| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08239966B2 |
Approach for securely processing an electronic document
A method and apparatus for processing an electronic document in a secure manner is provided. A scanner may verify that the configuration state of a file server has not changed since a prior configuration state by issuing a request to a security server. The security server may process the request to determine whether the configuration state of the file server has changed since the file server was registered with the security server. The security server may also verify that the scanner issued a request to store an electronic document using a file server or that the file server received the request. A storage medium of a file server may be protected against unauthorized removal of the storage medium by storing, separate from the storage medium, a password required to access the storage medium, and when the file server is powered on, the password is provided to the storage medium. |
| US08239962B2 |
Processing rights in DRM systems
This invention relates to a method of processing rights relating to content, that can be communicated between devices. Typically, a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system imposes limitations of use and distribution, imposed by the service provider, content provider or distributor. The method of the invention renders it possible for a user who has received DRM rights to restrict the right further. The invention is more particularly related to the receipt of DRM rights to Authorized Domain Digital Rights Management (AD-DRM) systems and the introduction of user attributed rights in the form of further restrictions introduced to the received DRM rights. The invention further relates to a Rights Program Template (RPT) facilitating the introduction of such further restrictions in a user friendly way. Finally, the invention relates to a system supporting the method of the invention. |
| US08239959B2 |
Method and data processing system to prevent manipulation of computer systems
A method and system prevents data stored in a computer system from being manipulated, particularly via hacker attacks and virus infection. The computer system comprises means for switching a portion of system memory into a write-protected mode which is exclusively operable from outside of the computer's operating system. During boot or during an installation process of an application program, writing to a write-protectable area is temporarily enabled, and security-relevant information is written into said write-protectable area. A user is then prompted to perform a manual switching to restrict writing to said write-protectable area, and write access to said write protected area is thereafter restricted in response to said manual switching during further runtime of said computer system. |
| US08239958B2 |
Confirmation method of software and apparatus for executing software
Software contains a confirmation module for confirming the software. The present invention extracts the confirmation module and confirms the software with the extracted confirmation module. Then, the present invention determines validity of the software on the basis of the confirmed result. |
| US08239957B2 |
Privacy-aware content protection system
A method for preventing rendering of content at overlapping time periods on more rendering devices than permitted by a license associated with the content is disclosed. The method includes: transmitting the following to a rendering device of a user: the content, first software that is operative to receive the content and to associate keys with the content, identification information (ID) that is associated with the user, and second software that comprises a player for rendering the content, receiving the following information from the rendering device during rendering of the content: a number representation X which comprises a number representation in bits of a result obtained from encrypting together a number representation of a present time interval and the ID, both encrypted with a public key of a key pair generated at the rendering device, and a number representation which comprises a number representation in bits of a share (SH) of a private key of the key pair generated at the rendering device, and detecting an attempt to render the content at overlapping time periods on more rendering devices than permitted by the license associated with the content based on a determination that number representations X received from separate rendering devices are identical, and number representations Y received from the separate rendering devices and paired with the number representations X received from the separate rendering devices are different. Related apparatus and methods are also disclosed. |
| US08239956B2 |
Document outputting apparatus, control method thereof, and document output system
A document providing computer creates a JDF file and a PDF file, and associates them by embedding a path to the PDF file in the JDF file (S000). When guaranteeing this combination, a hash calculation is performed for the JDF file, and the obtained hash value is embedded in the PDF file. The PDF file, except for the embedded hash value, is then encrypted using as a key the obtained hash value (S003). With a computer for printing the document, the PDF file is decrypted using the embedded hash value, and the hash value is re-calculated and compared with the embedded hash value, thus validating the correctness of the combination. |
| US08239954B2 |
Access control based on program properties
A pattern matching access control system determines whether a principal should be granted access to use a resource based on properties of applications comprised by the principal. The principal name may be created when an application is loaded, invokes other applications (or programs) and/or assumes a new role context. Access is provided based on whether, for each application, the publisher is authorized by system policy to grant privilege as requested by the application. When a resource which requires the privilege is requested by a principal, an access control list (ACL) for the resource is expanded with a list of applications that have been authorized through their publisher to assert the privilege. The expanded ACL is compared to the principal name to determine resource access. |
| US08239950B1 |
Virus co-processor instructions and methods for using such
Circuits and methods are provided for detecting, identifying and/or removing undesired content. According to one embodiment, a method for virus processing is provided. A general purpose processor, communicably coupled to a virus processing hardware accelerator, receives a data segment. The general purpose processor causes the data segment to be stored to a first memory. The general purpose processor directs the virus processing hardware accelerator, communicably coupled to the first memory and to the second memory, to perform a virus scan of the data segment based on one or more virus signatures stored in a second memory. The first memory includes a first virus signature compiled for execution on the general purpose processor. The second memory includes virus signatures, each of which include at least one primitive instruction and at least one Content Pattern Recognition (CPR) instruction stored at contiguous locations, compiled for execution by the virus processing hardware accelerator. |
| US08239947B1 |
Method using kernel mode assistance for the detection and removal of threats which are actively preventing detection and removal from a running system
A user mode application component invokes the assistance of a kernel mode driver component to detect and/or remediate malicious code on a computer system. The user mode application may include code that detects, for example, spyware and computer viruses, from user mode and when appropriate takes protective action when malicious code is detected. In one aspect, when the user mode application is unable to perform a selected operation in attempting to detect and/or take protective action, the user mode application invokes a kernel mode driver for assistance. The kernel mode driver assists user mode application in detecting malicious code and/or taking protective action by enabling or otherwise performing a selected operation for the user mode application. |
| US08239944B1 |
Reducing malware signature set size through server-side processing
A server provides a reduced set of malware signatures to clients. The reduced set of malware signatures has the same scope of coverage as a comprehensive set of malware signatures stored on the server, but with a higher rate of false positive detections. The server receives signature detection event reports from the clients. A signature detection event report identifies the signature in the reduced set that was detected, and includes information describing the suspicious entity in which the signature was detected. Upon receiving a signature detection event report from a client, the server evaluates the information describing the suspicious entity using one or more signatures in the comprehensive set to determine whether the signature detection event is a false positive or a legitimate malware detection. The security server provides the result of the evaluation to the client from which the report was received. |
| US08239943B2 |
Network security page
Described is a technology by which a user interface page outputs security status information obtained from network-wide and/or network client security components. This allows for simultaneous evaluation of the state of various network-wide and client security components, such as antimalware state, anti-spam state, firewall state, client program update state, and state data from a remote security service. Network security page logic couples to network-wide security components and client security components to obtain security state data for each. A user interface associated with the network security page logic lists the security components and the current security status for each, such as via an icon that changes its appearance to reflect the current state. Interactive mechanisms for launching system-wide security tasks and/or context-sensitive security tasks related to a selected security component may be provided on the user interface page, as may an interactive mechanism for resolving a security-related issue. |
| US08239937B2 |
User validation using images
A method of validating a user, includes: —storing for a user data representative of a validation code for the user including a combination of symbols from a set of symbols; presenting a displayed image including a plurality of designatable areas in which the set of symbols is distributed between said designatable areas such that each designatable area contains a plurality of the symbols; varying the image between subsequent presentations such that the distribution of symbols between the designatable areas changes between subsequent presentations, validating a user in an validation routine by detecting designation by a user of a combination of the designatable areas in a presented image, and determining whether the combination of designated designatable areas contains the combination of symbols making up the validation code for the user. |
| US08239934B2 |
Virtual private network for real-time data
Protection of real-time data such as voice data exchanged as packets between a mobile electronic device and a VPN gateway during a media session over a communications link that includes a wireless network. A first VPN connection is established between the mobile electronic device and the VPN gateway through the communications link, the first VPN connection using key-based encryption to protect data exchanged therethrough. While the first VPN connection is established, a second VPN connection is established between the mobile electronic device and the VPN gateway through the communications link, the second VPN connection using key-based encryption to protect data exchanged therethrough. Real-time data packets are exchanged between the mobile electronic device and the VPN gateway through the second VPN connection. |
| US08239929B2 |
Multiple tiered network security system, method and apparatus using dynamic user policy assignment
A multiple key, multiple tiered network security system, method and apparatus provides at least three levels of security. The first level of security includes physical (MAC) address authentication of a user device being attached to the network, such as a user device being attached to a port of a network access device. The second level includes authentication of the user of the user device, such as user authentication in accordance with the IEEE 802.1x standard. The third level includes dynamic assignment of a user policy to the port based on the identity of the user, wherein the user policy is used to selectively control access to the port. The user policy may identify or include an access control list (ACL) or MAC address filter. Also, the user policy is not dynamically assigned if insufficient system resources are available to do so. Failure to pass a lower security level results in a denial of access to subsequent levels of authentication. |
| US08239927B2 |
Authentication ticket validation
Computer-readable media, systems, and methods for validating an authentication ticket to ensure authenticated communications between a client and an online service provider. In embodiments an authentication request is received from a user agent associated with the client and the authentication request includes a set of identification information and a set of authentication information. Additionally, it is determined that the set of identification information and the set of authentication information are associated with a user and an authentication ticket is created including a user identification and an authentication, indicating to the online service provider that the user is authenticated to access one or more online services. Further, a validation token is embedded into the authentication ticket that provides enhanced verification that the access provided by the online service provider is authenticated. |
| US08239921B2 |
System and method of retrieving a service contact identifier
Aspects of the invention relate to a system and method of retrieving a service contact identifier for providing a service to a user is proposed. The method is performed in a system comprising at least one server system configured for connecting to a user device of said user. The server system has access to a database comprising at least a first service contact identifier required for providing a first service and a second service contact identifier required for providing a second service. The first service is identified by a first service identifier. The first service contact identifier and second service contact identifier are different service contact identifiers. The first service identifier and a service contact identifier are received from the user device of said user. The first service contact identifier may then be retrieved in dependence of the received first service identifier and the received service contact identifier, irrespective of whether said received service contact identifier is said first service contact identifier or said second service contact identifier. |
| US08239917B2 |
Systems and methods for enterprise security with collaborative peer to peer architecture
Systems and methods authenticate a device to operate within an enterprise system with an enterprise policy. An agent, installed on the device, analyzes the device to determine profile information of the device. The determined profile information is sent to a type 2 super peer that verifies whether the profile information conforms to the enterprise policy. If the profile information conforms to the enterprise policy, an agent trust credential is generated, within the type 2 super peer, for the agent, based upon the profile information, and issued to the agent. Authenticity of the device is verified based upon the agent trust credential. If the device is authenticated, communications with the device are permitted. If the device is not authenticated, communications with the device is prevented. In another embodiment, a method restores a device to conform to a system policy. A snapshot of critical components of the device is taken while the device is in compliance with the system policy. The critical components are monitored to identify critical components that differ from the critical components of the snapshot. If differing critical components are detected, the device is restored to conform with system policy by replacing differing critical components based upon the snapshot. |
| US08239915B1 |
Endpoint management using trust rating data
Techniques are disclosed for implementing dynamic endpoint management. In accordance with one embodiment, whenever an endpoint joins a managed network for the first time, or rejoins that network, a local security module submits a list of applications (e.g., all or incremental) to a security server. The server validates the list and sends back a rule set (e.g., allow/block rules and/or required application security settings) for those applications. If the server has no information for a given application, it may further subscribe to content from a content provider or service. When the server is queried regarding an unknown application, the server sends a query to the service provider to obtain a trust rating for that unknown application. The trust rating can then be used to generate a rule set for the unknown application. Functionality can be shifted from server to client, and vice-versa if so desired. |
| US08239913B2 |
Method and system for inserting digital video effects into a video stream in redundant paths before routing
A system and apparatus for generating an output signal includes a receiving system 160 generating a plurality of signals having a first format and communicating the plurality of signals simultaneously through a primary path and a secondary path. A digital video effects module 240 inserting a digital video effect into at least a first signal of the plurality of signals in a primary path. An encoder 182 encoding the plurality of signals into a plurality of transport streams and a multiplexer. A local area network 130 routes the plurality of transport streams to the multiplexer to form a combined signal. A modulator 210 modulates the combined signal to form a modulated signal and a system 202 forms the output signal from the modulated signal. |
| US08239911B1 |
Video bursting based upon mobile device path
What is disclosed is a method of operating a video system. The method includes determining a projected geographic path of a mobile communication device and determining a transfer schedule for reference frames of a video based on the projected geographic path. The method also includes transferring the reference frames of the video based on the transfer schedule for delivery to the mobile communication device over a wireless communication system and transferring update frames of the video for delivery to the mobile communication device over the wireless communication system without regard to the projected geographic path. |
| US08239909B2 |
Method of securing resources in a video and audio streaming delivery system
A video and audio stream is predicted that is to be selected for reception next to a video and audio stream that is being received by the terminal or that is after a video and audio stream that has been selected for reception by the terminal. Resources necessary for delivering the predicted video and audio stream, in addition to resources necessary for the video and audio stream that is being received by the terminal or that has been selected for reception by the terminal, are secured in advance before a user of the terminal selects the next video and audio stream. The predicted video and audio stream is not delivered to the terminal before it coincides with a video and audio stream that is selected at the next zapping. |
| US08239907B2 |
Methods and systems for delivering DOCSIS services over heterogeneous access networks
Inserting protocol adaptation layers into access equipment to translate data over cable service interface specification services control messages to the corresponding messages in the other (multiple) heterogeneous access specification(s) includes AMTS DOCSIS-to-access protocol translation and AMTS access-to-DOCSIS protocol translation. A method of expanding DOCSIS into an alternative access network includes deploying a protocol adaptation layer in access equipment to translate DOCSIS control messages to corresponding messages for use in the alternative access network. Translating DOCSIS control messages to corresponding messages for use in the alternative access network includes AMTS DOCSIS-to-access protocol translation and AMTS access-to-DOCSIS protocol translation. |
| US08239906B2 |
IPTV receiver and a method of managing video functionality and video quality on a screen in the IPTV receiver
An IPTV receiver and a method for managing video functionality and video quality on a screen in the IPTV receiver are disclosed. Herein, a method includes downloading a widget application from a server, executing the downloaded widget application at a browser, requesting a video test stream through the executed widget application to the server and managing the video functionality and the video quality on the screen using the video test stream. |
| US08239905B2 |
Lecture capture and broadcast system
An end-to-end lecture broadcast system (LBS) is described. The LBS system typically comprises three modules: a schedule module, a capture module and a transmission module. The schedule module is comprised of a scheduler that is implemented as a software add-on on the lecture host's computing device, a schedule server, and a schedule agent component in the uploading peer to provide for channel based management. The capture module is comprised of a video camera for capturing video content, one or more microphones for capturing audio content, and a VGA signal capture for capturing presentation materials. The transmission module is comprised of an uploading peer and a web server. The uploading peer is responsible for transmitting video/audio content to the Internet/intranet using peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming technology. The web server is responsible for the delivery of captured presentation materials and for ensuring the synchronous play back of video/audio content and presentation materials. |
| US08239897B2 |
Method and apparatus for multiple audio outputs
A method for transmitting audio signals. The method of transmitting audio signals may include separately transmitting a video signal and an audio signal. Further, the method of transmitting audio signals may include transmitting a first video signal and a first audio signal to one component, transmitting a second video signal to the same component and separately transmitting a second audio signal to a second component. |
| US08239896B2 |
Integration of control data into digital broadcast content for access to ancillary information
Ancillary information associated with one or more images embedded in a digital broadcast data stream may be accessed by a digital broadcast receiving device. The device may include a receiver unit, a processor, and a memory. The processor may execute program instructions to access the ancillary information. Control data may be associated with one or more visual components of one or more video images. The control data and images may be combined into a digital broadcast data stream. The device may receive the images and control data. The images may be presented on a display device. The receiving device may use the control data to present or store a perceptible indication that ancillary information is associated with the visual components in conjunction with presenting the images. The device may use the control data to present or store the ancillary information in response to an input signal. |
