Document Document Title
US08099116B2 Method and a system for the delivery of short messages
The invention relates to a method an system for forwarding a short message from a sender to a recipient within a telecommunication network, comprising the steps of sending the short message from the sender via at least one network node to the recipient, determining in the network node whether the recipient has activated a forwarding unconditional of the short message to a predefined forwarding destination, and if true, forwarding the short message to the predefined forwarding destination.
US08099112B2 Network entity, method and computer program product for dynamically changing a request for location information
A network entity includes a controller adapted to operate a location-based application for initiating a location reporting session. The location reporting session includes determining and reporting a current location of a mobile station based on one or more parameters having one or more associated values, where, when the session is a periodic location reporting session, one of the parameters may be a periodicity of reporting the current location of the mobile station. The location-based application is also adapted to change the value of one or more of the parameters during the location reporting session. The same location reporting session may therefore continue based on the changed values of the respective parameter(s).
US08099111B2 Vehicle telematics data logging
A system and method for data logging of telematics events by a vehicle telematics unit. Upon detection of a telematics event, checks are made to determine if location data logging is enabled and if the telematics event is an incoming personal call. If the location data logging is enabled and the telematics event is not an incoming personal call, then a data log entry is created that includes the current vehicle location; otherwise, a data log entry without any location information is created. Thereafter, the data log entries can be uploaded to a call center for analysis. Procedures for handling data logging during a standby mode of the telematics unit are also provided.
US08099107B2 Method and apparatus for WLAN location services
Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to providing location services in a wireless network. According to one implementation of the present invention, the wireless network infrastructure provides high-accuracy location information via location services to wireless clients. In one embodiment, during an advertisement phase, a location server provides a list of available location services to wireless clients via a central controller. In another embodiment, during a presentation phase, a driver of the wireless client presents the available location services to one or more applications of the wireless client. In another embodiment, during a request phase, the driver transmits a location service request to the central controller, which passes the location service request to the location server.
US08099099B2 Methods and apparatus related to assignment in a wireless communications system
Methods and apparatus related to assignment in a wireless communications system are described. A mobile is assigned an identifier and a mask value, e.g., as part of a state transition message. The mobile uses the assigned identifier and/or the assigned mask value in determining whether assignments included in assignment messages, e.g., traffic channel assignment messages, are directed to the wireless terminal. Predetermined associations between assignment slots, assigned segments, and/or mask values are utilized to limit control signaling overhead. Different groups of segments are available for assignment to different wireless terminals as a function of mask values. Different types of assignment messages use different amounts of information bits to convey the assignment. Some types of assignments use a wireless terminal identifier, while other types of assignments use a wireless terminal identifier and a mask identifier. The mask identifier, e.g., a single bit, allows for selection between a subset of the potential masks used in the system.
US08099098B2 Methods and apparatus for planning wireless data networks using analytical modeling of user level performance
Techniques and systems for planning of wireless networks are described. A system according to an aspect of the present invention receives inputs describing traffic statistics for a wireless network and computes network specifications. The system uses the traffic statistics and network specifications as inputs to a computationally tractable model used to compute parameters for the user level performance of the wireless network. The model may suitably be a processor sharing queuing model. The model employed by the planning system allows analytical solution for the desired user level parameters, given the characteristics and conditions entered as inputs and the intended network layout characteristics. Once a set of user level performance parameters has been computed, the values of the parameters are examined to determine if they meet predetermined requirements, in an iterative process continuing until a set of specifications has been developed that produces parameters meeting the requirements.
US08099095B2 Method and apparatus for controlling operation of an access terminal in a communication system
A novel and improved method and apparatus provide for controlling an operation of an access terminal while processing a signal from an access point in a communication system. Various aspects of the invention provide for an access terminal to disable a handoff process when its demodulator or decoder is operating to demodulate or decode a control message received from an access point. The operation of the access terminal is controlled in a manner that prevents terminating prematurely the demodulation and decoding process of a control signal by a handoff process. As a result, the access terminal may continue operating in a normal wake up/ sleep cycle period while conserving its battery power.
US08099093B2 Inquiring of a protected communications services database to address concerns over blind base station operation in conflict with protected communications services
A database stores updated information concerning protected communications services. A base station for a coexisting, and potentially co-channel, non-protected communications service makes an inquiry of the database requesting an identification of geographically relevant protected services along with the database stored information pertinent to each of those identified protected services. The returned information is processed by the base station to determine what channels are available for use by the non-protected service. An available channel is identified by the base station as the working channel for the non-protected service and the base station initiates a process to establish a communications network using the non-protected service and the selected working channel.
US08099092B2 Demand-based provisioning for a mobile communication device
Systems and methods are provided for providing demand-based provisioning for a mobile communication device. A provisioning server may be used to receive a provisioning update request from the mobile communication device and in response to the provisioning update request transmit a service update data message to the mobile communication device. The service update data message may include service information for the mobile communication device that is received by the provisioning server from at least one of a plurality of service providers. The mobile communication device may be operable to detect a triggering event and transmit the provisioning update request to the provisioning server in response to the triggering event.
US08099090B2 Information system with detachable information module
A unitary handheld portable module includes a keypad for entering data and a display for displaying data. A base module is configured to be coupled with and communicate through a telephone line and includes a keypad for dialing a telephone number and a display for displaying information. The portable and base modules are configured to have a mounted configuration in which the portable module is removably mounted on the base module and covers the base module's display, and the modules communicate with each other for the portable module's display to display information relating to operation of the base module.
US08099089B2 Method, user equipment and software product for media stream transfer between devices
A method, user equipment, and computer program product are disclosed for accepting a plurality of media streams at a first user equipment, and then sending a session initiation protocol refer request to a recipient. The request specifies a second user equipment, and the request also indicates a subset of those media streams which the recipient is requested to offer to the second user equipment. There can be at least two media streams of the same media type, out of which some media stream(s) are to be offered to the second user equipment and the other media stream(s) are not to be offered to the second user equipment.
US08099087B2 Location announcement for mobile devices
A network includes a switch and at least one network element to track the locations of wireless devices that interact with the network. The network further includes at least one network element to convert location information for a wireless device obtained from the at least one network element to track locations to a voice announcement, and to interact with the switch to provide the announcement to at least one of a calling wireless device and a called wireless device.
US08099086B2 System and method for providing a descriptor for a location to a recipient
A method for providing a descriptor of a location to a recipient includes receiving geographical position data of the location from a user and using the geographical position data to identify a plurality of regions near or including the location. Each region is associated with a descriptor. The recipient's level of familiarity with each of the regions is determined and a region is selected based on the recipient's level of familiarity with the selected region. Once the region is selected, the descriptor associated with the selected region is provided to the recipient via the user.
US08099085B2 Method and system for communicating with users of wireless devices when approaching a predetermined destination
Using cell phones or other wireless devices to notify users of those devices of impending arrival at a selected customer location. The current location of the wireless device is determined and compared with the known location of the destination. When the wireless device is within a predetermined distance or at a predetermined estimated arrival time from the selected destination, an alert is sent to the wireless device and, if authorized, an alert also is sent to the destination. In response to the impending arrival, the destination may provide information for the user concerning offerings at that destination.
US08099078B2 System and method for service activation in mobile network billing
Embodiments described herein provide a user with the ability to select from a list of available services that can be used on a mobile device. The services include device-based services and device-network based services. The activation, usage tracking and deactivation of a selected service can be conducted at a central location. Some of the services can be provided by different carrier network providers and in different geographical areas. The service selection can be performed from the mobile device, thus providing the user with maximum flexibility as to when and where the user requests the service.
US08099067B2 Data signal system
A demodulation system for Radio Data System (RDS) signals in a receiver includes a quadrature mixer (303) configured to convert a RDS signal at an input frequency directly to a base band RDS signal, a single filter (305) configured to filter the base band RDS signal to provide a RDS signal, and a signal level detector (311) configured to provide an indication of a level of the RDS signal (313), a demodulator (315) configured to demodulate the RDS signal and provide RDS data, the RDS data corresponding to information for user consumption, where the indication is used for selectively interrupting the user consumption when the level of the RDS signal is unsatisfactory. Other aspects of the RDS and corresponding methods include interference mitigation and include a blanker (323) configured to remove impulse noise from a RDS signal to provide the RDS signal without impulse noise and a demodulator (315) coupled to the blanker and configured to demodulate the RDS signal to provide data corresponding to information for user consumption.
US08099064B2 Mobile wireless communications device with reduced harmonics resulting from metal shield coupling
A mobile wireless communications device includes a housing and antenna supported by the housing. At least one circuit board is carried by the housing and has radio frequency (RF) circuitry operative with the antenna for receiving and transmitting RF signals through the antenna. A power amplifier is connected within a transmission line for amplifying RF signals to be transmitted over the transmission line to the antenna. An antenna switch is carried by the circuit board and connected to the antenna and RF circuitry. An RF shield surrounds the power amplifier and antenna switch isolates the power amplifier and antenna switch from the antenna and RF circuitry. A low pass filter has an input connected to the power amplifier and an output connected to the antenna switch for reducing any RF coupling of voltage standing waves of upper harmonic frequencies from the power amplifier into the antenna switch between the input and output of the low pass filter through the RF shield while maintaining transmission of signals through the transmission line at a desired fundamental frequency.
US08099060B2 Wireless/wired mobile communication device with option to automatically block wireless communication when connected for wired communication
A mobile wireless communication device also has at least one wired communication port. Enhanced security is achieved by permitting the device to automatically disable one or more wireless ports when connected to a wired port. Specific combinations/permutations of such automatic control may be effected by use of an IT Policy also resident on the device.
US08099054B2 Mega communication and media apparatus configured for energy harvesting and for boosting signal reception to prevent brain cancerous deseases
Disclosed embodiments comprise an energy harvesting computer device in association with a communication device comprising interactive user interface operatively configured with CMOS multiple antennas on chip for boosting signal receptions and for providing faster data transmission speed. Disclosed embodiment encompasses three modes of communications —the Cell phone, wireless Internet applications, and Global communication and media information. Embodiments provide communication apparatus operable to enhance mobile communication efficiency with touch sensitive display comprising energy harvesting platform in communication with a charging circuit board configured with memories, processors, sensors, and modules. Embodiments further provide a gaming device, a wireless media device configured with touch pads comprising sensors being embedded in silicon substrate and fused in nano-fiber/micro fiber material having excellent electrical characteristics. Certain embodiments provide communication apparatus configured for voice enabled applications comprising human voice auditory operable to convert text into voice auditory and/or voice auditory into text applications.
US08099053B2 Communication apparatus and communication system
Remote control data is securely transmitted to a device under control. A remote control device transmits an acknowledge request for A ch to the device under control (S21). When the device under control has assigned A ch as the reception channel, acknowledge ACK is received. A ch is assigned as the transmission channel (S23), and a command frame is transmitted through A ch (S24). When acknowledge ACK has not been received, an acknowledge request for B ch is transmitted to the device under control (S25). When the device under control has assigned B ch as the reception channel, acknowledge ACK is received. B ch is assigned as the transmission channel (S27), and a command frame is transmitted through B ch (S28). The remote control device can transmits a command through a channel through which the device under control can receive the command, so that secure remote control can be accomplished.
US08099051B2 Pilot signal power control apparatus and operation method of pilot signal power control apparatus
A pilot signal power control apparatus to determine a power level of a pilot signal of a primary network to indicate an availability of a wireless resource of thereof to a secondary user of a secondary network according to a cognitive radio technology, the pilot signal power control apparatus and an operation method thereof, the pilot signal power control apparatus including: a prediction unit to predict a noise increase and/or a sensing probability, the noise increase occurring in a primary user of the primary network due to a channel estimation error, and the sensing probability being a probability that a secondary user senses the pilot signal of; a channel capacity calculation unit to calculate a channel capacity of the primary user based on the predicted noise increase and/or sensing probability; and a power level determination unit to determine the power level of the pilot signal using the calculated channel capacity.
US08099048B2 Wireless communication system using surface acoustic wave (SAW) second harmonic techniques
A system is for encoding information on a passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) device. The system includes a requesting unit configured to wirelessly transmit an impulse signal. The impulse signal is a signal that includes only a single pulse. A SAW device has an interdigital transducer (IDT) configured to physically store coded data. The SAW device is configured to receive the impulse signal. In response to receiving the impulse signal, the SAW device excites the IDT to generate a coded signal that includes the stored coded data and frequency components at a fundamental frequency.
US08099047B2 Method for controlling the sleep mode on a mobile terminal, corresponding mobile terminal, and corresponding radio access node
The present invention relates to a method for controlling sleep mode in a terminal comprising at least two network interfaces.According to the present invention, the method comprises the steps of: Switching off one of the two interfaces; Activating the switched off interface for a predefined time window upon reception of a predefined signaling message on the other interface.
US08099040B2 Personal audio player with wireless file sharing and radio recording and timeshifting
A portable MP3 player, which includes radio capability therein. The device includes a radio part which enables receiving radio, either over the airwaves, or via a network. The radio information can be time shared for later use, and sequences within the radio information can be identified for storage within the memory. The memory can store compressed information, such as MP3 information, indicative of songs which are stored. The memory can also store information that is received over the radio.
US08099039B2 Themed ornaments with Wi-Fi and Wi-Max streaming stations that match the themed ornament
Apparatuses for playing signals received from the internet or other information highway on one or more speakers are described. The apparatus has a receiver for receiving information from a preselected address; a processor for interpreting the signals; and at least one sound emitting device for playing the processed signal. The apparatus has an ornamental design on the outside which is related to the topic of the signals received from the address.
US08099033B2 Pressure roller interframe oil cleaning device and method
A fuser assembly for an electrostatographic reproduction apparatus including a fuser roller, a pressure roller, and a pressure roller cleaner for cleaning the pressure roller. The pressure roller cleaner has an absorbent portion and a drive mechanism for moving the pressure roller cleaner relative to the pressure roller such that the pressure roller cleaner is selectively located proximate the pressure roller to absorb oil. A controller selectively activates the drive mechanism to move the pressure roller cleaner.
US08099028B2 Developer supplying apparatus and developer supplying system
A developer supply system including a developer supply apparatus and a developer supply container which is detachably mountable to the apparatus, the system includes the developer supply container including a rotatable container body having an inner space configured and positioned to contain a developer; a feeding portion configured and positioned to feed the developer in the container body to discharge the developer out of the container body with a rotation of the container body; and a hooking portion configured and positioned to engage with the apparatus to receive a rotational force for rotating the container body; the apparatus including a driving member configured and positioned to apply the rotational force; a drive transmitting member configured and positioned to engage with the hooking portion to transmit the rotational force from the driving member to the hooking portion, the drive transmitting member, which has engaged with the hooking portion, being movable between a first position where the drive transmitting member and the driving member are engaged with each other and a second position where the drive transmitting member and the driving member are not engaged with each other; and a displacing member configured and positioned to displace the hooking portion to release an engagement between the hooking portion and the drive transmitting member which is in the second position.
US08099025B2 Toner stirring device having a pushing member and rotation member for an image forming apparatus
A toner containing section contains toner, and includes a toner stirring member penetrating the toner containing section for stirring the toner. A rotation member is attached to the toner stirring member and revolves around a rotational shaft of the toner stirring member. A pushing member revolves around the rotational shaft of the toner stirring member to push the rotation member. A stopper section having a stopper body is provided to contact the rotation member. An optical detection device is provided to detect the rotation member temporarily stopping at the stopper section. The rotation member separates from the pushing member by own weight and stops at the stopper section waiting for arrival of the pushing device thereon when an amount of toner remaining in the toner containing section decreases to a prescribed level and the pushing member arrives at an upper dead point. The toner stirring member is formed in a crank sate partially plunging into the toner. The rotation member is attached to the toner stirring member at an outside of the toner containing section.
US08099022B2 Color image forming apparatus
According to an embodiment of the present invention, color drift is prevented from occurring in a color image by detecting a position of a rotation informing mechanism integrally held by one of first, second, and third gears to detect a phase change in full rotation of at least one gear, detecting a position of a rotation informing mechanism integrally held by a fourth gear to detect a phase in full rotation, and setting, on the basis of the detected one phase change and the detected other phase change, phases during start of rotation of the respective gears such that a phase of a fourth image held by an image holding member rotated by the fourth gear coincides with phases of first to third images held by respective image holding members rotated by the first, second, and third gears.
US08099020B2 Developer cartridge and developing device
A developer cartridge and developing device are provided. The developer cartridge is attachable to and detachable from a developing housing, the developing housing supporting a developer carrier and comprising a drive gear for transmitting a driving force to the developer cartridge. The developer cartridge includes a cartridge housing that is configured to accommodate developer, an agitator that is provided in the cartridge housing and is configured to agitate the developer by the driving force, a transmission gear that is configured to mesh with the agitation gear, the transmission gear meshing with the drive gear when the developer cartridge is installed in the developing housing, and a supporting member that is configured to support the transmission gear movably with respect to the agitation gear while the transmission gear meshes with the agitation gear.
US08099016B2 Image-forming apparatus
An image scanner section is disposed above a printer section. The image scanner section is supported by the printer section in such a manner as to be pivotable about a pivotal axis. The printer section has a lower housing having a substantially rectangular shape as viewed from above. The image scanner section has an upper housing having a substantially rectangular shape as viewed from above. The upper housing and the lower housing are configured such that a second upper corner portion, which is a corner portion of the upper housing, projects beyond a second lower corner portion, which is a corner portion of the lower housing and is located just under the second upper corner portion.
US08099013B2 Image forming apparatus and image forming unit including sealing member
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit. The image forming unit is detachable with respect to the image forming apparatus. The image forming unit includes a development part, a developer accommodation part, a connection part and a sealing member. The development part develops an electrostatic latent image held on an image holding body by a developer. The developer accommodation part accommodates the developer. The connection part connects the development part and the developer accommodation part. The sealing member unsealably seals the connection part. The sealing member is drawable to outside the image forming apparatus in a direction intersecting with a detaching direction of the image forming unit in such a state that the image forming unit is held therein.
US08099009B2 Method for print engine synchronization
A print engine synchronization method enables the movement of a first print engine dielectric support member (DSM) having one or more image frames as well as the movement of a second print engine DSM having one or more image frames by monitoring a first frame signal from the moving first print engine DSM and a second frame signal from the moving second print engine DSM. An offset is determined for each of corresponding pairs of frames from the one or more image frames of the first and second print engine DSM and the determined offset for each corresponding pair of frames is compared to a target offset to maintain synchronization between the first and second print engines on a frame by frame basis by adjusting a second print engine DSM velocity based on the comparison of the determined offset and the target offset.
US08099006B2 Image forming apparatus and image quality correction method used therein
An image forming apparatus includes multiple image forming units to form different single-color images with respective different color developers and a control system to selectively perform a multicolor image forming operation, a specific-color image forming operation, a multicolor image quality correction operation, and a specific-color image quality correction operation. The control system includes an image formation mode detection unit to ascertain which of the multicolor image forming operation and the specific-color image forming operation is performed prior to a request for image quality correction; and a correction instruction unit to order the multicolor image quality correction operation when the multicolor image quality correction operation is requested, the specific-color correction operation when the specific-color image quality correction operation is requested after the specific-color image forming operation, and the multicolor image quality correction operation when the specific-color image quality correction operation is requested after the multicolor image forming operation.
US08099005B2 Image forming apparatus
A printer determines, in a process control, a reference exposure amount. A charging unit charges a surface of a photosensitive element to a target potential. After an exposure target area on the charged surface of the photosensitive element is exposed to a high adjustment exposure that corresponds to a high-exposure amount area, a control unit determines the reference exposure amount based on the target potential and a detected residual potential that is a result detected by a potential detecting unit as a potential of the target exposure area on the photosensitive element after being exposed to the high adjustment exposure.
US08099000B2 Direct detection receiver using cross-polarization interferometer for polmux-ask system
A differential delay detection system and method includes an optical splitter to split an incoming optical signal between a first path and a second path. The first path includes a cross-polarization interferometer configured to separately generate polarization independent outputs using split paths and to generate cross-polarization interference outputs, balanced photodetectors to aid in removing cross-polarization beating noise, and a polarization demultiplexer configured to combine the polarization independent outputs and the cross-polarization interference outputs from the cross-polarization interferometer with updated coefficients received from the second path to remove the cross-polarization mixed signals. The second path includes a training signal receiver configured to compute the updated coefficients and output the updated coefficients to the polarization demultiplexer.
US08098999B2 Multiple channel power monitor
A tunable filter may be utilized to successively tune to different wavelengths. As each wavelength of the wavelength division multiplexed signal is extracted, it may be successively power monitored. Thus, power monitoring may done without requiring separate power monitors for each channel. This results in considerable advantages in some embodiments, including reduced size, reduced complexities in fabrication, and reduced yield issues in some embodiments.
US08098994B2 Optical interconnection system for transmitting and receiving a three-level signal and method of operating the same
Provided is an optical interconnection system that transmits and receives a three-level signal. The optical interconnection system includes a first and a second optical interconnection device that transmits and receives a two-level signal, and a synthesizer that outputs a three-level signal by synthesizing signals from the first and second optical interconnection devices. The optical interconnection system may transmit and receive a three-level signal while using an optical interconnection device that interconnects a two-level signal.
US08098991B2 Wideband RF photonic link for dynamic co-site interference mitigation
A method is provided for co-site interference mitigation in an RF communication system. Spectral nulls created in an optical domain may be used to mitigate interfering signals in an RF signal. The method includes: receiving an RF input signal via an antenna; generating two optical signals that are each modulated using the RF signal; creating a phase delay in one of the two optical signals that corresponds with a spectral null at a frequency of an interfering signal; converting the two optical signals into two corresponding electrical signals and combining the two electrical signals to create spectral nulls via interference between the two signals and form a mitigated output signal. In this way, the spectral null offsets the amplitude of the interfering signal, thereby reducing the signal strength of the interfering signal.
US08098989B2 All-optical wavelength conversion for a polarization multiplexing optical signal
An apparatus includes a first laser source for providing a first lightwave; a first optical coupler that is polarization maintaining for dividing the first lightwave into first and second optical carrier lightwaves; first and second modulators for modulating respective ones of the first and second carrier lightwaves with information; a polarization beam combiner for combining the modulated first and second carrier lightwaves which generates a polarization multiplexing optical signal; second and third lasers for providing second and third lightwaves whose wavelengths are one of both longer than that of the first lightwave and shorter than that of the first lightwave, a second optical coupler that is polarization maintaining for combining the second and third lightwaves; and a third optical coupler for combining the modulated first and second carrier lightwaves from the polarization beam combiner and the combined second and third lightwaves out of the second optical coupler for transmission over an optical medium.
US08098988B2 Optical add/drop multiplexer
A disclosed optical add/drop multiplexing device demultiplexes a first signal into multiple signals according to wavelengths, drops one or more of the demultiplexed signals to a transponder, adds one or more signals output from the transponder, multiplexes these signals into a second signal, and outputs it. The device includes an injecting unit for injecting one of measurement signals, each of whose wavelength corresponds to that of a different demultiplexed signal, into a core of a multicore cable within the device, the core being used to transmit the different demultiplexed signal having the corresponding wavelength; a preventing unit for preventing the one measurement signal from emanating; a measuring unit for measuring, for each wavelength, levels of the one measurement signal before and after the corresponding core; a calculating unit for calculating loss of the corresponding core, based on the measured levels; and an informing unit for reporting the calculated loss.
US08098986B2 Camera with light emitting function
For flash photography, a rise of a flash emission control pulse precedes emission timing by a predetermined period. A start of flash emission of a flash lamp precedes a start of exposure of an image sensor. Since the start of the emission is earlier than the start of the exposure, a period of unstable flash emission can be excluded from an exposure time T of the image sensor. The exclusion prevents a captured image from being affected by the period of unstable flash emission. Accordingly, it becomes possible to ensure high color reproducibility for photography with auxiliary light.
US08098983B2 Zoom lens system, interchangeable lens apparatus and camera system
A zoom lens system is provided that includes a compactly constructed focusing lens unit and that has a suppressed change in the image magnification at the time of movement of a focusing lens unit. The zoom lens system, in order from an object side to an image side, comprises at least: a first lens unit having positive optical power; a second lens unit having negative optical power; a third lens unit having negative optical power; and an aperture diaphragm. At the time of zooming, the zoom lens system moves the first to third lens units so that intervals between these lens units vary. At the time of focusing from an infinity in-focus condition to a close-point object in-focus condition, the zoom lens system moves the third lens unit to the object side.
US08098980B2 Information record medium, information record device and method, information reproduction device and method, information record/reproduction device and method, recording or reproduction control,computer program and data structure including a control signal
On an information recode medium, a whole stream containing a plurality of partial streams each consisting of content information including still picture information is multiplexed and recorded on packet basis. The information record medium includes a file for storing object data consisting of a plurality of packets each containing a fragment of content information and a file for storing information defining the reproduction sequence of the object data. Furthermore, the information record medium includes an object information file for storing classification information indicating whether each object data corresponds to a first encoding method or a second encoding method.
US08098978B2 Recording medium having data structure for managing reproduction of still images recorded thereon and recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses
The recording medium includes a data area storing still images and audio data in separate files and a navigation area storing navigation information for reproducing the still images and the audio data together as a slideshow. The navigation information may be included in a playlist, and/or one of a playitem field and a sub-playitem field may provide the navigation information.
US08098974B2 Method and system of format converting and recording for optical storage media
A format converting and recording method and system for optical storage media including the steps of converting several first optical storage medium information files into the second optical storage medium through generating corresponding navigation tables which gather at a management file, transmitting image of the first optical storage medium to the second optical storage medium, and then generating a destination disc according to the management file. Thus, the operation process is simplified and the problem of lacking in playback control is solved.
US08098970B2 Composite waveguide
A composite waveguide includes a central core configured to transmit a plurality of modes and at least one side core helically wound about the central core and configured to be selectively coupled to at least a portion of the plurality of modes in the central core.
US08098968B2 Silicide thermal heaters for silicon-on-insulator nanophotonic devices
A thermally switched Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) photo electronic device includes a silicon layer including an optical waveguide and a silicide heating element horizontally adjacent to the waveguide. The waveguide has a refractive index that changes with heat applied to the waveguide.
US08098967B1 Generator protection system
A magnetic flux sensor is disclosed. The sensor comprises an optical fiber and at least one twin-grating structure formed on the optical fiber. Each twin-grating structure comprises a first optical grating structure, a second optical grating structure adjacent the first optical grating structure, and a sensing cavity disposed between the first and second optical grating structures. Each twin-grating structure is selectively responsive to a unique wavelength of light to generate an optical interference fringe signal. The sensor also includes a magnetostrictive coating disposed over each twin-grating structure to change an optical property of the twin-grating structure and a phase of the optical interference fringe signal when the magnetostrictive coating is exposed to changing magnetic flux.
US08098966B2 Thermal sensing fiber devices
There is provided a thermal sensing fiber grid, including a plurality of rows and columns of thermal sensing fibers, each of which includes a semiconducting element that has a fiber length and that is characterized by a bandgap energy corresponding to a selected operational temperature range of the fiber in which there can be produced a change in thermally-excited electronic charge carrier population in the semiconducting element in response to a temperature change in the selected temperature range. There is included at least one pair of conducting electrodes in contact with the semiconducting element along the fiber length, and an insulator along the fiber length. An electronic circuit is provided for and connected to each thermal sensing fiber for producing an indication of thermal sensing fiber grid coordinates of a change in ambient temperature.
US08098963B2 Resolution conversion apparatus, method and program
An apparatus includes unit acquiring a target image as a target of resolution conversion, unit acquiring an additional image from the image source, unit estimating a corresponding point in the target image using corresponding point estimation methods, the corresponding point being associated with at least one pixel in the additional image to obtain corresponding points in the target image, unit setting a pixel value of each pixel included in the additional image as a sampling value for the corresponding point when each pixel is set as a target pixel, to obtain sampling values for pixels included in the additional image, and unit generating an image of a first resolution into which a second resolution of the target image is converted, using pixel values and positions of pixels included in the target image, and the sampling values and positions of the corresponding points.
US08098962B2 Signal processing method, apparatus, and program
A method includes inputting to-be-processed data including a set of first-N-dimensional-coordinate values in an N-dimensional space and first-sampling values, inputting search-pattern data including a set of second-N-dimensional-coordinate values in the N-dimensional space and second-sampling values, setting a set of virtual-corresponding points designated by third-N-dimensional-coordinate values, acquiring input patterns each including third-sampling values within a first range with reference to a corresponding virtual-corresponding point, acquiring search patterns each including fourth-sampling-values within a second range with reference to a corresponding second-N-dimensional-coordinate value of the second-N-dimensional-coordinate values in correspondence with each of the second-N-dimensional-coordinate values, detecting, from the search pattern data, an estimated pattern including one search pattern and having smaller differences with respect to the input patterns than other search patterns, setting sampling values at first positions corresponding to the virtual-corresponding points in the estimated pattern as sampling values at the virtual-corresponding points, and converting a sampling rate of the to-be-processed data.
US08098960B2 Image processing apparatus, computer readable medium storing program, image processing method, and computer data signal
An image processing apparatus includes: a table generation unit that generates a table in which a coefficient set including predetermined weighting coefficients and pixels contained in a resolution converted image are related to each other on the basis of a size of an input image and a size of a resolution converted image; a coefficient selecting unit that selects a coefficient set to be applied for a calculation of a pixel value in the resolution converted image out of plural coefficient sets on the basis of a table generated by the table generation unit; and a pixel value calculating unit that calculates pixel values to be used in the resolution converted image resulting from the resolution conversion of the input image on the basis of the coefficient set selected by the coefficient selecting unit and plural pixel values contained in the input image.
US08098956B2 Digital microscope slide scanning system and methods
Provided herein are systems methods including a design of a microscope slide scanner for digital pathology applications which provides high quality images and automated batch-mode operation at low cost. The instrument architecture is advantageously based on a convergence of high performance, yet low cost, computing technologies, interfaces and software standards to enable high quality digital microscopy at very low cost. Also provided is a method based in part on a stitching method that allows for dividing an image into a number of overlapping tiles and reconstituting the image with a magnification without substantial loss of accuracy. A scanner is employed in capturing snapshot images. The method allows for overlapping images captured in consecutive snapshots.
US08098955B2 Efficient selection and application of regions of interest in digital imaging
An imaging device has a plurality of predefined regions of interest. The predefined regions of interest may be selected or deselected. Image data from selected regions of interest is transmitted to a host. In some embodiments the regions of interest comprise tiles. A set of selected tiles may be identified by a bit vector. An example application provides a digital camera configured to provide predefined regions of interest. The camera may be configured to permit a host to select or deselect the regions of interest.
US08098950B2 Method and apparatus for segmentation-based image operations
A technique is provided for processing image data based upon determination of whether pixilated data tends to represent or exhibit one characteristic or another. Many such characteristics may be considered, such as whether the pixels probably represent structures or non-structures. Multiple thresholds for the classification of segmentation are used, and pixels falling within an overlapping regions are processed as if they exhibited both characteristics. Subsequent processing may include assignment of values for the overlapping pixels, such as by weighted blending.
US08098949B2 Method and system for imaging with a zoom
An imaging system and method are presented for use in imaging with zoom. The system comprises a pixel detector array (PDA), an optical focusing arrangement, and a spatial filter configured and operable to selectively switch between at least two transmitting states. Distributions of an optical resolution of the optical focusing arrangement and of a geometrical resolution of the PDA define an aliasing window along an at least one direction.
US08098948B1 Method, apparatus, and system for reducing blurring in an image
A method of processing an image includes obtaining the image; determining a point spread function for the image; applying a filter, based on the point spread function, to at least a portion of the image to form a filtered image; and generating a processed image by blending the filtered image with the image or another filtered image, wherein a first portion of the processed image is generated using a different amount of blending of the filtered image with the image or other filtered image than is used for a second portion of the processed image.
US08098945B2 Method and system for binarizing an image
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for binarizing an image. The method comprises establishing boundaries of image objects of the image and classifying each image object as either suspect or non-suspect. The method further comprises creating a local binarization threshold map comprising threshold binarization values associated with image objects classified as non-suspect and then expanding the local binarization threshold map to cover the entire image thereby to create a global binarization threshold map for the entire image.
US08098943B2 Apparatus and method for encoding digital image data in a lossless manner
A method of losslessly compressing and encoding signals representing image information is claimed. A lossy compressed data file and a residual compressed data file are generated. When the lossy compressed data file and the residual compressed data file are combined, a lossless data file that is substantially identical to the original data file is created.
US08098940B2 Method of and apparatus for encoding signals, and method of and apparatus for decoding the encoded signals
A method of and an apparatus for encoding and decoding using transformation bases of a yet higher efficiency. In a method for encoding an object signal in compliance with a transformation rule, a signal correlating to the object signal is obtained, and a transformation base that forms the transformation rule is derived based on a characteristic of the obtained reference signal. The object signal is transformed and encoded in compliance with the transformation rule based on the derived transformation base. Accordingly, the object signal is transformed in compliance with the transformation rule based on the transformation base derived from the characteristic of the reference signal. Since the reference signal is correlated to the object signal, the transformation base derived from the characteristic matches the feature of the object signal.
US08098939B2 Adversarial approach for identifying inappropriate text content in images
An adversarial approach in detecting inappropriate text content in images. An expression from a listing of expressions may be selected. The listing of expressions may include words, phrases, or other textual content indicative of a particular type of message. Using the selected expression as a reference, the image is searched for a section that could be similar to the selected expression. The similarity between the selected expression and the section of the image may be in terms of shape. The section may be scored against the selected expression to determine how well the selected expression matches the section. The score may be used to determine whether or not the selected expression is present in the image.
US08098938B1 Systems and methods for descriptor vector computation
Systems and methods for descriptor vector computation are described herein. An embodiment includes (a) identifying a plurality of regions in the digital image; (b) normalizing the regions using at least a similarity or affine transform such that the normalized regions have the same orientation and size as a pre-determined reference region; (c) generating one or more wavelets using dimensions of the reference region; (d) generating one or more dot products between each of the one or more wavelets, respectively, and the normalized regions; (e) concatenating amplitudes of the one or more dot products to generate a descriptor vector; and (f) outputting a signal corresponding to the descriptor vector.
