade. An embodiment of the present invention takes the form of a software application and process that utilizes the measured wind speed to detect icing on at least one wind turbine blade. |
| US08050884B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining the emissivity, area and temperature of an object
Methods and apparatus are provided to determine the emissivity, temperature and area of an object. The methods and apparatus are designed such that the emissivity and area of the object may be separately determined as functions dependent upon the temperature of the object derived from a three or more band infrared measurement sensor. As such, the methods and apparatus may only require a regression analysis of the temperature of the object without any regression analysis of the emissivity and area of the object. |
| US08050879B2 |
Phase identification system and method
A method to identify phase is presented. The method includes obtaining electrical parameters at a node and a substation of an electrical grid, processing the electrical parameters of the node and the substation into processed electrical parameters comprising at least one of a voltage harmonic amplitude, a current harmonic amplitude, a geometric harmonic modulated signal, and a noise pattern. The method further includes comparing the processed electrical parameters from the node and the substation and identifying phase information of the node with respect to the substation. |
| US08050877B2 |
Method for the determination of work/power
A method for the determination of the electrical work in systems in which the voltage is switched. At preset times for this purpose current values are measured and interpolated between the measurement. With the help of the switched voltage a classification of each interpolated current path is performed. The interpolated current value is then multiplied or integrated by the voltage value/values between the preset times respectively for the determination of the work. Along with the electrical work moreover in accordance with a further method similarly the electrical power in such systems can be determined. |
| US08050875B2 |
Steam trap monitoring
An electronic steam trap monitor includes an electric generator configure to couple to a stream trap proximate a potential leak location. The generator generates electricity in response to a process variable from the potential leak location. Communication circuitry provides an output when there is sufficient electricity from the electric generator. |
| US08050874B2 |
Autonomous remaining useful life estimation
Autonomous remaining useful life estimation equipment interacts with the operator through natural speech, voice and sound and provides active failure prevention through automatic and/or continuous remaining useful life estimation of a material under evaluation. The equipment comprises at least one computer and a material features acquisition system operable to detect a plurality of material features. The features are then evaluated according to rules that capture the multidiscipline knowledge of experts and are already inputted into the computer. The computer iterations are processed until an acceptable conclusion is made regarding the condition of the material under evaluation, thus alleviating the need for multidiscipline experts to examine and analyze all the material data manually, a very slow and expensive process. Further, the natural speech and voice interaction preferably allows the operator to operate the equipment while wearing gloves or with dirty hands as he/she will not need to constantly physically manipulate the equipment. The remaining useful life estimation capability may also be retrofitted into conventional inspection systems by extracting pertinent features through spectral frequency analysis and sensor normalization and utilizing those features in the autonomous remaining useful life estimation system. |
| US08050872B2 |
System and method for rapid searching of highly similar protein-coding sequences using bipartite graph matching
An exemplary embodiment of system, computer-accessible medium and method for comparing a first genome to a second genome. For example, a first genome may be compared to a second genome by building a first library for the first genome and a second library for the second genome, providing a plurality of matches between elements in the first library common to elements in the second library, ranking each match to determine a likelihood of similarity between the common elements in the first and second libraries; and associating matches having a predetermined likelihood. The association may be performed efficiently by a stable marriage procedure. |
| US08050870B2 |
Identifying associations using graphical models
Statistical models for identifying associations are described herein. By way of example, a system for identifying associations between variables can include a model builder and an association identifier. The model builder can receive observations about the variables and generate a null model and a non-null model. The association identifier can assess the strength of the association between the variables by determining how much the non-null model better explains the observed data than the null model. Additionally or alternatively, the structure of the observed data can be inferred simultaneously with the statistical model. |
| US08050869B2 |
Profile searching in nucleic acid sequences using the Fast Fourier Transformation
The invention provides methods for detecting known blocks of functionally aligned protein sequences in a test nucleic acid sequence, e.g., in an uncharacterized EST. The method can detect the presence of known blocks of functionally aligned protein sequences in a test nucleic acid sequence based on the total number of base matches for the variety of possible lags. |
| US08050867B2 |
Data adaptive vibratory source acquisition method
Method for conducting a seismic survey (23) wherein the acquisition parameters are modified as the survey progresses using information (24) from sensors located to monitor structures and fixtures located in the survey area. The sensor output is compared to acceptable levels, and acquisition parameters such as the seismic source strength are adjusted (26) to prevent exceeding the acceptable levels. An automated arbitration scheme (22) is used to resolve conflicting system goals within survey resource constraints. |
| US08050866B2 |
Pulsed-neutron formation density
A method and related system of determining formation density by compensating actual inelastic gamma rays detected from a pulsed-neutron tool for the effects of neutron transport. The method and systems may model response of the tool and use the modeled response as an indication of an amount to compensate detected inelastic gamma rays. |
| US08050865B2 |
System and method for measuring resistivity parameters of an earth formation
Disclosed herein is a method of measuring a resistivity parameter of an earth formation. The method includes: applying a first electric measurement current including a first series of pulses to a first electrode and inducing a first formation current in the earth formation; applying a second electric measurement current including a second series of pulses to a second electrode and inducing a second formation current in the earth formation, the first series of pulses and the second series of pulses occupying distinct portions of a time domain in a selected time window; measuring the first measurement current, the first formation current, the second measurement current and the second formation current by coherent in-phase demodulation; and calculating at least one resistivity parameter by i) comparing the first measurement current to the first formation current and ii) comparing the second measurement current to the second formation current. A system for measuring a resistivity parameter of an earth formation is also provided. |
| US08050862B2 |
Vehicular navigation system for recalling preset map views
A vehicular navigation system includes a display, a memory configured to store data related to a plurality of preset map view, and a user input configured to permit the selection of a map view from the plurality of preset map views. A controller is coupled to the user input, the display, and the memory. The controller is configured to generate the selected map view on the display. |
| US08050860B2 |
Method and device for displaying a flight plan of an aircraft
The invention relates to a method and device for displaying a flight plan of an aircraft. The display device includes a display presenting unit making it possible to identify the flight phase of each waypoint of a flight plan which is displayed on a screen, and an activation unit making it possible to directly access a corresponding flight phase page. |
| US08050858B2 |
Multiple visual display device and vehicle-mounted navigation system
In a vehicle-mounted navigation system, an operating unit that operates the driver's seat side image and an operating unit that operates the passenger's seat side image had to be provided separately, which increased the number of operation buttons and the size of the navigation system device. In a vehicle-mounted navigation system that displays images in multiple directions, an operating direction detector detects which direction an operation was performed from, and a controller controls the vehicle-mounted navigation system based on a detection result of the operating direction detector. |
| US08050857B2 |
System and method for dynamically determining vehicle loading and vertical loading distance for use in a vehicle dynamic control system
A control system (18) and method for an automotive vehicle (10) includes a roll rate sensor (34) for generating a roll rate signal, a lateral acceleration sensor (32) for generating a lateral acceleration signal, a longitudinal acceleration sensor (36) for generating a longitudinal acceleration signal, and a yaw rate sensor (28) for generating a yaw rate signal. A safety device or system (44) and the sensors are coupled to a controller. The controller (26) determines an added mass and the height of the added mass on the vehicle, or a roll gradient, a roll acceleration coefficient, and/or a roll rate parameter that take into account the added mass and height from the roll rate, the lateral acceleration, the longitudinal acceleration, and the yaw rate of the vehicle, and controls the safety system in response thereto. |
| US08050854B1 |
Adaptive control systems and methods
An adaptive control system controls a traffic signal at a critical intersection that has a most conflicting volume of traffic among volumes of traffic at intersections in a traffic network. The adaptive control system determines a plan identifying a guaranteed green light time and a minimum green duration and a period for the plan. The adaptive control system determines, based on the plan, a non-linear schedule with one or more states corresponding to one or more individual phases with each state having a state start time and a state duration. Queues for individual traffic movements at the critical intersection also may be used to determine the non-linear schedule. The adaptive control system controls the traffic signal according to the non-linear schedule. The adaptive control system transmits its plan to one or more other adaptive control systems for other intersections. The other adaptive control systems determine other plans based on the plan from the adaptive control system and an expected travel time between the critical intersection and the corresponding intersection. |
| US08050853B2 |
Providing traffic information including sub-links of links
A method for identifying traffic information for at least one sub-link includes receiving traffic information including a sub-link identifier enabling a determination of whether the received traffic information includes sub-link information, traffic status information enabling a determination of traffic information for a sub-link, information identifying a link within which the sub-link is located, and sub-link location information enabling a determination of a portion of the link that corresponds to the sub-link. The method also includes determining, based on the sub-link identifier whether the received traffic information includes sub-link information and dependent on whether the sub-link identifier enables a determination that the received traffic information includes sub-link information. |
| US08050850B2 |
Control apparatus and control method for internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine includes a valve timing change mechanism that changes the phase of an intake cam, and a lift amount change mechanism that changes lift amount by causing displacement of a control shaft. An electronic control unit performs a coordinated control in which the lift amount change mechanism is operated such that the position of the control shaft that is detected by a position detection sensor becomes the target position, and the valve timing change mechanism is operated according to a control state of the lift amount change mechanism. When a discrepancy between the actual position of the control shaft and the detected position thereof is estimated to be large, coordinated control is forbidden and the valve timing change mechanism is operated based on engine load. |
| US08050846B2 |
Apparatus and method for controlling engine
An engine controller capable of reducing torque fluctuation and the like in change between spark ignition combustion and homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion is provided. Spark ignition burning mode or homogeneous charge compression ignition burning mode is selectively set as burning mode according to the operating state of an engine. In spark ignition burning mode, a spark plug is used. In homogeneous charge compression ignition burning mode, fuel is burned utilizing pressure rise in a combustion chamber in conjunction with the ascent of a piston. The burning mode is changed between these modes. In transition for change between the spark ignition burning mode and the homogeneous charge compression ignition burning mode, the following measure is taken: a period during which the lift amount and/or the valve opening period (IVevent) of an intake valve is made smaller than a set value for the homogeneous charge compression ignition burning mode is provided. |
| US08050843B2 |
Estimating health parameters or symptoms of a degrading system
The present invention is concerned with the estimation of health parameters p(k) representing symptoms of a slowly degrading system, in particular industrial gas turbines. According to the invention, an estimation of a true health or independent parameter vector at time step k uses the estimation of the true health or parameter vector at a previous time step k−1 as a starting value for the production of a predicted health parameter vector at time step k. Based on the latter and a set of measured values of input variables of an extended model of the system, a prediction of output variables of the model is produced. This predicted model output is compared with measured values of the output variables to yield an error. From this error, a health parameter estimator in turn produces a health parameter estimate as a revision of the predicted health parameters. Preferably, the estimation of a true health or independent parameter vector at time step k includes a generalised process noise representing stochastic uncertainty and/or a-priori knowledge of an evolution of the health parameters. |
| US08050842B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling and regulating a rotorcraft turbine engine
The present invention relates to a method and to an apparatus (9) for controlling and regulating a rotorcraft turbine engine (1). The apparatus is provided with an electronic control and regulation computer (3) that receives signals relating to monitored parameters of the turbine engine (1). The apparatus is remarkable in that it is provided with an alarm (4) controlled by the electronic computer (3) via an analog connection (8) to operate whenever an event occurs that might diminish the safety of the rotorcraft. |
| US08050840B2 |
Method and device of calculating aircraft braking friction and other relating landing performance parameters based on the data received from aircraft's on board flight data management system
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the calculation of aircraft braking friction and other relating landing parameters, including but not limited to aircraft braking action, aircraft takeoff distance, aircraft landing distance, runway surface conditions and runway surface friction based on the data collected by and available in the aircraft Flight Data Recorder (FDR) or other flight data management system, for example, the Quick Access Recorder (QAR), to provide all involved personnel in the ground operations of an airport and airline operations, including but not limited to aircraft pilots, airline operation officers and airline managers as well as airport operators, managers and maintenance crews, with the most accurate and most recent information on the true aircraft landing performance parameters to help better and more accurate safety and economical decision making. |
| US08050835B2 |
Method and apparatus for clutch pressure control
A method, apparatus and system for controlling transmission clutch system output pressures is provided. A transmission control unit and a pressure control device including an electro-hydraulic valve and a pressure switch cooperate to provide self-calibrating clutch pressure control systems. |
| US08050832B2 |
Method for determining the rotational speed of the main shaft of a transmission, and transmission comprising a device for detecting rotational speed
The present invention relates to a method for determining the rotational speed of the main shaft (3) of a transmission in which the main shaft (3) is connected to an output shaft (4) via a shiftable planetary gear (17), whereby the main shaft (3) is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the sun gear (18) and the output shaft (4) is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the planet carrier (20). The steps of the method are picking up the rotational speed (nHohlrad) of the ring gear (22), picking up the rotational speed (nAbtrieb) of the output shaft or the planet carrier (20), and computing the rotational speed (nHauptwelle) of the main shaft (3) from the rotational speed (nHohlrad) of the ring gear and the rotational speed (nAbtrieb) of the output shaft or the planet carrier (20). The present invention further relates to a transmission having a rotational speed pickup device. |
| US08050831B2 |
Vehicle engine speed control for a continuously variable transmission
A vehicle and a method for controlling a vehicle transmission is provided. The vehicle has at least one wheel and a positionable acceleration device. The vehicle includes an engine being responsive to the position of the acceleration device, wherein the engine provides torque to the wheel. In one embodiment, a transmission is coupled to the engine and the wheel, wherein the transmission provides multiple speed ratios and is configured to operate in a continuously variable mode. The vehicle also includes a controller that communicates with the engine and the transmission. The controller senses the position of the acceleration device, determine a shift schedule based on the position of the acceleration device, and set an engine speed limit for the engine. The controller also generates signals for the transmission to provide the speed ratio based on the engine speed limit while the transmission operates in the continuously variable mode. |
| US08050826B2 |
Characteristic correction system for automatic transmission
The input rotation speed of an automatic transmission is fixed, and an output shaft is fixed. Oil pressure supplied to a measurement subject engagement element is then increased, and a determination is made as to whether or not rotary variation in a turbine rotation speed is equal to or greater than a set value. When the rotary variation reaches or exceeds the set value, an oil pressure controlled variable at this time is measured and stored. Then, on the basis of the measurement data, a correction amount relating to the unique characteristic variation of the automatic transmission incorporated into a vehicle body is determined and written to a TCU. |
| US08050824B2 |
Electric power steering apparatus
An assist gradient Ra and also an F/B gain gradient Rp are inputted to an assist gradient compensation control unit. The F/B gradient Rp is added to the assist gradient Ra in an adder and the sum obtained is inputted into a switching control unit. The assist gradient Ra that has been inputted from a basic assist control unit is directly inputted together with the sum to the switching control unit. When a torque feedback control is executed, the switching control unit outputs the sum of the assist gradient Ra and F/B gain gradient Rp to a filter constant computation unit and an assist gradient gain computation unit. |
| US08050814B2 |
Apparatus and method for determining remaining transmission oil life
An improved method for predicting the remaining useful life of transmission oil and an apparatus for practicing the same are provided. The method includes: detecting if the transmission has completed a new shift; if yes, determining a total shift count; determining accumulated distance and accumulated time parameters; determining a transmission temperature degradation factor; detecting if the lockup clutch is open and if the transmission is in range; if yes, determining a converter degradation factor; determining a total degradation factor based at least in part upon the transmission temperature degradation factor and converter degradation factor; determining an oil life time limit and oil life distance limit; determining if either the accumulated time parameter is greater than the oil life time limit or the accumulated distance parameter is greater than the oil life distance limit; if yes, activating a service indicator to notify vehicle occupants that transmission oil service is required. |
| US08050811B2 |
Method for controlling the distribution of vehicle-related data
A method for controlling the wireless distribution of vehicle-related data that is collected from a vehicle and is distributed to one or more authorized recipients in a confidential manner. This method uses predetermined business rules, which can be maintained and/or applied at the vehicle, at the telematics service provider, or elsewhere, to control the distribution of vehicle-related data. These business rules can determine which pieces of vehicle-related data, if any, are to be sent to which authorized recipients and can do so in a confidential manner that prevents even the telematics service provider from having access to the vehicle-related data. |
| US08050810B2 |
Method of controlling hybrid vehicle
A method of controlling a hybrid vehicle with an engine, a battery, and at least one motor generator. System efficiencies of each of several candidate driving states are calculated. Calculating efficiency when the battery is discharged uses power of the engine Pfuel, power drawn from the battery Pb,out, and required driving power Pdemand. Calculating efficiency when the battery is charged uses Pfuel, Pdemand, and power charged to the battery Pb,in. Pb,out is calculated using a real battery discharge power Pb,out,real, a battery discharge energy efficiency ηbd, a historic efficiency ηb,pwr of energy loss when the battery is charged, and a correction coefficient SOCcorrection for controlling the battery charge amount. Pb,in is calculated using real battery charge power Pb,in,real, battery charge energy efficiency ηbc, ηbd, and efficiency ηin,pwr when power is consumed in the future. The driving state with the highest efficiency is then selected. |
| US08050809B2 |
System and method for remote control of locomotives
The present invention is directed to the remote control of locomotives, and more particularly to various methods and apparatus employed in implementing systems for such remote control. Contemplated in the present invention are systems and methods for not only reliable remote-control communications, but also the use of repeaters and communications servers to assure reliable, centralized communication between locomotives and operator control units. In another embodiment, there is described a reliable distributed communication mode using an uncorrelated time sequence that does not interfere with a time division multiple access network. Differentiation between the centralized mode and the distributed mode is accomplished by assessing whether a locomotive and control unit is within a rail yard's infrastructure. Moreover, reliability is assured using a coordination server that dynamically routes packets between multiple satellite RCL repeaters based on received signal strength. Lastly, the present invention further contemplates the use of an out-of-band transmission to upgrade and test operator control units, thereby allowing for field maintenance and software upgrades. |
| US08050808B2 |
Method and device for limiting the roll command of an aircraft as a function of a thrust asymmetry
The device includes a calculation unit to automatically calculate an overall thrust moment of the engines which represents a thrust asymmetry of the engines of a multi-engine aircraft, a determination unit to automatically determine, using this overall moment, a maximum roll rate, and a limiting unit to automatically limit a roll command using this maximum roll rate. |
| US08050807B2 |
Methods and apparatus for vertical motion detector in air traffic control
Methods and apparatus for vertical motion detection of objects, such as aircraft. In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving altitude data for an object, determining a residual of a lag function, wherein the lag function comprises a moving average of the altitude data for the object, and wherein the residual corresponds to a difference between a value for the lag function and the object altitude data at a given time such that the residual grows in magnitude over time in response to the object transitioning from level flight to vertical motion, detecting vertical motion of the object by comparing a sum of data derived from the residuals against a threshold value, and outputting a vertical motion indicator after detecting the vertical motion of the object. |
| US08050805B2 |
Methods and systems of an adjustable bed
Aspects of this invention relate to an adjustable bed that may include one or more articulating portions, and may include one or more components, including an air inflatable mattress associated with the adjustable bed frame, a programmable logic controller, a remote memory storage facility, a remote storage location of user preferences, a cell phone remote control, a modular control device, an air purification facility, a power outlet controller, a Bluetooth remote control, an ultra wide band remote control, a wireless USB remote control, and the like. |
| US08050803B2 |
Power feeding system, electrical apparatus, power feeding apparatus, and computer readable storage medium
A power feeding system includes a power feeding apparatus and a power line communication unit. The power feeding apparatus feeds power from a power line to an external apparatus. The power line communication unit communicates via the power line, which is a communication medium. The power feeding apparatus includes an acquisition unit, a restriction unit and a determination unit. The acquisition unit acquires restriction information used to restrict the feeding of the power to the external apparatus. The restriction unit restricts the feeding of the power to the external apparatus to which the power feeding apparatus is to feed the power. The determination unit determines as to whether or not the restriction unit has to restrict the feeding of the power, based on the restriction information acquired by the acquisition unit. |
| US08050799B2 |
Method for determination of spraying parameters for controlling a painting appliance which uses spraying means
A method for determining of spraying parameters for controlling a painting appliance which sprays and is moved over an area to be painted, in particular a robot with a painting application. A known spraying map is produced, using known spraying parameters and paint amount, for a predetermined movement speed of the painting appliance, and a paint amount is matched to a new movement speed in comparison to the predetermined movement speed. Furthermore, new spraying parameters are calculated for the adapted paint amount, while maintaining a spraying map which is similar to the known spraying map. |
| US08050793B1 |
Method and apparatus for linking reticle manufacturing data
A method includes providing a design data file specifying at least one target feature on a first reticle. A reticle qualification data file specifying a plurality of feature measurements associated with features formed using the first reticle is provided. At least one of the feature measurements is linked to the target feature on the first reticle. The target feature and the linked feature measurement are stored in a data store. |
| US08050792B2 |
Method and device for optimization of flatness control in the rolling of a strip
A method and a device for optimization of flatness control in the rolling of a strip using any number of mill stands and actuators. A mill model is used represented by a mill matrix that includes information of the flatness effect of each actuator. Each actuator's flatness effect is translated into a coordinate system having a dimension less than or equal to the number of actuators used. The actual flatness values are monitoring/sampling across the strip. A vector of the flatness error/deviation is computed as the difference between the monitored/sampled strip flatness and a reference flatness vector. The flatness error is converted into a smaller parameterized flatness error vector. A dynamic controller is used to calculate optimized actuator set-points in order to minimize the parameterized flatness error, thereby achieving the desired strip flatness. Also a system for optimization of flatness control in rolling a strip. |