| US08239893B2 |
Custom channels
The technology is a system and method for generating a virtual channel in an electronic program guide. Scheduling instructions, which are configured by a user, indicate content that should be presented for selection in the virtual channel. The scheduling instructions are executed in priority order. The virtual channel is populated with content descriptions based on the execution of the scheduling instructions. After the virtual channel is initially populated with content, broadcasting gaps in the virtual channel are identified. In one embodiment, each broadcasting gap is populated with other content based on a broadcast gap setting set by the user. In another embodiment, each broadcasting gap remains an empty schedule entry in the virtual channel. An electronic document associated with the virtual channel may be published to a third-party website so that other users may subscribe to the virtual channel. |
| US08239890B2 |
Systems and methods for authorizing access to content for a television receiver
Described herein are techniques for transferring content authorization information between television receivers. Authorization information for content and features associated with a television receiver is securely stored on a portable storage device. The portable storage device may be moved and connected to a different television receiver in order to transfer the authorization information to the different television receiver. The other television receiver accesses information on the portable storage device and allows the user to access the content and features that are authorized on the home television receiver. |
| US08239889B2 |
Method and apparatus for collecting viewer survey data and for providing compensation for same
To address the requirements described above, a method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and a memory structure for providing advertisements with a media program transmitted to a user computer. The method permits the user to provide survey responses in exchange for viewing a media program with fewer advertisement, and permits the user to manage the survey responses. |
| US08239887B2 |
System and method for providing advertisement based on speech recognition
This invention relates to a system and method for providing dedicated television advertisements based on speech recognition of telephone conversations. The home user makes telephone calls using a landline, cellular phone or VoIP phone. The user may also be watching TV. While doing so, the user is able to see advertisements on part or all of his TV screen, based on words and phrases he may have used during his telephone conversation(s). The system and method may be provided by a triple play or quad play service provider which associates its users' telephone calls with TV advertising. Once the user sees the advertisement he can get more information concerning the advertisement by clicking on it with a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or TV remote control, or by using any other navigation method the TV system provides, to see additional details concerning the advertisements. |
| US08239883B2 |
Information processing apparatus and method, program, and storage medium
The present invention provides an information processing apparatus, which is configured to customize a device driver that is adapted to control a printer, by setting a property. The information processing apparatus includes a specifying unit adapted to specify a plurality of device drivers, and a setting unit adapted to set, in response to one device-driver customization instruction, property information, which corresponds to a device driver, in the plurality of device drivers specified by the specifying unit. |
| US08239875B2 |
Command queuing for next operations of memory devices
Systems and/or methods that facilitate transferring data between a processor component and memory components are presented. A transfer controller component facilitates controlling data transfers in part by receiving respective subsets of data from respective memory components and arranging the respective subsets of data based in part on a desired predefined data order. The processor component generates a transfer map that includes information to facilitate arranging data in a predefined order. The processor component generates respective subsets of commands that are provided to queue components in respective memory components to retrieve desired data from the respective memory components. Each memory component services the commands in its queue component in an independent and parallel manner, and transfers the data retrieved from memory to the transfer controller component, which can arrange the received data in a predefined order for transfer to the processor component. |
| US08239874B2 |
Inbox with focused messages according to categories
Focusing electronic mail messages in a list of messages. Category information is received for classifying particular e-mail messages or senders of the messages in the list of e-mail messages according to a category. The method also includes setting a status data associated with each of the particular messages. The status data indicates the category classified by the user. A first instruction is received from the user for focusing the particular messages according to the category. The particular messages having the status data therewith in the list are focused collectively without altering a preexisting order of the messages in the list. |
| US08239864B2 |
Portable terminal varying management of task group in time based on received execution request of task group and weak task group
According an aspect of the invention, a mobile terminal includes a task executing unit configured to execute a plurality of task groups and a management unit configured to manage to execute in a first order the task groups. If the task executing unit executes a first task group in foreground and if the management unit receives a first request executing a second task group different from the first task group, the management unit manages the first and the second task groups as one chain and executes the second task group in foreground. If the task executing unit executes the first task group in foreground and if the management unit receives a second request executing a third task group different from the first and second task groups, the management unit manages the first and third task groups as other chain and executes the third task group in foreground. |
| US08239861B2 |
Software-based unloading and reloading of an inactive function to reduce memory usage of a data processing task performed using a virtual machine
A method of performing a processing task in a data processing apparatus is provided that reduces memory usage of the processing task. According to this method a Virtual Machine performs the steps of accessing platform-neutral program code in a function repository, executing the processing task on the Virtual Machine, and analysing at a current execution point, on a function-by-function basis, which functions in the function repository are inactive functions. The Virtual Machine performs software-based unloading from the function repository of at least a portion of platform-neutral program code corresponding to one or more inactive functions. A corresponding virtual machine and data processing apparatus are also provided. |
| US08239850B2 |
Computer-implemented method of releasing battery state estimation software
A computer implemented method of facilely releasing a BSE software module adapted for execution by an electronic control unit having an update model of the BSE software and a controller having an embedded desktop model of the BSE software, includes a plurality of autonomously performed steps resulting in the compiling of a plurality of c-files into a library file. A single keyword activated preferred embodiment is disclosed in a MatLab®/Simulink®/Real-Time Workshop® environment. |
| US08239849B2 |
Class loading delegation network
A method for a first software component in a class loading delegation network to obtain a class definition for a serialized software object, the software object implementing a software interface defined by a second software component and having associated a class defined by a third software component, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a reference to the third software component from the class loading delegation network using an identifier of the software interface and requesting the class from the third software component. |
| US08239846B2 |
Device for performing parallel processing of distributed arrays
A device for performing parallel processing includes a processor to initiate a single programming language, and identify, via the single programming language, one or more data distribution schemes for executing a program. The processor also transforms, via the single programming language, the program into a parallel program with an optimum data distribution scheme selected from the one or more identified data distribution schemes, and allocates the parallel program to two or more labs for parallel execution. The processor further receives one or more results associated with the parallel execution of the parallel program from the two or more labs, and provides the one or more results to the program. |
| US08239845B2 |
Media for using parallel processing constructs
One or more computer-readable media store executable instructions that, when executed by processing logic, perform parallel processing. The media store one or more instructions for receiving one or more portions of an inner context of a program created for a technical computing environment, allocating one or more portions of the inner context of the program to two or more labs for parallel execution, receiving one or more results associated with the parallel execution of the one or more portions from the two or more labs, and providing the one or more results to an outer context of the program. |
| US08239844B2 |
Method of using parallel processing constructs and dynamically allocating program portions
A computing device-implemented method includes receiving a program, analyzing and transforming the program, determining an inner context and an outer context of the program based on the analysis of the program, and allocating one or more portions of the inner context of the program to two or more labs for parallel execution. The method also includes receiving one or more results associated with the parallel execution of the one or more portions from the two or more labs, and providing the one or more results to the outer context of the program. |
| US08239842B2 |
Implicit line continuation
Modified compilers and other development tools provide implied line continuation within a sequence of syntax tokens of a programming language grammar which includes multiple semantic contexts and which uses line termination as presumptive statement termination. When source code parsing encounters a line terminator adjacent a context-dependent implicit line continuation token in an associated semantic context, an explicit decision is made whether to imply line continuation. Line continuation may also be implied in response to other specified tokens. |
| US08239841B2 |
Prefetching irregular data references for software controlled caches
Prefetching irregular memory references into a software controlled cache is provided. A compiler analyzes source code to identify at least one of a plurality of loops that contain an irregular memory reference. The compiler determines if the irregular memory reference within the at least one loop is a candidate for optimization. Responsive to an indication that the irregular memory reference may be optimized, the compiler determines if the irregular memory reference is valid for prefetching. Responsive to an indication that the irregular memory reference is valid for prefetching, a store statement for an address of the irregular memory reference is inserted into the at least one loop. A runtime library call is inserted into a prefetch runtime library for the irregular memory reference. Data associated with the irregular memory reference is prefetched into the software controlled cache when the runtime library call is invoked. |
| US08239836B1 |
Multi-variant parallel program execution to detect malicious code injection
Techniques, computer program products, apparatus and systems for controlling operation of a program code in a digital processor, a computer or a computer system, including techniques for generating program variants, monitoring execution of a program and variants of the program, and detecting functional differences between the multiple executions. |
| US08239834B2 |
Method and system of program development supporting
A program development support system includes a reader, a designator, and a comparator. The reader is configured to read first and second programs executing operations which are expected to be identical to each other. The designator is configured to designate a variant pair of a first variant included in the first program and a second variant included in the second program. The first and second variants are expected to be identical to each other. The comparator is configured to compare values between the first and second variants when the first and second programs are executed. |
| US08239829B2 |
User co-routine interface for customizing SIP and SDP protocols
A method of using co-routines to implement a function-like interface between a BASIC program and the points in the system where SIP and SDP data (for example) are to be modified. This co-routine interface is intuitive from the end-user's perspective, and both real-time efficient and flexible from the system designer's perspective, and is applied to provide user-customized SIP and SDP modifications in an easy-to-use way that gives the end-user great flexibility while protecting the system from the undesirable side-effects that could result from a tightly coupled co-routine interface. |
| US08239828B2 |
Method of recovering from software failures using replanning
A method for recovering from software failures, includes: receiving failure information that identifies a failing component of a first processing graph; modifying a planning domain that includes a plurality of component descriptions according to the failure information; and composing a second processing graph by using the modified planning domain so that the second processing graph does not include the failing component. |
| US08239823B2 |
Generating libraries for reflection without project compilation
A stripped-down version of a library is generated from server source code extracted from a server project under development. Information extracted from the server source code may include only that information which is exposed to a client project under development. The stripped-down library generated from the extracted server source code is received by a reflection-based component that uses reflection to generate documentation and disclosure information helpful in the development of the client source code. Because the server project does not have to be compiled or ready to be compiled before the software development information for the client project can be provided, development of the server side source code and the client side source code can proceed in tandem or incrementally. |
| US08239820B1 |
Compliance method and system for XML-based applications
A compliance system for design and testing of web services, having an artifact repository storing a set of artifacts and coupled to a runtime engine. The runtime engine includes a rules engine, a results processor and a manager interface, wherein the runtime engine applies a set of encoding requirements to the set of artifacts and a conformance output is generated. |
| US08239819B2 |
Method and system for managing the lifecycle of a service oriented architecture
Managing the lifecycle of a service oriented architecture (SOA). The method may include selecting a subset of a plurality of objects of the SOA for lifecycle management in accordance with the requirements of an organization implementing the SOA, and assigning a lifecycle property to each member of the subset of the plurality of objects of the SOA. |
| US08239818B1 |
Data structure for describing MBIST architecture
A system and associated data structure that can be utilized within a chip design platform to define the structure of an MBIST architecture. A system for generating a memory built in self test (MBIST) design file in described, including a tool for processing an organization file (Org File), wherein the Org File includes lines of code that dictate a structure of the MBIST design file and conform to a data structure defined by the tool; wherein said data structure provides an infrastructure to describe: associations between MBIST components at a design level; associations between MBIST components and hierarchical test ports at the design level; and a serial order of daisy chains among MBIST components within the design level. |
| US08239817B2 |
Method and tool for designing electronic circuits on a printed circuit board
The invention relates to a design method and tool for designing electronic circuits on a printed circuit board, wherein at least one self-contained, pre-composed domain is used, wherein the domain is a module chosen from a pre-composed architecture library, including self-contained pre-designed electronic modules represented by logical architecture and corresponding physical architecture. |
| US08239814B2 |
Parameter drift prediction
A set of parameter drifts is recorded over a period of time for each of a series of stress tests on a system at various stress levels. Each set of the recorded parameter drifts is plotted as parameter drift versus time. The plots are then time shifted in relation to a reference plot to form a single parameter drift plot. A non-linear equation is fitted to the single parameter drift plot and then used to predict parameter drift over the life of the system.The non-linear equation may be modified by adding a stress acceleration factor to allow prediction of parameter drift over time at different stress levels. |
| US08239808B2 |
Routing system
A process for shortest path routing in computer-aided designs (CAD) is performed using an incremental graph traversal technique. This technique searches the shortest path routing trees in a graph by path exploration limited only to an incremented search region thereby reducing run time complexity. Graph traversal begins in the incremented search region, and propagates successive changes thereafter. |
| US08239805B2 |
Method for designing integrated circuits employing a partitioned hierarchical design flow and an apparatus employing the method
Methods of designing an IC and a hierarchical design flow generator are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes: (1) partitioning a design implementation flow for an IC into a late design flow portion and an early design flow portion employing a processor, (2) dividing components of the late design flow portion and the early design flow portion into a functional block implementation section and a top level implementation section employing the processor, (3) aligning dependencies between the functional block implementation sections and the top level implementation sections in both of the early design flow portion and the late design flow portion employing the processor and (4) implementing a layout for the IC based on the early and the late design flow portions employing the processor. |
| US08239803B2 |
Layout method and layout apparatus for semiconductor integrated circuit
A layout method of a semiconductor integrated circuit by using cell library data includes specifying a gate in a predetermined cell as a reference gate, and automatically arranging a plurality of cells by a computer such that a number of gates arranged in an area in a predetermined distance from the reference gate meets a preset gate data density condition. |
| US08239802B2 |
Robust method for integration of bump cells in semiconductor device design
A system and method for computer-aided design of semiconductor integrated circuit devices provides for having dummy vias beneath UBM of bump cells to prevent delamination at the bump cell sites during bonding. The dummy vias are inserted into the design and bump cell placement occurs during the floorplanning stage and prior to placement and routing of the active integrated circuit components. In this manner, a sufficiently high via density is achieved and design information on the bump cells including the dummy vias is provided to a computer-aided design, CAD, system along with program instructions for carrying out the indicated sequence of design operations. |
| US08239801B2 |
Architecturally independent noise sensitivity analysis of integrated circuits having a memory storage device and a noise sensitivity analyzer
Method of analyzing noise sensitivity of integrated circuits having at least one memory storage device and a noise sensitivity analyzer. In one embodiment, the noise sensitivity analyzer includes a circuit reservoir, a circuit parser and a circuit evaluator. The circuit reservoir is configured to receive and store a model of a circuit having at least one memory storage device to be analyzed. The circuit parser is configured to identify nodes of the model. The circuit evaluator is configured to apply a large test current to each of the nodes for multiple circuit states of the at least one memory storage device and determine which of the nodes are sensitive nodes. |
| US08239793B2 |
Routing design method, routing design apparatus and recording medium storing routing design program
In a routing design method for designing routing of a SiP having first and second routing portions that are connected to each other via bonding wires, whether a DRC error of the first or second routing portion is present or not is determined and the DRC error is selected when the DRC error is present. A plurality of nets associated with the selected DRC error are specified and the routes of the specified nets are removed. Then, bonding wire allocations of the specified nets are changed. Further, the specified nets are rerouted so as not to cause a DRC error and whether the rerouting result is accepted or not is determined. |
| US08239786B2 |
Local multivariable solver for optical proximity correction in lithographic processing method, and device manufactured thereby
A multivariable solver for proximity correction uses a Jacobian matrix to approximate effects of perturbations of segment locations in successive iterations of a design loop. The problem is formulated as a constrained minimization problem with box, linear equality, and linear inequality constraints. To improve computational efficiency, non-local interactions are ignored, which results in a sparse Jacobian matrix. |
| US08239783B2 |
Integrated viewfinder and digital media
A user interface can display active and passive content. For example, a camera viewfinder image can be displayed on a screen, as part of a strip, concatenated with one or more other images, for example, images that were previously taken with the camera. A user can cause the viewfinder image and the other images to move together across the screen. This can allow a user to easily examine the other images and the viewfinder image without, for example, switching between different screens in a user interface. Media captured with a device can be associated with a media category by positioning a user interface element near one or more other elements associated with the category. |