US08098933B2 Method and apparatus for partitioning an object from an image
A method and apparatus for partitioning an object from an image, such that substantially the entire object is contained in the partitioned region, includes pre-setting a reference width for the object; extracting a shadow underneath the object from the image and determining a candidate region containing the object in the image based on the extracted shadow underneath an object in the image; acquiring an imaging width of the reference width at the location of the extracted shadow underneath the object in the image, and adjusting the candidate region based on the imaging width of the reference width such that the adjusted candidate region substantially completely contains the object; and partitioning the adjusted candidate region as a region containing the object from the image.
US08098931B2 Method for adaptively selecting filters to interpolate video data
A method for adaptively selecting filters to interpolate video data is provided. In the present method, when receiving video data encoded by a 4:2:2 sampling format, a plurality of filters having different weights are adaptively selected to convert the color components in the video data to a 4:4:4 sampling format based on the differences of luminance and color components among a target pixel and neighboring pixels thereof. Accordingly, the blurs occurred in an area with large color variation can be removed or reduced, such that the interpolated color components can be accepted by human eyes more easily.
US08098925B2 Photoconductors and processes thereof
The presently disclosed embodiments relate in general to electrophotographic imaging members, such as layered photoreceptor structures, and processes for making and using the same. More particularly, the embodiments pertain to an improved photoreceptor that exhibits little to no response to injected charges and demonstrates excellent ghosting properties.
US08098924B2 Method and apparatus for determining if an optical disk originated from a valid source
A method and apparatus for determining if an optical disk originated from a valid source, the method and apparatus scanning one major surface of the optical disk for imperfections, storing the locations of the imperfections relative to a datum, comparing a parameter of each of the locations of the imperfections with corresponding parameters of a master disk of known source for determining if the disk originated from the source from which the master disk originated.
US08098921B2 Elastic image display method and elastic image display device
According to a 2-dimensional map having longitudinal and horizontal axes indicating different elastic information, hue or luminance of each pixel is mapped correspondingly to their elastic information, and the elastic information is combined to construct one elastic image. With this, a plurality of items of elastic information can be combined into one elastic image and displayed, and thereby the elastic image can be scanned in real time while observing it. Even where one item of elastic information may be in a gray zone, i.e., benign or malignant, another item of information may definitely show the differentiation between benign or malignant, and therefore highly accurate differentiation is possible. In addition, the user can perform diagnosis with the elastic image into which the plurality of items of elastic information is combined without moving the line of sight, thereby obtaining an improved visibility.
US08098913B2 Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and image filtering method of the same
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus uses the pixel value of each of the pixels found in a predetermined range relative to a reference position of image data as input matrix and computes an output value corresponding to the input at its image processing section. Thereafter, the sorting filter of the image processing section sorts the elements of each row of the input matrix on a column by column basis. Then, it extracts a partial matrix having the row including the reference position and surrounding rows from the matrix obtained as a result of the sorting and having a number of rows smaller than number of rows of the input matrix and a number of columns same as the number of columns of the input matrix. Furthermore, it computationally determines the median of the elements of the partial matrix and outputs the median as the output value.
US08098909B2 Method and apparatus for efficient three-dimensional contouring of medical images
A technique is disclosed for generating a new contour and/or a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface from contour data. In one embodiment, B-spline interpolation is used to efficiently generate a new contour (preferably a transverse contour), from a plurality of input contours (preferably, sagittal and/or coronal contours). In another embodiment, a point reduction operation is performed on data sets corresponding to any combination of transverse, sagittal, or coronal contour data prior to processing those data sets to generate a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface. A new contour can also be generated by the intersection of this surface with an appropriately placed and oriented plane. In this manner, the computation of the variational implicit surface becomes sufficiently efficient to make its use for new contour generation practical.
US08098907B2 Method and system for local adaptive detection of microaneurysms in digital fundus images
A local adaptive method is proposed for automatic detection of microaneurysms in a digital ocular fundus image. Multiple subregions of the image are automatically analyzed and adapted to local intensity variation and properties. A priori region and location information about structural features such as vessels, optic disk and hard exudates are incorporated to further improve the detection accuracy. The method effectively improves the specificity of microaneurysms detection, without sacrificing sensitivity. The method may be used in automatic level-one grading of diabetic retinopathy screening.
US08098905B2 Avatars in social interactive television
Virtual environments are presented on displays along with multimedia programs to permit viewers to participate in a social interactive television environment. The virtual environments include avatars that are created and maintained in part using continually updated animation data that may be captured from cameras that monitor viewing areas in a plurality of sites. User input from the viewers may be processed in determining which viewers are presented in instances of the virtual environment. Continually updating the animation data results in avatars accurately depicting a viewer's facial expressions and other characteristics. Presence data may be collected and used to determine when to capture background images from a viewing area that may later be subtracted during the capture of animation data. Speech recognition technology may be employed to provide callouts within a virtual environment.
US08098896B2 Album generating apparatus, album generating method and computer readable medium
There is provided an album generating apparatus for generating an album in which a desirable combination of images is disposed in one and same page. The album generating apparatus has an image storing section for storing a plurality of images, an object sampling section for sampling objects contained in each image stored in the image storing section, a relationship judging section for judging that a relationship of the first object with the second object is high when a number of images containing the first and second objects sampled by the object sampling section is larger than a reference number set in advance in the images stored in the image storing section, a main image selecting section for selecting a main image that is to be a primary object in the album out of the plurality of images stored in the image storing section, a subsidiary image selecting section for selecting the image containing the second object that has been judged by the relationship judging section to be highly related with the first object contained in the main image selected as a subsidiary and a layout determining section for laying out the main image and the subsidiary image in the album based on contents of the main image and the subsidiary image.
US08098884B2 Verification system and method in a document processing environment
A feeder control system and method are disclosed. The system includes a feeder information detector, and a feeder information leverager to provide integrity verification, system control and/or reporting. The method includes the steps of detecting feeder information, and leveraging the feeder information to provide integrity verification, system control and/or reporting.
US08098883B2 Watermarking of data invariant to distortion
A data set is transformed to a domain in which values are robust to distortion. The values are then expanded to carry auxiliary data. To recover the data, the data set is transformed into the domain, further transformed to get a set of possibly expanded data, and then processed to extract auxiliary data from the expanded values.
US08098879B2 Information processing device, image movement instructing method, and information storage medium
To provide an information processing device, an image movement instructing method, and an information storage medium for selecting any of a plurality of images in a simple operation and for designating a destination to which to move the selected image or images. The image processing device comprises an image displaying unit for displaying one or more images on a display screen; a track acquiring unit for acquiring a finite track at a position designated by a user on the display screen; an image selecting unit for selecting some or all of the one or more object images based on the track acquired by the track acquiring unit; and an image moving unit for moving the object image selected by the image selecting unit to a position in accordance with an end point of the track acquired by the track acquiring unit.
US08098878B2 Miniature voice coil with integrated coupling coil
The present invention relates to a miniature electro-acoustic transducer comprising a voice coil comprising an air gap voice coil portion at least partly positioned in an air gap of a magnet assembly, and a second voice coil portion attached to a diaphragm of the miniature transducer. The thickness of the second voice coil portion is 2-5 times larger than the thickness of the first voice coil portion. Moreover, the present invention relates to a voice coil for use in a miniature electro-acoustic transducer.
US08098877B2 Vibration speaker and a portable electronic device comprising the vibration speaker
A vibration speaker for a portable electronic device is disclosed herein. The vibration speaker comprises a case. A loudspeaker member for generating a sound is contained in the case. The loudspeaker member comprises a frame, a magnet, a voice coil and a membrane. The voice coil is operable to generate a movement of the membrane vertically up and down when an electric current is applied to the voice coil and a magnetic field is formed by interaction between the voice coil and the magnet. The vibration speaker additionally comprises a vibration coil for generating a vibration. The vibration coil is positioned in relation to the magnet of the loudspeaker member such that the vibration coil is operable to generate a movement of the entire loudspeaker member vertically up and down when an electric current is applied to the vibration coil and a magnetic field is formed by interaction between the vibration coil and the magnet. Metal springs may be positioned to elastically support between the loudspeaker member and the case.
US08098874B2 Hanging type earphone with a hinge unit
A hanging type earphone with a hinge unit includes an earphone body, a hang member and a hinge unit. The earphone body has a connecting base defining a receiving space. The hinge unit received in the receiving space includes a positioning base, an axis cover and a pivotal axis having a mating portion whose cross-section is a polygon. The axis cover presses against the positioning base to form a pivotal space, one end of the pivotal axis is fixed in the hang member and the other end passes through the pivotal space, the mating portion mates with the side walls of the axis cover, thereby, the earphone body is positioned after rotating relatively to the hang member. Moreover, the pivot axis can be pulled out from the pivotal hole and then inserted into the pivotal space from the opposite direction, so the hanging type earphone can be hung on either ear of the user.
US08098870B2 Silicon microphone
A silicon microphone comprising a backplate of electrically conductive or semi-conductive material comprising a rigid aperture area and a surrounding area, a diaphragm of electrically conductive or semi-conductive material comprising a flexible member that extends over the aperture area and a surrounding area that is at least partially connected to, and insulated from, the surrounding area of the backplate, the aperture area of the backplate and flexible member of the diaphragm forming two parallel plates of a capacitor spaced apart by a cavity, a bond pad formed on the surrounding area of the diaphragm, a bond pad formed on the surrounding area of the backplate, a channel formed in the diaphragm surrounding the bond pad formed on the surrounding area of the backplate, at least one air channel formed in the surrounding area of the diaphragm and open into the cavity between the flexible member and the aperture area of the backplate, and at least one vent through the surrounding area of the diaphragm connected to each air channel.
US08098869B2 Loudspeaker damper, manufacturing method thereof, and loudspeaker and electronic device using the same
A loudspeaker damper, a manufacturing method thereof, and a loudspeaker, electronic equipment and device using the loudspeaker damper. The damper has flexibility. Therefore, even if a large input is applied and the damper oscillates with a large amplitude, a resin layer provided on the surface of the damper base material is not cracked due to partial interface peeling. Thus, the damper follows such a large amplitude and realizes high input-resistance. This loudspeaker damper material is obtained by impregnating a material with thermosetting resin including 2 to 20 wt % of flexibility imparting agent and heat-curing thereof.
US08098866B2 Receiver device with manipulable sound outlet direction
Provided is a receiver device with an earpiece for securing the receiver device in an auditory canal. The receiver device further comprises a receiver with a sound outlet direction and an adapter for affixing the receiver in the earpiece, with a sound from the receiver being conducted through the adapter. The adapter diverts the sound from the sound outlet direction in a divergent direction.
US08098864B2 Receiver tube and retaining clamp assembly for a hearing instrument receiver
A receiver tube for a hearing instrument may be securely affixed to the instruments receiver with a retaining clamp. Such an arrangement facilitates assembly and repair, and provides a positive means for the securing the receiver tube.
US08098863B2 Hearing apparatus having an electrical control element integrated in a cover
Hearing apparatuses and in particular hearing devices are to be designed smaller. To this end, provision is made to integrate an electrical control facility for controlling the hearing apparatus into the cover for covering a programming connection of the hearing apparatus. This multifunctionality of the cover allows installation space to be saved. It is particularly favorable if an actuating element of an electrical push button is mounted to the same bolt, to which the cover itself is also mounted.
US08098861B2 Battery compartment door
A battery compartment door for an electronic device, said door being operable between open and closed conditions of use with respect to the device, including a cradle shaped to at least partially receive a terminal of a battery, wherein the cradle is adapted to electrically couple the terminal to an electric circuit of the device when the door is arranged in the closed condition of use.
US08098859B2 Methods, devices and systems using signal processing algorithms to improve speech intelligibility and listening comfort
Methods, devices and systems for improving hearing and for treating hearing disorders, such as auditory neuropathies. A hearing enhancement system of this invention generally comprises; an amplitude modulation processor, a frequency high-pass processor, a frequency upward-shifting processor and a formant upward-shifting processor.
US08098857B2 Hearing aid having an audio signal generator and method
The invention relates to a hearing aid having a sound receiver and a sound generator. The hearing aid also has an audio signal unit that is functionally linked to the sound generator and has a tone signal generator for generating a tone signal as a function of a trigger signal and of a generation parameter which represents a frequency that can be perceived by a human ear. The hearing aid also has a memory, connected to the tone signal generator, for storing the generation parameter. The audio signal unit changes the generation parameter stored in the memory, generates a trigger signal for each tone signal requiring to be generated, sends said trigger signal to the tone signal generator, and sends the generated tone signal to the sound generator.
US08098851B2 User interface for network audio mixers
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a first mixer connects to a network and if a second mixer is detected on the network, the first mixer obtains an identifier for the second mixer, adds one or more audio signals from the second mixer to a mix of the first mixer, and stores a mix setting for the second mixer on the first mixer. If the second mixer is subsequently connected to the first mixer, the first mixer obtains the identifier for the second mixer, recalls the stored mix setting for the second mixer based at least in part on the identifier, and adds one or more audio signals from the second mixer to a present mix of the first mixer based at least in part on the recalled mix setting.
US08098850B2 Digital mixer
A digital mixer is capable of assigning a desired parameter to an encoder provided in a channel strip on a panel of the digital mixer. The digital mixer assigns a parameter, which corresponds to one of knob controls having switches operable to be turned on, to each encoder provided in a channel strip section on the panel in response to the operation of the switch of the one knob control provided in a selected channel section. The knob controls with the switches are not graphic symbols displayed on a display screen, but are physically disposed on the panel. Accordingly, it is possible to assign a desired parameter to an encoder with no mistake by operating a desired knob control with a switch to be turned on without a mistake.
US08098840B2 Multi-channel output device for a multimedia device
A multi-channel output device for a multimedia device includes a plurality of reception ends, an amplifier having an input end and an output end, a plurality of sound output devices for outputting sound, a first switching unit coupled between the plurality of reception ends and the input end of the amplifier for coupling a reception end of the plurality of reception ends to the input end of the amplifier according to a control signal, a second switching unit coupled between the output end of the amplifier and the plurality of sound output devices for coupling the output end of the amplifier to a sound output device of the plurality of sound output devices according to the control signal, and a control unit coupled to the first switching unit and the second switching unit for outputting the control signal.
US08098835B2 Method and apparatus to enhance low frequency component of audio signal by calculating fundamental frequency of audio signal
A method and apparatus to enhance a low frequency component of an audio signal, by computing a fundamental frequency of an input audio signal using the input audio signal and a delayed audio signal obtained by delaying the input audio signal by a predetermined amount of time, generating harmonic signals from the input audio signal based on the fundamental frequency, and combining the harmonic signals and the input audio signal. The low frequency component of the audio signal can be enhanced using human characteristics of perception without physically boosting the energy of the low frequency component.
US08098830B2 Method and apparatus for reducing noise in an audio signal
A technique for reducing inherent noise in a real time digital audio wireless system. The technique allows for low power stereo analog to digital and digital to analog converters to be used in a battery operated real time digital audio wireless applications. The audio signal is sent to the left and right channels of an analog to digital converter with a preceding audio amp of different gain at the input to each channel. The signals are simultaneously digitized then combined to generate a new digital value resulting in noise reduction at lower amplitudes. This new data word is then transmitted via radio waves to a digital audio receiver. Once the data is received it is output simultaneously to a stereo digital to analog converter. The digital to analog conversion of both left and right channels is then summed using a resistor network and an audio amplifier. The audio amplifier output is then reduced to create further reduction of noise at all amplitudes.
US08098825B2 Method and system for enhancing data encryption using multiple-key lists
A method for enhancing data encryption using multiple-key lists is disclosed. A first multiple-key list and a second multiple-key list for a decryption key are created, wherein each multiple-key list comprises plural partial decryption keys. Content to be accessed is encrypted using an encryption key corresponding to the decryption key. The first multiple-key list is stored in a hidden area of a memory device storing the content. The second multiple-key list is stored in the memory device. When the memory device is installed on an electronic device, an application installed in the electronic device is activated to select a first partial decryption key from the first multiple-key list stored in the hidden area and a second partial decryption key from the memory device, re-organizes and codes the first and second partial decryption keys to recover the decryption key, and decrypts the content using the decryption key, enabling the electronic device to access the content.
US08098824B2 Storage apparatus and data management method
Provided is a storage system that includes a first storage apparatus and a second storage apparatus each connected to a host computer. The first and second storage apparatuses each include a controller and a disk drive. The controller manages an encryption status and an encryption key for each of a data volume and a journal volume in the disk drive. The controller in the first storage apparatus receives a write request from the host computer, creates a journal based on write data, encrypts the journal, and stores in an order the journal in a storage area in the journal volume. The controller in the order the encrypted journal stored in the journal volume, decrypts the journal, and transmits the decrypted journal to the second storage apparatus.
US08098820B2 Conditional access system for broadcast digital television
A method for managing access to scrambled broadcast or transmitted events received from a variety of service providers (including broadcast television networks, cable television networks, digital satellite systems). Each service provider employs the same public key for descrambling the access information message thereby permitting a user to access events from various service providers without changing the smart card. The method may also be expanded to manage access to a scrambled package of broadcast events.
US08098818B2 Secure registration for a multicast-broadcast-multimedia system (MBMS)
A method and an apparatus for secure registration for a multicast-broadcast-multimedia system (MBMS) are disclosed. A random number is generated by a broadcast-multicast-service center (BM-SC) and broadcast to user equipment in the coverage area of a radio access network (RAN). A memory module or smart card (UICC) in the user equipment generates a radio access network key (RAK) which is a function of the random number and a key selected from the group consisting of a public land mobile network key (PK) and a broadcast access key (BAK), and then generates a temporary registration key (RGK) as a function of the RAK, a service identification number and a user identification number, for example, P-TMSI, which may be extracted by the RAN to authenticate the registration as legitimate.
US08098817B2 Methods and apparatus for mixing encrypted data with unencrypted data
Methods and apparatus for mixing encrypted data with unencrypted data are disclosed. A disclosed system receives data from a first media source, such as DVD-Audio content, and encrypts the data from the first media source using a key stream to form an encrypted data stream. The disclosed system may separate the encrypted data stream into a plurality of encrypted data streams and may combine the plurality of encrypted data streams with an unencrypted data stream associated with a second media source to form a mixed data stream. The mixed data stream is formed without decrypting the plurality of encrypted data streams and is transmitted to hardware or a hardware driver.
US08098811B2 Methods and systems for selectively playing received ringtones
Methods and systems are described for selectively playing received ringtones. Receipt at a communication device of an incoming voice call that includes a ringtone is detected. A ringtone preselected for the communication device is played in response to receiving the incoming call. Prior to receiving input for answering the call at the communication device, user input for one of playing and not playing the received ringtone at the communication device is received. The received ringtone is played or not played based on the received user input.
US08098810B2 Intelligent presence management in a communication routing system
Systems and methods for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system are provided. In exemplary embodiments, an inbound communication may be received for a user. The user's presence status is determined and a profile associated with the user is reviewed. Based on rules contained within the profile, appropriate instructions may be generated for routing the inbound communication in accordance with some embodiments. In other embodiments, instructions may be generated to log the user in or out with the communication routing system.
US08098803B1 Method and apparatus for call gapping of wholesale customer traffic in a communication network
A method and apparatus for enabling wholesale network service providers to selectively block calls from wholesale customers who are exceeding their traffic projections based on pre-arranged agreements. The present method also enables wholesale network service providers to notify their wholesale customers that the subscribed traffic projections, such as call minute usage, begins to approach their maximum established volume. When the maximum established volume is exceeded by the wholesale customer, the present method provides parameters for adjusting the degree to which calls from the providers will be blocked, either gracefully by blocking calls partially or completely by blocking all incoming calls.
US08098801B2 Systems and methods for information exchange and synchronization using DTMF over telephone communication channels
Systems, methods, protocols and apparatus for information exchange and synchronization using DTMF signaling over telephone communication channels are provided. Information is packetized and converted from one format, e.g., ASCII formatted data, to another format, e.g., BCD formatted data. The information is wrapped in one or more packets by a sending apparatus, each packet including one or more headers, such as a Name and Length field that identify the information being exchanged and the amount of data included in the packet payload/value field. The data in the packets are converted from BCD to DTMF signals and are transmitted over a telephone communication line to a receiving apparatus. The receiving apparatus converts the DTMF signals back to BCD formatted data and processes the packets to obtain the information contained therein.
US08098790B2 Systems and methods for storing spent nuclear fuel
Systems and methods for storing spent nuclear fuel below grade that afford adequate ventilation of the spent fuel storage cavity. In one aspect, the invention is a system comprising: a shell forming a cavity for receiving a canister of spent nuclear fuel, at least a portion of the shell positioned below grade; and at least one inlet ventilation duct extending from an above grade inlet to a below grade outlet at or near a bottom of the cavity; the inlet ventilation duct connected to the shell so that the cavity is hermetically sealed to ingress of below grade fluids. In another aspect, the invention is a method comprising: providing a below grade hole; providing a system comprising a shell forming a cavity for receiving a canister of spent nuclear fuel, at least a portion of the shell positioned below grade, and at least one inlet ventilation duct extending from an inlet to an outlet at or near a bottom of the cavity, the inlet ventilation duct connected to the shell; positioning the apparatus in the hole so that the inlet of the inlet ventilation duct is above grade and the outlet of the inlet ventilation duct into the cavity is below grade; filling the hole with engineered fill; and lowering a spent fuel canister into the cavity.
US08098785B2 Signal processing circuit
A signal processing circuit detects a pulsative change point of an input signal and sets a phase point which is shifted by a predetermined phase difference from the detected pulsative change point of the input signal as the timing for sampling the input signal.
US08098781B1 Communications system using adaptive filter with normalization circuit
A communications system receives a modulated signal that carries encoded communications data. An adaptive filter has a plurality of non-adaptive and adaptive filter taps with weighted coefficients and a input and output normalizing circuit that obtain sample values from a received signal input to or output from the adaptive filter to increase gain recovery based on type of modulation of encoded communication data, on state of demodulator (preamble search, preamble detected, data state) or other signal acquisition information. A demodulator and decoder receive the filtered output signal and demodulate and decode the signal to obtain the communications data.
US08098780B2 Rake receiver finger assignment based on signal path concentration
A rake receiver finger assignor is configured to assign a rake receiver finger to a time offset between identified signal path time offsets in accordance with a concentration of identified signal paths from a transmitter to a rake receiver. In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, a number of identified signal paths having time offsets within a time window are observed to determine the concentration of signal paths identified by a path searcher. If the number of identified signal paths indicates a concentrated distribution of signal paths such as during a fat path condition, at least one rake finger is assigned between at a time offset between two identified signal paths.
US08098779B2 Interference detection and mitigation
Techniques for detecting and mitigating interference are described. A device (e.g., a cellular phone) senses interference levels and digitally reconstructs the expected interference in the received signal. The device may correlate the reconstructed interference with the received signal and determine interference in the received signal based on correlation results. The device may adjust the operation of one or more circuit blocks (e.g., a mixer, an LNA, etc.) in a receiver based on the detected interference in the received signal. Alternatively or additionally, the device may condition the digital interference to obtain conditioned reconstructed interference matching the interference in the received signal and may then subtract the conditioned interference from the received signal.
US08098776B2 Method and system for pre-equalization in a single weight spatial multiplexing MIMO system
Certain aspects of the method may comprise receiving a plurality of spatially multiplexed communication signals from a plurality of transmit antennas at a base station. A plurality of vectors of baseband combined channel estimates may be generated based on phase rotation of the received plurality of spatially multiplexed communication signals. A plurality of pre-equalization weights may be generated based on the generated plurality of vectors of baseband combined channel estimates. The received plurality of spatially multiplexed communication signals may be modified based on the generated plurality of pre-equalization weights. At least a portion of the generated plurality of pre-equalization weights may be fed back to the base station for modifying subsequently transmitted spatially multiplexed communication signals which are transmitted from at least a portion of the plurality of transmit antennas at the base station.
US08098774B1 Methods and apparatus for providing a ML decoding pipeline for QPSK MIMO OFDM receivers
Methods and apparatus are provided for performing LLR value computations in a pipeline. Portions of a metric used to compute LLR values are computed in one pipeline part. The portions correspond to all permutations of some received signal streams. The portions are combined with one permutation x2 of the received signal stream that was not included in the previous pipeline computation in a subsequent pipeline part to produce M values associated with a particular bit position. At each subsequent clock cycle, a different permutation of x2 is combined with the previously computed portions producing different M values. State values corresponding to different values of bit positions of the received stream are computed by finding the minimum among the M values, in each clock cycle, that affect a particular bit position. The state values are combined to compute the LLR values for the bit position in a final pipeline part.
US08098766B2 Transceiver with switch circuit for routing data from receiver to transmitter
A transceiver includes a receiver unit including a clock and data recovery unit. The transceiver includes a transmitter unit and a digital core coupled to the receiver unit and the transmitter unit. A switch circuit is positioned after the clock and data recovery unit, and is configured to route data from the receiver unit to the transmitter unit in a test mode of the transceiver.
US08098763B2 Wireless transmission device and wireless transmission method
A wireless transmission device of the present invention includes n (where n is an integer of two or more) transmission antennas and a delay imparting section for delaying transmission signals supplied to the n transmission antennas by a maximum delay time (n−1)T or less based on a delay time T dependent upon a communication signal, which indicates whether to transmit the transmission signals by way of frequency diversity or multiuser diversity.
US08098762B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving signals in multiple-input multiple output communication system provided with plurality of antenna elements
A method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving signals in a multiple-input multiple-output communication system provided with a plurality of antenna elements is disclosed. Accordingly, the present invention provides a plurality of antenna groups at one distance having the antenna elements arranged at the other distance, a method and a means for identifying the groups and adding an identifier for the groups. It further provides a method and an apparatus for allocating power for the groups.
US08098760B2 Method of generating reference signal in wireless communication system
A method of generating a reference signal includes acquiring a base sequence and acquiring a reference signal sequence with a length N from the base sequence. Good PAPR/CM characteristics of the reference signal can be kept to enhance performance of data demodulation or uplink scheduling.
US08098756B2 MIMO antenna apparatus capable of diversity reception using one radiating conductor
A MIMO antenna apparatus is provided with: an upper housing having slits; first feed points through which the upper housing itself is excited as first antennas; second feed points through which the slits are excited as second antennas; switch, each of which is connected to one of the first feed points and one of the second feed points, and connects one of the two feed points to an A/D converter circuit-; a signal level detector circuit detecting signal levels of received radio signals; and a controller that controls the switches to change a feed point connected to the A/D converter circuit, when the detected signal level is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. The slits are located between the first antennas.
US08098755B2 Method and system for beamforming in a multiple user multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system using a codebook
A method and system for beamforming in a multiple user multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system using a codebook may include a processor in a node B that enables generation of an interference cancellation matrix (WR). The interference cancellation matrix, also referred to as a matched filter, may enable a composite signal (Y) to be represented as a plurality of subsidiary signals (yi), each of which is transmitted by the node B for reception at a corresponding ith UE station. Each of the subsidiary signals yi may be generated based on a corresponding one of a plurality of data stream signals (xi). The processor may enable generation of a precoding matrix (WT) based on the interference cancellation matrix. A transmitter within the node B may enable generation of a plurality of signals based on the preceding matrix. The signals may be transmitted via a wireless communication medium.
US08098754B2 Midamble allocations for MIMO transmissions
Allocation of multiple training sequences transmitted in a MIMO timeslot from multiple transmit antenna elements is provided. For example, a method of generating signals in a MIMO timeslot, the method comprising: selecting a first training sequence; preparing a first data payload; generating a first signal including the prepared first data payload and the first training sequence; transmitting the first signal in a MIMO timeslot from a first antenna of a network element; selecting a second training sequence, wherein the second training sequence is different from first training sequence; preparing a second data payload; generating a second signal including the prepared second data payload and the second training sequence; and transmitting the second signal in the MIMO timeslot from a second antenna of the network element.
US08098752B2 Apparatus and method for supporting a plurality of MIMO modes in a wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for supporting a plurality of MIMO modes in a wireless communication system are provided, in which a receiver selects one of the plurality of MIMO modes according to at least one of a received signal strength, a speed of the receiver, a correlation between a transmitter and the receiver, a presence or absence of channel quality information, a precoding index, and an antenna information, a rank, and a number of users, generates feedback information in a transmission format corresponding to the selected MIMO mode, and transmits the feedback information to the transmitter using a feedback resources allocated according to the selected MIMO mode.
US08098749B2 CFR estimation method for multi-band OFDM-based UWB systems
A multi-stage CFR estimation method for multi-band OFDM-based UWB systems is provided. The method includes obtaining a CFR estimation ĥr(1) by performing LS estimation using a channel estimation sequence from a received OFDM-UWB frame; obtaining a CFR estimation ĥr(2) by applying a frequency-domain smoothing to the CFR estimation ĥr(1) with a first smoothing factor; obtaining a frame header which contains OFDM symbols transmitted with frequency-domain spreading on each OFDM symbol, and detecting signal signs based on a combination of two spread signals of the same OFDM symbol in the frame header with a decision directed mode and the CFR estimation ĥr(2) assisted; obtaining a CFR estimation ĥr(3) by using the signs and a finite-alphabet feature of the detected transmitted signals; obtaining a CFR estimation ĥr(4) by applying a frequency-domain smoothing to the CFR estimation ĥr(3) with a second smoothing factor; and obtaining a CFR estimation ĥr by averaging the CFR estimations ĥr(2) and ĥr(4).
US08098745B2 Random access structure for wireless networks
Apparatus and methods for accessing a wireless telecommunications network by transmitting a random access signal. The random access signal includes a random access preamble signal selected from a set of random access preamble signals constructed by cyclically shift selected root CAZAC sequences. The random access signal may be one or more transmission sub-frames in duration, the included random access preamble sequence's length being extended with the signal to provide improved signal detection performance in larger cells and in higher interference environments. The random access signal may include a wide-band pilot signal facilitating base station estimation of up-link frequency response in some situations. Each of the plurality of available random access preamble sequences may be assigned a unique information value. The base station may use the information encoded in the random access preamble to prioritize responses and resource allocations. Random access signal collisions are dealt with by a combination of preamble code space randomness and back-off procedures.
US08098739B2 Decoding circuit
Input bits having a predetermined number of bits are divided into a plurality of bits by a bit dividing apparatus. Several of the divided bits are input into a recording apparatus, and are converted into address information. The data subjected to variable length decoding and a number of bits of the data are output from the recording apparatus according to the output of the recording apparatus. A plurality of kinds of variable length decoding are performed by rewriting the table of the recording apparatus.
US08098728B2 Compressing and decompressing multiple, layered, video streams employing multi-directional spatial encoding
A process for compressing and decompressing non-keyframes in sequential sets of contemporaneous video frames making up multiple video streams where the video frames in a set depict substantially the same scene from different viewpoints. Each set of contemporaneous video frames has a plurality frames designated as keyframes with the remaining being non-keyframes. In one embodiment, the non-keyframes are compressed using a multi-directional spatial prediction technique. In another embodiment, the non-keyframes of each set of contemporaneous video frames are compressed using a combined chaining and spatial prediction compression technique. The spatial prediction compression technique employed can be a single direction technique where just one reference frame, and so one chain, is used to predict each non-keyframe, or it can be a multi-directional technique where two or more reference frames, and so chains, are used to predict each non-keyframe.
US08098724B2 Automatic calibration in high-speed serial interface receiver circuitry
Circuitry for receiving a serial data signal (e.g., a high-speed serial data signal) includes adjustable equalizer circuitry for producing an equalized version of the serial data signal. The equalizer circuitry may include controllably variable DC gain and controllably variable AC gain. The circuitry may further include eye height and eye width monitor circuitry for respectively producing first and second output signals indicative of the height and width of the eye of the equalized version. The first output signal may be used in control of the DC gain of the equalizer circuitry, and the second output signal may be used in control of the AC gain of the equalizer circuitry.
US08098722B2 Method and apparatus for equalization control
An equalization filter is provided with the ability to softly switch between pure linear equalization and decision feedback equalization. A reliability gain factor and an associated gain factor calculated by a predetermined mapping relation are provided in a decision feedback path and a feedforward path, respectively. Increasing the reliability gain factor increases the significance of the decision feedback filtering. Better performance than pure linear equalization and pure decision feedback equalization can be achieved.
US08098718B2 Apparatus and methods for digital-to-analog conversion with vector quantization
A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) includes a mismatch shaping feedback vector quantizer configured to store state information in expanded format using One-Hot Encoding of a matrix. The expanded state format storage enables implementation of a simplified state sorter for the vector feedback mechanism of the vector quantizer. The simplified state sorter may minimize the variance of ones (or other symbols representing state values) in the matrix, and allow performing sorting in a reduced number of clock cycles. For example, sorting may be performed on a predetermined edge of single clock cycle, or on two edges of the same clock cycle. The matrix may be normalized periodically or as needed, to avoid overflow and underflow. The DAC may be used as a quantizer of a modulator of an access terminal in a cellular communication system.
US08098711B2 Methods and apparatus for flexible hopping in a multiple-access communication network
Techniques for efficiently designing random hopping patterns in a communications system are disclosed. The disclosed embodiments provide for methods and systems for generating random hopping patterns, updating the patterns frequently, generating different patterns for different cells/sectors, and generating patterns of nearby sub-carriers for block hopping.
US08098708B2 System and method for communicating data using constant envelope orthogonal Walsh modulation with channelization
A radio device includes a transmitter having a modulator for generating M-PAM communications symbols containing communications data. A Fast Walsh Transform circuit orthogonally encodes and band-spreads a communications symbol using the Fast Walsh Transform. A frequency modulation circuit frequency modulates the communications symbols wherein a constant envelope orthogonal Walsh modulated communications signal is generated having a plurality of orthogonal waveforms each forming a separate Walsh communications channel.
US08098702B1 Step well quantum cascade structures
A Quantum Cascade (QC) structure(s) for use in Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) that use step quantum well(s) in which the radiative and LO-phonon transitions are both vertical transitions and within the same step well. This approach allows for a high oscillator strength and uses LO-phonon scattering for fast depopulation of the middle state (lower lasing state) for maintaining a population inversion. The step also reduces unwanted injection into the lower lasing state due to spatial separation of the wavefunctions. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope of the claims.