| US08050789B2 |
System and methods for automatic generation of component data
A method of manufacturing electronic circuits including generating CAD data, a bill of materials and an approved component vendor list for an electronic circuit and employing the CAD data, the bill of materials and the approved component vendor list for automatically generating a pick & place machine-specific component loading specification, a pick & place machine-specific component placement sequence and pick & place machine-specific component data for governing the operation of at least one specific pick & place machine in a manufacturing line. |
| US08050788B2 |
Apparatus and method for optimizing an assembly process with local positioning using inertial guidance capabilities
An apparatus includes a handheld tool for executing an assembly process within a confined work space. A local positioning module (LPM) is connected to the tool to collect raw data describing motion of the LPM and tool within the work space. A control unit communicates with a host machine and the tool, and updates an assembly setting of the tool. The host executes a control action when a position determined using the raw data is not equal to a corresponding position in a predetermined sequence. A method calculates the present position of a handheld torque wrench using three gyroscopes and three accelerometers, and calculating a present position of a fastener using the present position of the tool. The present position of the fastener is compared to a corresponding position in the predetermined sequence, and the torque wrench is disabled when the fastener position is not equal to the corresponding position. |
| US08050787B2 |
Recording medium production control device, recording medium production control method
A recording medium production control device, recording medium production control method, and program instructions stored on a tangible computer-readable medium acquire the operating status of the existing data recording device, printer, and other devices in the recording medium production device, plans an operating command sequence for each of the devices to process a request from an application based on the acquired operating status information for the devices, and controls the operation of the devices according to this operating command sequence to produce optical recording media with maximum production efficiency without the devices interfering with each other. The recording medium production control device 10 has a system control unit 40, a data recording unit driver 51, an auto loader driver 53, and a printer driver 60. The system control unit 40 manages the operating sequence of the devices in the recording medium production device 90 to control the devices of the recording medium production device 90 to not interfere with each other. |
| US08050784B2 |
Integrated programmer reference for industrial control device data
A computer program to assist in programming an industrial control system provides a programmer with a functional description of the data of low-level devices in the industrial controller, as gleaned from electronic data sheets, whose data is extracted and combined with mapping data used during the configuration of the industrial controller. The functional description may be used to create a reference for the programmer that may be incorporated into the control program source file. |
| US08050780B2 |
Apparatus and method for controlling a force-activated controller
A servo-controlled system is disclosed for providing simulated feel equivalent to that of traditional mechanical hand controllers. Processed position and force sensor signals are used in a feedback loop that controls the motor mechanically connected to the stick. The feedback loop comprises a low-level motor feedback loop, and high-level force feel loop. The latter comprises static and dynamic performance components. The system allows variable and additional force cues to be specified externally to the system and felt by the operator, and/or external signal to backdrive the stick to follow a specified motion. The control framework permits the electronic coupling of the motion and applied forces by pilots in a dual arrangement while retaining the above-mentioned features. It simulates cross-coupling mechanical compliance due to force fight between pilots, detents and asymmetric force feel gradients. Parameters associated with loops and performance components can be specified independently. |
| US08050779B2 |
Model structure parameter decision method, parameter decision device, control device, and temperature adjustment device
To easily decide parameters of a model structure of a controlled object suitable for non-interference control.Parameters K and T of a model structure (A structure) comprising a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs, wherein a difference on the output side is fed back to the input side, are calculated based on parameters a and b of a black box model (P structure) calculated through system identification or the like in accordance with predetermined conversion expressions K=f(a,b) and T=f(a,b). |
| US08050778B2 |
Sensor-machine interface and method for operation thereof
The invention relates to a sensor-machine interface for the coupling of at least one sensor to at least one machine with at least one sensor input for receiving sensor status signals, at least one machine output, for transmission of machine control signals, a programme memory and a controller for programme-controlled operation of the machine output dependent on the signals received by means of the sensor input and a method for operating such an interface. |
| US08050775B2 |
Coronary vein lead having pre-formed biased portions for fixation
A lead having pre-formed biased portion is adapted for implantation on or about the heart within the coronary vasculature and for connection to a signal generator. The lead is constructed and arranged so that when it is implanted, the electrodes are housed in the coronary vasculature and are biased toward a vessel wall by the preformed biased portion, which operates to fixate the lead against the vessel wall. |
| US08050774B2 |
Electrode apparatus, systems and methods
Apparatus, system, and method that include a pacing apparatus having a stent electrode through which pulses of electrical current can be delivered. Stent electrodes receive energy for generating the electrical current from a variety of sources. Sources include from one or more induction coils that can form at least a portion of the stent. Sources can also include an implantable pulse generator coupled to a lead through which pulses of the electrical current are supplied to the stent electrodes. |
| US08050773B2 |
Expandable neuromodular stimulation lead
A medical stimulation lead is provided. The medical stimulation lead includes an elongated lead body including a substantially rounded cross-section and including a first biased portion forming a first section of the substantially rounded cross-section and a second biased portion forming a second section of the substantially rounded cross-section. A plurality of electrodes are provided connected to the elongated lead body. A restraining body is removably connected to the elongated lead body releasably exerting a force substantially counter to the biases of the first biased portion and the second biased portion. The retraining body releasably maintains the substantially rounded cross-section of the elongated lead body, wherein removal of the restraining body permits the first biased portion and the second biased portion to expand, dividing the substantially rounded cross-section. The present invention further provides a method for providing spinal cord stimulation and a stimulation lead including an elongated plate. |
| US08050772B1 |
Burr hole caps and methods of use
In one embodiment, a kit, for securing a lead or cannula within a burr hole, comprises: a base structure to be positioned immediately adjacent to or partially within the burr hole; a lead securing member for securing the lead within the burr hole, the lead securing member comprising a first arm structure and a second arm structure, at least one spring loaded structure adapted to exert a force to bring the first arm structure and the second arm structure together; and a positioning tool having a distal end adapted to be inserted within the lead securing member; wherein when the distal end of the positioning tool is positioned within the lead securing member, the distal end holds the first and second arm structures a sufficient distance apart to receive a lead or a cannula between the first and second arm structures. |
| US08050764B2 |
Cross-checking of transthoracic impedance and acceleration signals
A first chamber minute ventilation rate is determined based on a first transthoracic impedance signal received from a first chamber of a heart and a second chamber minute ventilation rate is determined based on a second transthoracic impedance signal received from a second chamber of the heart. A processor compares the minute ventilation rates to determine a rate. In one embodiment, an accelerometer sensor provides data for evaluating propriety of a rate. Before implementing a rate change, signals from multiple sensors are cross-checked. |
| US08050760B2 |
System and method for evaluating mechanical cardiac dyssynchrony based on multiple impedance vectors using an implantable medical device
Techniques are provided for evaluating mechanical dyssynchrony within the heart of patient in which a pacemaker, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or other medical device is implanted. In one example, a set of cardiogenic impedance signals are detected along different sensing vectors passing through the heart of the patient, particularly vectors passing through the ventricular myocardium. A measure of mechanical dyssynchrony is detected based on differences, if any, among the cardiogenic impedance signals detected along the different vectors. In particular, differences in peak magnitude delay times, peak velocity delay times, peak magnitudes, and waveform integrals of the cardiogenic impedance signals are quantified and compared to detect abnormally contracting segments, if any, within the heart of the patient. Warnings are generated upon detection of any significant increase in mechanical dyssynchrony. Diagnostic information is recorded for clinical review. Pacing therapies such as cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) can be activated or controlled in response to mechanical dyssynchrony to improve the hemodynamic output of the heart. |
| US08050758B2 |
Method and apparatus for selecting and timing anti-tachyarrhythmia pacing using cardiac cycle length stability
An implantable medical device delivers anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies including anti-tachyarrhythmia pacing (ATP). When a tachyarrhythmia episode is detected, the implantable medical device analyzes cardiac cycle length stability to determine whether and/or when to deliver an ATP. In one embodiment, the cardiac cycle length stability is measured by existence of stable ventricular tachyarrhythmia clusters (SVTCs) during the tachyarrhythmia episode. Each SVTC includes at least a specified minimum number of heart beats over which the cardiac cycle lengths meet a stability criterion. |
| US08050754B2 |
Method for discriminating between ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias
The present invention is directed toward a detection architecture for use in implantable cardiac rhythm devices. The detection architecture of the present invention provides methods and devices for discriminating between arrhythmias. Moreover, by exploiting the enhanced specificity in the origin of the identified arrhythmia, the detection architecture can better discriminate between rhythms appropriate for device therapy and those that are not. |
| US08050746B2 |
Tissue visualization device and method variations
Tissue visualization device and method variations are described herein where an imaging hood is temporarily sealed against a region of tissue to be treated while under direct visualization. Such a system may include a deployment catheter and an attached imaging hood deployable into an expanded configuration. The imaging hood is placed against or adjacent to the tissue to be imaged in a body lumen that is normally filled with an opaque bodily fluid such as blood. A translucent or transparent fluid is pumped into the hood until the fluid displaces any blood leaving a clear region of tissue to be imaged via an imaging element. Temporary sealing against the tissue can be achieved in a number of ways such as circumferential balloons inflatable within the hood or other sealing techniques. A field of view of the imaging element can be expanded by inflating the balloon beyond the imaging hood. |
| US08050743B2 |
Positron emission detectors and configurations
A three-dimensional detector module for use in detecting annihilation photons generated by positrons emitted from radio-labeled sites within a body is formed from multiple solid state photo-detectors attached to one or more scintillators. Each photo-detector can be attached to a scintillator to form a photo-detector/scintillator combination and multiple photo-detector/scintillator combinations can be arranged in an array. Alternatively, multiple photo-detectors can be attached to the surface of a single scintillator to form an array. Multiple arrays are then stacked to form a photo-detector module. The modules can then be assembled to form a sheet of photo-detector modules. Multiple sheets or multiple modules can then be arranged around a body to detect emissions from radio-labeled sites in the body. Multiple position sensors attached to the photo-detectors, arrays or modules provide the ability to locate the source of the positron emissions from the labeled sites in the body and generate an image of the emission site. A series of novel PET configurations can be constructed from these detector modules, making PET scanners portable, more sensitive and flexible to be used in numerous different operational configurations, such as operating room, emergency rooms, critical care units, or battlefield. |
| US08050740B2 |
Microwave-based examination using hypothesis testing
Microwave examination of individuals is carried out by transmitting microwave signals from multiple antenna locations into an individual and receiving the backscattered microwave signals at multiple antenna locations to provide received signals from the antennas. The received signals are processed to remove the skin interface reflection component of the signal and the corrected signal data are provided to a hypothesis testing process. In hypothesis testing for detecting tumors, image data are formed from the test statistic used to perform a binary hypothesis test at each voxel. The null hypothesis asserts that no tumor is present at a candidate voxel location. The voxel threshold is determined by specifying a false discovery rate to control the expected proportion of false positives in the image. When the test statistic value associated with a voxel is greater than the threshold, the null hypothesis is rejected and the test statistic is assigned to the voxel. For voxels where the test statistic falls below the threshold, the null hypothesis is accepted and the voxel value is set to zero. The resulting image indicates the locations or other characteristics of detected tumors. |
| US08050739B2 |
System and method for visualizing heart morphology during electrophysiology mapping and treatment
Systems and methods for facilitating visual detection of one or more catheter tips in relation to the morphology of an anatomical structure include locating reference catheters relative to heart tissue using an automated navigation support that draws upon prominent image features that are visible in the x-ray fluoroscopy images. The prominent features include catheter tips of reference catheters that are placed at known standard positions in relation to the anatomical structures. Based on the noted prominent features, the systems and methods achieve alignment of the anatomical structures, e.g., the heart morphology, with the interventional devices, e.g., ablation catheter(s) introduced by the physician, and generate a fused or overlaid image. |
| US08050736B2 |
Hybrid imaging method to monitor medical device delivery and patient support for use in the method
This invention discloses a method and apparatus to deliver medical devices to targeted locations within human tissues using imaging data. The method enables the target location to be obtained from one imaging system, followed by the use of a second imaging system to verify the final position of the device. In particular, the invention discloses a method based on the initial identification of tissue targets using MR imaging, followed by the use of ultrasound imaging to verify and monitor accurate needle positioning. The invention can be used for acquiring biopsy samples to determine the grade and stage of cancer in various tissues including the brain, breast, abdomen, spine, liver, and kidney. The method is also useful for delivery of markers to a specific site to facilitate surgical removal of diseased tissue, or for the targeted delivery of applicators that destroy diseased tissues in-situ. |
| US08050734B2 |
Method and system for performing patient specific analysis of disease relevant changes of a disease in an anatomical structure
A method for performing patient specific analysis of disease relevant changes of a disease in an anatomical structure of interest is provided. The method comprises determining a percentage of the anatomical structure that is encompassed by a diseased tissue region using a patient specific healthy tissue model. The method then comprises determining the amount or spatial distribution or a combination thereof of tissue volume variation due to the disease in the anatomical structure based on the percentage of the anatomical structure encompassed by the diseased tissue region and an estimated original amount of tissue. |
| US08050731B2 |
Techniques to improve polyurethane membranes for implantable glucose sensors
The invention provides an implantable membrane for regulating the transport of analytes therethrough that includes a matrix including a first polymer; and a second polymer dispersed throughout the matrix, wherein the second polymer forms a network of microdomains which when hydrated are not observable using photomicroscopy at 400× magnification or less. In one aspect, the homogeneous membrane of the present invention has hydrophilic domains dispersed substantially throughout a hydrophobic matrix to provide an optimum balance between oxygen and glucose transport to an electrochemical glucose sensor. |
| US08050730B2 |
Method and apparatus for eliminating interference in pulse oxygen measurement
The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for eliminating interference in pulse oxygen measurement. The method comprises the steps of: collecting a first wavelength light and a second wavelength light transmitting through the object to be measured and converting collected optic signals into electric signals to form a plethysmogram; processing the plethysmogram so as to normalize it, in order to decompose the normalized plethysmogram into a combination of an ideal plethysmogram and noise, and expand the ideal plethysmogram by using functions that can make up a complete orthonormal system; eliminating the noise in the plethysmogram through differential operation; and restoring the plethysmogram free of noise through integral operation for calculating oxygen saturation. The apparatus comprises a collecting module, a processing module, a noise eliminating module, and a restoring module. The method and apparatus suitable for the measurement of oxygen saturation under weak perfusion and movement conditions. |
| US08050729B2 |
Devices for continuous measurement of glucose in body fluid
A device for monitoring a constituent of body fluid continuously or repeatedly over a time period includes a body fluid sampling system and an optical sensor arrangement. The sampling system has a pumping arrangement which pumps body fluid from a cannula to a fluid sink. The optical sensor determines a concentration of at least one constituent of the body fluid. The pumping arrangement preferably ejects drops of body fluid from a fine nozzle. According to certain embodiments, optical sensor arrangements ensure that the optical paths do not pass through surfaces wetted by the fluid to be examined. |
| US08050728B2 |
Multiple wavelength sensor drivers
A cable is capable of communicating signals between a monitor and a physiological sensor. The monitor is capable of activating individual light emitters of an emitter array arranged in an electrical grid by driving at least one of row drive lines and at least one of column drive lines of the electrical grid. The cable has a first row input, a first column input, a second row input and a second column input. The cable also has a first output which combines the first row input and the first column input and a second output which combines the second row input and the second column input. The inputs are adapted to connect to electrical grid drive lines of a monitor. Further, the outputs are adapted to connect to contacts of a physiological sensor having back-to-back configured LEDs in electrical communication with the contacts. |
| US08050727B2 |
Slide mechanism for slide-type terminal device
An exemplary slide mechanism (100) includes a rear cover (20), a front cover (30), and a coil spring (50). The front cover is slidably attached to the rear cover. The coil spring connected is configured for creating an elastic force to make the front cover slide relative to the rear cover. The coil spring includes a coiled portion (52) connected to the front cover, a free portion (54) connected to the rear cover, and a connecting portion (56) connecting the coiled portion and the free portion. |
| US08050723B2 |
Portable electronic device having solar cell module
A portable electronic device includes a main body and a solar cell module. The main body has electric components. The solar cell module is mounted in the main body. The solar cell module is configured for supplying electric energy to the electric components of the main body. The solar cell module includes a solar cell, a cell cover and a light diverging lens. The solar cell has a light-absorbing surface. The cell cover faces the light-absorbing surface. The cell cover defines a through hole therein. The light diverging lens is engaged in the through hole. The light diverging lens faces toward the light-absorbing surface and is configured for diverging light transmitted therethrough. |
| US08050722B2 |
Voltage supply control device and voltage supply control method
In a voltage supply control device, a voltage conversion circuit receives a voltage from a battery and generates a desired voltage. A switching control unit executes switching so as to supply a voltage to a power amplification circuit through the voltage conversion circuit when the voltage of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value or supply the voltage to the power amplification circuit from the battery without intervention of the voltage conversion circuit when the voltage of the battery is less than the predetermined threshold value. The switching control unit uses different voltage threshold values for a plurality of transmission modes classified in accordance with the assumed values of appropriate voltages to be supplied to the power amplification circuit. A cellular phone terminal and a voltage supply control method are also disclosed. |
| US08050720B2 |
Speed dialing method for displaying contact information and mobile communication device using the same
A speed dialing method for displaying contact information for use in a mobile communication device is disclosed. Plural time threshold values and information display transparencies corresponding to the time threshold values, respectively, are defined. When the mobile communication device receives a trigger signal generated by pressing a button and a time for continuously receiving the trigger signal respectively reaches the time threshold values, contact information corresponding to the pressed button is displayed with information display transparencies corresponding to the time threshold values on a screen of the mobile communication device. When the time for continuously receiving the trigger signal reaches a dial threshold value, a contact phone number assigned to the pressed button is dialed by the mobile communication device. |
| US08050718B2 |
Wireless base station
The present invention utilizes a wireless base station having a first radio transceiver and a second radio transceiver connected to the first radio transceiver with a communication cable, a first baseband unit connected to the first radio transceiver with a communication cable, and a second baseband unit connected to the second radio transceiver with a communication cable. |
| US08050712B2 |
Method of providing a mobile multimedia hub
A method is provided for expanding the input and output capabilities of a mobile communications device. If a received signal should be immediately outputted, then a user of the mobile communications device selects an open interface output port for the received signal prior to receiving the signal. Upon reception, the received signal may be transmitted via the open-interface output port on the mobile communications device to an external device. If the received signal may be outputted at another time, then the user of the mobile communications device selects the open interface output port before or after receiving the signal. Upon reception, the signal may be stored as one or more files on the mobile communications device. At another time, the user may use the mobile communications device to transmit, via the open interface output port, a second signal having the one or more files to the external device. |
| US08050710B2 |
Image transmission apparatus, image transmission method and image transmission program product
A cellular phone includes, for the sake of privacy protection, a camera for outputting a pick up image in which an operator is photographed, a touch panel to accept designation of at least a partial region of the pick up image, and a control portion to determine a masked region to mask at least a part of the pick up image based on the accepted region, generate a composite image in which the masked region of the pick up image is converted to another image, and transmit the composite image. |
| US08050709B2 |
Wireless printer configuration module
A printer comprises a print mechanism and a wireless communication module including a wireless transceiver and a configuration module. The configuration module is adapted to electronically query at least one available wireless device to determine at least one wireless security parameter of the at least one available wireless device and to receive a response from the queried at least one available wireless device, via the wireless transceiver, for configuring the printer for wireless association in a wireless computing network including the at least one available wireless device. |
| US08050708B2 |
Option management in a software-defined radio
The option management approach for SDRs includes control of installation and/or access to waveform features and/or platform features. A software-defined radio may include an antenna, a radio transceiver coupled to the antenna, and at least one memory storing a master feature database including a plurality of selectable waveform features and a plurality of selectable platform features, and a selected options database including selected waveform features and selected platform features from the master feature database. A controller cooperates with the at least one memory to configure the selected options database based upon an input options file and to permit reconfiguration of the selected options database based upon a subsequent input options file. The controller also cooperates with the radio transceiver and the selected options database to operate the SDR based upon the selected waveform features and the selected platform features. |
| US08050707B2 |
Method for selecting a priority for wireless technologies via graphical representation
Methods and systems are disclosed for selecting performance settings for one or more wireless technologies, presenting a graphical representation of the relative performance of the wireless technologies for each performance setting, and allowing a selection of at least one of the performance settings. The performance settings can be associated with wireless technologies, or location types. Performance characteristics may include noise, power, quality, speed, and interference. The performance setting of one wireless technology may be manually adjusted and the impact on other wireless technologies can be a graphical displayed or numerical display. Adjustments can be made by a user or a platform designer. In a preset mode, a user make select between preset performance settings that are graphically displayed. In an advanced mode, adjustments to wireless performance characteristics of all the wireless interfaces on a specific platform may be selectively made with the relative effects on other wireless interfaces graphically displayed. |
| US08050706B2 |
Terminal and method for controlling its audio alarm
The present invention discloses a terminal and a method for controlling audio alarm of the terminal. The method comprises detecting whether a valid wireless signal can be received, and setting said terminal to a non-audio alarm mode when it is determined that said valid wireless signal cannot be received. With the terminal and the method of the present invention, it is possible to suppress noise pollution caused by the ringing of the terminal. |
| US08050705B2 |