| US08239778B2 |
Graphical database interaction system and method
Various aspects of the present invention include a database interaction system and method comprising: a display, a set of user input devices, and a database comprising a data set including a plurality of fields and associated field values; a graph model configured to define a plurality of nodes and states, each node representing a field from the plurality of fields; a graph-to-data mapper configured to map the field values to states contained in the nodes of the graph model; and a graphical interface module configured to generate for display one or more nodes from the plurality of nodes, wherein a display of a node includes a graphical representation of field values associated with a specific field represented by the displayed node and states contained therein. |
| US08239777B2 |
User interface and method for viewing short messages on a wireless device
A method is performed by an electronic communication device. The method includes storing electronic messages, and storing criteria for determining whether a stored message is related to a current message. A current electronic message is displayed to a user of the communication device, including the current message's outside address and message body. The relevance of each of the stored messages to the current message is assessed based on the previously-stored criteria. Those messages that meet the criteria are selected and displayed along with the current message. |
| US08239774B2 |
Utilizing mood sensors in an electronic messaging environment
A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for determining the behavioral mood of an electronic messaging system user. User input is provided through one or more input receptors of an electronic device. The user input is collected by the mood identification system. The collected input is processed to generate behavioral biometrics, which are in turn correlated to predetermined behavioral moods, each of which has a corresponding behavioral mood indicator. The behavioral mood of the recipient user is indicated by applying text attributes to the user's identifier (ID) or by displaying an icon proximate to the user's ID. |
| US08239773B1 |
Systems and methods for co-browsing on a mobile device
A system, method, and computer-usable medium are disclosed for the concurrent display of information between devices. A co-browsing module is implemented to provide concurrent display of information displayed within a Web browser on a mobile device. A co-browsing module implemented on a stationary system queries a co-browsing module implemented on the mobile device to collect information including the device's hardware configuration, the network communications protocol being used, and a session number. The collected information is then used by the co-browsing module on the stationary system to establish a co-browsing session with the co-browsing module on the mobile device. The co-browsing module on the mobile device then provides web display information to the co-browsing module on the CSR's system to control the concurrent display of Web information displayed on the mobile device. |
| US08239771B2 |
Activity management system and method, active management apparatus, client terminal and computer program
A CRM server sends to a client terminal activity data that has been read from a DB server, and directs the display thereof. When the activity data has been received from the CRM server, a client terminal obtains the screen data of a calendar screen is generated. Then a screen data for the activity detail screen that displays the activity data, screen data for an activity calendar screen is generated after display data for displaying information about a portion of the content of the activity has been added to screen data for a calendar screen in a field corresponding to a date and time shown by the activity data, and these generated screens are output on one screen. |
| US08239769B2 |
System and method for selling preference-based virtual objects
A system and method for selling preference-based virtual objects comprising receiving one or more user commands from an input device, transmitting, to at least one server, the one or more user commands to identify one or more preference-based virtual objects based on the one or more user commands, receiving the one or more preference-based virtual objects in response to the identification of the one or more preference-based virtual objects, and outputting, to a display device, the one or more preference-based virtual objects in response to receiving one or more user inputs to display the one or more preference-based virtual objects to the display device. |
| US08239767B2 |
Audio stream management for television content
Audio stream management techniques are described. In an implementation, a unique representation is generated by a client for each of a plurality of audio streams associated with television content received at the client. Each of the unique representations is displayed in a user interface at the client to be selectable by a user to cause output of a respective audio stream with the television content. |
| US08239766B2 |
Multimedia coding techniques for transitional effects
This disclosure is directed to techniques for encoding and decoding transitional effects, i.e., visual video effects that are used to transition from a current scene of a multimedia sequence. According to the disclosed techniques, an encoding device detects a transitional effect associated with a multimedia sequence during the encoding of the multimedia sequence, and transmits information as part of an encoded multimedia sequence to identify the transitional effect associated with the encoded multimedia sequence to a decoder. The information may comprise metadata that can be used by the decoder to simulate or re-create the transitional effect. The decoder simulates a transitional effect in response to the information. |
| US08239758B2 |
Truncating character strings to generate a list of unique character strings
A method and system for truncating character strings in a computing environment, is provided. One implementation involves receiving a list including plural character strings, truncating one or more of the character strings to generate a display list of unique character strings from the truncated and remaining character strings, and displaying the character strings of the display list in context with each other on a user interface, wherein each displayed character string is unique in relation to the other displayed character strings, enabling a user to more easily differentiate between the displayed character string. |
| US08239757B2 |
System and method for creating and modifying test data files
A system and method for creating and modifying test data files. The system comprises a parse map editor and a test data file editor, wherein parse maps are created and edited in the parse map editor, wherein the system parses incoming data files based on the parse maps that are created in the parse map editor, wherein each incoming data file is matched to a parse map, wherein the parsed data files are sent to the test data file editor, and wherein the test data file editor allows a user to view and edit the parsed data files. The method comprises parsing an incoming data file with a parse map, creating and/or editing the parse map in a parse map editor, and viewing and/or editing the parsed data file in a test data file editor. |
| US08239756B2 |
Intelligent document filtering
In a network environment that includes a plurality of nodes and that uses a markup language to create documents, a method for filtering the documents is provided. The method includes the step of, upon receiving a request from a requesting node among the plurality of nodes, constructing an input Document Object Model (DOM) based on a document corresponding to the request. The input DOM is stored. Elements of the input DOM that have previously been stored are identified. The input DOM is filtered to obtain a filtered DOM, based on at least one pre-specified rule being applied to the input DOM. |
| US08239752B1 |
Method and system to facilitate workflow data submission
A method and system to facilitate workflow data submission is provided. The system may include a communications module to receive a request to generate an electronic form such that the electronic form is suitable for viewing with a first version of a viewer application and a compatibility module to respond to the request by configuring the electronic form to include a functional feature, the functional feature being available with the first version of the viewer application and being not available with a second version of the viewer application. |
| US08239749B2 |
Procedurally expressing graphic objects for web pages
A graphics object can be expressed using procedural language embedded in a markup language document. In a embodiment, a drawing space is specified in markup language. A drawing command to arbitrarily draw a graphics object into the drawing space is specified in procedural language. Interpretation of the markup and procedural language commands results in the rendering of the arbitrary graphics object. In another embodiment, there is a browser comprising a rendering engine, an interpreter, and parser. The rendering engine is configured to interpret a markup language instruction that specifies a drawing space as well as drawing commands in procedural language for drawing an arbitrary graphic object into the drawing space. The parser can then parse the drawing commands and convert them into an execution tree of tree objects. |
| US08239747B2 |
Nonvolatile memory devices that utilize error correction estimates to increase reliability of error detection and correction operations
Example embodiments may provide a memory device and memory data reading method. The memory device according to example embodiments may include a multi-bit cell array, an error detector which may read a first data page from a memory page in the multi-bit cell array and may detect an error-bit of the first data page, and an estimator which may identify a multi-bit cell where the error-bit is stored and may estimate data stored in the identified multi-bit cell among data of a second data page. Therefore, the memory device and memory data reading method may have an effect of reducing an error when reading data stored in the multi-bit cell and monitoring a state of the multi-bit cell without additional overhead. |
| US08239746B2 |
Rate-compatible protograph LDPC code families with linear minimum distance
Digital communication coding methods are shown, which generate certain types of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes built from protographs. A first method creates protographs having the linear minimum distance property and comprising at least one variable node with degree less than 3. A second method creates families of protographs of different rates, all structurally identical for all rates except for a rate-dependent designation of certain variable nodes as transmitted or non-transmitted. A third method creates families of protographs of different rates, all structurally identical for all rates except for a rate-dependent designation of the status of certain variable nodes as non-transmitted or set to zero. LDPC codes built from the protographs created by these methods can simultaneously have low error floors and low iterative decoding thresholds. |
| US08239745B2 |
Parity data encoder for serial communication
A prepended parity data encoder is loaded with sets of data and constant data, which are used for parity calculation. A shift circuit shifts each of the plural sets of data and the constant data, one bit at a time in parallel. When the constant data is output from the shift circuit, a parity generator dynamically generates prepended parity data based on the constant data and the plural sets of data. |
| US08239739B2 |
Systems and methods of deferred error recovery
Systems and methods of deferred error recovery in a digital home communications terminal are disclosed. One such method comprises: receiving packets at a delivery rate; filling a decoder buffer from frames in the received packets while bypassing an error recovery buffer; after the level of the decoder buffer reaches an underrun threshold, decoding from the frames in the decoder buffer; and after beginning to decode, filling the error recovery buffer from the received packets and filling the decoder buffer from frames output from the error recovery buffer. |
| US08239738B2 |
Transparent in-band forward error correction for signal conditioning-encoded signals
A system and method are provided for framing messages in a forward error correction (FEC) structure for data streams encoded with redundant signal conditioning information. The method accepts signal conditioning-encoded words at a first bit rate, and eliminates redundant information in the signal conditioning-encoded words, creating N reduced-bit words of k bits. The k-bit words are mapped into a payload field of N*(k/p) p-bit words. Overhead (OH) and FEC parity fields are generated, and a frame is created including the OH field, payload field, and FEC parity field. The bit values in the frame are then pseudorandomly scrambled and the scrambled frame is transmitted at the first bit rate. A system and method are also presented for recovering the signal conditioning-encoded words from an FEC frame. |
| US08239734B1 |
Efficient data storage in storage device arrays
A method for data storage includes encoding data with an inter-device Error Correction Code (ECC), and sending the encoded data for storage on two or more storage devices. The data to be stored on each of the storage devices, and which has been encoded with the inter-device ECC, is encoded with an intra-device ECC, and the data encoded with the inter-device and intra-device ECCs is stored on the storage device. After storing the data, at least part of the stored data is retrieved and output by decoding the intra-device and inter-device ECCs, while using information related to one of the intra-device and inter-device ECCs in decoding the other of the intra-device and inter-device ECCs. |
| US08239731B1 |
Methods and apparatus for providing multilevel coset coding and probabilistic error correction
Systems and methods are provided for performing multilevel coset coding and probabilistic error correction. Multiple bit data is encoded in a memory by combining one of the bit positions of multiple data values and encoding the combination to form a codeword. A data point containing a bit error is determined by decoding a codeword associated with one of the bit positions. A first coset corresponding to a data point with the error is determined where the coset includes labels representing non-adjacent analog signal levels. Labels in a second coset that includes mutually exclusive labels from the first coset are analyzed to select a label representing a signal level that is closest in proximity to the signal level represented by the data point containing the bit error than the other labels in the second coset. The data point error is corrected by replacing the data point with the selected label. |
| US08239729B2 |
Data storage device with copy command
A data storage device includes an interface that is configured to interface with a host, a command bus, multiple memory devices that are operably coupled to the command bus and a controller that is operably coupled to the interface and to the command bus. The controller is configured to receive a copy command from the host using the interface, read data from a source memory device in response to the copy command, write the data to a destination memory device in response to the copy command and communicate results to the host using the interface. |
| US08239727B2 |
Decoding of raptor codes
There are provided a method and apparatus for decoding Raptor code. The apparatus includes a decoder for decoding a sequence of packets representative of a sequence of encoding symbols. The decoder at least partially recovers at least some lost or corrupted packets of the sequence using Raptor code. |
| US08239722B2 |
Packet retransmission control method and apparatus in multicast communication
In a multicast distribution system in which terminal devices on a distribution path are hierarchically grouped, a first terminal device which has detected a loss of a receiving packet transmits to a second terminal device located upstream of the first terminal device a retransmission request for a packet retransmission to the first terminal device and a third terminal device which receives a packet first in a group located downstream of a group to which the first terminal device belongs. The second terminal device which has received the retransmission request transmits a retransmission packet to both the first and third terminal devices. |
| US08239719B2 |
Method and apparatus for hybrid automatic repeat request
The present invention provides two primary Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) mechanisms for a multi-hop network, i.e. an active Mobile Multi-hop Relaying (MMR) HARQ and a passive Mobile Multi-hop Relaying (MMR) HARQ. According to the solution of the present invention, there are provided a method and a device for HARQ retransmission in relay stations of a wireless communication network, wherein in HARQ retransmission, the HARQ procedure is implemented based on resource allocated by a base station; and a method and device for HARQ in a base station, characterized in that a HARQ procedure is implemented in-between one or more relay stations and a mobile station. With the methods of the present invention, the HARQ problems existing in a multi-hop network are overcome, the correction rate of data transmission is improved, while time delay for data transmission is reduced. |
| US08239718B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus, transmitting method and receiving method
A wireless communication apparatus having a retransmission control unit configured to refer to identification information added to received retransmit data when a second retransmit request is performed after the first transmit request is performed, and not to use the received retransmit data for forming data when the received retransmit data corresponds to the first retransmit request based on the identification information, and to use the received retransmit data for forming data when the received retransmit data corresponds to the second retransmit request based on the identification information. |
| US08239711B2 |
QPP interleaver/de-interleaver for turbo codes
A quadratic permutation polynomial (QPP) interleaver is described for turbo coding and decoding. The QPP interleaver has the form: Π(n)=f1n+f2n2 mod K, where the QPP coefficients f1 and f2. are designed to provide good error performance for a given block length K. |
| US08239701B2 |
Methods and apparatus for power allocation in a storage system
Methods and systems for improved management of power allocation among a plurality of devices coupled to a controller. The controller and devices exchange messages to request, grant, and release allocations of power from a common power supply. In some embodiments, the controller may be a SAS/SATA controller and the messages exchanged may be SAS/SATA frames and/or primitives. In exemplary embodiments, the messages may request/grant a particular amount of power for each of one or more voltage levels provided by the power supply. In other exemplary embodiments, the messages may designate the duration of time during which the requesting device may utilize the allocated power. A power status message from the device to the controller may indicate a change in the power consumption by the device. Responsive to the power status message the controller may re-allocate power previously allocated to a device that has completed use thereof. |
| US08239699B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing energy-efficient network packet processing in a multi processor core system
A method and apparatus for managing core affinity for network packet processing is provided. Low-power idle state of a plurality of processing units in a system including the plurality of processing units is monitored. Network packet processing is dynamically reassigned to processing units that are in a non-low power idle state to increase the low-power idle state residency for processing units that are in a low-power idle state resulting in reduced energy consumption. |
| US08239697B2 |
Processor performance state control system
A performance state control system includes a processor and a voltage regulator coupled to the processor. The voltage regulator provides a regulated voltage to the processor, as instructed by the processor. A logic circuit coupled to the processor and the voltage regulator detects that the processor is in an operating power state, determines a time that the processor is in the operating state and instructs the processor to execute a performance state determination algorithm when the time that the processor is in the operating state exceeds a pre-determined threshold value. |
| US08239696B2 |
Power supply circuit of portable computer
A power supply circuit for supplying electric power to a portable computer includes a main battery, a first control circuit, a backup battery and a second control circuit. The main battery includes a first output terminal and a second output terminal shorter than the first output terminal. When the main battery is drawn out of the portable computer, a disconnection between the second output terminal and the portable computer occurs earlier than a disconnection between the first output terminal and the portable computer to from a time difference between the two disconnections. During this time difference, the main battery is controlled by the first control circuit to change from supplying electric power to the portable computer to not supplying electric power to the portable computer, and the backup battery is controlled by the second control circuit to supply electric power to the portable computer instead of the main battery. |
| US08239695B2 |
Information processing device
In a configuration provided with, for example, sixty four pieces of processor cores, an on-chip-memory, a bus commonly connected thereto, and others, the processor cores are operated by a power supply with low voltage and a clock with low frequency, and the bus is operated by a power supply with high voltage and a clock with high frequency. Each of the processor cores is provided with a bus interface and a frequency divider in order to absorb a power supply voltage difference and a frequency difference between the bus and each of them. The frequency divider generates the clock with low frequency from the clock with high frequency, and the bus interface is provided with a level shifting function, a data width converting function, a hand shaking function between the bus and the bus interface, and the like. |
| US08239693B2 |
Built-in system power management circuit and motherboard with thereof