US08098701B2 Quantum cascade laser element
A DFB quantum cascade laser element that can reliably CW-oscillate a single-mode light even at room temperature or a temperature in proximity thereof is provided. In a quantum cascade laser element 1, a top-grating approach for which a diffraction grating 7 is formed on a laminate 3 is adopted, and thus in comparison with a buried-grating approach, deterioration in temperature characteristics of the laser element and decline in the yield and reproducibility are suppressed. In addition, since the thickness of a cladding layer 5 located between an active layer 4 and the diffraction grating 7 is within a range of 42±10% of the oscillation wavelength, weakening of light seeping from the active layer 4 to the diffraction grating 7 or an increase in light leakage is prevented. Consequently, by the quantum cascade laser element 1, a single-mode light can be reliably CW-oscillated even at room temperature or a temperature in proximity thereof.
US08098700B2 Single-exciton nanocrystal laser
A laser system employing amplification via a single exciton regime and to optical gain media having single exciton amplification is provided.
US08098696B2 Detection and compensation of multiplexer leakage current
A multiplexed input/output (I/O) system detects leakage currents on a selected input channel. The system includes a leakage detection multiplexer connected to provide an output selected from one of a plurality of input channels. In addition, the leakage detection multiplexer provides as part of the output measured leakage currents associated with the selected input channel. Based on the detected leakage currents, a determination can made regarding whether the detected leakage currents have compromised the integrity of the multiplexer output. In addition, the detected leakage current can be used to compensate the output provided by the multiplexer to account for the presence of leakage currents on the selected channel.
US08098694B2 Method of processing traffic information and digital broadcast system
A digital broadcast transmitting/receiving system and a method for processing data are disclosed. The method for processing data may enhance the receiving performance of the receiving system by performing additional coding and multiplexing processes on the traffic information data and transmitting the processed data. Thus, robustness is provided to the traffic information data, thereby enabling the data to respond strongly against the channel environment which is always under constant and vast change.
US08098693B2 Method of early starting the operation of a descrambler
The present invention provides a method of early starting the operation of a descrambler. The method comprises the steps of receiving a, synchronous byte of a transport packet in a group of m packets, where m is an integer, generating an alignment index to indicate a location of the synchronous byte, delivering the alignment index to the descrambler, and loading an initialization sequence to the descrambler in accordance with the alignment index and starting an operation of the descrambler.
US08098692B2 Method and apparatus for high speed LVDS communication
A method and system communicates payload data over a plurality of low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) channels (50). First device (100) transmits the payload data and synchronization information to the second device (150) over N LVDS channels (50), along with a word clock synchronized to the payload data. The second device generates M LVDS receive clocks from the word clock, each having a same frequency that is P times a frequency of the word clock, and each having a different phase. Each of N LVDS receivers (160) of the second device (150): correlates the synchronization data with a reference word using each of the M LVDS receive clocks to produce a correlation value for each of the M LVDS receive clocks; selects a selected LVDS receive clock producing a greatest correlation value; and receives the payload data for the corresponding LVDS channel (50) using the selected LVDS receive clock.
US08098687B2 Method and apparatus for forwarding packets
A method for forwarding packets first checks a forwarding table of a bridge to find whether the destination information for a packet is included in the forwarding table. If the information is found, this packet is forwarded to the destination through a physical layer directly without passing through the bridge. This method improves the efficiency of the frame aggregation of an AP (Access Point) and enhances the throughput in a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network).
US08098683B2 Method and system for implementing a single weight (SW) single channel (SC) MIMO system with no insertion loss
In a RF communications system, aspects for implementing a single weight single channel MIMO system with no insertion loss may comprise generating at least one control signal that is utilized to control at least one of a plurality of received signals in a WCDMA and/or HSDPA system. A phase of a first of the plurality of received signals may be adjusted outside of a first processing path used to process that signal so that it is equivalent to a phase of at least a second of the plurality of received signals. A gain in the first processing path may be equivalent to a gain in a second processing path that is utilized to process the second of the plurality of received signals. The control signal may be utilized to adjust a phase and/or an amplitude of at least one of a plurality of received signals.
US08098680B2 Method and system for managing transmissions in a wireless communication network
The present invention provides a method for managing transmissions in a wireless communication network (100). The method at a first node (102) of a plurality of nodes of the wireless communication network includes transmitting (304) a data frame to a second node (104) using a first transmit power level. The method further includes determining (306) whether an acknowledgement for the transmitted data frame is received from the second node. Further, the method includes determining (308) a cause of unsuccessful transmission when the acknowledgement is not received from the second node. Moreover, the method includes re-transmitting (310) the data frame to the second node using a second transmit power level when the cause of unsuccessful transmission is determined as a collision. Furthermore, the method includes setting (312) a transmit power level of the first node to a third transmit power level.
US08098677B1 Superset packet forwarding for overlapping filters and related systems and methods
Systems and methods are disclosed that allow for improved management and control of packet forwarding in network systems. Network devices and tool optimizers and a related systems and methods are disclosed for improved packet forwarding between input ports and output ports. The input ports and output ports are configured to be connected to source devices and destination devices, for example, network sources and destination tools in a network monitoring environment. The network devices and tool optimizers disclosed can use superset packet forwarding, such that ingress filter engines are configured with ingress filter rules so as to forward a superset of packets to output ports associated with overlapping filters. Egress filter engines are configured with egress filter rules to then determine which of the superset packets are actually sent out the output ports.
US08098676B2 Techniques to utilize queues for network interface devices
Techniques to allocate packets for processing among multiple processor(s). In an embodiment, capability to receive packets from a plurality of network interfaces may be provided, where each of the network interfaces is associated with at least one receive queue. the plurality of network interfaces may use any of the receive queues. Packet processing may be performed among a plurality of processors. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08098664B2 Retransmission-request transmitting method and receiving side apparatus
In a retransmission-request transmitting method, the receiving side apparatus activates a reordering timer, when receiving a first packet before receiving an unreceived packet with a sequence number smaller than a sequence number of the first packet; triggers transmission of a retransmission request for the unreceived packet, when having not received the unreceived packet by the time of expiration of the reordering timer activated in response to the receipt of the first packet; and stops and reactivates the reordering timer activated in response to the receipt of the first packet, when a value of the sequence number of the first packet falls out of a range of the receiving side window as a result of changing the upper limit value and the lower limit value in accordance with a sequence number of a second packet received from the transmitting side apparatus.
US08098663B2 Carrier's carrier without customer-edge-to-customer-edge border gateway protocol
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method includes obtaining a first advertisement at a first provider edge (PE) device from a first customer edge (CE) device that is associated with a virtual private network, and sending a second advertisement on a control plane path associated with a border gateway protocol after obtaining the first advertisement. The first PE device has a routing and forwarding table. The first advertisement identifies a plurality of local routes associated with the first VPN, and includes a first indication that information relating to the plurality of local routes is not to be stored in the routing and forwarding table. The second advertisement identifies the local routes, an address of the first CE device, and the first CE device as a next hop.
US08098662B2 Method and apparatus for using short addresses in a communication system
Methods and apparatus for communicating between an access terminal (AT) and remote device via an access point (AP) are described. For communications over the air link, between an AP and an AT, a short address corresponding to the remote device is used for routing packets to/from the remote device. This conserves air link resources. However, for communicating between the AP and the remote device a longer address, e.g., a full IP address corresponding to the remote device, is used. The AT converts between the long and short addresses as information, e.g., packets, is communicated between the remote device and the AT. The long address may be, for example, an IP address corresponding to the remote device used to route packets through a Layer 2 tunnel between the remote device and the AP. In some embodiments the remote device is a remote access point.
US08098656B2 Method and apparatus for implementing L2 VPNs on an IP network
MP-BGP VPN infrastructure based on IETF RFC 4364/2547 is used to configure a layer 2 VPN on an IP network. VRFs for the VPN are configured on Ethernet switches and service IP addresses are associated with each configured VRF. The service IP addresses are exchanged to enable VPN traffic to be encapsulated for transport over the IP network. To enable a L2 VPN to be established on the network, a VPN-VLAN ID will be configured for the L2 VPN and import/export route targets for the VPN-VLAN will be set in each VRF and UNI-VLAN that is part of the VPN. The VPN-VLAN will be announced to all PEs using MP-iBGP with export route targets set for this VPN-VLAN. The PE's control plane learns the VPN-VLAN on a logical port if the import RT matches the export RT received by the MP-iBGP control plane. Once the VPN-VLAN is learned on a logical port, the PE will perform MAC learning on that logical port and treat the logical port as if it were part of the L2 VLAN.
US08098655B1 Systems and methods for converting a P packet/cycle datapath to a Q packet/cycle datapath
A system includes a queue that stores P data units, each data unit including multiple bytes. The system further includes a control unit that shifts, byte by byte, Q data units from the queue during a first system clock cycle, where Q
US08098650B2 Apparatus and method for processing contents using routing table
A routing apparatus includes: a routing table management unit for generating a routing table by receiving interest information of a user of a mobile node, and for broadcasting the routing table through the mobile ad hoc network; an effectiveness calculation unit for calculating effectiveness values for respective paths, included in a routing table broadcasted by some other external node, based on both the interest information of the user of the mobile node and interest information of users of destination nodes of the respective paths when the routing table is received from the other external node; a storing unit for storing the generated routing table; and a routing path setting unit for setting a routing path on the basis of the routing table stored in the storage unit. The routing table management unit updates the routing table using the effectiveness values for respective paths calculated by the effectiveness calculation unit.
US08098647B2 Method of performing cell search in wireless communication system
A method of performing cell search includes receiving a primary synchronization signal (PSS) comprising a primary synchronization code (PSC), and receiving a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) comprising a first secondary synchronization code (SSC) and a second SSC. The first SSC and the second SSC are respectively scrambled by using a first scrambling code and a second scrambling code, and the first scrambling code and the second scrambling code are associated with the PSC. Detection performance on synchronization signals can be improved, and cell search can be performed more reliably.
US08098646B2 Digital broadcast system for transmitting/receiving digital broadcast data, and data processing method for use in the same
A digital broadcast system having storing resistance to errors generated during the transmission of mobile service data, and a data processing method are disclosed. The digital broadcast system additionally encodes mobile service data. As a result, the mobile service data has strong resistance to a channel variation and noise, and at the same time the system can quickly cope with the channel variation.
US08098642B2 Communication system and mobile home agent
A technique is disclosed to decrease unnecessary routing during communication between a mobile node and a correspondent node in case a home agent of the mobile node is a mobile home agent. According to this technique, HA 112 positioned in a home network 102 and HA 114 of MN 130 are included. In a communication system, where HA 114 is a mobile home agent, and a mobile network 104 of HA 114 is hierarchized under the home network 102, HA 114, which is a home agent, discovers HA 112 positioned in the home network 102 when it is detected that it is away from the home network 102 and delegates binding cache entry of MN 130 under its own management to HA 112 so that HA 112 acts as a home agent for MN 130.
US08098637B1 Load balancing in wireless local area networks
Systems and methods perform load balancing in a wireless network. In particular, one aspect of the systems and methods is the use of weighted mean end-to-end delay across the entire WLAN that is attributable to the wireless portion of the network as a measure of network performance and user satisfaction. The weighted mean end-to-end delay, the costs of refusing service to a mobile station or forcing a mobile station to switch to another access point may be added to determine whether it is desirable to switch a station to a new access point. A further aspect of the systems and methods is the measurement of network traffic, making predictions and optimizing allocation of station to access points every T seconds, where T is selected by the network manager.
US08098636B2 Radio transmission apparatus and radio transmission method
A radio transmission apparatus and a radio transmission method for readily controlling retransmission timing presets a frame cycle for retransmission, and transmits only packets for which no acknowledgement of receipt has been received within the frame cycle as a reply from a receiving apparatus to a transmitting apparatus. Thus, timing for retransmission can be readily determined. Also, the retransmission timing is determined based on when a packet is actually transmitted. Therefore, the multiple acknowledgement of receipt can be returned as a combined reply.
US08098631B2 Group MMSE-DFD with rate (SINR) feedback and without pre-determined decoding order for reception on a cellular downlink
The invention is a method directed to group MMSE-DFD with rate (SINR) feedback and without pre-determined decoding order for reception on a cellular downlink. The method includes initializing channel matrix estimates and inner codes of all co-channel transmitter sources in a wireless network. Each channel matrix estimate is converted into an effective channel matrix responsive to the inner code of the corresponding transmitter source; The channel estimates or the inner codes or the modulation and coding schemes are not known for some of the transmitter sources whose transmitted signals are consequently treated as interference and deemed un-decodable.
US08098622B2 Method for requesting resource and scheduling for uplink traffic in mobile communication and apparatus thereof
The present invention relates to a resource allocation requesting method and a packet scheduling method for uplink packet traffic in a mobile communication system, and an apparatus of the packet scheduling method. For efficient scheduling for the uplink traffic, scheduling is performed according to characteristics of traffic between a base station and user equipment (UE). Particularly, when the traffic generates a variable size packet on a periodic basis, the traffic is classified into first traffic that generates a completely variable size packet on a periodic basis and second traffic that generates a quasi-variable size packet on a periodic basis. In addition, the UE requests resource allocation in a different form from the base station depending on the type of traffic, and the base station performs scheduling according to the resource allocation request. Therefore, the UE requests resource allocation in accordance with traffic characteristics and the base station performs scheduling according to the traffic characteristics so that optimal uplink scheduling can be performed.
US08098619B2 Method for allocating a temporary address to a mobile node of a telecommunication system, equipment and programs for implementing same
The invention concerns a method wherein the mobile node (1) obtains respective temporary addresses with several access routers (3) of a telecommunication system detected by the mobile mode. It also collects data concerning the characteristics of said access routers, and transmits to a manager temporary addresses (6) of a mobility service provider a request for address selection (REQ) containing part at least of the collected data. The manager (6) processes said request to select one of the temporary addresses for the mobile node.
US08098617B2 Method and apparatus for selective examination of PPP packets for renegotiation of a PPP link on a Um interface
A method and system that provides for efficient re-synchronization of a PPP link on a Um interface is provided. When the PPP link is connected, if an indication that the communications of the mobile station is associated with a new network server is detected, only the Um interface will undergo PPP configuration renegotiation. The method and system does not require the examination of all data packets for determining whether PPP configuration renegotiation is required.
US08098611B2 Relay coded multi-user cooperative communications for uplink 4G wireless networks
Source nodes in an International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-advanced 4G network transmit data on uplink channels to a relay node and a BS using a channel code. The relay node decodes independently the data received from each source node, and applies network coding to data correctly decoded, and transmits the encoded data to the BS. The BS decodes the encoded data transmitted by the sources nodes and the relay nodes cooperatively via a turbo decoding process. The data from each source node are decoded by soft-input soft-output single user decoders and are decoded, together with the data from the relay node, by a soft-input soft-output multi-user decoder.
US08098610B2 Multiplexing and demultiplexing radio channels
In one embodiment, a method and apparatus of multiplexing and demultiplexing radio channels includes receiving data through at least one multicast media channel available for use in an Internet Protocol Interoperability and Communications System (IPICS) comprising multiple communication endpoints linkable to a Land Mobile Radio (LMR) in the IPICS; channel mapping the at least one multicast media channel to multiple media channels of the LMR; receiving an audio signal through the at least one multicast media channel; controlling access to the LMR by applying communication access control policies based on the received data upon reception of the audio signal; and operatively linking the LMR to a specified endpoint through the at least one multicast media channel based on the communication access control policies.
US08098600B2 Computer, internet and telecommunications based network
A method and apparatus for a computer and telecommunication network which can receive, send and manage information from or to a subscriber of the network, based on the subscriber's configuration. The network is made up of at least one cluster containing voice servers which allow for telephony, speech recognition, text-to-speech and conferencing functions, and is accessible by the subscriber through standard telephone connections or through internet connections. The network also utilizes a database and file server allowing the subscriber to maintain and manage certain contact lists and administrative information. A web server is also connected to the cluster thereby allowing access to all functions through internet connections.
US08098598B1 Emulating a removable mass storage device
A communication system receives, via a wireless communication link, a packet of data from a mobile communication device that is connected to, and enumerated by, a computer system as a locally attached mass storage device. The communication system sends this packet of data to a network for storage by mass storage system. The communication system may also receive, via a wireless communication link, a registration message that includes a device identifier from a mobile communication device that is connected to, and enumerated by, a computer system as a locally attached mass storage device. The communication system matches the device identifier to a mass storage system. The communication system is configured to translate requests from the mobile communication device. The communication system transfers translated requests to the mass storage system.
US08098597B2 IAS-based configuration for UMB Femto devices
A method and apparatus configure Femto Devices in an Ultra Mobile Broadband network system. A Femto Device transmits a Femto pilot signal to an Access Terminal, which is served by a plurality of base stations in the Ultra Mobile Broadband network system. The Access Terminal then transmits to the Femto Device an identifier of a base station that controls a macro cell where the Femto Device is located. Next, a Neighbor Discovery Request message is transmitted from the Femto Device to the base station in dependence upon the received identifier of the base station. In response to the Neighbor Discovery Request message received, a Neighbor Discovery Report message is transmitted from the base station to the Femto device. The Neighbor Discovery Report message includes a field indicating network addresses of a Session Reference Network Controller and an Access Gateway that connect to the base station. Finally, the Femto Device connects to the Session Reference Network Controller and the Access Gateway via the Femto device in dependence upon the network addresses of the Session Reference Network Controller and the Access Gateway.
US08098594B2 Dynamic SIP max-hop setup for IMS
A device forwards in a network, a session setup request from an originating user device toward a destination user device and intercepts a too many hops error message from a network element to the originating user device. The device also automatically sends, in response to the error message, a search request message to determine a correct number of hops from the originating user device to the destination user device and resets a Max-Forwards value for the session setup request based on the determined correct number of hops. The session setup request with the determined correct number of hops may be resent on behalf of the originating device without the too may hops error ever reaching the originating device.
US08098592B2 Cellular data transmission time period estimation
A method comprises the step of estimating a time period that remains for a cellular mobile communication device data transmission based on one or more determinations of status for one or more network resources that handle the cellular mobile communication device data transmission.
US08098589B2 System and method for exchanging awareness information in a network environment
A method for communicating packets in a network environment is provided that includes receiving a packet at a network element and identifying a sequence number included in the packet that correlates to awareness information associated with one or more adjacent network elements. A table included in the network element may be updated in order to account for the awareness information included within the packet that has not been accounted for by the network element. In cases where the awareness information included in the packet has already been accounted for, the packet may be ignored.
US08098585B2 Ranking the importance of alerts for problem determination in large systems
A system and method for prioritizing alerts includes extracting invariants to determine a stable set of models for determining relationships among monitored system data. Equivalent thresholds for a plurality of rules are computed using an invariant network developed by extracting the invariants. For a given time window, a set of alerts are received from a system being monitored. A measurement value of the alerts is compared with a vector of equivalent thresholds, and the set of alerts is ranked.
US08098583B2 Network having multiple QoS levels
In a multi-QoS network, a scheduling mechanism, such as Weighted Fair Queueing, is configured to meet the multiple QoS guarantees. For each link with n classes and n fixed weights, the traffic is assigned to the various classes to meet end-to-end delay constraints.
US08098582B2 Methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing bandwidth control services
Methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing bandwidth control services are provided. The method includes assigning a quality of service preference to a device. The method also includes associating a service session with the device. The method further includes executing a control action for at least one other simultaneously occurring service session when a quality of service level of the service session differs from the quality of service preference by a specified degree. The control action is operable for producing and maintaining the quality of service preference.
US08098577B2 Method and device for managing simultaneous connections of a mobile telecommunications device to different networks
Method and device for managing simultaneous connections of a mobile telecommunications device to at least a wireless local area network and a mobile telephone network via a single terminal of the mobile telecommunications device, the method including the steps of: (a) establishing a first wireless connection of the terminal with the wireless local area network, (b) establishing a second wireless connection of the terminal with the mobile telephone network, (c) responding to each network at predetermined times, such that the first and second wireless connections are maintained, and (d) preventing simultaneous transmittals of data from the terminal to both networks over the first and second wireless connections.
US08098574B2 Global ports in multi-switch systems
Global ports are supported in multi-switch systems having arbitrary topologies. In some implementations, global ports are implemented in a manner which makes the switch system robust in the face of link failure. In specific Ethernet implementations, global ports enable flooding, learning, forwarding, and link aggregation across the switch system.
US08098570B2 Spectrum characterization for communication equipment
The invention concerns the processing of digital signals, in particular spectral scanning upon reception of a signal. Said processing includes multicarrier shape filtering (12) applied to a received signal prior to computing a Fourier transform (13) applied to the received signal thus filtered. The invention is advantageously useful for dynamic spectrum allocation in a context of radio communication of content.
US08098567B2 Timing adjustments for channel estimation in a multi carrier system
Apparatus and methods are provided for making timing adjustments in a multi carrier communications system. In an aspect, a timing correction method is provided for a multi-carrier system. This includes adjusting the time basis of two or more pilot interlaces with respect to each other in order to account for timing differences between the interlaces when combining the interlaces, and then adjusting or matching the time bases of the combined interlaces with a symbol to be demodulated. The alignment and matching is performed in order to generate channel estimates for data demodulation. The channel estimates, thus generated, along with the timing alignment information are in turn used for determining timing corrections to be applied to demodulation of a particular symbol. Corresponding apparatus are also disclosed that implement the methodology.
US08098564B2 Objective lens for optical pickup apparatus, objective lens unit for optical pickup apparatus and optical pickup apparatus using the same
The present invention relates to an objective lens, an objective lens unit and an optical pickup apparatus. The objective lens is provided for an optical pickup apparatus recording or reproducing information by converging a light flux with a wavelength λ1 emitted from a light source onto an information recording surface of an optical information recording medium. The objective lens is formed of: a single lens having at least one aspheric surface. In the objective lens, an effective aperture, a thickness on an optical axis, a focal length, a numerical aperture, and a refractive index satisfy the predetermined conditional expressions. The objective lens unit is provided for an optical pickup apparatus and includes an aberration correcting element and the objective lens.
US08098563B2 Objective lens actuator
An objective lens actuator includes a lens holder, a protector holder, and a protector. The lens holder in which the objective lens is provided has a face configured to oppose the disc. The protector holder is provided on the face of the lens holder. The protector is formed with an opening defined by a first inner face, a second inner face and a bottom face between the first inner face and the second inner face. The protector has a parallelepiped shape elongating in a first direction parallel to the disc. A part of the protector is inserted in the opening so as to contact the first inner face and the second inner face and to extend from the bottom face toward the disc. A first distance between an end of the protector in a second direction in which the protector extends toward the disc and the disc is shorter than a second distance between the objective lens and the disc. A gap is formed between an end of the opening and an end of the protector in the first direction.
US08098556B2 Optical disc device
An object of this invention is to measure the tilt quantity of, and perform a tilt control on, an optical disc accurately without depending on the rotation control method.An optical disc drive includes: a motor for rotating an optical disc; an optical system for irradiating the optical disc with a light beam; a moving mechanism for moving the optical system along the radius of the optical disc; a focus control section for controlling movement of the optical system perpendicularly to the optical disc based on drive values, thereby focusing the light beam onto a storage layer of the optical disc; and a tilt control section for measuring the tilt quantities of the storage layer at multiple different radial locations on the optical disc based on drive values for the respective radial locations when the focus control section focuses the light beam there. When the tilt control section measures the tilt quantities, the motor keeps the rotational frequency of the optical disc constant and the tilt control section uses the drive values obtained at the respective radial locations.
US08098554B2 Tilt detecting device and method
An information recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes an optical head, an analog signal processor, an analog/digital converter, a controller and a digital/analog converter. The optical head is used for emitting a light beam on a medium and receiving a reflected light beam from the medium. The analog signal processor is used for processing the reflected light beam to obtain a first analog signal. The analog/digital converter is used for converting the first analog signal into a digital signal. The controller is used for applying a low-pass filtering operation on the digital signal to obtain a digital controlling signal. The digital/analog converter is used for converting the digital controlling signal into a second analog signal. The second analog signal is transmitted to the optical head for correcting a tilt between the light beam and the medium.
US08098551B2 Recording power calibrating method for improving seeking stability on recording power calibration area
In an optimal recording power calibration method for improving seeking stability on a recording power calibration area, a specific area serves as a data recording area during an optimal recording power calibration, wherein a length of the specific area is such that a plurality of times of optimal recording power calibrations can be performed. The method includes: an optimal recording power calibration step of recording, with different recording power, a first length of calibration data in the specific area, and calibrating optimal recording power, wherein a data sector recorded in this step is defined as a calibration recording sector; and a data recording step of recording, with data recording power, a second length of information having a logical address beside the calibration recording sector of the specific area, wherein a data sector recorded in the step is defined as an information recording sector.
US08098547B2 Optical waveguide and thermal assist magnetic recording head therewith
An optical waveguide, on account of its ability to apply phase resonance of a wavelength and of a first and second triangular plate-like spot size converter members formed of the same material as a core material and being arranged and formed in a substantially symmetrical structure, can promote shortening of the waveguide length and contrive to reduce the size of the optical waveguide itself. Further, an optical waveguide having excellent spot size conversion efficiency can be obtained even in a reduced size.
US08098546B2 Geophone having improved sensitivity
A geophone utilizing an Alnico-9 magnet and having an improved sensitivity over Alnico-9 geophones of prior art through the lengthening of the parasitic air gap between the upper and lower pole pieces which, results in less magnetic flux leakage. The flux concentration through the geophone coils is increased and shifted towards the ends of the magnet. The increase of sensitivity of geophone of the present invention over prior art geophones may exceed 3 dB. The axial length of the coil bobbin is increased, and the positions of the electrical coils are moved towards the ends of the magnet to align with the shifted magnetic flux.
US08098542B2 Combined electromagnetic and seismic acquisition system and method
A method for marine geophysical surveying according to one aspect of the invention includes towing at least one geophysical sensor streamer in a body of water. The streamer includes a plurality of spaced apart electromagnetic field receivers disposed at spaced apart locations along the streamer. The streamer also includes a plurality of seismic sensors disposed at spaced apart locations. The seismic sensors each include at least one pressure responsive receiver and at least one particle motion responsive receiver. At selected times, a seismic energy source is actuated in the water. Particle motion and pressure seismic signals, and electromagnetic field signals are detected at the respective receivers.
US08098541B2 Non-volatile memory with stray magnetic field compensation
A method and apparatus for stray magnetic field compensation in a non-volatile memory cell, such as a spin-torque transfer random access memory (STRAM). In some embodiments, a first tunneling barrier is coupled to a reference structure that has a perpendicular anisotropy and a first magnetization direction. A recording structure that has a perpendicular anisotropy is coupled to the first tunneling barrier and a nonmagnetic spacer layer. A compensation layer that has a perpendicular anisotropy and a second magnetization direction in substantial opposition to the first magnetization direction is coupled to the nonmagnetic spacer layer. Further, the memory cell is programmable to a selected resistance state with application of a current to the recording structure.
US08098540B2 Dynamic power saving memory architecture
A memory includes multiple interface ports. The memory also includes at least two sub-arrays each having an instance of all of the bit lines of the memory and a portion of the word lines of the memory. The memory has a common decoder coupled to the sub-arrays and configured to control each of the word lines. The memory also includes multiplexers coupled to each of the interface ports. The multiplexers are configured to cause the selection of one of the sub-arrays based upon an address of a memory cell received at one or more of the interface ports.
US08098539B2 Hybrid single and dual channel DDR interface scheme by interleaving address/control signals during dual channel operation
A memory structure is described. In one embodiment, the memory structure comprises a memory controller configured to receive a clock signal and to be coupled to a plurality of memory modules via a single address/control bus. The memory controller couples to each of the plurality of memory modules via a separate chip select signal for each memory module. The memory controller issues commands across the address/control bus to the memory modules in an interleaved fashion in accordance with the timing supplied by the clock. During a waiting period after issuance of a command to one memory module, the memory controller can issue commands to a different memory module.
US08098532B2 Non-volatile semiconductor storage device with address search circuit used when writing
A non-volatile semiconductor storage device includes a memory cell array having a plurality of non-volatile memory cells, an address search circuit which searches for write object data and outputs an address where the write object data is present, when writing data into the non-volatile memory cells, and a control circuit which exercises control to write the write object data into the non-volatile memory cells in accordance with the address output from the address search circuit.
US08098527B2 Semiconductor memory device and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor substrate; a memory cell array on the semiconductor substrate, the memory cell array comprising a plurality of memory cells capable of electrically storing data; a sense amplifier configured to detect the data stored in at least one of the memory cells; a cell source driver electrically connected to source side terminals of the memory cells and configured to supply a source potential to at least one of the source side terminals of the memory cells; a first wiring configured to electrically connect between at least one of the source side terminals of the memory cells and the cell source driver; and a second wiring formed in a same wiring layer as the first wiring, the second wiring being insulated from the first wiring and being electrically connected to the sense amplifier, wherein the first wiring and the second wiring have a plurality of through holes provided at a predetermined interval.
US08098525B2 Pre-charge sensing scheme for non-volatile memory (NVM)
The pipe effect can significantly degrade flash performance. A method to significantly reduce pipe current and (or neighbor current using a pre-charge sequence) is disclosed. A dedicated read order keeps the sensing node facing the section of the pipe which was pre-charged. The technique involves pre-charging several global bitlines (such as metal bitlines, or MBLs) and local bitlines (such as diffusion bitlines, or DBLs). The pre-charged global bitlines are selected according to a pre-defined table per each address. The selection of the global bitlines is done according to whether these global bitlines will interfere with the pipe during the next read cycle.
US08098523B2 Semiconductor memory device with memory cell having charge accumulation layer and control gate and memory system
A semiconductor memory device includes first memory cell transistors, a memory block, and word lines. Each of the first memory cell transistors has a stacked gate including a charge accumulation layer and a control gate and is capable of holding M bits (M≠2i, where i is a natural number and M is a natural number greater than or equal to 3) of data. The memory block includes the first memory cell transistors and is erase unit of the data. The data held in the first memory cell transistors included in the memory block is erased simultaneously. The size of data the memory block is capable of holding is L bits (L=2k, where k is a natural number). The word lines connect in common the control gates of the first memory cell transistors.
US08098522B2 Non-volatile memory and operation method thereof
An operation method of a non-volatile memory suitable for a multi-level cell having a first storage position and a second storage position is provided. The operation method includes: setting N threshold-voltage distribution curves, wherein the N threshold-voltage distribution curves correspond to N levels and N is an integer greater than 2; programming the first and the second storage positions to the 1st level and an auxiliary level respectively according to the 1st threshold-voltage distribution curve and a threshold-voltage auxiliary curve when the first and the second storage positions are programmed to the 1st and Nth levels; and programming the first and the second storage positions to the ith level according to the ith threshold-voltage distribution curve when the first and the second storage positions are not to be programmed to the 1st and Nth levels, wherein i is an integer and 1≦i≦N.
US08098514B2 Magnetoresistive element and magnetic memory
A magnetoresistive element includes a first reference layer having magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to a film surface, and an invariable magnetization, a recording layer having a stacked structure formed by alternately stacking magnetic layers and nonmagnetic layers, magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to a film surface, and a variable magnetization, and an intermediate layer provided between the first reference layer and the recording layer, and containing a nonmagnetic material. The magnetic layers include a first magnetic layer being in contact with the intermediate layer and a second magnetic layer being not in contact with the intermediate layer. The first magnetic layer contains an alloy containing cobalt (Co) and iron (Fe), and has a film thickness larger than that of the second magnetic layer.
US08098513B2 Memory array with read reference voltage cells
The present disclosure relates to memory arrays with read reference voltage cells. In particular the present disclosure relates to variable resistive memory cell apparatus and arrays that include a high resistance state reference memory cell and a low resistance state reference memory cell that provides a reliable average reference voltage on chip to compare to a read voltage of a selected memory cell and determine if the selected memory cell is in the high resistance state or low resistance state. These memory arrays are particularly suitable for use with spin-transfer torque memory cells and resolves many systematic issues related to generation of a reliable reference voltage.
US08098508B2 Configurable inputs and outputs for memory stacking system and method
Embodiments of the present invention relate to configurable inputs and/or outputs for memory and memory stacking applications. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention include memory devices that include a die having a circuit configured for enablement by a particular signal, an input pin configured to receive the particular signal, and a path selector configured to selectively designate a signal path to the circuit from the input pin.
US08098506B2 Single-stage power supply with power factor correction and constant current output
An example controller includes first, second and third inputs, a delayed ramp generator and a drive signal generator. The first, second and third inputs are coupled to receive an input voltage sense signal, an output voltage sense signal, and an input current sense signal, respectively. The drive signal generator is coupled to receive an input charge control signal generated by an input charge control signal generator and a delayed ramp signal generated by a delayed ramp generator. The input charge control signal is generated responsive to an integral of the input current sense signal multiplied by a ratio of the input voltage sense signal to the output voltage sense signal, where the drive signal generator produces a drive signal responsive to the input charge control signal and the delayed ramp signal, the drive signal to be coupled to control a switch of a power supply to regulate an output of the power supply.
US08098505B1 Phase management for interleaved power factor correction
An interleaved power factor correction (PFC) circuit includes phase management to control shedding and adding of channels. The channels may be voltage (e.g., boost) converters connected in parallel. The interleaved PFC circuit can have a first channel and a second channel that operate out of phase of each other to provide input power to a load. In a two phase interleaved PFC circuit, the first and second channels operate 180 degrees out of phase. A channel may be shed or added depending on load conditions. The phase management can be configured to add or remove a channel only when the AC line input to the interleaved PFC circuit crosses zero.
US08098504B2 Converter station for connecting an AC system to an end of an HVDC transmission line
A converter station for connecting an AC system to an HVDC transmission line. At least two converters are arranged in two separate converter valve halls. The station includes a separate control device configured to control of each converter and an auxiliary power source configured to provide auxiliary power for each converter. A separate overall control configured to control the overall operation conditions is arranged for each converter making each converter self supporting. The converter valve halls are separated by a substantial space.