Subscriber identity module unlocking service portal
An improved method and system for removing operating restrictions associated with a predetermined subscriber identity module (SIM) from a wireless device. A user is allowed to securely log onto a Web site that contains support information on subscription plans, billing, termination, penalties, and device-to-SIM unlocking. After satisfying any outstanding contract terms and payment of termination or device unlock fees, the user initiates a device-to-SIM unlock procedure. A client application on the wireless device securely transfers subscription, system, and SIM information to a device-to-SIM unlock system which uses the information to generate appropriate unlock codes. The unlock codes are then securely transferred to the client application, which processes them to remove operating restrictions associated with the predetermined SIM from the device and allow it to thereafter implement a plurality of SIMs. |
| US08050699B2 |
Method, terminal, and system for establishing PoC group session in PoC system
A method, a terminal, and a system for establishing a Push to Talk Over Cellular (PoC) group session in a PoC network based on session initiation information, such as information regarding presence of clients to be invited or session start-up time. According to the method, Universal Resource Indicator (URI) information regarding invitation and Information Reservation Service (IRS) parameters are set up in a PoC eXtensible markup language Document Management Server (XDMS), and a PoC server is requested to provide an IRS so that a session is established. |
| US08050697B2 |
Multi-antenna scheduling system and method
A wireless communication method and system using virtual MIMO (“V-MIMO”) are provided. Post processing signal to interference and noise ratios (“SINR”) for a plurality of signals corresponding to a plurality of mobile terminals arranged as a V-MIMO group are estimated. The one of the plurality of mobile terminals having the highest post processing SINR is selected. Wireless communication for the selected mobile terminal is scheduled. The signal corresponding to the selected mobile terminal is cancelled. Post processing signal to interference and noise ratios (“SINR”) for the signals corresponding to the remaining mobile terminals is re-estimated. The one of the remaining mobile terminals having the highest post processing SINR is selected. Wireless communication for the selected remaining mobile terminal is scheduled. |
| US08050693B2 |
Employing the SMS protocol as a transport layer protocol
Communicating data by transforming images or other non-text data into subsets of text characters and communicating each subset in an electronic message that can carry only a limited number of text characters. An embodiment transforms portions of binary data of an image or other non-text data into subsets of hexadecimal data that represents text characters. The subsets of hexadecimal text character data are included in SMS messages that have a predefined maximum number of characters. A header is included in the SMS messages to identify the ordering of the data. The SMS messages are communicated to a receiving device that orders the messages, transforms each subset of hexadecimal text characters back into the binary data, and assembles the binary data into it prior form for rendering to a user of the receiving device. A server may process the SMS messages, such as by inserting additional SMS messages with advertising data. |
| US08050691B2 |
Method and arrangements in a mobile telecommunication network
The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement in a mobile telecommunication network for detection of a UE transmitted signal. The arrangement comprises means for detecting the signal during the time ttot, wherein said means comprises a correlator adapted for combined coherent and non-coherent correlation, wherein the length of the coherent correlation interval is L signal samples, the number of coherent correlation intervals is M and the coherent correlation results in a coherent correlation result for each of the coherent detection intervals M, and means for adding the coherent correlation results non-coherently. Further, the arrangement comprises means for selecting one of the length L of coherent detection interval and the total detection interval ttot based on at least one of the parameters cell size, UE speed and acceleration, number of participating Location Measurements Units and a desired total false alarm rate. |
| US08050686B1 |
Method of enabling low tier location applications
In a wireless communication network having remote receivers (subscriber units) communicating through base units in a service area, each of the base units servicing a cell area encompasses one or more identifiable zones which can be occupied by receivers. According to the invention, at least one measure of the spatial size of the cell is reported to a receiver communicating with a base station, for use in location specific applications. The measure can be a size category, an average diameter or another measure, such as a shape and orientation of the cell, a boundary apex, and a boundary line of the cell. The base station coordinates are conventionally available to the receiver. By providing a measure of size, the receiver can resolve its zone or location to a coarse or low level of resolution. The zone occupied by the receiver is at least within the cell and the size of the cell and location of the base station are now known. According to additional embodiments, the resolved zone known to be occupied by the receiver is refined to an area within the defined cell area. The size of the cell or service area of the location transmitter can be appended to the identification code of the base station. Reporting the cell size and location is sufficient to facilitate some location applications in the receiver, and can reduce or eliminate reliance on satellite and other positioning systems, particularly if the zone initially defined as the cell size is resolved further, for example using time-of-arrival, power level, angular bearing and similar techniques. |
| US08050682B2 |
Method and system for delivering and constructing status information in communication system
Disclosed is a method for delivering buffer status information to a target base station, to which a mobile station has decided to hand over, by a serving base station in a communication system. The method includes the steps of constructing buffer status information containing a first parameter indicating the number of a smallest packet among packets within a predetermined section stored in a buffer, a second parameter indicating the number of a packet to be transmitted at a next point of time, a third parameter indicating the number of a first packet, the lifetime of which has not yet expired, and a fourth parameter indicating whether or not an instruction to initialize the buffer status information has been transmitted to the mobile station; and transmitting a message containing the constructed buffer status information to the target base station. |
| US08050679B2 |
Method and apparatus for indicating preferred layer information in multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS)
A method is disclosed for transferring preferred frequency information in a mobile communication system which establishes a preferred frequency layer and a non-preferred frequency layer for a Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) service. The method involves the steps of determining at least one preferred frequency of the MBMS service when a session of the MBMS service starts, generating the preferred frequency information representing said at least one preferred frequency, and transmitting the preferred frequency information to at least one serving radio network controller for managing communication of user equipments intended to receive the MBMS service. |
| US08050675B2 |
Managing sponsored content based on usage history
Improved search capabilities are disclosed for mobile communications devices such as cell phones, as well as improved techniques for delivering sponsored content in a mobile communication environment. |
| US08050672B2 |
Telecommunication system, mobile phone and calling method
The present invention provides a telecommunication system, a mobile phone and a calling method adapted for the telecommunication system. The telecommunication system includes a mobile phone connected to a wireless network and a wired phone connected to a wired network. The mobile phone and the wired phone communicate each other within a predetermined coverage area. When there is not a wired phone within the predetermined coverage area or there is a wired phone within the predetermined coverage area and the current state of the wired phone is busy, the mobile phone makes a call via the wireless network. If there is a wired phone within the predetermined coverage area and the current state of the wired phone is idle, the mobile phone sends a phone number to the wired phone, and the wired phone makes the call via the wired network. |
| US08050671B2 |
Method and apparatus for network growth planning in wireless networks
The invention includes a method and apparatus for determining network growth information for a radio access network (RAN) and a wired network supporting communications of the RAN (denoted as a core network). The method includes obtaining RAN configuration information including RAN component configuration information and RAN component connectivity information, obtaining actual traffic information and forecast traffic information for the RAN, and determining RAN growth information by correlating the actual traffic information and the forecast traffic information with the RAN configuration information, the RAN growth information indicating whether at least one additional RAN component is necessary to support the actual and forecast traffic. The method may further include determining network growth information associated with the core network using core network configuration information and at least a portion of the RAN growth information. |
| US08050668B2 |
Determining presence of radio frequency communication device
A RF data communication device operates in at least two states. In a first state, the device transmits a response to an RF transmission if specific data therein represents an inquiry as to the presence of one or more RF data communication devices and if specific data therein corresponds to a class maintained by the device. The device does not transmit a response if specific data in the RF transmission is not representative of an inquiry as to the presence of one or more RF data communication devices, or if specific data therein does not correspond to at least one maintained class. In a second state, the device does not transmit a response when specific data is included therein that is representative of an inquiry as to the presence of one or more RF data communication devices and specific data therein corresponds to at least one maintained class. |
| US08050666B2 |
Appointment application for use in electronic equipment
A method, device and computer program for coordinating a communication session between an individual and a user of a portable communication device. A portable communication device is provided having an appointment application program stored in memory. The appointment application program includes a queue indicative of a plurality of contacts that are required to contact an associated user of the portable communication device during a predetermined period from an authorized contact number. When the user of the portable communication device 10 receives a telephone call, the call is processed to determine if the telephone call is from one of the authorized contact numbers associated with one of the contacts from queue. |
| US08050661B2 |
System and method for redirecting message attachments between a host system and a mobile data communication device
A scheme for redirecting e-mail messages and message attachments from a mail system to a mobile data communication device. In one embodiment, a method comprises one or more of the following: automatically detecting a data item including an e-mail message and a message attachment by a redirector component associated with the mail system, processing the data item for sending a first portion of the data item to the mobile data communication device via a wireless network, receiving a command message from the mobile data communication device at the redirector component requesting more of the data item, and sending a second portion of the data item including the message attachment to a user of the mobile data communication device in response to the command message. |
| US08050658B2 |
Method for signaling voice call of mobile terminal
A computer program product, apparatus and method for establishing a voice call of a mobile communication system includes: authenticating an origination terminal through a traffic channel by performing call connection between the origination terminal and an origination side network; authenticating a destination terminal through a traffic channel by performing call connection between a termination side network and the destination terminal when the authentication is successful; and establishing a speech path between the origination terminal and the destination terminal when the destination terminal is successfully authenticated. A request and submission of an OTP for authenticating a user of a mobile terminal is possibly performed according to the voice call protocol, whereby the security of the mobile terminal can be strengthened and the strong demand of users with respect to protecting the privacy and information can be satisfied. |
| US08050657B2 |
Tamper resistant circuitry and portable electronic devices
A portable electronic device. Tamper-resistant circuitry for inclusion in an electronic device. The tamper-resistant circuitry comprises wireless receiving circuitry operable to receive an incoming communication. The tamper-resistant circuitry also comprises a first circuit operable to change a signal state in response to the incoming communication. The tamper-resistant circuitry also comprises a verification sensor circuit coupled to the first circuit. The sensor is operable to detect a circuit condition indicative of unauthorized use and upon detection of the circuit condition to prevent the change of the signal state. |
| US08050653B2 |
System and method for viewing message attachments
Methods and systems for handling attachments on wireless mobile communication devices. An attachment provided with a secure message is received at a message server. The secure message itself was received by the server as an attachment. The secure message is processed in order to locate within the secure message the requested attachment. The located attachment is provided to a mobile device. |
| US08050652B2 |
Method and device for an internet radio capable of obtaining playlist content from a content server
A network-enabled audio device that provides a display device that allows the user to select playlists of music much like a jukebox is disclosed. The user can compose playlists from disk files, CD's, Internet streaming audio broadcasts, online music sites, and other audio sources. The user can also select a desired Web broadcast from a list of available Web broadcasts. In addition, the user can play standard audio CD's and MP3 encoded CD's and have access to local AM/FM stations. Further, the software, the user controls, and the display in the network-enabled audio device are operably configured and connected such that the user can listen to playlists that include CD's and other audio sources just as the user would choose a playlist in a jukebox. The user accesses a server site via a PC and the Internet. From the server site, the user obtains a list of the devices in his or her Internet Personal Audio Network (IPAN) and what songs are on those devices. The IPAN includes an IPAN server, an IPAN client, and IPAN software stored on the network-enabled audio device. Thus, the network-enabled audio device provides people who are or are not comfortable with computers a way of taking music from various sources and putting it into one place for listening pleasure. In one embodiment, the Personal Computer (PC) is used to compose the playlists, but the user is able to listen to playlists and other audio sources without using the PC. |
| US08050650B2 |
Hairpin band pass filter and related frequency down converter
A band pass filter includes a first micro-strip port for receiving a radio-frequency signal, a second micro-strip port for outputting a filtered radio-frequency signal and comprising at least one resonating cavity formed for enhancing rejecting effect of image frequency corresponding to the filtered radio-frequency signal, and a plurality of resonators arranged between the first micro-strip port and the second micro-strip port for performing band pass filtering on the radio-frequency signal to generate the filtered radio-frequency signal. |
| US08050642B2 |
Variable gain amplifier and receiver including the same
Provided are a variable gain amplifier and a receiver including the same. The variable gain amplifier includes: a gain controller generating a gain control voltage; a variable gain amplifier amplifying an input signal and a feedback signal by using a voltage gain that is linearly proportional to the gain control voltage, and converting the amplified signal into a predetermined magnitude of a signal; and an offset canceller removing an offset from an output signal of the variable gain amplifier and outputting the offset removed result as the feedback signal. The variable gain amplifier includes a plurality of operational transconductance amplifiers. |
| US08050638B2 |
Power amplifier controller with polar transmitter
A power amplifier controller controls a power amplifier and is coupled to a polar modulator. The polar modulator generates an amplitude component and a phase-modulated component of the desired RF modulated signal, and outputs to the power amplifier controller. The power amplifier controller regenerates a combined phase and amplitude modulated RF signal to generate an input signal to a power amplifier by adjusting the gain of a VGA based on the amplitude component of the desired RF modulated signal. Concurrently, the power amplifier controller both controls an adjusted supply voltage to the PA and adjusts the gain of the VGA based upon an amplitude correction signal or amplitude error signal. |
| US08050634B2 |
Transceiver with isolated receiver
A transceiver includes a transmitter configured to transmit a first radio frequency signal, a switching device connected to the transmitter and configured to receive and transmit the first radio frequency signal to an antenna, a receiver connected to the switching device via an input and configured to receive a second radio frequency signal from the switching device, the receiver including an electrostatic discharge protection device connected to the input, and a biasing device connected to the electrostatic discharge protection device and configured to forward bias the electrostatic discharge protection device. |
| US08050630B1 |
Method for monitoring the operation of a global position system receiver
A method is provided for determining the validity of a signal received by a GPS receiver. A signal that is unfiltered, either mathematically or electronically, is monitored to determine the variability of different occurrences of the signal. These occurrences, which may be sequential, are compared to each other in order to detect whether or not variation exists between one occurrence of the signal and a subsequent occurrence of the signal. If no variation exists, it is determined that the signal is invalid and that a loss of fix of the satellite signal has occurred. If sufficient variability exists in the signal, between successive occurrences, the signal is deemed to be valid and suitable for use to control a vehicle such as a marine vessel. |
| US08050629B2 |
Optimizing power settings in a communication system to mitigate interference
A method includes a first step of monitoring a noise floor. A next step includes determining if the noise floor crosses a threshold level. A next step includes preventing any further increases in a Common Pilot Channel power level. A next step includes randomly selecting and performing an interference mitigation measure. A next step includes monitoring an interference level. A next step allows further increases in a Common Pilot Channel power level if the interference abates by more than a predetermined amount. |
| US08050623B2 |
Method and device for promotion and sale of media files on ad hoc mobile device networks
A method and apparatus for distributing a media content file wherein a file is received in a node. The received file is then shared with a recognized neighbor node. Once the file is provided by a distributor node to a neighbor node, the distributor node claims an incentive for sharing the file with the neighbor node. |
| US08050622B2 |
Method and system for detecting messages using enhanced distributed signaling
A method and system are provided for detecting messages using enhanced distributed signaling in a wireless communication network that offers transmission diversity to improve the throughput of participating wireless stations. |
| US08050621B2 |
Method and apparatus for estimating/removing echo signal using channel coefficient predicting technique in multi-carrier system
A method and an apparatus are provided for estimating and removing interference of a signal at a wireless repeater operating in a multi-carrier system. In the method, a current echo channel linear prediction coefficient, which represents a coefficient between a current train signal section and a previous train signal section, is estimated using a current echo channel coefficient estimated in the current train signal section and a previous echo channel coefficient generated in the previous train signal section. A next echo channel coefficient is estimated using the current echo channel coefficient, the previous echo channel coefficient, and the current echo channel linear prediction coefficient. An echo channel coefficient outside a train signal section is estimated using the current echo channel coefficient and the next echo channel coefficient. |
| US08050620B2 |
Wireless station, wireless transmission method for the wireless station, and wireless transmission system using the wireless station
A wireless station is used as one of a plurality of relay stations forming transmission paths, respectively, different from each other, in a wireless transmission system for transmitting a packet from a transmitting station to a receiving station through the plurality of relay stations. The wireless station includes a reception section for receiving a packet transmitted from the transmitting station, and receiving a packet which is transmitted, based on the packet transmitted from the transmitting station, from another relay station, and is transmitted before the one of the plurality of relay stations performs transmission, by using a transmission parameter for obtaining a path diversity effect in the wireless transmission system. |
| US08050619B2 |
Radio communication apparatus and radio communication method
Provided is a mobile communication system capable of obtaining a diversity effect even when a signal received by a relay station has an error in a corporate relay to which time space encoding is applied. In this mobile communication system, when S1 has no error and S2 has an error, a relay station (1) does not perform relay transmission at time t (Null) and relay-transmits S1* to a base station at time t+T. That is, in this case, the relay station (1) relay-transmits at time t+T only S1 to be transmitted at time t when no error is contained in either S1 or S2. Moreover, when S1 has an error and S2 has no error, the relay station (1) relay-transmits S2 at time t and does not perform relay transmission at time t+T (Null). That is, in this case, the relay station (1) relay-transmits only S2 to be transmitted at time t+T at time t if no error is contained in either S1 or S2. |
| US08050615B2 |
Disposed toner collecting device of image forming apparatus
According to an embodiment of the invention, a sliding plate that slides in contact with an inner wall of a disposed toner duct is oscillated by using rotation of a disposed toner collection auger. As the sliding plate is oscillated, disposed toner falling and fed through the disposed toner duct is oscillated. The disposed toner adhering to the inner wall of the disposed toner duct is removed by sliding of both lateral parts of the sliding plate in contact with the inner wall. |
| US08050614B2 |
Hard image forming apparatus and method having contamination removal
Hard image forming apparatuses and methods are described. According to one arrangement, a hard image forming apparatus includes an imaging member comprising a surface, a development system configured to provide a marking agent to the surface of the imaging member to form developed images upon the surface of the imaging member which correspond to latent images formed using the surface of the imaging member, and a transfer system configured to transfer the developed images from the surface of the imaging member to media. The arrangement further includes a contamination removal device configured to remove contamination material from the surface of the imaging member, and a control system configured to control the contamination removal device to contact the surface of the imaging member to remove the contamination material from the surface of the imaging member at a first moment in time and to space the contamination removal device from the surface of the imaging member at a second moment in time where the contamination removal device does not remove the contamination material from the surface of the imaging member. |
| US08050610B2 |
Fixing apparatus of image forming apparatus
A heat roller of a fixing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention has a slidable metal belt on an outer side of an elastic roller. At the room temperature, the outer diameter of the elastic roller is smaller than the inner diameter of the metal belt. On the other hand, when the elastic roller is thermally expanded, the metal belt and the elastic roller fit onto each other in a state in which the metal belt fastens the elastic roller. |
| US08050603B2 |
Image forming apparatus, image forming method and image forming program
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms multicolor toner images superposed on a transfer belt. A sensor is disposed in an image formation region and detects a pattern on the transfer belt. A controller determines, when image data is received, whether or not a region of a toner image based on the image data will be superposed on a region of the pattern. The controller controls the image forming unit to form the toner image based on the image data and the pattern simultaneously on the transfer belt when the controller determines that the region of the toner image based on the image data will not be superposed on the region of the pattern. |
| US08050602B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus equipped with the same
A developing device includes: a developer containing a toner and a carrier; a first transporting member placed at an opening portion of a developer vessel used for housing the developer; a second transporting member that faces the first transporting member with a first area interposed therebetween, and also faces an electrostatic latent image-supporting member with a second area interposed therebetween; a first electric-field-forming unit that forms a first electric field between the first transporting member and the second transporting member; and a second electric-field-forming unit that forms a second electric field between the second transporting member and the electrostatic latent image-supporting member. An image-forming apparatus includes the above-mentioned developing device. |
| US08050601B2 |
Smart donor rolls using individually addressable piezoelectric actuators
Exemplary embodiments provide a roll member that includes one or more piezoelectric tape and methods for making and using the roll member. The piezoelectric tape can be flexible and include a plurality of piezoelectric elements configured in a manner that the piezoelectric elements can be addressed individually or as groups with various numbers of elements in each group. In an exemplary embodiment, the disclosed roll member can be used as a donor roll for a development system of an electrophotographic printing machine to create controlled and desired toner powder cloud for high quality image development, such as an image on image development in a hybrid scavengeless development (HSD) system. |
| US08050598B2 |
Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus for mounting the same
A toner cartridge in a bottle shape for storing toner is composed of a first cylindrical portion having a blocked bottom wall at one end and an opening at the other end and a second cylindrical portion in which one end thereof is connected to the opening, and an opening for ejecting toner is formed at the other end, and the outside diameter thereof is smaller than the first cylindrical portion. |
| US08050587B2 |
Image forming apparatus with N-up print mode grouping and alignment
There is described an image forming apparatus that performs an image forming operation in a N-up printing mode based on a print job. The apparatus includes an image forming section; an operating section to designate the N-up printing mode, and to set an arranging method in the N-up printing mode; and a controlling section to apply image processing to the image data of the plural pages, so that the plural images are arranged onto the single paper sheet according to the arranging method set by the operating section. When implementing the image forming operation in the N-up printing mode, the controlling section groups the plural pages into plural groups, each of which includes specific pages fulfilling a same condition in respect to the image forming operation, and then, aligns the specific pages on a same line among plural lines extended along a conveying direction of the paper sheet. |