The invention has disclosed a system power management circuit comprising: a printed circuit board and a hardware monitor. The printed circuit board includes at least a first power connector, a second power connector, and more than one detection circuits disposed thereon; wherein the first power connector is used for electrically connecting a power supply, the second power connector is used for electrically connecting a power connector of a motherboard, inputs of the detection circuits are electrically connected to the first power connector, respectively. The hardware monitor is electrically connected to outputs of the detection circuits, and used for converting electrical signals outputted from the outputs of the detection circuits into corresponding digital signals, as well as for transmitting the digital signals to the motherboard via a two-wire bus, the two-wire bus is bi-directional, and may be an I2C or a SM bus. |
| US08239689B2 |
Device and method for a secure execution of a program
A device and method for a secure execution of a program. The program includes a sequence of program commands including use and checking commands. A checking value is generated according to a setup regulation when executing a checking command. A control value is generated according to the setup regulation and the checking value is compared to the control value. An insecure execution of the program is indicated when the checking value and the control value do not match. |
| US08239685B2 |
Biometric authentication method
Provided is a biometric authentication method. A biometric authentication method in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes generating a first one-time authentication template from biometric information using one-time transform information, and requesting authentication, comparing the first one-time authentication template with a one-time registration template, updating the one-time registration template and the one-time transform information when authentication is achieved according to a result of the comparison, wherein the updated one-time transform information is used to generate a second one-time authentication template to be authenticated according to the result of the comparison with the updated one-time registration template when successive authentication is requested. |
| US08239674B2 |
System and method of protecting files from unauthorized modification or deletion
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises receiving a write request for a file. A temporary file associated with the file is created in response to the write request. A write-lock is applied to the temporary file, namely the file includes a setting that restricts write access to only a component that created or opens the temporary file. Thereafter, the temporary file is closed to disable the write-lock and to enable a component that initiated the write request to access the temporary file. |
| US08239666B2 |
System for managing hardware resources, computer system, method for managing hardware resources, and program
A system for managing hardware resources includes a computer system and a management server, wherein the computer system includes a static authentication key generation unit that generates authentication keys for the detected hardware resources, a dynamic authentication key generation unit that requests arrangements of a hardware resource and an activation key to the management server by transmitting a dynamic installation authentication key generated from a system authentication key, a first additional hardware resource authentication unit that judges whether or not a new hardware resource is unauthorized by comparing the authentication key with the activation key, and a second additional hardware resource authentication unit that judges whether or not the new hardware resource fit the computer system by comparing the dynamic installation authentication key with the activation key, and wherein the management server includes an activation key generation unit that transmits the activation key to the computer system. |
| US08239664B2 |
Computer system having dual bios program protecting function and control method thereof
A dual BIOS program protecting method is provided for protecting a first BIOS program and a second BIOS program of a computer system. Firstly, a flag is switched from a first status to a second status during the refreshing of the first BIOS program. If the first BIOS program is successfully refreshed, the flag is switched from the second status to the first status. If the flag is in the second status when the computer system is booted, a first control signal is generated and the second BIOS program enters a write protection mode according to the first control signal. |
| US08239663B2 |
System and method for maintaining the security of memory contents and computer architecture employing the same
A secure memory system and a method of maintaining the security of memory contents. One embodiment of the system includes: (1) a security control module configured to transmit a system memory secure mode signal and processor secure mode signal to place the system in a secure mode, (2) a secure memory bridge coupled to the security control and system memory and configured to encrypt and decrypt data associated with the system memory based on a state of the system memory secure mode signal and (3) a boot processor coupled to the security control module and the secure memory bridge and configured to transmit requests to the secure memory bridge in the secure mode and an unsecure mode. |
| US08239662B1 |
Network based operating system across devices
A system for providing an operating system over a network to a local device is provided. The system includes a base image server, a preferences image server and an image loader. The system may also include a boot loader. A method for providing an operating system over a network to a local device is also provided. The method includes receiving a request for an operating system. The method further includes transmitting to a local device remotely stored base and preferences images that are configured for combination into a combined image. The method may also include the synchronizing the combined image with a cached version of an operating system on the local device. |
| US08239661B2 |
System and method for double-issue instructions using a dependency matrix
A method for double-issue complex instructions receives a complex instruction comprising a first portion and a second portion. The method sets a single issue queue slot and allocates an execution unit for the complex instruction, and identifies dependencies in the first and second portions. The method sets a dependency matrix slot and a consumers table slot for the first and section portion. In the event the first portion dependencies have been satisfied, the method issues the first portion and then issues the second portion from the single issue queue slot. In the event the second portion dependencies have not been satisfied, the method cancels the second portion issue. |
| US08239659B2 |
Vector completion mask handling
Techniques for vector completion mask (VCM) handling are provided. A data structure includes a mask field for each operand of a particular operation. A processor attempts to execute the operation with multiple operands, which are identified in the data structure by the mask fields. If operands are successfully retrieved for execution with the operation, then the corresponding mask field within the data structure is cleared. The processor can reset if any field remains set within the data structure and can re-process the operation with operands that were not previously handled with the operation. |
| US08239657B2 |
Address translation method and apparatus
Address translation performance within a processor is improved by identifying an address that causes a boundary crossing between different pages in memory and linking address translation information associated with both memory pages. According to one embodiment of a processor, the processor comprises circuitry configured to recognize an access to a memory region crossing a page boundary between first and second memory pages. The circuitry is also configured to link address translation information associated with the first and second memory pages. Thus, responsive to a subsequent access the same memory region, the address translation information associated with the first and second memory pages is retrievable based on a single address translation. |
| US08239650B2 |
Wirelessly configurable memory device addressing
A memory device includes a plurality of memory modules and a memory management module. A memory module of the plurality of memory modules includes a plurality of memory cells and a memory millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver. The memory management module determines a main memory configuration for at least some of the plurality of memory modules. The memory management module also determines physical addresses for the main memory configuration and determines a MMW communication resource table that includes an allocation mapping of one or more MMW communication resources to one or more of the at least some of the plurality of memory modules. |
| US08239649B2 |
Clearing guest frames absent paging-in to host main storage
Optimizations are provided for frame management operations, including a clear operation and/or a set storage key operation, requested by pageable guests. The operations are performed, absent host intervention, on frames not resident in host memory. The operations may be specified in an instruction issued by the pageable guests. |
| US08239644B2 |
Control device of a storage system comprising storage devices of a plurality of types
A control device of a storage system that includes a plurality of storage devices including a first type of storage device, including: a memory which stores an archive deadline of archive target data which are a target of archiving by the storage system and a warranty deadline which is a quality warranty deadline of parity groups configured by two or more of the first type of storage devices; a controller which stores the archive target data in the parity groups configured by two or more of the first type of storage device, and wherein the parity group storing the archive target data is a parity group whose warranty deadline is near the archive deadline of the archive target data, among a plurality of the parity groups. |
| US08239640B2 |
System for controlling performance aspects of a data storage and access routine
A system for controlling one or more aspects of a data storage and access routine incorporates a filter driver residing on a digital storage medium internal to or accessible to a host computing system; and a configuration interface residing on the digital storage medium. The interface enables reservation of an amount of memory for accelerating processes of data access and data storage and wherein the filter driver monitors data read and data write requests and processes those requests allowed through configuration and according to configured parameters. |
| US08239631B2 |
System and method for replacing data in a cache
A system and method for replacing data in a cache utilizes cache block validity information, which contains information that indicates that data in a cache block is no longer needed for processing, to maintain least recently used information of cache blocks in a cache set of the cache, identifies the least recently used cache block of the cache set using the least recently used information of the cache blocks in the cache set, and replaces data in the least recently used cache block of the cache set with data from main memory. |
| US08239629B2 |
Hierarchical memory architecture to connect mass storage devices
A hierarchical memory storage using a concentrator device that is located between a processor and memory storage devices to provide a succession of memory devices and enable attachment of a memory depth to a processor controller with a limited pin count. |
| US08239622B2 |
Data storage array scaling method and system with minimal data movement
A method for rearranging data blocks in a data storage system when adding new storage devices to create an expanded data storage system. A temporary configuration is selected for which the exchange of one or more data blocks between the temporary configuration and the source configuration produces the destination configuration before identifying and exchanging data blocks between the temporary configuration and the source configuration to produce the destination configuration. A single data element transfer chain embodiment provides superior performance in an embodiment that maintains (does not reduce) the source array data storage efficiency at the destination array after scaling. When adding a single new device to an existing array, the required data movement is minimized and does not exceed the capacity of the new device. |
| US08239621B2 |
Distributed data storage system, data distribution method, and apparatus and program to be used for the same
There is provided a distributed data storage system for splitting content-data into a plurality of split data and storing a plurality of copy data corresponding to at least one of the plurality of split data in a plurality of memory devices. The system comprises a copying management information storing unit and a access location determining unit. The copying management information storing unit stores copying management information indicating a storage location of the copy data corresponding to the split data. The access location determining unit determines at least one of the plurality of memory devices storing the copy data corresponding to the split data as an access location for accessing split data. |
| US08239617B1 |
Enterprise data storage system using multi-level cell flash memory
A system including an enterprise data storage system having a plurality of multi-level cell (MLC) flash devices configured as data storage drives. The enterprise data storage system is operated in such a way and the configuration of the MLC flash devices is such that the enterprise data storage system is able to maintain a performance level comparable to that of an enterprise data storage system utilizing single-level cell (SLC) flash devices. |
| US08239609B2 |
Leveraging memory similarity during live migrations
A page scanner may be configured to identify, during a live migration of a virtual machine including a transfer of a plurality of memory pages from source hardware resources to destination hardware resources, a candidate memory page of the plurality of memory pages to include in the transfer while at least one operation of the virtual machine continues to execute. A fingerprint comparator may be configured to compare a candidate page fingerprint of the candidate memory page to existing page fingerprints of existing memory pages stored using the second hardware resources, and further configured to determine, based on the comparing, that a duplicate of the candidate page is included within the existing memory pages. A duplicate page handler may be configured to facilitate continued execution of the virtual machine using the duplicate of the candidate page and the second hardware resources. |
| US08239605B2 |
Communication between a host device and an accessory via an intermediate device
A host device and an accessory exchange information (e.g., commands and data) via an intermediate device. The host device and accessory can each connect to the intermediate device through a direct wired path and can exchange commands and data with the intermediate device. The host device and the accessory can also “tunnel” information to each other through the intermediate device, by packaging the tunneled information as a payload of a command recognizable by the intermediate device; the intermediate device can repackage and forward the payload. In some embodiments, the tunneled information relates to configuring a wireless link (e.g., a Bluetooth pairing) between the host device and the accessory. |
| US08239599B1 |
System and method for handling data streams
Systems and methods are provided that forward or route data streams using a plurality of processors, while maintaining the correct sequence of data packets within the data stream. Each interface may be associated with a respective one processor such that data packets received by an interface are handled by its respective one processor. Once a data packet is received by an interface, the processor associated with the interface may determine whether the received data packet is intended for another interface associated with another respective one processor. If the processor determines that the data packet is intended for another interface, the data packet may be forwarded to the processor associated with the other interface. |
| US08239596B2 |
IC card, terminal with IC card and initializing method thereof
An IC card and a terminal mounted with an IC card are disclosed. In one embodiment, the IC card includes i) a memory, ii) a plurality of contacts including a pair of RF contacts and at least one communication contact, a micro processor, selecting any one of a low speed communication protocol and a high speed communication protocol, processing data written in the memory by a command inputted through any one of the RF contact and the communication contact determined by the selected communication protocol, and outputting a corresponding response, iii) a high speed interface, communicating the command and the response through the communication contact by use of the high speed communication protocol, iv) a low speed interface, communicating the command and the response through the communication contact by use of the low speed communication protocol and v) a contact allotting unit, connecting the communication contact determined by the selected communication protocol to any one of the low speed interface and the high speed interface. |
| US08239591B2 |
Method for producing a mapping tool, a game program having the mapping tool and operation method thereof
A method for producing a mapping tool, a video game system for a stand-alone computer having the mapping tool and operation method thereof is disclosed. The mapping tool is created by means of linking a remote motion signal generated from a remote device which is operated by user with an input source signal from a conventional input source motion mapping table. User may operate the video game system for the stand-alone computer through the mapping tool. The present invention employs the mapping tool to replace conventional input source motion mapping table, thereby providing natural ergonomic and consistent usage of existing PC games or games for stand-alone computer having the input source motion mapping table. |
| US08239587B2 |
Device having data sharing capabilities and a method for sharing data
A method and device for sharing data. The method include: receiving, by a direct memory access controller, a data read instruction; wherein the read data instruction can be a shared data read instruction or a non-shared data read instruction; determining whether to fetch a requested data block from a first memory unit to a second memory unit by applying a direct memory address control operation; wherein the second memory unit is accessible by a processor that generated the shared data read instruction; fetching the requested data block from the first memory unit to the second memory unit by applying a direct memory access control operation, if the read data instruction is a non-shared data instruction or if the read data instruction is a shared data instruction but the requested data is not stored in the second memory unit; and retrieving a requested data block from a second memory unit. |
| US08239586B2 |
Method and apparatus for interfacing with multiple objects using an object independent interface protocol
A method and apparatus is presented for using multiple device specific interface protocols for communicating with a platform, where each of the devices comprises a set of parameters. For each parameter of each set of parameters a function call is established to set the parameter for each of the devices that enable the parameter. Using each function call, the plurality of object specific interface protocols is then transformed into a non-device specific interface protocol for communication with the platform. |
| US08239581B2 |
Data storage device compatible with multiple interconnect standards
A data storage device comprises a data storage medium; an interface between the data storage medium and a host device configured to provide connectivity according to a plurality of storage interconnect standards. The data storage device also includes a interconnect detector configured to determine the presence of a physical connection to the host device and identify an interconnect standard of the host device, wherein the interconnect standard of the host device is one of the plurality of storage interconnect standards; and a controller configured to: receive an indication of the interconnect standard of the physical connection from the interconnect detector, receive data access commands in accordance with the interconnect standard from the host device via the connector; process the data access commands by accessing the data storage medium; and send a response to the data access commands in accordance with the interconnect standard to the host via the connector. |
| US08239579B2 |
PLL/DLL dual loop data synchronization
A dual loop (PLL/DLL) data synchronization system and method for plesiochronous systems is provided. A dual loop data serializer includes a phase lock loop (PLL) and a delayed lock loop (DLL) configured with a phase shifter in the feedback path of the PLL. The dual loop serializer locks to the input of the DLL instead of the local reference. Thus, the DLL adjusts the frequency from the PLL so that it matches the desired data rate. Each loop may be optimized for jitter tolerance with the net effect generating a synthesized clean clock (due to narrow bandwidth filtering) and VCO noise suppression (due to wide bandwidth filtering). A dual loop retimer includes a dual loop serializer (PLL/DLL) and a clock recovery DLL. The retimer resets the jitter budget to meet transmission requirements for an infinite number of repeater stages. |
| US08239576B2 |
Intermediary content provider
Methods of providing published content are presented. Content providers, including advertisers, can have their network addresses become black listed through no fault of their own. Content providers can utilize one or more intermediary providers each having their own distinct network address, possibly a registered domain name. An advertiser or other content provider can engage members of a distribution channel to disseminate promotional information to consumers where the promotional information comprises a network address of the intermediary provider. Upon a request directed toward the network address, the intermediary transforms published content obtained from the primary provider to make the content appear as though it originated from the intermediary provider. Should a black listing event occur, only the intermediary provider would be affected. An updated or new intermediary provider having a new, distinct network address can be instantiated to replace the black listed provider. |
| US08239574B2 |
Apparatus and method for sharing a bookmark with other users in a home network
A method and apparatus for sharing a bookmark, which is created by a user, with other users. In a method for sharing a bookmark in a home network, information of a bookmark for sharing in a home network device of a bookmark creator is created. The bookmark or the information of the bookmark is stored in an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) terminal in the home network of the bookmark creator. The bookmark or the information of the bookmark is then transmitted from the IPTV terminal to an IPTV service provider. |
| US08239572B1 |
Custom routing decisions
