Document Document Title
US08161567B2 Accessory authentication for electronic devices
Improved techniques to control utilization of accessory devices with electronic devices are disclosed. The improved techniques can use cryptographic approaches to authenticate electronic devices, namely, electronic devices that interconnect and communicate with one another. One aspect pertains to techniques for authenticating an electronic device, such as an accessory device. Another aspect pertains to provisioning software features (e.g., functions) by or for an electronic device (e.g., a host device). Different electronic devices can, for example, be provisioned differently depending on different degrees or levels of authentication, or depending on manufacturer or product basis. Still another aspect pertains to using an accessory (or adapter) to convert a peripheral device (e.g., USB device) into a host device (e.g., USB host). The improved techniques are particularly well suited for electronic devices, such as media devices, that can receive accessory devices. One example of a media device is a media player, such as a hand-held media player (e.g., music player), that can present (e.g., play) media items (or media assets).
US08161561B1 Confidential data protection through usage scoping
Methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for protecting confidential data on a network. An embodiment of the inventive method comprises the steps of: monitoring 110 data directed to a website; identifying 120 a data string having at least one confidential characteristic; categorizing the data string with a categorization level; examining 140 the website for at least one characteristic consistent with confidential data; creating 155 a website characteristic profile; comparing 170 the website characteristic profile with the data string's categorization level for compatibility; and determining 180 whether the data string can be communicated to the website.
US08161559B2 Methods, computer networks and computer program products for reducing the vulnerability of user devices
Methods, computer networks, and computer program products that reduce the vulnerability of network user devices to security threats include scanning a user device connected to a network to determine whether the user device contains a particular version of an application; downloading the particular version of the application via the network in response to verifying that the user device does not contain the particular version of the application; installing the downloaded application on the user device; scanning the user device for security vulnerabilities; downloading a patch via the network in response to detecting a security vulnerability, wherein the patch is configured to remedy the security vulnerability; and executing the downloaded patch on the user device to remedy the detected security vulnerability.
US08161557B2 System and method of caching decisions on when to scan for malware
In accordance with this invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium that selectively scans files stored on a computing device for malware is provided. One aspect of the present invention includes identifying files that need to be scanned for malware when a software update that includes a malware signature is received. More specifically, attributes of the new malware are identified by searching metadata associated with the malware. Then, the method searches a scan cache and determines whether each file with an entry in the scan cache is the type that may be infected by the malware. If a file is the type that may be infected by the malware, the file is scanned for malware when a scanning event such as an I/O request occurs. Conversely, if the file is not the type that may be infected by the malware, the file may be accessed without a scan being performed.
US08161554B2 System and method for detection and mitigation of network worms
An intrusion detection system for a computer network includes a knowledge database that contains a baseline of normal host behavior, and a correlation engine that monitors network activity with reference to the knowledge database. The correlation engine accumulating information about anomalous events occurring on the network and then periodically correlating the anomalous events. The correlation engine generates a worm outbreak alarm when a certain number of hosts exhibit a role-reversal behavior. 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. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b).
US08161542B2 Wireless perimeter security device and network using same
A Radio Frequency based security system for providing security for wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) that allows the creation and maintenance of arbitrarily shaped secure wireless access areas with boundaries around said wireless Local Area Network and prevents access to the said wireless LAN from outside the perimeter of the secure area. The system includes a plurality of perimeter Radio Frequency Sentry Devices (RFSDs) that are employed to establish the boundaries of said secure area around said wireless LAN. The wireless LAN being secured may be an industry standard IEEE 802.11a, 801.11b or 802.11g based wireless LAN or any other wireless LAN that uses packet based communication protocols. The said RFSDs may be stand-alone devices or they may be connected to a wired or wireless Local Area Network.
US08161541B2 Ethernet connectivity fault management with user verification option
An access node (e.g., DSLAM, OLT/ONT) is described herein that implements a trust verification method comprising the steps of: (a) filtering an up-stream message initiated by a non-trusted device (e.g., CPE); (b) intercepting the filtered up-stream message if the filtered up-stream message is a connectivity fault management message (e.g., LB message, LBR message, CC message); (c) inserting a trusted identification into the intercepted up-stream message; and (d) outputting the intercepted up-stream message with the inserted trusted identification. Thereafter, a trusted device (e.g., BRAS) receives and analyzes the outputted up-stream message with the inserted trusted identification message to ascertain a trustworthiness of the non-trusted device (e.g., CPE). Several different ways that an access network (e.g., IPTV network) can implement the trust verification method are also described herein.
US08161532B2 Operating system independent architecture for subscription computing
A system for managing a subscription-based computer independent of an operating system of the computer may include a security module that accesses, decrements, and stores subscription data during operation of the subscription-based computer. Additionally, the system may include a network module in communication with the security module and comprising a network stack, a web server, and a user interface in an operating system independent format. A web browser of the computer may request the user interface from the network stack. The interface may be populated with the subscription data, and a network driver may retrieve the populated user interface from the network module. The populated interface may then be sent to the web server to be served back to the requesting web browser.
US08161530B2 Behaviormetrics application system for electronic transaction authorization
This invention discloses a system wherein behaviormetrics are utilized to authenticate electronic transactions, either alone or in combination with other identifiers such as PIN's, passwords, codes and the like. Probability profiles or probability distribution representations may be constructed for determining whether a purported or alleged authorized user is in fact the authorized user, by comparing new data on a real-time basis against probability distribution representations including an authorized user probability distribution representation and a global or wide population probability distribution representation, to provide a probability as to whether the purported authorized user is the authorized user. This invention may utilize keypad, touch screen dynamics, X-Y dynamics, data, X-Y device data, or other data from similar measurable characteristics (such as movement filmed by an ATM machine), to determine the probability that the new data from the purported authorized user indicates or identifies that user as the authorized user.
US08161529B1 High-assurance architecture for routing of information between networks of differing security level
The present invention is directed to routing information between networks of differing security level. Communication to/from each network is handled by a dedicated Offload Engine (OE). Each OE interfaces to a Guard Engine through a Guard Data Mover (GDM) and includes an interface for connecting to an external network. A first OE receives a data packet from a first network intended to be transmitted to a second network. The Guard Engine analyzes the data packet. The Guard Engine includes an ACL (Access Control List) which are rules data packets must meet before being passed onto a destination network. If allowed, the Guard Engine delivers the data packet to the second network via a second OE utilizing a GDM associated with the first OE and a GDM associated with the second OE. The architecture of the present invention reduces the time and effort needed to attain high-assurance certification.
US08161528B2 Detecting wireless interlopers
In an exemplary apparatus implementation, an apparatus includes: at least one processor; and one or more media including processor-executable instructions that are capable of being executed by the at least one processor, the processor-executable instructions adapted to direct the apparatus to perform actions including: monitoring at least one signal characteristic for multiple signals that relate to a single source address; and detecting a wireless interloper if a discrepancy is determined to exist with regard to the monitored at least one signal characteristic for the multiple signals. In an exemplary access station implementation, an access station is capable of ascertaining at least one signal characteristic for multiple signals, is configured to detect a wireless interloper with regard to a particular address by analyzing the ascertained at least one signal characteristic for the multiple signals, and is adapted to counter the detected wireless interloper.
US08161526B2 Protecting sensitive information on a publicly accessed data processing system
The illustrative embodiments described herein provide a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product protecting sensitive information on a data processing system. A determination is made as to whether a data processing system is publicly accessed. Responsive to determining that a data processing system is publicly accessed, the system identifies sensitive information. The data processing system monitors for the presence of sensitive information. Responsive to detecting the presence of the sensitive information, the system presents a warning to a user of the data processing system.
US08161525B2 Method and system for architecting a secure solution
A system and method of designing a secure solution which meets the needs of a customer but which is appropriate and repeatable and may use components which are insecure or not trusted. In its preferred embodiment, the security system includes subsystems selected from access control, information flow, identity and credentials management, integrity and assurance. In each subsystem, elements are employed to reduce the effect of perils and to provide a repeatable system design.
US08161524B2 Method and portable storage device for allocating secure area in insecure area
A method for extending a secure area in a portable storage device and the portable storage device therefore are provided. The method includes allocating a secure area for storing data to be received within an insecure area, sending position information regarding the secure area allocated within the insecure area to a host device, receiving the position information and data to be stored in the secure area from a secure application of the host device, and encrypting and storing the data in the insecure area based on the position information.
US08161521B1 Controlling network access by applying super security policies
A device may monitor a security policy that governs a user access to a zone in a private network, propagate a change in status of the security policy to one or more devices that coordinate with each other to implement a super policy, detect whether conditions for triggering actions that are associated with the super policy are present based on the change in status, and perform the actions if the conditions for triggering the actions are present.
US08161520B1 Methods and systems for securing a system in an adaptive computer environment
An automated method for securing a target system is provided. In this method, a request to change an entity in the target system is detected. The target system has an existing security profile or one is created. As a result, a security configuration group associated with the changed entity is constructed. The security configuration group is then fused with the existing security profile to form a unified security profile, and the unified security profile is prosecuted onto the target system. Other methods and a system for securing the target system are also described.
US08161516B2 Fraud detection in a cable television
One or more of a topology location test and a distance test are applied to determine if a CPE device has moved in a cable plant. An indication of service fraud is provided if the CPE topology location or distance test indicate an unauthorized CPE device move.
US08161515B2 Fast channel change handling of late multicast join
In an internet protocol television (IPTV) system, fast channel change (FCC) transactions that experience late multicast joins are handled specially, thereby allowing the system to be provisioned for the vast majority of multicast joins that are within an expected range. During an FCC transaction, the subscriber interface device, such as a set-top box (STB), can determine how long it can wait to join the multicast stream of the new channel before a gap can be predicted to occur in the handover from the FCC unicast to the multicast. If the STB has not joined the multicast stream by the determined time, a recovery procedure is invoked in which the STB sends a RESTART request to the FCC server which, in turn, increases the rate of the FCC unicast as if the FCC transaction were restarted, thus allowing the handover to occur seamlessly. This solution reduces the demands of each FCC transaction, allowing for greater scalability and reduced cost.
US08161514B2 Program guide system with video-on-demand browsing
An interactive television program guide system is provided in which a viewer may direct a television to simultaneously display a selected television program and a program guide display. A viewer may use the program guide display to browse available video-on-demand (VOD) while continuing to view a previously selected program in the background. The viewer may browse through video-on-demand programs on the program guide display using a variety of keys on a remote control unit. The viewer may direct the program guide to order a given video-on-demand program; and set a desired broadcast time for that program.
US08161513B2 Method for receiving a broadcast signal and broadcast receiver
A method of receiving a broadcast signal including a Non-Real-Time (NRT) service and a broadcast receiver are disclosed herein. A method of receiving a broadcast signal including an NRT service, the method comprises receiving a broadcast signal including first signaling information and second signaling information, identifying the NRT service based on the first signaling information, parsing the second signaling information to identify an Internet Protocol (IP) address of an NRT service signaling channel, receiving the NRT service signaling channel by accessing the IP address, and downloading a desired NRT service based on the NRT service signaling channel.
US08161512B2 Method for processing targeting descriptor in non-real-time receiver
A method of receiving a broadcast signal including a Non-Real-Time (NRT) Receiver Targeting service is disclosed herein. A method of receiving a broadcast signal including a Non-Real-Time (NRT) Receiver Targeting service, the method comprises receiving broadcast signal including first signaling information and second signaling information, identifying an NRT service based on the first signaling information, parsing a Receiver Targeting Descriptor from the second signaling information, determining validity of the NRT service or an NRT content based on a targeting_criterion_type_code included in the Receiver Targeting Descriptor, and downloading the NRT service or the NRT content when a receiver determines the NRT service or the NRT content to be valid.
US08161511B2 Digital broadcasting system and method of processing data in digital broadcasting system
A digital broadcast receiver and a control method thereof are disclosed. The digital broadcast receiver includes a reception unit for receiving a broadcast signal which mobile service data and main service data are multiplexed, an extractor for extracting transmission parameter channel signaling information and fast information channel signaling information from a data group in the received mobile service data, an acquirer for acquiring a program table describing virtual channel information and a service of an ensemble, using the extracted fast information channel signaling information, the ensemble being a virtual channel group of the received mobile service data, a detector for detecting a descriptor defining additional information of an image file, using the acquired program table, and a controller for controlling such that the image file is displayed, based on the additional information of the detected descriptor.
US08161510B2 Apparatus and method for data caching to reduce channel change delay
An apparatus performs a data caching operation responsive to a channel change event which reduces channel change times. According to an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a cache memory operative to cache an incoming data stream responsive to a channel change command. A processor is operative to find program specific information included within the incoming data stream. A decoder is operative to decode the cached data stream responsive to the processor finding the program specific information.
US08161501B2 Apparatus, method and computer program product for facilitating the interoperability of virtual machines
Embodiments of this invention concern an apparatus, method and computer program product for managing the interoperability between objects in multiple virtual machines that are written to support different languages, such as .NET and Java. In particular, objects or programs running inside a virtual machine are allowed to create, control, and destroy objects running inside a separate virtual machine. The virtual machines interoperate using a proxy mechanism that utilizes function calls, rather than data passing, to run and access the desired objects.
US08161498B2 Providing globalization functionalities for javascript applications
Globalization functionalities for JavaScript applications are provided by asynchronously invoking globalization Web services related to specific JavaScript applications that are developed using asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) technology. A result of the asynchronous invocation is processed to obtain the corresponding globalization functionality. A client-side component invokes the globalization Web services by creating a SOAP request including specific parameters in passing that request to a server-side component. The server side component creates a result that is passed back to the client side component.
US08161497B2 Holdoff algorithm for no dead time acquisition
An improved hold-off algorithm that assures that all data associated with all trigger events in a data signal are displayed uses a designated interval starting with a first trigger event to determine whether any subsequent trigger events occurred within the designated interval. A first display frame is drawn based upon the first trigger event. A next display frame is drawn based either on a next trigger event that occurs outside the designated interval, or based on the last trigger event that occurred within the designated interval. In the latter case the two display frames provide an overlap to assure that no data related to the trigger events is lost on the display.
US08161495B2 Parameters passing of data structures where API and corresponding stored procedure are different versions/releases
A system and computer program product for passing parameters of data structures where an API and corresponding stored procedures are at different version/release levels is provided. A received data structure is parsed for a version identifier of a caller. The parsed version identifier is compared to a stored procedure version identifier and a determination is made with regards to a data structure compatibility or a data structure incompatibility. If a data structure compatibility is determined, all received data structure elements are parsed. If, however, a data structure incompatibility is determined, only data structure elements known to both the caller and the stored procedures are parsed.
US08161489B2 Resource sharing and allocation between a plurality of different raid policies on groups of disks
Disclosed is a resource allocation system including a provisional allocation execution unit that executes provisional allocation for policies other than a policy corresponding to an accepted source request, a shared resource extraction unit that extracts a resource sharable between the policy and other policies, and a determination index calculation unit that calculates an index that depends on resource sharability, and determines an allocation destination so that a storage area is allocated on a storage device with a lower resource sharability in preference to other storage devices.
US08161488B2 System and method for registering a subscription of interest of needed new resource in a store accessible by a plurality of resource creators and pushing the needed resource thereto by the creator based upon the registered subscription
Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for propagating resources during a distributed build process. Subscription of interest is registered in resources needed during a distributed build process. Build data is analyzed to determine what resources will be needed. The subscriptions of interest are stored in a data store that is accessible by all build machines participating in the distributed build process. A status of subscriptions of interest is monitored in the data store. When the status of respective subscriptions of interest indicates that a publication notice was registered for a respective resource, the respective resource is retrieved from a machine that contains the resource. When a new resource is created that is needed by other build machines, a publication notification is registered with the data store so the other build machines can determine that the new resource is now available.
US08161487B2 Controller for controlling a plurality of logical resources of a storage system
A controller for controlling a logical resource of a storage system comprises a virtual resource preparation section for preparing a virtual resource which is a virtual logical resource, and a real resource assignment section that assigns a real resource which is a logical resource of a real entity to the prepared virtual resource. One or more backup resources which are virtual resources that have not yet been used by a higher-level section that is on a higher level than the controller are prepared by the virtual resource preparation section for one or more of the higher-level section.
US08161483B2 Configuring a parallel computer based on an interleave rate of an application containing serial and parallel segments
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for configuring an application for execution on a parallel computer that include: booting up a first subset of a plurality of nodes in a serial processing mode; booting up a second subset of the plurality of nodes in a parallel processing mode; profiling, prior to application deployment on the parallel computer, the application to identify the serial segments and the parallel segments of the application; and deploying the application for execution on the parallel computer in dependence upon the profile of the application and proximity within the data communications network of the nodes in the first subset relative to the nodes in the second subset.
US08161481B2 Operating system providing a mutual exclusion mechanism
An operating system for a computing device includes a scheduler incorporating an algorithm for ordering the running of threads of execution having different priorities. The operating system is also arranged to provide a list of threads which are scheduled to run on the device, ordered by priority. At least one locking mechanism for docking access to a resource of the device from all threads except for a thread that holds the locking mechanism is also provided, and the operating system arranges for a scheduled thread which is docked from running because the resource it requires is locked to cause the thread which holds the locking mechanism to run.
US08161476B2 Processor exclusivity in a partitioned system
A computer system including a plurality of physical processors (CPs) having physical processor performances (PCPs), a plurality of logical processors (LCPs), a plurality of logical partitions (LPARs) where each partition includes one or more of the logical processors (LCPs), and a system assist processor having a control element. The control element controls the virtualization of the physical processors (CPs), the logical partitions (LPARs) and the logical processors (LCPs) and allocates the physical processor performances (PCPs) to the logical partitions (LPARs). The control element operates to exclusively bind logical processors (LCPs) to the physical processors (CPs). For a logical processor (LCP) exclusively bound to a physical processor (CP), the logical processor (LCP) has exclusive use of the underlying physical processor (CP) and no other logical processor (LCP) can be dispatched on the underlying physical processor (CP) even if the underlying physical processor (CP) is otherwise available.
US08161473B2 Dynamic software fingerprinting
Embodiments of dynamic software fingerprinting techniques are presented herein. In an implementation, an inventory of applications installed on a client is performed by examination of one or more inventory categories. Relationships are then created between the installed applications from the inventory and one or more supplemental categories. Based on the relationships created, a fingerprint inventory corresponding to the client is produced which describes: the relationships; the installed applications of the client; categories including the applications; and attributes corresponding to the applications.
US08161472B2 Methods and apparatus for incorporating a partial page on a client
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for regenerating portions of the page that have changed and transmitting only those portions to the client for display. Executing only the necessary parts of the page generation code and transmitting only changes to the client improves the efficiency of using the resources of the network communication channel, the client node and the server node. Performing these operations only when required, when the data has changed, improves the efficiency of use even further. The invention also takes advantage of any portions of the page that are already on the client by reusing them and thus eliminates the need to regenerate or transmit those reusable portions.In one aspect, the invention relates to a method for incorporating a partial page into a transmitted page displayed on a client. The method includes displaying the transmitted page on a client, receiving by the client a regenerated portion of the transmitted page from a server and incorporating by the client the regenerated portion into the transmitted page displayed on the client. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving by the client a modification list from the server instructing the client on the incorporation of the regenerated page portion into the transmitted page. In another embodiment, the method includes receiving by the client additional code instructing the client on how to interpret commands contained in the modification list.
US08161471B2 Utility for optimizing required memory for distribution in embedded systems
A method and apparatus for optimizing required memory of an embedded system. The method may include identifying one or more applications to be installed on a target embedded system, and estimating the amount of memory required for the operation of the embedded system. The method may further include comparing the estimated amount of the required memory with the amount of memory available on the embedded system.
US08161462B2 Program-level performance tuning
A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment request a program or programs to tune themselves to run faster or slower if a service class is not meeting its performance goal. In an embodiment, the program is repeatedly requested to incrementally tune itself until the performance goal is met or until no further improvement occurs. In various embodiments, the programs to be requested to tune themselves are selected based on whether the programs are bottlenecks for the service class, whether the programs do the majority of work for the service class, whether the programs easily meet their own performance goals, or whether the programs are low priority. In this way, the programs may be performance tuned in a way that is more effective and less intrusive than by adjusting global, system-level resource allocations.
US08161456B2 Management of heterogeneous software artifacts through a common representation
A method for managing a configuration of heterogeneous software artifacts through a common central configuration representation includes adding a plurality of software artifacts from an initial software solution to a heterogeneous configuration tool. Using this heterogeneous configuration tool, artifact-level configuration parameters are extracted out of selected software artifacts by the heterogeneous configuration tool. The extracted artifact-level configuration parameters are then presented in a single representation. A subset of the presented extracted artifact-level configuration parameters is mapped to a set of solution-level parameters, which are then exposed in a subsequent software solution. Thereafter, parameters for one or more of the solution-level parameters, which are used by the subsequent software solution, are exposed. These parameters for the subsequent software solution are then mapped back to the artifact-level configuration parameters of the subsequent software solution.
US08161454B2 Software architecture for developing in-vehicle software applications
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a software architecture encoded on a computer readable medium is disclosed. The software architecture can be utilized for developing in-vehicle software applications for installation and execution on an in-vehicle computer system. The software architecture includes a number of vehicle application program interfaces (APIs) for accessing vehicles systems or data and for developing in-vehicle software applications; and a number of policy restrictions underlying the vehicle APIs for restricting the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being developed.
US08161446B2 System and method of connecting a macro cell to a system power supply
A system and method of connecting a macro cell to a system power supply network is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, the method includes determining a distance of an edge of the macro cell from a power line or a ground line of the system power supply network. The method further includes selectively adding at least one line to the system power supply network.
US08161442B2 Integrated circuit devices and methods and apparatuses for designing integrated circuit devices
Methods and apparatuses to design an Integrated Circuit (IC) with a shielding of wires. In at least one embodiment, a shielding mesh of at least two reference voltages (e.g., power and ground) is used to reduce both the capacitive coupling and the inductive coupling in routed signal wires in IC chips. In some embodiments, a type of shielding mesh (e.g., a shielding mesh with a window surrounded by a power ring, or a window with a parser set of shielding wires) is selected to make more routing area available in locally congested areas. In other embodiments, the shielding mesh is used to create or add bypass capacitance. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08161441B2 Robust scan synthesis for protecting soft errors
A method for performing robust scan synthesis for soft-error protection on a design for generating a robust scan design in a system. The system is modeled selectively at a register-transfer level (RTL) or a gate level; the design includes at least a sequential element or a scan cell for mapping to a robust scan cell of a select robust scan cell type. The method comprises performing a scan replacement and a scan stitching on the design database based on a given control information file for synthesizing the robust scan cell on the design database; and generating the synthesized robust scan design at a pre-determined RTL or a pre-determined gate level.
US08161440B2 Highly specialized scenarios in random test generation
A computer software product is provided. The product includes a computer-readable medium in which computer program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for functional verification of a design, having an operational space comprising the steps of accepting as an input a test template that specifies test parameters directed to a function of the design, the template comprising constraints and variables covering a working space within the operational space, associating an exemption mode of operation with at least one of the constraints or at least one of the variables, wherein a domain of the at least one of the variables is modified or the at least one of the constraints is disabled in the exemption mode of operation, producing a test case that lies in the operational space of the design by enabling the exemption mode of operation, the test case comprising a series of transactions originating from the template, wherein the transactions exercise the function of the design, wherein the working space is modified in the exemption mode of operation and submitting the test case for execution by the design, wherein the exemption mode of operation is associated with only a portion of the template.
US08161438B2 Determining mutual inductance between intentional inductors
Various methods for analyzing mutual inductance in an integrated circuit layout are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, for example, circuit design information indicative of a first inductor and a second inductor is received. A dipole moment associated with the first inductor is determined, where the magnetic field associated with the dipole moment is representative of magnetic fields created by respective turns in the first inductor. A mutual inductance between the first inductor and the second inductor is determined by determining a magnetic flux of the magnetic field of the dipole moment through surfaces bounded by respective wire segments of the second inductor.
US08161437B2 Method and apparatus for automated synthesis of multi-channel circuits
Methods and apparatuses to automatically generate time multiplexed multi-channel circuits from single-channel circuits. At least one embodiment of the present invention automatically and efficiently synthesize multi-channel hardware for time-multiplexed resource sharing by automatically generating a time multiplexed design of multi-channel circuits from the design of a single-channel circuit. Channel specific elements of the single-channel design (e.g., registers and memories) are replaced with corresponding elements of N-times more capacity for pipelining the signal processing for multiple channels.
US08161435B2 Reset mechanism conversion
Methods, circuits, and systems for converting reset mechanisms in a synchronous circuit design into a corresponding asynchronous representation are described. These may operate to convert synchronous state holding blocks that include reset signals to corresponding asynchronous dataflow logic blocks. A replicated reset token at a fraction of the operational frequency of the reset signal may be distributed to the locations of the asynchronous dataflow logic blocks. Additional methods, circuits, and systems are disclosed.
US08161429B1 Methods and apparatus for initializing serial links
A serial communications protocol is provided that has optional link initialization features such as an optional automatic lane polarity reversal feature and an optional automatic lane order reversal feature. A user that desires to create a protocol-compliant integrated circuit design can either choose to include or to not include the optional features. Integrated circuits in which the optional serial communications link features are implemented are able to perform the lane polarity reversal and lane order reversal functions. Integrated circuits in which the optional serial communications link features have not been implemented are not able to perform these functions, but can be fabricated using fewer circuit resources.
US08161428B2 Method of predicting reliability of semiconductor device, reliability prediction system using the same and storage medium storing program causing computer to execute the same
An initial reliability of a semiconductor device is predicted before the design layout of a semiconductor product. A method of predicting the reliability of a semiconductor device according to the present invention: calculates the defect density of a plurality of wiring patterns on a wafer; extracts the critical area of a series of library elements formed of wiring patterns based on the defect density to determine the critical area value of each library element; determines a failure probability by wiring pattern from the result of a reliability test of the wiring pattern to form a correlation model from an expected value in which a defect is generated and which is obtained from the defect density and the failure probability of each wiring pattern; calculates the failure probability of each library element from the critical area value and the function of the correlation model; designs a layout of a semiconductor product with two library elements or more out of a series of the library elements combined together and calculates the reliability of the designed semiconductor device in consideration of the failure probability of the library elements combined together.
US08161423B1 Defect filtering optical verification process
An apparatus and method for optical lithography verification includes filtering a lithography simulation of proposed sub-lightwave pattern formations during at feast one design phase or manufacturing phase of an article of manufacture having sub-lightwave structures and then detecting design phase or manufacturing phase defects in response to the filtering of the lithography simulation.
US08161421B2 Calibration and verification structures for use in optical proximity correction
A method of training an Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) model comprises symmetrizing a complex design to be a test pattern having orthogonal symmetry. Symmetrizing may comprise establishing a axis of symmetry passing through the design, thereby dividing the design into two portions; deleting one of the two portions; and mirror-imaging the other of the two portions about the axis of symmetry. The design may be centered.
US08161420B2 System and method for security management of home network
A security management system of a home network is provided. The home network includes a home gateway and one or more user devices connected to the home gateway. The security management system further includes a security management server adapted to provide a security management service for the home network. Within the home network, a security management module is disposed to provide a security service for the user devices within the home network. The user devices and a device where the security management module locates have unique device identifications, and the home network has a unique network identification. By the home gateway, the security management server communicates with the security management module. With the network identification and the device identification, the security management server and the security management module achieve a security management for the home network through a registration of the home network and a registration of the user device. A security management method of home network devices is also provided.
US08161418B2 System and method for generating an informational media display on a document processing device
The subject application is directed to a system and method for generating an informational media display on a document processing device. A document processing signal representing the status of a document processing operation on an associated document processing device is first received. Media content data and preference data corresponding to user-specified media content data is then received. Pre-selected media content data is then generated on a display of a user interface associated with the document processing device when the device is idle, as determined by the document processing status signal. Display of the pre-selected media content is then suspended when the document processing signal indicates that the document processing device is active. User-specified media data content is then generated on the display of the user interface when the received document processing signal corresponds to active status of the associated document processing device.
US08161410B2 Computer-implemented display of ordered items
A method, in one embodiment, of displaying items arranged in a hierarchy, the hierarchy having predetermined levels and divisions. The method comprising: displaying divisions of a first level of the hierarchy along a first direction; and displaying the items on a plane in perspective view, each item arranged at a position corresponding to the division with which it is associated in a respective second direction at an angle to the first direction. It is preferred that each of the items has associated with it a value, such as a time value, that can be represented on a scale. The divisions of the first level of the hierarchy are first units of the scale, such as years, and the items are arranged at positions corresponding to their value with respect to the first units.
US08161393B2 Arrangements for managing processing components using a graphical user interface
In some embodiments a method for managing processing components using a graphical user interface is disclosed. The method can include determining connection data of a processing system automatically by communicating with at least one node of the processing system, displaying the connection data on a graphical user interface, accepting a user selection via selectable buttons on the graphical user interface, where the selectable buttons representing selectable system operations for configuring operations of nodes. Based on the user selection the system can automatically perform system configuring. In some embodiments, the method can detect improper or malfunctioning connections and automatically provide a pop-up window that has a suggested remedy. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08161392B1 Methods and apparatus for managing a shared GUI
A system and methods for connecting a computer and at least one computing appliance to a graphic user interface comprising a display and peripheral devices is disclosed. A user interface session is associated with a computer connected to the graphic user interface by a network connection. A second user interface session, comprising a display overlay and new user interface settings is established in response to a user event such as a telephony event associated with the computing appliance. In an embodiment, user settings are adjusted on an ongoing basis in response to input device events.
US08161390B2 Apparatus for displaying formation of network
A display apparatus is designed for displaying formation of a network on a screen. The network is composed of a plurality of nodes and is capable of transferring either of musical performance information and an audio signal through communication paths connecting the plurality of the nodes. In the display apparatus, an acquiring section acquires a type of each node and an arrangement of the communication paths arranged among the nodes for transmitting and receiving the musical performance information and the audio signal. An allocating section allocates a display area to each node within the screen according to the acquired type of each node. A drawing section draws a plurality of index images indicating the respective nodes on the screen at the display areas allocated to the respective nodes, and draws lines connecting the displayed index images of the nodes on the screen according to the acquired arrangement of the communication paths.
US08161389B1 Authoring tool sharable file format
Systems and methods which provide a markup language based file format for storing authoring tool content are shown. The markup language based file format of embodiments provides an aggregated content object containing various assets. A container structure is preferably provided for a plurality of assets comprising the aggregated content object. The assets of embodiments of the present invention include different types of assets, including content assets which contain content and packaging assets which contain aggregated content object information. Content assets may comprise various types or forms of media, such as graphics, video, audio, text, etc. Packaging assets may be in a markup language format, such as may be utilized to provide robust information regarding the aggregated content object and assets thereof. The markup language based file format of embodiments of the invention facilitates access to all or portions of the aggregated content by various authoring tools.
US08161387B1 Creation of a marked media module
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for the presentation and marking of media modules. In different aspects, the systems and methods may allow a user to present and consume a media module, particularly a media module containing data that is typically presented in a serial manner such as audio, visual, or video media, and to create a marked media module for quickly and easily returning to a marked point of interest in the media module at a later time or on a different device.
US08161385B2 System and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space
The present invention provides a highly scalable architecture for a three-dimensional graphical, multi-user, interactive virtual world system. In a preferred embodiment a plurality of users interact in the three-dimensional, computer-generated graphical space where each user executes a client process to view a virtual world from the perspective of that user. The virtual world shows avatars representing the other users who are neighbors of the user viewing the virtual word. In order that the view can be updated to reflect the motion of the remote user's avatars, motion information is transmitted to a central server process which provides positions updates to client processes for neighbors of the user at that client process. The client process also uses an environment database to determine which background objects to render as well as to limit the movement of the user's avatar.
US08161384B2 Arranging graphic objects on a page with text
A candidate layout of frames on a page is ascertained, where the frames define respective size dimensions and positions of respective views of the graphic objects (including at least one block of text) on the page. If the target size dimensions are not accommodated by the size dimensions of the frame of the text block presentation, the candidate layout is modified by changing the size dimensions of the frame of the text block presentation to accommodate the target size dimensions and adjusting the size dimensions of the other frames in the candidate layout based on the changed size dimensions of the frame of the text block presentation. Also, different layouts of the frames on a page are determined from a different respective set of aspect ratios and nominal sizes subject to a set of layout constraints.
US08161382B2 Method for providing font service on service page and system for executing the method
Provided is a method of providing font services by using an item server and a service server, including: the item server maintaining font providing information including font information and area information associated with the font information, for each user in a user database; the service server maintaining service page database including text associated with each area of the service page associated with the user; the service server receiving the font providing information associated with the user from the item server; generating the service page in which a text image, corresponding to the text associated with a certain area of the service page and generated according to the font information associated with the certain area, is displayed in the certain area, based on the received font providing information; and providing the generated service page by transmitting to a user terminal.
US08161381B2 System and method for presenting message threads
A system and method for presenting message threads is provided. A main body and one or more excerpts are parsed from each of a plurality of messages into nodes structured to form a message tree through a procedural top-down recursive descent. The nodes in the message tree are related by determining line-group types for the main body and the excerpts of each message, which are enumerated into partitions for each of the line-group types. An output network of alternative paths through the messages is created based upon the partitions of the message tree. A document is formed from the output network to identify and remove redundant components in each message.
US08161378B2 Word processing style selector system using 2D matrix
The invention relates to a computer system operable to apply a selected editing style to selected paragraphs of a computer-readable document. The system includes a processor configured for generating a 2D matrix of editing styles available for the document, assigning a first shortcut key to a first procedure for selecting an editing style from the 2D matrix, processing a first user input including data indicative of the editing style selected using the first shortcut key, and, based on the first user input, applying the selected editing style to the selected paragraphs to generate modified paragraphs. The system also includes a memory configured for storing the 2D matrix and a display configured for displaying the modified paragraphs. Such a system may provide a quick visualization of a large number of styles, where the user does not have to memorize much information about choosing a particular style.