| US08050584B2 |
Power control method and apparatus to heat a heating roller
A power control apparatus includes a heating roller provided to fix a toner image of print data in an image forming apparatus, the heating roller having a heating resistor to receive roller power. A maximum level of a source power supplied from an external source is gradually increased up to a specific maximum supply level and the maximum source power to the heating resistor is supplied as the roller power while gradually increasing the maximum level of the source power up to a specific maximum supply level. A surface temperature of the heating roller is measured, and the source power of which maximum level is equal to the maximum supply level is supplied to the heating resistor as the roller power until the measured surface temperature reaches a specific fixing target temperature, and the toner image is fixed onto a fed printing medium. |
| US08050583B2 |
Fixing device having heaters controlled based on temperatures detected by first and second temperature detectors
A fixing device, an image forming apparatus using the fixing device, and a temperature control method therefor. The fixing device includes a fixing roller, a heat roller including first and second heat sources, a fixing belt, a pressure roller including a pressure heat source, a first temperature detector, a second temperature detector, and a pressure temperature detector. The heat sources are regularly on and off according to a duty cycle, and at least one of the heat sources is controlled by the duty cycle during paper feed. A wattage of one of the heat sources is added to a wattage of at least one of the other heat sources when the temperature detected by the first or second temperature detector corresponding to the one of the heat sources reaches the set temperature such that a duty ratio of the at least one of the other heat sources is increased. |
| US08050581B2 |
Image forming apparatus and control method thereof
An image forming apparatus and a control method thereof are disclosed. A charge unit charges a surface of an organic photo conductor (OPC) to a predetermined electric potential. A developing unit develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the OPC by coating a developer on the same. A power supply unit supplies power to the charge unit and the developing unit. A control unit regulates the power supplied to the charge unit and the developing unit. After a developing process in the developing unit, the control unit regulates the power applied to at least one of the charge unit and the developing unit so as to collect a residual developer on the surface of the OPC to the developing unit. Accordingly, contamination of the charge unit and the transfer unit can be prevented and an image of a good quality can be achieved. |
| US08050578B2 |
Image forming apparatus to heat and fix a toner image onto a print medium
An image forming apparatus is supplied that can obtain a correct temperature inside an image forming section and can perform an optimum temperature control so that it is possible to prevent remainder toner on the surface of the image carrying body from solidifying. In the image forming apparatus, in order to heat and fix toner image onto print medium, an image forming section forms the toner image on surface of an image carrying body; a conveying section conveys the print medium; a transferring section transfers the toner image on the image carrying body onto the print medium conveyed by the conveying section; a fixing section heats and fixes the toner image transferred on the print medium; a fixing section temperature detection section detects a temperature of the fixing section; an apparatus controlling section controls the temperature of the fixing section on the basis of a detection result of the fixing section temperature detection section; and an inner temperature detection section detects an image forming apparatus inner temperature, wherein the inner temperature detection section is set up in a location outside the image forming section, where temperature changes due to a heat influence from the fixing section as that a toner accommodating portion inside the image forming section has the same heat influence, and the apparatus controlling section sets a temperature setting value of the fixing section on the basis of a detection result of the inner temperature detection section. |
| US08050575B2 |
Image forming apparatus and photosensitive cartridge
An image forming apparatus includes a first developing cartridge and a first photosensitive cartridge. The first developing cartridge is removably mounted in the first photosensitive cartridge and includes a toner hopper, a supply roller and a developing roller. The first photosensitive cartridge includes a photosensitive drum, a charger provided at a position adjacent to the photosensitive drum, a first wall provided adjacent to the supply roller, the toner hopper, and the developing roller when the first developing cartridge is mounted in the photosensitive cartridge, the first wall including a first opening, and a second wall which faces the first wall and is provided adjacent to the charger, the second wall including a second opening on an opposite side of the charger from the photosensitive drum. A portion of a wall of the first developing cartridge projects through the first opening in the first wall of the first photosensitive cartridge. |
| US08050572B2 |
Receiver and electronic device
An abnormal pulse detection circuit in a receiver of the present invention includes: an incoming pulse edge detection circuit which detects the moment of rise of an input signal and outputs the result of the detection as an edge detection signal; a muting reference pulse generation circuit which generates a muting reference pulse based on the edge detection signal; a logic circuit which outputs a signal indicating a negative AND of the muting reference pulse and the input signal; a muting signal generation circuit which generates a muting signal from the output signal of the logic circuit; and a switching circuit which outputs the input signal or the muting signal. The receiver of the present invention can therefore reduce discomfort in hearing reproduced sound in case where a noise occurs in an audio signal due to a variation in pulse width. |
| US08050571B2 |
Illumination light receiver and illumination light communications system
An illumination light receiver includes: a wavelength separation mechanism separating visible light containing optical signal data distributed among wavelengths corresponding to three primary colors into the wavelengths corresponding to the three primary colors; a dispersion restraining mechanism restraining dispersion of light outputted from the wavelength separation mechanism; and a light receiving portion illuminated, separately for each of the separated wavelengths corresponding to the three primary colors, by the light outputted from the dispersion restraining mechanism, the light receiving portion converting the optical signal data into and extracting an electrical signal. |
| US08050569B2 |
Device for optical remote monitoring and system comprising such a device
A device for optical remote monitoring, preferably an optically readable membrane-based microphone, and a system including such a device is provided. The device for optical remote monitoring includes a retroreflector and an acoustic membrane. The acoustic membrane suitably is a light-modulating component and modulates the reflection of an incident light beam in relation to the pressure field, from a sound source, to which the membrane is exposed. The retroreflector may be a corner cube having three sides with the membrane arranged on one of the sides. The membrane can be part of a side or one side may consist of a membrane. |
| US08050566B2 |
System and methods for quantum key distribution over WDM links
A system and a method for quantum key distribution between a transmitter and a receiver over wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) link are disclosed. The method includes providing one or more quantum channels and one or more conventional channels over the WDM link; assigning a different wavelength to each of the one or more quantum channels and each of the one or more conventional channels; transmitting single photon signals on each of the one or more quantum channels; and transmitting data on each of the one or more conventional channels. The data comprises either conventional data or trigger signals for synchronizing the transmission of the single photon signals on the quantum channels. All channels have wavelengths around 1550 nm. The WDM link can be a 3-channel WDM link comprising two quantum channels for transmitting single photon signals and one conventional channel for transmitting conventional data or triggering signals. |
| US08050563B2 |
Self checking optical add drop multiplexer
A technique is proposed for performing add/drop operations in an OADM assembly serving an optical network and comprising an add unit and a drop unit. With respect to at least one optical channel assigned to an optical wavelength λ, the OADM assembly is capable of dropping the channel from the network via the drop unit as a first signal, and adding the channel to the network via the add unit as a second signal. According to the technique, the OADM assembly additionally comprises an authentication and control unit ACU for authenticating the at least one optical channel and controlling the OADM assembly. The ACU is authenticates the optical channel by comparing one or more components of the first signal with one or more components of the second signal serving as a reference, and based on the authentication result, makes decisions whether to allow or block the dropping and/or adding of the optical channel. |
| US08050562B2 |
Apparatus for implementing electro-optical CATV network and signal processing method used by the apparatus
Provided is an apparatus for implementing an electro-optical cable distribution network in which a coaxial cable is replaced with an optical cable in order to provide a service integrating broadcast data and communication data by solving a frequency constraint problem in a cable television (CATV) network employing a conventional hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) network architecture. The apparatus includes an optical network unit (ONU) which converts a downstream signal received from a system operator (SO) into an optical signal and transmits the optical signal to an optical cable; and an optical cable modem which receives the optical downstream signal from the ONU and converts the received signal into an electrical signal. In addition, the ONU and the optical cable modem control signal quality of an optical path. |
| US08050554B2 |
Fault localization apparatus for optical line using subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) monitoring signal and method thereof
Provided are a fault localization apparatus based on an optical communication network and a method thereof. In the fault localization apparatus according to the present invention, a downstream light source is used as a monitoring optical signal instead of using an additional monitoring light source and a subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) monitoring pulse signal of a certain frequency band having no interference with a frequency band of a downstream data signal is used and thus a fault position may be detected at low cost. |
| US08050551B2 |
Covert camera with a fixed lens
A covert camera for surveillance in an aircraft comprises a front panel that can have an appearance other than a conventional camera. The front panel can include at least one aperture therethrough. A lens can be in or near the aperture, the lens having a field of view. A camera mount can be positioned on the front panel. The camera mount can include a sensor capable of receiving an image of at least a portion of the field of view. The camera mount can be capable of adjustment without movement of the lens. |
| US08050550B2 |
Imaging apparatus with display and image display apparatus
A digital camera is provided with a vertically long camera body having an approximately rectangular solid shape. An LCD panel provided in a rear surface of the camera body is arranged such that longitudinal directions of the display screen and the camera body correspond to each other. The digital camera is operated through a touch panel provided in a lower portion of the display screen. In a taking mode, an image is displayed in a small size on an upper portion of the display screen. In reproducing, the camera body is rotated sideways by 90 degree. In a reproducing mode, display posture of the image is also rotated by 90 degree, and the image is displayed in a large size on the entire display screen. |
| US08050549B2 |
Method and device for controlling auto macro function of lens module
A method for controlling an auto macro function of a lens module is provided. Firstly, a control switching module is provided. The both terminals of the coil of the lens module are connected to a power source and the control switching module, respectively. In response to a first signal state of a control signal, a constant current is transmitted from the power source to the coil. The magnets attached on the magnet yoke provide a permanent magnetic field, and the constant current passing through the coil causes a magnetic force to be generated on the coil while moving the lens holder toward the magnet yoke by a constant distance. In response to a second signal state of the control signal, the power source stops transmitting the constant current to the coil, wherein a restoring force generated by the deformed spring causes the lens holder to return to its original position. |
| US08050546B2 |
Heat treatment apparatus heating substrate by irradiation with light
A capacitor, a coil, a flash lamp, and a switching element such as an IGBT are connected in series. A controller outputs a pulse signal to the gate of the switching element. A waveform setter sets the waveform of the pulse signal, based on the contents of input from an input unit. With electrical charge accumulated in the capacitor, a pulse signal is output to the gate of the switching element so that the flash lamp emits light intermittently. A change in the waveform of the pulse signal applied to the switching element will change the waveform of current flowing through the flash lamp and, accordingly, the form of light emission, thereby resulting in a change in the temperature profile for a semiconductor wafer. |
| US08050544B2 |
Electronic device for regulating the voltage across a high-side load
The invention relates to an electronic control device for regulating the voltage across a high-side load, especially for regulating a fan in a motor vehicle, with a control voltage (V1) which is referenced to system ground and which is mirrored to the positive high-side supply voltage, wherein the control voltage (V1) is supplied to the base of a first transistor (Q1) operated in common-emitter connection, which transistor (Q1) has, in the emitter circuit, a first resistor (R1) and, in the collector circuit, a second resistor (R2) and, in series with the latter, the base-emitter diode of a second transistor (Q2). Compensation for temperature effects of the base-emitter voltage of the first transistor is performed by the base-emitter path of a second transistor of the same conductivity type in series with the first transistor. |
| US08050540B2 |
Reproduction apparatus and computer reproduction method
A reproduction route composed of a still image section and a motion image section is recorded on a recordable DVD. A drive device (93) reads picture data from the DVD-RAM. An MPEG decoder (95) decodes and displays the read picture data. By referring to cell information, the judgment is performed as to whether the read picture data belongs to the still image section or the motion image data. If the read picture data belongs to the still image section, the next picture data is read out after a predetermined wait time. |
| US08050539B2 |
Data recording/reproducing apparatus and method
Information that identifies key frames in video data within multimedia data is generated as reproduction controlling data and the reproduction controlling data is positioned at a predetermined position in the multimedia data. Upon special reproduction, the reproduction controlling data can be used to easily identify, read out, and reproduce key frames that should be used for random access and the like. By positioning the reproduction controlling data in an area within the multimedia data that is ignored by conventional apparatuses, file compatibility can be also maintained. This attains increased efficiency of special reproduction processing of multimedia that has ISO Base file format or a similar format. |
| US08050536B2 |
Digital recording apparatus and copyright protection method thereof
The CGMS unacceptable recorder accepts transmission frames only when the copyright protection information in a transmission header transmitted to the IEEE1394 serial bus indicates copy free. The CGMS acceptable recorder accepts transmission frames when the copyright protection information in the transmission header indicates copy free. When the copyright protection information in the transmission header indicates compliance with the copyright information contained in the content of the transmission frame, the copyright information in the content is fetched based on the signal format type information of the transmission header. As described herein above, a copy management information changeable apparatus such as a computer cannot accept data other than copy free signals from the digital interface. |
| US08050531B2 |
Dendrimer based terahertz generator
A high efficiency electro-optic dendrimer based technology for nanophotonic integrated circuit devices is presented. In particular, a high power terahertz (THz) source is implemented using an electro-optic dendrimer via electro-optic rectification. Electro-optic rectification provides inherent power scalability, because, pump-THz conversion is not limited either by emission saturation or by heat dissipation. Low dielectric loss and high electro-optic coefficient of dendrimer along with a waveguide structure provides higher output power and tunable THz power generation. A dendrimer fiber array is also disclosed by means of which the input/output signals are connected to multiple components and devices. |
| US08050528B2 |
Sealing gland system
A sealing gland system having an upper half, a lower half, and a sealing material positioned between the upper and lower halves. Each of the upper and lower halves and the sealing material has at least one opening extending therethrough, and wherein the sealing material forms a seal around at least one cable extending through the sealing material upon compression thereof. |
| US08050527B2 |
Self healing optical fiber cable assembly and method of making the same
In one of the embodiments there is disclosed a self healing optical fiber cable assembly comprising an elongated optical fiber core having a cladding layer, a buffer layer, a sealing layer that seals any microcracks or defects in the buffer layer, the cladding layer, and the optical fiber core, and, an outer protection layer, wherein an end of the outer layer is connected to a strain relief device to provide expansion protection to the cable assembly and to minimize strain on the cable assembly, and further wherein an end of the strain relief device is connected to an optical fiber module. The cable assembly may further comprise a constraining layer and/or a strengthening layer. There is also disclosed a method of making a self healing optical fiber cable assembly. |
| US08050526B2 |
Micro-optical device and method of making same
A method for making a micro optical device includes providing an optical element, providing a glass perform, providing a substrate with a precision formed feature designed to passively position the optical element relative to the substrate, and bonding the optical element to the substrate using the glass perform. The optical element is passively located in a predefined relationship with the substrate, and the glass perform has a shape prior to contacting the substrate that is maintained before the bonding. |
| US08050524B2 |
Optical device and method related thereto
An optical device includes an electrooptic crystal substrate, a polarization-inverted region formed in a part of the electrooptic crystal substrate, an optical waveguide formed in the electrooptic crystal substrate, and a groove for relaxing stress disposed between a domain wall of the polarization-inverted region and the optical waveguide. |
| US08050523B2 |
Optical fiber shape sensing systems
A medical instrument system includes an elongate flexible instrument body with an optical fiber substantially encapsulated in a wall of the instrument body, the optical fiber including one or more fiber gratings. A detector is operatively coupled to the optical fiber and configured to detect respective light signals reflected by the one or more fiber gratings. A controller is operatively coupled to the detector, and configured to determine a twist of at least a portion of the instrument body based on detected reflected light signals. The instrument may be a guide catheter and may be robotically or manually controlled. |
| US08050522B2 |
Video processing apparatus and video processing method thereof
Provided are a video processing apparatus and a video processing method thereof. The video processing apparatus includes: an input unit which receives a broadcasting signal which may include zoom-in information having regional information on a part of a video image; a video processor which processes the inputted broadcasting signal; and a controller which controls the video processor to zoom in the part of the video image based on the regional information of the zoom-in information if the broadcasting signal includes the zoom-in information. |
| US08050512B2 |
High dynamic range images from low dynamic range images
A method for displaying an image includes receiving an image having a first luminance dynamic range and modifying the image to a second luminance dynamic range free from being based upon other images, where the second dynamic range is greater than the first dynamic range. The modified image is displayed on a display. |
| US08050511B2 |
High dynamic range images from low dynamic range images
A method for displaying an image includes receiving an image having a first luminance dynamic range and modifying the image to a second luminance dynamic range free from being based upon other images, where the second dynamic range is greater than the first dynamic range. The modified image is displayed on a display. |
| US08050508B2 |
Detecting method and system of compression-related noise levels
A detecting system and method of compression-related noise levels is provided to produce a compressed index of an image. A line buffer temporarily stores a pixel (i, j) and neighboring pixels. An edge filter calculates an edge index for the pixel (i, j). A line filter calculates a line index for the pixel (i, j). A first determination device produces an edge signal according to the edge index and the line index for indicating whether the pixel (i, j) locates at an edge. A first buffer temporarily stores edge signals of the pixel (i, j) and left and right pixels. A second buffer temporarily stores line indexes of the pixel (i, j) and associated pixels. A second determination device produces a ringing signal for the pixel (i, j) according to the edge signals temporarily stored in the first buffer and the line indexes temporarily stored in the second buffer. |
| US08050506B2 |
Image enhancement device
An image enhancement device is obtained which is capable of extracting, as regions of interest, still objects or objects with smaller motion vectors, or regions located out of the central area of an image. An image processing module (22) applies memorized-color correction to image data, and then stores, in an SDRAM (7) through a memory interface (26), information about the positions of the memorized-color-corrected pixels and information about the application levels (correction levels) applied to the memorized-color-corrected pixels. A mask signal generating module (23) refers to the positional information stored in the SDRAM (7) to extract the memorized-color-corrected regions of the image data as regions of interest. Also, the mask signal generating module (23) refers to the information about the correction levels stored in the SDRAM (7) to set priorities of the regions of interest in such a way that higher priorities are assigned to regions of interest that are memorized-color-corrected at higher levels (i.e., with larger amounts of correction). |
| US08050505B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing method, and image forming apparatus
In a card serving as an external storage device to be inserted into a digital color multi-function printer, features of a reference image and processing rule information indicating processing content to be applied to input image data judged to be similar to the reference image are prestored. Then, in cases where the input image data is judged to be similar to the reference image, the content of a process to be performed on the input image data is controlled in accordance with the processing rule information corresponding to the reference image. This makes it possible to save users the trouble of setting the content of a process to be performed on input image data, and to prevent a shortage of memory capacity of a memory of the image processing apparatus even in cases where there is an increase in the number of reference images. |
| US08050503B2 |
Systems and methods for computer vision using curvelets
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a system for computer vision including a plurality of images, a signature processor adapted to generate a signature based at least in part on a curvelet transform, and a matching processor adapted to receive a query image. The matching processor is adapted to determine a query signature for the query image using the signature processor. The matching processor is adapted to determine at least one matching image from the plurality of images based at least in part on the query signature. |
| US08050499B2 |
Image-processing apparatus, image-processing method, and computer program used therewith
The present invention is intended to generate data optimal for both display and reuse from an image. From an input image, vector data of a display foreground layer, vector data of a non-display foreground layer, and a display background layer in which a portion of the input image is filled are generated. Next, electronic data including the display foreground layer, display background layer, and the non-display foreground layer is generated. By using the multi-layered electronic data, a composite image of the display foreground layer and the display background layer is provided for display, and the layers for display are switched for reuse. This makes it possible to provide data optimal for both display and reuse. |
| US08050497B2 |
Image processing apparatus and control method thereof
An image processing apparatus, includes: a contrast enhancer which changes a color coordinate value of a color correction region in an image signal, which corresponds to a color to be corrected within the image signal, to a corrected color coordinate value in a range to perform a color correction; and a controller which determines a difference between the color coordinate values before and after the color correction by the contrast enhancer, and controls the contrast enhancer to output the image signal having the unchanged color coordinate value if the difference is greater than or equal to a reference value. |
| US08050490B2 |
Method for inspecting overlay shift defect during semiconductor manufacturing and apparatus thereof
A method of inspecting for overlay shift defects during semiconductor manufacturing is disclosed. The method can include the steps of providing a charged particle microscopic image of a sample, identifying an inspection pattern period in the charged particle microscopic image, averaging the charged particle microscopic image by using the inspection pattern period to form an averaged inspection pattern period, estimating an average width from the averaged inspection pattern period, and comparing the average width with a predefined threshold value to determine the presence of an overlay shift defect. |
| US08050488B2 |
Method of analyzing a wafer sample
In a method of analyzing a wafer sample, a first defect of a photoresist pattern on the wafer sample having shot regions exposed with related exposure conditions is detected. A first portion of the pattern includes the shot regions exposed with an exposure condition corresponding to a reference exposure condition and a tolerance error range of the reference exposure condition. The first defect repeatedly existing in at least two of the shot regions in a second portion of the pattern is set up as a second defect of the pattern. A first reference image displaying the second defect is obtained. The first defect of the shot regions in the first portion corresponding to the second defect is set up as a third defect corresponding to weak points of the pattern. The exposure conditions of the shot region having no weak points are set up as an exposure margin of an exposure process. |
| US08050487B2 |
Cabinet door finish replication system
Cabinet doors are compared to color samples as a quality control check on the colors of the manufacture doors. The color samples are obtained by selecting doors which have acceptable color, and capturing those images into a computer readable format. These captured images may then be printed, stored, transmitted, etc. |
| US08050485B2 |