With the advent of virtualization technologies, networks and routing for those networks can now be simulated using commodity hardware rather than actual routers. For example, virtualization technologies such as those provided by VMWare, XEN, or User-Mode Linux can be adapted to allow a single physical computing machine to be shared among multiple virtual networks by providing each virtual network user with one or more virtual machines hosted by the single physical computing machine, with each such virtual machine being a software simulation acting as a distinct logical computing system that provides users with the illusion that they are the sole operators and administrators of a given hardware computing resource. In addition, routing can be accomplished through software, providing additional routing flexibility to the virtual network in comparison with traditional routing. As a result, in some implementations, supplemental information other than packet information can be used to determine network routing. |
| US08239570B2 |
Using link send and receive information to select one of multiple links to use to transfer data for send and receive operations
Link information for a plurality of links to at least one target node indicates for each link a send throughput for sending data, a receive throughput for received data, a slate of the link indicating whether the link is online, offline or degraded. The send throughput of the links having the online state is processed to select one of the links to the receiving node m response to determining that more than one of the links has the online state. The data of the send operation is sent using the selected link to the receiving node. The receive throughput is processed to select one of the links having the online state to the sending node in response to determining that more than one of the links has the online state. The data of the receive operation is received using the selected link to the sending node. |
| US08239569B2 |
OSPF optimization for hub and spoke environment
A method and apparatus for routing data in a network is disclosed. A spoke router signals its intention to act as spoke in a new bit in Hello and database descriptor packets. A router acting as hub acknowledges the spoke request. Once the spoke router receives the hub's acknowledgement, it installs a default route to the hub router. Flooding is suppressed from hub to spoke. Instead of flooding, the hub router sends empty database descriptor packets so that no request is sent from spoke routers and any further change in the topology is not sent to spoke routers. This minimizes the flooding in this environment. |
| US08239568B2 |
Creation of valid packets by an alert sending device
In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method of this embodiment provides accessing a packet template in a memory, the packet template having at least one static field, and in response to an indication of an event, generating a packet on an integrated circuit, the packet being based on the packet template. |
| US08239565B2 |
Flow record restriction apparatus and the method
A Flow Record restriction apparatus is provided for restricting a transmission number of Flow Records while maintaining measurement information of the whole traffic. The Flow Record restriction apparatus includes: a flow generation unit 202 configured to determine a set of packets having the same attribute to be a flow of the same communication, and to generate a Flow Record based on header information of the packets for each flow; a Flow Record number restriction function unit 203 including a management buffer for temporarily storing generated Flow Records, and being configured to read the Flow Records from the management buffer and output the Flow Records; and a Flow Record transmission unit 204 configured to packetize the output Flow Records to transmit packets over the measurement network, wherein, when a number of Flow Records stored in the management buffer exceeds a preset upper limit value, the Flow Record number restriction function unit 203 aggregates a part of stored Flow Records. |
| US08239561B2 |
System and method for locating and capturing desired media content from media broadcasts
A media agent that monitors multiple broadcast transmissions and a method for the same. The media agent establishes connections with broadcast transmissions and then identifies characteristics of the media content contained within the broadcast transmission. The association between the identified characteristic of the media content and the connected broadcast transmission is maintained to allow the information gathered from the broadcast transmission to be used meaningfully. |
| US08239552B2 |
Providing client access to devices over a network
A centralized service identifies a pool of devices that can be accessed by clients over a network. Devices can include a local or network-accessible device, and a configurable file that represents a portion of a device (e.g., a SCSI storage device). In some cases, the devices (or the file representing a portion of the device) can be identified by an assigned logical unit number. The centralized service assigns one or more devices to a target, and associates client information with the target. The centralized service also can also assign the target a logical unit number, and assign the target to a protocol-independent portal, which further operates through protocol-dependent miniports. In one embodiment, a client accesses a network device by accessing the appropriate port through an appropriate miniport protocol (e.g., Ethernet, fiber channel, etc.), and by submitting appropriate target authorization. |
| US08239551B2 |
User device, control method thereof, and IMS user equipment
There is provided a user device that is equipped with IMS functionality. The user device includes: searching means for searching, based on UPnP technology, a UPnP network for another user device that has IMS subscription information, establishing means for establishing a session with the other user device discovered by the searching means, retrieving means for retrieving the IMS subscription information from the other user device via the session, and sending means for sending a first SIP register message including the IMS subscription information to an IMS network. |
| US08239542B2 |
Analog signal input/output system using network links
An analog signal input/output system in which an analog signal input terminal converts an input analog signal to a digital signal and transmits the digital signal to a host computer via a network, while a digital signal generated by the host computer is transmitted through the network to an analog signal output terminal and converted therein to an analog signal to be outputted. Two connections of upstream and downstream sockets between the host computer and the analog signal input/output device. These connections are selectively used to provide communication of control signals and data. Exemplary analog signals include input signals from a microphone, output signals to a speaker, and input/output data to/from a sensor, a measuring device and the like. |
| US08239540B2 |
Distributed computing based on multiple nodes with determined capacity selectively joining resource groups having resource requirements
A network provides distributed computing services based on participation in respective resource groups by computing nodes, each resource group including a corresponding resource requirement for any computing node that joins the corresponding resource group for execution of the corresponding distributed computing service. Each computing node, in response to determining its corresponding available node capacity, is configured for selectively creating and joining at least one new resource group for execution of a corresponding distributed computing service having a corresponding resource requirement, and/or selectively joining at least one of the available resource groups, based on the corresponding available node capacity satisfying the corresponding resource requirement. Each computing node also is configured for selectively leaving any one of the joined resource groups based on determined conditions. Hence, each computing node may choose to participate in as many resource groups as needed for respective computing services, based on the corresponding available node capacity. |
| US08239538B2 |
Execution allocation cost assessment for computing systems and environments including elastic computing systems and environments
Techniques for assessing the cost of allocation of execution and affecting the allocation of execution are disclosed. The cost of allocation of execution to or between a first computing device (e.g., a mobile device) and one or more computing resource providers (e.g., one or more Clouds) can be determined during runtime of the executable code. It will be appreciated that a computing system can operate independently of the first computing device and one or more computing resource providers and provide execution allocation cost assessment as a service to the first computing device and/or one or more computing resource providers. Execution allocation cost can be assessed (or determined) based on execution allocation data pertaining to the first computing device and/or one or more computing resource providers. By way of example, power consumption of a mobile device can be used as a factor in determining how to allocate individual components of an application program (e.g., weblets) between a mobile phone and a Cloud. The invention is especially suited for Elastic computing environment and systems. In an Elastic computing environment, scalable and dynamic external computing resources can be used in order to effectively extend the computing capabilities beyond that which can be provided by internal computing resources of a computing system or environment. |
| US08239535B2 |
Network architecture with load balancing, fault tolerance and distributed querying
A network architecture with load balancing, fault tolerance and distributed querying comprises a plurality of front-end servers, a plurality of back-end servers, and a database. The front-end servers are coupled to a network to receive data requests from client devices. The front-end servers are each coupled to the plurality of back-end servers. The front-end servers handle data requests at a macro level and divide the request into sub-requests that are sent to the plurality of back-end servers. The back-end servers are coupled to the database to retrieve data. Each data request is distributed across the plurality of back-end servers according to workload. The front-end servers are fault tolerant in that they can respond to a request for data without all of the back-end servers being responsive or providing data. The present invention also includes a plurality of methods including: a method for distributed querying, a method for loading data sets from a database, and a method for responding to a query that provides fault tolerance. |
| US08239534B1 |
Precedence adjusted resource allocation
Methods that perform message and real-time data and computational flow routing across networks comprised elements with a dynamic time-varying network topology and loading. The unique algorithms and protocols for allocation of network resources embodied in the present methods provide optimal performance for high precedence traffic while providing as good as possible performance for lower precedence traffic. |
| US08239533B2 |
Prioritization of third party access to an online commerce site
Providing prioritization of user online access to an online commerce site. Third party applications using API function calls to access an online commerce site are restricted to specific services by an access rule. An access rule defines which API server on the online commerce site a specific third party application may access when using a specific API function call. In this way, the operator of the online commerce site may prioritize server access per service level agreements based on a specific third party application and API function call. |
| US08239530B2 |
Origin server protection service apparatus
An infrastructure “insurance” mechanism enables a Web site to fail over to a content delivery network (CDN) upon a given occurrence at the site. Upon such occurrence, at least some portion of the site's content is served preferentially from the CDN so that end users that desire the content can still get it, even if the content is not then available from the origin site. In operation, content requests are serviced from the site in the usual manner, e.g., by resolving DNS queries to the site's IP address, until detection of the given occurrence. Thereafter, DNS queries are managed by a CDN dynamic DNS-based request routing mechanism so that such queries are resolved to optimal CDN edge servers. After the event that caused the occurrence has passed, control of the site's DNS may be returned from the CDN back to the origin server's DNS mechanism. |
| US08239524B2 |
Techniques for dynamically assigning jobs to processors in a cluster based on processor workload
A technique for operating a high performance computing (HPC) cluster includes monitoring workloads of multiple processors included in the HPC cluster. The HPC cluster includes multiple nodes that each include two or more of the multiple processors. One or more threads assigned to one or more of the multiple processors are moved to a different one of the multiple processors based on the workloads of the multiple processors. |
| US08239520B2 |
Network service operational status monitoring
Network service operational status monitoring methods and apparatus are disclosed. Responsive to a service status request associated with a network service, an operational status of the network service is determined by an intermediary between a service status requester and the network service. The operational status is a service-specific operational status of the network service in some embodiments. Operational status may be determined through a multi-level procedure in which subsequent levels after a first level of the multi-level procedure are or are not performed depending on a result of a preceding level of the procedure. A multi-level procedure may involve a service connectivity check and a service operational check, for instance. |
| US08239518B2 |
Method for detecting and resolving a partition condition in a cluster
A method for detecting and resolving a partition condition in a cluster of computers in a networked environment is described. In one example, the method includes creating a scratch pad area and dividing the scratch pad into slots. Each slot is associated with a node within the cluster. A generation number and a list of known nodes are recorded in each slot when a change of membership occurs in the cluster. The slots are compared to ensure the generation number and the list of known nodes matches in each slot, and the partition condition is resolved by creating a list of surviving nodes and re-allocating appropriate resources to each of the surviving nodes. |
| US08239510B2 |
Method and systems for locating geographical locations of online users
A location tracking system for building a geographic location database of network nodes in a computer network includes a trace engine module configured to send trace Id commands to a plurality of user terminals. The user terminals are actively coupled to a server node so that the trace engine module is able to obtain IP address of each of the user terminals and its corresponding geographic location. A first database is configured to store IP addresses obtained by the trace engine module and their corresponding geographical locations. A second database is configured to store a set of physical connections between IP addresses obtained by the trace engine module. The system can then determine the geographical location of end user terminals who employ the database as previously populated. |
| US08239508B2 |
Storage system and data management method in storage system
Provided is a storage center including a storage subsystem for storing content data to be used by the user's home server, and a center server for controlling the storage subsystem. The center server aggregates the content recording reservation requests sent from several home servers, obtains content data from a content server and stores the content data in the storage subsystem at a designated recording start time, and notifies the user's home server that the recording reservation is complete. |
| US08239503B2 |
Distributed system architecture for variable coupling
A distributed computer system in several embodiments includes several architectures or configurations. Each configuration exhibits a different degree of coupling between an application that provides data and an application that consumes that data. In an embodiment, a provider application knows the identity of a consumer application, converts data into the format of the consumer application, and transmits the data to the consumer application. In other embodiments, the provider application does not know the identity of the consumer application, and transmits data to the consumer application through an intermediary. In such embodiments, either the provider or the intermediary can perform the data conversion. In another embodiment, a manager object oversees the transformation of the system from one configuration to another in real time. |
| US08239499B2 |
Online social network management system and method for simulating users to build various faces of relation
A system and method of managing a social network are disclosed. The method includes the step of recording the IDs and corresponding personal information of users who have subscribed to a service via a network, in a user DB; the step of recording corresponding relationships between the users and relationship indices R, reflecting the degrees of trustworthiness of the users having the corresponding relationships, in a relationship information DB; and the path search step of evaluating one or more paths based on the relationship indices R of respective links constituting the paths and providing evaluation results to a first user so that the first user can select an optimal path from among the paths existing between the first user and a second user on the social network constructed with the users used as nodes and the corresponding relationships of the users used as the links. |
| US08239498B2 |
System and method for facilitating the implementation of changes to the configuration of resources in an enterprise
System and method for facilitating the implementation of changes to the configuration of resources in an enterprise. Embodiments of the present invention facilitate the use of historical information about an enterprise's IT configuration to evaluate the risk and impact of proposed changes. Risk can be evaluated using a success history for an organization within the enterprise that is responsible for the proposed change, or by applying a neural network to the historical data to detect recognizable patterns in the historical data. A risk evaluation can take into account sensitivity of the change to dates assigned on a change calendar, based on sensitivity dates gathered from the historical data. Historical data can be maintained and provided by a configuration database. |
| US08239491B1 |
Content request optimization
The occurrence of a request event is monitored during the rendering of a browser page. In response to monitoring the occurrence of the request event, content item request instructions are loaded and executed to generate one or more content item requests based on the content item request instructions. |
| US08239490B2 |
Exposing resource capabilities to web applications
The subject matter of this document can be implemented in, among other things, a method that includes executing a web application within a web browser of a computing device. The method also includes executing a resource server with an interface for receiving HTTP messages from the web application and an interface for communicating with a system resource of the computing device. The method further includes receiving, at the web application, an input to affect an operation of the system resource. The method also includes transmitting, from the web application to the resource server, an HTTP message to affect the operation of the system resource. The method further includes processing the HTTP message into a resource control message that includes information about the operation. The method also includes transmitting the resource control message from the resource server to the system resource to affect the operation by the system resource. |
| US08239481B2 |
System and method for implementing open-control remote device control
A system and method for implementing open-protocol remote device control are provided. A user accesses a common user interface for controlling one or more networked devices. Utilizing the interface, the user selects one or more actions. The selection is encoded in a standard protocol and transmitted to a premises server. The premises server obtains the selection, accesses a device interface database and translates the selection into a device-specific protocol. The translated instruction is transmitted to the selected device for implementation. The user interface then obtains any device return data for display on the user interface. |
| US08239478B2 |
Computer system
A computer system including a computer network, a multiplicity of network enabled portable computers, each including at least one sensor for sensing an operational status aspect thereof and a communicator for providing status information via the network and a maintenance center communicating via the computer network with the multiplicity of portable computers and being operative for automatically receiving the status information and for providing maintenance directives based thereon. |
| US08239472B2 |
Notification breakthrough status and profile
Techniques and tools are described for notifications of events, such as receipt of messages, and specifically to tools and techniques related to breakthrough notification profile and status. For example, it is determining whether a profile is active and whether a contact associated with an event is identified as having a status related to the profile. If the profile is active, a notification related to the event is issued only if the sender has the status. If the profile is not active, the notification is issued whether or not the sender has the status. |
| US08239465B2 |
Generating human interactive proofs
A method for generating one or more human interactive proofs (HIPs) is described herein. A HIP request may be received. One of a plurality of HIP engines may be selected using a randomization algorithm. Each HIP engine may have a distinct algorithm for generating the one or more HIPs. The one or more HIPs may be generated using the one of the plurality of HIP engines. |
| US08239464B2 |
Method and instantaneous messaging system for mobile terminals equipped with a virtual presence server configured to manage different contact lists of a single user