US08161375B2 System and method for designing and generating online stationery
A system and method are described for creating personalized stationery online. For example, a computer-implemented method according to one embodiment comprises: defining variable types including formatting options to be used in stationery templates; specifying variables to be used for a particular stationery template, each of the variables being assigned a particular variable type; creating a global template for a product category of stationery; extracting metadata from a file or other content provided by a stationery designer; and creating a product template using information contained in the global template and the metadata extracted from the file.
US08161374B2 Butterfly diagrams enabling multi-dimensional performance analysis
A method for multi-dimensional performance analysis may be provided. A plurality of data may be displayed in a butterfly diagram comprising a data grid, a histogram associated with column sorting criteria, and a histogram associated with row-sorting criteria. Additional information depth may be provided with conditional formatting of the cells of the data grid.
US08161368B2 Distributed processing when editing an image in a browser
Methods, apparatus, computer program products and systems are provided for editing an image. In one method a selection of an image for editing is received at a server, the image being presented in a browser of a client device. Edit data is received at the server to allow the server to create an edited image. A modified image is transferred from the server having a uniform resource locator (URL) and being modified in accordance with the edit data.
US08161367B2 Correction of single event upset error within sequential storage circuitry of an integrated circuit
Sequential storage circuitry includes first and second storage elements storing first and second indications of input data values received by the circuitry during first and second phases of a clock signal. Error detection circuitry detects a single event upset error in any of the first and second storage elements. Two additional storage elements are provided for storing third and fourth indications of the input data value respectively in response to a pulse signal derived from the clock signal. Included is comparison circuitry for comparing the third and fourth indications of the input data value and further comparison circuitry for comparing, during a first phase of the clock signal, the first indication and at least one of the third and fourth indications, and for comparing, during a second phase of the clock signal, the second indication and at least one of the third and fourth indications.
US08161361B1 Averaging signals to improve signal interpretation
Systems and techniques to interpret signals on a noisy channel. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes: interpreting an input signal as discrete values, and in response to an inadequate signal, averaging multiple signals to improve interpretation of the input signal. The input signal can be a read signal from a storage medium, such as those found in disk drives. A read channel can include a buffer and an averaging circuit capable of different signal averaging approaches in a retry mode, including making signal averaging decisions based on a signal quality measure. Buffering read signals can be done in alternative locations in the read channel and can involve buffering of many prior read signals and/or buffering of an averaged read signal.
US08161355B2 Automatic refresh for improving data retention and endurance characteristics of an embedded non-volatile memory in a standard CMOS logic process
A method for selectively refreshing data in a nonvolatile memory array based on failure type detected by an error correction code. If the page is determined to be error-free, no refresh operation takes place. Otherwise, if single-error words on a page contain erased and programmed bit errors, then a refresh operation, consisting of an erase and program, takes place. The erase operation is skipped if single-error words on a page solely contain a program failure.
US08161350B2 Method and system for encoding a data sequence
A communication method and a communication system including a first entity (3) including an information source (9) and a coder device (11) connected by a channel (7) transmitting data to a second entity (5) including a decoder device (13), the coder device (11) coding a data sequence sent by the information source (9) to form a set of code words from a parity check matrix including two matrix areas, each matrix area including a processing matrix, a connecting matrix including only one “1” per column and only one “1” per row, and a triangular matrix, and the decoder device (13) decoding a coded reception signal that is received by the second entity and is derived from the set of code words constructed in accordance with said parity check matrix.
US08161349B2 Data parallelizing receiver
Provided is a data parallelizing receiver including an input signal receiver for externally receiving serial data as packets, sampling the serial data, aligning the sampled data in an input order, and converting the aligned data into parallel data to output the parallel data, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) partial calculator for receiving the parallel data, classifying the parallel data into groups according to the input order, and performing a partial CRC calculation on each of the groups to sequentially output a plurality of partial CRC calculation results, and a CRC partial calculation merger for receiving the plurality of partial CRC calculation results and merging the partial CRC calculation results to output CRC calculation data.
US08161347B1 Interleaving parity bits into user bits to guarantee run-length constraint
A method of satisfying a specified run length constraint is disclosed. A systematically error correction encoded sequence of received symbols is received, wherein the received symbols include data symbols and parity symbols. The parity symbols are interleaved with the data symbols to produce interleaved symbols that satisfy the specified run length constraint.
US08161345B2 LDPC decoders using fixed and adjustable permutators
In one embodiment, the present invention is a low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoder that has a plurality of variable node units (VNUs) that generate variable node messages and a plurality of check node units (CNUs) that generate check node messages. The variable node messages and check node messages are distributed between the VNUs and CNUs using a number r of combinations of permutators, wherein each permutator combination includes (i) a cyclic shifter and (ii) a fixed, non-cyclic permutator. The cyclic shifters are capable of supporting a number p of different cyclic LDPC sub-matrices; however, when combined with different fixed permutators, the permutator combinations are capable of supporting up to r×p different LDPC sub-matrices. In other embodiments, the LDPC decoder may have fewer than r fixed permutators such that the LDPC decoder is capable of supporting between p and r×p different LDPC sub-matrices.
US08161344B2 Circuits and methods for error coding data blocks
A description is given of a circuit for creating an error coding data block for a first data block, including a first error coding path adapted to create the error coding data block in accordance with a first error coding; and a second error coding path adapted to create the error coding data block in accordance with a second error coding; the error coding data block for the first data block being created optionally by the first or second error coding paths, as a function of a control indicator, and at least the first error coding path comprising a data arrangement alteration device.
US08161342B2 Forward and reverse shifting selective HARQ combining scheme for OFDMA systems
A method and apparatus for combining retransmitted hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ) messages at different stages in an OFDM/OFDMA receiver are provided. A combination of different types of HARQ combiners may be designed into the receiver and selected on a per-channel basis. Proper selection of a HARQ combining scheme may reduce the required HARQ buffer size and may provide an increased combining gain when compared to conventional HARQ combining techniques. Furthermore, the HARQ combiner type may be dynamically selected through forward and reverse shifting between the different types of HARQ combining schemes in an effort to decrease the bit error ratio (BER) without saturating the HARQ buffer.
US08161341B2 Method of transmitting control information in wireless communication system and transmission window updating method using the same
A method of transmitting control information in a wireless communication system and transmission window updating method using the same are disclosed, by which transmission efficiency in a transmitting side can be enhanced. The present invention includes the steps of receiving a first control information block including a first status report information from a receiving side, the first status information providing reception acknowledge information for a plurality of data blocks transmitted to the receiving side, receiving a second control information block including a second status report information placed as a last status report information in the second control information block, and updating the transmission window using the reception acknowledge information in the first status report information.
US08161340B2 Apparatus and method for recording and/or reproducing data on an information storage medium using padding information, and the information storage medium
An apparatus and method for recording and/or reproducing data on a disc are provided using padding information, and a corresponding information storage medium. The recording method includes recording a recording unit block in which invalid data is padded in part of the block and recording padding information indicating that the invalid data is included. According to the method, a disc drive becomes able to distinguish valid data from invalid data in an error correction block such that reliability of reproduction increases and stability of the system is improved.
US08161337B1 Serially connected circuit blocks with TAPs and wrapper enable lead
In a first embodiment a TAP of IEEE standard 1149.1 is allowed to commandeer control from a WSP of IEEE standard P1500 such that the P1500 architecture, normally controlled by the WSP, is rendered controllable by the TAP. In a second embodiment (1) the TAP and WSP based architectures are merged together such that the sharing of the previously described architectural elements are possible, and (2) the TAP and WSP test interfaces are merged into a single optimized test interface that is operable to perform all operations of each separate test interface. One approach provides for the TAP to maintain access and control of the TAP instruction register, but provides for a selected data register to be accessed and controlled by either the TAP+ATC or by the discrete CaptureDR, UpdateDR, TransferDR, ShiftDR, and ClockDR WSP data register control signals.
US08161336B1 Apparatus and method for testing and debugging an integrated circuit
A system receives serial messages from a device under test. The system includes a deserializer configured to i) receive the serial messages and, ii) based on the serial messages, form data frames. A frame sync module is configured to form Joint Task Action Group (JTAG) data bits based on the data frames. A plurality of virtual JTAG test access ports are configured to i) receive the JTAG data bits and ii) shift the JTAG data bits between the plurality of virtual JTAG test access ports.
US08161334B1 Externally maintained remap information
Disclosed is a system comprising a memory device, a controller to maintain remap information regarding the memory device, and a storage unit to store the maintained remap information, wherein the storage unit is external to the memory device and the controller.
US08161332B2 Pluggable transceiver module with enhanced circuitry
Pluggable transceiver modules with additional functions and circuitry contained within the module. In a first embodiment, additional circuitry is added to determine bit error rates at the point of the module itself. This allows a much better diagnostic evaluation of location of problem. In an alternate embodiment, various logic is placed in the module. In a first alternate embodiment encryption/decryption units are placed in the converter module so that encryption and decryption operations on the serial bitstream do not need to be performed in a switch. Existing switches can be used but the interconnecting links can still be encrypted. A second alternate embodiment includes compression/decompression units placed in the module to allow effective higher throughput on the selected links.
US08161330B1 Self-service terminal remote diagnostics
A method for determining for determining a root cause of each of a plurality of operational faults is provided. The method includes receiving electronic notification of the plurality of operational faults. The method may also include analyzing the plurality of operational faults to determine whether a shared characteristic of the plurality of operational faults exists. And, if a shared characteristic of the plurality of operational faults exists, the method may include terminating generation of operator notifications in response to receiving electronic notification of operational faults comprising the shared characteristic.
US08161327B2 Process and system for the verification of correct functioning of an on-chip memory
A method is for making an integrated circuit with built-in self-test. The method includes forming at least one nonvolatile read only memory (ROM) to store ROM code and forming a logic self-test circuit to verify a correct functioning of the at least one nonvolatile ROM. Moreover, the method includes defining, in the logic self-test circuit, a logic self-test core to process the ROM code and to generate a flag based upon a control signature and defining, in the logic self-test circuit, a nonvolatile storage block, coupled to the logic self-test core, to store the control signature. Furthermore, the method includes writing the ROM code to the at least one nonvolatile ROM and writing the control signature to the nonvolatile storage block, during a same fabrication step.
US08161325B2 Recommendation of relevant information to support problem diagnosis
The disclosure generally relates to knowledge retrieval using a knowledgebase storing general and/or expert knowledge. In particular, the disclosure relates to using complex retrieval techniques to implement an enhanced troubleshooting system that provides relevant information. Aspects of the disclosure retrieve relevant documents to assist in troubleshooting by reasoning with stored representations about the faulty system and its operating environment. After receiving a description of the symptoms and/or other information related to the problem, the system may recommend textual and/or non-textual documents with relevant information for identifying the cause of the problem and restoring operation.
US08161322B2 Methods and apparatus to initiate a BIOS recovery
Methods and apparatus to initiate a basic input/output system (BIOS) recovery are disclosed herein. An example BIOS recovery module includes a memory storing one or more signatures to be detected by a detector of a BIOS implemented on a computing platform; and a connector to couple the module to a data display channel of the computing platform, wherein a BIOS recovery mechanism of the BIOS is to initiate in response to the detector detecting the one or more signatures of the module via the data display channel.
US08161319B2 Integrating content-laden storage media with storage system
Integrating content into a storage system with substantially immediate access to that content. Providing high reliability and relatively easy operation with a storage system using redundant information for error correction. Having the storage system perform a “virtual write,” including substantially all steps associated with writing to the media to be integrated, except for the step of actually writing data to that media, including rewriting information relating to used disk blocks, and including rewriting any redundant information maintained by the storage system. Integrating the new physical media into the storage system, including accessing content already present on that media, free space already present on that media, and reading and writing that media. Recovering from errors during integration.
US08161318B2 Enterprise service availability through identity preservation
Systems and methods are described for service availability that provides automated recovery of server service in a timely and application intelligent manner, maintaining application consistency and integrity, while preserving server identity. The systems and methods, referred to herein as a Service Preservation System (SPS), manage complete recovery of server data and preserve continuity of server service, reestablishing user access to server(s) after an event or disaster in which in which primary or other server(s) fail. The failures, disasters, and losses referred to herein can be at many levels and include, but are not limited to, accidental deletion of an item, loss of an entire mailbox, loss of an entire disk drive, loss of an entire server, and/or loss of an entire server site.
US08161310B2 Extending and scavenging super-capacitor capacity
A memory system has mechanisms for scavenging capacity of a super capacitor by removing, or reducing, system load from the super capacitor when the super capacitor voltage decays below a low threshold. The mechanisms then restore the system load to the super capacitor when the super capacitor voltage ramps back above a high threshold. A controller may reduce system load by placing a volatile memory system in a standby state and disabling a field effect transistor to remove power from a non-volatile memory system. A controller may adjust the high threshold and/or a low threshold by setting a digitally controlled potentiometer in a threshold detect circuit via an I2C bus.
US08161302B2 Method and apparatus for data transmission in wireless local access network and system therefor
An Apparatus, method, and system for transmitting data in a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) in a power management state are provided. The method includes registering a standby state entrance to an Access Point (AP), switching to an active state at a period, determining whether transmission standby data exists in the AP, transmitting, if the transmission standby data exist in the AP, a standby state entrance frame notifying the entrance to the standby state to the AP, transmitting an active request signal requesting a switching to an active state to the CPU, transmitting a signal notifying standby state release to the AP if a signal notifying switch completion to an active state is received from the CPU after the active request signal is transmitted, and receiving transmission standby data from the AP.
US08161301B2 Method and apparatus for waking remote terminal
A method and apparatus for waking up a remote main system. The method includes: certifying whether a user of a terminal which transmits a packet for waking up a main system that is in a sleeping state is a legitimate user of the main system; and transmitting a wake-up signal to the main system if it is certified that the user is legitimate. Access of uncertified users can be prevented by certifying a user who is in the process of logging on or logging into the main system before the main system wakes up.
US08161300B2 Instructing device configured to selects a cooperating device based on a predetermined power supply reliability
A table information reception unit in an instructing device receives, from processing devices connected to a network, device names of the processing devices, function information indicating functions included in the processing devices, and power information indicating a reliability of power supply to the processing devices, and causes such information to be reflected in a table stored in a storage unit. Upon receiving a processing request from a user, an analysis unit analyzes the content thereof, transmits, to an execution control unit, requested function information indicating functions necessary to execute processing corresponding to the processing request. Based on the requested function information, the execution control unit judges whether cooperation with another processing device is necessary, and if necessary, selects, based on the table stored in the storage unit, a processing device expected to have a stable power supply to be a cooperating processing device.
US08161299B2 Location based policy system and method for changing computing environments
A system and method for changing compute environments for a mobile platform device. The mobile platform includes a sensory and location determination engine coupled to a policy engine. The sensory and location determination engine determines a current location of the mobile platform device and the policy engine determines what applications to launch, what applications not to launch, and what core usage to invoke for the determined location of the mobile platform device.
US08161297B2 Printing system, information processing apparatus, printing apparatus, print management method, and storage medium
An information processing apparatus encrypts data that is to be printed by a printing apparatus and stored in a storage device detachably connected to the information processing apparatus so that the encrypted data can be decrypted by the printing apparatus. Once the data has been encrypted, the information processing apparatus stores the encrypted data in the storage device. After the storage device including the encrypted data has been detached from the information processing apparatus and connected to the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus decrypts the encrypted data stored in the storage device and executes a printing process according to the decrypted data.
US08161293B2 Protection of the execution of a program executed by an integrated circuit
A method and a circuit for protecting the execution of a program, including initializing at least one counter, carrying on with the normal program execution, interrupting this execution when the counter reaches a given value, and executing at least one integrity check of the calculation after this interrupt.
US08161291B2 Process and arrangement for authenticating a user of facilities, a service, a database or a data network
A process for authenticating a user to control remote access to a service, data base or data network is provided, in which during an enrollment step, an initial voice sample provided by the user is analyzed to obtain an initial user-specific voice profile and, in a later verification step, a current voice sample of the user is analyzed and compared to the initial voice profile to generate an access control signal. An additional user-dedicated authentication is generated in a pre-enrollment period, and the additional authentication is used to authenticate the user in the enrollment step and/or in an access control step prior to and independent on the enrollment step, in a provisional or supplementary authentication procedure.
US08161289B2 Voice controlled portable memory storage device
Method for a portable memory storage device is provided. The method includes, enrolling the device after the device interfaces with a host system and an application is launched that requests a user to provide voice input; receiving the user voice input and storing the voice input as a template for subsequent user access; wherein the template is stored in non-volatile memory cells of the device; and authenticating a user by receiving user voice input and comparing the voice input with the stored template, wherein access to user files is provided after the user is authenticated.
US08161285B2 Protocol-Independent remote attestation and sealing
Messages, including messages in conformance with various protocols, can be hashed and the hash values added to an event log and provided to a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which can extend one or more Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs) with the hash value, much as it would with the hash of a component that was installed or executed on the computing device with the TPM. Subsequently, the TPM can sign one or more of the PCRs and the signed PCRs can be transmitted, together with the event log and a copy of the messages. The recipient can verify the sender based on the signed PCRs, can confirm that the signed PCRs match the event log, and can verify the hash of the message in the event log by independently hashing it. In another embodiment, an intermediate hashing of the message can avoid transmission of potentially malicious executable instructions within a message.
US08161283B2 Method and device for establishing a secure route in a wireless network
A method for establishing a secure route in a wireless network as provided improves network efficiency. According to one aspect, the method includes receiving at a first node in the wireless network a route request message from a second node, where the second node and the first node have not been mutually authenticated. The route request message is then forwarded from the first node to a third node. A route reply message is then received at the first node from the third node. The first node is then mutually authenticated with the second node in response to receiving the route reply message at the first node.
US08161282B2 System and method for requesting and issuing an authorization document
A device and method for supporting the issuing of an authorization document (6) to an applicant; the said device comprising: a computer (10(i)) comprising a first processor and a first memory containing stored first data and instructions to allow the first processor to execute a first defined program, a clerk unit (13(i)) comprising a second processor (17) and a second memory containing stored second data and instructions to allow the second processor (17) to execute a second defined program, as well as a secure application module (41), and a client unit (15(i)) comprising at least a biometric characteristic reader unit (27; 31) for reading a biometric characteristic of the applicant, wherein the client unit (15(i)) and the second processor (17) can communicate with each other, and the first processor and the second processor (17) can communicate with each other in the form of a secure session that makes use of a cryptographic key stored in the secure application module (41).
US08161281B1 High assurance data tagger for I/O feeds
The present invention is a method and system for high-assurance data tagging for input/output feeds. The method may include executing a high-assurance tagging application on a microprocessor (e.g., the microprocessor being designed for use in a high-assurance embedded system). Further, the method may include analyzing a message with the high-assurance tagging application and generating and attaching a tag to the message. In addition, the method may include binding the tag to the message by applying a message authentication scheme and providing a mechanism for down-stream applications to identify information about data included in the message by reference to the tag.
US08161278B2 System and method for distributing keys in a wireless network
A technique for improving authentication speed when a client roams from a first authentication domain to a second authentication domain involves coupling authenticators associated with the first and second authentication domains to an authentication server. A system according to the technique may include, for example, a first authenticator using an encryption key to ensure secure network communication, a second authenticator using the same encryption key to ensure secure network communication, and a server coupled to the first authenticator and the second authenticator wherein the server distributes, to the first authenticator and the second authenticator, information to extract the encryption key from messages that a client sends to the first authenticator and the second authenticator.
US08161276B2 Demodulator device and method of operating the same
A demodulator device and a method of operating the demodulator device where the demodulator device runs a loaded operating system and operates a communication protocol enabling a host application to control the demodulator device. The demodulator device is configured to respond to receipt of an abort command of the communication protocol by carrying out an abort process which stops current operations and reinitializes the loaded operating system.
US08161274B2 Command selection method and its apparatus
When selecting one command within a processor from a plurality of command queues vested with order of priority, the order of priority assigned to the plurality of command queues is dynamically changed so as to select a command, on a priority basis, from a command queue vested with a higher priority from among the plurality of command queues in accordance with the post-change order of priority.
US08161272B2 Memory control circuit and integrated circuit including branch instruction detection and operation mode control of a memory
The memory unit is compatible with a plurality of operation modes. The plurality of operation modes include the normal mode allowing access and the standby mode consuming a lower power than the normal mode. The branch detection section detects a branch instruction from an instruction fetched from the memory unit by the CPU. The mode control section changes an operation mode of the memory unit according to a detection result by the branch detection section.
US08161267B2 Methods and apparatus for scalable array processor interrupt detection and response
Hardware and software techniques for interrupt detection and response in a scalable pipelined array processor environment are described. Utilizing these techniques, a sequential program execution model with interrupts can be maintained in a highly parallel scalable pipelined array processing containing multiple processing elements and distributed memories and register files. When an interrupt occurs, interface signals are provided to all PEs to support independent interrupt operations in each PE dependent upon the local PE instruction sequence prior to the interrupt. Processing/element exception interrupts are supported and low latency interrupt processing is also provided for embedded systems where real time signal processing is required. Further, a hierarchical interrupt structure is used allowing a generalized debug approach using debut interrupts and a dynamic debut monitor mechanism.
US08161264B2 Techniques for data prefetching using indirect addressing with offset
A technique for performing data prefetching using indirect addressing includes determining a first memory address of a pointer associated with a data prefetch instruction. Content, that is included in a first data block (e.g., a first cache line) of a memory, at the first memory address is then fetched. An offset is then added to the content of the memory at the first memory address to provide a first offset memory address. A second memory address is then determined based on the first offset memory address. A second data block (e.g., a second cache line) that includes data at the second memory address is then fetched (e.g., from the memory or another memory). A data prefetch instruction may be indicated by a unique operational code (opcode), a unique extended opcode, or a field (including one or more bits) in an instruction.
US08161256B2 Remote copy system and path setting support method
A remote copy system includes: a host computer; a first storage system connected to the host computer; and a second storage apparatus connected to the first storage system. At least one of the first storage system and the second storage system holds, in a storage part thereof, path information used for performing a remote copy of data therebetween. The host computer references the path information in the storage part; determines whether or not a path required for conducting an operation instructed by a user exists, based on at least one of a type of the remote copy and a direction of the path; and, if the required path does not exist, displays, on a display part, that the necessary path does not exist and why the necessary path does not exist.
US08161255B2 Optimized simultaneous storing of data into deduplicated and non-deduplicated storage pools
One aspect of the present invention includes an optimized simultaneous storage operation for data objects onto a combination of deduplicated and non-deduplicated storage pools. In one embodiment, a data object is provided for storage onto destination storage pools in a storage management system, and placed into a source buffer. The data object is first divided into data chunks if the data object has not previously been chunked within the storage management system. The data object is then simultaneously copied from the source buffer to each destination storage pool (deduplicating and non-deduplicating) with the following operation. If the destination pool utilizes deduplication, then the individual data chunks are only transferred if copies of the individual data chunks do not already exist on the destination storage pool. If the destination pool does not utilize deduplication, then all chunks of the data object are transferred to the destination storage pool.
US08161253B2 Maintenance of valid volume table of contents
A method maintains a valid volume table of contents (VTOC) written to in a fast replication relationship. A fast replication query is issued to a track in which the volume table of contents (VTOC) resides. If the query determines that a background copy is in progress, a volume having the track is designated as unusable. An apparatus maintains a valid volume table of contents (VTOC) written to in a fast replication relationship. A controller issues a fast replication query to a track in which the volume table of contents (VTOC) resides. If the query determines that a background copy is in process, a volume having the track is designated as unusable.
US08161250B2 Methods and systems for partially-transacted data concurrency
Aspects of the present invention comprise systems and methods for protecting multi-threaded access to shared memory. Some aspects provide higher data concurrency than other methods. Some aspects relate to methods and systems that provide access to data for all threads during the first phases of one thread's write operation. Some aspects provide all threads access to a particular data unit until one thread enters the commit phase of the write operation. Some aspects manage a computing data resource such that, when a thread enters the commit phase, all pending read requests are fulfilled, all pending write requests are allowed to proceed to commit phase at which point they are blocked, all new read and write requests are blocked and the commit phase is completed by updating the target data and releasing the blocked requests.Some aspects provide improved concurrency by performing reduced cross-thread interference. Some aspects may be implemented at any level from hardware to high-level languages. Some aspects protect readers from accessing partial write results which avoids retry semantics and data corruption.
US08161247B2 Wait loss synchronization
Synchronizing threads on loss of memory access monitoring. Using a processor level instruction included as part of an instruction set architecture for a processor, a read, or write monitor to detect writes, or reads or writes respectively from other agents on a first set of one or more memory locations and a read, or write monitor on a second set of one or more different memory locations are set. A processor level instruction is executed, which causes the processor to suspend executing instructions and optionally to enter a low power mode pending loss of a read or write monitor for the first or second set of one or more memory locations. A conflicting access is detected on the first or second set of one or more memory locations or a timeout is detected. As a result, the method includes resuming execution of instructions.
US08161244B2 Multiple cache directories
A first portion of an identifier can be used to assign the identifier to a slot in a first directory. The identifier can identify a cache unit in a cache. It can be determined whether assignment of the identifier to the slot in the first directory will result in the identifier and one or more other identifiers being assigned to the same slot in the first directory. If so, then the technique can include (1) using a second portion of the identifier to assign the identifier to a slot in a second directory; and (2) assigning the one or more other identifiers to one or more slots in the second directory. In addition, it can be determined whether a directory in a cache lookup data structure includes more than one pointer. If not, then a parent pointer that points to the subject directory can be removed.
US08161243B1 Address translation caching and I/O cache performance improvement in virtualized environments
Methods and apparatus relating to improving address translation caching and/or input/output (I/O) cache performance in virtualized environments are described. In one embodiment, a hint provided by an endpoint device may be utilized to update information stored in an I/O cache. Such information may be utilized for implementation of a more efficient replacement policy in an embodiment. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08161239B2 Optimized computer system providing functions of a virtual storage system
A virtual storage system is equipped with a plurality of storage systems and a virtualization device for virtualizing the plurality of storage systems logically into a single storage resource provided to a host computer. When one of the storage systems receives a command from the host computer, in the event that the storage system itself is not in possession of a function corresponding to the command, the storage system retrieves a storage system in possession of a function corresponding to the command and transfers this command to the storage system in possession of the function corresponding to the command.
US08161235B2 Storage system and data erasing method
This storage system includes a server management unit for managing in a server a maximum overwrite count and an overwrite count for overwriting the overwrite data in a disk cache, a controller cache for temporarily storing overwrite data sent from the server in the storage subsystem, a storage management unit for managing a maximum overwrite count and an overwrite count for overwriting overwrite data sent from the server in the controller cache so as to overwrite overwrite data sent from the controller cache in the hard disk drive according to the number of the maximum overwrite count, and an address management unit for managing the respective addresses of the disk cache, the controller cache and the hard disk drive storing the same file to be erased.
US08161233B2 Multi-stream restore system and method
A computer system and process restores files on multiple disk drives from a plurality of backup files on a plurality of media types and at a plurality of locations. The system receives at a processor a restore command, and partitions the restore command into two or more sub-jobs. The system determines a location for each of the plurality of media types, and matches each sub-job with a different media type at a different location. The system then restores the files from each different media type at a different location to the multiple disk drives in parallel.
US08161232B2 Periodically and empirically determined memory refresh intervals
Embodiments include a system, a memory controller, an apparatus, a device, and a method. An embodiment provides a device that includes a memory that requires a periodic refresh and having a nominal refresh period, and a processor operably coupled with the memory. The device also includes a hardware-implemented control circuit for periodically discovering a retention time of at least a portion of the memory that requires a periodic refresh. The hardware-implemented control circuit is also for determining a refresh period that is not more than the discovered retention time of the at least a portion of the memory that requires a periodic refresh, and for scheduling a refresh of the at least a portion of the memory that requires a periodic refresh at least once each refresh period.
US08161229B2 Flash memory architecture with separate storage of overhead and user data
A memory device has a plurality of dedicated data blocks for storing only user data and a plurality of dedicated overhead blocks for storing only overhead data. Current overhead segments of a dedicated overhead block can be consolidated and moved to a new dedicated overhead block.
US08161224B2 Interface between a twin-wire bus and a single-wire bus
A method and a device for converting a first bus including at least a data wire and a clock wire into a single-wire bus, wherein a data bit of the first bus is converted on half a period of the clock signal for transmission over the second bus, a waiting pattern being placed on the second bus during the other half-period.
US08161222B1 Method and system and apparatus for use in data storage
Systems, devices and methods for interfacing a single bus with multiple buses invisibly to devices using the single bus are presented. More specifically, in one embodiment an I/O bus may be interfaced with multiple other I/O buses of the same or different formats. Commands may be received on the first I/O bus and invisibly to a computing device or processor which issues the commands, translated into a set of commands configured to effectuate a received command in conjunction with storage media coupled to the other I/O buses. This set of commands may also be configured to implement additional functionality in conjunction with the storage media such as RAID or data encryption.
US08161220B2 Method and apparatus for enhancing universal serial bus applications
A system for enhancing universal serial bus (USB) applications comprises an upstream processor, a downstream processor and a main controller. The upstream processor accepts standard USB signals from a USB host and independently provides responses required by USB specification within the required time frame. The upstream processor also contains storage for descriptors for a device associated with this upstream processor. The main controller obtains the descriptors by commanding the downstream processor, and passes them to the upstream processor. The downstream processor connectable to USB-compliant devices accepts the USB signals from the USB-compliant devices and provides responses required by USB specification within the required time frame. The main controller interconnects the upstream and downstream processors, and provides timing independence between upstream and downstream timing. The main controller also commands the downstream processor to obtain device descriptors independent of the USB host.
US08161215B2 Hard disk drive integrated circuit with integrated gigabit Ethernet interface module
A system including a network interface module, a first processor, a hard disk control module, and a second processor. The network interface module is configured to communicate with a network. The first processor is configured to communicate with the network interface module and perform processing related to communication of a hard disk drive with the network via the network interface module. The hard disk control module is configured to communicate with the first processor and control operation of the hard disk drive. The second processor is configured to communicate with the hard disk control module and perform processing related to storing data on the hard disk drive. The second processor and the hard disk control module are configured to process packets communicated via the network interface module using a hyper-text transfer protocol, a peer-to-peer sharing protocol, and an Internet protocol-based small computer system interface standard.
US08161214B2 System and method for data transfer using ATA interface
An ATA compatible data transfer system includes a system processor having system memory, the system processor configured to issue a Programmable I/O (PIO) type command to effect data transfer between a peripheral device and the system memory through a host controller and an ATA controller. The host controller accesses data to/from the host memory directly. The host controller and the ATA controller complete data transfer between the peripheral device and the system memory by executing the PIO type command without requiring interrupt servicing by the system processor.
US08161213B2 Storage medium
A storage medium connectable with an external device includes a data communication unit performing data communication with the external device, a data storing unit storing therein data received from and/or to be sent to the external device via the data communication unit, a first device information output unit sending first device information for making the external device recognize the storage medium as a storage to the external device via the data communication unit, and a second device information output unit sending second device information for making the external device recognize the storage medium as a printer to the external device via the data communication unit. When the data communication unit receives print data transmitted by the external device in cases where the second device information is sent, the data storing unit stores the print data in a state readable externally via the data communication unit.
US08161211B2 Storage system and data processing method for the same
The present invention aims for efficient use of storage capacity in a storage system by reducing the amount of time taken for processing including removing redundancy and data compression executed with respect to transferred data.Focusing on data patterns included in transferred data, the most suitable pattern is detected, and de-duplication processing is gradually executed. Data compression is then executed with data after de-duplication as a target. Determination of the decision for execution of gradual de-duplication processing, or execution of compression processing is made depending on the amount of data remaining at each processing stage and the system load.
US08161207B1 Common block interface for data and control with handshake protocol
A method and apparatus for handshaking using a 2-wire protocol is described. An electronic component may be divided into blocks, with the blocks performing one or more functions. The blocks may be in series with one another to form a pipeline. The blocks may use interface circuitry to transfer information upstream from or downstream to another block. The interface circuitry uses the 2-wire handshaking for the transfer including a transmit readiness wire configured to carry a signal indicative of readiness of the upstream circuit to output data and a receive readiness wire configured to carry a signal indicative of readiness of the downstream circuit to receive the data.
US08161204B2 Embedded clock recovery
Systems and methods for synchronizing a source and sink device are disclosed. A sink device can efficiently determine the source data rate even in cases where the sink device is not directly coupled to the source device. A method for transmitting a source data stream from a source device to a sink device includes, forming a logical channel from a source device to a sink device, where the logical channel is configured to carry the source data stream, and one or more rate parameters. The rate parameters relate a data rate of the source data stream to a data rate of the logical channel. A method for a sink device to recover a source data rate includes, detecting a logical channel in a received data stream where the logical channel includes the source data stream, recovering one or more rate parameters from the received data stream, determining a data rate of the logical channel, and determining the data rate of the source data stream based on the data rate of the logical channel and the one or more rate parameters. Corresponding systems and computer program products are also described.
US08161202B2 Peripheral device management system
The peripheral device management system includes a server, a peripheral device, a data processing device. The data processing device includes an attempting unit, a confirming unit, a notifying unit, a first setting unit, and a second setting unit. The attempting unit attempts to acquire, from the peripheral device, firmware data. The confirming unit confirms, to the server, whether a newer firmware than the firmware installed on the peripheral device is available for downloading from the server. The notifying unit notifies that the newer firmware is available for downloading from the server. The first setting unit sets a first confirmation time as the confirmation time if a result of the attempting unit satisfies a prescribed condition. The second setting unit sets a second confirmation time that precedes the first confirmation time as the confirmation time if the result of the attempting unit does not satisfy the prescribed condition.
US08161199B1 Smart printer cartridge
A system and method are disclosed for modifying the capabilities and functions of a printer after it is manufactured. A consumable/replaceable printer cartridge includes a storage device having updated and/or additional printer function data and other data for use by the printer control circuitry to execute printer functions and other types of functions. In addition, when the printer cartridge is installed in the printer the storage device may be utilized by the printer control circuitry as expanded memory for use in executing the updated and/or additional printer functions and other types of functions.