US08098502B2 System and method for emissions suppression in a switched-mode power supply
In one embodiment, a method of operating a switched-mode power supply that has a switch coupled to a drive signal is disclosed. The method includes deactivating the drive signal at a first instance of time, and comparing a power supply signal to a threshold after deactivating the drive signal. The method further includes activating the drive signal a variable period of time after the power supply signal crosses the threshold.
US08098499B2 Circuit arrangement having two semiconductor switching elements and one freewheeling element
One aspect is a circuit arrangement including a first semiconductor switching element, a second semiconductor switching element connected in series with the first semiconductor switching element and a freewheeling element connected in parallel with the second semiconductor switching element.
US08098496B2 Wiring board for semiconductor device
A wiring board for a semiconductor device has a substrate, a solder resist provided on the substrate, a land, and a wiring line. The solder resist is not in contact with the land, and an end portion of the wiring line is arranged such that, when a solder ball is not provided, the end portion of the wiring line and the land face each other with a distance therebetween.
US08098494B2 Electronic device
An electronic device includes a housing, a circuit board, a switch, and a side key. The housing has a plurality of side walls. The circuit board is disposed in the housing. The switch is disposed at an inner surface of the housing relatively close to the circuit board. The side key disposes through one of the side walls, and the location of the side key is corresponding to the switch. When the side key is pressed, the side key contacts the switch to make the switch electrically connected with the circuit board.
US08098491B2 Control unit for controlling an electromotive drive unit
A control unit for controlling an electromotive drive unit has a housing (16), which can be connected to the drive unit by a mechanical interface device, and a plug-in device (17) provided on the housing, for plugging in a cable (20) that is guided to the hosing from the outside, wherein contact pins (6) of the plug-in device are arranged in at least one slot (18) of the plug-in device (17) and are electrically connected to conductor tracks of a circuit board (8), which is arranged on the inside of the housing. The at least one slot (18) is arranged on the side (7) of the housing (16) facing away from the drive unit and is formed by a connector collar (5), which is configured as one piece with the housing (16) and made of the same polymer material.
US08098490B2 Electronic apparatus
According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a housing, a first heating element in the housing, a heat sink in the housing, a first pressing member, a first heat pipe, and a second heat pipe. The first heat pipe has a plate shape, includes a first portion facing the first heating element and a second portion being outside the first heating element. The first heat pipe is configured to be bent by the first pressing member. The second heat pipe is connected to the second portion of the first heat pipe and the heat sink.
US08098489B2 Integrated thermal system for cooling multiple separate components of an electronic device
The invention broadly contemplates an integrated thermal system that is capable of simultaneously cooling multiple, separate heat generating components of an electronic device. The integrated thermal system according to one embodiment of the invention takes the form of a CPU heat sink designed to intelligently maximize available airflow, utilizing multidirectional airflow cooling of a plurality of heat generating components on the motherboard. The heat sink is designed such that airflow provided by a single fan is captured and directed to nearby/adjacent components, thus cooling these components. The invention thus provides an integrated cooling solution and removes the need for multiple cooling systems/solutions.
US08098488B2 Computer docking station for a vehicle
A computer docking station for supporting and electrically coupling to a portable computer that has a docking connector includes a body having a support portion configured to support the portable computer, and a main connector moveable relative to the body between an engaged position in which the main connector is engageable with the docking connector, and a disengaged position. The computer docking station also includes a frame coupled to the body and the main connector. The frame is movable relative to the body between a first position, in which the main connector is in the disengaged position, and a second position, in which the main connector is in the engaged position. The computer docking station further includes a subframe coupled to the frame. The subframe is movable with the frame from the first position to the second position and is movable relative to the frame from the second position to a third position to inhibit movement of the main connector away from the engaged position.
US08098487B2 Display apparatus
A display apparatus is provided. A frame is fixed and supported at the rear of a front panel forming the front portion of the display apparatus, and a separate bracket member is not mounted on the edges of the front panel. Thus, the front exterior of the display apparatus is neatly finished, and the display screen looks bigger than it actually is.
US08098483B2 Multi electrode series connected arrangement supercapacitor
The present invention is an electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC) series stack formed into a single electrolyte cell structure. The concatenated multiple electrode assembly stack has electrode assemblies electrically connected in series. The electrode assemblies have a double-sided activated carbon electrode formed on a current collector. Power tabs are connected to the end electrode assemblies. An electrolyte is also provided. A poly bag contains the electrolyte and the electrode assemblies. The electrode assemblies form a double-sided activated-carbon electrode on a current collector. The EDLC stack has a number of segments and mass free zones separating them. The segments are folded so that mass free zones are disposed at the apex of each fold.
US08098482B2 Double layer capacitor using polymer electrolyte in multilayer construction
A double layer capacitor (DLC) containing at least one double layer capacitor cell is provided. Each double layer capacitor cell contains two current collectors, each containing a metallized carrier film with upper and lower planar surfaces, two thin electrode layers in direct contact with the lower and upper planar surfaces of the metallized carrier films of the first and second current collectors, and a polymer electrolyte layer in direct contact with the first and the second thin electrode layers. The polymer electrolyte is applied as a liquid which impregnates and encases the electrode layers and then solidified to form the electrolyte layer. The resulting DLC is preferably no thicker than about 20 microns, and may be as thin as 5 microns. Methods of producing a DLC and for forming a cross-linked electrolyte are also provided.
US08098477B2 Feedthrough multilayer capacitor with capacitance components connected in parallel
A first signal internal electrode is connected to a first signal terminal electrode and a signal connection conductor. A second signal internal electrode is connected to a second signal terminal electrode and the signal connection conductor. A first ground internal electrode is connected to a first ground terminal electrode and a ground connection conductor. A second ground internal electrode is connected to a second ground terminal electrode and the ground connection conductor. The first signal internal electrode and the first ground internal electrode have their respective regions opposed to each other. The second signal internal electrode and the second ground internal electrode have their respective regions opposed to each other. The first signal internal electrode and the second ground internal electrode are not opposed to each other. The second signal internal electrode and the first ground internal electrode are not opposed to each other.
US08098475B2 Electrostatic clamp, lithographic apparatus and method of manufacturing an electrostatic clamp
An electrostatic clamp for use in a lithographic apparatus includes a layer of material provided with burls, wherein an electrode surrounded by an insulator and or a dielectric material is provided in between the burls. The electrostatic clamp may be used to clamp an object to an object support in a lithographic apparatus.
US08098473B2 Component module for a reduced pressure treatment system
A reduced pressure treatment system includes a control unit having a control system and a reduced pressure source. The reduced pressure treatment system further includes a manifold unit in fluid communication with the reduced pressure source and a component module to augment treatment. The component module is configured to communicate with the control system of the control unit, and the component module includes a first mounting region configured to be coupled to a complimentary mounting region of the control unit. The component module further includes a second mounting region identical to the complimentary mounting region of the control unit to allow a second component module to be coupled to the first component module.
US08098466B2 Circuit configurations to reduce snapback of a transient voltage suppressor
This invention discloses an electronic device formed as an integrated circuit (IC) wherein the electronic device further includes a transient voltage suppressing (TVS) circuit. The TVS circuit includes a triggering Zener diode connected between an emitter and a collector of a bipolar-junction transistor (BJT) wherein the Zener diode having a reverse breakdown voltage BV less than or equal to a BVceo of the BJT where BVceo stands for a collector to emitter breakdown voltage with base left open. The TVS circuit further includes a rectifier connected in parallel to the BJT for triggering a rectified current through the rectifier for further limiting an increase of a reverse blocking voltage. In a preferred embodiment, the triggering Zener diode, the BJT and the rectifier are formed in a semiconductor substrate by implanting and configuring dopant regions of a first and a second conductivity types in a N-well and a P-well whereby the TVS can be formed in parallel as part of the manufacturing processes of the electronic device.
US08098465B1 AFCI breaker providing protection for multiple branch circuits in an electrical panel
An electrical panel has an Arc Fault Current Interrupter (AFCI) breaker connected to a power supply input, which is operative to interrupt current flow to multiple circuits when an arc fault is detected. The AFCI breaker, which may include Ground Fault Current Interrupter (GFCI) components, provides global arc fault and ground fault protection for multiple circuits of a load center, such as a main panel, sub-panel, transfer switch, and the like.
US08098463B2 Current perpendicular to plane magnetoresistance read head design using a current confinement structure proximal to an air bearing surface
A current to perpendicular to plane (CPP) magnetoresistance (MR) read head using current confinement proximal to an air bearing surface (ABS) is disclosed. A CPP MR read head includes a first shield, an MR sensor formed on the first shield, and a second shield contacting the MR sensor proximal to an ABS. The CPP MR read head further includes insulating material between the MR sensor and the second shield, where the insulating material is distal to the ABS to electrically isolate the MR sensor from the second shield distal to the ABS. Sense current injected from the second shield through the MR sensor and into the first shield is confined proximal to the ABS at a location where the second shield contacts the MR sensor.
US08098462B2 Manufacturing method of thin-film magnetic head, wafer for thin-film magnetic head and thin-film magnetic head
A manufacturing method of a thin-film magnetic head, includes a step of forming many thin-film magnetic heads arranged along row and column directions on a wafer, each of the thin-film magnetic heads having a read head element, a write head element, and pairs of probe-use pads electrically connected with the read head element and the write head element, respectively, the pairs of probe-use pads being positioned so that at least part of each probe-use pad is removed by a cutting process along the row direction, a step of obtaining a plurality of row-bars by cutting the wafer along the row direction so that the at least part of each probe-use pad is removed, each of the obtained row-bars having the thin-film magnetic heads aligned in the row direction, a step of forming pairs of bonding pads electrically connected with the read head element and the write head element, respectively, on a surface opposite to an ABS of each thin-film magnetic head of each of the row-bars, and a step of cutting each row-bar along the column direction to separate into individual thin-film magnetic heads.
US08098461B2 Micro actuator device, head suspension assembly and storage medium driving device
According to one embodiment, a micro actuator device, includes: a first piezoelectric element superposed on a first lower support plate coupled to a fixed plate; a second piezoelectric element superposed on a second lower support plate in parallel with the first lower support plate coupled to the fixed plate; a first upper support plate interposing the first piezoelectric element between the first upper support plate and the first lower support plate, and generating strain equal to strain of the first lower support plate when a tensile force of the first piezoelectric element acts on the first lower support plate; and a second upper support plate interposing the second piezoelectric element between the second upper support plate and the second lower support plate, and generating strain equal to strain of the second lower support plate when a tensile force of the second piezoelectric element acts on the second lower support plate.
US08098459B2 Connecting a preamplifier to a printed circuit board assembly on a hard disk drive
Connecting a preamplifier to a printed circuit board assembly on a hard disk drive. The disk includes a housing, a head stack assembly coupled with the housing, a printed circuit board assembly comprising via holes, a preamplifier coupled with the head stack assembly, and at least one deformable pogo pin configured to mechanically and communicatively connect the printed circuit board assembly to the preamplifier upon insertion into the via holes, further configured to comprise a tip and a shaft, and further configured to deform upon insertion into the via holes.
US08098453B2 Magnetic storage medium and storage apparatus
A magnetic storage medium includes: burst lines each including magnetic bodies placed in a nonmagnetic body in a predetermined repetitive pattern repeated in the radial direction, the burst lines arranged in the circumferential direction at predetermined intervals, wherein the phases of the predetermined repetitive patterns are shifted in the radial direction relative to a circumferential line at least between the adjacent ones of the burst lines.
US08098450B2 Fly-height management in a hard disk drive (HDD)
A hard disk drive (HDD) including a first resistive temperature detector (RTD) configured to detect a temperature generated by proximity of a slider and a media. The first RTD is proximate an air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider. The HDD also includes a second RTD configured to detect at least one temperature correlated to a fly-height of the slider. The second RTD is not required to be proximate the ABS of the slider. HDD also includes a read/write integrated circuit (IC) configured to determine the fly-height of the slider based on detection of temperatures by the first RTD and the second RTD.
US08098448B2 Method for setting zone format of a disk for storing data and disk drive
A method for dividing a data area on a disk into a plurality of concentric zones and determining a format for each zone so that data tracks in the zone have the same number of data sectors. The method includes dividing a data area into a plurality of zones with provisional boundaries. The method also includes determining a linear recording density for a selected zone. The method further includes selecting the number of data sectors per data track corresponding to the determined linear recording density from specified values. Moreover, the method includes resetting a boundary of the zone at a new boundary shifted from the provisional boundary according to a selected value.
US08098443B2 Miniature zoom lens system
A miniature zoom lens system comprises three lens groups having four lenses in total. The first lens group has negative power and is fixed. The second lens group has positive power and includes two lenses. An aperture is furnished in front of and movable with the second lens group. The third lens group has positive power. The second and third lens groups are movable along an optical axis between a wide-angle position and a telephoto position. The system fulfills the following conditions: 11.5
US08098439B2 High brightness optical device
There is provided an optical device, composed of a display source (4), an imaging optical module (8), a projection module (12) having a projection mechanism including an input aperture (10) and output aperture (14) defined by a surface area, and an exit pupil (16). The projection mechanism is non-uniform over the area of the output aperture (14).
US08098434B1 Optical decollimator for daylighting systems
A decollimator for a daylighting system includes a conical section having a circular end, a square end, and a conical shape tapering inwardly from the circular end to the square end. A mixing zone section is attached to the square end of the conical section and has a square cross sectional shape of a substantially constant cross sectional dimension. The decollimator also includes either a window with a converging Fresnel lens on the circular end of the conical section, a window with a diverging Fresnel lens on an end of the mixing zone section opposite the conical section, or both. When the conical section receives collimated light, the conical section, the mixing zone section, and the Fresnel lens together decollimate the light and provide the decollimated light out of the mixing zone section.
US08098432B2 Optical multi-layer thin film, optical element, and method for producing the optical multi-layer thin film
Optical multi-layer thin film comprises: an outermost layer stacked above an optical surface of an optical substrate having a lower refractive index than the optical substrate; and at least a certain refractive index layer disposed between the optical substrate and the outermost layer, and having a refractive index adjustable in a predetermined range higher than that of the outermost layer. The outermost layer is formed by a wet film-formation method using: low-refractive-index fine particles made of a low-refractive-index material; and a first binder, and the certain refractive index layer is formed by a wet film-formation method using: high-refractive-index fine particles made of a high-refractive-index material; and a second binder which has a refractive index different from that of the high-refractive-index material.
US08098420B2 Display method of electrophoresis display device
A display method of an electrophoresis display (EPD) device having a display area and a plurality of pixels located in the display area is provided. In the display method, firstly, the display area is divided into a plurality of unit areas. A plurality of pixels exist in each of the unit areas. Then, in some unit areas, at least two pixels in each of the unit areas are enabled to respectively display a first color and a second color, such that the first colors and the second colors are mixed to achieve a mixed color in vision. The first color has a maximum gray-level value. The second color has a minimum gray-level value. A gray-level value of the mixed color is between the maximum gray-level value and the minimum gray-level value.
US08098417B2 Electromechanical system having a dielectric movable membrane
An electromechanical device includes a partially reflective and partially transmissive layer and a movable functional element. The movable functional element includes a patterned flexible dielectric layer and a reflective layer mechanically coupled to the flexible dielectric layer. The patterned flexible dielectric layer is configured to flex in response to voltages applied to the partially reflective and partially transmissive layer to move the functional element in a direction generally perpendicular to the partially reflective and partially transmissive layer. The reflective layer is situated between the flexible dielectric layer and the partially reflective and partially transmissive layer.
US08098416B2 Analog interferometric modulator device with electrostatic actuation and release
A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device includes a first electrode, a second electrode electrically insulated from the first electrode, and a third electrode electrically insulated from the first electrode and the second electrode. The MEMS device also includes a support structure which separates the first electrode from the second electrode and a reflective element located and movable between a first position and a second position. The reflective element is in contact with a portion of the device when in the first position and is not in contact with the portion of the device when in the second position. An adhesive force is generated between the reflective element and the portion when the reflective element is in the first position. Voltages applied to the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode at least partially reduce or counteract the adhesive force.
US08098412B2 Method for detecting the center of wafer and storage medium storing a program for executing the method
A method detects a center of a wafer having a notch when aligning the wafer mounted on a movable mounting table. The method includes capturing an image of the wafer by using an imaging unit, the image including the notch; extracting an edge line from the image of the wafer; detecting a shape of the notch from the edge line; and calculating the center of the wafer based on the shape of the notch.
US08098410B2 Image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus, image reading method, and image forming method
During a sheet-through operation, for a first original, a shading operation is performed to acquire white data and a light-quantity measuring operation is performed to acquire a reference value. For subsequent originals, only the light-quantity measuring operation is performed to acquire a subsequent light quantity. If the reference value and the subsequent light quantity differ greatly, the shading operation is performed at this time point to acquire new white data. The sheet-through operation is not stopped when the shading operation is not performed and the sheet-through operation is stopped when the shading operation is performed.
US08098402B2 Document targeting systems and methods
A raster image target tracking method, the raster image being a binary raster image or a targeted contone raster image, may include determining target information that corresponds to a target device for the raster image, saving the target information in a memory, comprising the raster image target device to a processing device by which the document is to be processed, and providing a warning message when the document target device does not correspond to the processing device. Also, a compound document analysis and target tracking method may include providing a compound document, analyzing each object of the compound document to determine target information, saving the target information in a memory, comparing the target devices of the respective objects to each other, and providing a warning message to a user when the target devices of the respective objects do not correspond to each other.
US08098399B2 Method for controlling a feed rate of a printer, and printer employing same
A method of controlling a feed rate of a printer, and a printer employing same, wherein the printer includes a feeder motor driving a feeder mechanism and a transport motor driving a transport mechanism. The method includes receiving image data for a first item of print media in a print job, processing the image data to create printable image data, and determining an image preparation time that is a time difference between the time when the printable image data is completed and the time when the start of the image data is first received. The method then further includes determining a current feeder speed based on at least the image preparation time. Following that that determination, the method includes: (i) turning the transport motor on, and (ii) setting a speed of the feeder motor equal to the current feeder speed and thereafter turning the feeder motor on.
US08098397B2 Image forming apparatus and printing method having printing type changing part
In an image forming apparatus which includes a hardware resource used for image forming processing and a program for performing processing concerning image formation, a type of reading an original during a plurality of originals which include different types of originals in a mixed manner being read, and printing paper sheets on which images have been formed based on the plurality of originals are grouped.
US08098396B2 Handheld display device for playing video associated with printed substrate
A handheld display device for imaging a printed substrate and playing video associated with the printed substrate. The device comprises: an optical sensor for imaging an area of the printed substrate and for generating image data; a processor for determining interaction data using the image data, the interaction data identifying a substrate identity; a transceiver for retrieval of video data corresponding to the printed substrate; and a touch-sensitive display screen for playing the video based on the video data.
US08098395B2 System and method for image thumbnail/preview on an image processing device
An image processing device and method for modifying images on an image processing device including a scanner configured to produce an image of at least one document having multiple pages, a communications interface configured to connect the image processing device to a server via a network, a display unit configured to display a preview image or a thumbnail image of at least one of the pages of the scanned document and a user interface configured to display a selectable graphical indicia corresponding to at least one operation for modifying the preview image or the at least one image of the scanned document.
US08098394B2 Image processing circuit and printing apparatus
Object image data of a processing object image, which virtually has cells each including a set of M×N pixels, is processed. The cells are arranged in steps and are shifted by Dx pixels and by Dy pixels. An input raster buffer stores (N−1) raster data including pixel values of the processing object image. A data updating circuit updates the raster with inputted pixel values. Cell buffers store M×N pixel values regarding one of the cells. Processing circuits output partial data for the processed image data by ubmining a center of gravity position of gradation values in the one of the cells from the M×N pixel values, A control circuit controls storing pixel values regarding each of cells in k-th step using the raster data inputted and the raster data stored when “k•(N−1)+1”-th raster data is inputted to the data updating circuit.
US08098390B1 On-demand content customization
A system and a method of customizing on-demand printed content are disclosed. In response to receiving a request from a consumer for on-demand printed content, content customization is determined. The determined customization is incorporated within the requested content and the on-demand printed content. Thereafter, and further responsive to the request, an on-demand printed copy of the requested content, including the incorporated customizations, is output for on-demand printing.
US08098388B2 Content transmission device, content transmission method, and computer program used therewith
A content transmission device for transmitting content, whose copying is controlled, includes an authentication section for performing an authentication procedure between the content transmission device and a content receiving device, a first copy-control-information processing section for processing first copy control information describing copy control information concerning the content, a second copy-control-information processing section for processing second copy control information including content information different from the first copy control information, and a content transmission section for generating and transmitting, to the content receiving device, a packet including a header including the first copy control information and the second copy control information, and a payload obtained by encrypting the content with a predetermined content key.
US08098386B2 Image management system, image output apparatus, and computer readable medium for security enhancement
Disclosed herein is an image management system, including: an image output apparatus which outputs an image data to various types of media, and a server, wherein the image output apparatus and the server are connected via a communication network, and the image output apparatus includes: an obtaining unit to obtain user information when the image data is output, a history storage unit to accumulate and store the user information which is obtained by the obtaining unit and the image data which is output as history information so as to correspond to one another, a history transfer unit to transfer the history information which is stored in the history storage unit to the server, and a deletion unit to delete the history information which is transferred by the history transfer unit from the history storage unit, and the server includes: a receiving unit to receive the history information which is transferred from the image output apparatus, and a history management unit to accumulate and store the history information which is received by the receiving unit.
US08098375B2 Light emitting diode illumination system
In various embodiments of the invention, a unique construction for Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) with at least one luminescent rod and extracting optical elements used to generate a variety of high brightness light sources with different emission spectra. In an embodiment of the invention, forced air cooling is used to cool the luminescent rod. In an embodiment of the invention, totally internal reflected light can be redirected outward and refocused. In another embodiment of the invention, light emitted by the luminescent rod is out-coupled for use in a variety of applications.
US08098367B2 Laser slope adjustment
Tools and techniques for estimating elevations, including without limitation tools and techniques that employ mobile stations with laser detectors for receiving a beam emitted from a laser source and estimating an elevation of the mobile station based on the received beam. In some instances, a mobile station may be configured to identify, based on some or all of a variety of factors, a situation in which the elevation of the detector is likely to change to the extent that the slope of the emitter needs to be adjusted to account for this change in elevation. The mobile station may also be configured to inform the laser source that the slope of the emitted beam should be adjusted. In response, the laser source may adjust the slope of the emitted beam accordingly.
US08098364B2 Exposure apparatus and method for photolithography process
Provided is an exposure apparatus including a variable focusing device. The variable focusing device may include a transparent membrane that may be deformed in the presence of an electric field. The deformation of the transparent membrane may allow the focus length of a radiation beam to be modified. In an embodiment, the variable focusing device may be modulated such that a radiation beam having a first focus length is provided for a first position on an exposure target and a radiation beam having a second focus length is provided for a second position on the exposure target. A method and computer-readable medium are also provided.
US08098360B2 Liquid crystal display having particular barrier rib
The present application relates to a liquid crystal display including a first substrate, a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, thin film transistors connected to the gate and data lines, a barrier rib formed on the data lines, and pixel electrodes connected to the thin film transistors. The thin film transistors can be formed using a colored organic film that has an optical density in a range of 1 to 3. Color filters fill the regions surrounded by the barrier rib. Pixel electrodes can be formed on the color filters. A common electrode can be formed on the second substrate facing the first substrate. A liquid crystal layer can be situated between the first and second substrates, which are spaced apart at a predetermined distance by spacers.
US08098358B2 Liquid crystal display
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display that includes: gate lines and data lines arranged on a first substrate; pixel electrodes connected to the gate lines and the data lines, and including a first sub-pixel electrode and a second sub-pixel electrode separated from each other by a gap; a common electrode arranged on a second substrate, and facing the pixel electrodes; and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the pixel electrodes and the common electrode and including a plurality of liquid crystal molecules, wherein each of the first sub-pixel electrode and the second sub-pixel electrode includes a plurality of fine branch portions, the second sub-pixel electrodes include a connection portion surrounding the fine branch portions of the first sub-pixel electrodes, and a plurality of notches are formed in the connection portion of the second sub-pixel electrode.
US08098353B2 Liquid crystal display with improved response speed and aperture ratio
A liquid crystal display includes; a gate line, a data line disposed substantially perpendicular to the gate line, a switching element connected to the gate line and the data line, a pixel electrode connected to the switching element, and having a first inclination direction determining member including at least one first oblique portion forming an oblique angle with the gate line and the data line, and an inclination direction assistance member disposed adjacent to the first inclination direction determining member, and substantially parallel to the first oblique portion.
US08098352B2 Optical pickup apparatus and liquid crystal optical element
The present invention is directed to the provision of an optical pickup apparatus in which a liquid crystal optical element constructed by combining an aberration correcting liquid crystal panel and a λ/4 liquid crystal panel in an integral fashion is mounted in a tilted position. More particularly, the invention provides a liquid crystal optical element comprising a first liquid crystal layer for correcting aberration, a second liquid crystal layer functioning as an nλ/4 plate and combined in an integral fashion with the first liquid crystal layer, a transparent electrode for generating a potential difference on the second liquid crystal layer in order to control an amount of phase difference for the light beam passing through the second liquid crystal layer, and a driver for driving the transparent electrode so as to generate a potential difference that is the lowest among a plurality of potential differences that cause the second liquid crystal layer to function as an nλ/4 plate. The invention also provides an optical pickup apparatus incorporating such a liquid crystal optical element.
US08098350B2 Display and view angle control element employed therein
There are provided a display that can block light so that a display on an image display device is invisible from a wide range of view angles in an oblique direction, and a view angle control element employed therein. In a narrow view angle state, a view angle control liquid crystal panel (2) prevents light in a predetermined wavelength region that has been incident at a polar angle of φH or more from being transmitted through a polarizing plate (22) by using a phase difference imparted by a liquid crystal cell (21). In the narrow view angle state, a view angle control liquid crystal panel (3) prevents light that has been incident at a polar angle of φL or more, among light that has been transmitted through the polarizing plate (22), from being transmitted through a polarizing plate (32) by using a phase difference imparted by a liquid crystal cell (31). Consequently, light forming a polar angle of φL or more is blocked as a whole, which allows the narrow view angle state to cover a wide range.
US08098349B2 Backlight module and double-sided liquid crystal display device
A backlight module includes a plate and a plurality of light sources. The plate has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The plate is bent to form a plurality of first grooves on the first surface and a plurality of second grooves on the second surface. The light sources are respectively disposed in the first grooves and the second grooves. The backlight module is capable of providing two plane light sources to different directions and has thinner thickness. A double-sided liquid crystal display using the above-mentioned backlight module is also provided.
US08098341B2 Thin film transistor substrate and liquid crystal display device using the same
The invention provides a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate comprises a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, gate terminals, data terminals and thin film transistors as well as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having the TFT substrate. The gate terminal and/or data terminal contain a first portion and a second portion, and the first potion and the second portion are connected electrically with an end electrode made of a material which is anticorrosive in the air. The thin film transistor substrate of the invention prevents the spreading of the metal corrosion occurred at the gate leads to the display region of the LCD, and therefore the quality of the LCD device can be ensured.
US08098339B2 Integrated single panel projection engine
The present invention discloses an integrated single-panel projection engine (500) including a collimated light source (400), a main polarization beam splitter (200), a supporting polarization beam splitter (210), a reflective quarter wave plate (150), a mirror plate (160), an LCOS imager (100) and a projection lens system (300), which provides substantial improvement in optical efficiency of LCOS micro projection display.
US08098334B2 System and process for image rescaling with edge adaptive phase control in interpolation process
A video image processing system is described that generates the interpolated video images with sharp and jaggedness-free edges. A method of video image processing is also described that interpolates video images to generate the video images with sharp and jaggedness-free edges. The video image processing system receives and makes input image data available for further processing; analyzes the local features of the input image data; filters the input image data before performing interpolation process; modifies the phase value adaptive to the local edge distance; rescales the input image data in horizontal interpolation using the modified phase value; and rescales the horizontally interpolated image data in vertical interpolation using modified phase value.
US08098329B2 Image determination apparatus, image determination method, and program, and image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program
An image determination apparatus includes a frequency band signal detecting unit, an average value calculating unit, a relative value calculating unit, and an image determination unit. The frequency band signal detecting unit detects signals belonging to a plurality of frequency bands, from an image signal. The average value calculating unit calculates average values for respective ones of the signals belonging to the plurality of frequency bands detected by the frequency band signal detecting unit. Each of the average values is a characteristic value equivalent to an amplitude. The relative value calculating unit calculates a relative value of one of the average values to another of the average values, among the average values calculated for respective ones of the plurality of frequency bands. The image determination unit for determining an image based on the relative value calculated by the relative value calculating unit. The image determined is subject to image-processing.
US08098328B2 Image signal processing apparatus, image display and image display method
An image signal processing apparatus capable of detecting a black band region included in an input image signal in a shorter time is provided. The image signal processing apparatus may include a measuring means for measuring in a unit frame period whether each pixel in a designated measurement region of an input image signal has a signal level less than a threshold value; and a black band detecting means for detecting a black band region included in the input image signal on the basis of a measurement result from the measuring means.
US08098326B2 Electronic device and accessory device
A connector on an electronic device includes a pair of locking plates, a guide groove, and a space. Each locking plate has, on its edge, a first concave portion, a first convex portion, a second concave portion, and a second convex portion. An intermediate surface for determining a position of an accessory device below the guide groove is provided below the second concave portions and the second convex portions. A contact mounting surface provided with plural contacts is provided below the first convex portions. Guide surfaces for determining a position of the accessory device in the width direction of the guide groove are provided below the first concave portions and the first convex portions.
US08098325B2 Digital camera
A digital camera of the present invention has: an optical housing having a bending optical system for reflecting photographic object light entering along a first optical axis to a second optical axis direction perpendicular to the first optical axis to form an image on an image pickup device; a camera main body having a containing portion for containing the optical housing slidably only in the second optical axis direction and having support portions for supporting the optical housing provided on each of both sides surfaces of the containing portion across the second optical axis of the bending optical system; and a shock absorbing unit provided between an inner surface of the containing portion of the camera main body in which the support portions are not provided and an outer surface of the optical housing facing thereto.
US08098324B2 Imaging device, GPS control method, and computer program
An imaging device includes an imaging unit configured to execute processing to capture image data, a global positioning system (GPS) device configured to execute position calculation processing based on data received from a satellite, and a main controller configured to measure an imaging frequency of the imaging unit, to determine or update a control parameter as a condition for a transition of an operation state of the GPS device based on the measured imaging frequency, and to cause a transition of the operation state of the GPS device based on the determined or updated control parameter.
US08098321B2 Image pickup element for performing focus detection based on phase-difference detecting and image pickup device having such image pickup element
An image pickup element includes a light receiver having a matrix arrangement formed by disposing first-direction arrays, each having photoelectric converters arranged in a first direction with a gap therebetween, in a second direction orthogonal thereto, and micro-lenses above the light receiver. In the matrix arrangement, a certain first-direction array has two first photoelectric converters receiving, via two micro-lenses, photographic-subject light passing through two segmental regions in an exit pupil of a photographic optical system, and a certain second-direction array has two second photoelectric converters receiving photographic-subject light passing through two segmental regions in the exit pupil. Light axes of the two micro-lenses extend through vicinities of edges, farthest from each other in the first direction, of the first photoelectric converters. The first photoelectric converters include two photoelectric converters that flank one photoelectric converter, disposed at an intersection between the certain first-direction and second-direction arrays, in the certain first-direction array.
US08098317B2 High speed photographic device, method for controlling high speed photographic device, and computer program
To provide a high speed photographic device which can display in real time a synchronous image photographed in synchronization with motion of a photographic subject. The high speed photographic device (1), which displays in real time a photography image which is in synchronization with a motion cycle of the photographic subject TG, includes: a synchronous cycle adjustment unit (22) which is for designating a synchronous cycle Tsync; a camera (11) which photographs the photographic subject TG at a photography cycle Tshot that is 1/N as long as the synchronous cycle Tsync; and a display unit (14) which displays in real time the photographic subject TG by displaying the photography image of every synchronous cycle Tsync every display cycle Tdisp. The synchronous cycle adjustment unit (22) can adjust the synchronous cycle Tsync at a step width ΔTsync smaller than a visual minimum cycle, within an adjustment range which does not include less than the visual minimum cycle.
US08098314B2 Noise reduction for analog video applications
Systems and methods are provided that facilitate reducing noise within sampled video information in a CMOS sensor imager. A multi-capacitor sample and hold can capture multiple samples of video information during at least partially overlapping time intervals. The multi-capacitor sample and hold can include a plurality of capacitors and a plurality of sampling switches, wherein each of the sampling switches can be coupled to a respective one of the plurality of capacitors. The plurality of sampling switches can be closed at a substantially concurrent time to begin capturing samples with the plurality of capacitors. Thereafter, the plurality of sampling switches can each be opened at respective disparate times to collect differing noise samples with each of the plurality of capacitors. A readout component can combine (e.g., average) the samples obtained by the plurality of capacitors, thereby reducing noise levels.
US08098313B2 Address generator and image capturing device
An address generator that generates, in an image capturing device including a photoelectric conversion unit having arrayed therein in a matrix plural photoelectric conversion elements that convert received light into charges and accumulate the charges and a rolling shutter function, an address indicating a line position of each of the photoelectric conversion elements that are processing objects of readout processing and reset processing for accumulated charges includes address counters provided at least in a number same as a number of time divisions of the readout processing and the reset processing, a control unit that independently controls an operation of each of the address counters, a selecting circuit that sequentially selects each of the address counters in a time division manner and outputs a count value of the selected address counter to an address decode circuit as the address, and the address decode circuit that outputs a signal for changing the photoelectric conversion element in a line position corresponding to the address inputted from the selection circuit in a time division manner to an active state.
US08098304B2 Dynamic identification and correction of defective pixels
Rather than storing a table within a digital camera or other optical device of defective pixels within its image sensor, defective pixels are dynamically identified by comparing the output values of individual pixels under test with those of neighboring pixels. If the neighbors are all above or below the pixel under test by a defined threshold amount, the output of the pixel under test is replaced with a value calculated from the outputs of neighboring pixels.