System for high speed processing of gaming documents
A system is provided for automatically processing gaming documents. The system obtains the dollar value of the document directly by optically identifying each dollar value characters from a scanned image of the document, instead of forwarding the bar-coded validation number to a remote database to ascertain the dollar value. This is achieved by storing a plurality of templates, each representative of a possible character of the dollar value. Optical character recognition is used to identify each dollar value character image by comparing each of the stored templates in turn with the image. The template with the highest degree of coincidence is selected. The value of the selected template is stored in ASCII format for display, validation and/or manipulation. Each document image is compressed. Periodically, the compressed document images of the documents processed during that period are transferred to a remote location for long term storage. |
| US08050482B2 |
System and method for online optimization of guidewire visibility in fluoroscopic systems
A method for online optimization of guidewire visibility in fluoroscopic images includes providing an digitized image acquired from a fluoroscopic imaging system, the image comprising an array of intensities corresponding to a 2-dimensional grid of pixels, detecting a guidewire in the fluoroscopic image, enhancing the visibility of the guidewire in the fluoroscopic image, calculating a visibility measure of the guidewire in the fluoroscopic image, and readjusting acquisition parameters of the fluoroscopic imaging system wherein the guidewire visibility is improved. |
| US08050480B2 |
Method and image reconstruction device for generating computed tomography image data
A method is disclosed for generating computed tomography image data of a volume of interest from X-ray CT data sets generated by a computed tomography system during scanning of an examination subject on a helical path rotating around a longitudinal system axis in the infeed direction. In at least one embodiment, at least two volume-based reconstructions of the volume of interest are performed by way of differential back-projection over surfaces constituted by different groups of M-lines, followed in each case by an inverse Hilbert transformation. The method further includes combining different reconstructed volumes to form a final reconstruction of the volume of interest. |
| US08050479B2 |
Method and system for generating a computed tomography image
A method of generating a computed tomography image is disclosed herein. The method includes acquiring a first plurality of projections at a first energy level and acquiring a second plurality of projections at a second energy level. The method includes reconstructing an image from the first plurality of projections and generating a synthesized projection from the image that corresponds to one of the second plurality of projections. The method includes comparing the synthesized projection to the one of the second plurality of projections and modifying the image to form an updated image based on the comparing the synthesized projection to the one of the second plurality of projections. A computed tomography imaging system is also disclosed. |
| US08050477B2 |
Radiation therapy flanning procedure
An improved radiation therapy planning procedure is suggested. The procedure comprises the steps of specifying and determining the absolute grade of cell degeneracy by in-vitro tests, whereby marker(s) indicative for specific cell degeneracy are detected and quantified, establishing a biology-based segmentation of areas with similar grade of relative cell degeneracy and applying the absolute grade of cell degeneracy to the biology-based segmentation data, thereby establishing an improved radiation therapy planning procedure. Moreover, the present invention suggests a system for an improved radiation therapy planning procedure and its use in procedures of diagnosis and/or therapy management of cancer. |
| US08050475B2 |
Detection and localization of vascular occlusion from angiography data
A technique for detecting and localizing vascular occlusions in the brain of a patient is presented. The technique uses volumetric angiographic data of the brain. A mid-sagittal plane and/or lines is/are identified within the set of angiographic data. Optionally, the asymmetry of the hemispheres is measured, thereby obtaining an initial indication of whether an occlusion might be present. The angiographic data is mapped to pre-existing atlas of blood supply territories, thereby obtaining the portion of the angiographic data corresponding to each of the blood supply territories. For each territory (including any sub-territories), the asymmetry of the corresponding portion of the angiographic data about the mid-sagittal plane/lines is measured, thereby detecting any of the blood supply territory including an occlusion. The angiographic data for any such territory is displayed by a three-dimensional imaging technique. |
| US08050473B2 |
Segmentation method using an oriented active shape model
An improved method of segmenting medical images includes aspects of live wire and active shape models to determine the most likely segmentation given a shape distribution that satisfies boundary location constrains on an item of interest. The method includes a supervised learning portion to train and learn new types of shape instances and a segmentation portion to use the learned model to segment new target images containing instances of the shape. The segmentation portion includes an automated search for an appropriate shape and deformation of the shape to establish a best oriented boundary for the object of interest on a medical image. |
| US08050468B2 |
Fingerprint acquisition system
An acquisition system for obtaining images of a fingerprint from a finger, or marks of another kind of target. The system may have two or more cameras positioned at different directions towards the target. Each camera may have a light source for illuminating the target from a direction different than that of the respective camera. The cameras may take sequences of images of the target at different focuses as the whole target might not be in focus in one image due to a depth of focus being less than the depth of the target. Portions of the images showing the target in focus may be cut from the images and stitched together to result in an image revealing virtually the whole target in focus. This target may be a fingerprint to be rolled out on or in a two dimensional medium for analysis, identification, storage, and so on. |
| US08050464B2 |
Image taking apparatus and image taking method
An image taking apparatus according to an aspect of the invention comprises: an image pickup device which picks up an object image and outputs the picked-up image data; a face detection device which detects human faces in the image data; a face-distance calculating device which calculates the distance between the faces among a plurality of faces detected by the face detection device; and a controlling device which controls the image pickup device to start shooting, after a shooting instruction is issued, in the case where the distance between the faces calculated by the face-distance calculating device is not greater than a first predetermined threshold value. The image taking apparatus allows shooting the moment the distance between the faces is close enough not be greater than to a predetermined threshold value. |
| US08050455B2 |
Photographing apparatus and method for controlling target tracking
A photographing apparatus and a method for controlling target tracking are provided. The photographing apparatus includes a target extractor for extracting target information in a present frame based on the difference between a pixel value of one pixel among previous pixels constituting the target of the previous frame in an area adjacent to the present pixel constituting the present frame and a pixel value of the present pixel, and a tracking controller for controlling automatic tracking for the target based on the target information. Accordingly, the target can be extracted more precisely. |
| US08050453B2 |
Robust object tracking system
A method for tracking objects includes identifying a target, identifying a plurality of auxiliary objects related to the target, and tracking the target using the plurality of auxiliary objects. |
| US08050451B2 |
Electronic forms using indicia, sometimes hidden indicia
The present disclosure relates to creating and managing electronic documents. One claim recites a computerized tablet including: electronic memory for storing electronic data corresponding to an application document, an electronic processor, and a display. The electronic processor is programmed for: obtaining the electronic data corresponding to an application document; analyzing the electronic data to detect steganographic indicia encoded therein, the steganographic indicia comprising a plural-bit identifier; and generating an electronic form based at least in part on the steganographic indicia, the electronic form comprising at least one field to receive user input. The display is for displaying the electronic version of the application document, and for receiving user input corresponding to the at least one field. Other claims and combinations are provided as well. |
| US08050445B2 |
Microspeaker and method of designing the same
Provided are a microspeaker and a method of designing the same. The microspeaker includes a first permanent magnet and a second permanent magnet disposed on the first permanent magnet with a predetermined gap therebetween, the first and second permanent magnets having opposite magnetization directions; a third permanent magnet and a fourth permanent magnet disposed on the third permanent magnet with a predetermined gap therebetween, the third and fourth permanent magnets being disposed next to the first and second permanent magnets, respectively, with an air gap therebetween; a yoke interposed between the first and second permanent magnets and between the third and fourth permanent magnets; a voice coil inserted into the air gap; and a vibrating diaphragm attached to an end of the voice coil and forming a sound field according to the movement of the voice coil, wherein the first and third permanent magnets have opposite magnetization directions, and the second and fourth permanent magnets have opposite magnetization directions. |
| US08050444B2 |
Adjustable mechanism for improving headset comfort
A headphone, headset, or ear protector incorporating adjustable clamping pressure and providing configurable distribution of headband pressure. In one embodiment, the headphones, headsets, or ear protectors include a headband or neckband and at least one earcup coupled to the headband or neckband. The headphone, headset, or ear protector further includes an adjustment mechanism coupled to the headband or neckband and the at least one earcup that provides continuously variable adjustment of clamping pressure provided by the at least one earcup to the head of a user. In another embodiment, the headphone, headset, or ear protector include a headband or neckband, a first earcup coupled to the headband or neckband and a second earcup coupled to the headband or neckband. The headphone, headset, or ear protector further include an adjustment mechanism coupled to the headband or neckband and the first and second earcups that adjusts clamping pressure provided by the first and second earcups to the head of a user and a single control configured to control the adjustment mechanism. In other embodiments, the headphone, headset, or ear protector allows a user to maintain correct left/right stereo imaging while allowing the user to choose which side is placed over the right or left ear. |
| US08050442B1 |
Cascaded transducer array arrangement for control over an acoustic pressure gradient through a horn
A horn based loudspeaker system provides control over peak to peak pressure of an acoustic signal across its frequency spectrum. Frequency spectrum matched acoustic energy added to the acoustic signal at diverse points distributed along the horn. |
| US08050435B2 |
Hearing aid fitting apparatus
There is provided a hearing aid fitting apparatus with which the needs of a hearing aid user can be satisfied. The present invention is constituted such that this apparatus comprises an adjustment value input part 2 and a display part 3 on which is displayed hearing aid data set by this adjustment value input part 2, wherein first favorably assisted hearing aid data is selected from among first and second hearing aid data set by the adjustment value input part 2, then this selected first favorably assisted hearing aid data is compared with third hearing aid data set by the adjustment value input part and second favorably assisted hearing aid data is selected, after which the first and second favorably assisted hearing aid data are displayed on the display part, and hearing aid write data is selected from the first and second favorably assisted hearing aid data displayed on the display part. |
| US08050429B2 |
Audio recordation and reproduction spring clips
A method of releasably securing an article with an audio recording includes handling a binder clip having audio circuitry with recordation and playback capabilities. The binder clip includes a pair of actuating arms and a gripping portion. The audio circuitry is in the form other than that of a cell phone attached to the binder clip. The method additionally includes compressing the pair of actuating arms of the binder clip above the gripping portion to expand the gripping portion and inserting at least a portion of the article into the gripping portion. The method further includes releasing the actuating arms so that the gripping portion grips the portion of the article inside the binder clip and recording audio onto the audio circuitry. |
| US08050428B2 |
Audio signal transmission circuit
An exemplary audio signal transmission circuit includes a codec to provide analog and digital audio signals; an amplifier connected to the codec to receive the analog audio signals; a control circuit connected to the codec to receive the digital audio signals and connected to the amplifier to selectively turn off the amplifier; a front audio port connected to the amplifier to receive amplified analog audio signals generated by the amplifier; and a rear audio port connected to the amplifier and the control circuit to selectively receive the amplified analog audio signals or the digital audio signals. The control circuit and the front audio port are turned off when the rear audio port is connected to an analog system, and the amplifier and the front audio port are turned off when the rear audio port is connected to a digital system. |
| US08050425B2 |
Audio signal supplying device, parameter providing system, television set, AV system, speaker apparatus, and audio signal supplying method
An audio signal supplying device includes a connection terminal which is connected to a speaker unit and which outputs an audio signal to the speaker unit, a specifying section which specifies a type of the speaker unit connected to the connection terminal, an acquiring section which acquires a parameter corresponding to the type of the speaker unit specified by the specifying section from an outside, a storing section which stores the parameter acquired by the acquiring section, an inputting section into which the audio signal is input, an acoustic characteristic controlling section which adjusts an acoustic characteristic of the audio signal input into the inputting section based on the parameter stored in the storing section, and a supplying section which supplies the audio signal whose acoustic characteristic is adjusted by the acoustic characteristic controlling section to the connection terminal. |
| US08050424B2 |
Speaker system, audio amplifier and audio system
Speaker system is constructed of a plurality of speakers each including a bass-reflex type cabinet. The speaker system is designed to differentiate a low-band resonance frequency between the speakers by differentiating inner cubic capacities of the speaker cabinets from each other. Audio signal of a different channel is input to each of the speakers, and only low-frequency signals of all of the channels are added together so that the added result is supplied to all of the speakers. Thus, using the differentiated low-band resonance frequencies, the speaker system permits reproduction of low-pitched sounds with a flat characteristic. |
| US08050420B2 |
Integrated vehicle seat and speaker assembly
An integrated seat speaker includes a cushion, a seat frame defining a first internal air volume, and a speaker enclosure defining a second internal air volume. The second internal air volume is acoustically coupled to the first internal air volume through an air passageway, thus producing a continuous acoustical air volume. An acoustic sealing member is disposed between the enclosure and the frame. The frame includes a closure feature at one end for isolating a portion of the first internal air volume. The cushion includes an outer surface, and the speaker enclosure is enclosed within the seat cushion and at least partially concealed by the outer surface. A method optimizes the acoustical performance of a speaker assembly by acoustically coupling an internal air volume defined by a speaker enclosure to another internal air volume defined by a seat frame to create a continuous acoustical air volume. |
| US08050419B2 |
Adaptive initial volume settings for a vehicle audio system
A vehicle audio system such as a vehicle radio is integrated with a vehicle speech system so that outputted speech by the vehicle speech system is played through the audio system. When a speech session begins, the audio system mutes any entertainment audio being played and outputs audio speech received from the vehicle speech system at an initial volume that is constrained to be between minimum and maximum initial volume settings. These initial volume settings are automatically adjusted by the audio system if it detects that the user has a tendency to repeatedly adjust the volume past one of these settings each time a speech session is carried out. |
| US08050416B2 |
Sound channel detection circuit
A sound channel detection circuit includes a amplifier circuit and a LED. The amplifier circuit has an input connected to a connector for receiving an AC voltage signal and an output. The LED has an anode connected to the output of the amplifier circuit and a cathode connected to ground, when a sound channel circuit to be tested works normally, the AC voltage is amplified by the amplifier circuit and drives the LED to flash, when the sound channel circuit to be tested is not working, the LED doesn't emit light. The sound channel detection circuit with the amplifier circuit and the LED can improve the accuracy and efficiency of detection in a situation of a batch production in a noisy environment. |
| US08050414B2 |
Robust pipe-strike pulse detector
A method for discriminating a noise pulse from a background noise in which a signal of interest is converted to an envelope signal using an entropy-based envelope generator, which envelope signal is then integrated over a plurality of consecutive integrative periods, producing an integrated envelope signal for each of the integration periods. The ratio of the envelope signal at the end of each of the integration periods corresponding to each corresponding said integrated envelope signal is determined and compared with a predetermined threshold signal for each of the integration periods, resulting in a comparison value. The integration period in which the comparison value exceeds the predetermined threshold signal and which is preceded by two integration periods in which the comparison value does not exceed the threshold value represents the point in time at which the noise pulse is detected. |
| US08050413B2 |
System and method for conditioning a signal received at a MEMS based acquisition device
A system and method for monitoring for a specified frequency band is disclosed. The technology initially utilizes a micro-electromechanical system (“MEMS”) based acquisition device to monitor an environment. The MEMS device receives a signal from the environment, and generates an input signal comprising an electronic representation of the received environmental signal. This input signal is then conditioned for at least one frequency band. Embodiments of the invention next allow the conditioned signal to be compared to various pre-defined events in order to determine the signal's origin. |
| US08050410B2 |
Distributed encryption methods and systems
A method and system for providing communication over arbitrary distances with a desired probability of security is disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention shares of a random key are encoded, the random key for effecting communication of a message through a network employing a cryptographically strong forward security system having a limited effective communications distance. A distributed re-randomization of the encoded shares is then effected at a plurality of intermediate network nodes. |
| US08050409B2 |
Threshold and identity-based key management and authentication for wireless ad hoc networks
As various applications of wireless ad hoc network have been proposed, security has become one of the big research challenges and is receiving increasing attention. The present invention provides for a distributed key management and authentication approach by deploying the recently developed concepts of identity-based cryptography and threshold secret sharing. Without any assumption of pre-fixed trust relationship between nodes, the ad hoc network works in a self-organizing way to provide the key generation and key management service, which effectively solves the problem of single point of failure in the traditional public key infrastructure (PKI)-supported system. The identity-based cryptography mechanism provided not only to provide end-to-end authenticity and confidentiality, but also saves network bandwidth and computational power of wireless nodes. |
| US08050407B2 |
Method and system for protecting keys
A method of protecting a media key including obtaining the media key, obtaining an auxiliary key, calculating a split key using the media key and the auxiliary key, encrypting the split key using a wrap key to generate an encrypted split key, assembling the encrypted split key and a communication key to obtain a data bundle, and sending the data bundle to a token, where the media key is extracted from the data bundle on the token to protect data on a storage device. |
| US08050406B2 |
Key table and authorization table management
A receiver device consistent with certain embodiments that receives and decrypts digital cable or satellite television signals has a receiver that tunes and demodulates the television signal into a digital transport stream. A decrypter decrypts the digital transport stream using a pair of decryption keys. A first decryption key array stored in a first storage location forming a part of the receiver device, and a second key array stored in a second storage location forming a part of the receiver device, the first and second key arrays representing ordered pairs of keys. An authorization table is stored in a third storage location forming a part of the receiver device, the authorization table containing a mapping, wherein each ordered pair of decryption keys corresponds to a different one of a plurality of Multichannel Video Program Distributors (MVPD). This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. |
| US08050404B2 |
Bandwidth efficient method and system for obscuring the existence of encryption in a communications channel
A system, method, and network interface obscures the existence of data encryption in a communication network is provided. A set of characters is generated by using a set of encryption keys as an input to a pseudo-random function. Each character corresponds to an index value. The encrypted data is divided into a plurality of parts. Each part is sectioned into a plurality of groups. Each group of the plurality of groups is encoded by mapping the group to a character in the set of characters according to its corresponding index value. The mapped characters are transmitted through the communication network. |
| US08050403B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating a public key in a manner that counters power analysis attacks
A public key for an Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem is generated in a manner that acts as a countermeasure to power analysis attacks. In particular, a known scalar multiplication method is enhanced by, in one aspect, performing a right shift on the private key. The fixed-sequence window method includes creation and handling of a translated private key. Conveniently, as a result of the right shift, the handling of the translated private key is made easier and more efficient. |
| US08050399B2 |
Power transformation device of a powered device in a power over ethernet system
A power transformation device of a powered device in a power over Ethernet system includes a first transformer coupled between a first pin and a second pin of an Ethernet terminal, a second transformer coupled between a third pin and a sixth pin of the Ethernet terminal, and a bridge rectifier coupled between a center tap of the first transformer and a center tap of the second transformer, for rectifying power outputted from the center taps of the first transformer and the second transformer, so as to provide power for the powered device. |
| US08050398B1 |
Adaptive conferencing pod sidetone compensator connecting to a telephonic device having intermittent sidetone
Disclosed herein are teleconferencing pods that include a microphone and a loudspeaker for open-air conversations, connectible to a separate telephonic device that generates an intermittent sidetone that is active at certain times not in the control or monitoring of the pod. In those pods is a sidetone suppressor that suppresses a distracting open-air echo produced from the intermittent sidetone and a compensator that detects sidetone transitions to avoid generating an echo signal in the pod and to avoid adapting suppression in the absence of an externally-generated sidetone. Sidetone suppression may be by several means, and may include variables controlled by adaption, including delay factors, scalers and coefficients. Detailed information on various example embodiments of the inventions are provided in the Detailed Description below, and the inventions are defined by the appended claims. |
| US08050394B2 |
System and method for control of communications connections and notifications
A method of implementing call compliance at a central facility through account specific access, the method involving: receiving a call from a caller on an incoming connection; obtaining and verifying account information; enabling the caller on the incoming connection to initiate an outgoing call on an outgoing connection depending on account information; receiving over the incoming connection an identifier of a destination to which a call is to be initiated over the outgoing connection; checking a do-not-call database for an indication of whether the destination is a do-not-call destination; if it is determined that the destination is a do-not-call destination, blocking the outgoing call from taking place over the outgoing connection; and if it is determined that the destination is not a do-not-call destination, allowing the outgoing call to take place over the outgoing connection. |
| US08050391B1 |
System and method for capturing accounting data for a communication session
A method for creating an accounting record in a communication network may include receiving a SIP message and matching service point triggers with data. The method may also include invoking an application server associated with the service point trigger matched. The method also includes capturing accounting information associated with the invoked application server. |
| US08050390B2 |
Device and a method for feeding electric devices from a telephone line
A system for powering an electric device with power drawn from a telephone line in a telephone network includes an exchange connecting a telecommunication network to a subscriber apparatus through one telephone line. The system includes a control and feeding device located at the subscriber's premises, connected between the telephone line and subscriber apparatus, and further connected to the electric device to be powered, and a logic control unit in the exchange connected between the subscriber line interface circuit of the telephone line and the telecommunication network, and a bidirectional device connected between the logic control unit and subscriber circuit for recognising and applying to the logic control unit signals received by the subscriber circuit through the telephone line, and for sending to the subscriber circuit control information generated by said logic control unit and relating to the power drawing. |
| US08050386B2 |
Mobile automatic location identification (ALI) for first responders
Automatic Location Indication (ALI) data is digitally transferred from a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to a first responder via a web site accessed by the first responder. The web site lists each live E911 call within their jurisdiction, and appends the caller's ALI and/or other location data relative to each call. Preferably the first responders (e.g., police car, paramedic, ambulance, fire truck, etc.) can view not only the emergency caller's information for those E911 calls that they are responding to, but also information about other emergency callers that other first responders are responding to. This facilitates the actual response to individual emergency calls as well as the overall management of multiple responders to multiple emergency calls. |
| US08050385B2 |
Event sharing restoration for photon counting detectors