US08161197B2 Method and system for efficient buffer management for layer 2 (L2) through layer 5 (L5) network interface controller applications
Method and system for efficient buffer management for layer 2 through layer 5 network interface controller applications are provided. Aspects of the method may comprise determining whether an active NIC connection is an L2 type, an L4 type, or an L5 type. At least one buffer descriptor may be cached locally on a network interface controller (NIC) managed by a NIC application. The buffer descriptor is associated with the determined type of the active NIC connection. If the at least one active NIC connection is of the L2 or L4 type, the buffer descriptor may comprise at least one of a receive (RX) buffer descriptor and a transmit (TX) buffer descriptor. If the NIC connection is of the L5 type, the buffer descriptor may comprise at least one of a upper translation page table (TPT) entry and a lower TPT entry.
US08161196B2 Communication apparatus with exchangeable recording medium
A mobile terminal capable of displaying data of e-mail etc. stored in an internal memory derived from usage by each user so that the difference of the users when acquiring the data becomes clear, wherein data of received mail acquired along with processing for reception of e-mail and identification data read out from a SIM card via a SIM card interface are stored in a flash ROM associated together and wherein when displaying each received mail stored in the flash ROM on the display, the received mail associated with the identification data read out from the currently attached SIM card and the received mail associated with the other identification data are displayed differently on the display unit 105.
US08161193B1 System, device, and method for sending keep-alive messages in a communication network
A system, device, and method for sending keep-alive messages in a communication network involves determining a reliability factor for communicating with a neighbor and setting the frequency for sending keep-alive messages to the neighbor based upon the reliability factor. The reliability factor is determined based upon the reliability of the neighbor as well as the reliability of the communication link to the neighbor. The frequency for sending keep-alive messages to the neighbor is relatively high if the reliability factor is low. The frequency for sending keep-alive messages to the neighbor is relatively low if the reliability factor is high. The frequency for sending keep-alive messages to the neighbor is dynamically adjusted based upon an updated reliability factor.
US08161191B2 Method and system for providing network and routing protocols for utility services
A method and system for providing a network and routing protocol for utility services are disclosed. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises discovering a utility network, wherein a utility device (for example, a constant powered meter) sends network discovery messages to find the utility network. Neighboring meters are discovered and the device listens for advertised routes for one or more networks from the neighbors. The device is then registered with one or more utility networks, receiving a unique address for each network registration. Also illustrated in this invention disclosure is how each device of a class of devices (for example, battery powered meter) finds and associates itself with another device (for example, constant powered meter). The constant powered meter also registers its associate battery powered meter with the utility networks. The constant powered meter registers itself with the access points and the upstream nodes in the path out of each network. Each upstream node can independently make forwarding decisions on both upstream and downstream packets i.e. choose the next hop according to the best information available to it. The constant powered meter can sense transient link problems, outage problems, and traffic characteristics. It uses the information to find the best route out of and within each network. Each network device thus maintains multi-egress, multi-ingress network routing options both for itself and the device(s) associated with it.
US08161188B2 Devices and methods for providing network access control utilizing traffic-regulation hardware
Disclosed are devices and methods for providing network access control utilizing traffic-regulation hardware, the device including: at least one client-side port for operationally connecting to a client system; at least one network-side port for operationally connecting to a network; a logic module for regulating network traffic, based on device-related data, between the ports, the logic module including: a memory unit for storing and loading the device-related data; and a CPU for processing the device-related data; and at least one relay, between at least one respective client-side port and at least one respective network-side port, configured to open upon receiving a respective network-access-denial command from the logic module. Preferably, the logic module is configured to maintain an open-relay line-rate when at least one relay is open, and to maintain a closed-relay line-rate when at least one relay is closed.
US08161187B2 Stream processing workflow composition using automatic planning
An automatic planning system is provided for stream processing workflow composition. End users provide requests to the automatic planning system. The requests are goal-based problems to be solved by the automatic planning system, which then generates plan graphs to form stream processing applications. A scheduler deploys and schedules the stream processing applications for execution within an operating environment. The operating environment then returns the results to the end users.
US08161186B2 Communication system between a vehicle network and a wayside network
A system for communications between a vehicle network and a wayside network includes a router in the vehicle network configured to manage routing of data over one of at least two clients, and a radio-frequency based communication network for providing a connection between each client and an access point linked to the wayside network. A monitoring device in a vehicle of the vehicle network is configured to control a quality of the connection in order to configure the router so that one of the clients is selected for the data routing between the vehicle and the wayside network.
US08161183B2 Distributing information in a markup language within a computer system
Computer-based methods and systems are described wherein at least one content provider, a portal and a user are coupled to a communications network or content delivery network. The content provider provides means for generating information in a markup language and for sending the information to a portal. The portal comprises means for combining information received from one or more content providers and for sending the combined information to the user.
US08161181B2 Content delivering method and system for computer network
A content delivering method for computer network and system are provided. The present invention classifies nodes participating in content transmission into a transmitting group and a receiving group, and uses the groups to manage the nodes dynamically entering or quitting, and the management includes grouping, monitoring and reflecting update of CDS of group controlling information. Real time management for nodes is achieved through CDS, and the nodes in the transmitting group communicate information according to nodes recorded in the CDS. Multiple nodes in the transmitting group cooperate with each other in transmitting content. Firstly, transmission tasks are assigned to nodes in the transmitting group, and then, nodes in the transmitting group divide assigned content into many blocks and package them and transmit to nodes in the receiving group, and nodes in the receiving group which have received content packages exchange the content packages in the group according to the control data set. Therefore, the content is simultaneously transmitted from a plurality of nodes to other a plurality of nodes, and content transmission speed is high.
US08161180B1 Method and apparatus for routing a data stream through a plurality of data movers independent of a network interface type
A method and apparatus for routing a data stream through a plurality of data movers independent of a network interface type is provided. In one embodiment, the method for routing the data stream to a destination with indifference to network interface type includes segregating the data stream into a plurality of data blocks at an application layer, wherein the plurality of data blocks are to be routed to a destination through the plurality of data movers and coordinating data path selection for communicating the plurality of data blocks to the plurality of data movers over a plurality of data paths.
US08161177B2 Formulating multimedia content of an on-line interview
Formulating multimedia content of an on-line interview, including transmitting during the on-line interview, over a data communications network from a first client device to a second client device, a media stream of content from an interviewee; simultaneously with the transmitting of the media stream from the interviewee, recording the media stream from the interviewee in a media file on the first client device; recording during the on-line interview in a media file on the second client device, a media stream of content from an interviewer; transmitting after the on-line interview, from the first client device to the second client device, the media file containing the recorded media stream from the interviewee; and merging the recorded media files into a single media file on the second client device for transmission to viewers of the on-line interview.
US08161176B2 System and method for providing connectivity between using different networks using different protocols
A system and method for providing message connectivity between a first network using a first protocol and a second network using a second protocol is described. If a message is received from the first network, the message is processed using one or more digital signal processors, a destination in the second network is determined, the processed message is logged and translated into the second protocol, and the translated message is sent to the destination in the second network. If the message is received from the second network, the message is translated into the first protocol, a destination in the first network is determined, the translated message is logged and processed using one or more digital signal processors, and the processed message is sent to the destination in the first network. One example method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium.
US08161171B2 Session initiation protocol-based internet protocol television
Video on demand (VoD) and other video streaming and delivery mechanisms are provided using a messaging protocol (e.g., a session initiation protocol (SIP))-based approach that builds upon existing service delivery platforms. In one example, SIP functionality is extended to provide the ability to control and alter a delivery mode of a content stream, such as to change a playback mode or quality of service, by providing such requests as part of the instruction or payload of existing SIP messages, or by providing new SIP messages. Using SIP allows for third party control, such as by IPTV applications, which is not provided by current Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)-based systems. SIP also can establish a peer-to-peer connection between a client and a SIP-enabled content server to allow the client to directly control the media stream. As an advantage over RTSP, SIP provides for bi-directional messaging between SIP endpoints.
US08161170B2 System having electronic device with multiple interfaces and host apparatus, information processing device, electronic device, and setup method, control method and program therefor
In order to make it possible to confirm an electronic device installation place where communication trouble occurrence is reduced, settings for communication via a second interface are made via a first interface when the electronic device is connected to a host device to install a device driver. After that, a message is displayed to a user to the effect that the electronic device should be placed at a location where it is actually used to cause user to place the electronic device at the location where it is actually used. After the installation of the electronic device, the communication state via the second interface is measured to determine whether the electronic device installation place is suitable or not.
US08161164B2 Authorizing service requests in multi-tiered applications
Services of a multi-tier application can authorize (e.g., including authenticating) each other with one or more service access tokens provided by a security token service. In one implementation, an end-user can authenticate with the security token service to obtain one or more security tokens for communicating with an upstream application service. Requests that involve further processing from downstream services of the application can also involve service authorization/authentication measures. Thus, the upstream application service can also authenticate with the security token service to obtain one or more security tokens, such as a session token, and a service access token. The service access token for the upstream service can also include one or more signed policy settings. The upstream service can then use the one or more security tokens to prove authority to communicate with a downstream service in accordance with the policy settings.
US08161163B2 Stateless distributed computer architecture with server-oriented state-caching objects maintained on network or client
A stateless distributed computer architecture allows state-caching objects, which hold server state information, to be maintained on a client or network rather than on a server. In one implementation, the computer architecture implements object-oriented program modules according to a distributed component object model (DCOM). Using an object-oriented network protocol (e.g., remote procedure call), a client-side application calls through an application program interface (API) to a program object residing at a server computer. The program object, responsive to the call, creates a state caching object that contains state information pertaining to the client connection. The server inserts the state-caching object into a local thread context and processes the request to generate a reply. The server subsequently attaches the state-caching object to the reply and returns them both to the client. The client stores the state-caching object for later communication with the server.
US08161162B1 Remote computer management using network communications protocol that enables communication through a firewall and/or gateway
The invention facilitates remote management of a computer via a network. Remote computer management in which communication between a managed computer and a remote computer management server is initiated by the managed computer is implemented so that the communication is formatted in accordance with a network communications protocol that can be used to format communication that is allowed to pass through a firewall and/or gateway that mediates communication with the managed computer.
US08161161B2 Information processing method and information processing apparatus
A certain process included in a first execution space requests a local resource manager to allocate a resource. The local resource manager obtains the authentication ID of the process issuing the request and determines whether or not the resource can be allocated. If the resource can be allocated and the resource previously secured in the execution space can suffice the request, the local resource manager allocates the resource to the process. If the resource is insufficient, the local resource manager requests a global resource manager to allocate the resource. The global resource manager obtains the authentication ID of the first execution space issuing the request and determines whether or not the resource can be allocated. If it is determined that the resource can be allocated, the resource is allocated to the first execution space.
US08161160B2 XML-based web feed for web access of remote resources
Techniques for XML (Extensible Markup Language) web feeds for web access of remote resources are described. In one embodiment, a method includes obtaining information regarding one or more available resources from one or more resource hosts, rendering the information regarding one or more available resources into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document, and providing the XML document to a user device.
US08161157B2 Method for displaying web user's authentication status in a distributed single login network
The invention provides a system and method for automatically displaying a user's logged-in status across an Internet based network of affiliated Web sites via a visual indicator such as a toolbar to help the user to be certain about his logged-in status when he stays with one or switches from one to another affiliated Web site.
US08161155B2 Filtering unwanted data traffic via a per-customer blacklist
Traffic flow from a traffic source with a source IP address to a customer system with a destination IP address is filtered by comparing the source IP address to a customer blacklist. If the source IP address is on the customer blacklist, then traffic to the customer system is blocked; else, traffic to the customer system is allowed. The customer blacklist is generated from a network blacklist, comprising IP addresses of unwanted traffic sources, and a customer whitelist, comprising IP addresses of wanted traffic sources. The customer blacklist is generated by removing from the network blacklist any IP address also on the customer whitelist. The network blacklist is generated by acquiring raw blacklists from reputation systems. IP addresses on the raw blacklists are sorted by prefix groups, which are rank ordered by traffic frequency. Top prefix groups are selected for the network blacklist.
US08161153B2 Method and system for remote diagnostic, control and information collection based on various communication modes for sending messages to users
A method, system, and program product for communicating with machines and end users connected to a network. Information sent to or from the machines is transmitted using electronic mail or a via a direct connection. The electronic mail may be transmitted over the Internet to a service center or from a service center to a resource administrator, but also may remain within a local or wide area network for transmission between a machine and an end user or a resource administrator. E-mail messages may be transmitted from a computer which is attached to a device which is being monitored or controlled and include information regarding the status, usage or capabilities of the attached device. The device may send status messages and usage information of the device by an end user to either a resource administrator or to a service center on the Internet through a firewall. The message may be sent directly to the resource administrator station if an urgent need of the end user is indicated, so that a communication may be sent either directly to the end user or to a device driver so that the device driver may communicate the message to the end user. For example, an end user may have exceeded a predetermined limit of resource usage, and needs to be informed. For routine information, the service center may manage all the resources on an intranet and may send predetermined types of information such as summary information regarding usage of network resources to the end user using e-mail.
US08161149B2 Pseudo-agent
A pseudo-agent is disclosed herein that bridges this divide. For purposes of the discussion herein, a pseudo-agent is a machine that is installed on a fully capable host machine, such as a Windows or UNIX machine, and that gathers and evaluates content from a management server, takes actions if so instructed, and reports the results of its evaluation upstream. However, unlike an agent in a traditional management system, which inspects and acts on the local machine, the pseudo-agent actually inspects and acts on a remote device, or many remote devices.
US08161148B2 Communication device and method for setting the communication setting required to establish communication
Upon no completion of setting of a user ID and a password to be sent to a PPPoE server, in response to reception of a DNS request from a client, a communication device of the invention sends back a unique LAN IP address, which is allocated to the communication device, as a DNS reply to the client, regardless of the contents of the DNS request. The client then sends an HTTP request to the received LAN IP address, and the communication device sends back a Web page for entry of the user name and the password as an HTTP response to the client. The Web page for entry of the user ID and the password is displayed on an active Web browser of the client. This arrangement enables the user to readily complete setting for communication in the communication device.
US08161141B2 Server, system and method for providing dynamic domain name service
Provided are a server, a system, and a method of distributing a load caused by health checks in a dynamic domain name server (DDNS) by separating a health check unit which causes the most load on the dynamic domain name server and a unit for processing a client query and registering equipment. The dynamic domain name server (DDNS) includes a main dynamic domain name server (DDNS that registers an identifier and a dynamic IP address for a piece of the equipment and responds to a client query request with the dynamic IP address of the piece of equipment; and at least one sub-DDNS for updating a status of the piece of equipment in response to a status notifying message sent from the piece of equipment.
US08161136B2 Method and system for optimizing performance and availability of a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) service
A method and system for monitoring and optimizing performance and availability of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service provided by one or a plurality of DHCP servers (602) in an Internet Protocol (IP) network comprising one or a plurality of IP subnetworks. The method comprises in a DHCP server (602) defining one or a plurality of groups of subnetworks, a group of subnetworks comprising one or a plurality of subnetworks; retrieving information related to resources, in particular IP addresses, allocated within said DHCP server to each group of subnetworks; transferring said information to a DHCP service monitoring system (600). The method comprises in a DHCP service monitoring system (403) retrieving (501 to 505) from one or a plurality of DHCP servers (401), information related to resources, in particular IP addresses, allocated within each DHCP server (401) to groups of subnetworks, each group of subnetworks comprising one or a pluarlity of subnetworks and aggregating (506 to 511) the information for each group of subnetworks.
US08161133B2 Network storage system with a clustered configuration sharing a namespace, and control method therefor
Provided is a storage system as follows. A server holds a management table that serves to manage a mount point of a file system. The management table stores a file system identifier that uniquely identifies the file system within the storage system, mount point information that indicates the mount point of the file system, and a management server identifier that indicates an identifier of the server that manages the file system. The contents stored in the management table of each server are the same. Upon reception of a request to obtain a file handle, each server returns the file handle requested to be obtained. The file handle indicates, uniquely within the storage system, the storage area on the disk subsystem in which the file relating to the request is stored.
US08161132B1 Packet data network specific addressing solutions with network-based mobility
A media access gateway includes a wireless network interface that establishes a wireless link with a wireless terminal. An address assignment module transmits N address assignment messages to the wireless terminal. The N address assignment messages include a plurality of address components and associate the plurality of address components with a plurality of packet data networks, where N is an integer greater than zero.
US08161130B2 Bottom-up analysis of network sites
An approach for identifying suspect network sites in a network environment entails using one or more malware analysis modules to identify distribution sites that host malicious content and/or benign content. The approach then uses a linking analysis module to identify landing sites that are linked to the distribution sites. These linked sites are identified as suspect sites for further analysis. This analysis can be characterized as “bottom up” because it is initiated by the detection of potentially problematic distribution sites. The approach can also perform linking analysis to identify a suspect network site based on a number of alternating paths between that network site and a set of distribution sites that are known to host malicious content. The approach can also train a classifier module to predict whether an unknown landing site is a malicious landing site or a benign landing site.
US08161127B2 Process mapping in parallel computing
A method of mapping processes to processors in a parallel computing environment where a parallel application is to be run on a cluster of nodes wherein at least one of the nodes has multiple processors sharing a common memory, the method comprising using compiler based communication analysis to map Message Passing Interface processes to processors on the nodes, whereby at least some more heavily communicating processes are mapped to processors within nodes. Other methods, apparatus, and computer readable media are also provided.
US08161122B2 System and method of dynamically prioritized electronic mail graphical user interface, and measuring email productivity and collaboration trends
A system and method for managing electronic communications more effectively utilizes electronic communications. The method assigns a prioritization score and category to each electronic communication so that a user can more effectively manage the communications. The user interacts with a graphical user interface to effectively manage electronic communications. The system arranges and displays the electronic communications according to prioritization scores and categories, and includes interactive modules to override a system assigned prioritization scores and assign any score or category the user selects. The method also measures productivity of users as a function of at least three different metrics, a decision-making metric; a communication metric; and a processing metric, and takes into account prioritization scores and the amount of time it takes users to effectively utilize the electronic communications. The method also generates reports of the productivity of individual users, and the productivity of relationships between multiple users of electronic communications.
US08161120B2 Method of populating a collaborative workspace and a system for providing the same
A method of populating a collaborative workspace based on an electronic message is disclosed herein. An embodiment of the present invention is operative to post-process an outgoing email after being assigned to a workspace. Further, a message identifier is computed to uniquely identify the e-mail and then the method identifies and obtains core elements of workspace, namely, members, discussion, files, events and their relationships before populating these elements into the workspace data stores for subsequent contextual search and navigation. The outgoing e-mail is also annotated to encapsulate additional information. The described embodiment also suggests pre-processing incoming emails to exploit the annotation to append a Context-bar to allow quick and direct access to the contextual workspaces associated with the email. A system for providing a collaborative workspace is also suggested.
US08161115B2 System and method for effective mail transmission
A system and method for rapidly transmitting a large volume of e-mails. Based on domain names obtained from destination mailing addresses, a server 10 for a sender sorts e-mails to be transmitted, generates transfer data for each domain name by grouping e-mail data, and uses FTP to transmit the transfer data to servers 30 for distributors whose domain names correspond to those for which the transfer data were generated. At this time, compression is effective for improving the transmission of the transfer data. The server 30, upon receiving transfer data, analyzes the received transfer data to obtain the data for individual e-mails, and distributes the e-mail data to the mail boxes of individual recipients.
US08161111B2 System and method for identifying common media content
A system and a method identify common media content with two or more terminals that are remote with respect to each other for users to access, to consume and/or to experience a multimedia file of the common media content. A list of the common media content of the first terminal and to the second terminal is displayed via the first terminal and the second terminal. The first terminal and the second terminal may be synchronized for the first user and for the second user to experience the multimedia file via the shared viewing session. A communication associated with the multimedia file may be transmitted between the first terminal and the second terminal via a shared communication channel over the network before, during and/or after a playback of the multimedia file.
US08161109B2 Client side culling of dynamic resources
A resource management module detect and prevents redundant resources in a client side application. The resource management module is initialized on the client side in a browser or similar application. The resource management module then searches for already executing resources or resources that are already in use. The discovered resources are then compiled and stored in a resource directory. When subsequent pages are loaded the resource management module searches the pages for resources that the page utilizes. The resources are added to the directory if not already present in the resource directory. If the resources are already present in the directory, then the web page being reviewed is modified to remove or replace the multiple resource before being passed on to the browser for loading of resources. In this manner the amount of memory and processing resourced utilized by the client computer can be reduced.
US08161107B2 Roaming personal information items across multiple computing devices using an IMAP server
Technologies for roaming personal information items across multiple computing devices using an IMAP server are provided. When a change is detected to a personal information item maintained by a PIM program one computing device, the data representing the personal information item is uploaded from the computing device to an IMAP server, where it is stored as a message in a user mailbox designated to hold personal information items. A second computing device then downloads the message storing the data representing the personal information item from the IMAP server and makes it available to a PIM program executing on the second computing device.
US08161099B2 Techniques to automatically syndicate content over a network
Techniques to automatically syndicate content over a network are described. An apparatus may comprise a client computer having a processing system with a processor and computer-readable medium. The computer readable medium may store program instructions for a syndication manager component communicatively coupled to a content producing component arranged to be executed by the processor. The syndication manager component may be operative to receive syndication content from the content producing component, and provide a syndication dialog through the content producing component to syndicate the syndication content using a content delivery platform. The syndication manager component may also syndicate the syndication content to form a syndication resource accessible from the content delivery platform over a network using a syndication referent. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08161098B2 Method and system for service denial and termination on a wireless network
A method and system are provided for denying an application service request, such as a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) request, on wireless and wireline Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) networks. In one example, the method includes receiving a request for an application service from a user via a transport network, determining to deny the request, and providing a response corresponding to the denial of the request to the user via the transport network.
US08161094B2 System and method for notification within decentralized network
Methods are provided for event notification in a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Each node within the P2P network can publish a subscription object for a published resource. Through the use of common identifiers, each subscription object is co-located with a corresponding publish object for the resource. Upon receiving notification of an event associated with the resource, the node responsible for the publish object for the resource distributes the event notification to each node present on the corresponding subscription registry. Therefore, nodes within the P2P network that are interested in a resource are capable of establishing a persistent query for the resource by publishing a subscription object for the resource on the responsible node.
US08161093B2 Complex multiplier and twiddle factor generator
The present invention relates to a complex multiplier and a twiddle factor generator. The complex multiplier according to an embodiment of the invention includes: a first adder/subtracter that adds the real part of the complex number and a first twiddle factor or subtracts the first twiddle factor from the real part of the complex number according to a first signal; a second adder/subtracter that adds the imaginary part of the complex number and a second twiddle factor or subtracts the second twiddle factor from the imaginary part of the complex number according to a second signal; a first multiplier that multiplies the value obtained by the first adder/subtracter by a third twiddle factor and outputs the resulting value; a second multiplier that multiplies the value obtained by the second adder/subtracter by a fourth twiddle factor and outputs the resulting value; a multiplexer that selectively outputs the values output from the first and second multipliers as a real part output signal and an imaginary part output signal according to a third signal; and a controller that provides the first to third signals. According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve a complex multiplier having a simple hardware design.
US08161091B2 Method for performing decimal floating point addition
A method for performing a decimal floating point operation including receiving a first operand having a first coefficient and a first exponent into a first register. A second operand having a second coefficient and a second exponent are received into a second register. An operation, either addition or subtraction, associated with the first operand and the second operand is received. Three concurrent calculations are performed on the first operand and the second operand. The three concurrent calculations include: applying the operation to the first operand and the second operand based on a first assumption; applying the operation to the first operand and the second operand based on a second assumption; and applying the operation to the first operand and the second operand based on a third assumption. A final result is selected from the first result, the second result and the third result.
US08161088B2 Pocket calculator for financial, mathematical calculation routines
The invention relates to a pocket calculator for financial, mathematical calculation routines, comprising a keypad (11) comprising several input keys and function keys for the input of data, a memory which is used to memorise permanent data and volatile data, a processor which is used to carry out the financial, mathematical calculation routines and a display (12) which displays data. The keypad (11) comprises several function keys for a capital payment calculation routine, i.e. at least one first function key (P/YR) for the input and/or determination of periods per year, at least one second function key (N; x P/YR) for the input and/or determination of the total number of periods, a third function key (PV) for the input and/or determination of the start capital, a fourth function key (I/YR) for the input and/or determination of the rate of interest, a fifth function key (PMT) for the input and/or determination of rates per period and a sixth function key (FV) for the input and/or determination of the end capital. After the input of the data corresponding to a few of said function keys, the data of a non-used function key can be determined by the capital payment calculation routine. Also, the keypad (11) comprises additional function keys, that is, for the input and/or determination of data for a dynamised capital payment calculation routine.
US08161087B2 Displaying and manipulating virtual objects on virtual surfaces
A computerized method of providing an interactive virtual surface to display virtual objects is described. The method may comprise providing the virtual surface via a graphical user interface on a display screen, wherein the virtual surface displays at least one axis and a plurality of virtual objects. The method may monitor positioning (including re-positioning) of each of the plurality of virtual objects by a user on the virtual surface relative to the axis. Thereafter, virtual object association data may be stored in a database identifying an association between each of the virtual objects and at least one attribute based on the positioning.
US08161085B2 Automatic and dynamic provisioning of databases
Approaches described herein may be used for provisioning of databases that requires a bulk transfer of data within a distributed computing environment, such as a grid. The approaches do not require the manual intervention of a DBA to, for example, transfer a tablespace between the file systems of operating systems. Instead, the tablespaces may be provisioned automatically and dynamically by a grid computing system whenever it determines the need to dynamically provision a database. In addition, as copies of tablespaces are provisioned, synchronization mechanisms can also be automatically provisioned to keep the tablespaces and their copies in sync.
US08161084B2 Memory management of soft references
A garbage collector determines a target amount of heap space to deallocate, estimates an amount of heap space reachable by a plurality of soft references by determining a cumulative size of no more than an exploration bound N number of objects reachable from each soft reference, and deallocates heap space based on the target amount and the estimate of the heap space reachable from the soft references. Deallocating heap space may include clearing at least one soft reference. If the estimate is inaccurate, it may be utilized regardless or modified to account for inaccuracy. The least-recently-used or the largest soft reference may be cleared until the total cleared space reachable exceeds the target amount. By performing a bounded analysis, the garbage collector may be able to make a more informed decision about whether to clear a soft reference without consuming the full amount of resources consumed by an exhaustive analysis.
US08161076B1 Generation and use of a data structure for distributing responsibilities among multiple resources in a network storage system
The technique introduced here includes generating a data structure for use in determining how responsibilities for services should be distributed amongst a plurality of resources in a network storage system. The technique includes an iterative process of optimizing the data structure for a plurality of performance/quality metrics, such as evenness of storage consumption across the storage system or a designated subset thereof, number of “hot spots”, degree of data scatter, and number of changes needed to reflect a change in storage system geometry. The data structure can be a striping table for striping logical containers of data across multiple storage resources, such as data volumes, or physical storage devices. The “responsibilities for services”, can include responsibility for storing a stripe of a logical container of data or responsibility for storing a segment of parity data for a logical container of data.
US08161075B1 Systems and methods for managing integrated and customizable data
In one of many possible embodiments, an exemplary system includes a data integration subsystem including at least one base hierarchical data structure representative of a first set of one or more data relationships. The system further includes a customization subsystem configured to receive one or more commands from an external source. The commands represent a second set of one or more data relationships, the second set of data relationships being externally defined. The customization subsystem is further configured to generate, based on the commands, a custom hierarchical data structure representative of the second set of data relationships, the second hierarchical data structure being generated on top of at least a subset of the base hierarchical data structure.
US08161067B2 Method and apparatus for managing complex presentation objects using globally-unique identifiers
A method and apparatus for managing complex presentation objects using globally-unique identifiers. Downloaded objects are identified by globally-unique identifiers to maintain object integrity and to facilitate capturing downloaded objects for reuse without additional download time overhead. An object may be referenced by selected indicia, such as a name, a globally-unique identifier or a globally-unique identifier and an object locator, The object is located by the selected indicia. Then, a decision is made whether to allow capture of the object based upon whether the selected indicia includes a globally-unique identifier and is secure.
US08161066B2 Methods and systems for creating a semantic object
Among other disclosure, a knowledge network and semcards enabling intelligent matching of offers and requests, involving all types of information and knowledge, including information such as classified ads, data about products and services, or knowledge, expertise, ideas, suggestions, opinions, and other forms of tacit knowledge is described.
US08161062B2 Analysis of third party networks
A method of analyzing customer behavior, where customers are engaged in customer-to-customer transactions in the third-party network, includes the transformation of data representing the customer-to-customer transactions from a data representation to a network representation, and then analyzing the network representation. The network representation includes a set of nodes and a set of links where each node represents a customer and each link represents a transaction between two of the customers.
US08161057B2 Method and apparatus for detecting and extracting information from dynamically generated web pages
A method and apparatus for automatically detecting and extracting information from dynamically generated web pages are disclosed. For example, the present method stores user provided information that is entered into a form interface of a web page for a first query. Responsive to the first query, a first response web page is received and stored. The present method then automatically generates a second query to acquire a second response web page that is responsive to the second query. Finally, the present method compares the first response web page and the second response web page. In one embodiment, the present invention extracts information that is dissimilar between the first response web page and the second response web page. This extracted information is deemed to be the pertinent information requested by the user.
US08161055B2 Filter extraction in a service registry environment
A method for filter extraction in a service registry includes receiving a user's request in a registry for a list of items in the registry; generating a set of item results by the registry; passing the item results from the registry to a framework; retrieving a list of filter providers by the framework; determining whether all of the filter providers have been used; wherein if all have been used: displaying a list that includes a filter provider title, and one or more filters for each filter provider; wherein if all the filter providers have not been used: retrieving the next filter provider; calling the next filter provider; passing the item results to the next filter provider; determining which filters are applicable based on metadata of the item results; generating a list of applicable filters by the next filter provider; passing the list of applicable filters back to the framework.
US08161051B2 Method and apparatus for data processing with index search
In a database management apparatus for managing a database where an index is used in a search for data, the data is stored in a table that has attributes of the data as columns. The index is created in association with at least one column. The columns include an index key column for which the index is created without data being stored. Upon reception of a request to register the data in the table including the index key column, the data in columns other than the index key column is registered. An index of the index key column is updated using data corresponding to the index key column.
US08161049B2 System and method for patent evaluation using artificial intelligence
A system, method, computer program product, and a web site for evaluating a patent document by using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been provided. The patent document is characterized by patent indices arranged into a hierarchy, each index reflecting a different aspect of the patent document. The values of the patent indices are analyzed by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system, which generates a verbal conclusion regarding the value of the patent document based on the performed analysis. A reason associated with the generated conclusion may also be generated. The AI system is a decision tree based AI system, which is implemented so as to be accessible via a network. The value of the patent document may be additionally visualized by using a color coding of the patent document based on values of its patent indices.
US08161048B2 Database analysis using clusters
A method for mapping relationships in a database results in a cluster graph. A representative sample of records in each of a plurality of tables in the database is analyzed for nearest neighbor join edges instantiated by the record. Records with corresponding nearest neighbor join edges are grouped into clusters. Cluster pairs which share a join relationship between two tables are identified. A weighting may be applied to cluster pairs based on the number of records for the cluster pair. Meaningful cluster pairs above a weighted threshold may be ordered according to table and displayed as a cluster graph. Analyses of the cluster graph may reveal important characteristics of the database.
US08161041B1 Document-based synonym generation
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that automatically generates synonyms for words from documents. During operation, this system determines co-occurrence frequencies for pairs of words in the documents. The system also determines closeness scores for pairs of words in the documents, wherein a closeness score indicates whether a pair of words are located so close to each other that the words are likely to occur in the same sentence or phrase. Finally, the system determines whether pairs of words are synonyms based on the determined co-occurrence frequencies and the determined closeness scores. While making this determination, the system can additionally consider correlations between words in a title or an anchor of a document and words in the document as well as word-form scores for pairs of words in the documents.
US08161039B2 Automatic personal play list generation based on external factors such as weather, financial market, media sales or calendar data
A play list of songs or other media items is automatically generated (380) based on external factors (314, 324, 334) such as weather conditions, stock market conditions, sales of songs, or calendar data, e.g., day of week, holidays or user designated dates such as birthdays, anniversaries and the like. External data (310, 320, 330) relating to the external factors can be received (115) from a radio broadcast, Internet link, or link to a vehicle computer, for instance. The external data is mapped (360) to media items to obtain matching media items (370) for the play list. The mapping may also account for user preferences (145). The user may select (305) the external factor, which represents the mood and/or current preferences of the user in a much better way than the conventional criteria such as genre, artist or album alone.
US08161034B2 Abstract query building with selectability of aggregation operations and grouping
Systems and articles of manufacture for query building with selectability of aggregation operations and grouping. Abstract queries are composed on the basis of a data abstraction model abstractly describing data in the database. The abstract queries may include result criterions and aggregation operations to be performed with respect to the result criterions for generating aggregation information. An object is generated containing query entities and allowing a user to selectively (i) generate a first executable query corresponding to the abstract query inclusive of the aggregation operation and aggregation logic; and (ii) generate a second executable query corresponding to the abstract query exclusive of the aggregation operation and aggregation logic.
US08161032B2 Thread ranking system and thread ranking method
A thread ranking system includes: a thread collector for collecting a thread from a bulletin board website, a thread information storage for storing the collected thread, an event extractor for extracting the event from respective threads by using the event knowledge stored in the event knowledge storage, a related expression extractor for extracting a related expression characterizing the thread from expressions contained in the thread every thread, an input/output controller for presenting information that calls upon the user to input an evaluation of a predetermined thread to the user and inputting an evaluation of the user, a related expression importance calculator for calculating importance based on the input evaluation of the user every related expression, and a thread ranking unit 8 for deciding ranks of respective threads based on the extracted event and the calculated importance every related expression.
US08161029B2 Methods and systems for performing redirects to a search engine
The present invention is related to methods and systems for processing search requests and for performing searches over a network. In an embodiment, a recipient designation is received from a user over a network. The designation indicates that future searches performed by the user are to be associated with the recipient (even if the subject matter of the search is not related to the recipient). A search request is received from the user; causing a search to be performed in response to the search request. An identifier corresponding to the recipient is stored in association with an indication regarding the occurrence of the first search request.