The invention relates to an instantaneous messaging system for mobile terminals comprising one or several instantaneous messaging service servers (S1, S2) able to deliver instantaneous messaging services to mobile terminals (TA, TB1, TC1, TD1, TB2, TE2, TF2) connected to said servers and of which the users (A, B1, C1, D1, B2, E2, F2) have opened an instantaneous messaging session, and a virtual presence server (100) independent of the existing instantaneous messaging service servers (S1, S2), said virtual presence server being connected to at least one mobile client terminal (TA) and to at least one of the existing messaging servers (S1, S2) in such a way that the information intended for or sent by said mobile client terminal transits by said virtual presence server, wherein the instantaneous messaging service servers (S1, S2) are configured to transmit contact lists intended for mobile client terminal (TA), said lists being intercepted by the virtual presence server (100), the latter comprising a means to aggregate the different contact lists received and only manage a single list (110) in which are registered the identities of the different users (B1, C1, D1, B2, E2, F2), without distinction as to the community that said users are members of.The invention also relates to a method making it possible to manage different contact lists of a single user in an instantaneous messaging session. |
| US08239463B2 |
Method and apparatus for automatically checking E-mail addresses in outgoing E-mail communications
The present invention provides a system and method for detecting incorrect e-mail addresses in outgoing e-mail communications. In a first embodiment, a domain name database creates a table of domain names by automatically storing the domain names of e-mail addresses from which incoming e-mails are received. When a user creates an outgoing e-mail communication, the system checks the domain names provided by the user with those domain names stored in the table. If the user-provided domain name does not match any of the domain names in the table, or closely resembles a domain name in the table, the user is prompted to confirm the provided e-mail address. In a second embodiment, e-mail addresses are extracted from incoming e-mail communications and stored in a memory in a client computer e-mail communications system. The system checks the memory for the presence of the e-mail addresses provided in outgoing e-mail communications, and generates a prompt when an e-mail address is not present in the memory. |
| US08239462B2 |
Method and system for composing electronic messages
A method and apparatus for composing electronic messages. In one embodiment, the method includes dividing a first electronic message into one or more segments, uniquely identifying each of the segments of the first electronic message, and storing the first electronic message in a repository with unique identifiers of the segments. The segments can then be individually accessible by a user viewing the first electronic message. |
| US08239461B2 |
Method and system for accessing search services via messaging services
A user using a chat or instant message, mobile message or email type of interface, for example, an information seeker, can connect via an instant message, mobile message, email or chat type of service provider, for example, an America On-line Instant Messenger (AIM) server. The message server connects the user to a routine that allows the user to utilize his or her service interface in combination with the services provided by the information search system. After connection has been established via the message interface, for example, an instant message is received via the chat process. A query string can then be extracted from the instant message and passed to the search system, which can respond with search results. |
| US08239460B2 |
Content-based tagging of RSS feeds and E-mail
Providing for automated generation of tags (e.g., metadata descriptors) for items of e-mail or syndication formatted communication is described herein. By way of example, a system can include a filtering component that can generate one or more tags based on information relevant to content of the communication, a sender, or recipient, or combinations thereof. In addition, such tags can be automatically attached to a received item, or a presentation component can furnish the tags to a recipient (e.g., by way of a communication device user interface) for selection, whereby selected tags are associated with the item of communication. Accordingly, the subject innovation provides for improved classification and description of items of communication by automatic generation of descriptive and/or representative tags associated therewith. |
| US08239459B2 |
Data processing apparatus and data processing method
An apparatus and method for communication between an apparatus and at least one other apparatus, the apparatus and method including inputting data to be transmitted to the at least one other apparatus, transmitting, to the at least one other apparatus, a program for producing a storage destination in the at least one other apparatus that stores the inputted data, receiving, from the at least one other apparatus, information indicating the storage destination created based on the program and, designating the created storage destination based on the received information and transmitting the inputted data to the at least one other apparatus. |
| US08239457B1 |
Method for transmission of an electronic post message
A method of transmitting electronic mail messages using the least possible data capacity. It uses a short message service, an electronic mail message and address and/or identification data for transmission of the electronic mail message in a second communications network is transmitted with a short message in a first communications network. A first header including signaling of at least one data field, including the address and/or identification data, is transmitted with the short message. A second header, indicating the presence of the first header, is transmitted with the short message. The at least one data field is transmitted outside of any header within a data portion of the short message. |
| US08239455B2 |
Collaborative data and knowledge integration
A framework for to enable collaborative research includes enabling scientific researchers to dynamically interact with others, collaboratively author, annotate, review, comment on others' data, and discuss their research. The framework allows for providing a dynamic collaboration environment by harnessing collective contributions from a group of researchers and facilitating broader participation of people into research projects. The framework is a Web-based collaborative platform to dynamically integrate information for scientific research. Besides data integration, the system provides essential collaboration capabilities to boost user participation and collaboration. The system will not only enable users as active information contributors to bring significant new values to the data, but also provide an environment for scientific researchers to do collaborative research in a large research community. |
| US08239454B2 |
System and method for telephone conference based communication, entertainment and advertising platform with accounting functionality
This invention enables people from the at-home viewing or listening audience of any television or radio broadcast to talk with each other to discuss the program's content on the telephone at any time before, during or after a show. In addition to discussion forums based on broadcast and print media content, the system provides premium priced telephone access to people with specific expertise, e.g., sports stars, politicians and a host of other specialists. Income is earned on a per-minute or flat-rate basis and billed to the caller primarily via credit card or their phone bill. Revenue can be derived from the sale of advertisement, e.g., mentions of the sponsor over the telephone during the initial greeting and within conferences, as well as from the licensing of the service to media networks as a value added service. |
| US08239451B1 |
Metasearch engine for ordering items returned in travel related search results using multiple queries on at least one host comprising a plurality of server devices
Process and system for metasearching on the Internet performed by a metasearch engine, comprising: receiving an HTTP request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send a plurality of search queries to at least one host that comprises a plurality of server devices that provide access to information to be searched, the HTTP request associated with a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered comprising at least one airline ticket and at least one other type of travel related item; sending the plurality of search queries to the at least one host; receiving search results from the at least one host; incorporating the received search results into a response; communicating the response from the metasearch engine to the client device; receiving another HTTP request from the client device for placing an order for at least one of the plurality of travel related items; processing the order. |
| US08239446B2 |
Content distribution architecture
A hierarchical cached media distribution system that employs the Internet. The distribution system assures reliability and quality of service in delivery of timely content. New content is harvested from multiple disparate sources, associated with channels, and encrypted, conditioned, and packaged prior to distribution. A peer-to-peer network scheme is provided where peer groups are associated and maintained for efficient file distribution. Content servers are dynamically prioritized based on availability and cost. A push-based distribution method may be used to exploit cached content stored on peers subject to network address translation (NAT). The distribution system exploits a redundant self repairing packaged file format for media content. Embodiments of the present invention further provide dynamic feedback to content sources. |
| US08239445B1 |
URL-based sticky routing tokens using a server-side cookie jar
A method, system and program product are presented for enabling a session, as defined by a series of related transactions to perform a unit of work, to be created between a client and a particular server where the server is managed by a dispatcher. Modifications to the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) are used to create a method of transferring information form the client to the server. The server implements a server-side storage area (cookie jar) to temporarily store information about the client and the session so that the client is routed to the same server for successive messages in the same session and no reliance is made upon an ability by the client to store or return cookies. |
| US08239443B2 |
Method and system for tunable distribution of content
A method and system for tunable distribution of content are disclosed. Preferably, the content comprises digital rights and/or watermark information. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving a request from a client. One or more content files related to the request and a user profile of a user are determined. One or more seeders are assigned to start the delivery of the one or more content files. The client is allowed to obtain a plurality of pieces of the one or more content files from the one or more seeders. At least one piece of the plurality of pieces of the one or more content files contains digital rights and/or watermark information. |
| US08239442B2 |
Computing module for efficient FFT and FIR hardware accelerator
A hardware accelerator operable in an FFT mode and an FIR mode. The hardware accelerator takes input data and coefficient data and performs the calculations for the selected mode. In the FFT mode, a rate-two FFT is calculated, producing four real outputs corresponding to two complex numbers. In the FIR mode, one real output is generated. The hardware accelerator may switch from FFT mode to FIR mode using three multiplexers. All FIR components may be utilized in FFT mode. Registers may be added to provide pipelining support. The hardware accelerator may support multiple numerical-representation systems. |
| US08239431B2 |
Message delivery system and method for delivering message
A message delivery system includes a plurality of terminals and a server communicating the terminals. Each of the terminals includes a message creation function unit creating a message for any member of a registered group, and a message delivery request function unit designating any location as a designated location and requesting a server to deliver the message to a member of the registered group entering the designated location. The server includes an entry monitoring function unit monitoring if a member of the registered group has entered the designated location, and a message delivery function unit delivering the message to a member of the registered group first entering the designated location and, if the first entering member refuses to accept the message, delivering the message to another member of the group next entering the designated area. |
| US08239424B2 |
Image alignment and trend analysis features for an infrared imaging system
In one embodiment, a thermographic imaging device having a visual compare mode that allows a user to compare a live image of a subject to a previously captured image of the same subject to aid the user in aligning the live image with the previously captured image. In this manner, a user can capture a series of images of the subject with the device located and oriented at a common location and orientation that is consistent throughout the series. In another embodiment, trend analysis software that includes a thermographic tool copying feature for copying one or more thermographic tools from a tooled thermographic image file to one or more non-tooled thermographic image files. In some embodiments, the software includes a trend-graphing feature that generates one or more trend plots after one or more tools have been copied to one or more non-tooled thermographic image files. |
| US08239422B2 |
Methods and apparatus to provision network resource records
Methods and apparatus to provision network resource records are described. An example method of provisioning a plurality of resource records in a telephone number mapping system includes receiving first and second inputs to define a range of numbers corresponding to a plurality of resource records; creating an object in a first server, the object having one or more attributes to represent the plurality of resource records; and automatically provisioning the plurality of resource records in a second server based on the one or more attributes of the object. |
| US08239419B2 |
Generating service component definition language from metadata
An SCA generator is configured to use data in a Metadata repository to generate files that can be used by an SCA server. The SCA generator includes an instruction analyzing module configured to analyze input instructions and to determine the Metadata repository from the input instructions. The SCA generator also includes a matching module configured to match a service identifier received with the input instructions to service metadata stored in the Metadata repository and a retrieving module configured to retrieve service parameters for the matched service. The SCA generator further includes a tree generating module configured to generate a parser tree based on the retrieved service parameters and an output file generation module configured to recursively walk through the parser tree and to generate target output files. The target output files generated by the output generation module are configured such that the SCA server can access services that have associated service metadata stored in the Metadata repository. |
| US08239417B2 |
System, method, and computer program product for accessing and manipulating remote datasets
A method, system and computer program product for creating a report on the basis of a plurality of remote datasets. The system for achieving this includes an intelligence server, connected to one or more tree servers. The tree servers are in turn connected to one or more databases. A user specifies a report to be created by the system. A client, acting on behalf of the user, creates a report definition that is sent to the intelligence server and the tree servers. Each tree server creates one or more segments, or slices, of the report, using the information that resides on the tree server. These slices are then sent to the intelligence server, which aggregates the slices into a tree structure. The tree structure is then converted into a report for presentation to the client. Moreover, the intelligence server receives updates from the tree servers as necessary. To do so, the tree servers and the intelligence server remain in communication for the purposes of passing update messages. The update messages are received and processed at the intelligence server in a manner that facilitates synchronization with the contributing tree servers and provides live updates to the user. |
| US08239415B2 |
Systems and methods for providing a validation tool
Systems and methods for providing a validation tool may be configured to identify a plurality of words within a document, the document being provided in a first window within a user interface. Additionally, the systems and methods may be configured to determine, from a predetermined list that includes terms of interest, whether the words are matching words with terms of interest. The systems and methods may, in response to determining that the plurality of words are matching words with the terms of interest, highlight matching words in a document and access pieces of related data for matching words. |
| US08239411B2 |
Image processor
A first sorting unit includes a second sorting unit that sorts first frequency data for luminance based on a first table, a third sorting unit that sorts second frequency data for chrominance based on a second table, a fourth sorting unit that sorts third frequency data for chrominance based on a third table, and an updating unit that updates the second and third tables based on nonzero information on the first and second frequency data before the third and fourth sorting units start sorting. |
| US08239408B2 |
Corporate and entertainment management interactive system using a computer network
A system, method, and apparatus is provided for computerized management of a method of corporate, business or sports management by a remote party comprising relating a current database of an entity. For instance, in sports management substantially real time management is possible. Data of a player together with a historical database related to that player and decisions can be transmitted. This is communicated between a central database processing resource and at least one remote party. A remote party is permitted to access the database and access designated data from the database, and input and output data. Voting and other management of the player, team, or business is possible in substantially real time or near real time by the remote party. A remote user can vote on financial compensation for a player, a coach or a team and/or for a bonus for a player, team or game. Similarly hiring and firing decisions can be made. Shareholders, fans or customers of an entertainment business such as sports can be more interactively involved in all aspects of management and ownership duties and thus be more thoroughly entertained. |
| US08239406B2 |
Expression tree data structure for representing a database query
A method, apparatus and program product are provided for representing a database query expression including a plurality of predicates related to one another by at least one logical relation. A list of operands is generated from the database query expression, where each operand is representative of a predicate. Each operand is mapped into an operand map. A data structure is generated based upon the generated list of operands, where the data structure includes a plurality of nodes. Each node includes an operand identifier that identifies at least one operand based upon the operand map. Each node defines a first logical relation between those predicates in the database query expression that are represented by operands identified by the operand identifier for such node. The nodes are arranged relative to one another in the data structure to define at least a second logical relation among predicates in the database query expression. |
| US08239403B2 |
Enhancing soft file system links
A method for determining whether a soft link of a target file is pointing to a correct file system is provided. A unique identification number for a mounted file system is retrieved from a storage device in response to receiving a request to access a target file in the mounted file system. In addition, an identification number is retrieved from a soft link of the target file in response to accessing the soft link of the target file in the storage device. Then, it is determined whether a match exists between the unique identification number for the mounted file system and the identification number from the soft link of the target file. In response to determining that a match does exist between the unique identification number for the mounted file system and the identification number from the soft link of the target file, access to the target file is allowed. |
| US08239400B2 |
Annotation of query components
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture that may be used to create and share annotations for query components, such as query conditions, in an effort to share domain knowledge, are provided. The annotations may be created by users with particular domain knowledge and may contain information useful to other users when building queries including the annotated query components. A annotation may indicate a particular format or syntax for an associated query component. In some cases, a replacement to the associated query component is suggested. |
| US08239399B2 |
Providing tools for navigational search query results
Methods and computer-readable media are provided for displaying a target search result and relevant information on a search results page in response to a user-inputted query on a search page. The target search result and relevant information are identified in a database as having been previously determined to be most relevant to the query, and may be based on past user behavior, for example. The relevant information may include functional tools that include input boxes allowing for the user to interact with a webpage associated with the target search result via the search results page. Once the target search result and relevant information have been determined, the search results page is displayed. |
| US08239398B2 |
Notification processor that notifies information and position information manager
To provide an apparatus that transmits information, which includes a storage unit that stores notification rule information in which transmission destination information is associated with notification type information, a reception processor that receives predetermined information from a detector that detects a mobile information storage medium attached to an object, a notification information generating unit that obtains information specified by the notification type information in the notification rule information based on the predetermined information, to generate notification information from obtained information, and a notification unit that transmits the notification information to a transmission destination specified by the transmission destination information associated with the notification type information that is used when the notification information is generated. |
| US08239397B2 |
System and method for managing user attention by detecting hot and cold topics in social indexes