Photon counting detectors may suffer from pulse sharing effects and fluorescence photon generation, which may lead to a degradation of the measured signals. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a detector unit is provided which is adapted for performing a coincidence detection and correction by comparing detection events of neighbouring cells, thereby providing for a coincidence identification followed by an individual coincidence correction. In order to reduce the number of coincidence detection and corresponding units per detector unit, a specific detector cell geometry may be applied. |
| US08050384B2 |
Delivery system for radiation therapy
A small tabletop stationary five-degree of freedom device such as a “robot” is used to define the treatment region by tracing the region under direct visualization and then to precisely deliver the treatment plan created by an automatic planning system by positioning a single low energy radiation source, or a plurality of low energy sources connected to each other in a predetermined parallel or similar geometry, each source equipped with blocking and attenuation mechanisms, at a plurality of positions in a planar fashion across or through a selected treatment field, thereby delivering a plurality of parallel overlapping beams indexed on a millimeter or submillimeter grid such that a concentration of dose is achieved at a variable depth in tissue relative to the dose where the radiation first enters the tissue and can be used to treat regions on or below the surface of tissue, in a cavity and underlying region created following a surgical resection, on or below the surface of an internal cavity, hollow viscus, or lumen, or deep in tissue adjacent to an inserted probe or conduit or catheter. By generating a plurality of overlapping beams indexed on a millimeter or submillimeter grid that converge on a target volume loaded with gold nanoparticles, a tumorcidal dose of radiation can be delivered in as little as a single session to tumor cells but not to normal cells within or outside the treatment volume. This approach also makes it possible to deliver serial radiosurgical treatments. |
| US08050382B2 |
Sample module with sample stream spaced from window, for x-ray analysis system
An x-ray analysis system with an x-ray source for producing an x-ray excitation beam directed toward an x-ray analysis focal area; and a sample chamber for presenting a fluid sample to the x-ray analysis focal area. The x-ray excitation beam is generated by an x-ray engine and passes through an x-ray transparent barrier on a wall of the chamber, to define an analysis focal area within space defined by the chamber. The fluid sample is presented as a stream suspended in the space and streaming through the focal area, using a laminar air flow and/or pressure to define the stream. The chamber's barrier is therefore separated from both the focal area and the sample, resulting in lower corruption of the barrier. |
| US08050380B2 |
Zone-optimized mirrors and optical systems using same
A zone-optimized mirror (MZ) for reflecting extreme ultraviolet (EUV) or X-ray radiation (18) includes a reflective surface (S) having two or more substantially discrete zones (Z1, Z2, . . . Zn) that include respective coatings (C1, C2, . . . Cn). Each coating is configured to optimally reflect a select range of incident angles of the radiation incident thereon. An EUV optical system (10) and an EUV lithography system (200) that includes at least one zone-optimized mirror are also disclosed. |
| US08050378B2 |
Systems for aligning and handling fuel rods within a nuclear fuel bundle
In a spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant, there is provided a system for aligning a nuclear fuel bundle and handling selected fuel rods within the fuel bundle. The bundle includes water rods, full-length and part-length fuel rods extending through a plurality of fuel spacers provided between top and bottom ends of the bundle, each spacer having a plurality of cells accommodating corresponding fuel and water rods. The system includes a bundle alignment system for aligning the fuel rods and water rods, a rod grapple tool to extract selected part-length rods from the bundle, and a fuel rod guide block slidable onto the top end of the bundle for protecting an uppermost fuel spacer of the bundle, and for aligning fuel rods within individual cells of all the fuel spacers in the fuel bundle. |
| US08050376B2 |
All digital phase-locked loop with widely locked frequency
An all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) composed of digital circuits is provided. The ADPLL includes a phase-frequency detector (PFD), a control unit, a digital controlled oscillator (DCO), and a plurality of frequency dividers. A first frequency divider divides a frequency of a feedback signal CKOUT by a natural number M to generate a first output signal CKOUT/M. The PFD generates a decrement signal dn and an increment signal up, based on a phase difference and a frequency between a first reference clock signal CKIN and the first output signal CKOUT/M. The DCO generates a clock signal CKDCO based on the digital control signals. A second frequency divider receives the digital control signals from the control unit and the CKDCO from the DCO and divides the frequency of the CKDCO by a bit number of the digital control signals to generate a feedback signal CKOUT to the first frequency divider. |
| US08050375B2 |
Digital phase locked loop with integer channel mitigation
An embodiment of the present invention provides a phase locked loop that operates on clock signals derived from an RF clock signal generated by the phase locked loop. A frequency reference input provides a reference clock. A controllable oscillator generates the RF clock signal with a plurality of phases. A switch is coupled to receive the RF clock, and is operative to select one of the plurality of phases. A phase detection circuit is coupled to the switch and is operable to receive a selected phase and to provide digital phase error samples indicative of a time difference between the reference clock and the selected phase. |
| US08050371B2 |
Method and system for compensating for the effect of phase drift in a data sampling clock
A method and system for compensating for the effect of phase drift in a data sampling clock during data transfer between sub-systems of an electronic device. The sub-systems of the electronic device transfer data frame by frame. Each frame includes multiple data windows. Each data window includes multiple data bits. The method includes sampling each of the one or more data bits of a data window at one or more early instances, a prompt instance, and one or more late instances. Further, the method includes calculating the phase-error value of the sampled data window, based on the data sampled. Furthermore, the method includes compensating for the effect of phase drift in the data sampling clock, based on the calculated phase error value. |
| US08050369B2 |
System and method of receiving and processing multicommunication signals
A receiver receives and front-end processes a plurality of component carrier signals, each carrier spaced apart in frequency. The digitized, baseband component carrier signals are inspected to determine estimates of timing offsets between the carriers. A control unit selects a first component carrier signal having data scheduled to the receiver. If data is scheduled to the receiver on other component carrier signals, the control unit generates timing and frequency offset adjustment control signals to time- and frequency-align each other component carrier signal having relevant data, to the first component carrier signal. All the relevant component carrier signals are then combined, and a single OFDM symbol, spanning all the relevant component carriers, is presented to an FFT for symbol detection. |
| US08050363B2 |
Turbo decoder and method for turbo decoding a double-binary circular recursive systematic convolutional encoded signal
A Turbo decoder and method for decoding a double-binary circular recursive systematic convolutional (DBCRSC) encoded signal with unknown initial and final states executes iterations of forward and backward recursion on a payload block of the DBCRSC encoded signal and a padded block using an estimated forward state metric (FSM) and an estimated backward state metric (BSM), which are updated at one or more iterations. |
| US08050360B2 |
Direct link relay in a wireless network
Disclosed herein are exemplary techniques for power conservation in a wireless network. A wireless device identifies another wireless device suitable to act as a relay node. Uplink information is transmitted to the other wireless device, which is in turn relayed to an access point for transmission to its destination. Downlink information may be transmitted directly from the access point to the wireless device. The use of a relay node may reduce transmit power consumption as the relay node may be closer to, or support a higher transmit rate, than the access point with which the wireless device is associated. |
| US08050356B2 |
Transmission apparatus and method for MIMO system
A transmitter in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system is provided. The transmitter includes a multiplexer for multiplexing an input bit stream into a plurality of bit streams, and outputting the bit streams in parallel; a bit-order rearranger for reordering bits constituting the bit streams, which are output from the multiplexer in the same time period, and outputting the reordered bits as reordered bit streams; and a modulator for modulating the parallel reordered bit streams output from the bit-order rearranger according to their associated modulation schemes, and transmitting the modulated symbols via their associated antennas. |
| US08050353B2 |
Systems and methods of RF power transmission, modulation, and amplification, including embodiments for compensating for waveform distortion
Methods and systems for vector combining power amplification are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a plurality of signals are individually amplified, then summed to form a desired time-varying complex envelope signal. Phase and/or frequency characteristics of one or more of the signals are controlled to provide the desired phase, frequency, and/or amplitude characteristics of the desired time-varying complex envelope signal. In another embodiment, a time-varying complex envelope signal is decomposed into a plurality of constant envelope constituent signals. The constituent signals are amplified equally or substantially equally, and then summed to construct an amplified version of the original time-varying envelope signal. Embodiments also perform frequency up-conversion. |
| US08050352B2 |
Methods and apparatus for reducing peak-to-RMS amplitude ratio in communication signals
A pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signal generator that injects a copy of a pulse into the PAM baseband signal prior to frequency upconversion and power amplification. The pulse comprises a function of, or an extra copy of, a pulse in the PAM baseband signal. The pulse injector analyzes the PAM baseband signal for times when a predetermined threshold is exceeded and forms a pulse that is constructed and arranged to reduce the amplitude of the PAM baseband signal to a desired peak amplitude when the pulse is added to the PAM baseband signal. In other embodiments the peak-to-RMS amplitude ratio reducing methods and apparatus used to process PAM signal are adapted for reducing peak-to-RMS amplitude ratios of amplitude modulation signals in polar modulation transmitters. Peak-to-RMS amplitude ratio reduction is performed in the quadrature domain, the polar domain, or both the quadrature and polar domains. |
| US08050344B2 |
Beamforming techniques for MIMO communication systems
Improved beamforming techniques are provided for use in MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) communication systems, including MIMO-OFDM systems. The techniques include: (1) determining beamforming (BF) weights using a smoothed singular value decomposition (SVD) of the channel matrix; (2) determining BF weights using a power-optimized minimum mean-square error (MMSE) technique when the number of available transmit antennas exceeds the number of signal streams; and (3) determining BF weights using a hybrid SVD-MMSE technique. Additional techniques for reducing the impulse response length of the BF weights and/or normalizing the power per transmit antenna or per data stream may be used in conjunction with these or other beamforming techniques. |
| US08050343B2 |
Wireless communication methods and receivers for receiving and processing multiple component carrier signals
A wireless communication system receiver receives and processes a signal comprising at least two component carriers carrying data scheduled to the receiver and having center frequencies spaced apart by at least one component carrier frequency difference. Each component carrier comprises a number of subcarriers spaced apart by a system subcarrier frequency spacing. A common divisor is obtained for the at least one component carrier frequency difference and the system subcarrier frequency spacing. A symbol is received on the subcarriers of the component carriers and downconverted to baseband to produce a baseband symbol. A block of padding values is inserted in the baseband symbol to produce a padded symbol. The length of the block of padding values is such that intermediate subcarriers are inserted to yield a subcarrier frequency spacing for the padded symbol equal to the common divisor. Finally the padded symbol is Fast Fourier Transform, FFT, processed. |
| US08050342B2 |
Method and apparatus for receiving coded signals with the aid of channel state information
Method and apparatus for receiving coded signals with the aid of CSI are provided. The method comprises: performing channel estimation to obtain a CFR estimation vector; computing a squared magnitude of the CFR estimation vector, and obtaining a normalization factor α by averaging the squared magnitudes of CFR estimations on all N subcarriers; finding a norm-shift operand m satisfying the condition that α0=2m is a power of 2 number closest to the normalization factor α; performing a CSI-aided one-tap channel equalization on an output signal vector from a DFT processor by using the norm-shift operand m; performing constellation demapping; and performing channel decoding. The method further comprises obtaining a weighting factor vector by right shifting m bits of the squared magnitude of the CFR estimation vector so that the constellation demapping can use the weighted decision boundary values in case that its input signal is sensitive to both amplitude and phase. |
| US08050340B2 |
Method and a device for dynamically selecting orthogonal functions of an orthogonal transmission system
An interleaving method (1) and a frequency interleaver (EF) of data symbols. The data symbols are for allocation to carriers of a set of NFFT carriers of a module for multiplexing and modulation by orthogonal functions in a multicarrier transmitter device (EM). The method includes selecting in time-varying manner from the set of carriers, carriers that are dedicated to transmitting data symbols and in dynamically interleaving a block of carriers constituted by the selected carriers and by null carriers. |
| US08050339B2 |
Single carrier high rate wireless system
A signal generator and signal processor for single carrier wireless communication systems with frequency domain equalizer operable to use pseudorandom-noise sequences for cyclic prefix, the pseudorandom-noise sequences for coarse timing synchronization, channel estimation, carrier synchronization, signal-noise-ration estimation and channel equalization. |
| US08050338B2 |
Doppler dependent power control and sub-carrier allocation in OFDM multiple access systems
Digital data Symbols from a transceiver are transmitted to at least two remote transceivers in a wireless Communications System employing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, wherein a number of available sub-carriers are shared between said remote transceivers. Information about magnitudes of Doppler effect experienced by the remote transceivers is provided; sub-carriers are allocated to each remote transceiver in dependence of the information about magnitudes of Doppler effect; and a power level transmitted to each of said remote transceivers is controlled in dependence of the Information about magnitudes of Doppler effect. In this way the reception of OFDM Signals for transceivers moving at high speed and thus experiencing a high Doppler effect is improved without degrading the reception quality for transceivers with low or no Doppler effect. Thus the Performance of a System based on OFDM and multiple access is improved. |
| US08050335B2 |
Equal phase combining technique for a robust OFDM system
A technique for an equal phase combining for a robust orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system under high delay spread channel is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving and synchronizing transmitted OFDM symbols having cyclic prefixes via a symbol synchronizer module, removing the cyclic prefixes from the OFDM symbols, via a cyclic prefix remover module, to form time domain symbols, converting the time domain symbols to frequency domain symbols via an FFT module, equalizing a received sub-carrier with complex conjugate of estimated channel coefficients in frequency domain at the same sub-carrier frequency via an equalizer, combining the frequency domain symbols spread over multiple sub-carriers during transmission via a combiner, and detecting phase information from the mapped combined PSK constellation symbol via a detector module. |
| US08050334B2 |
Signal encoder, signal decoder, signal encoding method, signal decoding method, program, recording medium and signal codec method
According to the present invention, a shift amount Sj−1 of the previous frame is held in a shift amount buffer of an integer signal coder. At least as many last sample values in the previous frame as the number of an order P used in linear predictive analysis are held in a sample buffer of the integer signal coder. The last P sample values in the previous frame held in the sample buffer of the integer signal coder are corrected in an interframe correction section by Sj-Sj−1 on the basis of the shift amount Sj of the current frame and the shift amount Sj−1 of the previous frame determined by a shift amount determining section. |
| US08050331B2 |
Method and apparatus for noise filtering in video coding
A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for encoding and/or decoding video frame data. In one embodiment, the video coder comprises a noise filtering module to operate on transformed frame data and perform signal estimation on a plurality of transform coefficients by estimating signal power for each of the plurality of transform coefficients, comparing the signal power of said each coefficient with at least one threshold, and setting the value of said each transform coefficient based, at least in part, on results of comparing the signal power to the at least one threshold. |
| US08050330B2 |
Multiple time-base clock for processing multiple satellite signals
An integrated receiver with multiple, independently synchronized clock signals for multiple channel transport stream decoding and delivery substantially implemented on a single CMOS integrated circuit is described. An integrated circuit that services two satellite programs must generate and distribute corresponding time domain clocks to the various components of the integrated circuit. The transport block that receives one or more satellite signals from a demodulating block will extract program clock recover values from each signal being decoded and use these values to produce an error signal or control word that serves as an input to a clock generator. Based upon this input, the clock circuit will produce a corresponding time domain clock for each channel serviced by the integrated circuit. The output of the clock circuit is distributed to the various processing blocks within the integrated circuit that operate upon channel content received and processed by the transport block. |
| US08050327B2 |
DTV receiving system and method of processing broadcast data therein
A receiving system includes a tuner receiving a broadcast signal including data groups, each data group including enhanced data and known data sequences; a demodulator demodulating the received broadcast signal; a channel equalizer compensating channel distortions of the demodulated broadcast signal based on channel impulse responses (CIRs) estimated using at least two of the known data sequences; a block decoder decoding the enhanced data in the channel distortion compensated broadcast signal; a Reed-Solomon (RS) frame decoder correcting errors in the enhanced data based on a number of errors estimated by performing Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) decoding on an RS frame and a reliability map representing reliability information of the enhanced data; and a derandomizer derandomizing the error-corrected enhanced data. |
| US08050324B2 |
Method and apparatus for selecting a reference frame for motion estimation in video encoding
Method and apparatus for selecting a reference frame for motion estimation in a video encoder is described. In one example, motion estimation is performed on a current macroblock in a current frame with respect to a reference frame to obtain a motion vector, a sum of absolute difference (SAD), a global motion vector, and an average SAD. A first relative change of the motion vector with respect to the global motion vector is computed. A second relative change of the SAD with respect to the average SAD is computed. A functional based on the first relative change, the second relative change, a first parameter, and a second parameter is computed. The functional is compared with a threshold. The reference frame is selected if the functional satisfies the threshold. |
| US08050320B2 |
Statistical adaptive video rate control
A method and apparatus for video rate control for a video encoding system for encoding a video signal includes determining 12 a variance of pixel values over a time t of the video signal and calculating 13 a quantization parameter for the time t using the pixel variance and a number of output bits for the time t and a quantization parameter, pixel variance and a number of output bits used for an immediately previous time t−1. |
| US08050319B2 |
Signal generating apparatus and related method
The signal generating apparatus includes a signal modulating unit, a selection signal generating unit, and a phase adjusting unit. The signal modulating unit is utilized for processing a modulation upon an input signal to generate a modulated signal. The selection signal generating unit is utilized for generating at least a first selection signal. The phase adjusting unit is coupled to the signal modulating unit and the selection signal generating unit, and is utilized for receiving the modulated signal and adjusting a pulse width of the modulated signal to generate an output signal according to the first selection signal. |
| US08050317B2 |
Receiver with equalizer and method of operation
A receiver with an equalizer and an equalizing method are disclosed. The method includes equalizing received serial data in the equalizer, detecting an error in equalized serial data output by the equalizer, and determining reset of the equalizer in relation to an error detection. |
| US08050316B2 |
DTV receiver and method of processing broadcast signal in DTV receiver
A DTV receiver includes a tuner, a demodulator, a known sequence detector, and a frequency domain equalizer. The tuner initially receives a broadcast signal including valid data in which a known data sequence is periodically repeated. The demodulator demodulates the broadcast signal, and the known sequence detector detects the known data sequence from the demodulated signal. The frequency domain equalizer compensates channel distortion of the demodulated broadcast signal in a frequency domain using the detected known data sequence. In addition, the DTV receiver may further include a time domain equalizer which compensates channel distortion of the time domain signal, or a noise canceller which removes a predicted noise from the time domain signal. |
| US08050313B2 |
Single chip low power fully integrated 802.15.4 radio platform
A single chip radio platform is disclosed for communicating with an RF channel. An RF front end is provided having a receive/transmit capability to receive an RF carrier modulated with digital data and convert the data to analog baseband data, and modulate an RF carrier with baseband data. A digital signal processor (DSP) engine is provided for interfacing with the RF front end to form in conjunction therewith the PHY layer, and interfacing with the MAC layer to demodulate the baseband data and in the transmit mode to generate the baseband data for modulation and transmission by the RF front end. A microcontroller unit (MCU) is provided for performing the functionality of the MAC, network and application layers and interfacing with the DSP. Clock circuitry is provided including a stable reference clock for generating a first fixed clock for providing MCU clocks for the operation of the MCU, and for providing a reference for a local oscillator at substantially the channel frequency for use by the RF front end and a DSP clock for use by the DSP, both the MCU clocks, the local oscillator and the DSP clock having the stability of the first fixed clock. Periodic power management circuitry is provided for controlling the operation of the radio platform to operate in a sleep. |
| US08050309B2 |
Multipath discriminator module for a navigation system
A multipath discriminator module and related methods are provided for communications and/or navigation systems that implement spread spectrum modulation. In one example embodiment, the module includes an input suitable for receiving navigation signals, a sampler for supplying sampled signals at a frequency twice the apparent frequency of the code of the signals, and a submodule for calculating an error signal from the sampled signals. |
| US08050305B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device having high reliability, a long lifetime and superior light emitting characteristics by applying a novel material to a p-type cladding layer is provided. A semiconductor device includes a p-type semiconductor layer on an InP substrate, in which the p-type semiconductor layer has a laminate structure formed by alternately laminating a first semiconductor layer mainly including Bex1Mgx2Znx3Te (0 |
| US08050304B2 |
Group-III nitride based laser diode and method for fabricating same
A laser diode comprising a first separate confinement heterostructure and an active region on the first separate confinement heterostructure. A second separate confinement heterostructure is on the active region and one or more epitaxial layers is on the second separate confinement heterostructure. A ridge is formed in the epitaxial layers with a first mesa around the ridge. The first mesa is 0.1 to 0.2 microns above the second confinement heterostructure. |
| US08050298B2 |
Dual transmission stream generating device and method
A digital broadcasting receiver and a stream processing method are provided. The digital broadcasting receiver includes a demodulator which demodulates a received transmission stream and an equalizer which equalizes the transmission stream, wherein the transmission stream includes at least one field which includes additional data stream packets and normal data stream packets, wherein the transmission stream is constituted such that at least a portion of packet data of the additional data stream packets is included in an area disposed in each packet of at least one of the normal data stream packets, and wherein the additional data stream packets are inserted into the area after being encoded and interleaved. |
| US08050291B1 |
System and method for indoor wireless service distribution via ultra-wideband signals, and aggregation of combined digital signals for wireless service
A method and system for communicating an ultra-wideband signal carrying a combined digital signal that represents digital signals for multiple communication channels of a wireless communication system. A distributed antenna system includes multiple remote antenna entities. Each remote antenna entity may include an ultra-wideband transceiver for sending or receiving the ultra-wideband signal. The multiple remote antenna entities may be spaced apart within an indoor premises so as to extend cell coverage of a base transceiver station. The ultra-wideband signal may be transmitted in a forward-link direction towards one or more wireless communication devices or in a reverse-link direction towards the base transceiver station. An aggregator within a remote antenna entity may aggregate multiple combined digital signals so as to form an aggregated combined digital signal that may be transmitted in a reverse-link direction towards the base transceiver station. |
| US08050290B2 |
Wireless peripheral interconnect bus
A wireless peripheral interconnect bus that enables the transferring of data at a high rate over wireless medium. The bus further enables the wireless connection of peripheral components to a computing device, thereby providing a distributed computing device. The bus implements a layered protocol to provide a reliable link over the wireless medium. The wireless peripheral interconnect bus may be implemented as at least one of a peripheral component interconnect PCI Express™ (PCIe) bus, a PCIe second generation, or a PCIe third generation. |
| US08050285B2 |
High speed power line network connector and method for power line networking