US08161023B2 Inserting a PDF shared resource back into a PDF statement
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for inserting a PDF shared resource back into a PDF statement is provided. The method includes storing a set of statements, wherein each statement has been extracted from a document and each statement contains indirect objects. A set of resources is then stored, wherein the resources have been extracted from the document, and the resources include a set of indirect objects. All of the indirect objects in a selected one of the stored statements are then enumerated and a determination is made of which of the indirect objects contain keys. A key value for the enumerated indirect objects containing keys is then read, and the indirect objects in the stored set of resources associated with each key are identified. Stream data is then copied from the indirect objects in the stored set of resources into the selected ones of the stored statements.
US08161022B2 Efficiently and reliably providing message related data
The principles of the present invention extend to efficiently and reliably providing message related data. Generally, data fields of electronic messages and attachments are created in accordance with an electronic message schema hierarchy. An electronic message can include links to folder items that represent message folders. An electronic message can also include links to contact items that represent message participants. Message applications can register for folder spaces such that each message application is aware of folders that are primarily controlled by other message applications. A link to a contact item can be selected to access current contact related data for a message participant, even when the contact related data has changed since an electronic message containing the link was received.
US08161020B2 Searching for and providing objects using byte-by-byte comparison
Keys on an input device are selected to input a first selection and a second selection to form a byte. The byte is compared to a first byte of identification codes in a database. Such a method may use identification codes to identify pointers that correspond to objects in the database, and the pointers may indicate the address in a database where desired objects are stored. The input device has a database, a processor and executable instructions. The executable instructions may cause the processor to carry out a method of providing the objects.
US08161019B2 Cross-channel coauthoring consistency
A computing device includes a processing unit, and a memory with instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to create: a document processing module that processes the creation and editing of document content; and a metadata processing module that generates, monitors and stores metadata for a document on the computing device, the metadata processing module generating lock creation metadata that include information about a new lock that is created when a user begins to edit a portion of a document, lock removal metadata that includes information about removing a lock, and lock deletion metadata that includes information about deleting a lock, the metadata processing module writing lock creation metadata to both a data channel and to a separate metadata channel, the metadata processing module writing lock removal metadata to the data channel and the metadata processing module writing lock deletion metadata to the metadata channel.
US08161018B2 Managing locks and transactions
Under control of a first agent, a resource controlled by a second agent is locked with a first operation identifier. Under control of the second agent: a request is received to lock the resource controlled by the second agent with a second operation identifier for a client request for a client application, wherein the resource is already locked with the first operation identifier; it is determined whether the first operation identifier and the second operation identifier are determined to be a same identifier; if it is determined that the first operation identifier and the second operation identifier are the same identifier, the request is responded to with an indication that the resource is locked with the same operation identifier; and, if it is determined that the first operation identifier and the second operation identifier are not the same identifier, the lock request is denied.
US08161017B2 Enhanced identification of relevant database indices
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for identifying relevant database indexes is provided. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method includes determining the importance of a particular database transaction and storing an index name related to the transaction along with an indicator of the importance. A database transaction is initiated and the importance indicator is received in an index advisor. The index advisor then makes an index recommendation based on the index importance.
US08161010B2 Methods and systems for providing fault recovery to side effects occurring during data processing
Embodiments may recover from faults by forming a new set of rows by removing rows associated with faulting save operations and repeating the saving and forming operations using the new set of rows until a set of rows that can be saved from the known start state without fault is determined. When the subset of successful rows is found, embodiments are able to provide assurance that no side effects (i.e., code or operations triggered by saving of a data to a particular location) have been executed on behalf of any of the failed rows (side effects from custom PL/SOQL code included) by deferring execution of triggers until an entire set of rows can be saved and committed.
US08161008B2 Information processing apparatus and operation method thereof
An information processing apparatus includes a remote copying processing part 214 copying, at predetermined time intervals, difference data of a D-VOL 72 onto a different D-VOL 72 via a communication interface; and a failover processing part 215 acquiring the number of other auxiliary volumes 74 provided to be added to the different D-VOL 72 as a new D-VOL 72 when the copying of the difference data of the D-VOL 72 onto the different D-VOL 72 is complete, comparing the number of other auxiliary volumes 74 with the number of auxiliary volumes 74 included in itself, and performing a failover process of switching a function of a copy source of a data copying process by the data copying processing part to a function of a copy destination thereof when the number of other auxiliary volumes 74 is larger than the number of that in itself by a predetermined value or more.
US08161006B2 Database management method, database management apparatus, and database management program
In order to reduce a period of time required for a database operation and maintenance job, provided is a database management method in a database management apparatus that manages a database stored in a storage apparatus including: executing load processing of storing data which is read from the storage apparatus in a memory; executing job processing by reading and writing the data which is stored in the memory; executing unload processing of writing the data which is stored in the memory in the storage apparatus; and executing maintenance processing for the database using the data which is stored in the memory at timing for executing at least one of the load processing and the unload processing.
US08161004B2 XML sub-document versioning method in XML databases using record storages
A new sub-document versioning method for record storages of XML documents which uses virtual cutting points to ensure that a search tree is able to support multiple versions of sub-documents and provide efficient mechanisms for XML updating. Record boundaries and virtual cut points divide the two-dimensional space, the horizontal axis representing node identifiers in document order and vertical axis representing version numbers, into rectangles. The bottom corner of the rectangle is used to represent the rectangles and the corresponding information of the corner is added to the search tree index.
US08161003B2 Selective data replication system and method
The invention relates generally to copying electronic data. More particularly, the invention provides a computerized method for identifying, in a first backup data set, a data item satisfying a selection criterion, and copying to a second backup data set at least a portion of the data item.
US08160999B2 Method and apparatus for using set based structured query language (SQL) to implement extract, transform, and load (ETL) splitter operation
Methods and systems for implementing a splitter operation in an extract, transform, and load (ETL) process are provided. In one implementation, the method includes receiving a data flow including a splitter operation, and generating an execution plan graph based on the data flow. The execution plan graph includes structured query language (SQL) code for implementing the splitter operation, in which the structured query language (SQL) code is respectively executable among database servers associated with different vendors.
US08160998B2 System, method and computer program product for providing content based upon a representation of the same
A system for providing content includes a source and a client. The source is capable of generating a representation of the content, the content being hierarchically-structured and including at least one item having an associated type. The source is capable of generating a representation including an identity table and at least one type table, each item of content being included in the identity table, and included in a type table based upon the type of the item. Thereafter, the source can be capable of providing the representation of the content. The client is capable of receiving the representation of the content, and accessing at least a portion of the content based upon the representation. The client can also be capable of receiving a query for at least one item of content, searching the representation for the item(s), and accessing at least a portion of the content including the item(s).
US08160996B2 Sequence online analytical processing system
A sequence online analytical processing (S-OLAP) system 50 for analysing an event database (41) storing events (12), the system (50) comprising: an S-OLAP engine (53) to compute an S-cuboid (49) for a query on the event database (41); a sequence query engine (54) to form part of the S-cuboid (49) by performing the steps of: selection, clustering, sequence formation and sequence grouping; a cuboid repository (52) to store computed S-cuboids (49) and to be searched by the S-OLAP engine (53) for an S-cuboid query to determine whether an S-cuboid has previously been computed; and a sequence cache (56) to cache constructed sequence groups.
US08160994B2 System for simulating events in a real environment
System for simulating events in a real environment containing static objects and dynamic objects: a) position locating unit for continuously determining the real environment the position of the dynamic objects in relation to the static objects within a time period in which the even takes place; b) storage elements for storing data describing the dynamic and static objects of the environment; c) processing elements for processing (b1) data from the storage elements describing the static and dynamic objects (b2) data from the position locating unit indicating at a certain moment the mutual positions of the static and dynamic objects of the environment, the processing elements being loaded with simulation software; d) display elements for displaying a simulated view from a selected viewpoint on the simulated environment as a result of the processing by the processing elements; e) control elements to repeat the functioning of the processing and display elements for a range of consecutive time moments which together determine the above-mentioned time period wherein the position locating unit includes a satellite navigation system, or a thereto-related system.
US08160993B2 System and methods for evaluating inferences of unknown attributes in a social network
A method and system for determining a probability of inferring an unknown attribute value for an attribute of interest for a target node in a social network. The method comprises the steps of receiving as an input attribute values and link relationships for a plurality of additional nodes in the social network, creating a simplified network using the input values and relationships, and calculating the probability of inferring the unknown attribute value for the target node.
US08160992B2 System and method for selecting a package structural design
A system and method of selecting a package model may include maintaining a data structure of a plurality of package models. Each package model may have a plurality of package model attributes including at least a size and a style. A user input may be received that is descriptive of a desired package capability. The user input may be analyzed using a semantic reasoner to determine one or more desired attributes. One or more package models may be automatically selected by accessing the data structure wherein, for each selected package model, each desired attribute satisfies the corresponding package model attribute. The one or more selected package models may be presented.
US08160988B1 System, method and computer program product for a collaborative decision platform
A decision making system, method and computer program product are provided. Initially, a plurality of attributes is defined. Thereafter, first information regarding the attributes is received from a receiving business. Second information is then received regarding proposed products or services in terms of the attributes. Such second information is received from a supplying business. In use, a decision process is executed based on the first information and the second information.
US08160987B2 Estimating device and method, and program
An estimating device includes: a predictive computing unit configured to estimate, based on an evaluation matrix made up of an evaluation value indicating an evaluation as to each of multiple evaluation targets for each of multiple users, and an estimated expression for estimating the evaluation value by computation employing the evaluation matrix, the evaluation value of the evaluation target which has not been subjected to an evaluation by the user, and obtain a predictive evaluation value which is the estimated evaluation value; and a linear combining unit configured to subject a plurality of the predictive evaluations obtained by employing a plurality of the estimated expressions to linear combination by employing a linear combination coefficient, thereby obtaining a final estimation result of an evaluation as to the evaluation target which has not been subjected to the evaluation by the user.
US08160973B2 Technique for producing constructed fares
A technique for producing constructed fares that include an arbitrary added to a published fare is described. The techniques determine interior cities that appear with gateway cities in arbitraries for the airline and searches for gateway cities corresponding to the determined interior cities appearing in the arbitraries. The technique applies an arbitrary corresponding to one of the interior cities to a published fare involving one of the gateway cities to produce the constructed fare.
US08160972B1 Traveler's package pick-up and delivery service
A traveler can subscribe to a pick-up service (consolidator) that will pick-up purchases made at any number of different locations while the traveler is visiting a location, or series of locations. The consolidator then bundles all of the purchases from the various locations into appropriate sized packages for delivery to the traveler's desired location. The consolidator gathers the various purchases over a period of time and coordinates ultimate delivery to the traveler according to a pre-arranged itinerary of the traveler.
US08160971B2 Method and apparatus for monitoring an order status
A computerized system and method for monitoring an order placed by a customer for a product produced by a supplier to be delivered to a retail location. The method includes presenting an order-entry interface to collect order information about the order to be transmitted to the supplier and store the order information in a computer-accessible order database. Warehouse information authorized by the supplier and transmitted to the warehouse is also stored. A carrier database stores a shipping rate of carriers for transporting the product ordered by the customer to the retail location, and a report generation subsystem collects at least a portion of the order information, the warehouse information and the shipping rate and generates a report displaying the collected information in a single display to be substantially simultaneously reviewed by a supervisor.
US08160966B2 Token based new digital cash protocols
Digital cash token protocols employ two pairs of private and public keys. Each public key is certified separately and the protocols do not use any blind signature schemes. As a result, the digital cash token protocols provide strong protection of user privacy by using two certified public keys instead of a blind signature. One pair of certified keys consists of one master user private key and one master user public key. A second pair of certified keys consists of one pseudonym user private key and one pseudonym user public key. The use of a master key pair and a pseudonym key pair circumvents the need for blind signatures. As a result, the proposed protocols do not require blind signatures and do not add additional overhead and security requirements necessitated by conventional blind signature schemes. The protocols use public key protocols and digital signatures and symmetric key protocols, which may be readily implemented in standard information security based systems based on cryptographic constructs. In addition, the protocols may be deployed in mobile, off-line, and on-line settings.
US08160963B2 Method and system for providing location-obscured media delivery
One embodiment of the present invention enables delivery of “on-demand” high fidelity media content to computers via the Internet while restricting unauthorized users from directly retrieving media content from its source database. Once the computer receives the media, it is stored using hidden directories so that it may not be easily shared with others. Within the present embodiment, there are different functionality that are implemented in order to protect and monitor the media content source. For example, the actual address location of the media database is hidden from content recipients while its address directory is periodically change making past addresses obsolete. Additionally, an access key procedure and rate control restrictor may also be implemented to monitor and restrict suspicious media content requests. By implementing these and other functionality, the present embodiment restricts redistribution of delivered media content and provides a means for compensating owners of copyrighted media content.
US08160962B2 Installing protected software product using unprotected installation image
An installation image for installing an unprotected software product is used to install a protected version of the same product. A protected version of the executable file is embedded in a new installation image with the original installation image, in which the unprotected version of the executable file is damaged so as to be unusable and unreadable. The new installation image causes the original installation image to operate, installing the damaged installation file and other data files. The new installation image then replaces the damaged installation file with the protected installation file.
US08160961B1 Charging for prepaid subscribers in a telecommunications system
To be able to customize subscriber charging in a telecommunications system, at least two different kinds of tariff models (TM) are defined, each model containing a tariff scheme defining how to charge a call. The tariff model to be used with a subscriber is directly or indirectly indicated in subscriber information (SI).
US08160960B1 System and method for rapid updating of credit information
According to one embodiment, the invention relates to a system and method for evaluating the creditworthiness of an account holder of a credit account comprising the steps of determining, at least once a day, whether a first data set relating to the creditworthiness of the account holder has been received from a credit reporting organization; determining, at least once a day, whether a second data set relating to transaction activity of the credit account has been received; periodically receiving from a credit reporting organization a third data set relating to the creditworthiness of the account holder; periodically receiving a fourth data set relating to the historical activity of the credit account; and using the first and second data sets, to the extent they have been received, and the third and fourth data sets to determine a measure of creditworthiness.
US08160959B2 Methods and systems for payment transactions in a mobile environment
Methods and systems for conducting financial transactions in a mobile environment utilizing a mobile device such as a mobile telephone or wireless connected personal digital assistant (PDA) that communicates with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that stores user and transaction information. The MFTS receives information on behalf of a mobile device user corresponding to bills to pay or other payments to make. The MFTS also receives information corresponding to payment sources available for use in making payments. Selected payments information and payment source information are communicated to the mobile user via a wireless network and displayed for user selection. The user selects a payment to make and a payment source. A mobile payment instruction is generated and communicated to the MFTS. The MFTS instructs a payment instruction recipient to make a payment to an identified payee. Real-time updated account and payment balances are provided to the user's mobile device.
US08160957B2 Methods and systems for opening and funding a financial account online
Methods and systems for opening an account with a financial institution. One method can include electronically storing at least one rule for opening an account with a financial institution. The method can also include electronically receiving account application information from a remote device over at least one network, wherein the account application information includes personal information of a customer requesting to open an account. In addition, the method can include generating at least one risk score based on the account application information and applying the at least one rule to the at least one risk score in order to determine a decision regarding the account application information and to determine at least one funding constraint associated with the account.
US08160952B1 Method and system for providing price protection related to the purchase of a commodity
Systems and methods described herein pertain to providing price protection programs related to the purchase of a commodity to a consumer. Embodiments of such a program may provide price protection related to the purchase of a commodity to the consumer so that when a consumer purchases the commodity, the price the consumer pays for the commodity may be determined under the provided program. Embodiments of these programs may be quite useful in incentivizing consumers in certain ways, including to seek or obtain employment from a particular employer.
US08160949B2 Order risk management for financial product processing
Systems and methods are provided for processing derivative product orders at an exchange. Traders provide derivative product order risk data to the exchange. The order risk data may include maximum delta, gamma and/or vega utilization values for derivative product contracts based on the same underlying product. Before executing a trade, a match system analyzes the trader's current utilization state and the utilization that would result after the trade. The match system may then execute all or a portion of the trade.
US08160948B2 Computer managed retirement fund and method for generating increased revenue stream
A retirement fund program managed by computer software requiring an initial fixed investment and producing an ever increasing revenue stream to a group of participant investors organized by life expectancy and grouped into an investment partnership. A financial portfolio is created from the monies invested by each investor and is used to manage high quality securities to generate income for the partnership. Periodically, the surviving members of the partnership are entitled to receive the revenue generated from the portfolio, which statistically will increase as fewer participant investors survive. The partnership can purchase term life insurance on each participant investor, so that the initial investment can be returned to the estate of a participant investor if the participant investor becomes deceased during the program. Upon termination of the program, all remaining assets will be distributed pro rata among the living participant investors of the investment partnership.
US08160946B2 System and method for processing data related to a life insurance policy having an accelerated death benefit
A method for processing data related to a life insurance product having a death benefit amount payable to a beneficiary upon death of an insured includes receiving data indicative of certification that the insured is chronically ill, and responsive to receipt of the data indicative of the certification, providing output signals having data indicative of instructions to pay an owner of the life insurance product periodic payments, during the lifetime of the insured, each of which periodic payments reduces the death benefit amount.
US08160945B2 System and method for enhancing financial institution revenues through acceleration of debit processing
A system and method for enhancing financial institution revenue through acceleration of debit processing is provided. The method includes modeling the processing of account debit transactions, identifying ways to accelerate the processing of the account debit transactions and accelerating the account debit transactions. In a further embodiment, account debit transaction processing is accelerated from beginning on what has traditionally been referred to as Day 0 to beginning on some day before Day 0.
US08160943B2 Systems and methods to process transactions based on social networking
Systems and methods to verify and process requests received via social networking websites. In one aspect, a system includes a data storage facility to store data associated with a first phone number; and an interchange coupled with the data storage facility. The interchange includes a common format processor and a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of controllers of mobile communications. The converters communicate with the controllers in different formats and with the common format processor in a common format. The common format processor receives a request from a first user via a social networking website, identifies a first phone number of the first user and a second phone number of a second user, based on the social networking website, and uses the converters to communicate with at least one of the mobile phones at the first and second phone numbers to confirm and/or approve the request.
US08160942B2 Billing workflow system for crediting charges to entities creating derivatives exposure
An automated billing workflow system receives credit valuation adjustment (CVA) amounts associated with derivatives trades. The automated billing workflow system interacts with an Accounting System in order to make appropriate Profit and Loss (P&L) entries for the CVA amounts. The CVA amounts are billed to the business units which actually created the risk. The invention employs a plurality of Workflow Queues. As an item makes it way through the billing workflow, it may be slotted in one or more of these queues where further action will take place.
US08160939B2 Graphical internet search system and methods
A system and methods for web based graphical internet searching for locating unique items sought by buyers of designs, furnishings and accessories through use of the internet. The invention includes a search interface where both a seller and buyer will use the same graphical alphabet, which divides an item into its component parts, to decipher the language of design which has an infinite number of stylistic combinations.
US08160938B2 Systems and methods for automatic bid solicitation during transaction process
Embodiments relate to systems and methods for automatic bid solicitation during a transaction process, in which a user's checkout basket is automatically transmitted to a set of vendors for potential bids based on the user's selected items. The user can select products or services for purchase from an original Web site or vendor. Upon receipt of those selections, a transaction server can identify vendors who wish to receive notification of a pending purchase of particular items. The set of selections can be transmitted to participating vendors to determine a bid on the same or related goods or services. A vendor may wish, for example, to bid to offer after-market support or supplies for a printer or other pending hardware purchase. The user can view the additional bid items in a bid dialog, make selections from those options, and incorporate options of their choosing in the finalized transaction.
US08160935B2 Payment service capable of being integrated with merchant sites
A computer-implemented service acts as an intermediary between merchant sites and users thereof, and enables the users to purchase items on the merchant sites without having to create accounts with such sites. A user may invoke the service from a web page of a merchant site, and complete a purchase transaction, without having to browse away from the merchant site. The service may either forward the user's payment information to the merchant's system to enable the merchant to charge the customer, or may charge the user on behalf of the merchant. In some implementations, the service enables users to make single-action purchases from the merchant sites.
US08160932B2 Artwork-trading system and artwork-trading program for trading artworks created by artist over network
An artwork-trading computer system includes a primary auction for trading an artwork put up by an artist for the first time and a secondary auction for the following reselling. A server judges whether a bidding is for the primary auction or the secondary auction. When the server judges it as the primary auction, the server sends the artist a signal for requesting to select a winning bidder among the bidding collectors. Meanwhile, when the server judges it as the secondary auction, the server decides the winning bidder who offers the best bid price.
US08160927B1 Privacy-sensitive cookies
Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer program products, for generating cookies. Multiple advertisements for multiple advertisers are stored on an ad server. Hostnames specific to each of the multiple advertisers are generated dynamically. The generated hostnames identify the ad server. A reference is generated identifying a particular advertisement of the multiple advertisements and the ad server. The ad server is identified in the reference with the generated hostname associated with the advertiser of the advertisement. The reference is provided to a client. A request is received from the client for the advertisement. The request includes the generated hostname. In response to the request, a client cookie, which includes a unique identifier, is sent to the client.
US08160922B2 Method and system for making donations to charitable entities
A method and system for making a donation to a third party, wherein a user executes a purchase transaction using a card linked to a reward point account If a user donation is desired, then the user's reward point account is decreased and corresponding value is transferred to a designated third party as a donation. In another aspect referred to as “topping off”, the donation amount is the difference between the tender amount and the purchase amount, and is transferred to a designated third party as a donation to the third party in lieu of providing change for the transaction back to the user.
US08160921B2 System for incentivizing financial account users
A system to incentivize financial account holders, such as a checking account, by providing a cash bonus for certain activities in the financial account, including certain deposits, electronic payments, debit card purchases, and receiving an electronic statement (instead of paper statements). The cash bonus is calculated on the current time period, for example monthly and credited to the financial account at the end of such current time period.
US08160917B1 Computer-implemented promotion optimization methods and systems
Computer-implemented systems and methods for determining promotion prices for a plurality of items. A system and method can be configured to receive electronic data about items for a promotion event and to receive electronic data about vehicles for a promotion event. An optimizer, which is implemented on a data processor, includes or has access to an optimization formulation for determining optimal promotion prices for the items and for determining assignments of the vehicles to the items for promoting the items during the promotion event.
US08160914B1 Identifying quality user sessions and determining product demand with high resolution capabilities
A session quality system collects and evaluates data from multiple user world wide web (“web”) product selection sessions and correlates the collected data with actual product purchases. The system assembles the data into a set of session profiles and assigns a score to each profile that represents a relative likelihood of purchasing the product. The system matches session data collected from future product selection sessions with a master profile. A weighted average of scores based on matched master profiles provides useful product demand information. Furthermore, the system can determine product demand with varying ranges of resolution. For example, the system can capture specific features of each product, such as color, audio system selections, and wheel types. Since these features can be common across multiple products, manufactures can expand their use of the high resolution product demand information.
US08160913B2 Methods and tools to support strategic decision making by specifying, relating and analyzing requirements, solutions, and deployments
The present invention discloses methods and tools for managing requirements, solutions, and deployments of a project. The invention provides for the creation of a portfolio of data pertaining to requirements, solutions, and deployments for the project. The relationships and dependencies between the data are mapped, and the portfolio of data and the mapping of the data are displayed in a graphical format. The portfolio of data can be queried to determine the relationships and dependencies between the data.
US08160907B2 System and method for allocating replacement vehicle rental costs using a virtual bank of repair facility credits
Systems and methods for managing a virtual bank of repair facility credits are disclosed. Various operations for adding and subtracting credits from a repair facility virtual bank account are disclosed. Adjustments to credit totals can be based on repair facility performance with regard to an individual vehicle repair or a plurality of vehicle repairs.
US08160904B1 System and method to provide process status update information
Disclosed are systems and methods to provide process status update information. The systems and methods provide techniques to communicate with a party about a process in which the party has an interest, provide the party with an identifier, the identifier related to the party and the process, and provide a process status updater operable to provide information about the process to the party, wherein the information about the process is provided when the party accesses the process status updater using the identifier.
US08160903B2 System and method for determining a premium for insurance for a security
A method for determining a premium for insuring a security comprising the steps of determining an insurance risk premium based upon a security to be insured, determining an expense and profit load, and combining the insurance risk premium and the expense and profit load to determine a total gross premium. A system for determining a premium for insuring a security comprises a computer system capable of having entered information related to a security to be insured, the computer system having a program for calculating an insurance risk premium based upon a security to be insured, for calculating an expense and profit load, and for combining the insurance risk premium and the expense and profit load to determine a total gross premium.
US08160900B2 Analyte monitoring and management device and method to analyze the frequency of user interaction with the device
Methods and Devices to monitor the level of at least one analyte are provided.
US08160894B2 System and method for improving medical care
A computer system comprising a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising: enter intake data on a patient; entering symptoms the patient is experiencing and services performed on the patient, wherein all symptom and services listed in the program instructions are assigned a numeric number based on severity of the symptom and service; calculating total value of all numeric values of symptoms patient is experiencing and services performed on the patient; and making a recommendation to one of continue hospital stay or discharge of the patient.
US08160893B2 Data visualization system and method
The invention provides a data visualization system comprising a data value memory in which is maintained a finite set of data values and display means arranged to display a contoured representation. One or more of the data values are displayed as contours around one or more data points and each data value is centered on a data point. The invention also provides a method of data visualization and a data visualization computer program.
US08160889B2 System for providing an acoustic signal with extended bandwidth
A bandwidth extension system extends the bandwidth of an acoustic signal. By shifting a portion of the signal by a frequency value, the system generates an upper bandwidth extension signal. An extended bandwidth acoustic signal may be generated from the acoustic signal, the upper bandwidth extension signal, and/or a lower bandwidth extension signal.
US08160888B2 Generation of multi-channel audio signals
A decoder (115) generates a multi channel audio signal, such as a surround sound signal, from a received first signal. The multi-channel signal comprises a second set of audio channels and the first signal comprises a first set of audio channels. The decoder (115) comprises a receiver (401) which receives the first signal. The receiver (401) is coupled to an estimate processor (405) which generates estimated parametric data for the second set of audio channels in response to characteristics of the first set of audio channels. The estimated parametric data relates characteristics of the second set of audio channels to characteristics of the first set of audio channels. The decoder (115) furthermore comprises a spatial audio decoder (403) which decodes the first signal in response to the estimated parametric data to generate the multi-channel signal comprising the second set of channels. The invention allows use of spatial audio decoding with signals that are not encoded by a spatial audio encoder.
US08160887B2 Adaptive interpolation in upsampled audio signal based on frequency of polarity reversals
Digital audio sample data are adaptively processed for interpolation based on whether the frequency at which the digital audio signal samples reverse polarity is at least equal to a predetermined threshold, the threshold being determined by their sampling frequency. If so, the digital audio signal samples are subjected to zero-order interpolation, with zero-inserting between the samples followed by lowpass filtering; if not, the samples are subjected to Lagrange (spline) interpolation processing.
US08160879B2 System and method for enhancing speech recognition accuracy
Systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable media for enhancing speech recognition accuracy. The method includes dividing a system dialog turn into segments based on timing of probable user responses, generating a weighted grammar for each segment, exclusively activating the weighted grammar generated for a current segment of the dialog turn during the current segment of the dialog turn, and recognizing user speech received during the current segment using the activated weighted grammar generated for the current segment. The method can further include assigning probability to the weighted grammar based on historical user responses and activating each weighted grammar is based on the assigned probability. Weighted grammars can be generated based on a user profile. A weighted grammar can be generated for two or more segments. Exclusively activating each weighted grammar can include a transition period blending the previously activated grammar and the grammar to be activated.
US08160878B2 Piecewise-based variable-parameter Hidden Markov Models and the training thereof
A speech recognition system uses Gaussian mixture variable-parameter hidden Markov models (VPHMMs) to recognize speech under many different conditions. Each Gaussian mixture component of the VPHMMs is characterized by a mean parameter μ and a variance parameter Σ. Each of these Gaussian parameters varies as a function of at least one environmental conditioning parameter, such as, but not limited to, instantaneous signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). The way in which a Gaussian parameter varies with the environmental conditioning parameter(s) can be approximated as a piecewise function, such as a cubic spline function. Further, the recognition system formulates the mean parameter μ and the variance parameter Σ of each Gaussian mixture component in an efficient form that accommodates the use of discriminative training and parameter sharing. Parameter sharing is carried out so that the otherwise very large number of parameters in the VPHMMs can be effectively reduced with practically feasible amounts of training data.
US08160875B2 System and method for improving robustness of speech recognition using vocal tract length normalization codebooks
Disclosed are systems, methods, and computer readable media for performing speech recognition. The method embodiment comprises selecting a codebook from a plurality of codebooks with a minimal acoustic distance to a received speech sample, the plurality of codebooks generated by a process of (a) computing a vocal tract length for a each of a plurality of speakers, (b) for each of the plurality of speakers, clustering speech vectors, and (c) creating a codebook for each speaker, the codebook containing entries for the respective speaker's vocal tract length, speech vectors, and an optional vector weight for each speech vector, (2) applying the respective vocal tract length associated with the selected codebook to normalize the received speech sample for use in speech recognition, and (3) recognizing the received speech sample based on the respective vocal tract length associated with the selected codebook.
US08160870B2 Method, apparatus, program, and recording medium for long-term prediction coding and long-term prediction decoding
A method and apparatus multiplies a past sample a time lag τ older than a current sample by a quantized multiplier ρ′ on a frame by frame basis, subtracts the multiplication result from the current sample, codes the subtraction result, and codes the time lag using a fixed-length coder if the multiplier ρ′ is smaller than 0.2 or if information about the previous frame is unavailable, or codes the time lag using a variable-length coder if ρ′ is not smaller than 0.2. A multiplier ρ is coded by a multiplier coder and the multiplier ρ′ obtained by decoding the multiplier ρ is outputted. The process is performed for each frame.
US08160869B2 Method and apparatus for encoding continuation sinusoid signal information of audio signal and method and apparatus for decoding same
Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding an audio signal and a method and apparatus for decoding an audio signal. The method includes performing sinusoidal analysis on an audio signal in order to extract a sinusoidal signal of a current frame, determining continuation sinusoidal signal information indicating a number of continuation sinusoidal signals of next frames, which continue from the sinusoidal signal of the current frame, by performing sinusoidal tracking on the extracted sinusoidal signal of the current frame, and encoding the determined continuation sinusoidal signal information by using different Huffman tables according to index information of the current frame, thereby allowing efficient encoding with a low bitrate.
US08160865B1 Systems and methods for managing coordinate geometry for a user interface template
A method for managing coordinate geometry information for a user interface template to be applied to multiple languages is described. Strings of text in a file are translated from a first language to a pseudo language. Data field sizes associated with a first user interface are analyzed. The first user interface is in the first language. The data fields are resized to match strings of text sizes if the data field sizes of the data fields do not match strings of text sizes. A user interface template is stored with data field geometry information that indicates the data field sizes. Language specific data field geometry information is also stored that indicated the data field sizes.
US08160863B2 System and method for connecting a logic circuit simulation to a network
A system and method for connecting a running logic circuit simulation to a network running at a higher speed that includes a computer for receiving data packets from the network and storing the received data packets in a first buffer. The computer next transmits the received data packets to an electronic circuit in the logic circuit simulation at a slower speed. The computer also receives data packets from the electronic device under simulation, and stores the data packets received from the electronic device under simulation in a second buffer. The computer then transmits the data packets received from the electronic device under simulation to the network at a higher speed.
US08160861B2 System and method for modelling a hardware component of a data processing apparatus
The system comprises a component model for modelling aspects of the hardware component, and feature extraction logic for extending the component model to cause the component model, when executing, to output one or more features identifying execution behavior of the component model. A statistical model is then arranged to receive the one or more features output by the component model, and to generate the output dependent on one or more features. The component model may not explicitly model features that can be used to effectively predict values of the observable property, features that a statistical model depends on may still be captured in the underlying logic and implementation of the component model. By extracting features identifying execution behavior of the component model, this can provide a suitable input to the statistical model.
US08160860B1 Method and apparatus for event-based simulation of a digital design having a power shut-off feature
Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for simulating a logic design having power domains are described. In some examples, a switchable power domain of the power domains is identified, the switchable power domain having primary inputs and having a power state switchable between a power-on state and a power-off state. The logic design is traversed to analyze driver and load logic of each of the primary inputs to the switchable power domain to identify any pure pass-through nets each of which has no driver and no load logic in the switchable power domain. An implicit logic device is inserted at each of the primary inputs not coupled to a pure pass-through net, each implicit logic device being in a corrupting state when the switchable power domain is in the power-off state and in a bypassing state when the switchable power domain is in the power-on state, the corrupting state corrupting the respective primary input with an undefined logic state, the bypassing state driving the respective primary input with a logic state of respective driver logic. An event-driven simulation of the logic design is performed.
US08160859B2 Medium storing logic simulation program, logic simulation apparatus, and logic simulation method
A logic simulation apparatus includes: a jitter detector generation section 21 that generates information concerning a jitter circuit for determining whether a time variation occurs in signal passing between a first circuit and a second circuit, the first circuit configured to output a signal with a clock output from a predetermined clock source and the second circuit configured to output a signal with a clock output from a clock source different from the above predetermined clock source; and a constraint solver generation section 22 that generates information concerning a solver that is configured to create a signal to be output at an observation point using a logical expression of an output signal of the second circuit and output, based on the logical expression and output signal of the jitter detector circuit, a signal constrained by the output signal of the jitter detector circuit and output signal of the second circuit.
US08160858B2 Systems and methods of efficient library characterization for integrated circuit cell libraries
A method of efficient library characterization of a circuit of a logic gate having a plurality of transistors and a plurality of nodes defining interconnection points in the circuit is disclosed. The method includes determining a plurality of vectors for a plurality of arcs. Each of the plurality of vectors represents possible data bits to inputs and nodes of the logic gate. The method performs circuit pruning for each of distinct vectors. The circuit pruning includes identifying an active circuit for each vector. Then, the circuit simulations limited to a plurality of transistors in the active circuit are performed. The circuit pruning and circuit simulations are repeated for remaining ones of the plurality of substantially distinct vectors. The results of the circuit simulations are then stored on a non-volatile compute readable media, for each active circuit corresponding to each of the plurality of substantially distinct vectors.