US08098298B2 Digital camera recording a composite image
A digital camera capable of recording a subject image so that the subject image can be drawn as it is combined with a selected default image and so that the subject image can be drawn separately from the selected default image. The digital camera includes an image processor which creates subject image data based on output of an image sensor and a default image setting unit which stores subject image data in a removable memory together with information for associating background data with the subject image data, whereby the subject image data, rather than the data provided by combining the subject image data and the background data, is stored in the removable memory and the subject image data and the background data are associated with each other.
US08098297B2 Pre- and post-shutter signal image capture and sort for digital camera
A camera system includes an image sensor and a processing apparatus receiving image frames from the sensor before and after receipt of a user picture signal. The processing apparatus discards frames that do not meet a quality criterion such as under-exposed frames. Also, the processing apparatus compresses only a subset of remaining frames, specifically, those that meet a compression amount threshold. The remaining frames are presented to a user, who can select a representative frame as the “picture” that was taken.
US08098281B1 Method and apparatus for providing a video session with images captured from web based cameras
A method and apparatus for displaying image from web based camera(s) located in a residential home to be projected onto a television monitor are disclosed. For example, as part of a home security system, a web server capturing images of passageways leading to or inside a residential home can activate a frame to be projected on a television monitor when movement is detected and a new image is captured. In addition to passively alerting homeowners to potential security threats, the present invention also enables homeowners to see the image of people outside their doorways to react accordingly.
US08098275B2 Three-dimensional imaging system using optical pulses, non-linear optical mixers and holographic calibration
A three dimensional imaging system is disclosed which includes a three dimensional display (12), three-dimensional calibration equipment (16), and one or more two-dimensional (15) or three dimensional (14) image scanners. The three-dimensional display (12) uses optical pulses (32a-32k) and a non linear optical mixer (18) to display a three-dimensional image (17). The three-dimensional image (17) is generated in voxels of the display volume (28) as the optical mixer (18) sweeps the display volume (28). The three-dimensional calibration equipment (16) uses a hologram projected proximal to a desired object (164) to calibrate optical imaging devices (162a-162c) and to simplify the combination of the images from one or more optical imaging devices (162a-162c) into three-dimensional information. The three-dimensional image scanner (14) employs optical pulses (136, 138) and a non-linear optical mixer (128) to acquire three-dimensional images of a desired object (134). The three-dimensional image scanner (14) captures both the shape and color of a desired object (134).
US08098274B2 Image signal transmitting/receiving apparatus and method
The present invention relates to an image signal transmitting/receiving apparatus and method for selectively performing transmission and display of a main image signal. The present invention transmits and display an sub-image signal instead of the received main image signal in case that the cut-off mode with respect to the main image signal has been set.
US08098271B2 Exposure device, light-emitting device, image forming apparatus and failure diagnosing method
The exposure device includes: a light output device outputting light for exposing a charged image carrier, and including light-emitting elements caused to emit light or not through a control using a light-emission signal, switch elements provided corresponding to the light-emitting elements, and sequentially turned on to set the light-emitting elements ready to emit light, a transfer-signal generating unit generating a transfer signal for sequentially turning on the switch elements, a light-emission signal supply unit supplying the light-emission signal to the light-emitting elements, and a detection unit causing the transfer-signal generating unit to generate a transfer signal having cycles whose number is larger than that of the light-emitting elements, and detecting a potential of an output region of the light-emission signal supply unit while making an output from the light-emission signal supply unit high impedance; and an optical member focusing light outputted by the light output device onto the image carrier.
US08098265B2 Hierarchical multicolor primaries temporal multiplexing system
This invention describes an apparatus, methods and a system for high speed hierarchical multiplexing the native color primaries of SSL-based display systems in order to improve color quality and stability as well as brightness and the efficiency of the display system.
US08098262B2 Arbitrary fractional pixel movement
A technique is provided for displaying pixels of an image at arbitrary subpixel positions. In accordance with aspects of this technique, interpolated intensity values for the pixels of the image are derived based on the arbitrary subpixel location and an intensity distribution or profile. Reference to the intensity distribution provides appropriate multipliers for the source image. Based on these multipliers, the image may be rendered at respective physical pixel locations such that the pixel intensities are summed with each rendering, resulting in a destination image having suitable interpolated pixel intensities for the arbitrary subpixel position.
US08098259B2 Image display device
An image display device having an image generation unit for generating an image according to an instruction, a display unit able to display in color the image generated at the image generation unit, a user interface unit including a color designation part enabling selective designation of any color from among a plurality of colors and an adjustment degree designation part able to instruct the degree of adjustment of at least attributes of the color designated by the color designation part, and a control unit for instructing the image generation unit so as to generate an image able to display at least a color designated by the color designation part of the user interface unit.
US08098253B2 Display unit and method for displaying multiple images
A display unit includes: a display panel for displaying a plurality of information images; a memory for storing a plurality of image data elements corresponding to the information images; an image memory for storing the image data elements transferred from the memory; and a controller for controlling the display panel to display the information images based on the image data elements in the image memory. The controller transfers a part of the image data elements to the image memory on ahead when the display unit starts to operate, and the controller controls the display panel to display a part of information images on ahead based on the part of the image data elements.
US08098249B2 Apparatus and method for automatic scaling of tick marks
A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to calculate a default number of major tick marks as a function of a minimum distance between major tick marks and the length of a GUI control. A whole number of major tick marks that evenly divides a range of values to be mapped along the length of the GUI control is iteratively searched. A whole number of major tick marks is displayed along the length of the GUI control. The default number of major tick marks is the origin from which the search begins.
US08098244B2 Evolutionary direct manipulation of free form deformation representations for design optimization
An improved method for optimizing a design, based on direct manipulations of the object points of a design. In addition, the number and modifications of control points is kept as minimal as possible while the targeted movement of object points is realized and the automatic adaptation and generation of a set of control points for deformations which allows the movement of object points to desired positions. One aspect of the invention is to generate the transformation function f which is optimized to be able to realize desired changes of object parameters by means of control point variations. This optimization can be realized in a way that the mapping between the original coordinate system of the design and the spline coordinate system is not changed, so that no additional “freezing” process (the generation of the mapping between the coordinate systems) is necessary.
US08098235B2 Multi-touch device having dynamic haptic effects
A system for generating haptic effects senses at least two generally simultaneous touches on a touchscreen and, in response, generates a dynamic haptic effect.
US08098233B2 Wide touchpad on a portable computer
In one exemplary embodiment, a portable computer having a display assembly coupled to a base assembly to alternate between a closed position and an open position. Palm rest areas are formed by a touchpad disposed on the surface of the base assembly. In an alternative embodiment, a touchpad disposed on the base assembly has a width that extends substantially into the palm rests areas of the base assembly.
US08098229B2 Control device for computer
Control device for a computer mouse. In order to enhance comfort as much as possible and to avoid or even cure RSI phenomena, a control device is proposed with a curved finger-supporting element and thumb-supporting element with varying curvatures. Optimum support for the hand and fingers (thumb) is obtained if there is a certain correlation between the length over which the hand, including the fingers, is supported and the width available for supporting the fingers. This value is preferably in the range 0.3-0.6 and more specifically is 0.45. Furthermore, the curvature and height of the finger-supporting element and thumb-supporting element must be implemented such that they are a function of the length of the control device. According to a particular embodiment the finger-supporting element is implemented such that, when viewed transversely, this descends from the highest point in a circle.
US08098225B2 Display device driving circuit and display device including same
In an embodiment, a sampling signal to each data signal line is generated by using an output signal outputted from each flip-flop, and a precharge signal by which the data signal line to which the sampling signal is to be outputted is precharged is generated by using an output signal outputted from an output terminal of the flip-flop. Further, by providing a NOR circuit, an active period of the precharge signal and an active period of the sampling signal are prevented from overlapping each other. With this, in an embodiment of a display device driving circuit, including a precharge circuit, which causes a precharge power supply to precharge signal supply lines, the number of shift registers and the size of a circuit can be reduced.
US08098224B2 Driver circuit for display device and display device
A driver circuit for a display device includes NOR circuits on the input side of switches for controlling precharge of data signal lines and selected pixels connected to the data signal lines. While a video signal is written onto a data signal line, a signal instructing precharge of another data signal line is inputted from a shift register to the NOR circuits. A simultaneous precharge instruction signal is inputted from outside to the NOR circuits. According to this arrangement, precharge is performed in both a period in which a video signal is supplied to a data signal line and a period in which no video signal is supplied to any of the data signal lines. As a result, it is possible to perform precharge even with a precharge power source having relatively low driving capability, and to precharge the signal supply lines of the display device sufficiently.
US08098223B2 Apparatus and method for driving a liquid crystal display device to prevent defective images during frequency conversion
An apparatus and method for driving a liquid crystal display (LCD) device is disclosed, to prevent error of a timing controller and to prevent the defective image on a frequency conversion, the apparatus comprising a liquid crystal display part to display images, a driver to drive the liquid crystal display part, a graphic system to output frequency-conversion prediction information in accordance with a frequency-conversion signal, and perform frequency conversion of a plurality of synchronizing signals, and a timing controller to control the driver to display video data according to a previous frame during the frequency conversion, in response to the frequency-conversion prediction information.
US08098221B2 Liquid crystal display and method of driving the same
A liquid crystal display (LCD) capable of improving display quality and a method of driving the same are provided. The LCD comprises an LCD panel including a plurality of data lines and gate lines and liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix at crossings of the gate lines and the data lines, a driving circuit for supplying a data voltage to the data lines and for supplying a scan pulse to the gate lines, a timing controller for generating a gate start pulse for indicating a start horizontal line in which scanning starts in a one frame period where one screen is displayed, a control clock generator for counting the number of frames using the gate start pulse and for generating a control clock whenever an accumulated count value becomes a multiple of a predetermined value, and a common voltage generating circuit for generating control data of a specific bit based on the control clock and for generating a common voltage whose level varies in stages per predetermined interval using the control data to supply the common voltage to the LCD panel.
US08098219B2 Liquid crystal display panel, liquid crystal display device having the same, and driving method thereof
Provided is a liquid crystal display panel, a liquid crystal display device having the same, and a driving method thereof capable of improving image quality. The liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel; a gate driver; and a data driver. The liquid crystal display panel includes pixel regions arranged in a matrix, each being defined by a gate line and first and second data lines crossing the gate line. The gate driver supplies a scan signal to the gate line. The data driver alternately supplies a data voltage and a common voltage to the first and second data lines.
US08098216B2 Plasma display apparatus and driving method thereof
A plasma display apparatus and a driving method thereof are provided. The plasma display apparatus and a driving method thereof represent an image by a combination of a plurality of subfields, supply a first pulse to the first electrode in a negative polarity direction before a reset period for initializing in at least one of the plurality of subfields, supply a second pulse to the second electrode in an opposite polarity direction of the first pulse while the first pulse is supplied to the first electrode, and do not supply a sustain pulse to at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode in a sustain period after the reset period.
US08098214B2 Method for remote transfer of display data between two computers
A method for exchanging image data with a number of image elements, which are respectively parameterized by a display value set, between a data source computer and a data query computer that each have a display device for the presentation of the image data, an input device for the input of control commands, and a data interface for the transmission and the reception of data via a remote data transfer network, including the steps: of copying image data on the data source computer and transmission to the data query computer, receiving the image data from the data source computer by the data query computer, and presentation of the image data on the display device of the data query computer, and these steps are repeated regularly or given alteration of image data. In order to selectively transfer among all data the public data but to have confidential data remain excluded from the transfer or at least the presentation on the receiving computer, the presentation of the image data is discriminated dependent on at least one of the display values in the display value set.
US08098213B2 Frequency selective surface structure for filtering of single frequency band
There is provided provided a frequency selective surface (FSS) structure for filtering a single frequency band, including: a plurality of unit cells arranged at a predetermined distance, wherein each of the unit cells includes: a substrate; a circular loop formed on the substrate with a predetermined width and having at least one of meanderingly bent portions, wherein a filtering frequency band is controlled by a length of the circular loop, a width of the circular loop, a distance between the unit cells, and a thickness and dielectric constant of dielectric.
US08098210B2 Antenna matching in video receivers
A method of matching a receive-only antenna (60) for use in receiving video signals in which measurements made on a transceiver's antenna (14) when in an transmitting mode are used in matching the receive-only antenna. The ratio of the amplitude of the reflected signal to the strength of the transmitted signal strength is used not only in selecting components for matching the transceiver's antenna (14) but also in selecting components for matching the receive-only antenna (60). The ratio may be applied to respective look-up tables (54, 64) for selecting the components to be used in matching the respective antennas.
US08098206B2 Antenna arrangement for hearing device applications
A device having an electric antenna and a magnetic antenna is described, the antennas being spatially arranged in immediate mutual proximity. The electric antenna has at least one current-carrying electric conductor which acts as a resonator for the electric antenna, while the magnetic antenna has a coil with at least one current-carrying conductor loop which acts as an inductor of the magnetic antenna. Thus the electric antenna and the magnetic antenna are spatially arranged relative to each other such that the direction of the current in the electric conductor of the electric antenna extends substantially at right angles to the direction of the current in the conductor loop of the magnetic antenna.
US08098199B2 Array antenna apparatus including multiple steerable antennas and capable of avoiding affection among steerable antennas
A steerable antenna includes an radiating antenna element and parasitic antenna elements. Each of the parasitic antenna elements is provided with a pair of PIN diodes. On each of control lines connecting the PIN diodes to a controller, inductors are provided at predetermined intervals on portions of the control line electromagnetically coupled to another steerable antenna. The intervals for providing the inductors is set to such a length that substantially no resonance occurs in a section of the control line between the inductors at an operating frequency of the steerable antenna.
US08098198B2 Vertically integrated phased array
A vertically integrated electronically steered phased array that employs beamsteering using a programmable phase locked loop including a local oscillator. The local oscillator provides an oscillator signal that is converted to an RF signal that can be either up-converted for a transmit operation or down-converted for a receive operation. The relative off-set between independently generated local oscillator signals forms the basis of the off-set phase required for a phased array. The absolute measure of off-set phase is referenced to a globally distributed clock signal that aligns the zero degree phase shift of the oscillator.
US08098194B2 Determining characteristics of a radar cross section (RCS) test range
A method for determining characteristics of a RCS test range may include vertically orienting a field probe including an elongated rigid body at a predetermined location within the RCS test range. The method may also include generating incident radar waves at a selected frequency and polarization and pivoting the field probe in a vertical direction broadside to the incident radar waves. The method may additionally include receiving return radar data scattered by the field probe during pivoting of the field probe. The method may further include determining a field distribution along the elongated rigid body of the field probe from the return radar data to determine characteristics of the RCS test range.
US08098188B2 Method of characterizing the convection intensity of a cloud, by a meteorological radar
The present invention relates to a method of characterizing the convection intensity of a cloud by a meteorological radar.The reflectivity of said cloud to an electromagnetic wave being distributed in space, the distribution of the reflectivity being discretized according to a network of points (i, j, k) of the space in three dimensions, at least one profile (22) is defined as a normalized function of a parameter (21), which is in turn a given numeric function in two dimensions (i, j) of the distribution of the reflectivity at each point of the network, said normalized function varying uniformly between a minimum constant value and a maximum constant value, the function being equal to the minimum value when the parameter is less than a low threshold (threshold min) and being equal to the maximum value when the parameter is greater than a high threshold (threshold max), the cloud being characterized as convective when the profile is equal to one of the constant values and as stratiform when it is equal to the other constant value.The invention applies notably to meteorological radars on board aeroplanes.
US08098187B1 Wide field of view millimeter wave imager
An imager comprising a sphere of dielectric material and a geodesically configured substrate disposed adjacent said sphere. The geodesically configured substrate comprises a plurality of triangularly shaped elements, at least selected ones of the triangularly shaped elements having an array of detectors disposed thereon, the detectors in the array also being disposed adjacent the dielectric sphere for receiving and detecting incoming electromagnetic waves delivered via said sphere.
US08098186B2 Through-the-obstacle radar system and method of operation
There are provided a through-the-obstacle radar system and method of operating thereof comprising recording signals and/or derivatives thereof collected during a certain substantial monitoring period, and using the recorded information for generating patterns informative of a monitoring scene. There are further provided a method of motion detection based on through-the-obstacle radar and the system thereof. The method comprises collecting signals and/or derivatives thereof acquired by the radar system during a certain substantial monitoring period and accommodating respective records, said records comprising information characterizing the signals and/or derivatives thereof and information indicative, at least, of the time the signals were obtained; processing the accommodated records and generating at least one histogram characterizing a normative motion level at different time intervals; comparing an actual motion level with the level in the normative histogram corresponding to the same time intervals; and recording the motion as detected if its actual level fits a certain relationship with the corresponding level in the normative histogram.
US08098185B2 Millimeter and sub-millimeter wave portal
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a millimeter or sub-millimeter wave portal system is provided. Generally, the portal system comprises an electrooptic source and one or more millimeter or sub-millimeter wave detectors. The electrooptic source comprises an optical signal generator, optical switching and encoding circuitry, and one or more optical/electrical converters. Additional embodiments are disclosed and claimed.
US08098183B1 Priority delivery apparatus and method
A method conveys information over a network to client processors, each with a maximum analysis rate. Sensed signals include target track updates generated at an aggregate track update rate depending on the number of targets and sensors. The track updates are prioritized. The prioritized updates are analyzed, for each client, in view a channel-priority representing the time rate of updates previously sent to the client. The selected higher-priority updates are destined for the client at an average rate no greater than the maximum analysis rate of the client. The lower-priority track updates not destined for the client are deleted. The selected updates are transmitted to their client processors.
US08098178B2 Chip and system utilizing the same
A system including a pulse generating module and a processing module is disclosed. The pulse generating module generates a target signal. The processing module outputs a processing signal according to the target signal. Throughput of the target signal exceeds throughput of the processing signal.
US08098172B2 Adaptable traffic control sign
A portable traffic control sign that includes a lightweight sign head selectively attachable to a lightweight pole. The sign head includes a thin interior frame sandwiched between two opposite facing, traffic sign panels. The interior frame includes an octagonal outer support structure and an inner support structure. Attached to the opposite surfaces of the outer and inner support structures are two arrays of LED bulbs. The two sign panels each include a thin transparent window. When placed on opposite sides of the interior sign frame, light from the first and second array of LED bulbs is able to be transmitted through the two windows exteriorly. In the preferred embodiment, each panel is made of DOT approved retro-reflective material. The two arrays are connected to a main control unit mounted inside the lightweight pole which also contains the battery pack and optional flasher switches.
US08098171B1 Traffic visibility in poor viewing conditions on full windshield head-up display
A method to dynamically register a graphic onto a driving scene of a vehicle utilizing a substantially transparent windscreen head-up display includes monitoring driving viewing conditions of the vehicle, detecting poor viewing conditions based on the monitored driving viewing conditions, monitoring a traffic pattern location, determining a graphic representing the traffic pattern location based on the monitored traffic pattern location and the detected poor viewing conditions, dynamically registering a location of the graphic upon the substantially transparent windscreen head-up display corresponding to the driving scene of the vehicle, and displaying the graphic upon the substantially transparent windscreen head-up display at said location, wherein the substantially transparent windscreen head-up display includes one of light emitting particles or microstructures over a predefined region of the windscreen permitting luminescent display while permitting vision therethrough.
US08098165B2 System, apparatus and associated methodology for interactively monitoring and reducing driver drowsiness
A system, apparatus and associated methodology for interactively monitoring and reducing driver drowsiness use a plurality of drowsiness detection exercises to precisely detect driver drowsiness levels, and a plurality of drowsiness reduction exercises to reduce the detected drowsiness level. A plurality of sensors detect driver motion and position in order to measure driver performance of the drowsiness detection exercises and/or the drowsiness reduction exercises. The driver performance is used to compute a drowsiness level, which is then compared to a threshold. The system provides the driver with drowsiness reduction exercises at predetermined intervals when the drowsiness level is above the threshold.
US08098163B2 Birth monitoring system for piglets
The number of piglets dying at birth is reduced by providing a temperature sensor in a farrowing crate at the piglet area thereof on a movable cover so that, when the sow is expected to give birth, the sensor is located in the crate at a location to detect the presence of one or more piglets after birth. On detection by a control unit using the sensor signal of the one or more piglets, the sensor communicates a signal to a pager carried by an operator indicating to the operator that birth of piglets is in progress and activates a heating lamp for the piglets in the pen to attract them away from the area of the sow to reduce crushing. The control unit and the sensor also control the heat output. The cover can slide along the piglet area and can lift to expose the piglet area.
US08098160B2 Method and system for remotely provisioning and/or configuring a device
A method and system for remotely configuring and/or provisioning a device that is nonoperational is provided. The device may be, in general, any electronic device that includes at least one setting (“device setting”) that can be programmatically or otherwise established or adjusted to configure and/or provision the device for its operation. The method includes detecting, via a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag, a state of a device that is communicatively coupled to the RFID tag; and providing the device setting via the RFID tag when the state signifies that the device is nonoperational.
US08098159B2 RF device comparing DAC output to incoming signal for selectively performing an action
A Radio Frequency (RF) device such as a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag according to one embodiment includes a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) for generating a reference signal based on a stored digital comparison criteria value, and a mechanism for comparing an incoming signal to the reference signal. The device performs an action such as backscattering based on the comparison. Additional systems and methods are also disclosed.
US08098157B2 Intruder deterrent lighting
A zoned interactive control area (10) wherein an architectural space is divided in to a plurality of zones (16), each having its own sensor (22) and zone lights (18). In a normal operating mode (50) the sensors (22) are used to detect the presence of a person such that the zone lights (18) can be turned on and/or adjusted for light level. Each zone light (18) also has a light sensor (24) used, at least in part, for communication with the other zone lights (18), such that the light level can be adjusted not just in response to a presence in the respective zone (16) but also in response to presence in other zones (16). According to a security method (70) when the zone lights (18) are not in use for normal lighting (as when they are turned off) then if the sensors (22) detect the presence of an intruder the zone lights (18) flash to deter the intruder and also communicate the fact of the presence of the intruder to the other zone lights (18) via the light sensors (22).
US08098156B2 Security system with activity pattern recognition
A security system and method of operation thereof stores information related to a plurality of detected events and determines an activity pattern based on the stored information. The system and method then determines a type of alarm, if any, to issue in response to a detected trigger event based at least in part on the determined activity pattern.
US08098150B2 Method and system for locating devices with embedded location tags
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that locates a set of target transmitting mechanism using a mobile sensing infrastructure. During operation, the system determines a reference frame of a sensing mechanism by detecting signals from at least two transmitting mechanisms. The system further determines locations of the target transmitting mechanism relative to the reference frame using the sensing mechanism. In addition, the system produces a result to indicate the locations of the target transmitting mechanisms.
US08098143B2 Power aware techniques for energy harvesting remote sensor system
A distributed monitoring system for monitoring one or more operating conditions of a structure includes: one or more sensor nodes coupled to the structure, each sensor node including: a power supply adapted to scavenge energy directed at the power supply; a sensor operably coupled to the power supply for sensing one or more operating conditions of the structure in the environment; and a communications interface operably coupled to the power supply and the sensor for communicating the sensed operating conditions of the structure; a communication network operably coupled to the sensor nodes; one or more controllers operably coupled to the communication network for monitoring the sensor nodes; and an energy radiator positioned proximate the structure adapted to radiate energy at the power supplies of the sensor nodes.
US08098138B2 Tracking system using radio frequency identification technology
A tracking system determines the orientation of an object. A transceiver transmits a signal and detects responses from multiple transponders. A processing unit determines an orientation parameter of the object by comparing the responses from the multiple transponders.
US08098130B2 System and method for activating electromechanical systems using flexible intelligent radio frequency modules
A system for activating electromechanical systems of a vehicle, including at least one first flexible intelligent radio frequency module mounted on the vehicle, for receiving wireless communications signals; at least one second flexible intelligent radio frequency module mounted on the vehicle, for receiving wireless communications signals from a transponder, at least one third flexible intelligent radio frequency module mounted on the vehicle, for transmitting a signal when its capacitance is changed when an object is proximal to the at least one third flexible intelligent radio frequency module; at least one fourth flexible intelligent radio frequency module mounted on the vehicle, for receiving sounds external to the vehicle; and a vehicle bus in communication with the at least one first, second, third, and fourth flexible intelligent radio frequency modules.
US08098125B2 Form-less electronic device assemblies and methods of operation
Improved form-less electronic apparatus and methods for manufacturing the same. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus comprises a shape-core inductive device having a bonded-wire coil which is formed and maintained within the device without resort to a bobbin or other form(er). The absence of the bobbin simplifies the manufacture of the device, reduces its cost, and allows it to be made more compact (or alternatively additional functionality to be disposed therein). One variant utilizes a termination header for mating to a PCB or other assembly, while another totally avoids the use of the header by directly mating to the PCB. Multi-core variants and methods of manufacturing are also disclosed.
US08098124B2 High-voltage transformer and power supply for an X-ray tube including such a transformer
A high-voltage transformer has a plurality of elementary transformers. Each elementary transformer comprises an elementary primary circuit configured to be powered by an elementary primary voltage, an elementary secondary circuit comprising at least one secondary winding and at least one capacitor that is connected to the terminals of a secondary winding, and an elementary magnetic circuit configured to couple the elementary primary circuit and the elementary secondary circuit. The output voltage of the transformer is equal to the sum of the elementary balanced secondary voltages, and the elementary primary circuits are connected to one another so as to form a common circuit with the elementary transformers. The common circuit is configured to be supplied by a primary voltage, which is equal to the sum of the elementary primary voltages.
US08098120B2 Spring structure for MEMS device
A MEM device has a movable element (30), a pair of electrodes (e1, e2) to move the movable element, one electrode having an independently movable section (e3), resiliently coupled to the rest of the respective electrode to provide additional resistance to a pull in of the electrodes. This can enable a higher release voltage Vrel, and thus reduced risk of stiction. Also, a ratio of Vpi to Vrel can be reduced, and so a greater range of voltage is available for movement of the movable element. This enables faster switching. The area of the independently movable section is smaller than the rest of the electrode, and the spring constant of the resilient coupling is greater than that of the flexible support. Alternatively, the movable element can have a movable stamp section resiliently coupled and protruding towards the substrate to provide an additional resistance to pull in when it contacts the substrate.
US08098119B2 Protection switch
A protection switch includes a plurality of single-pole protection switch modules in a mechanically coherent unit forming a multi-pole protection switch configuration. Each module includes a housing, a switching arm, a moving contact on the switching arm pivotably movable against a fixed contact between closed and open positions, a manual operating mechanism for adjusting the switching arm between the closed and open positions and a tripping mechanism for automatically resetting the switching arm into the open position upon a tripping condition. The manual operating mechanisms of all modules are coupled so that the modules are only switched jointly. The tripping mechanisms of all modules are coupled so that the tripping mechanism of each also trips all others. A one-piece coupling is insertable between adjoining modules for both mechanically fixing the modules to one another and coupling the manual operating mechanisms and the tripping mechanisms of the adjoining protection switch modules.
US08098116B2 LC composite electronic component
An LC composite electronic component, having a large noise suppression effect without increasing in size, includes a multilayer structure in which first and second capacitor units (10), (20) and first and second coil units (30), (40) are stacked and incorporates four LC resonance circuits. A noise circulating capacitance (C21) is formed between a coil electrode (31a) and a resonance adjusting electrode (51a), and a noise circulating capacitance (C22) is formed between a coil electrode (31c) and a resonance adjusting electrode (51b). A noise circulating capacitance (C23) is formed between a coil electrode (42a) and a resonance adjusting electrode (53a), and a noise circulating capacitance (C24) is formed between a coil electrode (42c) and a resonance adjusting electrode (53b). A noise circulating capacitance (C25) is formed between lead-out electrodes (32a), (41b), and a noise circulating capacitance (C26) is formed between lead-out electrodes (32d), (41d).
US08098113B2 Self-terminating coaxial cable port
A circuit for automatically terminating a user port in a coaxial cable system includes a signal path extending from a user-side port toward a supplier-side port, the signal path including a conductor and a ground. The user-side port is adapted to connect to a user device. The circuit further includes a passive signal sampler coupled to the signal path, and a comparator element in communication with the passive signal sampler. The comparator is adapted to compare a line signal on the signal path to a reference signal and generate an output. A switch disposed in the signal path has a first state for terminating the line signal and a second state for passing the line signal. The first state and the second state are responsive to the output generated from the comparator.
US08098111B2 Reduced phase noise multi-band VCO
Embodiments of a multi-band voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) are provided herein. The multi-band VCO is configured to adjust a frequency of an output signal based on an input signal. The multi-band VCO includes a tank module, an active module, and a control module. The tank module includes a parallel combination of a capacitor and an inductor. The active module includes a pair of cross-coupled transistors that are configured to provide a negative conductance that cancels out a positive conductance associated with the tank module. To improve the phase noise associated with the multi-band VCO, the control module is configured to adjust the body voltage of the cross-coupled transistors.
US08098109B2 Differential varactor circuit for a voltage controlled oscillator
According to one exemplary embodiment, a differential varactor circuit for a voltage controlled oscillator having two differential outputs includes a first varactor having first and second terminals and a second varactor having first and second terminals. In the differential varactor circuit, each of the first and second terminals of the first varactor and each of the first and second terminals of the second varactor are coupled to one of the two differential outputs of the voltage controlled oscillator, thereby allowing a size of each of the first and second varactors to be reduced so as to increase varactor quality factor. Each of the first and second terminals of the first varactor can be coupled to one of the two differential outputs by a capacitor, and each of the first and second terminals of the second varactor can be coupled to one of the two differential outputs by a capacitor.
US08098107B2 Voltage/current regulator system using constant loop gain
A system for providing voltage and current regulator sources based on a oscillator having variable loop gain is described. Only when the oscillator loop gain is at least the value of one does the oscillator oscillate. The oscillator's ability to oscillate is controlled by the one or more variable impedance or gain devices. Negative feedback of the voltage or current output level is used to control the loop gain of the oscillator circuit.
US08098105B2 Spin-valve or tunnel-junction radio-frequency oscillator
This radio-frequency oscillator includes a magnetoresistive device in which an electric current is able to flow. The magnetoresistive device includes a first magnetic layer, known as a “trapped layer”, whereof the magnetization is of fixed direction. The magnetoresistive device further includes a second magnetic layer known as a “free layer” and a non-magnetic layer, known as an “intermediate layer”, interposed between the first and second layer, known as the intermediate layer. The oscillator further includes means capable of causing an electron current to flow in said layers constituting the aforementioned stack and in a direction perpendicular to the plane which contains said layers. One of the three layers constituting the magnetoresistive device includes at least one constriction zone of the electric current passing through it.
US08098102B2 RF power amplifier and RF power module using the same
The RF power amplifier circuit including multiple amplification stages has a previous-stage amplifier, a next-stage amplifier and a controller. The previous-stage amplifier responds to an RF transmission input signal. The next-stage amplifier responds to an amplification signal output by the previous-stage amplifier. In response to an output-power-control voltage, the controller controls the former- and next-stage amplifiers in quiescent current and gain. In response to the output-power-control voltage, the quiescent current and gain of the previous-stage amplifier are continuously changed according to a first continuous function, whereas those of the next-stage amplifier are continuously changed according to a second continuous function. The second continuous function is higher than the first continuous function by at least one in degree. The RF power amplifier circuit brings about the effect that the drop of the power added efficiency in low and middle power modes is relieved.
US08098098B2 Amplifier circuit, integrated circuit device, and electronic instrument
An amplifier circuit includes an amplifier section that includes a P-type differential section, an N-type differential section, and an output section, an offset adjustment section that adjusts an offset of the amplifier section, a first offset adjustment register that stores a first offset adjustment value for the P-type differential section, a second offset adjustment register that stores a second offset adjustment value for the N-type differential section, and a control section that sets the first offset adjustment value in the offset adjustment section in a first operation mode in which the P-type differential section operates, and sets the second offset adjustment value in the offset adjustment section in a second operation mode in which the N-type differential section operates.
US08098097B2 Radio frequency buffer
Systems, methods, and devices for receiving a differential input signal and generating a non-differential output signal are described herein. For example, an RF buffer is described that includes first and second transistor elements. The first transistor element receives a first polarity signal of a differential signal and drives a non-differential output of the RF buffer. A second transistor element receives a second polarity signal of the differential signal and drives the non-differential output of the RF buffer. The first and second transistor elements substantially simultaneously drive the non-differential output of the RF buffer.
US08098096B2 Device and method for generating an output signal
An embodiment provides a device for generating an output signal as a function of an input signal, wherein a plurality of circuit sections generate partial signals and the output signal is composed from the partial signals.
US08098094B2 Instrumentation input systems
An input stage for an instrumentation system may include a resistor coupled between an input terminal and a summing node, and an amplifier arranged to maintain the voltage at the summing node. In anther embodiment, an instrumentation input system may include an input stage to receive a signal to be measured, and a variable gain amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the input stage, wherein the variable gain amplifier comprises two or more gain stages. A variable gain amplifier may include an attenuator having an input and a series of tap points and a series of low-inertia switches to steer outputs from the attenuator to an output terminal.
US08098093B1 Efficient envelope tracking power supply for radio frequency or other power amplifiers
An apparatus includes an envelope tracking power supply configured to control a power amplifier. The power supply includes a first amplifier configured to receive an input voltage and generate a supply voltage for the power amplifier. The power supply also includes a second amplifier configured to receive a shifted input voltage. An output of the second amplifier is coupled to the first amplifier. The first amplifier is configured to maintain an operational mode of the power amplifier. The power supply could further include a third amplifier. An output of the third amplifier is coupled to an input of the second amplifier, and the third amplifier is configured to receive a second shifted input.
US08098092B2 Power amplifier
A Doherty amplifier is provided with a clipping circuit for making signal power flow to ground if the signal power becomes equal to or higher than a predetermine value in order to prevent a carrier amplifier, which is a small amplifier, from being destroyed if the signal power is increased to a sevenfold to tenfold multiple of a ratio of the size of the carrier amplifier to that of a peak amplifier.