A power line module and method. In a preferred embodiment, the power line module is adapted to couple to a power line outlet, which is provided on a power line network within a spatial region. A power line chip is within a housing. In a preferred embodiment. the power line chip has an input/output port and is capable of converting a power line telecommunication signal having a data rate of greater than about 80 Megabits per second from the power line network to an Ethernet signal for use in a local area network segment. The module has a coupling device coupled to the input/output port of the power line chip. In a preferred embodiment, the module has a first pin comprising a plurality of first spring members operably coupled the coupling device. The first pin is insertable into a first site of the power outlet. The module has a second pin comprising a plurality of second spring members operably coupled to the coupling device. |
| US08050281B2 |
Alert gateway, systems and methods
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for distributing urgent public information. Merely by way of example, urgent public information, such as an alert message, may be received by, inter alia, an alert gateway device. The alert message may then be distributed to a subscriber in any of a variety of ways, including by telephone, by data message (e.g., to a computer), by video message (e.g., via a television), by display on an alert notification device. In some embodiments, the alert gateway device may process the alert message and/or may determine how to provide the alert message to the subscriber. |
| US08050277B2 |
Control method for the cross-domain call and the connection of ASON
The present invention discloses a control method for cross-domain call and connection of ASON. Firstly, a multi-layer network structure is constructed; a network element in parent domain corresponds to a child domain and can communicate with the network elements in the child domain; after the input NCCdi of the bottom-layer domain Ddi receives a cross-domain call processing request from the CCCc1 at the calling side, it sends the request up to the input NCCfi of the parent domain Dft; the NCCfi transmits a call coordination to the output NCCfo, and NCCfo sends a call indication to the CCCc2 at the called side through the output NCCdo corresponding to the child domain Ddo; NCCdo transfers a call confirmed to NCCfi via NCCfo, and NCCfi transmits a connection processing request to CCfi; CCfi triggers a local connection processing, and when the parent domain CCf performs SNC processing during this process, it needs to implement the sub-connection processing of the corresponding child domain and return the SNC Confirmed; CCfi returns the Connection Confirmed to NCCfi, and then to CCCc1 via NCCdi. The present invention solves the control problem that the present standards and techniques can not realize the cross-domain call and connection of ASON. |
| US08050275B1 |
System and method for offering quality of service in a network environment
A method for providing a quality of service in a network environment is provided that includes receiving communication session information associated with a packet data protocol (PDP) link for an end user. The communication session information may be mapped to the end user in order to generate a quality of service attribute to be communicated to a next destination. |
| US08050273B2 |
Lawful interception in IP networks
A method to provide lawful interception of a device in a network, the network comprising defining Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN), wherein a lawful interception device of the network defines a Virtual Local Area Network where at least the device to intercept and the lawful interception device are members. |
| US08050270B2 |
Transparent bypass and associated mechanisms
A network component comprising at least one processor configured to implement a method comprising transparently snooping a path control message comprising a first path identifier, wherein the path control message is sent between a plurality of routers and is not intended for the network component, analyzing a plurality of frames each comprising a second path identifier, and diverting at least some of the frames away from at least one of the routers, wherein the second path identifier in the diverted frames matches the first path identifier. Included is a method comprising configuring a bypass path by snooping a control frame comprising a label switched path (LSP) identifier, and routing a plurality of data frames associated with the LSP identifier to the bypass path without routing any subsequent control frames associated with the LSP identifier to the bypass path. |
| US08050265B2 |
Multicast data packet switching method
A method of switching data packets between an input and a plurality of outputs of a switching device. The switching device comprises a memory arranged to store a plurality of data structures, each data structure being associated with one of said outputs. The method comprises receiving a first data packet at said input, and storing said first data packet in a data structure associated with an output from which said data packet is to be transmitted. If said first data packet is intended to be transmitted from a plurality of said outputs, indication data is stored in each data structure associated with an output from which said first data packet is to be transmitted, but said first data packet is stored in only one of said data structures. The first data packet is transmitted from said data structure to the or each output from which the first data packet is to be transmitted. |
| US08050261B2 |
Method and apparatus for frame redirection in a storage area network environment
Embodiments according to the invention relate to frame redirection, which includes methods to intercept and re-route traffic between an initiator and a target. When a frame is redirected, an initiator issues a frame to the target, but the frame is received by a virtual target in a redirection switch by allowing the redirection switch to use the WWN of the actual target. From the perspective of the initiator, the target resides on the redirection switch. From the redirection switch, the frame is sent to the actual target by allowing the redirection switch to use the identity of the initiator. In other words, the redirection switch presents the WWN of the initiator to the target when the redirected frame is sent to the target. From the perspective of the target, the frame is received as if it originated at the initiator. |
| US08050259B2 |
Method and apparatus of precedence identification for real time services
Disclosed is a system and method for transmitting a data packet from a source to a destination via a network path having a number of hops. The sum of a playback delay associated with the data packet and the number of hops are stored in a header of the data packet. The data packet is transmitted from the source to the destination via the network path. |
| US08050257B2 |
Network with a fast-switching optical core
A high capacity network comprises a plurality of edge nodes with asymmetrical connections to a plurality of switch planes, each switch plane comprising fully meshed fast-switching optical switch units. Upstream wavelength channels from each source edge node connect to different switch planes in a manner which ensures that upstream wavelength channels from any two edge nodes connect to a common switch unit in at most a predefined number, preferably one, of switch planes. Thus, switch units in different switch planes connect to upstream channels from orthogonal subsets of source edge nodes. In contrast, downstream wavelength channels from a switch unit in each switch plane connect to one set of sink edge nodes. In an alternate arrangement, the upstream and downstream asymmetry may be reversed. |
| US08050252B2 |
Packet-based video network indicating video signal synchronization and methodology thereof
A video data network device arranged to receive a video signal and an associated synchronisation signal and to launch video data packets representing the video signal onto a packet-based data network comprises means for detecting whether the video signal is synchronised with the synchronisation signal; and means for launching data onto the network indicating whether the video signal is synchronised with the synchronisation signal. |
| US08050248B2 |
Retransmission in wireless communication systems
The invention relates to retransmissions in wireless communication systems. It is proposed to reduce the retransmission delays by utilizing feedback associated with a lower protocol layer than the conventional feedback messages of the ARQ functionality. After sending a packet from a transmitter towards a receiver, the transmitter monitors the link for a low-level control signal from the receiver. The low-level control information can e.g. comprise power control commands or be related to link quality indicators. Based on this signal, it is decided whether a retransmission is to take place, e.g. at the transmitter or at an external control unit. |
| US08050247B2 |
Method and apparatus for retransmitting packet in a mobile communication system, and system thereof
A retransmission method and apparatus performed in a transmitter of a mobile communication system supporting a Hybrid Automatic Retransmission reQuest (HARQ) operation and an Automatic Retransmission request (ARQ) operation for retransmission of a packet are provided. At least one ARQ entity generates at least one ARQ packet, and an HARQ entity transmits an HARQ packet including the at least one ARQ packet to a receiver, and transmits a local NACK signal indicating transmission fail of the ARQ packet to a corresponding ARQ entity, if the HARQ packet fails in transmission. |
| US08050244B2 |
Communication system providing hybrid optical/wireless communications and related methods
A communication system includes at least one optical-wireless device coupled to a longitudinal side of an optical fiber. The optical-wireless device may include an optical fiber power unit for converting optical power into electrical power, and a wireless communication unit electrically powered by the optical fiber power unit. The optical-wireless device may include a substrate mounting the optical fiber power unit and the wireless communication unit to the longitudinal side of the optical fiber. The wireless communication unit may include a radio frequency transmitter, and a signal optical grating coupling the transmitter to the longitudinal side of the optical fiber. The radio frequency transmitter in some embodiments may include an ultra-wideband transmitter. A dipole antenna may also be provided including first and second portions extending in opposite directions along the longitudinal side of the optical fiber. |
| US08050243B2 |
Method and system for evaluating proximity to a WLAN for a UMA/GAN compatible electronic device
A method and system for evaluating proximity of the electronic device to a wireless local area network (WLAN) involves generating a location where the location is defined by a list of cellular communication access points that is sorted based on signal strength for each access point. The list may be scored against one or more similarly defined reference locations to determine if the electronic device is at a geographic position that is favorable to probe for a WLAN that the electronic device was connected to at a prior time, but is presently not connected. |
| US08050240B2 |
Multiple wireless local area networks occupying overlapping physical spaces
A wireless local area network is provided with simplified RF ports which are configured to provide lower level media access control functions. Higher level media access control functions are provided in a cell controller, which may service one or more RF ports that are capable operating with at least two wireless local area subnetworks occupying common physical space. Mobile units can also be configured with the higher level media access control functions being performed in a host processor. |
| US08050239B2 |
Radio communication method and radio communication device
The present invention discloses a technique for avoiding a signal collision in a wireless medium to improve communication throughput. According to this technique, in a radio communication system composed of a plurality of radio communication devices in such a manner that other radio communication devices exist within the communication area of a radio communication device, a given radio communication device is assigned a time slot periodically so that it can access the wireless medium in the time slot at higher priority than the other radio communication devices. This is achieved as follows: The radio communication device monitors the wireless medium, detects other radio communication devices operating within the communication area of the radio communication device, and divide communication time on the wireless medium into time slots of equal width according to the number of other radio communication devices. Then, each radio communication device selects one of these time slots so as not to share the selected time slot with any other radio communication device, and uses a waiting time shorter than those of the other radio communication devices to access the wireless medium in the selected time slot. |
| US08050233B2 |
Method and apparatus of shifting functional entity in wimax network
A method and apparatus for shifting functional entity in WiMAX network is disclosed. A functional entity at the network side is set to be master functional entity or slave functional entity. The method includes: setting a binding relationship between a master functional entity and at least one slave functional entity; triggering the master functional entity to shift, combining a context of the slave functional entity bound with the master functional entity and a context of the master functional entity to form a context message that is required by the master functional entity for the shift, and forwarding the context message according to the course of shifting the master functional entity. |
| US08050232B2 |
Handover optimisation in a WLAN radio access network
The invention provides a method for assisting handover of a communication session associated with a UT from a first radio access point, AP1, to a second radio access point, AP2, in a radio access network, said method to be carried out by said AP1 and comprising the steps of:—receiving a handover intention notify message comprising a session identifier identifying said session and indicating that said UT intends to perform a session handover,—assigning said session a buffer memory space in a memory of said AP1,—buffering downlink data packets addressed to said UT in said buffer memory as a response on receiving said handover intention notify message. The invention further provides a UT, an AP1, AP2, an AR, and software program/s co-operating and/or realizing the method according to the invention. The invention provides a smoother handover. |
| US08050228B2 |
Window control and retransmission control method and transmitting-side apparatus
In a retransmission control method, a transmitting-side apparatus manages an acknowledgement information reception window and the transmitting-side apparatus does not perform the window control processing and the retransmission control processing of a packet on the basis of the acknowledgement information for a sequence number of the packet which is included in the acknowledgement information received from the receiving-side apparatus, when the sequence number takes a value outside a range of the acknowledgement information reception window. |
| US08050224B2 |
Superposition coding in a wireless communication system
A system to communicate a superposition coded packet from a base station to a plurality of remote stations. At the base station, from a list of user candidates for superposition coding a most deserving user may be determined. Those user candidates with a requested data rate less than that of the most deserving user may be eliminated. A superposition coded packet may be compiled from the remaining user candidates. On receipt, the most deserving user may process the superposition coded packet by assuming a predetermined power allocation. Further, if a user successfully in decodes early, power may be re-allocated to another user. |
| US08050221B2 |
Method and apparatus for dispersing user equipments to non-preferred frequencies in a multimedia broadcast/multicast service system
A method and apparatus for dispersing user equipments (UEs) to non-preferred frequencies in a multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MEMS) system is provided. Information regarding a time required until a next session of the MBMS service is started is received. A determination is made as to whether to set a layer dispersion indicator (LDI) in a session stop message, according to the time required until the next session is started. The determined session stop message is sent to the UEs. |
| US08050219B2 |
Logical protocol architecture for wireless metropolitan area networks
In one aspect, a new radio protocol architecture is proposed. The proposed architecture is applicable to wireless networks such as a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN). In the new architecture, there is a clear-cut separation of control, management, and data planes. New control service access points (SAP) are introduced to allow interaction between the protocol layers of the architecture. Also, data SAPs are introduced between the protocol layers. The layer separation idea extracts the functionalities of the architecture and grouped into MAC CPS-H (common part sublayer-high) and MAC CPS-L (common part sublayer-low). Further, a new concept of “control information base” (CIB) is introduced. |
| US08050218B2 |
Mobile communications system PDIF and method for peer detection of mobile terminal
With a system having no paging function, dead peer detection control and cutoff of a session are implemented as is the case with a system having a paging function. There is provided a method for dead peer detection of a mobile terminal, to be executed in a mobile communications system including a mobile terminal connected to plural wireless systems, a first connection device terminating a first wireless system with access points managing a connection status between the mobile terminal and a wireless link, and a second connection device terminating a second wireless system with access points not managing a connection status between the mobile terminal and a wireless link, said method comprising the steps of the second connection device acquiring the connection status of the mobile terminal in the first wireless system from the first connection device, and the second connection device changing a dead peer detection control process on the basis of the connection status of the mobile terminal, as acquired. |
| US08050217B2 |
Communication node and communication control method
A mobility condition determination unit, provided in an MIP controller that manages moving of a communication node, obtains and examines various conditions that have occurred as the communication node is moving, selects an appropriate HoA (e.g., the home address of an MN1) for the current connection situation, and transmits, to a multihoming controller, a notification indicating that a set of the selected HoA and a CoA constitutes appropriate addresses to be used. Upon receiving the notification from the mobility condition determination unit, the multihoming controller transmits, to the MIP controller, an address (Addr2) consonant with the received HoA, and the MIP controller performs packet communication using the HoA or the CoA consonant with the address. |
| US08050214B2 |
Method for entering silent mode and mobile communication terminal for the same
Disclosed herein is a function for controlling sound output during power on. Upon the start of its booting-up process, a mobile communication terminal determines whether a key for entering the silent mode is pressed by the user. If the corresponding key is pressed, the mobile communication terminal changes a sector of a profile in which sound information is stored, so as to boot-up in the silent mode. Because the mobile communication terminal can change the current profile during the booting-up, the user can prevent the power-on sound from being generated during power on. |
| US08050211B2 |
Communication system, base station apparatus, server apparatus, mobile station apparatus, and transmission data amount determining method
It is advantageous for present invention to suitably determine amounts of transmission data for links in a multilink communication. In a mobile communication system (10) for making a multilink communication through which a communication is performed by using a plurality of links relayed by a plurality of base station apparatus (30), respectively, each of the base station apparatuses (30) acquire transmittable data amount information representing amounts of data able to be transmitted through the respective links by a mobile station apparatus (20) or a server apparatus (40), and the mobile station apparatus (20) or the server apparatus (40) determines amounts of transmission data to be transmitted to the respective links in correspondence to the transmittable data amount information, and transmits communication data of amounts of data corresponding to the amounts of transmission data determined to the respective links. |
| US08050207B2 |
Power saving techniques based on coverage conditions
Techniques for managing power consumption are disclosed. For instance, an apparatus may include a first network interface module, a second network interface module, and a power management module. The first network interface module may communicate with wireless networks of a first network type, and the second network interface module may communicate with wireless networks of a second network type. Examples of first and second network types are EVDO and CDMA2000, respectively. The power management module may suspend one or more operations of the first network interface module when a number of first network type outages exceeds a predetermined outage threshold within a predetermined time interval. |
| US08050202B2 |
Mobile communication method, mobile station, and radio base station
A radio resource selecting method according to the present invention semi-persistently selects a radio resource to be allocated to an uplink acknowledgement signal indicating a reception state of a persistently allocated downlink signal from a plurality of radio resources defined by frequencies and codes, and includes the steps of: (A) selecting candidates for an allocation radio resource to be allocated to the uplink acknowledgement signal from the plurality of radio resources; (B) notifying candidate information on the selected candidates for the allocation radio resource; and (C) selecting a single allocation radio resource from the plurality of candidates for the allocation radio resource indicated in the candidate information notified in the step (B). |
| US08050201B2 |
LMS adaptive filter for digital cancellation of second order inter-modulation due to transmitter leakage
A transmit signal second-order inter-modulation (IM2) canceller for a portable handset using a full duplex mode of operation (e.g., WCDMA) is used to controllably reduce IM2 introduced by a transmit signal that appears in a received signal in a receive channel of the portable handset. The transmit signal IM2 canceller includes a delay estimator and a digital signal adjuster. The delay estimator receives a first input from a receive channel and a second input from a transmit channel. The delay estimator generates an estimate of the IM2 that the transmit channel introduces in the receive channel. The digital signal adjuster removes the estimate of the IM2 before forwarding a modified receive channel signal to a baseband subsystem of the portable handset. |
| US08050198B2 |
Method and system for scheduling data transmission in communication systems
A transmitter directed, distributed receiver using multi-user diversity provided by the distribution of the receiver. Advantage is taken of the uncorrelated variations over time in the condition of communication links between a common transmitter and several users. The greater the variation in the quality of a particular link over time, the greater the increase in total system throughput provided. A scheduler metric (or scheduler metric) represents the instantaneous quality of the communication link between each user and the transmitter with respect to the average quality of the link. Alternatively, the scheduler metric represents the instantaneous channel condition with respect to the average data throughput over that channel. The common transmitting station uses the scheduler metric to directly compare the desirability of granting each channel access with the desirability of granting each other channel access. The users with links that have the greatest scheduler metric are provided access to the channels. |
| US08050197B2 |
Connection controller, communication system, and connection control method
A connection controller for controlling connection with a partner terminal with which communication is performed via a predetermined communication service includes setting information storage means for storing a record of setting information for the connection with the partner terminal, interruption processing means for temporarily stopping communication with a first terminal in the process of the communication with the first terminal and for starting communication with a second terminal, recovery processing means for restarting the communication with the first terminal on the basis of information stored in the setting information storage means when the interrupting communication with the second terminal terminates, terminal detection means for detecting a third terminal, and transfer processing means for starting communication between the third terminal detected by the terminal detection means and a terminal designated by the first terminal and disconnecting the communication with the first terminal in the process of the interrupting communication. |
| US08050194B2 |
Customer premise equipment device-specific access-limiting for a cable modem and a customer premise equipment device
A method of initializing, provisioning, and managing a cable modem and a customer premise equipment device includes, prior to receiving the configuration file for the cable modem, providing an equipment identification message containing a description of the customer premise equipment device connected to the cable modem. In the case where the cable modem has yet to be provisioned, the configuration file received from the network server is a particular access-limiting configuration file that is selected from a group of access-limiting configuration files. The selection of the particular access-limiting configuration file is based on the description of the customer premise equipment device in the equipment identification message. This allows different devices to have different network restrictions or different walled gardens. |
| US08050193B2 |
Method for determining prospective peering partners for an internet service provider
A method for determining prospective peering partners for an internet service provider, includes gathering internet service provider's routing and traffic information; gathering additional routing information from sources other than the internet service provider; identifying uncovered target autonomous systems based on the internet service provider's routing and traffic information, the uncovered target autonomous systems being autonomous systems with non-null traffic and that are reachable by the internet service provider via a transit relationship; identifying paths from the internet service provider to the uncovered target autonomous systems based on the additional routing information; identifying intermediate autonomous systems along the identified paths; and determining at least a prospective peering partner for the internet service provider based on the identified intermediate autonomous systems. |
| US08050188B2 |
Redundant message packet suppression for in-vehicle ad hoc network
A method is provided for suppressing redundant packet message transmissions a multi-hop message delivery system. The vehicle receives message packets from any one of a plurality of vehicles within a broadcast range of the vehicle. The vehicle includes a buffer for holding the received message packets prior to re-broadcasting the message packets. A first estimation value is calculated as a function of a signal strength of the vehicle receiver for a respective received message packet. A second estimation value is calculated as a function of the buffer. A re-broadcast estimation threshold value is determined as a function of the first estimation value and the second estimation value. At least one triggering function is provided for generating an at least one triggering indicator. The respective message packet is re-broadcast in response to the re-broadcast estimation threshold value satisfying the at least one triggering indicator. |
| US08050187B2 |
System and method for real-time AAL2 channel detection in UTRAN
A system and method for detecting channels in a network using messages passing through the network is provided. An embodiment comprises detecting AAL2 channels communicating between a Node B and an radio network controller and also between two radio network controllers. In the case of communication between a NodeB and a radio network controller, the AAL2 channels are detected by matching pairs of Random Access Channel (RACH) and Forward Access Channel (FACH) associated with a user equipment identity along with a Dedicated Channel (DCH) until the AAL2 channels present between the Node B and the RNC are determined to a desired level of confidence. In the case of communication between two radio network controllers, only the DCH channels need to be detected to completely detect the AAL2 channels. |
| US08050184B2 |
Systems and methods for network channel allocation
Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems and methods for network connection setup and bandwidth allocation comprising negotiable and non-negotiable modulation allocation procedures. |
| US08050182B2 |