US08160857B2 Selective compilation of a simulation model in view of unavailable higher level signals
In response to receiving HDL file(s) that specify a plurality of hierarchically arranged design entities defining a design to be simulated and that specify an instrumentation entity for monitoring simulated operation of the design, an instrumented simulation executable model of the design is built. Building the model includes compiling the HDL file(s) specifying the plurality of hierarchically arranged design entities defining the design and instantiating at least one instance of each of the plurality of hierarchically arranged design entities, and further includes instantiating an instance of the instrumentation entity within an instance of a particular design entity among the plurality of design entities and, based upon a reference in an instrumentation statement in the one or more HDL files, logically attaching an input of the instance of the instrumentation entity to an input source within the design that is outside the scope of the particular design entity.
US08160855B2 System and method for simulating network attacks
A method of simulating network activities includes building a model of the network, the model including data retrieved over a predetermined period of time. The method further includes running a plurality of queries against the model to determine their impacts on the network.
US08160854B2 Method of managing and displaying gene expression data
A method visually and clearly manages and displays a large amount of gene expression data obtained using a large number of DNA chips. The types of DNA chip are displayed in a leftmost column of a matrix, parameters such as times in a time series, treatment methods, types of samples, and the like are displayed in the top row, and expression value data corresponding to the respective cells are displayed as small matrices. Treatment methods or types of samples of Channel 1 and Channel 2 are displayed in the rows and columns of the small matrices. When a cell in a small matrix is clicked, a scatter diagram for corresponding expression value data is displayed.
US08160853B2 Systems and methods for modeling wellbore trajectories
Systems and methods for modeling wellbore trajectories, which can be used to model corresponding drillstring trajectories and transform the torque-drag drill string model into a full stiff-string formulation.
US08160852B2 Selection-based criteria for computation of multiple body interactions
Distributed computation of multiple body interactions in a region uses multiple processing modules, where each of the processing modules is associated with a respective corresponding portion of the region. In some examples, the approach includes establishing multiple coordinate frames of reference, each processing module corresponding to one the coordinate frames of reference. In some examples, efficient techniques are used for selecting elements for computation of interactions according at least in part to a separation-based criterion.
US08160848B2 Apparatus for generating coarse-grained simulation image of sample to be measured with a probe of a scanning probe microscope
A sample atomic configuration creation part in a control section creates the atomic arrangement data of a sample, and a sample surface height calculation part calculates a sample surface height for every mesh. A probe profile creation part creates the atomic arrangement data of a probe, and a probe surface height calculation part calculates the height of the probe surface for every mesh. A probe scanning part supplies the coordinate of a scanning start position in the scanning range to a collision height specification part. The collision height specification part calculates the distance between the sample surface and the probe in each mesh. Calculation of this distance is repeated for all meshes of the probe at the coordinate of this measuring position.
US08160847B2 Hybrid multi-layer artificial immune system
The hybrid artificial immune system consists of three main layers, including a solution application layer that interacts with the environment, a solution generation layer that solves combinatorial optimization problems and a modeling layer that analyzes problems and presents solution scenarios. The system solves evolutionary multi-objective optimization problems in network computing, robotics, artificial neural networks, protein network modeling, evolutionary systems and evolutionary hardware.
US08160846B2 Method of modeling phase changes due to laser pulse heating
The method of modeling phase changes due to laser pulse heating utilizes energy equations and a discretizing numerical method to model temperature variation and cavity depth in a substrate material due to laser heating. Both constant and temperature-dependent thermal properties cases are considered.
US08160845B2 Method for emulating operating system jitter
Techniques for emulating operating system jitter on a platform using a given trace are provided. The techniques include calculating a scale factor, wherein the scale factor is equal to a maximum of measured overhead of introducing synthetic jitter on the platform and a resolution of one or more timer calls on the platform, scaling up each of one or more jitter values and each of one or more gaps between each of one or more jitter instances in the trace and an execution period of a benchmark parallel application using the scale factor, introducing synthetic jitter using each of the one or more scaled jitter values and each of the one or more scaled gaps from the trace while running the benchmark parallel application for the scaled execution period to emulate operating system jitter on a platform, and scaling down one or more final time measurements from the benchmark parallel application by the scale factor.
US08160842B2 Computer code and method for designing multi-family dwelling
A collection of dwelling unit module designs is created from which multi-family dwelling buildings or the multi-family portion of a mixed-use building may be designed. The module designs each fit onto uniform grid intervals defining a structural support system and fitting a parking layout. A module design may include an individual unit or a stack of units. A graphical user interface to a computer system accommodates defining an outline for the building and filling the outline with dwelling unit modules from the collection. The dwelling unit module designs may be designed and perfected in a manner independent of and in advance of any specific project and project schedule.
US08160838B2 Apparatus and method for visualizing environmental conditions in a data center using wireless sensor networks
Various embodiments provide an apparatus and method for visualizing environmental conditions in a data center using wireless sensor networks. An example embodiment includes: establishing communication with a plurality of networked environmental sensors deployed at particular points in one of a plurality of pre-defined layers for a facility; periodically obtaining measured environmental data values from each of the plurality of networked environmental sensors using a wireless sensor network; using the measured environmental data values at the particular points to extrapolate computed environmental data values at intermediate points in the facility; and using the measured environmental data values and the computed environmental data values to generate a visualization of environmental conditions in the facility.
US08160833B2 Thermal mass flow sensor with improved response across fluid types
One embodiment of the present invention comprises a mass flow controller. The mass flow controller may comprise a pair of thermal sensing elements, a bridge circuit adapted to receive at least one first signal from the pair of thermal sensing elements and a differential amplifier adapted to (i) receive at least one bridge signal from the bridge circuit, and (ii) emit an output signal generally proportional to a flow rate of fluid passing through the mass flow controller. The mass flow controller is also comprised in one embodiment of a filter portion of a control module having one or more first filters comprising substantially permanent parameters adapted to provide a more accurate output signal for a baseline fluid upon a change in the flow rate and one or more second filters comprising variable parameters, with each of the one or more second filters being adapted to provide a more accurate output signal for non-baseline fluids upon a change in the flow rate.
US08160829B2 Current measuring device and processing unit comprising one such device
The current measuring device comprises a first measuring resistor to receive a measurement current, and a first signal amplifier having an input connected to said first measuring resistor and an output to provide a first measurement signal. A second measuring resistor is connected in series with said first measuring resistor, and first voltage limiting means are connected in parallel on the first measuring resistor to branch a first shunt current off when a first limiting voltage is reached on said first measuring resistor. The value of the first measuring resistor is greater than the value of the second measuring resistor A processing unit comprises one such current measuring device.
US08160828B2 Apparatus, method and program for design validity verification of electronic circuit board with regard to power supply noise suppression
Disclosed is a method for design validity verification of an electronic circuit board with regard to power supply noise, wherein with regard to an i-th LSI (i=1 to n) on the electronic circuit board, an input voltage Vin[i] to the LSI from the printed circuit board is given by Vin[i]=VDD−Zlsi[i]×VDD/(Zlsi[i]+Z11[i]), where Zlsi[i] is an input impedance characteristic and Z11[i] is a reflected impedance characteristic viewed from a position at which the i-th LSI is mounted, being a characteristic with the i-th LSI omitted from the whole of the electronic circuit board and a judgment is made as to whether or not a reflected voltage Vr[i]=Vin[i]×(Zlsi[i]+Z11[i])/(Zlsi[i]−Z11[i]) satisfies |Vr[i]|≦ΔV (power supply variation tolerance range).
US08160826B2 Method and system for estimating use time of electric appliances
A method and a system for estimating use time of electric appliances are provided. In the present method, all time points corresponding to an appliance power on event or an appliance power off event are obtained according to a value-time curve of at least one electric characteristic. A characteristic value of each of the time points is calculated according to the value-time curve, so as to pair the time points corresponding to the appliance power off event with the time points corresponding to the appliance power on event appropriately. After the pairing process is accomplished, the use time of each of the electric appliances can be calculated by the paired time points and thereby the power consumption of the electric appliances can be figured out.
US08160817B2 Method for determining the resistance of the respiratory system of a patient
A method for automatically determining the resistance of the respiratory system of a spontaneously breathing intubated patient. The method includes measuring flow (V′) and airway pressure (Paw)) as a function of time; determining the airway pressure at the end of the occlusion period as end of occlusion airway pressure Paw(tc)=Poccl; analyzing a time 5 dependence of the flow starting at the end of the occlusion period to determine a transition time td at which the slope of the flow changes from a first high value to a second lower value; determining the flow at the transition time as transition time flow V′(td)=V′peak and determining the airway pressure at the transition time as transition time pressure Paw(td); and calculating the resistance on the basis of the ratio of an estimated driving pressure at the transition time Pdrv(td) and the transition time flow V′peak.
US08160811B2 Method and system to estimate driving risk based on a hierarchical index of driving
A system and method for providing driving risk assessment for a host vehicle equipped with on-board sensors or vehicle-to-vehicle or infrastructure-to-vehicle systems. The system includes a hierarchical index of passive driving conditions, a means of collecting active driving conditions and a processor whereby the sum of passive driving conditions may be further refined by the active driving conditions. The method incorporates a hierarchical index of risks associated with passive driving conditions, and refining said risks with active driving conditions of the vehicle to generating a driving risk assessment for current vehicle operation.
US08160809B2 Close-spaced leader-follower navigation using control mimic
A method is provided for automatically controlling a first vehicle (follower vehicle) that is to follow a second vehicle (leader vehicle) in a desired manner with respect to movement of the second vehicle. In the follower vehicle, bearing and acceleration control inputs are generated based on data representing bearing and acceleration control inputs made at the leader vehicle and a position of the follower vehicle relative to the leader vehicle so as to mimic in the follower vehicle the bearing and acceleration control inputs made in the leader vehicle. Adjustments may be made to the control inputs applied in the follower vehicle based on deviation between the velocity of the follower vehicle and velocity of the leader velocity, and on deviation between estimated (actual) follow distance and lateral offset and target follow distance and lateral offset between the follower vehicle and the leader vehicle.
US08160807B2 Information processing device, information processing supporting server and information processing system
In information processing device or the like is provided to output a suitable form of information from a view point of user's non-feeling of trouble. In the information processing system, whether a user issues an output instruction or not is confirmed only with respect to information that is not extracted out of information stored in a first storing unit (211) and information that is not output out of information stored in a second storing unit (212) and the importance of which is not less than the standard value. Thus, it is avoidable for a user to coerce an output instruction or non-output instruction for information that is less important than the standard value even in the case that the information has been distributed or broadcasted from a distributing information server (100) and has been output or non-output information.
US08160803B2 Parallel sequential turbocharger architecture using engine cylinder variable valve lift system
A valve and cylinder head assembly, configured to fit a bank of cylinders of an internal combustion engine, can include a first exhaust valve for each corresponding cylinder of the bank of cylinders; a second exhaust valve for each corresponding cylinder of the bank of cylinders; a first exhaust port for each corresponding cylinder of the bank of cylinders, the first exhaust port configured to direct flow of exhaust to a first manifold in fluid communication with a first turbocharger; and a second exhaust port for each corresponding cylinder of the bank of cylinders, the second exhaust port configured to direct flow of exhaust to a second manifold in fluid communication with a second turbocharger; where the shape of the first exhaust ports differs from the shape of the second exhaust ports; where each of the first exhaust valves controls flow of exhaust to a respective one of the first exhaust ports; and where each of the second exhaust valves controls flow of exhaust to a respective one of the second exhaust ports. Various other devices, assemblies, controllers, etc., are also disclosed.
US08160802B2 Closed-loop adaptation of homogenous charge compression ignition operating zone based on ringing index
An engine control system comprises a ringing index (RI) determination module, a fueling threshold determination module, and a combustion mode determination module. The ringing index (RI) determination module determines an RI value of a cylinder of an engine and compares the RI value and a predetermined RI threshold. The fueling threshold determination module determines a fueling threshold and adjusts the fueling threshold based on the comparison of the RI value and the RI threshold. The combustion mode determination module selects a combustion mode for the engine based on a comparison of a current fueling rate and the fueling threshold.
US08160801B2 Valve drive system and valve driving method
A valve drive system comprises a power transmitting mechanism (13) that converts rotary motion of an electric motor (12) into opening and closing motion of an intake valve (3) provided in a cylinder (2) of an internal combustion engine (1) to transmit power from the electric motor (12) to the valve (3) via a cam (152); and a rotational angle restricting mechanism (16) that is provided in a motion transmission path that extends from the electric motor (12) to the cam (152) and restricts rotation of the cam (152) within a predetermined angular range that is set so that a piston (5) of the engine (1) and the intake valve (3) do not interfere with each other. The rotational angle restricting mechanism (16) comprises a flange (161) that rotates as a unit with a camshaft (151) and forms a slotted groove hole (161a) thereon; and a stopper pin (162) that is inserted into and retracted from the groove hole (161a).
US08160799B2 Turbine bypass control apparatus and turbine bypass control method
A turbine bypass control method includes: a high-pressure side pressure controller configured to output a first operation amount signal corresponding to a valve opening; a low-pressure side pressure controller configured to output a second operation amount signal corresponding to a valve opening; a high value selector configured to output as a high value operation amount signal, one of the first operation amount signal and the second operation amount signal which indicates a larger opening; a first signal switching unit configured to receive the high value operation amount signal and the second operation amount signal and output a first bypass valve operation amount signal; a second signal switching unit configured to receive the high value operation amount signal and the first operation amount signal and output a second bypass valve operation amount signal; and a rapid opening controller. Before start of trip of a turbine, the turbine is driven by steam which flows from the high-pressure side header to the low-pressure side header through the turbine.
US08160798B2 Method and device for regulating the velocity of a vehicle
A method and a device are described for regulating the velocity of a vehicle, which include a hysteresis function and prevent an unwanted activation and deactivation of the engine brake. For this purpose, a setpoint velocity (V-setpoint) of the vehicle is predefined. An actual velocity (V-actual) of the vehicle is detected and, as a function of the difference between the actual velocity (V-actual) and the setpoint velocity (V-setpoint), an output quantity (Msetpoint) of a drive unit of the vehicle is predefined in such a way that the actual velocity (V-actual) is approximated to the setpoint velocity (V-setpoint). A first lower limiting value (uG1) for limiting the output quantity (Msetpoint) toward the lower end is predefined as long as the actual velocity (V-actual) exceeds the setpoint velocity (V-setpoint) by less than a first predefined threshold value (offs1). When the actual velocity (V-actual) exceeds the setpoint velocity (V-setpoint) by more than the first predefined threshold value (offs1), the first lower limiting value (uG1) is replaced by a second lower limiting value (uG2) for limiting the output quantity (Msetpoint) at the lower end, this second lower limiting value being lower than the first lower limiting value (uG1).
US08160795B2 Drive power control apparatus and method for vehicle
A drive power control apparatus for a vehicle includes a controller that adjusts the drive power for driving a vehicle to compensate for a parameter that affects the running state of the vehicle. When the vehicle enters a region where the acceleration of the vehicle needs to be changed based on the running environment or when the vehicle is traveling in the region in which the acceleration of the vehicle needs to be changed based on the running environment, the controller makes the amount by which the drive power is adjusted less than the amount by which the drive power is adjusted when the vehicle is traveling in a region other than the region in which the acceleration of the vehicle needs to be changed based on the running environment.
US08160794B2 Inverted wheel type moving body and method of controlling the same
An inverted wheel type moving body that can enhance convenience and a method of controlling the same. The inverted wheel type moving body includes a right chassis and a left chassis rotationally supporting a right driving wheel and a left driving wheel, motors rotationally driving the right driving wheel and the left driving wheel, a body rotatably supported on the right chassis and the left chassis through a right arm and a left arm, a pressure-sensitive sensor provided to judge whether a transportation object dismounts, and a control unit controlling the motors to reduce velocity upon judgment that the transportation object dismounts based on the output from the pressure-sensitive sensor when the moving body travels faster than a certain velocity, in which overturn preventing operation is executed after an absolute value of the velocity is lower than a threshold value.
US08160793B2 Vehicle park brake status monitoring method
A vehicle brake system can include a service brake system and a park brake system wherein, the service brake system includes a service brake chamber is delimited by a service brake displaceable wall upon which a brake pushrod is fixed, the brake pushrod is connected to a vehicle braking arrangement and is capable of moving under a pneumatic pressure from a first position whereby the braking arrangement is released to a second position whereby the braking arrangement is actuated, the park brake system having an actuating arrangement capable of pushing the brake pushrod into its second position. This method is based on measuring the volume of the service brake chamber as the volume of the service brake chamber is a parameter which is representative of the actual position of the brake push rod and thus is representative of the actual park brake status.
US08160792B2 Clutch failure detection system, straddle-type vehicle, and method for detecting failure
A failure detection system for accurately detecting a failure of a clutch. A clutch actuation mechanism changes the relative positions of drive-side and driven-side members of the clutch. A position detector detects a position of the clutch actuation mechanism as a clutch position. A control unit obtains torque transmitted from the drive-side member to the driven-side member as actual transmission torque. The control unit detects a failure of the clutch based on the actual transmission torque and the clutch position.
US08160788B2 Improper start preventing apparatus for vehicle
If a control portion determines that the direction of travel of the vehicle with a range selected by the driver is different from the direction intended by the driver to move the vehicle, a vehicle inhibiting mechanism is activated to inhibit the movement of the vehicle. The activation of the vehicle inhibiting mechanism is based on a detection signal of the range selected by the driver from a range detecting portion, and a driver state detection signal from a driver state detecting portion.
US08160786B2 Mobile crane and method for operating a mobile crane
A mobile crane has at least one memory unit in which limit curves or limit values are stored for various crane parameters and which should not be exceeded, or only exceeded by issuing an alarm signal, to ensure safe operation of the crane. Crane safety is ensured by monitoring the individual limit values of the various parameters and checking the current position of the extendable and retractable props which serve to support the mobile crane. Depending upon the actual position the supporting cylinders reach, the tilting edge of the mobile crane is determined as a limit value. Furthermore, depending on the individual parameters of the mobile crane and the suspended load, whether the operating condition of the mobile crane lies within this limit value is determined.
US08160782B2 System and method for controlling the release of material
A system includes one or more actuators (such as valve assemblies) that are configured to release a material. The system also includes a wireless receiver configured to receive wireless positioning signals. The system further includes a processing device configured to determine a position associated with the one or more actuators based on the wireless positioning signals and to determine whether to open or close the one or more actuators based on the determined position. In addition, the system includes a controller configured to control the opening and closing of the one or more actuators based on signals from the processing device. The processing device may be configured to determine whether to open or close the one or more actuators by determining whether the material has already been released at the determined position.
US08160778B2 Steering system for engineering vehicle
A hydraulic steering unit 5 generates a control pressure corresponding to the rotational quantity and rotational direction of the steering wheel 109 on the basis of pressurized oil of a pilot pump 13. Signals of pressure sensors 6a and 6b used to detect the control pressure, and a signal of a front operation detection unit 31, are inputted into a controller 132. A controller 32 and solenoid valves 33a and 33b control a stroke of a steering valve 4 so that the stroke becomes larger with increase in control pressure detected by each of the pressure sensors 6a and 6b. In addition, when the operation of a front work device is detected, the controller 32 and the solenoid valves 33a and 33b control the stroke of the steering valve 4 so that the stroke becomes larger than that provided when the operation of the front work device is not detected.
US08160777B2 Electric power steering device
When an electrification failure occurs in any of the phase of a motor, a control device of an electric power steering device executes current control for generating, in each of two electrification phases other than a phase with the electrification failure, a phase current that changes in the form of a secant curve or a cosecant curve based on an asymptotic line, which is a predetermined rotational angle corresponding to the phase with the electrification failure, to thereby continuously output a motor control signal. The control device of the electric power steering device executes current restriction for restricting the phase current within a predetermined range. The control device of the electric power steering device further executes control for accelerating rotation of the motor during two phase drive, in order to prevent the occurrence of a stuck steering wheel during low-speed steering, which is caused as a result of the execution of the current restriction.
US08160774B2 Vehicular actuator system
An actuator system for determining a relative height differential between a housing of an actuator assembly and a body of the actuator assembly for a vehicle is provided. The vehicle has a suspension wherein the housing is coupled to a first portion of the suspension, and the body is coupled to a second portion of the suspension. The system comprises a sensor coupled to the inside of the housing, and a target coupled to the outside of the body, the sensor and the target cooperating to form a magnetic field that varies in a manner indicative of the distance therebetween.
US08160772B2 Drive control apparatus, drive control method, drive control program, and recording medium
A drive control apparatus (100) uses a calculating unit (103) to calculate a danger index indicative of the possibility of occurrence of a dangerous event for a mobile body based on information of the mobile body acquired by an information acquiring unit (101). A notifying unit (104) notifies a passenger of the possibility of occurrence of a dangerous event for the mobile body. A control unit (106) controls a driving unit (102) to stop the drive if a determining unit (105) determines that the danger index is greater than a predetermined value.
US08160770B2 Method and device for detecting oscillatory failures in a position servocontrol subsystem of an aircraft control surface
Disclosed is a method of detecting at least one oscillatory fault in at least one positional slaving chain for at least one airfoil of an aircraft. The method involves estimating a reference position of the airfoil in the absence of a fault, and calculating a residual value based on the difference between the estimated reference position and the actual position measured by at least one sensor. The calculated residual value is compared with at least one predetermined threshold value to determine the number of successive and alternating overshoots of the predetermined threshold value by the residual value, and oscillatory fault is determined based on the determined number.
US08160766B2 System and method for detecting low tire pressure on a machine
A method of detecting a low tire pressure condition on a machine is disclosed. The method may include determining at least one of an actual pitch of the machine and an actual roll of the machine, at a known location and determining at least one of an expected pitch of the machine at the known location and an expected roll of the machine at the known location. The method may further include comparing at least one of the actual pitch to the expected pitch of the machine and the actual roll to the expected roll of the machine. The method may also include outputting a signal indicative of the low tire pressure condition of at least one tire, if at least one of the actual pitch and the actual roll deviate from the expected pitch and the expected roll of the machine, respectively.
US08160761B2 Method for predicting an operator torque request of a hybrid powertrain system
A method for controlling a hybrid powertrain system based upon a predicted speed of an output member, a predicted operator torque request, and a predicted accelerator pedal position is disclosed. The method comprises predicting the accelerator pedal position based upon a monitored accelerator pedal position and a filtered accelerator pedal position, predicting the speed of an output member based upon a monitored speed of the output member, and predicting the operator torque request based upon the predicted speed of the output member and the predicted accelerator position.
US08160759B2 System and method for optimized flight planning
A computer-implemented system and method for the processing and optimization of flight plans is disclosed. Information regarding a plurality of previous flight plans is received over a digital network and is stored in at least a database. The database preferably includes aviation fuel price information, aircraft performance information, and aviation weather information as well. Upon receiving a request, a server generates at least an optimized portion of a flight plan. In one form, historical flight plan data of others is automatically used to aid in the determination of the optimized route offered to the user for review, with the resulting final flight plan being electronically filed with the FAA upon approval. In a further form, the user may arrange fuel transactions at intermediate destinations with the service provider receiving a fee in exchange for facilitating the transaction.
US08160755B2 Displaying air traffic symbology based on relative importance
A method and system is provided for displaying aircraft symbology. The method includes displaying (302, 502, 702, 902, 1002) a symbol (202) for a first aircraft in a predetermined format, processing (304, 504, 704, 904, 1004) data related to flight conditions of the first aircraft and a second aircraft, determining (306, 506, 706, 906, 1006) a format for the display of the second aircraft based on the processed data, and displaying (308, 508, 708, 908, 1008) a symbol (212, 214, 216, 412, 416, 612, 614, 616, 812, 814, 816) for the second aircraft in accordance with the determined format.
US08160746B2 System and method for graphically allocating robot's working space
System and method for graphically allocating robot's working space are provided. The system includes an image extractor, a task-allocating server and a robot. A graphic user interface (GUI) of the task-allocating server includes a robot's working scene area, a space attribute allocating area and a robot's task area. Thus, a user assigns one certain space area in the robot's working scene area with a “wall” attribute, or another space area with a “charging station” attribute. Meanwhile, by using the GUI, the user directly assigns the robot to execute a specific task at a certain area. Hence, the user or remote controller facilitates the robot to provide safer and more effective service through his/her environment recognition.
US08160744B2 Contact shape computing apparatus and method, and computer program therefor
A contact shape computing apparatus for detecting contact between a plurality of three-dimensional solid models and computing a contact shape between two solid bodies in contact with each other includes the following elements: a collision detector operable to detect a collision or contact between the two solid bodies; a contact plane setting unit operable to define a contact plane that passes through a common region of the two solid bodies; a contact problem solving unit operable to individually solve contact states of the solid bodies with the contact plane as half-contact problems; and a contact shape computing unit operable to compute the contact shape between the two solid bodies by uniting solutions of the half-contact problems for the associated solid bodies, the solutions being obtained by the contact problem solving unit.
US08160743B2 Anthropomorphic medical robot arm with movement restrictions
An anthropomorphic medical robot arm includes a base end, a first arm element, a base joint coupling the base end to the first arm element, a second arm element, a middle joint coupling the second arm element to the first arm element, a distal functional end, a distal joint coupling the distal functional end to the second arm element, and at least one selectively operable movement inhibitor operable on the base joint, middle joint and/or distal joint so as to restrict the functionally possible range of movement of the robot arm to the range of movement of a human arm.
US08160742B2 Apparatus for dispensing and identifying product in washrooms
An apparatus for the dispensing of product is provided. The apparatus includes a dispenser that is configured for dispensing product and a sensor in communication with an electrical circuit carried by the dispenser. The sensor is configured for detecting identification information about the product when the electrical circuit is completed by the product. Additional exemplary embodiments are also provided in which the sensor operates through optical detection, smell, physical contact with the product, or vibration instead of or in addition to the completion of an electrical circuit.
US08160741B1 Pass-through wall-mounted medications cabinet and system
A pass-through medications cabinet is built into a wall of a hospital room and can be accessed from the room interior or from the hallway. A frame mounted in the wall supports a rack or box containing patient drawers or bins, arranged in a vertical stack parallel to the wall or in a horizontal row. There is a hall-side door that can be opened by pharmacy staff to place pre-loaded bins into respective compartments, and one or more room-side doors or drawers that may be opened by nurse staff for administering the medications to patients. The hallway door and room doors interlock to prevent their being opened at the same time to safeguard patient privacy. The system maintains an audit trail of access to the bins.
US08160739B2 Transferring storage devices within storage device testing systems
A method of transferring storage devices within a storage device testing system includes actuating an automated transporter to substantially simultaneously retrieve multiple storage devices presented for testing, and actuating the automated transporter to substantially simultaneously deliver each retrieved storage device to a respective test slot of the storage device testing system and substantially simultaneously insert each storage device in the respective test slot.
US08160736B2 Methods and apparatus for white space reduction in a production facility
Efficient manufacturing automation system and methods are described. The automation system controls movement of materials for processing by tools in a manufacturing facility. The system and methods include pre-emptive dispatching for transferring of materials. With the pre-emptive dispatching, the next destination and next lot to be processed is determined prior to a first lot being converted to a ready to unload state. This reduces wait time or idle time to improve tool utilization.
US08160734B2 Changing time intervals of the occurence of audio information from local and remote sites
A method of processing audio information for broadcast to an audience can include changing first audio information from occurring in a first time interval to occurring in a second time interval to provide time-changed audio information. The time-changed audio information can be combined with second audio information that is responsive to the first audio information to provide broadcast audio information.
US08160733B2 Audio system for an information handling system
An audio system for an information handling system, the audio system comprising an audio interface operable to connect a mobile information handling device and a docking station, an audio module in the docking station, and an audio jack configured to connect the audio module to a speaker.
US08160732B2 Noise suppressing method and noise suppressing apparatus
In a method for suppressing a noise by the spectrum subtraction method, it is possible to improve the noise suppression capability by simultaneously obtaining a frequency resolution required for the noise estimation spectrum and a temporal resolution required for the noise suppression spectrum. The signal length of an observation signal cut out for analyzing the spectrum of the observation signal used for estimation calculation of the noise spectrum is set longer than the signal length of an observation signal cut out for analyzing the spectrum of the observation signal as a value to be subtracted for performing subtraction with the noise spectrum.
US08160731B2 Stabilized platform system
A stabilized platform system includes a platform, a chassis subject to external vibration, first and second servomechanisms fixed to the chassis, first support having an end rotatably coupled to the first servomechanism and an other end rotatably coupled to the platform, a second support having an end rotatably coupled to the second servomechanism and an other end rotatably coupled to the platform, a third support having an end fixed relative to one of the chassis and an other end rotatably coupled to the platform, one or more sensors fixed to the platform, and a controller coupled to the one or more sensors and the first and the second servomechanisms. The controller causes the servomechanisms to adjust the inclination angles of the platform to maintain a desired orientation of the platform.
US08160729B2 Application of microsystems for a building system employing a system knowledge base
An arrangement for use in a control system within a building includes a plurality of sensor microsystems (12, 406, 407, 408) configured to obtain environmental information regarding a plurality of areas in a building and a processing circuit (18, 318, 412, 416). The processing circuit is operable to obtain data representative of the environmental information regarding the plurality of areas in the building under a first set of operating parameter values. The processing circuit (18, 318, 412, 416) is further operable to change an operating parameter and obtain data representative of the environmental information regarding the plurality of areas under the changed set of operating parameter values. The processing circuit (18, 318, 412, 416) is also operable to store the data representative of the environmental information under the changed operating parameter values in a knowledge base. At a subsequent time, the processing circuit employs (18, 318, 412, 416) the knowledge base to adjust the operating parameter values.
US08160724B2 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, recording medium and program
An information processing apparatus which is capable of executing applications includes first control means for controlling a system of the information processing apparatus and second control means for controlling the execution of the applications, and the second control means has state transition control means for defining states of application not dependent on the system and controlling transitions of the defined states and conversion means for converting a command into a format which can be recognized by the system when the command instructing a state transition to the state transition control means is issued.
US08160723B2 Bipolar electrode that can be implanted
A bipolar electrode (1) that can be implanted is provided with at least two poles at its distal end, namely a cathode (4) and an anode (6) spaced apart therefrom. Further, an anchoring is provided at the distal end of the electrode (1), provided for example as a helical screw (5). The different poles are arranged on different shafts or tubes (3) and (7) displaceable in reference to each other, in which the exterior shaft or tube (7) first can be pushed over the anchor (5) in order to protect it during implantation. In the operational state, the poles are adjusted by a relative motion of the two shafts carrying them with regard to their relative positioning.
US08160720B2 Refillable reservoir lead systems
Medical electrical lead systems and related methods are described. The medical electrical lead systems may be configured to be at least partially implanted in a body of a subject. Some variations of the medical electrical lead systems may comprise a lead body comprising a proximal end and a distal end and a lumen extending at least partially therebetween, at least one electrode in the proximity of the distal end of the lead body, and a reservoir in fluid communication with the lumen, where the reservoir is located at a position removed from the distal end of the lead body. Certain variations of the medical electrical lead systems may comprise a lead body comprising a proximal end and a distal end and first and second lumens extending at least partially therebetween, and at least one electrode in the proximity of the distal end of the lead body.
US08160718B2 Method and apparatus for performing warming therapy utilizing matrix heating
An apparatus and method for performing warming therapy is described. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a warming platform, a heating source, a controller, and a plurality sensors. The heating source comprises a plurality of heating elements forming a matrix, wherein each heating element is operable to heat a corresponding region of the warming platform. The controller is operatively coupled to the heating source for controlling the temperature in each region of the warming platform. The plurality of sensors are operatively coupled to the controller for sensing a physiological parameter of a patient (e.g., body temperature) residing on the warming platform, and providing one or more control signals to the controller for selectively controlling the heating elements.
US08160713B2 Electrode array for even neural pressure
The present invention is an electrode array for neural stimulation. In particular it is an electrode array for use with a visual prosthesis with the electrode array suitable to be positioned on the retina. The array includes multiple attachment points to provide for even pressure across the electrode array surface. The attachment points are arranged so as to not damage retinal tissue stimulated by the electrode array.
US08160707B2 Method and apparatus for minimizing EMI coupling in a feedthrough array having at least one unfiltered feedthrough
An implantable medical device is provided including a housing, an external circuit element extending outwardly from the housing, an internal circuit enclosed by the housing, a feedthrough array disposed along the housing having at least one filtered feedthrough and at least one unfiltered feedthrough, wherein the unfiltered feedthrough is adapted for connection to the outwardly extending circuit element; and including means for minimizing electromagnetic coupling between the filtered feedthrough and the unfiltered feedthrough.
US08160706B2 Phased deactivation of functionality in implantable medical device systems
Embodiments of the invention are related to systems for interfacing with implantable medical devices, amongst other things. In an embodiment, the invention includes an external medical system including a processor and a telemetry circuit in communication with the processor, the processor configured to communicate with an implanted medical device. The system can be configured to query a system user after a first period of time in which indicators of system use are not detected. The system can be further configured to deactivate one or more data transmission features of the implanted medical device after a second period of time in which one or more indicators of system use are not detected. Other embodiments are also included herein.
US08160700B1 Adaptive single site and multi-site ventricular pacing
An exemplary method includes delivering a cardiac pacing therapy using an electrode configuration for left ventricular, single site pacing or left ventricular, multi-site pacing, measuring a series of interventricular conduction delays using the left ventricular pacing and right ventricular sensing (IVCD-LR), comparing the interventricular conduction delay values to a limit and, based on the comparison, deciding whether to change the electrode configuration for the left ventricular pacing. Other exemplary methods, devices, systems, etc., are also disclosed.
US08160693B2 Irrigation probe for ablation during open heart surgery
An irrigation ablation probe comprises a generally rigid probe body and a handle mounted to the proximal end of the probe body. The generally rigid probe body comprises an ablation electrode at its distal end having at least one irrigation opening through which fluid can pass. An infusion tube extends through the probe body for introducing fluid into the ablation electrode. The irrigation ablation probe is useful for treating atrial fibrillation during open heart surgery.