A system and method for managing user attention by detecting hot topics in social indexes is provided. Articles of digital information and at least one social index are maintained. The social index includes topics that each relate to one or more of the articles. Topic models matched to the digital information are retrieved for each topic. The articles are classified under the topics using the topic models. Each of the topics in the social index is evaluated for hotness. A plurality of time periods projected from the present is defined. Counts of the articles appearing under each time period are evaluated. The topics exhibiting a rising curve in the count of the articles that increases with recency during the time periods are chosen. Quality of the articles within the topics chosen is analyzed. The topics including the articles having acceptable quality are presented. |
| US08239396B2 |
View mechanism for data security, privacy and utilization
A machine-implemented method and machine-readable media for transforming sensitive data in a database is provided. Sensitive data in the database are transformed based on a query context of a query. The query may also be transformed. The transformed query may be applied against the transformed sensitive data to construct a query result. The query result with the transformed sensitive data represents a lenticular view. The lenticular view represents a modified form of the sensitive data that an end-user is allowed access to. |
| US08239393B1 |
Distribution for online listings
User actions responsive to a plurality of web pages are tracked and included in records in a data store. A conversion score is calculated for each traffic source of a plurality of traffic sources, the conversion score based at least in part on the tracked user actions. A traffic source quality score is calculated for each of the plurality of traffic sources, and the plurality of traffic sources are ranked based at least in part on the traffic source quality scores. The traffic sources are allocated to sets based at least in part on the ranking. |
| US08239388B2 |
Apparatus and method for perusing selected vehicles having a clean title history
A system and method for allowing a consumer to search a database containing used vehicles from a variety of sellers that can be queried to provide search results that include only vehicles having clean title histories. |
| US08239380B2 |
Systems and methods to tune a general-purpose search engine for a search entry point
The present invention provides systems and methods that employ statistical filtering and ranking techniques to improve content search engine search results by tuning a general-purpose search engine for an entry point for a group of users. The filter can be manually and/or automatically configured via providing training sets of relevant and non-relevant data. For example, a relevant set of data comprising web pages associated with a desired search context for the group utilizing the entry point can be employed. In addition, a non-relevant set of data comprising random and unrelated documents can be employed. The learned filter can then be employed to compare a returned result with the known relevant and the known non-relevant data sets to determine whether the result is relevant to the user for the entry point, and the degree of relevance. The results can then be presented to the user based on the relevance. |
| US08239378B2 |
Document scoring based on query analysis
A system may determine an extent to which a document is selected when the document is included in a set of search results, generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on the extent to which the document is selected when the document is included in a set of search results; and rank the document with regard to at least one other document based, at least in part, on the score. |
| US08239371B2 |
Fast search views over business objects
A method and means, the method includes selecting a plurality of data sources having attributes to be included in a view entity; defining join conditions on the selected plurality of data sources; defining a set of attributes for the view entity by selecting attributes from the attributes of the plurality of data sources; and saving the view entity. The means includes a graphical user interface having a join builder tool to define join conditions on a selected plurality of data sources each including a pre-defined business object data structure having attributes; a view field definition tool to define a set of attributes for the view entity by selecting attributes from the attributes of the plurality of data sources; and a data source tree tool to display all of the attributes of the plurality of data sources. |
| US08239361B2 |
Method and system for user centered information searching
Disclosed is a method and system for user-centered information search. The user-centered information search may include generating an object as a classification unit of an information search structure and a property of the object, generating a class and determining a property of the class using the object; and detecting a search result corresponding to an information request from a user using at least one of the object, property, and class. |
| US08239355B2 |
Map data update method and map data update system
A map data update method for updating nationwide updated version map data using route-specific update data is disclosed. This method has a step of creating route-specific update data, comprising update data for all routes which have been newly opened since the time of release of the nationwide updated version map data; a step of storing a plurality of route-specific update data sets with different creation dates; a step of, when updating the nationwide updated version map data of the time of release stored in a navigation apparatus in use of a prescribed first route-specific update data which has been stored, storing pre-update map files necessary to restore the nationwide updated version map data; and a step of using the first route-specific update data to update the nationwide updated version map data. |
| US08239349B2 |
Extracting data
Information can be extracted from unstructured documents using embodiments described herein. An entity recognition may be performed on an unstructured document and found entities may be annotated. Annotating includes inserting tags around the found entities to generate marked entities. A rule is applied to each of the marked entities in the unstructured document to generate a confidence value for every marked entity, wherein the rule comprises a plurality of prefixes for a target entity and a plurality of suffixes for the target entity. A marked entity with the highest confidence value is selected as an extraction target. |
| US08239348B1 |
Method and apparatus for automatically archiving data items from backup storage
A method and apparatus for automatically archiving data items from backup storage without having to first restore the data items is provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises processing at least one data item in backup storage using a mapping, wherein the mapping indicates at least one location of the at least one data item and ingesting the at least one data item into an archive database. |
| US08239346B2 |
Storage system and its file management method
Even if the version of the OS and DB is changed, occurrence of inconsistency in the correspondence relationship between the original version meta information and the new version real data is prevented. When a node managing a plurality of files is to return the version of the OS and DB of a plurality of files from the new version to the original version, the node deletes meta information A11 of the file A regarding such deleted file A, updates meta information B11 according to the updated real data B1 regarding such file B in which the real data has been updated, creates meta information based on real data of the added file D regarding such added file D, and thereby maintains the consistency in the correspondence relationship between the meta information of the respective original versions and the real data of the respective new versions regarding the respective files A, B, and D. |
| US08239343B2 |
Database reorganization technique
A database reorganization technique uses multiple-coordinated read, sort and write tasks to substantially reduce the overall time to reorganize a database object. Coordination between the different functional tasks (e.g., read, sort and write tasks) is facilitated through the logical partitioning of the key values associated with the object to be reorganized. Object key values are determined by interrogating the object's associated database prior to initiating reorganization processing. |
| US08239336B2 |
Data processing using restricted boltzmann machines
Data processing using restricted Boltzmann machines is described, for example, to pre-process continuous data and provide binary outputs. In embodiments, restricted Boltzmann machines based on either Gaussian distributions or Beta distributions are described which are able to learn and model both the mean and variance of data. In some embodiments, a stack of restricted Boltzmann machines are connected in series with outputs of one restricted Boltzmann machine providing input to the next in the stack and so on. Embodiments describe how training for each machine in the stack may be carried out efficiently and the combined system used for one of a variety of applications such as data compression, object recognition, image processing, information retrieval, data analysis and the like. |
| US08239333B2 |
Media tag recommendation technologies
Technologies for recommending relevant tags for the tagging of media based on one or more initial tags provided for the media and based on a large quantity of other tagged media. Sample media as candidates for recommendation are provided by a set of weak rankers based on corresponding relevance measures in semantic and visual domains. The various samples provided by the weak rankers are then ranked based on relative order to provide a list of recommended tags for the media. The weak rankers provide sample tags based on relevance measures including tag co-occurrence, tag content correlation, and image-conditioned tag correlation. |
| US08239330B2 |
Payment system and clearinghouse of internet transactions
An automated payment system and clearinghouse for effecting payment on online transactions without having to divulge sensitive financial information to a merchant. The payment system and clearinghouse provides a secure and safe vehicle to perform e-commerce transactions worldwide independently of the customer and merchant locations. This allows banks to offer their clients a new and alternative way to pay for internet purchases without the need to use a credit card or to divulge credit-card information or bank account information. |
| US08239323B2 |
Method and system for distribution of unactivated bank account cards
The invention comprises a method for distributing dead bank cards to customers who have not solicited a bank card or submitted an application. The dead bank card is a bank card (e.g., ATM card, debit card, check card, and the like) which contains all necessary information to be used, including a pre-assigned bank account number, and which only requires activation/approval by the prospective new bank account customer. In one embodiment, the dead bank card is distributed in connection with live credit cards issued to applicants for credit card accounts. Once operative, the bank card and the credit card may be linked together through a rebate/rewards program. |
| US08239321B1 |
System and method for allocation to obtain zero activity in one or more selected aggregated deposit accounts
A method, program product and system, the method comprising: accessing one or more databases comprising: aggregated deposit account information for a plurality of government-backed insured and interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts held in a plurality of depository institutions, obtaining transfer data; allocating one or more first amounts. The allocating comprising: selecting a sub-set of one or more aggregated deposit accounts held in one or more of the depository institutions to which to deposit/transfer or to withdraw/transfer funds, while avoiding withdrawing funds for a respective sub-period of time from each of one or more of other aggregated deposit accounts based at least in part on one or more criteria; and allocating a first amount(s) of funds to the aggregated deposit accounts based at least in part on the transfer data and the sub-set selected to receive a deposit/transfer of funds or from which to withdraw/transfer funds. |
| US08239320B2 |
Electronic money apparatus and an electronic circuit
An apparatus of the invention comprises an operation inputting element for designating one of a plurality of functions; a function executing element for executing the function designated by the operating inputting element; a measuring element for measuring the time during which each of the functions has been executed by the function executing element; and a chargeable amount computing element for computing a chargeable amount based on the execution time measured by the measuring element regarding each of the functions. |
| US08239318B1 |
Systems and methods for determining the likelihood that a loan closes
Systems and methods are provided for determining an indication that an application for a mortgage loan to secure a property may result in closing of the loan transaction. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving application information, such that the application information includes at least borrower information, property information, and a first interest rate; receiving home value information, such that the home value information represents an estimated value of the property; receiving a second interest rate; and determining the indication based on the received application information, received home value information, and received second interest rate, such that the indication represents a likelihood that the mortgage loan may result in closing. |
| US08239316B2 |
Processing of deal tickets
A deal feed system for passing deal tickets to back office systems comprises a deal feed contributor which receives tickets from trades on a plurality of trading systems on a plurality of trading floors, a database for storing the tickets, and a distributor for passing the tickets to back office systems. Virtual deal codes are defined to which a plurality of real deal codes map. The virtual deal codes to which a ticket relates is stored in a table with a reference to the stored ticket. A deal code table is updated with the range of the virtual deal code and the update transmitted to the bank office systems and to traders. |
| US08239315B2 |
System and method for simulating an electronic trading environment
Market data is recorded from a real live exchange. The recording data can be played back in real time or delayed, in any manner, to simulate the recorded market. Moreover, one or more users can participate in the simulated market just as if they were participating in a real-live market. The system provides a realistic trading environment without the associated risks of trading in a live-market such as losing money and the cost of making trades. The system may be used for training purposes and for purposes of testing and analyzing various trading strategies. Software developers and testers may also utilize the realistic environment to develop trading products or applications. Additionally, the system provides a means for demonstrating trading application products. |
| US08239313B2 |
System and method for the interactive trading of derivatives
A method and system of trading derivatives of various items includes an electronic marketplace configured to accept requests to purchase derivatives and requests to sell derivatives. The marketplace is configured to match requests to purchase with requests to sell when certain criteria are similar to within predetermined limits. Available derivatives include futures contracts, put options, and call options. The derivatives allow one to purchase rights in an item prior to the actual delivery of the item. In addition, the derivatives may be traded to other parties. The use of such derivatives also enables entities to negotiate the prices for various goods and services that were previously not readily negotiable in the past. |
| US08239305B2 |
Methods and systems for analyzing attributes of investments and other assets
Investors find assistance with determining and/or evaluating relative positions of investments with respect to a variety of evaluation parameters and attributes obtained from a number of data sources. In one embodiment, this involves graphically displaying the relative positions (or locations) of investments with respect to one another and with respect to selectable evaluation parameters and benchmarks for such assets. In some cases, the graphical displays are accompanied by analytical comments that further explain or amplify the information being conveyed graphically. |
| US08239295B2 |
E-couponing
Handling electronic coupons includes accessing information indicating association of an electronic coupon with an account of a user that identifies multiple retail entities associated with the user. Information indicating association of electronic coupons with the user's account may be transmitted to respective computer systems associated with the multiple retail entities. The computer systems may associate electronic coupons with the user such that the user may redeem the electronic coupons at a retail store upon presentation of a user identifier. When the user redeems an electronic coupon, cancellation information for the electronic coupon may be transmitted to the computer systems of other retail entities associated with the user. Receipt of the cancellation information may cause the respective computer systems to cancel the redeemability of the electronic coupon such that the user is prevented from redeeming the electronic coupon at a retail store associated with the corresponding retail entity. |
| US08239292B2 |
Method and apparatus for dealer connectivity
An adaptable application is installed throughout a distribution network for directly accessing a variety of different databases utilized by different business systems. The direct access application periodically queries the database with which it is associated. In response to the query, sales and inventory data is read from the dealer business computer system by a data access services module. The information retrieved from the query is placed in a transmission queue. A data mapping module transforms the data into the manufacturer's standard transaction format, and presents the transformed data to a communications module. The information is then transmitted to the manufacturer or other upstream distribution channel entity. The information forwarded from each of the dealers is accumulated at the manufacturer's location. Various reports can be run which are useful to the efficient running of the distribution channel. |
| US08239290B2 |
Graphical user interface, system and method for managing contacts within an online stationery system
A graphical user interface, system and method are described for managing a contacts database within an online stationery service. For example, one embodiment of the invention comprises a graphical user interface comprising: a first region for displaying the listing of contacts received from the stationery service contacts manager, the contacts within the listing of contacts selectable via a user input device; a second region comprising a series of data field for entering a new contact via a user input device; a third region displaying a list of contacts to whom the online stationery service will mail stationery directly on behalf of the end user, the contacts within the third region selected from the first region or entered in the second region; and a print module to generate a print job to print the personalized stationery and envelopes containing the address information for the user-selected contacts. |
| US08239288B2 |
Method, medium, and system for providing a recommendation of a media item
A processor retrieves, from a database, an identifier of a first media item rated by a target user, user identifiers of users having provided media item ratings for the first media item, and the media item ratings provided by the users, correspondingly. Each of the media item ratings is randomized, resulting in randomized media item ratings. A user identifier corresponding to a maximum of the randomized media item ratings is selected from the user identifiers. Additional media item ratings associated with the selected user identifier are retrieved from the database. Each of the additional media item ratings are randomized, resulting in additional randomized media item ratings. An identifier of a recommended media item corresponding to a maximum of the randomized media item ratings and the additional randomized media item ratings is selected. Metadata associated with the recommended media item is transmitted to a user device over a network. |
| US08239286B2 |
Medium and system for location-based E-commerce for mobile communication devices
Wireless-enabled mobile communication devices and network nodes are configured for participation in wireless, location-based e-commerce activities. Consumers using mobile communication devices in the vicinity of physical retail locations receive opportunities to engage in e-commerce, using their mobile communication devices, with merchants operating the physical retail locations. In an exemplary e-commerce transaction, a wireless communication session is established between a mobile communication device and a wireless network access node, which may be associated with a wireless local area network (“WLAN”) or a wide-area network (“WAN”). Via the wireless communication session, a consumer receives a virtual retail experience associated with the physical retail location, and an exchange of consideration between the consumer and the merchant entity is arranged. In exchange for consideration from the consumer, the consumer receives commodity. |
| US08239281B1 |
System and methods for purchasing services
The invention provides a service provider system that enables a subscriber to purchase services over a network from a service provider for the benefit of one or more third parties located in different locations. The service provider system can provide service flexibility by allowing parameters to be set, such as place and time of service delivery. Further, conditions allowing third-party recipients to change service parameters—delivery time and place, exchange of purchased service for another service, return of the purchased service, etc.—can be included. The service provider system additionally can provide reporting options to both the subscriber and the third party. Reporting messages or notifications may be sent to the purchasing subscriber to indicate which of the third parties had taken advantage of the purchased service, when and where the service was consumed, and/or what the actual cost of delivering the service was. The service provider system can also provide incentives for third parties to take advantage of the purchased service. |
| US08239280B1 |
Method, medium, and system for adjusting purchasing power values
Described are embodiments for valuing products or services. In one embodiment, a buyer is enabled to anonymously access content from a website, choose one of several payment options that most closely reflect the buyer's perceived value of the content and to pay for the product while still maintaining anonymity. The buyer is required to make a payment, even if it is zero, to maintain his/her purchase power and ability to continue buying from a particular seller as well as to use this facility. The embodiment maintains statistical data on all purchases and an amount paid by each of the buyers and offers an ability to provide and display numerical and textual feedback to the sellers regarding the quality and relevance of the accessed content. |