US08098091B1 Method in the compensation of unlinearities in an amplifier, and uses of the method and the amplifier
In a method and an amplifier for the compensation of unlinearities e.g. of the class D type, wherein an audio signal is pulse-width modulated, e.g. with a carrier wave signal in the form of a triangular signal to provide a pulse-width modulated small-signal, the so-called multiplicative error signals, which occur prior to the provision of a pulse-width modulated great-signal (7), are detected in a detector (10)).It is noted that the carrier wave signal could be analog as well as digital.The signal from the detector, which is derived on the basis of differences between the pulse widths of the small-signals and the pulse widths of the great-signals, is used for changing the carrier wave signal so that the amplifier gets a constant gain in the entire audio range and is thereby linearized.To compensate additionally for the multiplicative errors which manifest themselves in the pulse height as well as the pulse width of the pulse-width modulated great-signal (7), the value of the carrier wave signal is changed as a function of the pulse-width modulated small-signal (5) multiplied by the pulse-width modulated great-signal and the inverted pulse-width modulated small-signal multiplied by the inverted pulse-width modulated great-signal.
US08098089B2 Voltage booster
A voltage booster for generating a boosted voltage, including a charge pump adapted to generate the boosted voltage starting from a supply voltage by a transfer of electric charge controlled by at least one oscillating signal having an oscillation frequency; an oscillator for providing the oscillating signal; and a regulation circuit arranged to receive and perform a comparison of a voltage related to the boosted voltage and a reference voltage, and adapted to provide at least one regulation signal indicative of a result of said comparison, wherein said regulation signal is fed to the oscillator to control said oscillation frequency. The regulation circuit is adapted to cause the at least one regulation signal take one among a plurality of discrete values, depending on the result of the comparison, so that the oscillation frequency of the at least one periodical signal accordingly can take one among a plurality of discrete oscillation frequency values.
US08098088B1 High-voltage switch using three FETS
Switch circuits are disclosed, for providing a single-ended and a differentially switched high-voltage output signals by switching a high supply voltage in response to at least one logic-level control signal. The switch that provides the single-ended switched high-voltage output signal includes a chain of at least three serially coupled field effect transistors (FETs). The chain receives the high supply voltage and switches it to output the high-voltage output signal. The switch that provides the differentially switched high-voltage output signal includes two differentially coupled chains, each having at least three serially coupled FETs. The chains receive the high supply voltage and switch it to output the differential high-voltage output signal. A control/bias circuit provides a control voltage to at least one of the FETs in the chains, responsive to the control signal.
US08098087B1 Method and apparatus for standby voltage offset cancellation
A method and apparatus is provided for standby voltage offset cancellation at inputs to a comparator within a receiver channel. Each of a first comparator input and second comparator input is isolated from an input signal such that each of the first and second comparator inputs attains a respective standby voltage level. A voltage level on one of the first and second comparator inputs is incrementally changed, while the output signal of the comparator is monitored. Upon detecting a state transition in the output signal of the comparator, the incremental changing of the voltage level on the one comparator input is stopped at a final voltage level setting. The final voltage level setting is stored in a computer memory for reference in setting of the voltage level at the one comparator input so as to compensate for the standby voltage offset at the inputs to the comparator.
US08098081B1 Optimization of interconnection networks
A method is implemented for generating a non-blocking routing network design from a crossbar switch-based network design. The non-blocking routing network design includes connections to logic blocks of a programmable integrated circuit. A programmed processor is used to determine, for each row of the crossbar switch-based network design, switches in the row that provide switching functions for logically equivalent external connections, the external connections being one of external inputs and external outputs. The identified switches are removed from the crossbar switched-based network design. Information about the identified switches and the logically equivalent external connections is then stored for access by a placement module associated with the programmable integrated circuit.
US08098080B2 Semiconductor programmable device
An ePLX unit includes a logic unit having an SRAM and a MUX, and a switch unit having an SRAM and a TG for establishing wiring connection in the logic unit. When a composite module is set in the first mode, an Add/Flag control unit uses the SRAMs as a data field and a flag field, respectively, to autonomously control the read address of each of the data field and the flag field in accordance with a control flag stored in the flag field. Furthermore, when the composite module is set in the second mode, the Add/Flag control unit writes configuration information into each of the SRAMs to reconfigure a logic circuit. Consequently, the granularity of the circuit configuration can be rendered variable, which allows improvement in flexibility when configuring a function.
US08098075B2 Testing method for electronic apparatus
An electronic apparatus includes a first power contact, a second power contact, and a control unit. The first power contact is electrically connected with an anode of a power supply source, and the second power contact is electrically connected with a cathode of the power supply source. The control unit electrically connects the first power contact and the second power contact for forming a signal transmission path and receiving the power generated by the power supply source. When the control unit is operated in a testing mode, the control unit operates in a working mode or a sleeping mode according to an instruction of a default instruction set for changing a current waveform signal transmitted over the signal transmission path, so as to achieve the purpose of providing a convenient and high-efficiency testing.
US08098073B2 System for terminating high speed input/output buffers in an automatic test equipment environment to enable external loopback testing
An apparatus comprising a test termination card having a first set of connections and a second set of connections. The first set of connections may be configured to connect to a specific pinout of a device under test. The second set of connections may be configured to connect to a general pinout of a tester load board. The termination card may toggle between (a) connecting the first set of connectors to the second set of connectors to implement a first test type and (b) disconnecting the first set of connectors from the second set of connectors to implement a second test type.
US08098071B2 Resistivity imaging using phase sensitive detection with a floating reference signal
A device, method and system for measuring characteristics of a geologic formation using a floating reference signal having a mud chamber, an electrode disposed within the mud chamber, and an electrically conductive plate disposed within the mud chamber, the plate separated from the electrode. An alternating current source is provided on the electrode, whereby an electric field is be maintained between the electrode and the conductive plate. An opening in the mud chamber allows drilling fluids to pass there through.
US08098069B1 Adaptive closure with removable vent for sealing containers and method of use
A closed container having a single opening is sealed by a plug fabricated from a self-sealing elastomer. Before insertion, the plug is transfixed with a tube to allow air to escape as the plug is pushed into the container. The plug and tube are then inserted into a container. After the plug has been seated in the container, the tube is withdrawn, allowing the self-sealing elastomeric material to close the canal formed by the tube and to form a hermetic seal.
US08098066B2 Magnetometric device for evaluating a physical parameter, and use
A magnetometric device for evaluating a physical parameter (D, K), comprising a circuit (1) which is sensitive to a magnetic field, a measurement circuit (2) and a magnetic field generator (3), the sensitive circuit (1) being subjected to a magnetic field which varies with the physical parameter to be measured and having an electrical characteristic which is evaluated by the measurement circuit and which varies as a function of the magnetic field. The field generator (3) is designed to reverse the polarity of the applied magnetic field, the evaluation of the physical parameter thus being able to be corrected of the parasitic influence of the terrestrial magnetic field.
US08098065B2 Magnetostrictive sensor probe for guided-wave inspection and monitoring of wire ropes/cables and anchor rods
An economical, flexible, magnetostrictive sensor (MsS) probe assembly for use on longitudinal cylindrical structures, for guided-wave, volumetric inspection of the structures is described. The paired flexible plate MsS probes each include a flexible strip of magnetostrictive material that is positioned and/or adhered to the base of a generally flat, flexible, conductor coil assembly, preferably with an elastomeric adhesive. The conductor coil assembly has a core composed of a thin flexible layer of metal and a thin bendable permanent magnet circuit. The flexible core is surrounded by a flat flexible cable (FFC) that is folded and looped over the layers of the core. The exposed conductors at the ends of the FFC are shifted from each other by one conductor spacing and joined together so that the parallel conductors in the FFC form a flat, flexible, continuous coil. The probe assemblies may preferably be utilized in pairs and conformed to match the curved contours of the cylindrical surface of the structure under investigation in a manner that is specifically tailored for wire rope, cable, and anchor rod type applications.
US08098061B2 Linear inductive position sensor
A linear position sensor having a transmitter coil which generates electromagnetic radiation when excited by a source of electrical energy and wound in a first direction. A receiver coil is contained within the transmitter coil and the receiver coil includes both a first loop wound in a first direction and a second loop wound in the opposite direction. A coupler element linearly moves along a first direction relative to the transmitter coil which varies the inductive coupling between the transmitter coil and the receiver coil as a function of the linear position of the coupler element to thereby vary the electrical output signal from the receiver coil when excited by the transmitter coil. The first and second loops of the receiver coil are linearly aligned with each other along the first direction.
US08098054B2 Optimal load controller method and device
A method and device for optimizing power output of a power generation system having a load engaging system, a load optimizing system, a load selection system, a motive driver and one or more loads or power transfer parameters. The power generation system is illustrated using an electrical generator to consume system power out, however the load(s) may be other than an electrical generator. The load engaging system decides when and how the load or power transfer parameters are applied to and removed from the system. The load selection system enables multiple power transfer parameters to be optimized by selecting and isolating one power transfer parameter at a time to be optimized. The load optimizing system optimizes system power output by manipulating the selected power transfer parameter, dynamically in response to change in power output.
US08098044B2 Vehicle charging system, vehicle charging device and electric vehicle
When a connector portion is coupled, switching dampers block a vehicle compartment air intake duct and a vehicle compartment air discharge duct, respectively. By a blowing fan, the air-conditioned air supplied through an air-conditioned air supply conduit flows through an outside air intake duct, a power supply unit, an outside air discharge duct, and an air-conditioned air discharge conduit in turn, and cools a battery.
US08098043B2 Induction type power supply device
An induction type power supply device includes a power supply base unit having a connection interface connectable, an oscillator circuit for producing an AC signal upon connection of the connection interface to an electric outlet, a driver circuit for amplifying the AC signal and a primary inductor for obtaining a resonant frequency and releasing the AC signal, and an attached induction device placed on the power supply base unit and having a secondary inductor for receiving the AC signal from the primary inductor by means of magnetic induction, a rectifier filter circuit for converting the AC signal into a DC power supply, a power management circuit for regulating the DC power supply subject to a predetermined voltage and current value and a connection device for the connection of an external mobile electronic apparatus and for outputting the regulated DC power supply from the power management circuit to the connected external mobile electronic apparatus.
US08098039B2 Generator motor driving device and method for discharging charges from capacitor of generator motor driving device
The present invention provides a generator motor driving device that can promptly perform discharging of charges from the capacitor during a maintenance operation, and a capacitor discharge method to be implemented in the generator motor driving device. Power is supplied from the capacitor to the generator motor being driven by the engine, and the generator motor is driven, with the engine as a load. Rated constant current control is performed on the generator motor, and rated constant voltage control is performed on the booster, until the capacitor voltage decreases to a first voltage. After the capacitor voltage decreases to the first voltage, the rated constant current control is performed on the generator motor, and voltage control is performed on the booster to maintain a predetermined ratio between the capacitor voltage and the booster output voltage to be output to the driver, until the capacitor voltage decreases to a second voltage that is lower than the first voltage.
US08098038B2 Servomotor control system enabling high-speed oscillating motion to be highly precise
A servomotor control system that includes a numerical control unit and servo control unit enables the use of learning control based on an angle synchronization method in high-speed oscillating motion performed by, for example, a jig grinder. The numerical control unit calculates a reference angle θ(=ωt), and also calculates a cyclic oscillation command F(t) according to the reference angle θ and a machining condition (angular velocity ω). The servo control unit calculates a difference between the value in the oscillation command F(t) and the position of the servomotor (positional difference ε) at intervals of a predetermined cycle, and performs learning control according to the reference angle θ, oscillation command F(t), and positional difference ε.
US08098035B2 Motor control unit
A motor control unit (10) includes: a power converter (40) having a rectifier circuit (20) which rectifies an AC voltage from an AC power supply (31), a capacitor circuit (22) which receives an output of the rectifier circuit (20) and outputs a rectified voltage having pulses from both ends of a capacitor (13) and an inverter circuit (25) which receives the rectified voltage and outputs an AC voltage to the motor (30); and a motor controller (41) controlling the motor (30) by controlling the inverter circuit (25). The motor controller (41) performs torque control to vary an output toque of the motor (30) in response to variation in load torque of the motor (30).
US08098031B2 Active brake unit
The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for recirculating the energy produced during the braking of electric motors into a supply system. The object of the invention is to implement the feeding of the energy that can be obtained when braking electric motors to the supply system without the use of an isolating transformer. Said object is solved by a forward branch (3), comprising a rectifier (32) connected to the supply system (1). The rectifier is guided via a first intermediate circuit (33) to a first inverter (34) that is connected to the motor (2), and a backward branch (4), comprising a second intermediate circuit (42) connected to the output of the first intermediate circuit (33), wherein a second inverter (41) is connected to the second intermediate circuit, and the second inverter in turn is connected to the supply system (1) via a mains circuit (5). Each pole of the second intermediate circuit (42) is connected via a series connection of a current-compensated throttle (61, 62) and a diode (64, 65) to the output of the first intermediate circuit (33).
US08098023B2 Driving circuit for and semiconductor device for driving laser diode
A driving circuit supplies a suppression current (I4) which reduces a decrease in a driving current (Idrive) immediately after occurrence of an overshoot at the time of the rise of the driving current (Idrive) to a laser diode (1). The driving circuit draws a suppression current (I5) which reduces an increase in the driving current (Idrive) immediately after occurrence of an undershoot at the time of the fall of the driving current (Idrive) from the driving current (Idrive).
US08098022B2 Circuit configuration for operating at least one discharge lamp and method for generating an auxiliary voltage
A circuit arrangement for operating at least one discharge lamp may include: a first and a second input terminal for connecting a supply voltage; an inverter, which includes at least one first switch and one second switch, which are coupled in series between the first and the second input terminal and between which a bridge center point is defined; a drive circuit for at least the first switch and the second switch with an input for receiving a control signal; an apparatus for generating an auxiliary voltage. The apparatus may include: a first capacitor; a terminal for the provision of the auxiliary voltage, which terminal is coupled to a reference potential via the first capacitor; a two-state controller with a first input to which the control signal in inverted form is coupled, a second input, which is coupled to the terminal for the provision of the auxiliary voltage, and an output; a switch—with a control electrode, a working electrode and a reference electrode, the control electrode being coupled to the output of the two-state controller, the working electrode being coupled to the terminal for the provision of the auxiliary voltage; and a nonreactive resistor; wherein the apparatus for generating the auxiliary voltage furthermore includes a transformer with a primary winding and a secondary winding, the transformer being coupled to the first and the second input terminal, the terminal for the provision of the auxiliary voltage and the switch-in such a way that a current through the switch results in a current through the primary winding, in a current through the secondary winding and therefore in charging of the first capacitor.
US08098017B2 Automatic, low level floor lighting system
An automatic, low level floor lighting system includes a light unit including a light operable to produce visible light when energized by a power source and a control means for allowing a user to adjust an intensity of the visible light. The light unit also includes an ambient light sensor to inhibit the light from being energized when an ambient light is above a predetermined level. The light unit further includes a receiver for receiving an activation signal to energize the light and a deactivation signal to de-energize the light. A transmitter transmits the activation and deactivation signals to an additional light unit. The system also includes a remote activation unit for transmitting the activation and deactivation signals to the receiver when the user engages the remote activation unit where the user can remotely turn the light on and off when the ambient light is below the predetermined level.
US08098015B2 Lamp operation device and image display device
A lamp operation device includes a mode setting part that sets an operation mode for lamps, and a lamp operation part that controls switching between the lamps in accordance with the set operation mode. The lamp operation part includes a process corresponding to a manual switching mode in which a lamp selected by a user is set as an illumination lamp, and a process corresponding to an automatic switching mode in which the plurality of lamps is automatically set in sequence as an illumination lamp. In the automatic switching mode, after one lamp has been set as the illumination lamp, cumulative illuminating time (amount of change) of the lamp is measured. Then, the illumination lamp is switched to the other lamp, depending on whether a measurement result has exceeded predetermined threshold time.
US08098014B2 Mercury-free arc tube for discharge lamp unit
There is provided a mercury-free arc tube for a discharge lamp unit. The mercury-free arc tube includes a plurality of electrodes and a sealed chamber including a metal halide and a starting rare gas enclosed in the sealed chamber. A clearness index value P2·W/ρ is equal to or greater than about 800, where ρ denotes a density (mg/cm3) of the enclosed metal halide, P denotes a pressure (atmospheres) of the enclosed starting rare gas, and W denotes a maximum input power (watts) input to the sealed chamber through the electrodes.
US08098012B2 Photo-sensitive composition, photo-sensitive paste composition for barrier ribs comprising the same, and method for preparing barrier ribs for plasma display panel
A photosensitive composition, which has a cross-linking monomer having at least two ethylenic double bonds, a photopolymerization initiator, and an organic solvent, and a method of preparing a barrier rib for a plasma display panel, wherein the photosensitive composition is used. The photosensitive composition provides improved adherence to an inorganic material and an organic material.
US08098007B2 Organic light emitting display device
An organic light emitting display device capable of minimizing an IR drop of pixel power sources supplied to an organic light emitting display panel is taught. The organic light emitting display device includes an organic light emitting display panel comprising a first side on which an image is displayed and a second side that faces the first side and a plurality of first and second power source pads provided at two or more edges of the second side to receive first and second pixel power sources in at least two different directions; and a pixel power source supplying flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) provided on the second side of the organic light emitting display panel to comprise a plurality of pads electrically coupled to the first and second power source pads and to supply the first and second pixel power sources to the organic light emitting display panel.
US08098000B2 Ultrasonic sensor
An ultrasonic sensor for detecting an object includes: a piezoelectric element having a piezoelectric body and first and second electrodes for sandwiching the piezoelectric body; an acoustic matching element having a reception surface, which receives an ultrasonic wave reflected by the object; and a circuit electrically coupled with the piezoelectric element via a wire. The piezoelectric element is embedded in the acoustic matching element so that the acoustic matching element covers at least the first electrode, a part of a sidewall of the piezoelectric element and a part of the wire between the circuit and the piezoelectric element, and the sidewall of the piezoelectric element is adjacent to the first electrode.
US08097995B2 Split stator for electric motor and manufacturing method of the same
A split stator for an electric motor includes a core having a tooth portion, a coil formed around the tooth portion, insulation spacers arranged between a surface of the tooth portion and an inner periphery of the coil, and holding the inner periphery of the coil with a space kept from the surface of the tooth portion, and a resin filler material having high thermal conductivity and filling the space. The resin filler material is configured to allow heat release from the inner periphery of coil to the core.
US08097992B2 Electric compressor
The present invention has an object to provide an integrated electric compressor further downsized. An inverter control apparatus comprises: a power board 16 converting a direct current supplied from a high voltage power supply to an alternating current and applying it to a motor; and a control circuit board 15 controlling the application of the alternating current to the motor, wherein the power board 16 and the control circuit board 15 respectively have tall components 28 and 52 surface-mounted on one surfaces, which are relatively taller than components on the other surfaces, and the one surfaces face each other. The tall components 28 and 52 of the power board 16 and the control circuit board 15 are placed facing each other without interfering with each other in projection directions thereof.
US08097991B2 Reciprocating vibration generator
A reciprocating vibration generator of a structure enabling force of a reciprocating vibrating body striking a coil to be absorbed by magnetic fluid even if an external impact force is applied, that is, a reciprocating vibration generator provided in a case body 100 with an upper plate spring 40 and a lower plate spring 50 for supporting a ring-shaped weight 20 having a ring-shaped permanent magnet 30 comprised of a combination of semi-ring-shaped permanent magnets 30R, 30L at its inner circumference side so as to be able to reciprocally vibrate in a vertical direction and a cylindrical excitation coil 60 passing through the inside of the ring-shaped permanent magnet 30 in the vertical direction and generating a reciprocating vibrating magnetic field, wherein the semi-ring-shaped permanent magnets 30R, 30L are magnetized in a direction spanning the inner circumferential surface and outer circumferential surface, the inner circumferential surface and top and bottom end faces of the semi-ring-shaped permanent magnet 30R, 30L are covered by magnetic fluid F, and a gap between the inner circumferential surface and the outer circumferential surface of the excitation coil 60 is filled with magnetic fluid F.
US08097990B2 Electrical generator that utilizes rotational to linear motion conversion
A method and device for energy conversion from a moving fluid to electrical energy. The device includes at least one magnetic structure, at least one coil structure, a rotating component, and a rotary to linear motion conversion mechanism. The at least one coil structure includes electrically conductive material. The rotating component rotates relative to a corresponding axis of rotation in response to forces applied by the moving fluid on a structure coupled to the rotating component. The rotary to linear motion conversion mechanism is coupled to the rotating component. Rotation of the rotating component around the corresponding axis of rotation generates a relative linear displacement between the at least one magnetic structure and at least one coil in the at least one coil structure. The relative linear displacement between the at least one magnetic structure and the at least one coil generates electrical energy in the at least one coil structure.
US08097985B2 Current sensing load demand apparatus and methods
An apparatus supplies AC power to a load. The apparatus includes a set output terminals, a primary circuit, and a load sensing circuit. The primary circuit is electrically coupled to a source of AC power and to the output terminals for selectively providing power at a low voltage at the output terminals or electronically coupling the source of AC power directly to the output terminals. The load sensing circuit coupled to the primary circuit and the source of AC power for determining a resistance associated with the load at initial application of the load and controlling the primary circuit to electronically couple the source of AC power directly to the output terminals if a proper load is detected.
US08097979B2 System and method for optimizing regulated voltage output point
A device includes a plurality of voltage regulators, and a test module. Each of the voltage regulators are configured to provide a regulated voltage to one of a plurality of subsystems. The test module is in communication with the voltage regulators, and is configured to perform a subsystem component inventory for each of the subsystems at a start of a power-on self-test of the device, to determine a configuration of the device. The test module is also configured to capture first voltage data for the subsystems during an idle operation, to capture second voltage data for the subsystems during a stressed operation, and to set a voltage set point for each of the regulated voltages provided by one of the voltage regulators based on the subsystem component inventory, a power requirement table, or the first and second voltage data.
US08097974B2 Vehicular electric power source controller
A vehicular electric power source controller that controls the electrification of an electrical load mounted in a vehicle includes: a first electrical load that are a portion of the electrical load mounted in the vehicle; a second electrical load that are electrified preferentially over first electrical loads when a vehicle is parked; an electric power source-switching ECU, an ACC relay and an IG relay that switch not only the electrification of the first electrical load to but also the electrification of the second electrical load; and an electric power source management ECU, a parked state ACC relay and a parked state IG relay that switch the electrification of only the second electrical load. The vehicular electric power source controller curbs wasteful electricity consumption while operating an electrical load that is used while the vehicle is parked.
US08097972B2 Gas turbine with magnetic shaft forming part of a generator/motor assembly
A gas turbine engine including a first shaft being one of a main shaft concentrically mounted to at least one turbine rotor and a tower shaft directly driven by the main shaft and extending generally radially therefrom, the first shaft having a reduced diameter portion located within the gas turbine engine, an electrical assembly having a rotor comprising permanent magnets retained on an outer surface of the reduced diameter portion and a stator comprising a magnetic field circuit disposed adjacent an outer periphery of the rotor, and an electrical connection between the magnetic field circuit and at least one of a power source and an electrically drivable accessory.
US08097968B2 Position-controlled start from the AC line using a synchronous machine
A synchronous electric machine operates as a starter-generator for an aircraft. When operating in a starting mode, a main stator of the machine is supplied with electrical power at a constant frequency. An exciter stator is supplied with variable frequency power. As rotational speed increases, the exciter variable frequency changes correspondingly to maintain synchronous operation of the machine and maximum torque. In a generator mode, variable frequency is applied to the exciter stator with the exciter frequency varying as a function of rotational speed of an engine driving the machine. This provides for a constant frequency output from the machine.
US08097967B2 Energy systems, energy devices, energy utilization methods, and energy transfer methods
Energy systems, energy devices, energy utilization methods, and energy transfer methods are described. In one arrangement, energy utilization methods include providing first energy from a power grid to an induction generator at a first moment in time; using the induction generator and the first energy from the power grid, charging an energy storage device; using second energy from the energy storage device, powering a motor causing the induction generator to generate third energy during a second moment in time; and providing the third energy to the power grid. Other arrangements are described.
US08097957B2 Flash memory card
A Flash memory card is disclosed comprising a substrate, a Flash memory die on top of the substrate, a controller die on top of the Flash memory die, and an interposer coupled to with the controller die and on top of the Flash memory die wherein the interposer results in substantial reduced wire bonding to the substrate. The interposer can surround or be placed side by side with the controller die. A system and method in accordance with the present invention achieves the following objectives: (1) takes advantage of as large of a Flash memory die as possible, to increase the density of the Flash card by reducing the number of wire bond pads on the substrate and enabling insertion of the largest die possible that can fit inside a given card interior boundary; (2) more efficiently stacks Flash memory dies to increase density of the Flash card; and (3) has a substantially less number of bonding wires to the substrate as possible, to improve production yield.
US08097952B2 Electronic package structure having conductive strip and method
An electronic package structure and method use a conductive strip to bond die-to-die, die-to-lead, chip carrier-to-lead, or lead-to-lead. A conductive strip may carry greater current than a bonding wire, and thus may replace several bonding wires. The bonding of the conductive strip may be carried out by an SMT process, and thus requires lower cost than wire bonding processes. A conductive strip may be bonded to more than two dice or leads to save more bonding wires. A conductive strip is stronger than a bonding wire, and thus lowers the possibility of being broken.
US08097951B2 Integrated circuit having wiring layer and a pattern in which a gap is formed and method for manufacturing same
When an integrated circuit having an interlayer insulation film built up on top of a wiring layer is subjected to a heat treatment, it is unlikely that a void formed in the interlayer insulation film will rupture in a portion wherein are connected a narrow gap between wirings and a wide open part contiguous therewith. A corner part of a wiring positioned at a portion where a gap and an open part are connected is chamfered, and an end part of the gap is shaped so as to widen toward the open part. Providing the widening end part in the gap thus mitigates any discontinuity in the built up interlayer insulation film between the gap and the open part. As a result, the interlayer insulation film does not readily seal off an end of a void formed in the gap.
US08097950B2 Semiconductor device and electronic component module using the same
A semiconductor device includes a circuit board having an element mounting area, connecting pads positioned in the same surface side as the element mounting area and external connectors to be connected with the connecting pads, respectively; and a semiconductor element mounted on the element mounting area of the circuit board and having electrode pads to be electrically connected with the connecting pads, respectively. The external connectors are detachably configured through a combination of convex portions and concave portions which are mechanically and electrically connected with one another.
US08097949B2 Control of localized air gap formation in an interconnect stack
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating an interconnect stack of an integrated-circuit device. Air gaps are fabricated in the interconnect stack on one or more interconnect levels. The method comprises forming local etch vias (216, 218) between a lower etch-barrier layer (236) and an upper etch-barrier layer (211) on top of an upper-intermediate interconnect level (224). Lateral inhomogeneities of the dielectric constant on the upper-intermediate interconnect level are removed in comparison with prior-art devices. For in the finished interconnect stack local variations in the dielectric permittivity can only occur at the (former) etch vias, which are either visible by the presence of air cavities or hardly visible due to a later filling with the dielectric material of the next interlevel dielectric layer. The integrated-circuit device of the invention completely avoids a penetration of copper from the metal interconnect line sections into the adjacent interlevel or intermetal dielectric layers.
US08097941B2 Semiconductor device having projecting electrode formed by electrolytic plating, and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, and a plurality of wiring lines provided on one side of the semiconductor substrate, each of the wiring lines having a connection pad portion. An overcoat film is provided on the wiring lines and the one side of the semiconductor substrate. The overcoat film has a plurality of openings in parts corresponding to the connection pad portions of the wiring lines. A plurality of foundation metal layers are respectively provided on inner surfaces of the openings of the overcoat film and electrically connected to the pat portions of the wiring lines. A plurality of projecting electrodes are respectively provided on the foundation metal layers in the openings of the overcoat film.
US08097933B2 Flexible semiconductor package and method for fabricating the same
A flexible semiconductor package includes a flexible substrate. A data chip is disposed over the flexible substrate. The data chip includes a data storage unit for storing data and first bonding pads that are electrically connected to the data storage unit. A control chip is disposed over the flexible substrate. The control chip includes a data processing unit for processing the data in the data chip and second bonding pads that are electrically connected to the data processing unit. Wirings are formed in order to electrically connect the first bonding pads to the second bonding pads.
US08097930B2 Semiconductor devices with trench isolations
In an embodiment, a semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device may include a first diffusion region, a second diffusion region an active region disposed between the first diffusion region and the second diffusion region, a control region disposed above the active region, a first trench isolation disposed laterally adjacent to the first diffusion region opposite to the active region, and a second trench isolation disposed between the second diffusion region and the active region. The second trench isolation may have a smaller depth than the first trench isolation.
US08097927B2 Highly sensitive photo-sensing element and photo-sensing device using the same
The present invention provides an image display unit integrated with a photo-sensor, comprising a photo-sensing element with high sensitivity and low noise and a polycrystalline silicon TFT prepared at the same time on an insulating substrate using planer process. After a first electrode 11 and a second electrode 12 of the photo-sensing element are made of polycrystalline silicon film, a light receiving layer (photoelectric conversion layer) 13 of the photo-sensing element is prepared by amorphous silicon film on upper layer. In this case, a polycrystalline silicon TFT is prepared at the same time.
US08097921B2 Semiconductor device with high-breakdown-voltage transistor
A semiconductor device includes a high-breakdown-voltage transistor having a semiconductor layer. The semiconductor layer has an element portion and a wiring portion. The element portion has a first wiring on a front side of the semiconductor layer and a backside electrode on a back side of the semiconductor layer. The element portion is configured as a vertical transistor that causes an electric current to flow in a thickness direction of the semiconductor layer between the first wiring and the backside electrode. The backside electrode is elongated to the wiring portion. The wiring portion has a second wiring on the front side of the semiconductor layer. The wiring portion and the backside electrode provide a pulling wire that allows the electric current to flow to the second wiring.
US08097917B2 Silicon carbide semiconductor device
A silicon carbide semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate having a silicon carbide substrate, a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer, and a third semiconductor layer; a trench penetrating the second and the third semiconductor layers to reach the first semiconductor layer; a channel layer on a sidewall and a bottom of the trench; an oxide film on the channel layer; a gate electrode on the oxide film; a first electrode connecting to the third semiconductor layer; and a second electrode connecting to the silicon carbide substrate. A position of a boundary between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer is disposed lower than an utmost lowest position of the oxide film.
US08097913B2 Electrically erasable and programmable read only memory device comprising common source region and method of manufacturing same
An electrically erasable and programmable read only memory (EEPROM) device and a method of manufacturing the EEPROM device are provided. First and second gate structures having the same structure are formed on a tunnel insulating layer formed on a substrate, such that the first and second gate structures are spaced apart from each other. A common source region is formed at a portion of the substrate located between the first and second gate structures. First and second drain regions are formed at first and second portions of the substrate adjacent to the first and second gate structures, respectively. Thus, the EEPROM device is manufactured including first and second transistors that have the same structure and may alternately serve as a memory transistor and a selection transistor according to an applied signal.
US08097911B2 Etch stop structures for floating gate devices
Etch stop structures for floating gate devices are generally described. In one example, a floating gate device includes a semiconductor substrate having a surface on which one or more floating gate devices are formed, a tunnel dielectric coupled with the surface of the semiconductor substrate, a floating gate structure coupled with the tunnel dielectric, the floating gate structure having a first surface, a second surface, and a third surface, wherein the third surface is substantially parallel with the surface of the semiconductor substrate and wherein the first surface is substantially parallel with the second surface and substantially perpendicular with the third surface, an etch stop film coupled with the third surface of the floating gate structure, and an inter-gate dielectric coupled with the first surface and the second surface of the floating gate structure wherein the inter-gate dielectric comprises a material that is less resistant to an etchant that removes material of a control gate structure than the etch stop film.
US08097905B2 Cascoded high voltage junction field effect transistor
A cascoded junction field transistor (JFET) device comprises a first stage high voltage JFET cascoded to a second stage low voltage JFET wherein one of the first and second stages JFET is connected to a drain electrode of another JFET stage.
US08097903B2 Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device comprises a semiconductor substrate; a memory block formed on the semiconductor substrate and including plural stacked cell array layers of cell arrays each comprising a plurality of first lines, a plurality of second lines crossing the plurality of first lines, and memory cells connected at intersections of the first and second lines between both lines; and a plurality of contacts extending in the stack direction of the cell array layers and connecting the first lines in the cell arrays with diffusion regions formed on the semiconductor substrate. A certain one of the cell array layers is smaller in the number of the first lines divided and the number of contacts connected than the cell array layers in a lower layer located closer to the semiconductor substrate than the certain one.
US08097902B2 Programmable metallization memory cells via selective channel forming
A programmable metallization memory cell that has an apertured insulating layer comprising at least one aperture therethrough positioned between the active electrode and the inert electrode. Superionic clusters are present within the at least one aperture, and may extend past the at least one aperture. Also, methods for making a programmable metallization memory cell are disclosed.
US08097901B2 Semiconductor device having insulated gate semiconductor element, and insulated gate bipolar transistor
A semiconductor device having an IGBT includes: a substrate; a drift layer and a base layer on the substrate; trenches penetrating the base layer to divide the base layer into base parts; an emitter region in one base part; a gate element in the trenches; an emitter electrode; and a collector electrode. The one base part provides a channel layer, and another base part provides a float layer having no emitter region. The gate element includes a gate electrode next to the channel layer and a dummy gate electrode next to the float layer. The float layer includes a first float layer adjacent to the channel layer and a second float layer apart from the channel layer. The dummy gate electrode and the first float layer are coupled with a first float wiring on the base layer. The dummy gate electrode is isolated from the second float layer.