US08160691B2 Apparatus to measure skin moisture content and method of operating the same
A method of measuring skin moisture content, the method including: measuring a differential rate of a skin impedance of a predetermined skin area of a user for a predetermined period of time; and determining that the skin area is a moist area when the differential rate of skin impedance is greater than or equal to a predetermined value for a predetermined period of time, and determining that the skin area is a dry area when the differential rate of skin impedance is less than the predetermined value for the predetermined period of time.
US08160689B2 Method of and apparatus for monitoring of muscle activity
Apparatus for monitoring muscle activity, apparatus comprising means for providing signals indicative of muscle activity, for example EMG-signals, means for processing of signals in order to detect a particular activity and means for providing a feedback signal, wherein device is designed in order to be individually adaptable in a set-up mode. The apparatus can be used for detecting and prevention of undesired activities such as bruxism, movements that are damaging or unwanted etc. The detection can be performed with great certainty since the individual parameters of the user are utilized for laying down reference values, threshold values, criteria for triggering of feedback signals, etc., which may take place at a set-up procedure.
US08160688B2 Integrated self-contained recorder of biological data for small animal research
An apparatus and method for the recording of physiological variables in small animals are described. The apparatus is an integrated self-contained recorder including a converter of biological signals into a digital form, a data storage unit, a data output for transporting the stored data from the recorder after the end of recording session, a power source and an electrical connector arranged for connection of the recorder with at least one sensor of biological signal and mechanical fixation of the recorder at the head of an animal. The recorder may contain a sensor, which receives signals from an external source for synchronization of the stored data with external equipment or observed/registered animal behavior.
US08160686B2 Methods and devices for accurately classifying cardiac activity
Methods, systems, and devices for signal analysis in an implanted cardiac monitoring and treatment device such as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. In illustrative examples, captured data including detected events is analyzed to identify likely overdetection of cardiac events. In some illustrative examples, when overdetection is identified, data may be modified to correct for overdetection, to reduce the impact of overdetection, or to ignore overdetected data. New methods for organizing the use of morphology and rate analysis in an overall architecture for rhythm classification and cardiac signal analysis are also discussed.
US08160685B2 Adaptive peak detection system and method for heart pulse
The present application discloses an adaptive system and a method for detection of heartbeat peaks. The adaptive detection system for heartbeat peaks includes: means for detecting peaks of ventricular or atrial heartbeat signals; and means for determining heart conditions according to a detected peak interval. Heart beats can be detected at a low supply voltage, diseases can be determined according to the detected cardiogram signals, and treatment can be performed by diagnosis in the event of abnormality.
US08160670B2 Analyte monitoring: stabilizer for subcutaneous glucose sensor with incorporated antiglycolytic agent
An analyte sensor including an antiglycolytic agent or a precursor thereof and a chelating agent that stabilizes the antiglycolytic agent positioned proximate to the working electrode of the sensor. Also provided are systems and methods of using the electrochemical analyte sensors in analyte monitoring.
US08160669B2 Transcutaneous analyte sensor
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for measuring an analyte in a host. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transcutaneous measurement of glucose in a host.
US08160668B2 Pathological condition detector using kernel methods and oximeters
A method of manufacturing a pulse oximeter configured to classify patient data is disclosed. The method includes collecting a set of sample data and classifying the sample data as either pathological or normal using human expertise. The method also includes generating statistics representative of the saturation traces. A linear discriminator is composed having a non-linear transform that accepts the statistics as input and a pulse oximeter is programmed to compute the linear discriminator using a kernel function.
US08160667B2 Biological light measuring apparatus and method
An optical fiber setting adequacy evaluation unit is disclosed for evaluating a setting adequacy on a body surface in an inspection area of irradiation use optical fibers. The evaluation unit can also be used for setting the accuracy of light receiving use optical fibers at both ends of respective measurement channels in an optical measurement apparatus for living body. The evaluation unit evaluates the setting adequacy on the body surface of a subject of the irradiation use optical fibers or of light receiving use optical fibers for the respective measurement channels. The evaluation is performed based on pulse wave intensities of the respective measurement channels calculated by a pulse wave calculation unit. The pulse wave calculation unit calculates intensities of the pulse wave due to heartbeats of a subject contained in hemoglobin signals of the respective measurement channels calculated by a hemoglobin signal calculation unit.
US08160657B2 Mobile wireless communications device with elastomeric sealing membrane covering switch and related methods
A mobile wireless communications device may include a housing having an opening therein and an inwardly extending housing ring adjacent the opening, and a switch carried by the housing and being aligned with the opening. The mobile wireless communications device may further include a backing member within the housing adjacent the opening, and an elastomeric switch membrane comprising a body covering the switch, and a flange coupled to the body and compressed between the backing member and the housing ring to define a seal therewith. The flange may include a flange base, and a pair of flange rings extending inwardly from the flange base and defining a valley therebetween aligned with the housing ring. In another embodiment, the flange may include a flange base and a first flange ring on a first surface thereof, and a pair of second flange rings on a second surface of the flange base and defining a valley therebetween aligned with the first flange ring.
US08160656B2 Telematics system and method having combined cellular and satellite functionality
A vehicle Telematics unit includes a cellular transceiver and a satellite receiver. At least one controller controls the transceiver and the receiver and determines which one to use to communicate with a source of Telematics service. If the transceiver is to be used, the controller receives messages in cellular communications from the source with a cellular network. If the receiver is to be used, the controller receives messages in satellite communications from the source with a satellite network. The controller can programmably control power from a battery to the transceiver and receiver when the vehicle is turned off using discontinuous reception parameters, designated on/off times, a controlled duration, and programmable timers. The transceiver is used to return acknowledgments of messages received. If a message is received with the receiver, the acknowledgment is stored so it can be sent at another time when the transceiver is to be used.
US08160652B2 Mobile terminal and screen displaying method thereof
A mobile terminal and method for displaying on a touch screen information associated with an item displayed on the touch screen when an object is in near-proximity to the displayed item. A sensing unit senses a real-touch and a proximity-touch of the touch screen and a controller displays the information associated with the specific item on the touch screen.
US08160651B2 Mobile telephone with improved man machine interface
The present invention envisages a GSM mobile telephone in which a line of icons is displayed on a display. As a user navigates through the displayed line of icons, the positions of the icons alter so that the selectable icon moves to the head of the line. This approach makes it very clear (i) which icon is selectable at any time and (ii) where that icon sits in relation to other icons at the same functional level (e.g. only first level icons will be present in one line). First level icons typically relate to the following functions: phonebook; messages; call register; counters; call diversion; telephone settings; network details; voice mail and IrDA activation.
US08160646B2 Apparatus and method for allocating preamble index of self configuration base station in broadband wireless communication system
Provided is an apparatus and method for allocating a preamble index of a Self-Configuration or Self-Configurable (SC) Base Station (BS) in a broadband wireless communication system. An SC BS apparatus in a broadband wireless communication system includes a detector, a controller, and a generator. The detector detects at least one preamble signal for preamble index allocation by using a signal received from at least one other BS. The controller requests information used by at least one other SC BS for preamble index allocation and allocates a preamble index for the SC BS by using the detection result of the preamble signal and the information received from the at least one other SC BS. The generator generates a preamble signal corresponding to the preamble index allocated by the controller.
US08160638B2 Controlling multi-mode devices
In an example embodiment, a technique for automatically controlling radio interfaces of a multi-mode device. Wireless interfaces are enabled or disabled based on the probability of network availability of the interfaces at a current geographical location.
US08160634B1 Intelligent power control in a wireless network
A method and system is disclosed for intelligent power control in a wireless communication system. In accordance with an example embodiment, a first device will operate in a dynamic-power state in which it transmits a power-increment command or power-decrement command in response to each of periodic comparisons of a signal power level of a signal received from a second device with a threshold power level. While operating in the dynamic-power state, the first device will recognize when it has transmitted a threshold number of alternating power-increment and power-decrement commands, and responsively will transition to operating in a steady-power state in which it continues to transmit alternating power-increment and power-decrement commands even if it detects that the second device has ceased responding to the alternating power-increment and power-decrement commands. While operating in the steady-power state, the first device will recognize when the difference between a currently-received signal power level and the threshold power level is greater than a differential threshold power, and based at least on the recognition will transition to operating in the dynamic power state.
US08160632B2 Method for controlling power in dual-standby mode mobile terminal and apparatus thereof
The present invention relates to a method for controlling a transmission power of a dual standby mode mobile terminal. A method of controlling a transmission power of the invention includes performing a conversation standby service with a first communications network while performing a conversation service with a second communications network, and receiving a first power control level from a base station of the first communications network; comparing a second power control level that corresponds to a power code, which is set for a current output signal power, with the first power control level; and decreasing a current power code when the first power control level is greater than or equal to the second power control level.
US08160631B2 Power control for reverse link
A method performed in a wireless communication system having radio frequency burst transmission interference is presented. The method includes obtaining a first power level of noise and interference signals in an environment of at least one of a plurality of wireless communication devices serviced by an access point; and estimating a second power level by filtering the first power level.
US08160619B1 Dynamic paging concatenation based on page-type
Exemplary methods and systems for paging a mobile station are disclosed herein. An exemplary method involves: (i) before transmission of a page to a mobile station by an access network, the access network (a) determining a page-type of the page to the mobile station; (b) based at least in part on the page-type, determining whether to disable or enable page-concatenation for the page; and (c) if concatenation is enabled, then concatenating the page, and otherwise refraining from concatenating the page; and (ii) the access network transmitting the page to the mobile station. In an exemplary embodiment, determining the page-type of the page may involve determining whether the page is a voice-service page or a data-service page and/or determining whether or not the page is an intersystem page. Further, concatenation may be enabled if the page is a voice-service page, and disabled if the page is a data-service page. Yet further, concatenation may be disabled if the page is an intersystem page (preferably regardless of whether the intersystem page is a voice-service or data-service page).
US08160617B2 Apparatus and method for use in location determination
An apparatus is provided that includes circuitry configured for location determination arranged to obtain a geographic location of the apparatus; circuitry configured receiving connection point identification data, the connection point identification data useable in providing a wireless communication path to a remote circuitry providing a connection point, and wherein the connection point identification data is associated with a geographic location of the remote circuitry; and circuitry configured for associating one or more instances of the geographic location of the apparatus, as provided by the circuitry configured for location determination, with corresponding instances of the connection point identification data. This associating may be used to cross-check/validate the geographical location provided by the circuitry configured for location determination.
US08160614B2 Automated concierge system and method
A method and system for providing automated concierge services to end users communicates with users over network devices, such as telephones and wireless devices, and utilizes third party network location-based service (LBS) applications, such as Internet/Web locators, to obtain location information based on user requests. On receipt of a request from a mobile device, the location of the mobile device is identified. A network application related to the requested service is identified and the user location is translated into an input parameter compatible with the network application which is provided to the network applications. A response to the input parameter is received and processed in order to generate an answer to the user's request. Finally, the application sends the answer to the user.
US08160613B2 Method and system for handover in cellular wireless using route programming and training processes
A method and system for managing handover where a database that receives location information about a moving object includes information regarding which base station is used in a current radio link connection and which base stations were used from historic radio link connections. Using the base station radio link history of the object and an electronic map, a processor coupled to the memory of the database selects which physical path the moving object is using. Upon matching the object's path with a history of path routes on the list, the processor will apply an optimized handoff sequence to the moving object. The optimized route can be derived from an algorithm that processes previous historical data from moving objects traveling on the same route. Methods of providing the location of moving objects via location sensors may be used to provide the database with higher resolution information about a moving object's location on an electronic map and allow further enhancement of the handoff optimization. Generally, location data is used to quickly determine which route the moving object is using and more quickly assign an optimized handoff sequence. Historical data along known routes can include time and spatial information to be processed by the routing algorithm. The database may reside in a central location or within each moving object or a combination of both.
US08160601B2 Method for optimizing spatial modulation in a wireless link and network element thereto
The selection of the spatial mode together with modulation and encoding schemes based on channel condition measurements requested from MS forms a basis for selecting a best transmission data rate in a wireless link in every channel conditions. A method and network element comprising multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) capable antenna technology allows the use of a best transmission data rate in the channel if selection of transmission mode has been made correctly. The thresholds for transmission mode selections are pre-determined and compared to instantaneous channel quality information. The practical MIMO solution based on correct selection procedure provides also continuous sufficient channel condition for terminal users when the user moves from LOS situation to NLOS situation.
US08160597B2 Apparatus and method for allocating segments in broadband wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for allocations segments in a broadband wireless communication system is provided. Sector pairs are generated with respect to all sectors existing in different cells and the generated sector pairs are sorted according to priority based on a proximity. A sector pair having a top priority among unselected sector pairs is selected. Segments are allocated to all sectors of a cell including each sector of the selected sector pair. Accordingly, segments can be allocated to sectors while minimizing downlink throughput deterioration caused by segment duplication.
US08160596B2 Asymmetric mode of operation in multi-carrier communication systems
A method and system for providing asymmetric modes of operation in multi-carrier wireless communication systems. A method may assign a long code mask (LCM) to an information channel associated with a plurality of forward link carriers to transmit data from an access network to an access terminal; and multiplex the information channel on a reverse link carrier. The information channel may include one of data source channel (DSC), data rate control (DRC) and acknowledgment (ACK) information, and the multiplexing may be code division multiplexing (CDM). The AN may instruct the AT on whether to multiplex the DSC information based on feedback from the AT. The method may further offset the ACK information on the reverse link to reduce the reverse link peak to average, CDM the information channel on an I-branch and on a Q-branch, and transmit the code division multiplexed information channel on the reverse link carrier.
US08160593B2 Apparatus, and associated method, for transposing short codes used to direct a call to a service center during operation of a mobile communication system
Apparatus (58), and an associated method, for facilitating delivery of network-specific dialing codes to a mobile node (12). When a mobile node (12) is registered to a network part (18) of the network infrastructure of a radio communication system (10), a request (62) is generated by the mobile node (12), requesting download thereto of the dialing codes used in the network part (18) to call service centers (42) associated therewith. The requested dialing codes are downloaded to the mobile node (12). And, the downloaded dialing codes are indexed (68) together with the dialing codes normally used by the mobile node (12) to call the corresponding service centers (42). Subsequently, when a call is placed to a service center, the dialing codes are transposed (74), if necessary, to permit the call to a designated service center (42) to be completed.
US08160592B2 Data relay apparatus and method using telephone number
A data relay apparatus and method using a telephone number are provided. The data relay apparatus includes: a searching unit that searches for an IP address of a host apparatus corresponding to a receiver's telephone number received from a sender; and an output unit that outputs information transmitted from the sender to the host apparatus having the searched IP address.
US08160590B2 Method for determining the type of a mobile radio base station; radio communication terminal and network devices; radio communication smart card device
In an embodiment, a method for determining the type of a mobile radio base station is provided. The method may include receiving a synchronization message comprising a mobile radio base station identifier, and determining the type of a mobile radio base station using a previously signaled and stored piece of mobile radio base station type determining information indicating a rule as to how the type of a mobile radio base station out of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station can be derived from a mobile radio base station identifier and the received mobile radio base station identifier.
US08160585B2 Call-handling for an off-premises, telecommunications terminal with an installed subscriber identity module
Apparatus and method are disclosed that enable an organization's enterprise-wide network to accommodate roaming wireless terminals that are affiliated with the local enterprise networks within the enterprise-wide network. An embodiment of a system is capable of handling a wireless terminal, such as a cellular telephone, that is able to use different SIM cards in different geographic regions or service-provider networks. A mobility client that is part of the wireless terminal registers when it detects that a new SIM card has been installed at the wireless terminal, whereby the client provides the subscriber-specific information that the wireless terminal reads from the SIM card. The mobility client identifies itself to the server by a user identifier, such as the station extension with which the terminal is affiliated back at the home local enterprise network. Upon successful registration, the client receives an access number suitable for its current location.
US08160573B2 Portable communications device coupled to first network by way of second network
A portable communications device (PCD) is coupled to a first network by way of a second network. The PCD is normally in radio communication with the first network, and is coupled to the first network by way of the second network when the PCD is out of radio communication with the first network. In particular, the PCD is coupled to the second network, and is caused to leave a first network mode and enter a second network mode. A network connection is established with the first network by way of the second network, and communication with the first network is entered into by way of the second network.
US08160570B2 Multiprotocol antenna system for multiple service provider-multiple air interface co-located base stations
A hub unit is configured to digitize first and second analog radio frequency signals in order to generate first and second digital data, respectively, indicative of the first and second analog radio frequency signals. The first and second analog radio frequency signals are broadcast from first and second base stations, respectively, associated with first and second cellular service providers, respectively, using first and second air interfaces, respectively. The first and second digital data are transported to a radio access node using a shared transport medium. The radio access node is configured to reconstruct versions of the first and second analog radio frequency signals from the first and second digital data, respectively, using first and second digital-to-analog converters and is also configured to generate first data packets from a first data radio frequency signal. The first data packets are communicated to the hub unit using the shared transport medium.
US08160564B1 Remote control of computing device applications using mobile device
Embodiments described herein are directed to controlling an application on a computing device with a mobile device. The mobile device captures an image of the application (i.e., by taking a photograph of the computing device's screen). A request is made to the computing device for bitmap information and the available options of the application. Once received by the mobile device, the options are associated with the bitmap representation and hard and/or soft keys are assigned on the mobile device. The user can then view the image of the application and select any of the keys, which, in turn, initiates requests for action that are submitted to the computing device. The computing device associates the actions with the corresponding options in the application and processes the actions accordingly.
US08160561B2 Configurable and pushable carrier communications with rich content
Apparatus, methods, data structures, and computer programming for the display on mobile wireless communications devices of information without the authorization or control of administrative servers. Displayed information can include, for example, carrier logos, news, and advertisements presented at the initiative of local service providers or other third-party systems. The local service providers or other parties are enabled to control the location and manner of the displays, as well as the content of data displayed. Providing control over the display to the local service provider enables, among other advantages, the transmission and display of much richer content, in more flexible manner than has heretofore been possible, including static and dynamic graphic images. The Application can be particularly useful in GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and UMTS systems.
US08160557B2 Integration of wireless and external computing devices
Information is received from a caller via a wireless device and communicated to an external computing device. Contact information for the caller is located using at least one of a name and phone number of the caller, and when the contact information for the caller is located, it is displayed on a display of the external computing device.
US08160553B2 Method and device for managing data in mobile terminal
Disclosed is a method for managing data in a mobile terminal, which includes storing data generated in the mobile terminal in a data log corresponding to the area in which the data was generated, among a plurality of data logs classified according to areas; and displaying data stored in each data log classified according to the areas.
US08160552B2 Software program and method for providing promotions on a phone prior to call connection
The present invention includes a method and software application for providing a promotion to a user on a phone. The software application resides on a user's phone and “listens” for phone numbers dialed by a user. In response to the user dialing a phone number, the software determines whether a promotion or an offer for a promotion should be provided to the user. In response to determining to play or offer to play a promotion to the user, the software application on the phone effectively “intercepts” the call and plays to the user either a promotion or an offer to hear about a promotion prior to placing an outbound voice call. The software application may retrieve the promotion from local memory or may connect with a remote server to download an applicable promotion.
US08160550B2 Method for downloading a message in a mobile terminal, method for forwarding message, and mobile terminal for performing the same
A mobile terminal and a method for downloading a message in a mobile terminal, the method includes receiving a notification message comprising information indicating whether a media file included in a transmitted message is modified, and selectively requesting downloading of the transmitted message to the mobile terminal, if the media file is modified, based upon a message reception mode of the mobile terminal.
US08160549B2 Mood-based messaging
A method for social interacting, including using a portable messaging device for designating, from time to time, a plurality of friends, selecting a mood, sending one or more representations of the selected mood to each of the plurality of designated friends, further selecting an updated mood, and further sending one or more representations of the updated mood to each of the plurality of designated friends, to supersede the previously sent one or more representations of the mood. A user interface is also described and claimed.
US08160546B2 System and method for enhanced mobile user rewards
Coincident with the evolution, maturation, etc. of wireless messaging ecosystems an infrastructure that supports offering to mobile subscribers different types of rewards (for example, possibly inter alia, cash, free service offerings, product coupons and/or discounts, popularity indicators, etc.) for specific mobile subscriber behaviors including, possibly inter alia, a mobile subscribers' creation and sending of increasing numbers of certain types of messages. The infrastructure may optionally leverage the capabilities of a centrally-located Messaging Inter-Carrier Vendor.
US08160542B2 System and method for handling special number calls using text message format
A system for reducing location-related messages in a mobile a network includes: (a) a mobile communicator; (b) a location server coupled with the mobile communicator and the mobile a network; and (c) a location determiner coupled with the mobile communicator or the location server. The location determiner occasionally collects location information relating to an extant location of the mobile communicator. The mobile communicator or the location determiner effects location-related messages to convey location information to the location server. The mobile communicator or the location server employs the location-related messages to compile a locations schedule for the mobile communicator in a time-location almanac coupled with the mobile communicator. The mobile communicator occasionally compares the extant location with the locations schedule. Neither of the mobile communicator and the location determiner effects the location-related messages when the extant location is within a predetermined variance from the locations schedule.
US08160539B1 Location provisioning for 911 calls received at a telecommunications relay service
A call processing system is configured to receive a call request for a first call from a mobile device operated by a user, wherein the call request comprises a user input and a caller identification, transfer a key and the caller identification to a call conference server, transfer the caller identification, the key, and a service number to a public safety answering point, and transfer the service number to the mobile device. The call conference server is configured to store the key and the caller identification, receive a second call from the public safety answering point that includes the key, receive a third call from a telecommunications relay service that includes the caller identification, and connect the third call to the second call based on the caller identification and the key.
US08160537B2 Method and apparatus for aggregating information in a wireless communication system
A Wireless Router (WR) aggregates information regarding the emergency calls based on their context and routes the aggregated emergency information to the correct portal which directs the aggregated emergency to appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The information aggregation is automatically triggered when the number of calls exceeds the multihop capacity to the egress point. The PSAP responds to the emergency situation by sending a response message via the Portal. The WR multicast/broadcasts the response message to the mobile devices which initiated the emergency calls. The response message generally includes emergency instructions based on incident type and location. Further, a call-back list is created for users whose emergency calls were not completed. By using the call-back list PSAP personnel can initiate calls to end users to provide assistance in emergency situations.
US08160535B2 RF adapter for field device
An adapter for coupling to a process control transmitter of the type used to monitor a process variable in an industrial process is provided. The adapter includes I/O circuitry configured to couple to a two wire process control loop and to the process control transmitter and communicate on the process control loop. Wireless communication circuitry couples to the two wire process control loop and is configured to transmit an RF signal. Power supply circuitry provides power to the wireless communication circuitry.
US08160534B2 Applications of universal frequency translation
Frequency translation and applications of same are described herein. Such applications include, but are not limited to, frequency down-conversion, frequency up-conversion, enhanced signal reception, unified down-conversion and filtering, and combinations and applications of same.
US08160531B2 Receiving device for adjusting energy of a received signal sent over a transmission line
A receiving device is provided capable of avoiding reception of unnecessary energy when a signal waveform actually changes on a receiving side. An impedance control circuit includes a sensing unit to sense one or more of a voltage, current, or power of a signal to be received by a receiving circuit. The impedance control unit varies an input impedance according to the change in the sensed one or more quantities so that the received signal will be reflected. Thus the excess energy of the signal is reflected and fed to any other receiving circuit achieving stable communications.
US08160529B1 Adaptive FM/AM radio architecture
A radio frequency (RF) receiver includes a local oscillator (LO) module that receives a control signal and that generates a LO signal at a LO frequency that is based on the control signal, a LO mixer module that generates an intermediate frequency (IF) signal based on a radio frequency (RF) signal and the LO signals, a complex intermediate frequency (IF) mixer module that generates a baseband signal based on the IF signal and an IF oscillator signal, and a channel monitoring module that generates the control signal based on the baseband signal.
US08160528B2 Method and device for detecting presence of a carrier signal in a received signal
A device receives a signal and, prior to demodulating the signal determines whether carrier is present in the received signal based on the correlation depth of the received signal. The device determines a plurality of values for the received signal that indicate the amount of correlation in the received signal and detects the presence of the carrier in the received signal as a function of the plurality of values. The plurality of values can include autocorrelation values and prediction coefficients, wherein the autocorrelation values are estimated based on an autocorrelation function derived for the received signal, and the prediction coefficients are generated using a prediction model that is derived as a function of the autocorrelation values. The prediction coefficients can be summed to generate a decision statistic that is compared to a detection threshold to detect the presence of the carrier.
US08160524B2 Signal receiving apparatus and control method thereof
A signal receiving apparatus includes: a receiver which receives at least two types of broadcasting signals included in a plurality of channels; and a controller which controls the receiver to search a current channel according to one type of a broadcasting signal used for a previous channel search and to search a current channel according to another type of a broadcasting signal if the channel is not searched, to thereby set an automatic channel.
US08160523B2 Channel detecting method for digital broadcast and receiver using the same
A channel detecting method executes a process for instructing a broadcast wave scan start, a process for performing tuning control, a process for starting initialization/operation of an OFDM demodulation section and starting the counting of a synchronous establishment timer unit, a process for determining that broadcasting is being conducted, a process for determining the expiration of the synchronous establishment timer unit, a process for outputting a TS signal and notifying that a broadcast parameter is being detected, a process for instructing transition to the next channel, a process for making a decision as to a final channel, a process for performing a transition operation, and a process for terminating a broadcast wave scan. When no broadcast is being conducted, a demodulation unit, an error correction unit and a decoder are not operated.
US08160521B2 Mobile communication terminal and method for controlling a plurality of receiving apparatuses mounted on mobile communication terminal
Signals are received with a wider power range even through the use of existing AGCs than by conventional mobile communication terminals. In an AGC on one antenna side, in order to enable reception of a signal at a higher level, a target TA of a dynamic range DA of this AGC is changed to a value 5 dB higher than a value defined as a standard TS. On the other hand, in an AGC on another antenna side, in order to enable reception of a signal at a lower level, a target TB of a dynamic range DB of this AGC is changed to a value 5 dB lower than the value defined as the standard TS.
US08160520B2 Supply control for multiple power modes of a power amplifier
In one embodiment, the present invention includes an apparatus having at least two gain stages to receive incoming signals and to output amplified signals, along with multiple regulators. More specifically, a linear regulator can be coupled to the first gain stage to provide a first regulated voltage to the first gain stage, and a switching regulator coupled to the second gain stage to provide a second regulated voltage to the second gain stage.
US08160519B2 Compensating for variations in the response of a power supply
Apparatus includes an equalizer having a signal input, a control input and an output; a controllable power supply having a control input and an output, the input of the controllable power supply being coupled to the output of the equalizer; a power amplifier having a main signal input, a power supply input, and an output, the power supply input being coupled to the output of the controllable power supply; and a controller having first and second inputs and an output, the first input being coupled directly or indirectly to the output of the controllable power supply, the second input being coupled to a node upstream of the equalizer, and the output being coupled to the control input of the equalizer; the equalizer being configured to apply equalization to an envelope signal received at its input and to provide a resulting equalized envelope signal at its output, the controllable power supply being configured to provide a power signal at its output based on the equalized envelope signal received at its input, the power amplifier being configured to utilize power received at its power supply input to provide on its output a modulated transmission signal representative of a signal received at the main signal input, and the controller being configured to compare input signals received at its first input to signals received at its second input, and to utilize the results of the comparison to configure the equalizer to correct for variations in the response of the controllable power supply at different frequencies.
US08160515B1 Negative amplitude polar transmitter
A polar transmitter includes a phase monitoring unit for monitoring input modulating data. When a phase transition exceeds a phase transition threshold, the phase monitor unit can signal an amplitude negation unit to invert the amplitude data coupled to the polar amplifier. The phase monitoring unit can also add an offset to the phase data that is provided to a frequency synthesizer. In another embodiment, when the phase transition threshold is exceeded, the phase monitoring unit can trigger inverting differential frequency data coupled to the polar amplifier. In one embodiment, the phase offset and the amplitude negation are applied until a second phase transition value exceeding the phase transition threshold is detected. If such an event is detected, then the input amplitude data is no longer inverted and the phase offset value is no longer added to the modulating data.
US08160514B2 Transmission noise cancellation
Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are directed to down-converting an RF signal of a transmitter to baseband, filtering the down-converted signal, and generating a composite signal based on the filtered down-converted signal and a transmission based-band signal.
US08160503B2 Method and system for characterizing a radio channel of a wireless network using variability of synchronization
A speed parameter or channel quality parameter are determined in a mobile device based on variation in frequency offset measurement. A higher variation in the frequency offset measurement reflects a poorer channel quality and a higher speed; a lower variation in the frequency offset measurement reflects a better channel quality and a lower speed. The parameter(s) may be fed back to the system and used, for example, to make adaptive modulation and coding decisions.
US08160502B2 System of communication using microwave signals over wireline networks
The present invention provides a system for wide-range microwave communications over wireline networks. In an exemplary embodiment, a wide-range transceiver is made having pre-calibrated modular units including an IF radio processing card, an RF transmitter module, and an RF receiver module. Calibration factors are loaded into a memory (e.g., EEPROM) in each module during production. Certain additional calibration factors may also be loaded upon installation, such as a one time calibration for the type and length of cable connecting the RF unit to a remote SPU (signal processing unit). A processor in the RF unit is responsive to control signaling indicating a desired transmitter or receiver configuration (e.g., a particular frequency, bandwidth and modulation), to attenuate the signal in the transmitter/receiver path based on the predetermined calibration factors from the applicable modules. A method for calibrating the modules is also disclosed.
US08160500B2 Method and apparatus to improve closed loop transmit diversity modes performance via interference suppression in a WCDMA network equipped with a RAKE receiver
A method for processing signals in a wireless communication system includes determining at a receiver, a maximum one of a plurality of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) values for a received wireless signal. The plurality of SINR values may be calculated using a corresponding plurality of weight values. A particular one of the corresponding plurality of weight values may be fed back to a transmitter of the received wireless signal. The particular one of the corresponding plurality of weight values may be associated with the determined maximum one of the calculated plurality of SINR values. The particular one of the corresponding plurality of weight values may be communicated to the transmitter via at least one uplink communication channel. The at least one uplink communication channel may include a high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH). Each of the plurality of SINR values may include at least one inter-path interference (IPI) value.
US08160499B2 Reducing exposure of radio devices to interference through adaptive selection of repetitive symbols
Methods and apparatus relating to reducing exposure of radio devices to interference through adaptive selection of repetitive symbols are described. In an embodiment, a symbol may be selected for transmission to a display based on the operating frequency of a wireless device receiver. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US08160498B2 Method and system for portable data storage with integrated 60 GHz radio
Aspects of a method and system for portable data storage with an integrated 60 GHz radio may include establishing a microwave communication link between a wireless portable storage device and a wireless transmitter and/or wireless receiver. Beamforming parameters of a first antenna array coupled to said wireless portable storage device and a second antenna array coupled to said wireless transmitter and/or wireless receiver may be adjusted automatically and/or dynamically. The wireless portable storage and the wireless transmitter and/or wireless receiver may exchange data via said first antenna array and said second antenna array. A secondary wireless communication link may be established to initialize the establishing of the microwave communication link. The secondary wireless communication link may be established via Bluetooth protocol. The wireless portable storage and the wireless transmitter and/or wireless receiver may receive and transmit in the 60 GHz frequency band.
US08160496B2 Wireless communication unit, mobile terminal, and wireless authentication control method
An object of the invention is to provide a wireless communication unit capable of suppressing interference of signal resend of one controlled device with reception of a signal transmitted from another controlled device to conduct wireless authentication with two or more controlled devices. In the wireless communication unit of the invention, a short-range wireless control section 162 controls to perform wireless authentication processing with a controlled device 2 using a radio wave at a different frequency depending on whether wireless authentication in an authentication mode with the controlled device 2 results in success or failure.
US08160494B2 Methods and apparatus for use in switching user account data and operations between two different mobile communication devices
Methods and apparatus for use in switching communications associated with a user account from a first (“source”) mobile communication device to a second (“target”) mobile communication device are disclosed. The source and target devices may be possessed and/or owned by the same end user. The source device is initially enabled to maintain data synchronization with a host server over a wireless communication network via a first wireless transceiver (e.g. a cellular transceiver) for user data of an application program (e.g. an e-mail application program) associated with the user account. To enable the target device for the communications associated with the user account, the source device is operative to establish a programming session with the target device via a second wireless transceiver (e.g. a short-range wireless transceiver). During the programming session, the source device causes user account data (e.g. at least one encryption/decryption key for the data-synchronized communications) for the user account to be transmitted to the target device via the second wireless transceiver. Preferably, the user account data is encrypted based on a passkey for the programming session. The user data associated with the application program may also be transferred from the source device to the target device during the programming session, over-the-air or via a removable memory card such as a secure digital (SD) card. With this data, the target device is thereby enabled to maintain data synchronization with the host server for the user data of the application program associated with the user account. Advantageously, most if not all of the account switching steps may be facilitated by the end user “on-the-fly” without third-party involvement.
US08160493B2 Spatially selective UHF near field microstrip coupler device and RFID systems using device
A system having a UHF RFID transceiver is adapted to communicate exclusively with a single electro-magnetically coupled transponder located in a predetermined confined transponder operating region. The system includes a near field coupling device comprising a plurality of lines connected in parallel with an unmatched load. The near field coupling device may be formed, for example on a printed circuit board with a plurality of electrically interconnected traces and a ground plane. The system establishes, at predetermined transceiver power levels, a mutual electro-magnetic coupling which is selective exclusively for a single transponder located in a defined transponder operating region. Also included are methods for selective communication with the transponder in an apparatus such as a printer-encoder.
US08160492B2 Wireless network system
A wireless communication device having extremely simple constitution is used, and a low-cost and low power consumption wireless network system with high-quality signals is provided. The wireless network system comprises a plurality of wireless communication devices (101) each comprising a radiating oscillator (1) configured to integrate a transistor into a microwave oscillating resonator to generate a negative resistance and to commonly use a function of an antenna (11), an intermediate frequency signal generating section (4) and a receiving signal detecting section (7). In the wireless network system, the wireless communication devices are arranged to face at a position, at least one of the wireless communication devices has an intermediate frequency signal generating section having a frequency band signal generating function different from that of others, the receiving signal detection section having a function that can discriminate and receive a frequency band different from that of others, a signal transmitted from the one wireless communication device is transmitted to the other facing wireless communication device, and the other facing wireless communication device receives and extracts the signal by the receiving signal detecting section.