Network failure detection system, method, and storage medium
A system includes, in order to detect a failure occurring on a transmission path through which service traffic is transmitted from a delivery server, a node that is on the transmission path and that monitors the service traffic, and a monitoring server that determines a location at which a failure has occurred by analyzing information transmitted from the node. Each node measures the service traffic, recognizes an adjacent node, which is a node adjacent in a logic tree structure corresponding to a transmission path, establishes a link, recognizes a position of the node in the logic tree structure, sets a monitoring target link to be monitored in the logic tree structure, uses a measurement result, and transmits the estimation result to one of the adjacent node and the server. The server analyzes the estimation result received from the node, and determines the location of a failure on the transmission path. |
| US08050177B2 |
Interconnect bandwidth throttler
An interconnect bandwidth throttler is disclosed. The interconnect bandwidth throttler turns off the interconnect, based on whether a maximum number of transactions has take place within a predetermined throttle window. Both the maximum number of transactions and the throttle window are adjustable. |
| US08050175B2 |
Distributed packet group identification for network testing
There is disclosed a method, an apparatus, a computing device, and a storage medium for testing a network. A plurality of packets may be received. A packet group identification number for each packet may be determined by extracting two or more packet group identification fields from the packet, each packet group identification field located at a respective offset from one of a signature field, a start of the packet, a start of an IP header, and a start of a protocol header; and combining the two or more packet group identification fields to form the packet group identification number. The network testing system may measure, compile, and store performance statistics for packets having the same packet group identification number. |
| US08050172B2 |
Optical disc on which information is written on a block-by-block basis
A method for writing a signal on an optical disk is disclosed. The optical disk comprises a track groove on a recording surface thereof, on which information is recorded along the track groove on a block-by-block basis each said block having a predetermined length and where an identification mark indicating the beginning of each said block, has been formed on the track groove. Writing is started before the identification mark, located at the beginning of at least one block on which the signal should be written, is reached and writing is ended after the identification mark located at the end of the at least one block on which the signal should be written has been passed. |
| US08050171B2 |
Information recording/reproducing device having head covering by resistance element
An information recording/reproducing device according to an example of the present invention includes a first head and a second head each having a conductive region formed of a conductive material, a recording medium having a data area from which data is read by the first head, and a servo burst area from which a servo burst signal is read by the second head, a driver for positioning the first head and the recording medium based on the servo burst signal, and a resistance element for covering a surface of the conductive region of the second head. |
| US08050167B2 |
Optical device
An optical device includes a sub-mount 2 mounting first and second semiconductor lasers 1a, 1b and having an onboard part for the semiconductor lasers and an optical-path conversion mirror 7 integrated with each other, and a light receiving element 11 arranged on a light receiving element substrate to have first and second light receiving regions separated from each other by at least one parting line. In the optical device, one light gravity center of an optical spot, which is formed on the light receiving element 11 by homeward flux of light emitted from the first semiconductor laser 1a and reflected by an optical disc 55, and another light gravity center of an optical spot, which is formed on the light receiving element 11 by homeward flux of light emitted from the second semiconductor laser 1b and reflected by the optical disc 55 are together positioned on the parting line. |
| US08050161B2 |
Optical disk drive
An optical disk drive capable of reproducing data even when warpage is present in an optical disk. A system controller of the optical disk drive reproduces data by setting a maximum speed in accordance with the type of an optical disk, an amount of side-to-side runout, or the like. In the meantime, when a read error arises as a result of trial reproduction being performed at an outer radius of the disk at startup, warpage is determined to be present in the optical disk, and a limitation on the maximum speed is raised. The rotational speed is set to allowable maximum speed of the optical disk drive, and warpage is corrected by means of centrifugal force. When reproduction becomes impracticable for reasons of meandering of a tack, or the like, during the course of reproduction of data, the rotational speed is decreased, to thus perform a retry. |
| US08050159B2 |
Method of recording data on optical disc and optical disc apparatus
This document relates to a method of recording data on an optical disc and an optical disc apparatus. The method of recording data on an optical disc may comprise determining a recording speed at which a recording power control operation will be performed based on a recording start position and the amount of data for which recording has been requested, performing the recording power control operation at the determined recording speed, and recording the data for which recording has been requested on the optical disc based on a result of performing the recording power control operation. |
| US08050158B2 |
Power adjustment method, information write method and information write medium
A write power adjustment method makes it possible to set optimum write power with high precision. Trial writing is conducted by using write power Pw,m (where m is an integer) of a plurality of kinds, and a modulation M,m associated with each write power is calculated. Optimum asymptotic power Pasy-opt is calculated by performing predetermined computation by using reference asymptotic power Pasy-ref and reference write start power Pws-ref which are previously determined for each medium. An evaluated value S,m=M,m×(Pw,m−Pasy-opt) is calculated by using the optimum asymptotic power Pasy-opt. Write power Pw that makes the evaluated value S equal to zero when applying straight line approximation to a relation between the write power Pw,m and the evaluated value S,m is calculated as optimum write start power Pws-opt. And optimum write power Pw-opt is found by performing predetermined computation on the optimum write start power Pws-opt. |
| US08050157B1 |
Timing recovery for optical disc drive high frequency modulation
A method and apparatus for recovering clock timing from a bi-phase modulated portion of a high frequency modulation (HFM) signal. The HFM signal includes signal transitions between a high level and a low level. A clock count is initiated upon detection of a first signal transition in the bi-phase modulated portion of the HFM signal. The clock count corresponds to an expected clock timing of the HFM signal. The clock count is stopped upon detection of a second signal transition in the bi-phase modulated portion of the HFM signal subsequent to the first signal transition. An actual clock count includes a number of clock cycles occurring between the first and second signal transitions based on the expected clock timing. An expected clock count between signal transitions of the bi-phase modulated portion of the HFM signal is identified if the actual clock count between the first and second signal transitions falls within a range of clock counts. The range of clock counts includes the expected clock count and a subset of clock count deviations from the first expected clock count. An error between the actual clock count and the first expected clock count is determined. |
| US08050156B2 |
Write-once recording medium, recording method, recording apparatus, reproduction method, and reproduction apparatus
A write-once recording medium is provided, which comprises a management information area for recording management information for managing a recorded state, and a user data area for recording user data. The user data area is configured to contain at least one recording area. At least one session is configured to contain at least one of the at least one recording area. The management information contains range information indicating a recording range of the at least one recording area and identification information for identifying the recording area located at a boundary of the session. |
| US08050153B2 |
Method for adaptively driving a tracking element with mechanical deviation and device using the same
The present invention provides a method for adaptively driving a tracking element with mechanical deviation and a driving device using the same. The method comprises the following steps: recording standard moving time and a standard motor current value, supplying driving voltage to a motor for driving a tracking element, detecting a current value of the motor and detecting moving time of the tracking element, and adjusting a driving gain of the motor based on the relation between the current value of the motor and the standard motor current value, and based on the relation between the moving time of the tracking element and the standard moving time of the standard one. |
| US08050152B2 |
Optical pickup unit and optical disc apparatus
An optical pickup unit comprising: an objective lens that focuses laser light on an optical disc; a lens holder that holds the objective lens; a coil that is fitted on the lens holder and capable of driving the lens holder; and a reinforcement member that is fitted on the lens holder and reinforces strength of the lens holder. |
| US08050150B2 |
Near-field light detection element and information reproducing medium reproducing method
A near-field light detection element is provided with a light source, a conductive scatterer for generating near-field light by being irradiated with light from the light source, and a photoelectric conversion element arranged in a near-field light generation region near the scatterer. The scatterer irradiates near-field light to a recording medium, and the near-field light detection element detects an intensity change of the near-field light generated by a change of the dielectric constant of the recording medium based on an electrical conductivity change of the photoelectric conversion element. |
| US08050148B2 |
Flash time stamp apparatus
One embodiment of an apparatus for generating a time stamp includes a clock input, an event signal input and a time stamp output. A DLL is connected to the clock input, with a plurality of delay elements inside the DLL. An output of each of the delay elements is connected to a data input on a latch. An event signal input is connected to an enable input on each of the latches. An output of each of the latches is connected to the time stamp output. The apparatus is adapted to produce a value on the time stamp output indicating a point at which the event signal input transitions between transitions on the clock input. |
| US08050147B2 |
Device incorporating both time keeping and static adjustment dials for determining feeding times and position
A breastfeeding assist timepiece includes a housing containing a first live time display and a second resettable static time display. A left/right side indicator is defined at a further location of said housing. In use, the static time display is continuously reset to a time of a most recently completed feeding, with the left/right side indicator further designating a left or right breast employed first in the most recent feeding and in order to more accurately predict the timing of a present or future feeding, as well as which breast to be initially employed in that feeding. |
| US08050141B1 |
Direction finder for incoming gunfire
A system and method is provided for estimating a trajectory of an incoming bullet based on the acoustics of the shock wave created as the bullet travels through the air. A first auditory signal representing a direct sound from the shock wave is recorded and its azimuthal direction is determined. Based on this azimuthal direction and other assumptions two possible bullet directions that can cause that shock wave are estimated. A second auditory signal representing a reflection of the shock wave as it travels through the air also is recorded and its azimuthal direction determined. The azimuthal direction of the ground reflection will lie between the azimuthal direction of the first auditory signal and the more correct of the two estimated trajectories, and thus can resolve the ambiguity in the estimated direction of the bullet source. |
| US08050139B2 |
System and method for towing acoustic source arrays
A technique facilitates the production of acoustic pulses used in marine seismic surveys. A source array system comprises a plurality of acoustic sources suspended from a float in a plurality of layers positioned at different vertical levels. A bridle is coupled to the plurality of layers to enable towing of the source array system. The bridle is constructed and connected in a manner such that the arrangement of acoustic sources substantially retains its nominal shape during towing. |
| US08050136B2 |
Semiconductor memory device for guaranteeing reliability of data transmission and semiconductor system including the same
A semiconductor device includes a system clock input unit configured to receive a system clock for synchronizing input times of an address signal and a command signal from a memory controller, a data clock input unit configured to receive first and second data clocks for synchronizing an input/output time of a data signal from the memory controller, wherein a phase of the second data clock is shifted according to a training information signal, and the second data clock having the shifted phase is inputted to the data clock input unit, and a phase detection unit configured to detect a logic level of the second data clock based on an edge of the first data clock, and generate the training information signal to transmit the generated signal to the memory controller according to the detected logic level. |
| US08050135B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes: a first address buffer configured to be used in a test mode and a normal mode and to receive more addresses in the test mode than in the normal mode; and a second address buffer configured to be used in the normal mode and disabled in the test mode. |
| US08050134B2 |
Multi-column addressing mode memory system including an integrated circuit memory device
A memory system includes a master device, such as a graphics controller or processor, and an integrated circuit memory device operable in a dual column addressing mode. The integrated circuit memory device includes an interface and column decoder to access a row of storage cells or a page in a memory bank. During a first mode of operation, a first row of storage cells in a first memory bank is accessible in response to a first column address. During a second mode of operation, a first plurality of storage cells in the first row of storage cells is accessible in response to a second column address during a column cycle time interval. A second plurality of storage cells in the first row of storage cells is accessible in response to a third column address during the column cycle time interval. The first and second pluralities of storage cells are concurrently accessible from the interface. |
| US08050130B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and internal data transmission method thereof
In a semiconductor memory device and an internal data transmission method thereof, the device includes a memory controller, a pair of data lines, and a plurality of memory banks. During an internal data transmission operation, the memory controller externally receives and stores a source address and a target address in response to an externally applied command and outputs an internal control signal and an internal address signal using the source address and the target address. The internal control signal includes an internal write signal and an internal read signal. Transmission data is transmitted on the pair of data lines during the internal data transmission operation. The plurality of memory banks read the transmission data stored in a region corresponding to the source address in response to the internal read signal, transmit the transmission data on the pair of data lines, and write the transmission data transmitted on the pair of data lines in response to the internal write signal. During the internal data transmission operation, the transmission data is transmitted from the region corresponding to the source address to a region corresponding to the target address, and is not output external to the semiconductor memory device. |
| US08050129B2 |
E-fuse apparatus for controlling reference voltage required for programming/reading e-fuse macro in an integrated circuit via switch device in the same integrated circuit
An electrically programmable fuse (e-fuse) apparatus includes an e-fuse macro and a switch device. The e-fuse macro is disposed in an integrated circuit, and has a plurality of e-fuse units. The switch device is disposed in the integrated circuit, and has an output node coupled to the e-fuse units and a first input node coupled to a first power source which supplies a first reference voltage acting as a programming voltage of the e-fuse macro. The switch device connects the first power source to the e-fuse units when the e-fuse macro is operated under a programming mode. |
| US08050128B2 |
Refresh signal generating circuit
A refresh signal generating circuit of a semiconductor memory device includes a flag signal generator which generates a flag signal in response to a refresh signal and a precharge signal, a clock enable signal buffer which generates first and second buffer enable signals based on an external clock enable signal in response to the flag signal, and a chip select signal buffer which generates an internal chip select signal based on an external chip select signal in response to the flag signal. |
| US08050127B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes first and second sub-memory-cell areas configured to form a memory cell matrix and include a first bit line and a second bit line respectively to form a data transfer path corresponding to a predetermined memory cell, an additional bit line configured to cross the first sub-memory-cell area and form a data transfer path by being connected with the second bit line and a sensing and amplifying unit configured to sense and amplify data inputted through the additional bit line and the first bit line. |
| US08050125B2 |
Bit line sense amplifier of semiconductor memory device having open bit line structure
In an embodiment, a bit line sense amplifier of a semiconductor memory device with an open bit line structure includes sense amplifier blocks, first voltage drivers, and a second voltage driver. The sense amplifier blocks include a first sense amplifier and a second sense amplifier, each sensing and amplifying a signal difference between a bit line and a complementary bit line. The first voltage drivers apply a power source voltage to the first sense amplifier, and the second voltage driver applies a ground voltage to the second sense amplifier. The first voltage drivers are disposed for every two or more sense amplifier blocks in a bit line sense amplifier region in which the sense amplifier blocks are arranged, and the second voltage driver is disposed in a conjunction region in which a control circuit is located to control the sense amplifier blocks. Both capacitive noise and device size are minimized. |
| US08050121B2 |
Semiconductor memory, system, operating method of semiconductor memory, and manufacturing method of semiconductor memory
A plurality of memory blocks includes real memory cells and redundancy memory cells, are accessed independently during a normal operation mode, and are accessed simultaneously during a test mode in order for common data to be written to the plurality of memory blocks. A block control unit selects the plurality of memory blocks irrespective of a block address signal in order to execute a compression test. During the test mode, a redundancy access unit simultaneously accesses the redundancy memory cells of the plurality of memory blocks when a forced redundancy signal supplied to a block address terminal indicates first level. Therefore, the redundancy memory cells of the plurality of memory blocks may simultaneously access and test without providing any special terminal. As a result, before a defect is relieved, an operation test of the redundancy memory cells may efficiently execute, which may shorten the test time. |
| US08050119B2 |
Data output timing in response to read command based on whether delay locked loop is enabled/disabled in a semiconductor device
A semiconductor memory device can output data according to a predetermined data output timing, in spite of a high frequency of system clock, even when a delay locked loop is disabled. The semiconductor memory device includes a delay locked loop configured to perform a delay locking operation on an internal clock to output delay locked clock, and a data output control unit configured to determine a data output timing, according to whether the delay locked loop is enabled or disabled, in response to a read command. |
| US08050118B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device having read and write operations includes a discrimination signal generating unit for generating a discrimination signal during the write operation; and a selective delay unit for receiving and selectively delaying a command-group signal in response to the discrimination signal. |
| US08050117B2 |
Command generation circuit and semiconductor memory device
There is provided a command generation circuit. The command generation circuit includes a first driving unit driving an output node in response to an internal MRS command and a RAS idle signal; a second driving unit driving the output node in response to an off-signal; and a latch unit latching a signal at the output node in response to a power-up signal and generating an SRR command. |
| US08050116B2 |
Memory cell write
Embodiments of a memory cell comprising a voltage module configured to supply a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage, a data node programming module configured to receive the first supply voltage and to program a data node based at least in part on a write data line, and a complementary data node programming module configured to receive the second supply voltage and to program a complementary data node based at least in part on a complementary write data line, wherein the voltage module is configured such that the first supply voltage is substantially different from the second supply voltage for a period of time while the memory device is being programmed. Additional variants and embodiments may also be disclosed and claimed. |
| US08050114B2 |
Memory device having a single pass-gate transistor per bitline column multiplexer coupled to latch circuitry and method thereof
A memory device, and method of operation of such a device, are provided. The memory device comprises an array of memory cells arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, at least one bit line being associated with each column. Column multiplexer circuitry is coupled to the plurality of columns, for inputting write data into a selected column during a write operation and for outputting an indication of read data sensed from a selected column during a read operation. The column multiplexer circuitry comprises a single pass gate transistor per bit line, and latch circuitry is then used to detect the read data from the indication of read data output by the column multiplexer circuitry during the read operation, and to store that detected read data. Such an approach provides a particularly area efficient construction for the column multiplexer circuitry whilst enabling correct evaluation of the read data held in the addressed memory cell. |
| US08050113B2 |
Core voltage discharger and semiconductor memory device with the same
A core voltage discharger is capable of adjusting an amount of a current discharged according to temperature. The discharger for decreasing a level of a predetermined voltage receives temperature information from an on die thermal sensor and discharges a different amount of current in response to the temperature information. |
| US08050112B2 |
Internal voltage generation circuit
An internal voltage generation circuit includes a temperature detection unit which detects an internal temperature of a semiconductor memory device and generates a temperature signal, a driving control signal generation unit which receives the temperature signal and generates first and second driving control signals, and an internal voltage generation unit which receives the first and second driving control signals and generates an internal voltage. |
| US08050110B2 |
Memory device having latch for charging or discharging data input/output line
A semiconductor memory device of the claimed invention, having an active state for performing a read or write operation and an inactive state except for the active state includes a data input/output (I/O) line; a pull-up latch unit for pulling-up the data I/O line when the semiconductor memory device is in the inactive state; a pull-down latch unit for pulling-down the data I/O line when the semiconductor memory device is in the inactive state; and a selection unit for selectively driving one of the pull-up latch unit and the pull-down latch unit. |
| US08050107B2 |
Non-volatile memory including an auxiliary memory area with rotating sectors
A method writes data in a non-volatile memory. The method provides, in the memory, a non-volatile main memory area comprising target pages, a non-volatile auxiliary memory area comprising auxiliary pages, and, in the auxiliary memory area: a current sector comprising erased auxiliary pages usable to write data, a save sector comprising auxiliary pages comprising data linked to target pages to be erased or being erased, a transfer sector comprising auxiliary pages including data to be transferred to erased target pages, and an unavailable sector comprising auxiliary pages to be erased or being erased. The method can be applied in particular to FLASH memories. |
| US08050101B2 |
Nonvolatile memory devices having erased-state verify capability and methods of operating same
A program method of a nonvolatile memory device includes applying a program voltage to program cells for changing data; verifying the program cells, based on the changed data; and verifying program inhibit cells for maintaining stored data even when the program voltage is applied to the program inhibit cells, based on the stored data. |
| US08050098B2 |
Program method of nonvolatile memory device
A program method of nonvolatile memory devices, which can solve an under program problem by preventing a drop of a verify voltage in the program, and verify operations. According to an aspect of the method, a program operation is performed on a selected memory cell block. Electric charges charged to a channel of memory cell strings included in unselected memory cell blocks are discharged. A verify operation is performed on the selected memory cell block. |
| US08050095B2 |
Flash memory data correction and scrub techniques
In order to maintain the integrity of data stored in a flash memory that are susceptible to being disturbed by operations in adjacent regions of the memory, disturb events cause the data to be read, corrected and re-written before becoming so corrupted that valid data cannot be recovered. The sometimes conflicting needs to maintain data integrity and system performance are balanced by deferring execution of some of the corrective action when the memory system has other high priority operations to perform. In a memory system utilizing very large units of erase, the corrective process is executed in a manner that is consistent with efficiently rewriting an amount of data much less than the capacity of a unit of erase. |
| US08050090B2 |
Memory page boosting method, device and system
A memory page boosting method, device and system for boosting unselected memory cells in a multi-level cell memory cell is described. The memory device includes a memory array of multi-level cell memory cells configured to store a first portion of logic states and a second portion of logic states. When programming the first portion of logic states, a first boosting process is applied to unselected memory cells and when programming the second portion of logic states, a second boosting process is applied to unselected memory cells. |
| US08050089B2 |
Multi-bit flash memory device and memory cell array
A flash memory device includes a plurality of memory blocks. A selected memory block among the plurality of memory blocks includes 2n pages of data. The selected memory block includes different types of memory cells capable of storing different numbers of bits. |
| US08050088B2 |
Programming method of non-volatile memory device
A programming method of a non-volatile memory device having a drain select transistor, a source select transistor, and a plurality of memory cells connected between the drain select transistor and the source select transistor includes applying a program voltage, which increases stepwise according to a repetition of a program cycle, to a selected memory cell and applying a pass voltage, which decreases in inverse proportion to change of the program voltage, to some of unselected memory cells. |