US08097898B2 Light-emitting diode
The outer peripheral portion of a substrate is provided with a first peripheral edge and a second peripheral edge. The first peripheral edge is provided on the edge portion of a first upper surface of the substrate on which a light-emitting diode element is mounted. The second peripheral edge is formed either on an extension of an imaginary line connecting an edge of the light-emitting facet of the light-emitting diode element and the first peripheral edge or inwardly of the extension. The second peripheral edge is located at a position where the first peripheral edge blocks direct light from the light-emitting diode element. This configuration prevents the second upper surface of the substrate provided between the first peripheral edge and the second peripheral edge from becoming deteriorated due to the direct light.
US08097896B2 Light emitting device package and method for manufacturing the same
A light emitting device package capable of achieving an enhancement in light emission efficiency and a reduction in thermal resistance, and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method includes forming a mounting hole in a first substrate, forming through holes in a second substrate, forming a metal film in the through holes, forming at least one pair of metal layers on upper and lower surfaces of the second substrate such that the metal layers are electrically connected to the metal film, bonding the first substrate to the second substrate, and mounting at least one light emitting device in the mounting hole such that the light emitting device is electrically connected to the metal layers formed on the upper surface of the second substrate.
US08097894B2 LED with molded reflective sidewall coating
A submount wafer, having mounted on it an array of LEDs with a phosphor layer, is positioned with respect to a mold having an array of indentions. A mixture of silicone and 10%-50%, by weight, TiO2, is dispensed between the wafer and the indentions, creating a molded substantially reflective material. The molded mixture forms a reflective wall covering the sidewalls of the LED. The reflective material is then cured, and the submount wafer is separated from the mold such that the reflective material covering the sidewalls contains light emitted from the LED. The submount wafer is then diced. A piece (e.g., a reflector, support bracket, etc.) may then be affixed to the submount so the LED protrudes through a center hole in the piece. The inner edge of the piece is easily formed so that it is located at any height above or below the top surface of the LED.
US08097893B2 Light emitting device
A light emitting device 10 has a supporting substrate 12; a first electrode 14 disposed on the supporting substrate; an electroluminescent layer disposed on the first electrode and including at least a light emitting layer 16; a second electrode 18 disposed opposite to the first electrode, with the electroluminescent layer being interposed therebetween; a resin layer 20 disposed on the second electrode directly or with an intermediate layer interposed therebetween, or on a surface of the supporting substrate at the opposite side of a surface where the first electrode is disposed; and light transmitting particles 22 scattered in the resin layer, and at least a portion of the light transmitting particles are scattered in the resin layer such that a part of each of the scattered particles is embedded in a surface of the resin layer at the side at which light is extracted from the light emitting layer.
US08097891B2 Group III nitride semiconductor light emitting device and method for producing the same
The present invention provides a group III nitride semiconductor light emitting device and a method for producing the same. The group III nitride semiconductor light emitting device comprises (a1), (b1) and (c1) in this order: (a1) an N electrode, (b1) a semiconductor multi-layer film, (c1) a transparent electric conductive oxide P electrode, wherein the semiconductor multi-layer film comprises an N-type semiconductor layer, light emitting layer, P-type semiconductor layer and high concentration N-type semiconductor layer having an n-type impurity concentration of 5×1018 cm−3 to 5×1020 cm−3 in this order, the N-type semiconductor layer is in contact with the N electrode, and the semiconductor multi-layer film has a convex.
US08097890B2 Image sensor with micro-lenses of varying focal lengths
An image sensor having a plurality of micro-lenses disposed on a semiconductor substrate. A first micro-lens has a different focal length, height, shape, curvature, thickness, etc., than a second micro-lens. The image sensor may be back side illuminated or front side illuminated.
US08097888B2 Package carrier for effectively blocking optical signal transmission between light emitting device and light receiving device
A package carrier suitable for carrying at least one light emitting device and at least one light receiving device includes a carrier substrate and a metal sheet. The carrier substrate includes a first carrying area and a second carrying area. The light emitting device is disposed in the first carrying area and the light receiving device is disposed in the second carrying area. The metal sheet is disposed in the carrier substrate and located between the first carrying area and the second carrier area, for blocking optical signal transmission between the light emitting device and the light receiving device.
US08097885B2 Compound semiconductor film, light emitting film, and manufacturing method thereof
Provided are a compound semiconductor film which is manufactured at a low temperature and exhibits excellent p-type conductivity, and a light emitting film in which the compound semiconductor film and a light emitting material are laminated and with which high-intensity light emission can be realized. The compound semiconductor film has a composition represented by a Cu2—Zn—IV—S4 type, in which the IV is at least one of Ge and Si. The light emitting film includes the light emitting material and the compound semiconductor film laminated on a substrate in the stated order.
US08097875B2 Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes the first transistor having first and second source/drain diffusion regions positioned below a second bit line to sandwich the first word line therebetween, and the second source/drain diffusion region positioned between the first and second word lines and connected to a first bit line, a second transistor having second and third source/drain diffusion regions positioned below the second bit line to sandwich the second word line therebetween, a first resistive memory element formed below the second bit line above the first source/drain diffusion region, and having terminals connected to the second bit line and the first source/drain diffusion region, and a second resistive memory element formed below the second bit line above the third source/drain diffusion region, and having terminals connected to the second bit line and the third source/drain diffusion region.
US08097872B2 Modifiable gate stack memory element
An apparatus and method for storing information are provided, including using an integrated circuit including a transistor having a channel, a gate oxide layer, a gate electrode, and a modifiable gate stack layer. To store information, the on-resistance of the transistor is changed by causing a non-charge-storage based physical change in the modifiable gate stack layer.
US08097870B2 Memory cell with alignment structure
A memory cell that includes a memory element configured for switching from a first data state to a second data state by passage of current therethrough. The memory cell includes a top electrode and a bottom electrode for providing the current through the memory cell, and an alignment element positioned at least between the top electrode and the top surface of the memory element, the alignment element having an electrically conductive body tapering from the top electrode to the top surface of the memory element. Methods for forming the memory cell are also described.
US08097861B2 System and method for germicidal sanitizing of an elevator or other enclosed structure
A system for sanitizing an enclosed structure comprises a first sensor, a second sensor, a third sensor, a germicidal ultraviolet light source, a motor, and a controller. The first sensor detects the presence of humans or animals within the enclosed structure. The second sensor detects the position of at least one door of the enclosed structure. The third sensor detects tampering with the system. The ultraviolet light source provides electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet range. The motor moves the ultraviolet light source from an inactive position to an active position and from the active position to the inactive position. The controller receives inputs from the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, and transmits outputs to the ultraviolet light source and the motor. When the controller receives signals that no humans or animals are present in the enclosed structure and that the door is in a closed position, the controller transmits a signal to the motor to move the ultraviolet light source from the inactive position to the active position and a signal to activate the ultraviolet light source. If humans or animals are detected to be present in the enclosed structure or if the door is detected to be open, then the controller deactivates the ultraviolet light source and repositions the ultraviolet light source.
US08097859B2 Oxygen concentration measuring device
An oxygen concentration measuring device is provided for determining an oxygen concentration of a gas in a sample volume. The device includes an optical device configured for irradiating the sample volume containing oxygen with a first UV radiation intensity, at least one wavelength of which is close to a spectral absorption line of oxygen, a magnetic field generator configured for applying a magnetic field at the sample volume, and a UV light detector configured for measuring a second UV radiation intensity coming from the sample volume. The oxygen concentration in the sample volume is determined on the basis of the applied magnetic field and the measured second UV radiation intensity.
US08097857B2 Apparatus and method for providing snapshot action thermal infrared imaging within automated process control article inspection applications
This application relates to an apparatus and method for providing snapshot action thermal infrared imaging within automated process control article inspection applications. More specifically, it pertains to the use of snapshot mode lead salt area-array imaging sensors (20) as the imaging front-end in high-speed machine vision inspection systems (12). the relatively low-cost, good measurement sensitivity at temperatures consistent with thereto-electric cooling means, and the ability to be operated in snap-shot mode enables lead salt-based image acquisition sensors (20) to be used in a variety of automated process control and article inspection applications.
US08097856B2 Super-miniaturized NDIR gas sensor
Two detector elements are optically isolated by having them mounted (die-attached) on the same header so that the thermal tracking of the detectors respectively for the signal and reference channels is close to ideal. Furthermore, such an optical isolation technique or cross-interference suppression between the two detector elements mounted on the same header also allows the use of only one and the same narrow band pass interference filter covering both detectors. Thus the thermal tracking of the filters respectively for the signal and reference channels is also close to perfection as both channels share the same filter.
US08097854B2 Production method for a surface sensor, system and use of a surface sensor
The invention relates to a surface sensor (100, 200), comprising a frequency-selective surface with periodically arranged THz structures (1), in particular THz resonance structures (1) which are sensitive to THz radiation, a polarization axis (3) being associated with each structure. In order to improve remote field characteristics, the invention provides for a THz structure (1) to be configured asymmetrically, and a group of two or more THz structures (1) to have essentially centrosymmetrically aligned polarization axes (3) for forming a unit cell.
US08097852B2 Multiple transfer molded optical proximity sensor and corresponding method
Various embodiments of a multiple-stage-molded optical proximity sensor and method of making same are disclosed. According to one embodiment, the method comprises mounting an infrared light emitter atop a first portion of a substrate, and mounting an infrared light detector, an ambient light detector and an integrated circuit atop a second portion of the substrate. In a first molding step, an infrared light pass component is molded over the substrate and the infrared light emitter, the infrared light detector, the ambient light detector, and the integrated circuit. The infrared light pass component is then cured, followed by forming a slot in the cured infrared light pass component between the first and second portions of the substrate. In a second molding step, an infrared light cut component is molded over the slot, the integrated circuit, the ambient light detector, and over portions of the infrared light emitter and the infrared light detector.
US08097851B2 Light detection circuit for ambient light and proximity sensor
A circuit for implementing an ambient light sensing mode and a proximity sensing mode includes a light sensor, a light source, and a controller coupled to the light sensor and the light source. The controller is configured to process outputs from the light sensor before and after the light source is energized to obtain an ambient light level output and to compare the ambient light level output with an output from the light sensor when the light source is energized to implement the proximity sensing mode.
US08097847B2 Particle-optical systems and arrangements and particle-optical components for such systems and arrangements
A particle-optical arrangement comprises a charged-particle source for generating a beam of charged particles; a multi-aperture plate arranged in a beam path of the beam of charged particles, wherein the multi-aperture plate has a plurality of apertures formed therein in a predetermined first array pattern, wherein a plurality of charged-particle beamlets is formed from the beam of charged particles downstream of the multi-aperture plate, and wherein a plurality of beam spots is formed in an image plane of the apparatus by the plurality of beamlets, the plurality of beam spots being arranged in a second array pattern; and a particle-optical element for manipulating the beam of charged particles and/or the plurality of beamlets; wherein the first array pattern has a first pattern regularity in a first direction, and the second array pattern has a second pattern regularity in a second direction electron-optically corresponding to the first direction, and wherein the second regularity is higher than the first regularity.
US08097846B1 Metrology and 3D reconstruction of devices in a wafer
A method for measuring three-dimensional devices in a wafer comprises the step of obtaining a plurality of cross-sectional images of a corresponding plurality of three-dimensional devices in the wafer. The plurality of three-dimensional devices have essentially identical geometries. Each cross-sectional image is obtained from a plane in the corresponding three-dimensional device at a predetermined distance from a fiducial mark thereof. The predetermined distance is different for each of the plurality of cross-sectional images. The method further comprises the step of determining the geometries of the plurality of three-dimensional devices based on the cross-sectional images thereof.
US08097843B2 Photoluminescent markings with functional overlayers
A photoluminescent marking that includes at least one functional overlayer is disclosed. The overlayer generally provides for at least one of selective filtration, reflection and absorption of wavelengths that may cause photolytic degradation of underlying photoluminescent materials. A method of fabrication is provided.
US08097839B2 Radiation image processing apparatus for removing periodic patterns caused by a scattered radiation removing means
A filter processing means removes periodic patterns caused by a scattered radiation removing means from radiation images, which are obtained by detecting radiation that has passed through the scattered radiation removing means with a radiation detector. The filter processing means removes only the spatial frequency components of the periodic pattern from the radiation images.
US08097836B2 Inferential temperature control system
A system manages the temperature of thermoplastic material by initiating a default heating cycle in response to a sensor failure. The system may thus continue to heat the thermoplastic material according to the default heating cycle until the sensor can be repaired or replaced. A system controller implements the default heating cycle using a stored profile. That is, the controller causes a heating element to generate heat according to a default heating profile retrieved from a memory. The profile may be determined using historical heating data, user input and/or a factory setting.
US08097826B2 Penetration enhancing flux formulation for tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of austenitic stainless steel and its application
A Penetration Enhancing Activating Flux (PEAF) in paste form for autogenous TIG welding of austenitic stainless steels adapted for ready application with a brush on top weld surface prior to conducting autogenous TIG welding to favor single weld pass, of austenitic stainless steels of AISI 304LN and AISI 316LN varieties with weld bead penetration up to a section thickness of 12 mm. Importantly, the (PEAF) paste based TIG welding of the invention achieves an increase in weld bead penetration of about 300% over the conventional TIG process without activating flux. The PEAF paste based TIG welding also favors higher productivity and high quality apart from being cost-effective due to less requirement of consumables and controlled heat input to arrest distortion, making it widely acceptable for variety of industrial applications for welding of austenitic stainless steel.
US08097823B2 Wiring standard selector switch and universal network cable
A wiring standard selector switch for use in a universal network cable system includes a baseboard made of an insulating material and a cover shaped and dimensioned to be connected to the baseboard. A switch actuator is mounted beneath the cover and has a portion which extends through a slot formed in the cover and is movable slidably along the slot of the cover. A plurality of circuit conductors carried by the switch actuator are disposed on the switch actuator so as to achieve paired electrical contact between a first and a second set of contact members on the baseboard. By moving the switch actuator slidably along the slot of the cover, at predetermined space intervals, the first and second sets of contact members engage the plurality of circuit conductors so as to establish a different complete circuit. Each of the different complete circuits corresponds to a different network wiring standard.
US08097822B2 Light emitting key structure
A light emitting key structure is provided. The key structure includes a base, a reflective sheet, a circuit board, an elastic member, a linkage mechanism, and a key cap sequentially disposed one on another in order. The reflective sheet is disposed on the base. The circuit board is made of a light guide material. At least one light source is bonded to a lateral side of the circuit board. The circuit board, together with the light source bonded to the lateral side thereof is disposed on the reflective sheet. The elastic member is directly coupled to the circuit board. The key cap is featured with a light transmission characteristic. Therefore, in operation, the light emitted from the light source can be directly guided into the circuit board, and then outputted from the light transmissive key cap, thus achieving the light emitting effect.
US08097813B2 Carbon nanotube based interposer
In at least one embodiment, an interposer for a board interconnect system is provided. The interposer comprises a frame and at least one interconnect. The frame receives a substrate. The substrate includes a top side, a bottom side, and a conductive interface. The conductive interface extends through the top side and the bottom side for delivering an electrical signal from an electrical device positioned on the top side therethrough. The at least one interconnect includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) positioned within the frame for contacting the conductive interface of the substrate to deliver the electrical signal to a conductive arrangement of a circuit board.
US08097812B2 Flexible pixel array substrate and flexible display
A flexible pixel array substrate includes a flexible base, at least one first driving transistor, at least one second driving transistor and at least one pixel electrode. The first driving transistor is disposed on the flexible base and has a first current channel. The second driving transistor is disposed on the flexible base and has a second current channel. The first current channel is not parallel to the second current channel. The pixel electrode is disposed on the flexible base. The pixel electrode is electrically connected to first driving transistor. The pixel electrode is electrically connected to the second driving transistor. In addition, a flexible display applying the flexible pixel array substrate is also provided. Besides, another flexible pixel array substrate and another flexible display applying the same are also provided.
US08097810B2 High pressure, high voltage penetrator assembly
The invention relates to a high pressure, high voltage penetrator assembly for subsea, topside or land based use, wherein the assembly is upright attachable to a wet gas and/or liquid handling compressor or pump or to/from a transformer, and wherein the assembly includes a penetrator unit for feed-through of electric power to a motor of the compressor or pump or to/from the transformer; a funnel shaped housing with a housing chamber, the penetrator unit being located at an upper end of the chamber; a grid located inside the chamber transversely of a longitudinal axis of the chamber, the penetrator unit being located above the grid, a filter located in the chamber below the grid and above an inlet to a housing of the motor or to/from a housing of the transformer, and a sensor unit extending into the chamber from the penetrator unit and towards, but spaced from the grid.
US08097809B2 Low-smoke self-extinguishing cable and flame-retardant composition comprising natural magnesium hydroxide
A cable having a conductor and a flame-retardant coating having (a) a polymer matrix; and (b) natural magnesium hydroxide particles having an average size (d50) of 0.5 μm to 5.0 μm and an average pore diameter less than or equal to 0.35 μm.
US08097803B2 Solar energy system
A solar energy system includes a reflecting unit, a heat absorber and a first solar panel. The reflecting unit having a photovoltaic cell with a first energy band gap and a reflecting surface reflects or focuses sunlight. The reflecting unit converts the sunlight with a wavelength shorter than or equal to x nm into electric energy according to the first energy band gap, and reflects or focuses the sunlight with a wavelength longer than x nm onto the heat absorber and the first solar panel. The heat absorber converts the sunlight that has a wavelength longer than or equal to y nm and is reflected by the reflecting unit into thermal energy. The first solar panel having a photovoltaic cell with a second energy band gap converts the sunlight penetrating the heat absorber and having a wavelength shorter than or equal to z nm into electric energy.
US08097799B2 Plectrum receptacle systems
This invention relates to providing a plectrum holder device that may be easily attached to a guitar at the desired location of the guitar player. More particularly, this invention relates to providing a system for retaining multiple plectrums close to the surface of a guitar, in a low profile configuration, in a convenient location for easy access by the guitar player. Also, a guitar comprising the plectrum holder may still fit in its guitar case due to the low profile of the plectrum holder. Further, the plectrum holder holds picks of a variety of shapes and sizes.
US08097796B1 Maize variety PHHAR
A novel maize variety designated PHHAR and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PHHAR with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PHHAR through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid maize seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the variety PHHAR or a trait conversion of PHHAR with another maize variety. Inbred maize varieties derived from maize variety PHHAR, methods for producing other inbred maize varieties derived from maize variety PHHAR and the inbred maize varieties and their parts derived by the use of those methods.
US08097793B2 Tomato line PSQ24-2150
The invention provides seed and plants of tomato hybrid PS02420487 and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of tomato hybrid PS02420487 and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a tomato plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another tomato plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US08097787B2 Soybean cultivar 1000682
A soybean cultivar designated 1000682 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 1000682, to the plants of soybean 1000682, to plant parts of soybean cultivar 1000682, and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing soybean cultivar 1000682 with itself or with another soybean variety. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to soybean cultivars, or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean variety 1000682, to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 1000682, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing the cultivar 1000682 with another soybean cultivar.
US08097785B2 Soybean cultivar 8730231
A soybean cultivar designated 8730231 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 8730231, to the plants of soybean 8730231, to plant parts of soybean cultivar 8730231, and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing soybean cultivar 8730231 with itself or with another soybean variety. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to soybean cultivars, or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean variety 8730231, to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 8730231, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing the cultivar 8730231 with another soybean cultivar.
US08097783B1 Soybean variety XB38AA09
According to the invention, there is provided a novel soybean variety designated XB38AA09. This invention thus relates to the seeds of soybean variety XB38AA09, to the plants of soybean XB38AA09 to plant parts of soybean variety XB38AA09 and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing plants of the soybean variety XB38AA09 with another soybean plant, using XB38AA09 as either the male or the female parent.
US08097781B1 Soybean variety RJS08001
According to the invention, there is provided a novel soybean variety designated RJS08001. This invention thus relates to the seeds of soybean variety RJS08001, to the plants of soybean RJS08001 to plant parts of soybean variety RJS08001 and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing plants of the soybean variety RJS08001 with another soybean plant, using RJS08001 as either the male or the female parent.
US08097773B2 Process for selecting banana clones and banana clones obtained thereby
The invention provides a process for selecting banana clones that are characterized by increased bunch weight and by increased total fruit yield, which process is based on somaclonal variation and comprises the steps of initiating tissue cultures from apical meristem explants, and propagating and rooting the same; hardening, potting, and growing in vivo, plants propagated in the previous step; forming a mat from a cluster of plants grown in the previous step originating from the same clone; planting the mats from the previous step in a field, and growing them under conditions of abiotic stress, the conditions including the growth of the mats in an area wherein the average winter night temperature is below 10° C.; measuring bunch weight and total fruit yield of the mats for a period of at least 3 years and selecting mats, the plants of which exhibit the best characteristics of increased bunch weight and increased total fruit yield; and utilizing mats selected in the previous step for preparing apical meristem explants.
US08097772B2 Polypeptides having beta-glucosidase activity and polynucleotides encoding same
The present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having beta-glucosidase activity and isolated polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides. The invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods for producing and using the polypeptides.
US08097771B2 LysM receptor-like kinases to improve plant defense response against fungal pathogens
Perception of chitin fragments (chitooligosaccharides) is an important first step in plant defense response against fungal pathogen. LysM receptor-like kinases (LysM RLKs) are instrumental in this perception process. LysM RLKs also play a role in activating transcription of chitin-responsive genes (CRGs) in plants. Mutations in the LysM kinase receptor genes or the downstream CRGs may affect the fungal susceptibility of a plant. Mutations in LysM RLKs or transgenes carrying the same may be beneficial in imparting resistance against fungal pathogens.
US08097767B2 Hydrophobic surface coated absorbent articles and associated methods
The present invention relates to absorbent articles which include one or more components that have been treated with a hydrophobic surface coating intended to render such components impermeable to liquids having relatively low surface tensions.
US08097766B2 Self-adhering friction reducing liner and method of use
A patch of low friction materials, such as a film of polytetrafluoroethylene is sized to provide an area of low friction support for a portion of a human body relative to an object such as a shoe or prosthetic socket. The patch can be lined with foam, or preferably, a stretch fabric so that it will fit around irregular contours of the shoe, or socket, or the skin itself. The patches reduce shear trauma in critical load areas. After identifying regions of high loads, the method comprises applying the patches as needed to avoid sores, calluses, blisters and abrasions.
US08097764B2 Methods of isomerizing xylenes with a catalyst reduced in the presence of hydrogen and a base
A xylene isomerization process includes introducing gas comprising hydrogen and a base to a reaction zone in which a catalyst comprising a Group VIII metal and a zeolite support resides. In one embodiment, the base may be formed in situ within the reaction zone from nitrogen and hydrogen that are introduced to the reaction zone. In another embodiment, the base is introduced directly to the reaction zone. The conditions in the reaction zone are effective to reduce the catalyst. A stream comprising C8 aromatics, e.g., xylenes and ethylbenzene may then be fed to the reaction zone containing the reduced catalyst. The reaction zone may be operated at conditions effective to isomerize the xylenes and hydrodealkylate the ethylbenzene. The xylene loss during the isomerization of the xylenes is lowered as a result of using the catalyst reduced in the presence of the gas comprising a base and hydrogen.
US08097761B2 Process for production of carotenoid
A method for producing a composition containing carotenoid at a content of 80% or greater, characterized in performing extraction on a culture of a microorganism, a concentrate of the culture, or a dried substance thereof with at least one selected from the group consisting of lower alcohols, water-containing lower alcohols, lower dialkylketones and ethers; and then washing a precipitate, obtained by concentrating the extract solution, with at least one selected from the group consisting of lower alcohols, water-containing lower alcohols, hydrocarbon-based solvents and lower dialkylketones; and food, a pharmaceutical composition or a cosmetic substance comprising the carotenoid-containing composition.
US08097759B2 Inflammatory cytokine release inhibitor
A medicament having inhibitory activity against NF-κB activation, which comprises a compound represented by the following general formula (I) or a pharmacologically acceptable salt as an active ingredient: wherein X represents a connecting group, A represents hydrogen atom or acetyl group, E represents an aryl group or a heteroaryl group, and ring X represents an arene or a heteroarene.
US08097758B2 Isoserine derivatives for use as coagulation factor IXa inhibitors
The invention relates to the compounds of formula (I) having antithrombotic activity which especially inhibit blood clotting factor IXa, to methods for producing the same and to the use thereof as drugs.
US08097754B2 Synthesis of (S)-(+)-3-(aminomethyl)-5-methyl hexanoic acid
Provided are syntheses of (S)-(+)-3-(aminomethyl)-5-methylhexanoic acid, (S)-Pregabalin via a chiral intermediate of the following formula 4 wherein Ar is a C6-10 aromatic group, R is a straight or branched C1-4 alkyl, ester, or carboxylic acid, and R1 is a straight or branched C1-5 alkyl, aralkyl, or substituted aralkyl.
US08097752B2 Antiprotozoal ring-substituted phospholipids
Disclosed are novel ring containing phospholipids represented by the structural formula A-X—PO3—W and physiologically acceptable salts thereof and a process for the preparation of these compounds. The compounds can be used for the treatment of protozoal diseases and especially leishmaniasis.
US08097750B2 Cinchona alkaloid-catalyzed asymmetric mannich reactions
The instability of carbamate-protected alkyl imines has greatly hampered the development of catalytic asymmetric Mannich reactions suitable for the synthesis of optically active carbamate-protected chiral alkyl amines. A highly enantioselective Mannich reaction with in situ generation of carbamate-protected imines from stable α-amido sulfones catalyzed by an organic catalyst has been developed. This reaction provides a concise and highly enantioselective route converting aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes into optically active aryl and alkyl β-amino acids.
US08097746B2 Method for producing 2-isopropenyl-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-yl 3-methyl-2-butenoate
The present invention provides a method of producing 2-isopropenyl-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-yl 3-methyl-2-butenoate industrially advantageously in a high yield. More particularly, the present invention provides a method of producing 2-isopropenyl-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-yl 3-methyl-2-butenoate represented by the following formula (IV): which comprises reacting 2-isopropenyl-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-ol with an organic sulfonyl halide in the presence of a basic substance to give a sulfonate compound represented by the following formula (III): wherein R is a hydrocarbon group, and reacting the obtained sulfonate compound with senecionic acid in the presence of a basic substance.
US08097744B2 Free flowing filler composition comprising mercapto-functional silane
The disclosure herein relates to organofunctional silanes and mixtures of organofunctional silanes possessing mercaptan and hydrocarbyl and/or heterocarbyl functionality. These silanes reduce or eliminate the generation of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) during use, aid in the processing of filled elastomeric materials and enhance the end-use properties of the filled elastomer. The present disclosure relates to a free flowing filler composition comprising these silanes.
US08097742B2 Water-soluble, surface-functionalized nanoparticle for bioconjugation via universal silane coupling
The invention provides a process for the preparation of a surface-functionalized nanoparticle comprising: (a) reacting a nanoparticle with a functionalized silane and a base in a substantially non-aqueous solvent to obtain a partially conjugated silanated nanoparticle, wherein the functionalized silane and the base are present in relative amounts such that said functionalized silane undergoes substantially only a single hydrolysis reaction; (b) reacting the partially conjugated silanated nanoparticle formed in step (a) with a base in a solvent in which the partially conjugated silanated nanoparticle is substantially insoluble and in which the base is substantially soluble. The invention also provides a surface-functionalized nanoparticle prepared therefrom and a bioconjugate comprising said a surface-functionalized nanoparticle.
US08097738B2 Ruthenium (II) catalysts for use in stereoselective cyclopropanations
Chiral ruthenium catalysts comprising salen and alkenyl ligands are provided for stereoselective cyclopropanation, and methods of cyclopropanation are provided. The chiral ruthenium catalyst is prepared in situ by combining an alkenyl ligand, a deprotonated chiral salen ligand, and a ruthenium (II) metal. A preferred catalyst is prepared in situ by combining 2,3-dihydro-4-venylbenzofuran, deprotonated 1,2-cyclohexanediamino-N,N′-bis(3,5-di-t-butyl-salicylidene) and RuCl2(p-cymene)]2.
US08097737B2 Process for production of optically active amine derivatives
An industrial process for production of high-purity optically active amine derivatives in high yield while inhibiting the formation of by-products, which comprises subjecting (E)-2-(1,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2H-indeno[5,4-b]furan-8-ylidene)ethylamine to asymmetric reduction, catalytically reducing the obtained product at a reaction temperature of 40 to 100° C. and a pH of 3 to 9, subjecting the obtained (S)-2-(1,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2H-indeno[5,4-b]furan-8-yl)ethylamine to propionylation, and then crystallizing the reaction mixture.
US08097736B2 Stable lactide particles
The present invention is directed to a method for the manufacture of stable lactide particles, more specifically lactide particles which are stable enough to be stored and transported at room temperature and have a quality high enough for use as starting material for polylactic acid. The lactide particles are obtained via a flaking process, comprising the contacting of a continuous flow of molten lactide with a surface on which the lactide solidifies and subsequently is removed from said surface.
US08097733B2 Pyrazole derivatives as 5-LO-inhibitors
The invention relates to compounds of formula (I) processes for their preparation, their use as 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same.
US08097732B2 1-arylpyrazoles and their use as pesticide
Disclosed are compounds of formula (I) or pesticidally acceptable salts thereof, wherein, for example, W is ═N—, ═CH—, ═CR7— or ═C(NR8R9)—, R7 is halogen, R8 and R9 are independently of one another hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, aralkyl or heterocyclylalkyl, R1 is cyano, halogen, haloalkyl or CS NH2, R2 is alkyl or cycloalkyl, R3 is hydrogen, alkyl or cycloalkyl, R4 is hydrogen, alkyl or cycloalkyl, R5 is haloalkyl, haloalkoxy, halogen or —SF5, R6 is hydrogen, halogen, haloalkyl, nitro or NR16R17, R16 and R17 are independently of one another hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, aralkyl or heterocyclylalkyl, X is —S—, —SO—, or —SO2—, Y is —O—, —S—, —SO—, or SO2—, Z is hydrogen, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, aralkyl, heterocyclylalkyl or NR18R19, and R18 and R19 are hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, aralkyl, heterocyclylalkyl. These compounds can be used for controlling pests, especially by treatment of domestic animals.
US08097728B2 Iminosugar compounds with antiflavirus activity
An anti-viral compounds effective against viruses belonging to the Flaviviridae family, wherein the anti-viral compounds are 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-D-glucitol derivative compounds having the general formula (I) wherein R2, R3, R4 and R5 are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, acyl, benzyl, alkyl, aryl, sulfonyl, phosphonyl, silyl, R6 is at least one of alkyl or branched alkyl, heteroalkyl or aryl, R6′ is a bridging group selected from at least one of bicycle[2.2.1]heptyl, bicycle[3.2.1]octyl, oxa analogs, admonyl and cubyl, n′=2-10, n″=1-10, enantiomers and stereoisomers of said compounds and physiologically acceptable salts or solvates of said compounds, enantiomer or stereoisomer.
US08097724B2 Process for the preparation of Sitagliptin
A process for the preparation of a compound of formula (I) such as 2(R)-4-oxo-4-[3-(trifluoromethyl)-5,6-dihydro[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]-7(8H)-pyrazinyl]-1-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)-2-butanamine, or a salt thereof, in the anhydrous or hydrated form, either as a mixture of enantiomers, or as a single (R) or (S) enantiomer, comprising the conversion of a compound of formula (II), or a salt thereof, either as a single (R) or (S) enantiomer or as a mixture thereof wherein X is hydrogen, hydroxy, C1-C8 alkyl, C1-C4 alkoxy, aryl, amino, N3 or halogen; into a compound of formula (I), and if desired, the separation of a single enantiomer of formula (I) from the racemic mixture, and/or, if desired, the conversion of a compound of formula (I) into a salt thereof, or vice versa.
US08097723B2 Process for the preparation of abacavir
Process for the preparation of abacavir, or its salts or its solvates comprising the step of reacting a compound (IV) where R1 is a (C1-C4)-alkyl radical with anhydrous hydrochloric acid/(C1-C6)-alcohol, and then with tri(C1-C4)-alkyl orthoformate, in the absence of water. The preparation process may include further steps of reacting the compound obtained with cyclopropylamine and subsequently hydrolysis to yield abacavir.
US08097720B2 Process for the synthesis of ivabradine and addition salts thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid
Process for the synthesis of ivabradine of formula (I): and addition salts thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid.
US08097717B2 Compositions comprising polidocanol and derivatives
This invention relates to a composition comprising a chaotropic agent, a buffering substance, and 0.5 to 5% (V/V) polidocanol or a derivative thereof. The invention is further related to uses of this composition and to a kit comprising the composition according to the invention. The invention is further related to a method for the detection of a nucleic acid in a biological sample comprising the steps of incubating the biological sample in the presence of a chaotropic agent, a buffering substance, and 0.5 to 5% (V/V) polidocanol or a derivative thereof, optionally isolating the nucleic acid, optionally amplifying the nucleic acid, and detecting the nucleic acid. The invention is further related to a method for the purification of a nucleic acid in a biological sample comprising the steps of incubating the biological sample in the presence of a chaotropic agent, a buffering substance, and 0.5 to 5% (V/V) polidocanol or a derivative thereof and isolating the nucleic acid thereby purifying the nucleic acid.
US08097712B2 Compositions for conferring tolerance to viral disease in social insects, and the use thereof
Compositions and methods for reducing susceptibility to infectious disease in bees using RNA interference technology, and more particularly, prevention and treatment of viral infections in honeybees such as Israel acute paralysis virus (IAPV) by feeding of pathogen-specific dsRNA. Further, multiple-pathogen specific dsRNA is disclosed.
US08097711B2 Thioether substituted aryl carbonate protecting groups
Embodiments of the invention include nucleotide and nucleoside monomers protected at the 5′- or 3′-hydroxyls with thioether substituted aryl carbonate protecting groups. In certain cases, the carbonate protecting groups include an aryl moiety, e.g., a phenyl group, attached to the carbonate, where the aryl moiety further includes a thioether group, e.g., an alkyl or aryl thioether group, bound directly to the aryl ring. Aspects of the invention further include methods of synthesizing nucleic acids, e.g., oligonucleotides, using such protected nucleoside monomer monomers, as well as nucleic acids produced using methods of the invention and compositions thereof.