US08160489B2 Karaoke device with integrated mixing, echo and volume control
A karaoke device is included within an enclosure and having a voice pickup element integrated into the enclosure, the voice pickup element for converting sound waves into an electrical signal. An audio input signal passes into the enclosure and connects with an electronic circuit for amplifying the electrical signal, for controlling the amplitude of the electrical signal and for mixing the electrical signal and the audio input signal into a mixed audio signal which passes out of the enclosure. A video input signal passes into the enclosure and directly connects to a video output signal that passes out of the enclosure.
US08160487B2 Image-forming device having first and second sheet guide pairs for guiding sheets of different sizes
The image-forming device includes an image-forming unit, a fixing unit, a pair of first guides, and a pair of second guides. A sheet conveying path is provided from the image-forming unit to the fixing unit. The pair of first guides are disposed on the conveying path and configure to contact with an image-forming side of the recording sheet at both widthwise edges thereof, for restraining the recording sheet from being displaced toward the image-forming side. The pair of second guides are disposed on the conveying path and configure to contact with the image-forming side of the recording sheet at both widthwise edges thereof for restraining the recording sheet from being displaced toward the image-forming side, a distance between the pair of first guides in the widthwise direction being greater than a distance between the pair of second guides in the widthwise direction.
US08160485B2 Fixing device and image forming device
A fixing device includes: a pressure belt movable in a revolving motion; a fixing roller; and a pressure member for pressing an inner surface of the belt toward the roller. A fixing nip is formed between the roller and the belt while an elastically deformable surface of the roller is contacted with the belt by pressure applied by the pressure member to the belt. The pressure member includes: an elastic member for applying pressures so that greater pressure is applied to center of the roller than to the ends, the center and the ends being along axis direction of the roller; and a hard member that is disposed parallel to the elastic member on downstream side thereof in a revolving direction of the belt and applies pressures to the roller so that greater pressure is applied to the ends than to the center.
US08160484B2 Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
In a fixing device, a fixed member is fixedly provided inside a loop formed by a belt, and is pressed against a pressing rotary member via the belt to form a nip portion between the pressing rotary member and the belt to nip a recording medium bearing a toner image. A heating member is fixedly, provided inside the loop formed by the belt to heat the belt. The heating member includes an opening opposing the pressing rotary member. A seal member covers the opening in the heating member to prevent a foreign substance from entering the heating member through the opening in the heating member. A reinforcement member is fixedly provided inside the heating member and pressed against the fixed member via the seal member to reinforce the fixed member.
US08160480B2 Image forming apparatus having controlled speed differential between image bearing members and intermediate transfer belt
An image forming apparatus includes first and second rotatable image bearing members, a rotatable belt member which can abut on the first and second image bearing members, a drive mechanism to attach or separate the second image bearing member to or from the belt member, a rotation drive mechanism, and a controller controlling a rotational speed of the second image beating member so that the second image bearing member rotates with a predetermined circumferential speed difference with respect to the belt member at least when image formation is performed by the second image bearing member. When the second image bearing member abuts on or separates from the belt member, the controller controls the rotational speed of the second image bearing member so that a circumferential speed difference between rotational speeds of the second image bearing member and the belt member is smaller than the predetermined circumferential speed difference.
US08160479B2 Image forming apparatus including corona charger
An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member; a corona charger provided with a discharging wire for electrically charging the photosensitive member; an exposure device for exposing to light the photosensitive member; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image; a transfer device for transferring the toner image onto a sheet; an adjusting device for adjusting a distance from the discharging wire to the photosensitive member; a detecting device for detecting information corresponding to a surface potential of the photosensitive member at least two points; and an executing device configured to execute an operation in a mode in which an image including a reference mark positioned at a reference portion of said corona charger, for adjusting the position of the discharging wire by the adjusting mechanism and an adjusting mark for adjusting a distance of the discharging wire from the photosensitive member.
US08160475B2 Cart with xero module lift assist
This involves a cart that can be used in changing a marking module in a xerographic color marking system. The cart has a lifting mechanism securely attached to its upper surface. When the marking module is to be changed and a new replacement module installed, the lifting mechanism is used to support the marking module during each of these procedures. Since the marking modules are relatively heavy (30-35 lbs.), to prevent accidental damage to the module, the cart and its attached lifting mechanism are conveniently used by the customer. The lifting mechanism is made up of an upper cradle, a bottom plate attached to the cart and a movable linkage. The module securely rests in the cradle in both removal and installing operations. It is not uncommon for a customer to want to change a color or colors in one or more modules. This cart and its attached lifting mechanism makes it relatively easy to accomplish this change.
US08160474B2 Systems and methods for remanufacturing imaging components
Techniques for modifying an imaging cartridge includes providing the imaging cartridge including a body including a circuit holding structure sized to hold an electronic circuit and forming a modified circuit holding structure, with the modified circuit holding structure sized to hold a replacement electronic circuit. At least one dimension of the replacement electronic circuit may be greater than a corresponding dimension of the electronic circuit.
US08160470B2 Cleaning roller for cleaning charging roller and image forming apparatus
A cleaning roller for cleaning a charging roller in an image forming apparatus is disposed in contact with an outer peripheral surface of a charging roller to remove foreign matters attached to the outer peripheral surface of the charging roller. The cleaning roller has a metal core and a polyurethane foam layer covering an outer peripheral surface of this metal core. The polyurethane foam layer includes a number of cells. The number of cells per inch is 40 or more and 80 or less, and an open ratio of a wall surface of cells is 3% or more and 50% or less.
US08160468B2 Image forming apparatus, memory management method, memory management program product
An image forming apparatus includes a storage area used as a work area of programs for implementing functions, the programs including a basic function program configured to implement a basic function and an extension function program configured to implement an extension function, wherein the entire storage area is used in the event that the basic function program is executed to implement a specified maximum function of the basic function; a detecting unit configured to detect a usage state of the storage area; a storage unit configured to store information indicating an allocation mode defining a method of allocating the work area to the programs; and an allocation unit configured to allocate the work area to each of the programs that is to be executed, according to the usage state of the storage area detected by the detecting unit and the allocation mode stored in the storage unit.
US08160467B2 Apparatus and method for print apparatus rotational assembly cleaning blade adjustment
An apparatus (100) and method (200) for print apparatus rotational assembly cleaning blade adjustment is disclosed. The apparatus can include a printer rotational transport assembly (110) configured to transport a substance in a printer. The apparatus can include a cleaning blade (120) coupled to the printer rotational transport assembly and a cleaning blade sensor (130) coupled to the cleaning blade, where the cleaning blade sensor can be configured to sense cleaning blade stress condition information. The apparatus can include a controller (140) coupled to the cleaning blade and the cleaning blade sensor, where the controller can be configured to adjust cleaning blade parameters of operation based on the sensed cleaning blade stress condition information.
US08160464B2 Developing apparatus
A developing apparatus including a developing container for containing developer, the developing container having an opening portion, a developer carrying member for carrying the developer at the opening portion, a detecting member for detecting a developer amount, the detecting member detecting a capacitance between the developer carrying member and the detecting member, and a force receiving portion for receiving a force and moving the developing container between a first position in which a developing operation is performed by the developer carrying member and a second position in which the developing operation is not performed, wherein the capacitance can be detected in the second position, and the detecting member is a rotatable developer supplying member for supplying the developer to the developer carrying member, the developer supplying member including a foam layer in which the developer can enter.
US08160457B2 PIN/TIA system for use in FTTx applications
A system is disclosed for an improved ROSA that has increased sensitivity for permitting greater numbers of ONTs to be connected to an optical network per defined transmission line distances. The ROSA configuration includes a digital optical module with improved performance characteristics. This digital optical module has replaced a conventional photodiode with a PIN detector that is coupled with the TIA. The resulting digital optical module containing this PIN/TIA configuration when incorporated in a ROSA provides a single ROSA solution that will meet or exceed the ITU/IEEE FTTx standards for short and long distances under substantially all operating conditions.
US08160456B2 Bias controller for an optical modulator
A bias controller for an optical modulator. The modulator includes a bias electrode that is operable when appropriately biased by an applied bias voltage to configure the modulator to operate at quadrature, and the bias controller includes: a generating arrangement for generating power signals indicative of the optical output power of the modulator; and a processor operably connected to the generating arrangement and said bias electrode and arranged to receive said power signals from said generating arrangement and to control the bias voltage applied to said bias electrode. The processor is configured to vary the bias voltage applied to said bias electrode and to determine from power signals received from said generating arrangement a peak optical output power for said modulator, and to determine in dependence upon said peak optical power a target optical power for quadrature with reference to a store of predetermined values for peak output power and respective corresponding values of target optical power for quadrature. Other embodiments relate to a multi-channel bias controller, and to a method for controlling voltage bias in a modulator.
US08160453B1 Protection switching with transmitter compensation function
A method of protection switching between first and second transceivers where dispersion compensation is effected electrically in the transmitters. The method includes detecting, at the second transceiver, a signal failure of a signal transmitted from the first transceiver and, upon detecting the signal failure, signalling the first transceiver to change its compensation function. The signalling can be done by encoding overhead bits in a signal transmitted from the second to the first transceiver. Another method of protection switching includes both transceivers toggling alternate reception paths upon detecting a signal failure and changing their dispersion compensation function to that of their respective alternate path.
US08160451B2 Optical network unit transceiver module with arrayed I/O video contacts
Pluggable ONU transceiver modules are disclosed that include an optical connector configured to connect to an optical network. The pluggable ONU transceiver modules further includes a transmit line including a laser driver and a laser. The pluggable ONU transceiver modules further includes a first receive line including a first optical receiver and a first post amplifier. The pluggable ONU transceiver modules further includes a second receive line including a second optical receiver and a second post amplifier. The pluggable ONU transceiver modules further includes a combined input/output (I/O) and video contacts electrically coupled to the laser driver, first post amplifier, and second post amplifier.
US08160449B2 Electronic apparatus
A system including a device equipped with a reception section, a reception condition detection section and a control section. A partner device emits laser light and modulates the laser light in accordance with transfer subject information. Relative positions of the partner device and the device are adjusted to a communication-possible position, at which the laser light from the partner device is incident in a light reception region of the device. In this state, the reception section receives the transmission subject information from the partner device by detecting the incident laser light and demodulating the transmission subject information therefrom. The reception condition detection section detects a deterioration in a reception condition. If a deterioration in the reception condition is detected, the control section produces a warning or stops emissions of laser light from the partner device.
US08160448B2 Communication system using passive optical network and passive optical network
An OLT transmits and receives a CMTS/CM apparatus control signal through an apparatus physical management interface which is physically identical to or different from a main signal interface (NNI) and processes the CMTS apparatus control signal by itself. When connection of a new ONU is detected by an ONU apparatus control signal, an IP address is allocated by using the CM apparatus control signal in a manner similar to the CM. The CM apparatus control signal regarding the ONU is transmitted and received by using the IP address and a mutual conversion is performed between the CM apparatus control signal and the ONU apparatus control signal. The ONU processes the ONU apparatus control signal in a manner similar to the ONU based on an ordinary PON standard.
US08160447B2 Communication system using passive optical network and passive optical network
An OLT transmits and receives a CMTS/CM apparatus control signal through an apparatus physical management interface which is physically identical to or different from a main signal interface (NNI) and processes the CMTS apparatus control signal by itself. When connection of a new ONU is detected by an ONU apparatus control signal, an IP address is allocated by using the CM apparatus control signal in a manner similar to the CM. The CM apparatus control signal regarding the ONU is transmitted and received by using the IP address and a mutual conversion is performed between the CM apparatus control signal and the ONU apparatus control signal. The ONU processes the ONU apparatus control signal in a manner similar to the ONU based on an ordinary PON standard.
US08160443B2 Calibration factor for interferometric optical signal-to-noise ratio measurement
Systems and methods are described that measure the OSNR of an optical channel. Embodiments provide OSNR measurement methods that distinguish the intensities of the coherent modulated signal from the incoherent noise intensity occupying the same optical band using a calibration factor ζ.
US08160442B2 Interferometric optical signal-to-noise ratio measurement using a calibration factor
Systems and methods are described that measure the OSNR of an optical channel. Embodiments provide OSNR measurement methods that distinguish the intensities of the coherent modulated signal from the incoherent noise intensity occupying the same optical band using a calibration factor ζ.
US08160441B2 Optical fiber access network and commuication protection method thereof
The present invention relates to an optical fiber access network and a communication protection method thereof. The optical fiber access network comprises an optical fiber communication system, a wireless communication system, a communication service switch device, a second optical network unit and a protection optical fiber. The wireless communication system is introduced to protect the optical fiber between the optical branching divider and the optical network unit in the optical fiber communication system. The protection optical fiber or the wireless communication system is used to protect the communication service respectively when there is a broken failure between the optical line terminal and the optical network unit in the optical fiber communication system. This invention overcomes the limit of the resource, protects communication service of the optical fiber communication system and improves the bandwidth utility of the communication system.
US08160437B2 Focus detection apparatus
A focus detection apparatus comprises a field mask which has a rectangular opening, a first focus detection optical system which divides, in a longitudinal direction of the opening or a shorter side direction of the opening, the light beam, a second focus detection optical system which divides, in an oblique direction, the light beam, a plurality of first focus detection regions which respectively extend in the dividing direction by the first focus detection optical system within a frame on an expected imaging surface of the imaging lens, and a plurality of second focus detection regions which respectively extend in the dividing direction by the second focus detection optical system within the frame that receives the light beam divided by the second focus detection optical system, the plurality of second focus detection regions being aligned in the longitudinal direction or the shorter side direction within the frame.
US08160431B2 Image reproduction system and device, image capture device, and information processing device
An image reproduction system configured by an image reproduction device that can accumulate a still image or a moving image for reproduction, and an information processing device that makes a setting to the image reproduction device. The image reproduction device includes: image data recording means recorded with image data; audio data recording means recorded with audio data; setting information recording means recorded with setting information about the audio data recorded on the audio data recording means; a display section displaying thereon the image data recorded on the image data recording means; an audio output section outputting the audio data recorded on the audio data recording means; and a control section making a selection from the audio data for output from the audio output section based on preset details when the image data is displayed on the display section in a predetermined manner, and the information processing device includes: an identification section acquiring, for identification, the setting information about the audio data recorded on the setting information recording means in the image reproduction device; an audio data recording section recorded with audio data; and an audio data process section converting the audio data recorded on the audio data recording section into a predetermined format based on the setting information about the audio data identified by the identification section, and forwarding resulting audio data to the image reproduction device for recording to the audio data recording means.
US08160422B2 Data recording device, data recording method, data processing device, data processing method, program, program recording medium, data recording medium, and data structure
To effectively reproduce video depending on the performance of a reproducing apparatus. A controller 446 determines whether or not an entry of video is a beginning of a chapter of video or whether or not a scene change of the entry is important. In other words, the controller 446 determines whether or not an entry under evaluation corresponds to a time of a chapter of chapter scene change information 447 or whether or not the entry is an important scene change. If an entry under evaluation corresponds to a time of a chapter, the controller 446 sets priority_flag=3 and stores it to an output server 426. The present invention can be applied to a game device or the like that uses for example a DVD.
US08160417B2 Printed circuit board for optical waveguide and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed herein is a printed circuit board for an optical waveguide, including a base board, and an optical waveguide formed on the base board. The optical waveguide includes a lower clad layer formed on the base board, an insulation layer formed on the lower clad layer and having a core-forming through-hole, a core part formed on a region of the lower clad layer, which is exposed through the through-hole, and an upper clad layer formed in the through-hole and on the insulation layer.
US08160415B2 High power fiber laser system with high quality beam
A high power fiber laser system has a combiner configured of a plurality of single mode (SM) fibers which are fused together so as to define an output end of the fiber combiner. The fused SM fibers radiate respective fiber outputs, which collectively define a multimode (MM) combiner output. The SM fibers each are configured with such an optimally small numerical apertures (NA) that the MM combiner output is characterized by a minimally possible beam quality factor (M2) for the plurality of SM fibers. To reduce the possibility of burning of the components of the fiber laser system with a multi-kilowatt combiner output, a coreless termination block is fused to the output end of the fiber combiner and configured so as to provide expansion of the combiner output without modifying the minimally possible M2 factor thereof.
US08160414B1 Self forming waveguides for optical coupling and methodologies for making same
Systems and methods of forming an optical coupling between two optical waveguides where at least one of the optical waveguides is non-UV transmissive are disclosed. In one aspect, a self-forming waveguide (SFWG) is formed in a photosensitive material disposed between a UV transmissive optical waveguide and a non-UV transmissive component at least in part by a portion of an incident UV beam reflected from an interface between the photosensitive material and the non-UV transmissive material. In another aspect, two separate SFWG waveguides are formed in two separate photosensitive materials by UV beams passed thereto via a UV transmissive bridge waveguide.
US08160410B2 Bragg reflector grating
A Bragg reflector grating comprises a plurality of chirped grating sections (65-72), in which at least a first chirped grating section and a second chirped grating section have differing ranges of grating pitches. The combined range of grating pitches provided by the first and second chirped grating sections includes at least one discontinuity, such that the first and second chirped grating sections have one or more grating pitches in common and/or there are one or more ranges of grating pitches within the combined range of grating pitches that are absent.
US08160409B2 Flat-panel optical projection apparatus
A light guide of the tapered-waveguide type includes an input slab (30) for expanding a projected image between an input end and an output end, and an output slab (10) arranged to receive rays from the said output end, and to emit them at a point on its face that corresponds to the angle at which the ray is received. The input slab and output waveguide are matched so that all rays injected into the input end undergo the same number of reflections before leaving the output surface. With the invention the input slab (30) is itself tapered slightly towards the output waveguide. This means that input and output waveguides can be made the same length, in the direction of ray travel, and can therefore be folded over each other with no wasted space.
US08160408B2 Multi-channel optical rotary coupling of low reflectance
An optical rotary joint comprises a first collimator arrangement for coupling-on first light-waveguides, and a second collimator arrangement for coupling-on second light waveguides, with the second collimator arrangement being supported to be rotatable relative to the first collimator arrangement about a rotation axis. At least one derotating optical element is provided in the light path between the first collimator arrangement and the second collimator arrangement. At least one collimator arrangement comprises a rod-shaped lens that is fastened on a support plate so that the axis of the lens is tilted at a given angle relative to the rotation axis of the rotary joint.
US08160407B2 Computer having a casing and/or interior acting as a communication bus between electronic components
A computer including: a casing, at least a portion of which contains a potting material acting as an optical waveguide material; a transmitter for transmitting a pulse based signal at least partially through the potting material acting as the optical waveguide material; and a receiver for receiving the pulse based signal after one or more reflections of the pulse based signal from interior surfaces of the casing; the pulse based signal having a pulse rate configured such that a subsequent pulse doesn't interfere with reflections from an immediately previous pulse.
US08160406B2 Acoustic sensor with at least one photonic crystal slab
An acoustic sensor includes at least one structure including at least one photonic crystal slab and an optical fiber optically coupled to the at least one photonic crystal slab, and having at least one optical resonance with a resonance frequency and a resonance lineshape. The acoustic sensor further includes a housing mechanically coupled to the at least one structure. At least one of the resonance frequency and the resonance lineshape is responsive to acoustic waves incident upon the housing.
US08160404B2 High speed and low loss GeSi/Si electro-absorption light modulator and method of fabrication using selective growth
An optoelectronic device includes an input waveguide structure that receives an input optical signal. A GeSi/Si waveguide structure receives from the input waveguide the input optical signal and performs selective optoelectronic operations on the input optical signal. The GeSi/Si waveguide structure outputs an optical or electrical output signal associated with the selective optoelectronic operations performed on the input optical signal. An output waveguide structure receives the output optical signal from the GeSi/Si waveguide structure and provides the optical output signal for further processing.
US08160402B2 Document image processing apparatus
An image of a character string composed of M pieces of characters is clipped from a document image, and the image is divided character by character, and image features of each character image are extracted. On the basis of the image features, N (N>1, integer) pieces of character images in descending order of degree of similarity are selected as candidate characters from a character image feature dictionary which stores the image features of character image in units of character, and the first index matrix of M×N cells is prepared. A candidate character string composed of a plurality of candidate characters constituting the first column of the first index matrix, is subjected to a lexical analysis according to a predetermined language model, whereby a second index matrix adjusted into a character string which makes sense is prepared to be utilized for searching.
US08160401B2 Information storage medium storing graphic data and apparatus and method of processing the graphic data
An information storage medium including graphic data and presentation information, and an apparatus and method of processing the graphic data are provided. The information storage medium includes the graphic data, page composition information which defines page composition of the graphic data, and the presentation information indicating when graphic screen data, which is composed with reference to the page composition information of the graphic data, is output to a display screen. Therefore, a graphic object is reusable in graphic data processing, and accordingly, a time taken to process the graphic data is reducible and memory area may be saved.
US08160390B1 Minimal artifact image sequence depth enhancement system and method
Motion picture scenes to be colorized/depth enhanced (2D→3D) are broken into separate elements, backgrounds/sets or motion/onscreen-action. Background and motion elements are combined into composite frame which becomes a visual reference database that includes data for all frame offsets used later for the computer controlled application of masks within a sequence of frames. Masks are applied to subsequent frames of motion objects based on various differentiating image processing methods, including automated mask fitting/reshaping. Colors and/or depths are automatically applied to masks throughout a scene from the composite background and to motion objects. Areas never exposed by motion or foreground objects in a series of images may be partially or fully realistically drawn or rendered and applied to the occluded areas of the background and then automatically applied throughout the images to generate of minimal artifact or artifact-free secondary viewpoints when translating foreground objects horizontally during 2D→3D conversion.
US08160386B2 Reducing noise in digital images
A target digital image is received from an image sensor. The image is contaminated by noise of unknown magnitude that is represented by a reference digital image. A process is applied that uses statistical analysis of the target digital image and of the reference digital image to estimate a magnitude of the noise for at least some pixels of the target digital image.
US08160385B2 Correction of blotches in component images
Blotches may be identified and processed to reduce or eliminate the blotch. The blotch may be in just one of several separations and multiple separations may be used, for example, to identify the blotch. An implementation (i) compares a first component image of an image with a first component image of a reference image, (ii) compares a second component image of the image with a second component image of the reference image, and (iii) determines based on these comparisons whether the first component image of the image includes a blotch. Multiple image separations also, or alternatively, may be used, for example, to modify the blotch, as well as to evaluate whether a modification is beneficial.
US08160380B2 Bi-affinity filter: A bilateral type filter for color images
Application of an image filtering algorithm, which defines an algorithm window within which a center pixel is processed relative to the other pixels within the algorithm window, is improved by use of an extended window larger than and encompassing the algorithm window. This approached is applied with an edge preserving filter that works on the principle of matting affinity and allows a better representation of the range filter term in bilateral class filters. An approximate bi-affinity filter whose output is shown to be very similar to the traditional bilateral filter is defined. The present technique has the added advantage that no color space changes are required and hence an input image can be handled in its original color space.
US08160376B2 Image compression apparatus
An image compression apparatus performs quantization of DC component data, low-pass component data and high-pass component data which are generated by frequency conversion of still image data. An extracting part extracts additional data and coding object data which is to be entropy coded, from quantization data. An entropy coding part performs entropy coding of the coding object data stored in a coding object data memory. An additional data processing part generates a flex bit from the additional data. A pattern information generation part acquires the coding object data directly from the extracting part, to generate pattern information indicating whether the coding object data is zero or not. A bit stream generation part outputs the pattern information, the coding object data and the flex bit in a predetermined order, to output a bit stream.
US08160375B2 Method, computer program product, and hardware product for implementing lossless image compression by minimizing complex structures using intelligent pixel crawling
Lossless image compression is performed by receiving and opening an original image file representing an image. A pixel path is determined in the image by analyzing one or more complex structures in the image. The one or more complex structures are represented using a mathematical expression. Each of the pixels along the determined pixel path is replaced to minimize the complex structure, thus providing a compressed image file having a smaller file size than the original image file. A comment is inserted in the compressed image file specifying the determined pixel path. The compressed image file is stored on a computer-readable storage medium.
US08160374B2 Method and apparatus for realizing adaptive quantization in process of image coding
A method and apparatus for realizing adaptive quantization in the process of image/video coding, which includes the following steps: acquiring the parameter information of the neighbor blocks of the current block; determining the quantization mode of the current block according to the parameter information of the neighbor blocks; and performing quantization processing on transform coefficients of the current block by using the determined quantization mode. Wherein, block coding type and motion vector of the neighbor blocks are used as the parameter information for determining the quantization mode of the current block. An apparatus for adaptive quantization in process of image/video coding is provided. The invention can use different quantization mode for adaptive quantization in different image content of an image sequence, thereby improving the subjective quality of the compressed images at the same bit rate.
US08160371B2 System for finding archived objects in video data
A system includes a motion detection processor, a motion tracking processor, a people detection processor, a controller, a fusion processor, an appearance model generator processor, a database, a fast search processor, and a matching processor. The motion detection processor, the motion tracking processor, the controller, the people detection processor, the fusion processor, and the appearance model generator processor comprise an analytics pipeline, and the database and the fast search processor comprise a data index pipeline.
US08160368B2 Image feature extraction method and image compression method
The image feature extraction method of the present invention includes: the step of performing k2 dividing process at least once on a given image so as to convert the given image into a multi-divided image, where the k2 dividing process comprises the steps of: a) creating matrix T based on image matrix X; b) computing singular values of the matrix T; c) determining whether or not minj|σj−σj−1|>ε; d) if the result of the determination in the step c) is “No”, returning to the step c) subsequent to computing the singular values of the enlarged matrix Tα; e) if the result of the determination in the step c) is “Yes”, obtaining U which satisfies T=USVT; f) obtaining matrix T1=UTT; and g) creating image matrix X1 based on matrix T1.
US08160367B2 Circular intensity distribution analysis for the detection of convex, concave and flat surfaces
A method for characterizing a shape of an object surface includes acquiring image data including the object. The image data is analyzed at a locus of points that are at a predetermined distance from a point of interest proximate to the object surface to determine which of the locus of points represents a foreground and which of the locus of points represents a background. The shape of the object surface is characterized based on the characterization of the locus of points.
US08160366B2 Object recognition device, object recognition method, program for object recognition method, and recording medium having recorded thereon program for object recognition method
An object recognition device includes: a model image processing unit having a feature point set decision unit setting a feature point set in a model image, and detecting the feature quantity of the feature point set, and a segmentation unit segmenting the model image; a processing-target image processing unit having a feature point setting unit setting a feature point in a processing-target image and detecting the feature quantity of the feature point; a matching unit comparing the feature quantities of the feature points set in the model image and in the processing-target image so as to detect the feature point corresponding to the feature point set, and executes a matching; and a determination unit determining the processing result in the matching unit so as to determine presence/absence of a model object in the processing-target image.
US08160358B2 Method and apparatus for generating mosaic image
A method and apparatus for generating a mosaic image by mosaic processing of an image are provided, in which an object to be used in a mosaic is acquired from a received image, the object is stored in a storage medium, a target image to be mosaic-processed is received, a mosaic block size is set, at least one object selected from among objects stored in the storage medium is received for use as a mosaic block, the target image is divided into a plurality of areas each having the mosaic block size, and the object is set as a mosaic block by reflecting a color of each divided area in the object.
US08160356B2 Method and apparatus for correcting preferred color and liquid crystal display device using the same
A method and apparatus for correcting a preferred color, which is capable of correcting the preferred color in consideration of an input image and the visual characteristics of a person by correcting differences between colors preferred by the person and an average color coordinate of a color to be corrected in the input image, and a liquid crystal display device using the same are disclosed. The method for correcting a preferred color includes converting data of an input image into lightness (L), chroma (C) and hue (H) data, detecting a preferred-color pixel from the input image, calculating average values of the L, C and H data of the preferred-color pixel, correcting the C and H data of the preferred-color pixel according to differences between the average values of the C and H data and reference values of the C and H data, correcting the L data of the preferred-color pixel according to the average value of the L data according to the hue of the preferred-color pixel, and inversely converting the corrected L, C and H data into image data.
US08160354B2 Multi-stage image pattern recognizer
An image-based pattern recognizer and a method and apparatus for making such a pattern recognizer are disclosed. By employing positional coding, the meaning of any feature present in an image can be defined implicitly in space. The pattern recognizer can be a neural network including a plurality of stages of observers. The observers are configured to cooperate to identify the presence of features in the input image and to recognize a pattern in the input image based on the features. Each of the observers includes a plurality of neurons. The input image includes a plurality of units, and each of the observers is configured to generate a separate output set that includes zero or more coordinates of such units.
US08160351B2 Method and apparatus for mura detection and metrology
The invention addresses the lack of comprehensive and quantitative methods for measurements of unwanted visual “mura” effects in displays and image sensors. Mura is generated by errors that are significantly smaller than what is needed for the function of the device, and sometimes smaller than the random variations in the patterns or structures. Capturing essentially all mura defects in a workpiece in a short time requires a daunting combination of sensitivity, statistical data reduction and speed. The invention devices an inspection method, e.g. optical, which maximizes the sensitivity to mura effects and suppresses artifacts from the mura inspection hardware itself and from noise. It does so by scanning the sensor, e.g. a high-resolution camera, creating a region of high internal accuracy across the mura effects. One important example is for mura related to placement errors, where a stage with better than 10 nanometer precision within a 100 mm range is created. A sampling scheme reduces the data volume and separates between instrument errors and real defects based on their different geometrical signatures. The high-resolution camera scans sparse lines at an angle to the dominating directions of expected mura defects, creating extended sensor fields with high internal precision, and quantifying edge placements in small windows in said extended fields. The mura is classified and presented as type, location and severity.
US08160341B2 Systems and methods for automatic robust anatomy detection through local voting and prediction
A method for performing a medical imaging study includes acquiring a preliminary scan. A set of local feature candidates is automatically detected from the preliminary scan. The accuracy of each local feature candidate is assessed using multiple combinations of the other local feature candidates and removing a local feature candidate that is assessed to have the lowest accuracy. The assessing and removing steps are repeated until only a predetermined number of local feature candidates remain. A region of interest (ROI) is located from within the preliminary scan based on the remaining predetermined number of local feature candidates. A medical imaging study is performed based on the location of the ROI within the preliminary scan.
US08160336B2 Reducing false positives for automatic computerized detection of objects
A computer-implemented method for identifying an object of interest includes providing input data including an image and a candidate for the object of interest in the image, extracting a boundary of the candidate, and extracting a segment of a region of interest containing the candidate. The method further includes determining a plurality of features of an extracted segment of the region of interest containing the candidate, and outputting the object of interest, wherein the object of interest is characterized by the plurality of features, wherein the object of interest and the plurality of features are stored as computer-readable code.
US08160334B2 Method for optical measurement of objects using a triangulation method
A method for optically measuring an object by means of an optical recording apparatus includes a triangulation method. A first shutter means is used to produce a first pattern and to project the first pattern as a first projection beam onto the object to be measured. At least one further shutter means is used to produce a further pattern and to project the further pattern as a further projection beam onto the object to be measured. The first pattern and the further pattern are passed back from the object as observation beams and are recorded by at least one recording means in order to obtain a three-dimensional data record of the object. The projected first pattern and the further pattern are recorded at the same time in at least one triangulation recording using the at least one recording means.
US08160329B2 Medical image processing device and medical image processing method
A medical image processing device of the present invention has an image dividing unit which divides an image into a plurality of regions, a feature value calculating unit which calculates a color tone feature value which is a feature value based on a color tone of the image in each of the plurality of regions, a first color tone reference value calculating unit which calculates a color tone reference value based on the color tone feature value which each of the plurality of regions has, a lesion detection reference calculating unit which properly calculates a lesion detection reference for detecting a lesion finding in accordance with the color tone reference value, and an image region detecting unit which detects a region in which an image of the lesion finding is picked up among the respective plurality of regions, based on the lesion detection reference and the color tone feature value which each of the plurality of regions has.
US08160326B2 Method and system for surgical modeling
A method of surgical modeling is disclosed. A set of related two-dimensional (2D) anatomical images is displayed. A plurality of anatomical landmarks is identified on the set of related 2D anatomical images. A three-dimensional (3D) representation of at least one prosthesis is scaled to match a scale of the 2D anatomical images based at least in part on a relationship between the anatomical landmarks. 3D information from the at least one prosthesis along with information based on at least one of the plurality of anatomical landmarks is utilized to create procedure-based information. A system for surgical modeling is also disclosed. The system has a prosthesis knowledge-based information system, a patient anatomical-based information system, a user interface, and a controller. The controller has an anatomical landmark identifier, a prosthesis-to-anatomical-feature relator, and a procedure modeler.
US08160324B2 Analyzing image errors
A method for analyzing image errors in an image dataset of a medical imaging device is provided. The method includes transmitting the image dataset to a central computing center, analyzing the image errors by a server of the computing center, determining a type of image error in the image dataset, and forwarding the image dataset to a service technician who is responsible for the type of image error determined in the image dataset.
US08160323B2 Learning a coarse-to-fine matching pursuit for fast point search in images or volumetric data using multi-class classification
A landmark location system for locating landmarks in volumes includes a medical image database including volumes of medical images, a learning unit that trains a multi-class classifier to locate a landmark point in each volume from extracted features of the volumes near a sample point offset from the landmark point and discrete displacements of the sample point to the landmark point, and a landmark locator that locates the landmark point in an input volume using the trained multi-class classifiers.
US08160321B2 Imaging device, driving method therefor and imaging method
An imaging device includes an imaging unit (120) having a sensor in which pixels including a defective pixel are arrayed in a matrix, and sensing an image, a first image reduction unit (151) reducing the image by adding pieces of pixel information of pixels adjacent in the row direction in the sensor including pixel information of the defective pixel, and adding pieces of pixel information of pixels adjacent in the column direction excluding pixel information of the defective pixel, a second image reduction unit (152) reducing the image by adding pieces of pixel information of pixels adjacent in the column direction in the sensor including pixel information of the defective pixel, and adding pieces of pixel information of pixels adjacent in the row direction excluding pixel information of the defective pixel, and a selection unit (153) selecting the unit (151) or the unit (152) when reducing the image.
US08160319B2 Reducing distortion in magnetic resonance images
Systems and techniques for reducing distortions in magnetic resonance images. In one aspect, machine-implemented method for reducing image distortion in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) includes receiving a first MRI image and a second MRI image, estimating displacements of voxels between the first MRI image and the second MRI image by minimizing a cost function expressing a cost of the displacements, reducing distortion in an MRI image using the estimated displacements, and making the MRI image having reduced distortion available. The first MRI image and the second MRI image were acquired using different gradient fields.
US08160315B2 Ultrasonic imaging apparatus and projection image generating method
A three-dimensional ultrasonic image with which the positional relationship between tissues can be surely grasped is generated. Accordingly, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus and a projection image generating method according to the present invention acquire first three-dimensional image data and second three-dimensional image data, generate a first projection image on the basis of at least a part of the first three-dimensional image data and the second three-dimensional image data, and generate a second projection image on the basis of at least a part of the second three-dimensional image data and the first three-dimensional imaged data.
US08160311B1 System and method for detecting facial gestures for control of an electronic device
A control system enables a user to control an electronic device by moving parts of the face, including the eyes. Optical emitters and optical detectors are used to reflect light from the relevant parts of the user's face. Pattern matching or approximation of a pointing location are used to define the control input to the electronic device based on the user's motions. Visual feedback is optionally provided to the user during the controller's actions. Additional sensor elements are optionally provided to improve performance of the system. Hardware and software elements are combined to provide for the specified control actions.
US08160310B2 Image processing method and apparatus for processing an image by using a face detection result
An image processing apparatus determines, when white balance correction is executed on an image signal of a face area detected by face detection unit, based on a first white balance correction value obtained by detecting white pixels, whether the corrected image signal of the face area is present in a second color signal area around a first color signal area indicating a flesh color. When the corrected image signal of the face area is determined to be present in the second color signal area, the image processing apparatus calculates a second white balance correction value for correcting the image signal based on a relationship between the corrected image signal of the face area and the first color signal area.
US08160307B2 Recoverable biometric identity system and method
A method for identifying persons based on biometric data achieves enhanced security and increased accuracy compared with other systems by distorting one or more biometrics prior to detection and recognition. The method includes detecting a distorted biometric for input into an identification system, comparing the distorted biometric to one or more distortion patterns, and determining an identity of the person based on results of the comparison. The biometric may be an eye pattern, a fingerprint or palm print, a voice print, a handwriting sample, a DNA sample, a facial image, or any other type of characteristic or behavioral attribute of a person. The biometric may be distorted in any one of a variety of ways for comparison to previously enrolled biometrics which have been distorted using the same or similar element. A system and program embodied within a computer-readable medium performs the steps of the method.
US08160305B2 Method and apparatus for measuring deposition of particulate contaminants in pulp and paper slurries
A method and an apparatus for measuring the depositability of particulate contaminants present in a pulp or paper mill fluid stream and evaluating interactions of such particulate contaminants with other contaminants collects the particulate contaminants on a suitable substrate, such as a plastic film coated with an adhesive or coated with organic contaminate, placed in contact with the pulp or paper mill fluid stream for at least five minutes up to several hours. The amount of contaminants collected on the substrate is quantified and evaluated by taking one or more scanned images of the substrate with a resolution of at least 2,000 dots per inch (DPI) and analyzing the scanned images with image analysis technique.
US08160303B2 Camera device and motion detection method for the same
A camera device is capable of detecting a motion scene. The camera device captures a number of consecutive images of the motion scene, calculates characteristic values of the plurality of consecutive images, and stores the characteristic values. The camera device further matches two consecutive images among the plurality of consecutive images according to the characteristic values of the two consecutive images to obtain a corresponding area and compares the characteristic values of the corresponding area in the two consecutive images to obtain a motion area of the motion scene, with different characteristic values of the corresponding area.
US08160289B2 Speaker with auxiliary air hole
A speaker applicable to various electronic devices includes a speaker body including a magnet and a diaphragm having a voice coil interacting with the magnet, the magnet and the diaphragm being sequentially received therein; at least one main hole defined through a rear surface of the speaker where a speaker sound is not output, such that air generated in the speaker according to vibration of the diaphragm is discharged therethrough; and at least one auxiliary air hole defined through a predetermined location of a side surface of the body to communicate with an inside of the body, such that air within the speaker is additionally discharged therethrough.
US08160288B2 In-ear earphone with cushioning member
An in-ear canal earphone includes a torus-shaped cushioning member defining an aperture therethrough. An audio housing is connected to the cushioning member such that the cushioning member is movable between a first position, in which the housing extends generally away from the cushioning member, and a second position, in which a portion of the housing extends through the aperture for insertion into an ear canal.
US08160286B2 Speaker system
A loudspeaker device includes an enclosure, a loudspeaker unit and a passive radiator both mounted to the enclosure. The passive radiator includes an edge sandwiched and bonded between a first diaphragm and a second diaphragm. This structure allows increasing the bonding strength between the edge and the first diaphragm as well as between the edge and the second diaphragm, so that the loudspeaker device can withstand greater maximum inputs and reproduce quality bass sound.
US08160280B2 Apparatus and method for controlling a plurality of speakers by means of a DSP
In a reproduction environment, speakers are grouped in directional groups, wherein the directional groups overlap with respect to the associated speakers so that speakers are present which have a speaker parameter having different values for the first directional group and the second directional group. A controller for controlling a plurality of speakers has a provider for providing a source position of an audio source, wherein the source position is located between the first directional group position and the second directional group position. The apparatus further has a calculator for calculating a speaker signal for the at least one speaker, based on the first parameter value for the speaker parameter and based on the second parameter value for the speaker parameter.
US08160276B2 Audio system and related method integrated with ultrasound communication functionality
Audio system and related method integrated with ultrasound communication functionality are provided. A communication transmitting device of proposed invention modulates a communication signal of communication functionality to a high-frequency sound and transmits the high-frequency sound by an ordinary audio transmitter. A communication receiving device of proposed invention receives the high-frequency sound with an ordinary audio receiver and demodulates it to retrieve the communication signal, and then the communication device can use the communication signal. The proposed audio sound transmitter/receiver can be implemented using low-cost audio speaker/microphone, such that a cost for implementing communication functionality can be reduced.
US08160275B2 Apparatus and method for an integrated, multi-mode, multi-band, and multi-stage power amplifier
An apparatus and method for amplifying a transmission signals in multiple modes and multiple bands. The apparatus includes a tunable power amplifying module adapted to receive a plurality of signal types comprising multiple modes and multiple bands. The tunable power amplifying module includes a first and second power amplifier stages and a number of tunable matching networks configured to optimize an impedance value based on the mode and band of the signal to be amplified.
US08160272B1 Audio output circuits having ramped attenuation circuits that inhibit pop disturbances when audio sources are switched
An audio output circuit includes a port attenuation circuit, which is configured to convert an abrupt dc voltage offset transition between a pair of audio signals received in sequence at an input thereof into a more gradual transition. This conversion is achieved by performing, in sequence, a ramp-to-mute operation on a first of the pair of audio signals and a ramp-from-mute operation on a second of the pair of audio signals. The ramp-to-mute operation includes ramping an output of the audio output circuit from a dc voltage offset associated with the first of the pair of audio signals to a reference dc voltage offset. The ramp-from-mute operation includes ramping the output of the audio output circuit from the reference dc voltage offset to a dc voltage offset associated with the second of the pair of audio signals. These ramping operations may be performed using voltage steps having uniform step size.
US08160271B2 Variable noise masking during periods of substantial silence
Methods and systems for masking audio noise are disclosed. One apparatus includes a silence detector configured to detect a period of substantial silence in an audio signal; a masking noise source operably coupled to the silence detector, the masking noise source configured to generate a noise signal in response to the silence detector detecting the period of substantial silence; and at least one combining device operably coupled to the masking noise source, the at least one combining device configured to contribute to combining the audio signal and the noise signal. A method includes detecting a period of substantial silence in an audio signal; and combining masking noise with the audio signal during the period of substantial silence.
US08160269B2 Methods and apparatuses for adjusting a listening area for capturing sounds
In one embodiment, the methods and apparatuses adjust a listening area of a microphone includes detecting an initial listening zone; capture a captured sound through a microphone array; identify an initial sound based on the captured sound and the initial listening zone wherein the initial sound includes sounds within the initial listening zone; adjust the initial listening zone and forming the adjusted listening zone; and identify an adjusted sound based on the captured sound and the adjusted listening zone wherein the adjusted sound includes sounds within the adjusted listening zone.
US08160268B2 Loudspeaker array system
The invention is a multi-channel loudspeaker system that provides a compact loudspeaker configuration and filter design methodology that operates in the digital signal processing domain. Further, the loudspeaker system can be designed as a multi-way loudspeaker system comprised of a symmetric arrangement of loudspeaker drivers in a two-dimensional plane and can achieve high-quality sound, constant directivity over a large area in both the vertical and horizontal planes and can be used in connection with stereo loudspeaker systems, multi-channel home entertainment systems and public address systems.
US08160266B2 Active vibratory noise control apparatus matching characteristics of audio devices
An active vibratory noise control apparatus has a speaker for canceling vibratory noise in the passenger compartment of a vehicle, the speaker being used as a speaker of one of different audio devices that can be installed on the vehicle. Each of the audio devices has a command key switch assembly. When the command key switch assembly is operated to turn off the transistor, a control signal is applied to a switching control circuit in an active vibratory noise control unit, which identifies the audio device installed on the vehicle. The active vibratory noise control unit generates a canceling signal matching characteristics of the speaker of the identified audio device for canceling vibratory noise in the passenger compartment.
US08160259B2 Audio signal processing apparatus, audio signal processing method, and program
An audio signal processing apparatus includes a localization direction detector that detects localization directions of two-channel input audio signals, a localization direction distribution calculator that calculates a distribution of the localization directions detected by the localization direction detector, a gain table information recording unit that records gain table information defining weights corresponding to respective localization angles, a gain generator that generates a gain corresponding to an output audio signal on the basis of the distribution calculated by the localization direction distribution calculator and the gain table information recorded in the gain table information recording unit, and a synthesizing unit that synthesizes the two-channel input audio signals using the gain generated by the gain generator.
US08160254B2 Method for managing group traffic encryption key in wireless portable internet system
The present invention relates to a method for managing a group traffic encryption key (GTEK) in a wireless portable Internet system. In the method, for higher security of a group traffic service such as a multicast service, a broadcast service, and a multicast-broadcast service (MBS), a base station periodically generates and distributes a GTEK to a subscriber station served with the group traffic service. A lifetime of a group key encryption key (GKEK) used for encrypting a GTEK is set greater than that of the GTEK. That is, the GKEK is updated once while the GTEK is updated several times. According to the present invention, security for the group traffic service is increased while reducing radio resource consumption.
US08160251B1 Scalable distributed software defined radio (SDR) and mission computing architecture
A system providing a scalable distributed operating environment is provided. The system may include a cryptographic module for encrypting communications for transmission over an external network. Further, more than one classified processor may be communicatively coupled to the cryptographic module for handling classified processes and information. In addition, more than one unclassified processor may also be communicatively coupled to the cryptographic module for handling unclassified processes and information. The number of classified and unclassified processors activated upon selection of a waveform is dependent upon the degree of complexity of the waveform.
US08160250B2 Monitoring usage of encrypted broadcast services
Embodiments include a method and system for monitoring usage of an encrypted broadcast service, such as an encrypted television program, in a secure client module such as a SIM card. An encrypted entitlement control message is received from a head-end system via the intermediary of a client device. A service identifier indicative of the encrypted broadcast service is obtained from the decrypted entitlement control message and, in dependence of the decrypted entitlement control message, status data being indicative of a status of the broadcast service is generated. The service identifier and the status data are stored in a memory of said secure client module and can be transmitted to an external server.
US08160244B2 Stateless hardware security module
Stateless hardware security modules facilitate securing data transfers between devices in a data communication system. The stateless hardware security module may communicate with other devices via a secure communication channel to securely transfer information between the client device and another device. As a result, sensitive information such as cryptographic keys and data may be securely routed between the client device and another device. The stateless hardware security module may support a limited set of key management operations to facilitate routing of information between the client device and another device. However, the stateless hardware security module does not need to maintain state information for the keys it maintains and/or uses. As a result, the stateless hardware security module may be advantageously integrated into a variety of client devices. A stateless hardware security module may support receiving keys in a secure manner from another device and storing and using these keys within a secure boundary. A stateless hardware security module may support generating a private/public key pair within a secure boundary, maintaining the private key within the secure boundary, and exporting the public key to an authenticating entity.
US08160234B2 Assignment of call-center agents to incoming calls
A technique is disclosed that optimizes the background noise experienced by a party who is calling into a call center. Working as part of an overall call-assignment algorithm, the technique considers the acoustic noise that is present in the vicinities of multiple call-center agents who are otherwise satisfactory candidates to handle a call. The technique then selects an agent to handle the call who is associated with an optimal acoustic noise. Typically, the selected agent is associated with lowest background noise level. The background noise is monitored at each call agent's station by evaluating the signals that are present at the agent's microphone. Usually, this is done when a call agent is between calls and, as a result, is not using her headset at that moment. In other words, the background noise is actually measured, and the measurements are then used to assign a call agent to the incoming call.
US08160233B2 System and method for detecting and displaying business transactions
Methods and systems are presented for detecting business transactions from sequences of call center agent activities. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: receiving a plurality of agent activity events; matching a sequence of events within the received events with one of a plurality of transaction definitions; creating a transaction from the matching sequence; and displaying the transaction.
US08160229B2 Call routing system and method
A method and system is provided wherein routing information is obtained from previously cached information or from a gatekeeper. An originating gateway in a network receives a request for a connection and determines whether pertinent routing information is cached. If available, the cached routing is used to attempt to establish a connection. If no previously established routing is available, the originating gateway requests preferred routing from a gatekeeper, including prioritized selections of terminating gateways through which to make a connection to a designated call recipient.
US08160223B2 System and method for managing a conference call
A system, method, and computer program product for initiating a conference call are disclosed. The method includes running a conference call managing application. The method also includes receiving at least one participant-defined condition. The participant-defined condition is associated with at least one conference call defining a status of a participant's communication device to connect the participant to the conference call. At least one alert is sent out to at least all required participants of the conference call, in response to the participant-defined condition being satisfied to start the conference call.
US08160220B2 Request to block use of remotely selected ring tone
A request is received from a user of a communication device to block a use of a ring tone remotely selected by another user for an incoming call to the communication device. The ring tone remotely selected by the other user is blocked from being played to the user of the communication device on the incoming call to the communication device.
US08160219B2 Controlled three way calling
An inmate calls a call processing system and provides two phone numbers to it. The first phone number is for a 2nd Party who will accept the inmate's collect call and who will agree to pay any additional charge for adding a third party to the collect call. The second phone number is for a 3rd Party the inmate would like added to the collect call. The call processing system places the inmate on hold while the system dials the 2nd Party. When the 2nd Party accepts the inmate's collect call and agrees to pay for an additional fee for establishing a three-way call during the collect call, the inmate is taken off hold and is connected to the 2nd Party.
US08160217B2 Systems, methods and apparatus for receipt printing and information display in a personal identification number delivery system
Systems, methods, and apparatus for providing a personal identification number (PIN) in the form of a receipt displayed and/or printed by a client terminal are disclosed. A method includes storing, at the client terminal, receipt templates, received from a server, for plural prepaid services from a plurality of prepaid service providers. The method further includes receiving, at the client terminal, a request for a PIN associated with one or more of the plural prepaid services. Requested PINs and other information associated with one or more of the plural prepaid services is then displayed and/or printed, in accordance with one or more of the receipt templates associated with the plural prepaid services, upon the receipt and dispensed by the client terminal. Related systems and apparatus are also disclosed.
US08160215B2 Systems and methods for visual presentation and selection of IVR menu
Embodiments of the invention provide a system for enhancing user interaction with Interactive Voice Response (IVR) destinations, the system comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising: data encoding a database, the database comprising a list of telephone numbers associated with one or more destinations implementing an IVR; instructions executable by the processor for automatically communicating with at least one user; and instructions executable by the processor to pull at least one menu from the database and display the menu to the at least one user, wherein the menu is associated with a telephone number dialed by the at least one user, and wherein the menu comprises at least one icon.
US08160210B2 Conversation outcome enhancement method and apparatus
A system [100] is provided that includes a first set of sensors [140] to sense a set of conditions of at least one participant in a conversation and generate raw data corresponding to the sensed set of conditions. A first aggregation engine [160] aggregates the raw data and outputs a file corresponding to the raw data. A heuristic engine [175] receives the file and compares the raw data with predetermined state data and outputs a state based on a comparison of the raw data and the predetermined state data. A feedback device [180] determines a corrective action to enhance an outcome of the conversation based on the state.
US08160207B2 Radiation imaging apparatus
A radiation imaging apparatus comprising a detection unit for detecting a radiation distribution transmitted through an object, an imaging unit which includes the detection unit, and a grid for suppressing scattered light which is detachably mounted on an outside of the imaging unit, wherein the imaging unit includes a buffer member on a side surface facing a surface side which radiation strikes, the grid includes a grid body placed on the surface side which the radiation strikes, and a fixing unit for fixing the grid body to the imaging unit, and sides constituting the fixing unit include a side which does not protrude from an outer shape of the imaging unit when viewed from the surface side which the radiation strikes.
US08160205B2 Robotic arm for patient positioning assembly
A robotic patient positioning assembly including a patient treatment couch, and a robotic arm coupled to the patient treatment couch. The robotic arm is configured to move the patient treatment couch along five rotational degrees of freedom and one substantially vertical, linear degree of freedom.
US08160202B2 Radiographic apparatus
A radiographic apparatus includes a radiation source for emitting radiation, a radiation detecting device with detecting elements arranged two-dimensionally, a radiation grid with absorbing foil strips for removing scattered radiation, a physical quantity acquiring device for calculating predetermined physical quantities based on outputs of the radiation detecting device, a physical quantity map generating device for generating a physical quantity map by mapping the predetermined physical quantities, and a physical quantity map smoothing device for smoothing the physical quantities arranged on the physical quantity map in a direction of extension of the absorbing foil strips, thereby to generate an average value map.
US08160199B2 System for 3-dimensional medical image data acquisition
A method and system provides medical image processing and 3-dimensional image construction of an examination subject. A user is enabled to selectively orient an x-ray imaging system having a variable 3-dimensional acquisition axis relative to an examination subject support for holding an examination subject. A non-planar image data acquisition path is set for the x-ray imaging system oriented around the variable 3-dimensional acquisition axis in response to user instruction. Acquisition of image data of the examination subject is initiated by the x-ray imaging system at a plurality of points along the non-planar image data acquisition path. A 3-dimensional image is constructed from the acquired image data such that any metal artifacts introduced by radio-opaque objects within the examination subject are minimized. The 3-dimensional image is displayed.
US08160197B2 Nuclear power plant using nanoparticies in closed circuits of emergency systems and related method
A nuclear power plant with an improved cooling system using nanoparticles in solid or fluid form to improve heat transfer and reduce corrosion is provided. The nanoparticles are delivered to a closed cooling circuit such as a CCWS. Methods for providing the nanoparticles are also provided.
US08160196B2 Networking methods and systems
A network system includes integrated radio transceivers and digitizers, integrated baseband processors and device controllers, digital interfaces there between, and architectures and partitions for same. Licensing methodologies are provided for implementing the features described herein, and for other products and services.
US08160195B2 Phase drift compensation for sampled signals
Methods for processing a signal of interest in an electrical power system are provided, as well as systems and computer program products for carrying out the methods. The methods include obtaining a representative window of data points from the signal of interest; obtaining a window of interest containing data points from the signal of interest; and comparing a phase drift compensated window to the representative window, wherein the compensated window is calculated in accordance with the window of interest and a phase drift that is present in the window of interest relative to the representative window.
US08160186B2 Variable bandwidth automatic gain control
Provided is automatic gain control (AGC) in which a feedback filter has a parameter that is changed based on information regarding data-packet boundaries. In one representative embodiment, the bandwidth of the filter temporarily is increased, or the time constant of the AGC filter temporarily is decreased, within a vicinity of each actual or potential packet boundary.
US08160185B2 Apparatus for synchronizing OFDM signal using open-loop frequency synchronization method and frequency offset estimation scheme using the apparatus
There are provided an apparatus for synchronizing an OFDM signal using an open-loop frequency synchronization method, which can estimate and compensate for various types of frequency errors generated in a frequency modulation broadcasting/communication system to which the open-loop frequency synchronization method is applied, and a frequency offset estimation scheme using the apparatus. To this end, the apparatus for synchronizing an OFDM signal using the open-loop frequency synchronization method comprises a time offset estimator, a time offset compensator, a fractional frequency offset estimator, an integer frequency offset estimator, a frequency offset controller and a frequency offset compensator. Accordingly, in the OFDM demodulation broadcasting/communication system using the open-loop frequency synchronization method, a frequency offset, which is generated due to the carrier frequency difference between a transmitter and a receiver, a frequency shift generated due to the mobile environment of a receiver, the temperature characteristic of a local oscillator, and the like, can be estimated and compensated.
US08160179B2 Cross-over compensation by selective inversion
A receiver with selective sign inversion which can compensate for cross-over conversion is described. Some inputs may be a differential data inputs; a sign select input; a converter having inputs coupled to the differential data inputs and having first and second outputs, wherein the converter is adapted to convert a differential data signal received at the differential data input into a digital data output at the first output and a sign signal at the second output; and a selective sign inverter having a first input coupled to the sign output of the analogue-to-digital converter, a second input coupled to the sign select input and an output, wherein the signal received at the first input of the selective sign inverter is selectively inverted in dependence on the signal received at the second input in order to provide the modified sign select signal.
US08160178B2 Transmitter
A transmitter has a transmission modulator including first and second modulators, a phase comparator and a controller. First and second non-inverted local signals supplied to the modulators are set to have a predetermined phase difference. In a calibration action for reducing carrier leakage, the phase comparator is supplied with the first or second local signals, and carrier signals leaking at an output of the transmission modulator. The controller keeps changing the ratio of DC biasing currents to paired transistors of each modulator until the predetermined phase difference is detected with the phase comparator. When the predetermined phase difference is detected, the controller stops changing the ratio of DC biasing currents. The chip footprint of a transmitter on the direct up-conversion (DUC) architecture is reduced, and carrier leakage owing to local signals supplied to the transmission modulator are decreased.
US08160177B2 Transmit methods with delay diversity and space-frequency diversity
In this invention, several open-loop solutions that encompass the small delay CDD codeword cycling, codeword cycling between different re-transmissions of both small and large delay CDD are proposed. In addition, an open-loop codeword cycling method for SFBC+FSTD scheme, as well as its extension to SFBC+FSTD based HARQ, are proposed. In one method, a plurality of information bits are encoded, scrambled and modulated to generate a plurality of modulation symbols. The plurality of modulation symbols are mapped onto the subcarriers in at least one transmission layer of a transmission resource. The modulation symbols are then precoded by using a matrix for cyclic delay diversity and a set of codewords from a certain codebook to generate a plurality of precoded symbols. The codewords are cycled for every a certain number of subcarriers. Finally, the precoded symbols are transmitted via a plurality of transmission antennas.
US08160170B2 Signal space expansion for a 16 QAM scheme
The invention relates to methods for transmitting and receiving a data bit stream in a communication system using a 16-QAM constellation. Further, an apparatus for performing the methods is provided. To provide a modulation and coding scheme using a signal space expansion and 16-QAM which improves the bit-error rate in comparison to QPSK modulated signals and still provides the possibility to implement coders and decoders with low complexity the invention suggests the use a 16-QAM constellation with specially selected mapping rules together with repetition coding (signal space expansion) and interleaving of the data stream to be transmitted.
US08160168B2 Method and system for efficient transmission and reception of RF energy in MIMO systems using polar modulation and direct digital frequency synthesis
A first oscillating signal may be generated via a first direct digital frequency synthesizer of a communication device. One or more second oscillating signals may be generated via one or more second direct digital frequency synthesizers of the communication device. Signals received via a plurality of antennas may be processed utilizing the first oscillating signal. Signals to be transmitted via the plurality of antennas may be processed utilizing the first oscillating signal and the one or more second oscillating signals. The communication device may comprise a plurality of receive channels, a plurality of transmit channels, and a multiplexer. The first oscillating signal may be coupled, via the multiplexer, to the plurality of receive paths and one of the transmit paths. During time intervals in which the communication device is configured to receive signals via the plurality of antennas, the multiplexer may route the first oscillating signal to the first one or more direct digital frequency synthesizers.
US08160165B2 Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communications device and method that incorporates low PAPR preamble and frequency hopping
A communications device includes communication data and a training sequence corresponding to a preamble. A modulation and mapping circuit modulates the communications data and training sequence into a plurality of multiple subcarriers that are orthogonal to each other to form an OFDM communications signal having modulated subcarriers carrying the communications data forming a data payload and modulated subcarriers forming the preamble. A pseudo-random signal generator is operative with the modulation and mapping circuit and generates pseudo-random signals based on an encryption algorithm for frequency hopping each subcarrier at an OFDM symbol rate. The modulation and mapping circuit applies a quadratic modulation to the subcarriers carrying the training sequences to produce a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) preamble with a PAPR value of approximately 2.6 decibels (dB).
US08160164B2 Wireless communication unit and method for channel estimation
A method is provided for estimating at least one offset of a communication in a multicarrier communication system. The method comprises receiving a plurality of subcarriers wherein the plurality of subcarriers contain the subcarrier that is subject to the distortion; and generating a plurality of first channel estimates for a respective plurality of received subcarriers that are not subject to the distortion. The method further comprises processing a number of the plurality of first channel estimates for the respective plurality of received subcarriers that are not subject to the distortion to generate a second channel estimate for the subcarrier that is subject to the distortion; and estimating an offset associated with the subcarrier that is subject to the distortion.
US08160163B1 Method for OFDM signal identification and parameter estimation
Spectrum sensing is one of the most challenging problems in cognitive radio systems. The spectrum of interest needs to be characterized and unused frequencies should be identified for possible exploitation in a simple and fast way, allowing the radio to catch up with the changing transmission parameters. A sensing method is presented where primary users are identified by matching the features extracted from the received signal to the a priori information about primary users' transmission characteristics. For estimation of some signal parameters, the cyclostationarity of the transmission spectrum is explored by using a suboptimal maximum likelihood (ML) estimator. The proposed algorithms can be used in cognitive radio for identifying various transmissions and for electronic surveillance.
US08160157B2 Video H.264 encryption preserving synchronization and compatibility of syntax
A method for encrypting data exchanged between an encoder and a decoder in a video system is disclosed. A set of bits which, when encoded, do not have any influence upon the decoding stage, are determined during the encoding stage. At least one part or all of the bits selected in stage 1 is/are encoded prior to transmission to the decoding stage. The bit selection stage determines the parts of the flow of bits that only modify the contexts of the decoding process in an insignificant manner in the sense that the modification due to encryption does cause desynchronization or does not lead to non-compatible bit flows with regard to encoding contexts and visual impact. The present invention is used with H.264 encoders/decoders.
US08160154B2 Encoding and decoding methods and systems
Methods and systems enable uncompressed source data, corresponding to previously-compressed data, to be manipulated or otherwise modified, prior to being rendered by a rendering application. For example, audio data can be modified to include additional audio content, and/or video data can be modified to include additional video content. Accordingly, when the modified or manipulated source data is rendered by the rendering application, it can contain additional information that was not part of the previously-compressed data.
US08160151B2 Motion vector detection apparatus, motion vector processing method and program
A motion vector detection apparatus includes: a base luminance value production section configured to produce a base luminance value of the base block; an effectiveness calculation section configured to calculate an effectiveness degree of each of the pixels of the base block based on luminance values of the pixels of the base block and the base luminance value; a correlation calculation section configured to calculate a correlation degree of the reference block with the base block for each of the reference blocks; a position acquisition section configured to acquire the position of that one of the reference blocks set in the reference frame which exhibits the highest correlation degree with the base block; and a motion vector calculation section configured to calculate a motion vector based on the position of the reference block acquired by the position acquisition section and the position of the base block.
US08160148B2 Computational reduction in motion estimation based on lower bound of cost function
A method for motion estimation comprising the steps of (A) determining whether a cost of encoding one or more prediction parameters for a current search position is less than a current best cost, (B) when the cost of encoding the one or more prediction parameters for the current search position is less than the current best cost, updating the current best cost if the current best cost is greater than or equal to a sum of the cost for encoding the one or more prediction parameters for the current search position and a distortion measurement for the current search position and (C) ending the search when the current best cost is less than or equal to the cost of encoding the one or more prediction parameters for the current search position and less than a minimum cost for encoding one or more prediction parameters for one or more remaining search positions.
US08160143B2 Decoding device, encoding device, interpolation frame creating system, integrated circuit device, decoding program, and encoding program
The present invention is a decoding device, an encoding device, an interpolation frame creating system, an integrated circuit device, a decoding program and an encoding program capable of creating interpolation frames at a high precision with an improved encoding efficiency. The decoding device includes a decoding section, a motion vector detection section, and an interpolation frame creation section. The decoding section decodes an encoded image signal obtained by encoding image frames which form an image signal and additional information for creating an interpolation frame for interpolating the image frames based on a motion vector which is a motion vector between the image frames. The motion vector detection section detects a motion vector which is a motion vector between decoded image frames. The interpolation frame creation section creates an interpolation frame based on the motion vector, the decoded image frame, and the decoded additional information.
US08160139B2 Adaptive quantizer, adaptive quantization method and adaptive quantization program
Activities of a video signal are obtained for subblocks of each macroblock of each picture. The smallest activity is detected as an input-picture activity per macroblock. Obtained are activities of a motion-compensated predictive signal per first picture and activites of the video signal per second picture, for the subblocks of each macroblock. A mean value of the activities is obtained per macroblock for each picture, as an error activity per macroblock. A mean error activity is obtained for error activities per picture. A quantization step size for quantization of the video signal is adjusted per macroblock, according to the input-picture activity, to obtain a smaller step size when the error activity is equal to or larger than the mean error activity than when the former is smaller than the latter.
US08160138B2 Filtering method for removing block artifacts and/or ringing noise and apparatus therefor
Provided are a filtering method and apparatus for removing blocking artifacts and ringing noise. The filtering method includes transforming video data on a block-by-block basis, and detecting the presence of an edge region in the video data by checking the distribution of values obtained by the transformation. Accordingly, it is possible to completely remove blocking artifacts and/or ringing noise by more effectively detecting the presence of an edge region in video data.
US08160134B2 Encoding system and method, decoding system and method, multiplexing apparatus and method, and display system and method
The present invention relates to an encoding system for encoding input video data and a multiplexing system for multiplexing a plurality of encoded streams. More particularly, it proposes a system and method that involve describing, in encoded streams, information on the picture order of input video data, and using the picture order information when generating packetized elementary stream (PES) packets, to prevent delays associated with the PES packet generation.MPEG encoders generate PTS_count and DTS_count based on the information obtained from the number of fields in the input video data and describe the PTS_count and DTS_count data as picture order information in encoded streams. The packetizers for generating packetized elementary stream take out PTS_count and DTS_count described in the encoded streams, generate presentation time stamps and decoding time stamps based on PTS_count and DTS_count, and add these time stamps as PES header data.
US08160131B2 Apparatus and method for processing image
An image processing apparatus includes a decoding unit configured to decode coded image data; a filtering unit configured to filter the image data; an analog-image output unit configured to convert the image data into analog signals and output the analog signals in an analog manner; a digital-image output unit configured to output the image data in a digital manner; an output determination unit configured to select the analog-image output unit or the digital-image output unit for outputting the image data to an external device; and a filter control unit configured to switch a characteristic of a filter used in a filtering unit in accordance with the selection made by the output determination unit.
US08160130B2 System and method for the dynamic resolution change for video encoding
The present invention relates to a method, system and computer program product for the predictive encoding of digital video sequences. The objectives of the invention are accomplished by dynamically determining the resolution of a current frame being encoded and outputting the determination. The determination process is based on statistical and coding information of a plurality of frames, including at least one previous frame and the current frame. Further, general encoding parameters and the encoding parameters of a current frame at a chosen resolution are determined, wherein the encoding parameter selection step takes into account the determination of the dynamic resolution determination step in determining the encoding parameters.
US08160127B2 Asymmetric multi-channel adaptive equalizer
An apparatus is disclosed to compensate for non-linear effects resulting from the transmitter, the receiver, and/or the communication channel in a communication system. A receiver of the communication system contains an image cancellation module that compensates for images generated during the modulation and/or demodulation process. The image cancellation module includes a fine carrier correction loop to correct for frequency offsets between the transmitter and receiver. The image cancellation module includes a coarse acquisition mode and a decision directed mode. The decision directed mode allows for a larger signal-to-noise ratio for the receiver when compared against the coarse acquisition mode.
US08160123B2 Device for receiving satellite signals including a phase loop with delay compensation
Described is a device for receiving radio-navigation signals by satellite, said received signals being transmitted at a carrier frequency. The device includes at least means for generating a local signal at a local frequency and a tracking device including a feedback loop called carrier loop for phase-locking the local frequency on the carrier frequency. The loop includes a hardware portion and a software portion. The software portion performs the functions of discrimination of the phase of the correlated signal and filtering of said phase. The software portion also includes correlation functions mainly dependent on the linear variation coefficients between the local phases φlocal delivered after each basic computation cycle. The device makes it possible to increase the loop band and the dynamic stability without changing the pre-detection band and the workload of the software.
US08160120B2 Method for transmitting data between a control unit and a plurality of remote I/O units of an automated installation
A control unit sends a plurality of request messages to the I/O units. The I/O units send a plurality of response messages to the control unit. The request messages and response messages are sent using radio-frequency signals. The I/O units expect to receive a request message within defined first time intervals, and the control unit expects to receive at least one response message within defined second time intervals. The control unit and the I/O units maintain a selected transmission frequency for as long as the request messages and response messages are received within the defined time intervals. The control unit and the I/O units change the transmission frequencies according to a defined pattern if no expected message is received within the defined time intervals.