US08097704B2 Antibody specifically binding to DR5 and composition for preventing or treating cancers comprising the same
The present invention provides an antibody specifically binding to death receptor 5 (DR5), which is selected from the group consisting of: an antibody comprising a heavy chain variable region (VH) having the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 3 at complementary determining regions (CDRs) and a light chain variable region (VL) having the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 4 to 6 at CDRs; and an antibody comprising a (VH) having the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 7 to 9 at CDRs and a (VL) having the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 10 to 12 at CDRs, and a composition for preventing or treating a cancer comprising the same. The antibody of the present invention can be effectively used for the prevention or treatment of various cancers, through inducing autophagic cell death of TRAIL-sensitive cancer cells as well as TRAIL-resistant cancer cells by specific binding to DR5.
US08097703B2 CD19 antibodies and their uses
The present disclosure provides isolated monoclonal antibodies, particularly human monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to CD19 with high affinity. Nucleic acid molecules encoding such CD19 antibodies, expression vectors, host cells and methods for expressing the CD19 antibodies are also provided. Immunoconjugates, bispecific molecules and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the CD19 antibodies are also provided. Methods for detecting CD19, as well as methods for treating various B cell malignancies, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, are disclosed.
US08097700B2 TAT294 polypeptides
The present invention is directed to compositions of matter useful for the diagnosis and treatment of tumor in mammals and to methods of using those compositions of matter for the same.
US08097699B2 Crystal structure of thyroid stimulating hormone receptor
This invention relates to a crystallizable composition comprising a TSHR polypeptide, to crystals comparing a TSHR polypeptide and to TSHR-related applications.
US08097694B2 Organic semiconductor thin films using aromatic enediyne derivatives and manufacturing methods thereof, and electronic devices incorporating such films
Disclosed are organic semiconductor thin films using aromatic enediyne derivatives, manufacturing methods thereof, and methods of fabricating electronic devices incorporating such organic semiconductor thin films. Aromatic enediyne derivatives according to example embodiments provide improved chemical and/or electrical stability which may improve the reliability of the resulting semiconductor devices. Aromatic enediyne derivatives according to example embodiments may also be suitable for deposition on various substrates via solution-based processes, for example, spin coating, at temperatures at or near room temperature to form a coating film that is then heated to form an organic semiconductor thin film. The availability of this reduced temperature processing allows the use of the aromatic enediynes derivatives on large substrate surfaces and/or on substrates not suitable for higher temperature processing. Accordingly, the organic semiconductor thin films according to example embodiments may be incorporated in thin film transistors, electroluminescent devices, solar cells, and memory devices.
US08097693B2 Endless tubular polyimide film
The present invention provides a method for producing a high-quality nonconductive or semi-conductive seamless (jointless) tubular polyimide film in a simple, efficient, and economical manner, and the like. More specifically, the invention relates to an electrically non-conductive or electrically semi-conductive seamless tubular polyimide film comprising polyimide having at least two aromatic tetracarboxylic acid derivatives comprising 15 to 55 mol % of asymmetric aromatic tetracarboxylic acid component and 85 to 45 mol % of symmetric aromatic tetracarboxylic acid component and at least one aromatic diamine component, in which, as required, a specific amount of carbon black is dispersed, and relates to a method for producing the same.
US08097692B2 Purification method of high-molecular-weight polyoxyalkylene derivative
A purification method in which, from a specific polyoxyalkylene derivative having a molecular weight of 8,800 to 100,000, an impurity differing in the number of hydroxyl groups is separated, the method including steps (A), (B), (C), and (D). Step (A): a step in which an aprotic organic solvent is used in an amount at least 5 times by weight the amount of the polyoxyalkylene derivative to dissolve the polyoxyalkylene derivative therein and give a solution; step (B): a step in which an adsorbent comprising an oxide containing at least one of aluminum and silicon is added to the solution in an amount 0.5 to 5 times by weight the amount of the polyoxyalkylene derivative to thereby yield a slurry; step (C): a step in which the slurry is stirred at 25° C. or higher; step (D): a step in which the polyoxyalkylene derivative is recovered from the slurry.
US08097690B2 Cyclic dihydrogenpolysiloxanes, hydrogenpolysiloxanes, processes for their production, silica type glass moldings and a process for their production, optical elements and a process for their production
Cyclic dihydrogenpolysiloxanes, hydrogenpolysiloxanes of specific siloxane unit formulas etc., a process for their production using hydrolysis/condensation, a process for the production of silica type glass moldings with an optical transmittance of 90% to 100% in the vacuum-UV region to UV region and an optical transmittance of 98% to 100% in the visible region to near infrared region by curing said cyclic dihydrogensiloxanes or said hydrogenpolysiloxanes in a mold, said silica type glass moldings, optical elements made up of the silica type glass, a process for the production of optical elements having such a silica type glass film layer by coating an optical element with the hydrogenpolysiloxanes and curing them, and optical elements having such a silica type glass film layer.
US08097688B2 Ink composition and inkjet recording method
The present invention provides an ink composition containing (A) a polymer compound having (a-1) a photoradical generation site and (a-2) at least one segregation site selected from a fluoroalkyl group, a siloxane structure, and a long-chain alkyl group, (B) a radical-polymerizable compound, and (C) a photoradical generator having a structure different from that of (A).
US08097681B2 1-butene propylene copolymer compositions
A 1-butene/propylene copolymer composition having a content of propylene derived units from 1 to 4% by weight, wherein at least 50% of the crystalline polymer is present in the thermodynamically stable, trigonal Form I (detected by DSC analysis) after 100 hours of the first melting at room temperature comprising: b) from 5% by weight to 95% by weight of an atactic 1-butene propylene copolymer having the following features: i) distribution of molecular weight Mw/Mn equal to or lower than 4; ii) no enthalpy of fusion detectable at a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC); and iii) infrared crystallinity lower than 0.5%; b) from 5% by weight to 95% by weight of an isotactic 1-butene propylene copolymer having the following features: i) isotactic pentads (mmmm) measured by 13C-NMR, higher than 80%; ii) melting point (Tm(II)) higher than 70° C.; and iii) distribution of molecular weight Mw/Mn equal to or lower than 4.
US08097673B2 Aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion stabilized with amine oxide surfactant and process for making coagulated fluoropolymer resin
An aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion comprising an aqueous medium, fluoropolymer particles, and an amine oxide surfactant. Coagulated fluoropolymer resin is produced from the dispersion by adding an acidic reagent in sufficient amount to cause coagulation and separation of the coagulated fluoropolymer resin from the aqueous medium. Another particulate component such as particular polymer, filler, pigment, solid lubricant, etc., may be added to the dispersion and co-coagulated to form a mixture of coagulated fluoropolymer resin and particulate component.
US08097669B2 Flame-retardant elastic block copolymer
The invention relates to a flameproofed resilient block polymer comprising polymerized units of at least one vinylaromatic monomer and at least one diene monomer with at least one flameproofing agent B) which comprises a compound comprising phosphorus, in particular a phosphorus-containing melamine compound, a process for the preparation and the use for the production of moldings.
US08097667B2 Fire-extinguishing aerosol composition for heavy current electric apparatuses
A fire-extinguishing aerosol composition for heavy current electric apparatuses is disclosed, which includes oxidant, combustible, adhesive and additive. The composition of the present invention is characterized in that the oxidant is the mixture of the potassium salt and the strontium salt, in which the content of the potassium salt oxidant is more than 20 mass % to less than or equal to 35 mass % of the total mass of the composition, and the content of the strontium salt oxidant is more than or equal to 30 mass % to less than 48 mass % of the total mass of the composition. In the fire-extinguishing aerosol composition of the present invention, the mean particle diameter of all components is less than or equal to 50 μm. After quenching the fire in a space with the heavy current electric apparatus, the fire-extinguishing aerosol composition of the present invention can ensure that the insulation resistance of the heavy current electric apparatus is more than or equal to 20 MΩ. The fire-extinguishing aerosol composition of the present invention is more reasonable than the prior art, friendly to the environment, and applicable to the heavy current electric apparatuses.
US08097666B2 Cement additive for stucco applications
An additive composition, a cement composition, and method for modifying rheology of an uncured masonry cement, comprising the use of at least one extra-cellular biopolymer, at least one anionic surfactant, and at least one cationic or amphoteric surfactant. Preferably, the biopolymer and surfactants are incorporated into the cement by incorporating the components into the grinding of clinker as part of the manufacture of the cement. Masonry cements produced by the invention have excellent workability, particularly when coarse sands are employed.
US08097664B2 Cationic electrodeposition coating composition
A cationic electrodeposition coating composition including amino group-containing modified epoxy resin (A), blocked polyisocyanate curing agent (B), phenol resin (C), metal compound (D), and nitrogen oxide ion (E), wherein the metal compound (D) is contained in an amount of 10 to 10,000 ppm calculated as metal and the nitrogen oxide ion (E) is contained in an amount of 50 to 10,000 ppm, relative to the mass of the cationic electrodeposition coating composition. The cationic electrodeposition coating composition exhibits excellent anti-corrosion properties when coated onto untreated steel sheets.
US08097660B2 Rigid polyurethane foams with low thermal conductivity and a process for their production
Rigid closed-cell polyurethane foams with low k-factors are produced by reacting an organic polyisocyanate with an amine-based polyether polyol and a polyester polyol in the presence of a catalyst and a hydrofluorocarbon blowing agent, preferably, HFC-245fa. It is preferred that no water be added to the reaction mixture.
US08097652B2 AMPA receptor potentiators
The present invention relates to a compound of Formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof which is useful for the treatment of conditions associated with glutamate hypofunction, such as psychiatric and neurological disorders.
US08097651B2 Diclofenac formulations and methods of use
Methods and formulations are provided for treating migraine and other acute pain episodes using diclofenac, and formulations of diclofenac that provide both rapid and sustained relief from acute pain. Methods and formulations are also provided for treating symptoms that often accompany migraine and acute pain such as photophobia, phonophobia, nausea and vomiting.
US08097649B1 Composition and method for stabilizing the same
Disclosed is a novel composition comprising a novel bi-cyclic compound, which is expected to be pharmaceutically active, and a glyceride. The stability of the bi-cyclic compound can be improved significantly by dissolving the same in a glyceride.
US08097646B2 Ophthalmic preparation containing menthyl ester of indomethacin
There is provided an ophthalmic pharmaceutical preparation comprising menthyl ester of indomethacin as an active ingredient. Also provided are different possible formulations of the ophthalmic preparation, and different methods of treating ophthalmic irritation using the ophthalmic preparation.
US08097645B2 Compounds for activating TGF-β signaling
Compositions and methods for treatment and prevention of disorders and conditions characterized by reduced TGF-β signaling are described.
US08097644B2 Indole compounds having sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor antagonist
The present invention provides novel compounds having the following general formula I wherein: A, B, X, Y, R1, R2, R3, R4, n, o and p are as defined in the specification. Such compounds are useful for treating a disease or condition selected from the group consisting of glaucoma, dry eye, angiogenesis, cardiovascular conditions or diseases and wound healing.
US08097643B2 Indol-4 sulfonamide derivatives, their preparation and their use 5-ht-6 as modulators
The present invention refers to new sulfonamide derivatives, of general formula (1a, 1b, 1c), optionally in form of one of their stereoisomers, preferably enantiomers or diastereomers, their racemate, or in form of a mixture of at least two of their stereoisomers, preferably enantiomers or diastereomers, in any mixing ratio, or their salt thereof s, preferably the corresponding, physiologically acceptable salt thereofs, or corresponding solvate thereofs; to the processes for their preparation, to their application as medicaments in human and/or veterinary therapeutics, and to the pharmaceutical compositions containing them.
US08097640B2 Prophylactic or therapeutic agent for diabetic maculopathy
A prophylactic or therapeutic agent for diabetic maculopathy, which can be administered for a long time and exhibits efficacy in a mechanism different from that of existing medicines. The invention relates to a prophylactic or therapeutic agent for diabetic maculopathy, comprising, as an active ingredient, a compound represented by the general formula: wherein X represents a halogen or a hydrogen atom, R1 and R2 concurrently or differently represent a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted C1 to C6 alkyl group, or R1 and R2, together with a nitrogen atom bound thereto and optionally another nitrogen atom or an oxygen atom, are combined to form a 5- to 6-membered heterocycle. Preferably, the compound is (2S,4S)-6-fluoro -2′,5′-dioxospiro chroman-4,4′-imidazolidine]-2-carboxamide. The invention also provides a model animal with diabetic maculopathy produced by subjecting a diabetic animal to intraocular ischemia/reperfusion to express edema in a retinal visual cell layer or in a macula lutea.
US08097634B2 Azacyclic derivatives
The invention provides novel compounds having the general formula (I) wherein R1, R2 and A are as described herein, compositions including the compounds and methods of using the compounds. The compounds inhibit hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and may be used in the treatment of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.
US08097626B2 IL-8 receptor antagonists
This invention relates to novel compounds and compositions thereof, useful in the treatment of disease states mediated by the chemokine, Interleukin-8 (Il-8).
US08097625B2 Combination of sedative and a neurotransmitter modulator, and methods for improving sleep quality and treating depression
One aspect of the present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing two or more active agents that when taken together can be used to treat, e.g., insomnia and/or depression. The first component of the pharmaceutical composition is a GABA receptor modulating compound. The second component of the pharmaceutical composition is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, a 5-HT2A modulator, or dopamine reuptake inhibitor. In certain embodiments, the pharmaceutical composition comprises eszopiclone. In a preferred embodiment, the pharmaceutical composition comprises eszopiclone and fluoxetine. The present invention also relates to a method of treating a sleep abnormality, treating insomnia, treating depression, augmenting antidepressant therapy, eliciting a dose-sparing effect, reducing depression relapse, improving the efficacy of antidepressant therapy or improving the tolerability of antidepressant therapy, comprising co-administering to a patient in need thereof a GABA-receptor-modulating compound; and a SRI, NRI, 5-HT2A modulator or DRI.
US08097624B2 Cycloalkyl derivatives of 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinones
The present invention provides an cycloalkyl derivative of 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone which is useful for the chelation of metal ions such as iron. Its preparation and use is described. In particular, the invention concerns the removal of iron in chemical and biological systems including chelating agents having the formula I wherein R1 is X with the proviso that R2 is Y; or R1 is T with the proviso that R2 is W; or R1 is X with the proviso that R2R5N when taken together form a heterocyclic ring selected from piperidinyl, morpholinyl, pyrrolidinyl or piperazinyl, wherein the group piperidinyl, morpholinyl, pyrrolidinyl or piperazinyl is either unsubstituted or substituted with one to three C1 to C6 alkyl groups. X is C3-C6 cycloalkyl; Y is selected from the group consisting of C1 to C6 cycloalkyl; C1 to C6 alkyl, and C1 to C6 alkyl monosubstituted with a C3-C6 cycloalkyl; T is C1 to C6 alkyl; W is C3-C6 cycloalkyl; R3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C1 to C6 alkyl; R4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C1 to C6 alkyl; R5 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C1 to C6 alkyl; and its pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. Pharmaceutical compositions of such compounds are useful in the removal of excess body iron from patients with iron overload diseases.
US08097623B2 Indoles useful in the treatment of inflammation
There is provided compounds of formula (I), wherein X1, Q, T, Y, R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 have meanings given in the description, and pharmaceutically-acceptable salts thereof, which compounds are useful in the treatment of diseases in which inhibition of the activity of a member of the MAPEG family is desired and/or required, and particularly in the treatment of inflammation.
US08097622B2 Morpholinopurine derivatives
There is provided a novel compound that inhibits phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and/or the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and exhibits anti-tumor activity. The present invention provides a compound represented by the following formula (1) having various substituents that inhibits PI3K and/or mTOR and exhibits anti-tumor activity: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, Ra, Rb, Rc, and X each have the same meaning as defined in the specification.
US08097620B2 Diazaquinolones that inhibit prolyl hydroxylase activity
Compounds of Formula I are useful inhibitors of HIF prolyl hydroxylases. Compounds of Formula I have the following structure: where the definitions of the variables are provided herein.
US08097619B2 Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases, compositions and uses related thereto
The invention pertains to novel cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (cdks) and specifically, but not exclusively, as inhibitors of cdk/cyclin complexes. As described herein, the inhibitors of this invention are capable of inhibiting the cell-cycle machinery and consequently may be useful in modulating cell-cycle progression, untimately controlling cell growth and differentiation. Such compounds would be useful for treating subjects having disorders associated with excessive cell proliferation.
US08097616B2 Process for preparation of high-purity meloxicam and meloxicam potassium salt
The invention provides a process for the preparation of high purity meloxicam of the Formula (II). The meloxicam raw product is reacted with the solution of potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate, whereby high purity meloxicam potassium sait monohydrate is produced. Said sait is subsequently treated with mineral or organic acid to yield high-purity meloxicam.
US08097611B2 Sulfonyl-derivatives as novel or histone deacetylase
This invention comprises the novel compounds of formula (I) wherein n, m, t, R1, R2, R3, R4, L, Q, X, Y, Z and have defined meanings, having histone deacetylase inhibiting enzymatic activity; their preparation, compositions containing them and their use as a medicine.
US08097609B2 Swallowtail motifs for imparting water solubility to porphyrinic compounds
Porphyrinic compounds that contain solubilizing groups are described, along with methods of making and using the same and compositions comprising such compounds. Examples of such compounds include compounds of Formula (I) wherein: Z is a porphyrinic macrocyclic, Alk1 and Alk2 are each independently an alkylidene chain; L is a linking group or is absent; R1 is preferably an ionic group or polar group; R2 is an ionic group, polar group, bioconjugatable group, or targeting group: R3 is present or absent and when present is a halo group, bioconjugatable group, or targeting group, n is O or 1 (that is, the CH group is present, or Alk1 and Alk2 are bonded directly to a carbon of the porphyrinic macrocycle Z); or a salt thereof.
US08097600B2 Method of increasing tear production with purinergic receptor agonists
A method and preparation for the stimulation of tear secretion in a subject in need of such treatment is disclosed. The method comprises administering to the ocular surfaces of the subject a purinergic receptor agonist such as uridine 5′-triphosphate (UTP), dinucleotides, cytidine 5′-triphosphate (CTP), adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP), or their therapeutically useful analogs and derivatives, in an amount effective to stimulate tear fluid secretion and enhance drainage of the lacrimal system. Pharmaceutical formulations and methods of making the same are also disclosed. Methods of administering the same would include: topical administration via a liquid, gel, cream, or as part of a contact lens or selective release membrane; or systemic administration via nasal drops or spray, inhalation by nebulizer or other device, oral form (liquid or pill), injectable, intra-operative instillation or suppository form.
US08097595B2 Modulation of telomere length in telomerase positive cells and cancer therapy
Induction of telomere shortening, G2 arrest and apoptosis in telomerase positive cancer cells using acyclic nucleoside analogs has been disclosed. In addition, methods for impairment or prevention of tumorigenic telomerase positive cells from having a chance to grow into a tumor and methods for promoting tumor regression (decrease in size of an established tumor) using acyclic nucleoside analogs has been disclosed.
US08097589B2 Small peptides and methods for inhibiting mucus release into airways
Methods for treating cutaneous inflammation, are described. Also described is a method for inhibiting the mucus release into airways of a patient, a method for blocking IgE activation of a lymphocyte, a method for stabilizing the cell membrane of a lymphocyte, thereby preventing their further involvement in the increased inflammatory response to an IgE antigen challenge, and a method for inhibiting the migration of T-cells. Such methods involve administering to said patient a therapeutically effective amount of a peptide having the formula f-Met-Leu-X, wherein X is selected from the group consisting of Tyr, Tyr-Phe, Phe-Phe and Phe-Tyr.
US08097587B2 IGF-I protein variants for treating IGFBP-1-related disorders
IGF-I variants having an alanine, glycine, or serine amino acid residue at position 16, 25, 49 or at positions 3 and 49 of native-sequence IGF-I are provided that are useful to treat a disorder characterized by dysregulation of the GH/IGF axis in a mammal, such as a renal disorder.
US08097586B2 Modified exedins and uses thereof
Novel exendins with modifications at one or more of following positions: 2, 14, 27 or 28 and polyethylene glycol derivatives thereof are provided. These compounds are useful in treating type 2 diabetes as GLP-1 receptor agonists.
US08097584B2 Stabilized formulations of insulin that comprise ethylenediamine
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical formulation comprising insulin, an insulin analogue or an insulin derivate and ethylenediamine or salts thereof and an antimicrobial preservative agent.
US08097578B2 Concentrated base for detergent products and products for personal care and hygiene comprising a combination of at least three non-ethoxylated surfactants
The invention relates to a concentrated base, particularly for detergent products and products for personal care and hygiene, comprising a combination of at least three surfactants selected from the group consisting of acylmethyltaurates, alkylamidopropylbetaines, alkyl amphoacetates, alkyl amphodiacetates, alkylsulphoacetates, acyl sarcosinates, acyl lactylates and acyl glutamates. The viscosity of the concentrated base of the invention can advantageously be adjusted by simple dilution with water to the concentration of use and/or by adding small amounts of electrolytes. Detergent products and products for personal care and hygiene comprising the concentrated base of the invention are also described.
US08097574B2 Personal cleansing compositions comprising a bacterial cellulose network and cationic polymer
A personal cleansing composition comprising a liquid matrix comprising water; a lathering surfactant; and an external structurant comprising a bacterial cellulose network and a cationic polymer; wherein a particulate material is suspended within the liquid matrix and the composition has a compositional pH of less than about 7. Methods of use and making are also provided.
US08097573B2 Natural personal cleanser compositions
A moisturizing, personal cleansing composition with a limited number of naturally-derived, naturally processed, generally regarded as safe (GRAS), biodegradable ingredients comprising a plurality of oleosomes, an anionic surfactant, a non-ionic surfactant, a lipoaminoacidic surfactant, and a humectant. The personal cleansing composition optionally contains a fragrance, vitamin, essential oil, thickener, exfoliant, preservative, plant extract and other beneficial naturally-derived, naturally processed, generally regarded as safe (GRAS), biodegradable ingredients such as royal jelly. The moisturizing, personal cleansing composition cleanses and moisturizes as well as or better than commercial compositions containing synthetically derived cleansing and moisturizing agents.
US08097560B2 Heat-sensitive recording material
The present invention provides a heat-sensitive recording material with enhanced color developing sensitivity maintaining heat resistance and image storage stability characteristics such as plasticizer resistance and water resistance. The present invention provides a heat-sensitive recording material including at least a substrate and a heat-sensitive color developing layer containing a leuco dye and developers on the front surface of the substrate, wherein as the developers 4-hydroxy-4′-allyloxydiphenyl sulfone is used in combination with a first diphenyl compound represented by formula (1) and/or a second diphenyl compound represented by formula (2).
US08097559B2 Compositions for removing halogenated hydrocarbons from contaminated environments
The present invention provides a supported reactant for in situ remediation of soil and/or groundwater contaminated with a halogenated hydrocarbon consisting essentially of an adsorbent impregnated with zero valent iron, wherein the adsorbent is capable of adsorbing the halogenated hydrocarbon. In one embodiment, the adsorbent is activated carbon.
US08097558B2 Catalyst and method for producing phthalic anhydride
The present invention relates to a catalyst, in particular for the preparation of phthalic anhydride by gas phase oxidation of o-xylene and/or naphthalene, having an inert support and at least one layer which has been applied thereto and has a catalytically active composition comprising TiO2, characterized in that at least a portion of the TiO2 used has the following properties: (a) the BET surface area is more than 15 m2/g, (b) at least 25% of the total pore volume is formed by pores having a radius between 60 and 400 nm, and (c) the primary crystal size is more than 22 ångstrøm. Also described is a preferred process for preparing such a catalyst, and the preferred use of the titanium dioxide used in accordance with the invention.
US08097556B2 Exhaust gas-purifying catalyst and method of manufacturing the same
An object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust gas-purifying catalyst that is less prone to cause a decrease in its activity even when used at high temperatures in an atmosphere whose oxygen concentration is high. An exhaust gas-purifying catalyst of the present invention includes a composite oxide of alkaline-earth metal and aluminum, and platinum, wherein at least a part of the composite oxide and at least a part of the platinum forms a solid solution.
US08097555B2 Process for the production of hybrid catalysts for fischer-tropsch synthesis and hybrid catalyst produced according to said process
Process for the production of hybrid catalysts formed by mixing two catalysts; one active in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, the other being bifunctional. Such hybrid catalyst thus formed is active both in hydrocracking and in hydroisomerization reactions. The present invention in addition provides obtainment of a hybrid catalyst and application thereof conjointly with FT catalysts in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactions. The hybrid catalyst of the present invention is capable of producing in conditions typically such as those utilized in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis branched hydrocarbons in diverse bands relating to the products thereof (for example naphtha and diesel), reducing or even eliminating necessity for a subsequent hydrotreatment stage in such synthesis reactions. Utilization of such hybrid catalysts of the present invention prolongs the operational efficiency and working life of conventional Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts, reducing substantially encapsulation of particles thereof by waxes produced in the hydroprocessing reactions.
US08097554B2 Apparatus for removing soot from diesel engine exhaust streams at temperatures at or below 150° C.
An apparatus for removing soot from diesel engine exhaust streams at temperatures below 150° C. is provided. Although the use of particulate filters for removing carbonaceous soot from such exhaust streams is known, such systems are either active or operate under high temperatures, i.e. in excess of 300° C. The claimed apparatus includes a flow through support device composed of ceramic, such as cordierite or silicon carbide, or a primarily nonferrous metal or stainless steel and coated with an oxide formation comprising hematite and bixbyite in a ratio from 1:1 to 9:1. The claimed apparatus can also include a diesel particulate filter coated with a coating comprising tin, aluminum and zirconium oxides prepared by a co-precipitation process and thereafter coated with platinum or other precious metal.
US08097551B2 Dielectric ceramic and capacitor
The invention relates to a ceramic dielectric material and to capacitors including the ceramic dielectric material. The ceramic dielectric material of the invention exhibits a high relative dielectric constant and a stable temperature characteristic of the relative dielectric constant.
US08097550B2 Spinel sintered body, light transmitting window and light transmitting lens
A low-cost spinel sintered body having small polarization and high heat-conductivity is provided. Also, a useful light-transmitting window and light-transmitting lens for light-emitting device is provided. For such purpose, the spinel sintered body of the present invention has a contrast ratio of 300 or more in the case of white light, where the contrast ratio is defined as the quotient obtained by dividing an amount of transmitting light in the case of being arranged between two polarizing plates, the polarizing directions of the two polarizing plates being parallel to each other, by an amount of transmitting light in the case of being arranged between two polarizing plates, the polarizing directions of the two polarizing plates being orthogonal to each other.
US08097548B2 High-density pressurelessly sintered zirconium diboride/silicon carbide composite bodies and a method for producing the same
A method of sintering a ZrB2—SiC composite body at ambient pressures, including blending a first predetermined amount of ZrB2 powder with a second predetermined amount of SiC powder, wherein both powders are characterized by the presence of surface oxide impurities. Next the blended powders are mixed to yield a substantially homogeneous powder mixture and a portion of the substantially homogeneous powder mixture is formed into a green body. The body is fired to a first temperature, wherein substantially all surface oxide impurities are reduced and/or volatilized to substantially eliminate oxides from the green body, and the body is heated to a second temperature and sintered to yield a composite body of at least about 99 percent theoretical density (more typically at least about 99.5 percent theoretical density) and characterized by SiC whisker-like inclusions distributed substantially evenly in a ZrB2 matrix.
US08097545B2 Phase-separation-controlled polybutadiene resin composition and printed wiring board using the resin composition
It is an objective of this invention to obtain: a composition superior in processability, dielectric properties, heat resistance, and adhesiveness by controlling phase separation of a 1,2-polybutadiene resin composition without deterioration of dielectric properties exhibited in high-frequency regions; and a multilayer printed wiring board using the same.This invention relates to a polybutadiene resin composition, comprising: a crosslinking component (A) comprising repeating units represented by the following formula (1) and having a number average molecular weight of 1000 to 20000; a radical polymerization initiator (B), the one-minute half-life temperature of which is 80° C. to 140° C.; and a radical polymerization initiator (C), the one-minute half-life temperature of which is 170° C. to 230° C.; wherein 3 to 10 parts by weight of the component (B) and 5 to 15 parts by weight of the component (C) are contained relative to 100 parts by weight of the component (A). The invention also relates to a prepreg, a laminate, and a printed wiring board, which are produced using the same.
US08097543B2 Apparatus and method of aligning and positioning a cold substrate on a hot surface
Embodiments of the invention contemplate a method, apparatus and system that are used to support and position a substrate on a surface that is at a different temperature than the initial, or incoming, substrate temperature. Embodiments of the invention may also include a method of controlling the transfer of heat between a substrate and substrate support positioned in a processing chamber. The apparatus and methods described herein generally may also provide an inexpensive and simple way of accurately positioning a substrate on a substrate support that is positioned in a semiconductor processing chamber. Substrate processing chambers that can benefit from the various embodiments described herein include, but are not limited to RTP, CVD, PVD, ALD, plasma etching, and/or laser annealing chambers.
US08097541B2 Method for surface treating semiconductor
Native oxide film on a semiconductor silicon wafer(s) is dry etched at a temperature of 50° C. or less. Hydrogen treatment is then carried out a temperature of 100° C. or more to bond the dangling bonds with hydrogen. A jig 9 that has been used is again used for loading new semiconductor silicon wafer(s) 10. The wafer(s) on the jig 9 is subjected to removal of a native oxide film and then hydrogen bonding. The resultant heat remains in jig and makes it difficult to maintain the wafers to temperature appropriate to removal of a native oxide film.After treatment of hydrogen bonding, inert gas having temperature of from 0 to −30° C. is injected into reaction vessel 5 and/or treatment preparing vessel 21, in which a native oxide film has been removed.
US08097540B2 Method of opening pad in semiconductor device
A method of opening a pad in a semiconductor device. A protective film on a pad may be etched with a pad opening pattern as a mask. Dielectric heating may be performed on the pad opened by etching the protective film. Organic material containing C and F groups on the pad may be removed by heating with molecular vibration and/or microwaves, which may substantially prevent and/or minimize corrosion.
US08097538B2 Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
A metal member layer on a silicon member layer is patterned. A sidewall film is formed on a surface of the metal member layer. The silicon member layer is patterned to form a structure including the silicon member layer and the metal member layer, the surface of which is covered with the sidewall film. After the surface of the structure is cleaned, a water-repellent protective film is formed on the surface of the structure before the surface of the structure is dried.
US08097537B2 Phase change memory cell structures and methods
Phase change memory cell structures and methods are described herein. A number of methods of forming a phase change memory cell structure include forming a dielectric stack structure on a first electrode, wherein forming the dielectric stack structure includes creating a second region between a first region and a third region of the dielectric stack structure, the second region having a thermal conductivity different than a thermal conductivity of the first region and different than a thermal conductivity of the third region of the dielectric stack. One or more embodiments include forming a via through the first, second, and third regions of the dielectric stack structure, depositing a phase change material in the via, and forming a second electrode on the phase change material.
US08097536B2 Reducing metal voids in a metallization layer stack of a semiconductor device by providing a dielectric barrier layer
Metallization systems on the basis of copper and low-k dielectric materials may be efficiently formed by providing an additional dielectric material of enhanced surface conditions after the patterning of the low-k dielectric material. Consequently, defects such as isolated copper voids and the like may be reduced without significantly affecting overall performance of the metallization system.
US08097533B2 Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having a back surface electrode, including: a step of preparing a semiconductor wafer having a front surface and a back surface; a thermal processing step of forming a first metal layer on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer and executing thermal processing, thereby creating an ohmic contact between the semiconductor wafer and the first metal layer; and a step of forming a second metal layer of Ni on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate after the thermal processing step.
US08097532B2 Method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device
To provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device capable of providing sufficiently low operating voltage.The method for manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device of the present invention includes: a semiconductor laminating step of laminating a plurality of nitride semiconductor layers of to form a semiconductor laminating structure; and an electrode forming step of forming n-side electrode and p-side electrodes on the n-type and p-type semiconductor layers. In the electrode forming step, after a first metallic layer including a Ni layer constituting a part of the n-side electrode is formed on a surface of a forming region of the n-side electrode, the first metallic layer is annealed in an atmosphere containing nitrogen and oxygen.
US08097531B2 Methods of manufacturing charge trap type memory devices
Manufacturing of a charge trap type memory device can include forming a tunnel insulating layer on a substrate. A charge-trapping layer can be formed on the tunnel insulating layer. A blocking layer can be formed on the charge-trapping layer. Gate electrodes can be formed on the blocking layer and divided by a trench. A portion of the charge-trapping layer aligned with the trench may be converted into a charge-blocking pattern with a vertical side profile by an anisotropic oxidation process.
US08097529B2 System and method for the manufacture of semiconductor devices by the implantation of carbon clusters
A process is disclosed which incorporates implantation of a carbon cluster into a substrate to improve the characteristics of transistor junctions when the substrates are doped with Boron and Phosphorous in the manufacturing of PMOS transistor structures in integrated circuits. There are two processes which result from this novel approach: (1) diffusion control for USJ formation; and (2) high dose carbon implantation for stress engineering. Diffusion control for USJ formation is demonstrated in conjunction with a boron or shallow boron cluster implant of the source/drain structures in PMOS. More particularly, first, a cluster carbon ion, such as C16Hx+, is implanted into the source/drain region at approximately the same dose as the subsequent boron implant; followed by a shallow boron, boron cluster, phosphorous or phosphorous cluster ion implant to form the source/drain extensions, preferably using a borohydride cluster, such as B18Hx+ or B10Hx+. Upon subsequent annealing and activation, the boron diffusion is reduced, due to the gettering of interstitial defects by the carbon atoms.
US08097519B2 SOI device having a substrate diode formed by reduced implantation energy
By removing material during the formation of trench openings of isolation structures in an SOI device, the subsequent implantation process for defining the well region for a substrate diode may be performed on the basis of moderately low implantation energies, thereby increasing process uniformity and significantly reducing cycle time of the implantation process. Thus, enhanced reliability and stability of the substrate diode may be accomplished while also providing a high degree of compatibility with conventional manufacturing techniques.