| US08239279B2 |
Auction method involving pre-sale of auction currency drafts
A computerized system and method for conducting electronic online auctions, which includes the presale of auction currency drafts for subsequent use at a specific auction site. The system includes a centralized controller which confirms the purchase of the auction credits and credits the bidder's account for use at a specific auction website. The auction credits are subsequently assigned to a specific auction venue. The system supplies inventory to the auction venue based upon a percentage of the total presale credits assigned to each specific auction venue through its affiliated auction sites. In addition, external and historical data may be considered by the system in its analysis regarding the correlation of the inventory characteristics with the venue design parameters. |
| US08239276B2 |
On-the-go shopping list
Systems and methods for providing shopping-related information to a consumer are provided. Embodiments of the system allow a consumer to create an electronic shopping list by scanning products. In some embodiments, shopping-related information may be obtained for items in the shopping list, such as pricing information, product quality, consumer ratings, and other information that may help a consumer to make an informed purchasing decision. Other embodiments allow a consumer to obtain and compare retail prices offered by several retailers for products in the shopping list. Still other embodiments provide a store-wide network that allows a shopper to scan items in the store, add the scanned items to a shopping list, and then check-out electronically. |
| US08239275B1 |
Methods and apparatus for generating recommendations for gifts
One embodiment is a method that monitors, on the computer, activity of a member of a group to build a profile of the member. The profile of the member is used to generate recommendations for gifts that the member wants to receive to celebrate an event. The method then transmits the gifts to a website so other members of the group can select one of the gifts to purchase for the member. |
| US08239272B2 |
Electronic commerce transactions within a marketing system that may contain a membership buying opportunity
The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing complete electronic commerce (“E-Commerce”) transactions and solutions for a marketing company's products via the World Wide Web, including facilities for signing up new customers and recruiting, training and supporting new Independent Business Owners through an interactive online process. In another aspect, the present invention relates to the combination of a marketing business with a membership buying opportunity using both electronic commerce and face-to-face transactions. The present invention is also directed to a system and method for combining a marketing business with a membership buying opportunity, so that Independent Business Owners participating in the marketing plan can introduce customers to a membership buying opportunity and earn bonuses or commissions based on the purchases by those members, while Members in the buying opportunity can consume products or, at their option, qualify to become Independent Business Owners. |
| US08239271B2 |
Methods and apparatus for managing sequencing of data received from devices in a retail point of sale system
Techniques for managing data received from devices in a point of sale system are described. A point of sale system is operated utilizing independent software objects including a device sequence manager. The device sequence manager communicates with each device producing data for which proper sequencing must be maintained. Upon receiving a data event from a device, the device sequence manager creates a data object and stores the data object in an output queue. Upon receiving a request for data from an executive application, the device sequence manager retrieves the data object from the output queue and transfers it to the executive application, maintaining the sequence in which the data objects were received from the devices. |
| US08239270B2 |
Method for associating financial transaction data with user's project data
This invention relates to an expense reporting system for viewing and manipulating a user's financial transaction data and a method for associating financial transaction data with a user's project data. The system includes a user's financial transaction data hosted in a data storage unit, addressable on a network, and accessible by a remote user on a user interface unit having a user input means and a display; and an expense reporting module having a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows a user to define project category data and associate representations of the user's financial data with the user-defined project category data. |
| US08239269B2 |
System and/or method for handling returns involving products tied to post-paid subscriptions/services
The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to the field of electronic registration (ER) of purchased products and, more particularly, to an improved electronic registration system that enables unique item-level tracking from an initial point-of-sale (POS) transaction involving a post-paid service/subscription and related device or product, to any cancellations in service and returns to the store or service provider. Certain exemplary embodiments thus advantageously “close the gap” between retailers and service providers, e.g., in connection with subscriptions/post-paid service agreements and related devices or products. In certain exemplary embodiments, an “interest” may be taken and charged in the event that the customer does not return the device when or after an associated service has been cancelled. |
| US08239266B1 |
Targeting based on intent or presence
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium, for campaign management. A method includes: presenting a user interface to a sponsor for customizing targeting information for a campaign including a control for specifying targeting criteria, where at least one targeting criterion includes a presence of a user in a proscribed geographic location or an indication of an interest by a user in the location; receiving a selection from the sponsor of targeting criteria to be associated with the campaign including a selection of one or both of user presence and interest; evaluating content delivery options for presenting content associated with the campaign including determining for a given content request whether a user is present or merely interested in a geographic location; and serving content from the campaign when a content item request satisfies the targeting criteria for the campaign. |
| US08239256B2 |
Method and system for targeted content placement
A system for delivering targeted content to a device includes a database and a processor. The database stores anonymous identifications for a plurality of customers of at least one financial institution. Each anonymous identification is associated with financial information for a respective customer of the at least one financial institution. The processor includes software that is configured to classify consumers, create a targeted list of content viewers, and deliver a targeted advertisement over a network to a device used by a content viewer on the targeted list. The classifications can be based on the financial information associated with each anonymous identification. The target list of content viewers can be based on at least one selected classification. The advertisement can be delivered to a device used by a content viewer on the targeted list after the device has been used to log onto an application offered by the at least one financial institution. |
| US08239255B2 |
Consumer incentive system and business method
Consumer incentives are delivered by maintaining a database of consumer-customer club members and identification data. The retailing transaction is conducted by receiving a consumer-customer for a retail sales transaction at a first retail establishment. An identification input associated with said consumer-customer is received at the first retail establishment. The identification input is compared to the identification data to determine whether the identification input is associated with a consumer-customer club member. In response to a determination that an identification input which is associated with a consumer-customer club member, an incentive generating rule is applied to the retail sales transaction. In response to a determination that the identification input is not associated with a consumer-customer club member, a club membership is offered to the consumer-customer. In response to acceptance of the offer, a bank account is implemented, and associated with the accepting consumer-customer, at a banking institution the bank account is associated with an account number. A computing device is used to store in a database, associated with the banking institution, information respecting the bank account, associated with the accepting consumer-customer, at any banking institution. A banking transaction is conducted by receiving the identification input associated with the consumer-customer at the banking institution. A banking transaction request is received from the consumer-customer of the bank. The identification input is compared to the identification data to determine the consumer-customer club member with whom the identification input is associated. In response to the determination of the associated consumer-customer club member the banking transaction request is executed. |
| US08239253B2 |
Election-based electronic compilations
Electronically published compilations are provided. The compilations typically include a plurality of incumbent entries that are subject to replacement by candidate revisions through successive elections by an electorate of voters, e.g., human voters. Also provided are methods for improving existing compilations through elections. Election rules, history, dates and times, and election results may provide a measure of quality of the winning revision. Such compilations, when properly designed and implemented, may be viewed as an authoritative reference work that may ultimately serve as a “Rosetta Stone” for a semantic web. |
| US08239252B2 |
Fleet management system
A method of implementing an automated diagnostic checklist for materials handling vehicles comprises detecting, by a processor on a materials handling vehicle, an error in operation of the materials handling vehicle and initiating an automated diagnostic check of a component of the materials handling vehicle in response to detecting the error. The method also comprises obtaining error event information by the processor, from across a vehicle controller area network (CAN) bus, where the obtained error event information is related to at least one condition of the materials handling vehicle and wirelessly transmitting the obtained error event information to a server having software thereon for specifically monitoring materials handling vehicles. The error in operation of the materials handling vehicle is repaired in response to receiving the wirelessly transmitted error event information obtained automatically from the CAN bus. |
| US08239241B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing information about anticipated delays to customers at service centers, contact centers, or call centers
The present invention provides a method for providing information to a client or customer about anticipated service center delays comprising maintaining data about the client's call preferences, modeling a best indicator of delays specific to an individual client when answering a call from the client by the service center in order to capture the greatest market share of the clients, and communicating to the client a best indicator of delays suited to the client's call preferences in answering the call from the client to the service center. |
| US08239231B2 |
Method for optimizing resource allocation
Conventional resource allocation process has intrinsic inefficiency because of the resource fragmentation. A solution is provided to defragment the resource so that the customers' requests are better served and provider's resource utilization rate is improved. |
| US08239230B2 |
System and method for managing personnel and resources in gaming establishment
Personnel and resources are managed in a gaming establishment. A user interface is provided that includes an employee module, a shift-scheduling module, a pit defining module, a table defining module, and a game defining module. A scheduling module is provided that a scheduling module programmed and configured to assign a shift that represents a period of time when a plurality of employees are at work, is further programmed and configured to define whether a table is open or closed in a respective area, and is still further operable to automatically assign an employee to the table based at least on the employee's proficiency with regard to a respective game played at the table and the employee's availability during the shift, wherein the assigning occurs as a function of the electronic game information, the electronic pit information, the electronic shift information and the electronic employee information, respectively. |
| US08239226B2 |
Methods and apparatus for combining properties and methods from a plurality of different data sources
The disclosed system empowers technical and non technical users to author logical business objects, author intelligent business forms, and create automated workflows. The logical business objects include data definitions and methods from existing and new data sources. An object broker interprets the business object definition and brokers data/information and method calls to the data sources. The intelligent business forms are created by an information worker in a rich web-based tooling environment. Each form is intelligent enough to recognize other forms that it might co-exist with on a single page, as well as how to react based on events that occur on these related forms. The automated workflow tools include process discovery features that assist users during the process identification phase. The tools assist both technical and non technical users to identify processes within the organization, including supporting solution artifacts such as forms, rules, actions, outcomes and business objects involved. Process modeling features include the ability to combine defined artifacts into a process model that can be published into a runtime environment where it can be executed and used by business users in the organization. |
| US08239221B2 |
Methods for selling insurance using rapid decision term
An insurer sells a life insurance policy having a coverage period equal in length to the term of the policy. The consideration paid by the insured is relatively high compared to conditional receipt coverage, but is generally lower than that charged for standard simplified issue policies. The policy is only underwritten on a limited basis, preferably using information available in remote databases. During a predetermined time period, the insured has the option of providing medical test results or other material sufficient to enable comprehensive medical underwriting. Upon receipt of the information and material, an underwriter comprehensively underwrites the policy. If the results of the underwriting are satisfactory, the premiums are reduced significantly for the remainder of the term of the insurance policy and/or the benefit amount is increased. If the insured does not provide any additional information or materials, or if the materials provided result in unsatisfactory underwriting, the premiums remain unchanged. |
| US08239216B2 |
Searching an electronic medical record
A method, system, and medium are provided for searching an electronic medical record. Search results are returned in response to a search query. The search query may be one or more designated medical concepts. The search results may be displayed according to a ranking that determines which search results are likely to be the most responsive to a query submitted by a particular clinician based on matching the most important clinical concepts in each document to the most important clinical concepts in the search query. |
| US08239211B2 |
Global investment grade for natural and synthetic gems used in financial investments and commercial trading and method of creating standardized baskets of gems to be used in financial and commercial products
A process to create a fungible global standard for diamonds and gemstones. The process involves grouping diamonds in an investment standard according to their gemological, proportional, optical and light behavior characteristics. Diamonds that conform to the investment grade standard are interchangeable within a specific size range according to an equivalent monetary bundling process. Diamonds subjected to the standard conform to a holistic set of gemological, proportional, optical and light characteristic requirements that enables diamonds to be classified into a extraordinarily homogeneous, visually indistinguishable and highly fungible group which can be used to create baskets of diamonds to form an index/benchmark for diamond pricing, financial instruments, and a standard that can be used for certifying diamonds as investment grade to insure quality. |
| US08239210B2 |
Lossless multi-channel audio codec
A lossless audio codec segments audio data within each frame to improve compression performance subject to a constraint that each segment must be fully decodable and less than a maximum size. For each frame, the codec selects the segment duration and coding parameters, e.g., a particular entropy coder and its parameters for each segment, that minimizes the encoded payload for the entire frame subject to the constraints. Distinct sets of coding parameters may be selected for each channel or a global set of coding parameters may be selected for all channels. Compression performance may be further enhanced by forming M/2 decorrelation channels for M-channel audio. The triplet of channels (basis, correlated, decorrelated) provides two possible pair combinations (basis, correlated) and (basis, decorrelated) that can be considered during the segmentation and entropy coding optimization to further improve compression performance. |
| US08239209B2 |
Method and apparatus for decoding an audio signal using a rendering parameter
An apparatus for decoding a signal and method thereof are disclosed, by which the audio signal can be controlled in a manner of changing/giving spatial characteristics (e.g., listener's virtual position, virtual position of a specific source) of the audio signal. The present invention includes receiving an object parameter including level information corresponding to at least one object signal, converting the level information corresponding to the object signal to the level information corresponding to an output channel by applying a control parameter to the object parameter, and generating a rendering parameter including the level information corresponding to the output channel to control an object downmix signal resulting from downmixing the object signal. |
| US08239206B1 |
Routing queries based on carrier phrase registration
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for receiving a voice query at a mobile computing device and generating data that represents content of the voice query. The data is provided to a server system. A textual query that has been determined by a speech recognizer at the server system to be a textual form of at least part of the data is received at the mobile computing device. The textual query is determined to include a carrier phrase of one or more words that is reserved by a first third-party application program installed on the computing device. The first third-party application is selected, from a group of one or more third-party applications, to receive all or a part of the textual query. All or a part of the textual query is provided to the selected first application program. |
| US08239205B2 |
Establishing a multimodal advertising personality for a sponsor of a multimodal application
Establishing a multimodal advertising personality for a sponsor of a multimodal application, including associating one or more vocal demeanors with a sponsor of a multimodal application and presenting a speech portion of the multimodal application for the sponsor using at least one of the vocal demeanors associated with the sponsor. |
| US08239201B2 |
System and method for audibly presenting selected text
Disclosed herein are methods for presenting speech from a selected text that is on a computing device. This method includes presenting text on a touch-sensitive display and having that text size within a threshold level so that the computing device can accurately determine the intent of the user when the user touches the touch screen. Once the user touch has been received, the computing device identifies and interprets the portion of text that is to be selected, and subsequently presents the text audibly to the user. |
| US08239198B2 |
Method and system for creation of voice training profiles with multiple methods with uniform server mechanism using heterogeneous devices
A system and method for creating user voice profiles enables a user to create a single user voice profile that is compatible with one or more voice servers. Such a system includes a training server that receives audio information from a client associated with a user and stores the audio information and corresponding textual information. The system further includes a training server adaptor. The training server adaptor is configured to receive a voice profile format and a communication protocol corresponding to one of the plurality of voice servers, convert the audio information and corresponding textual information into a format compatible with the voice profile format and communication protocol corresponding to the one of the plurality of voice servers, and provide the converted audio information and corresponding textual information to the one of the plurality of voice servers. |
| US08239197B2 |
Efficient conversion of voice messages into text
A system and method for efficiently transcribing verbal messages transmitted over the Internet (or other network) into text. The verbal messages are initially checked to ensure that they are in a valid format and include a return network address, and if so, are processed either as whole verbal messages or split into segments. These whole verbal messages and segments are processed by an automated speech recognition (ASR) program, which produces automatically recognized text. The automatically recognized text messages or segments are assigned to selected workbenches for manual editing and transcription, producing edited text. The segments of edited text are reassembled to produce whole edited text messages, undergo post processing to correct minor errors and output as an email, an SMS message, a file, or an input to a program. The automatically recognized text and manual edits thereof are returned as feedback to the ASR program to improve its accuracy. |
| US08239192B2 |
Transmission error concealment in audio signal
A method of concealing transmission error in a digital audio signal, wherein a signal that has been decoded after transmission is received, the samples decoded while the transmitted data is valid are stored, at least one short-term prediction operator and one long-term prediction operator are estimated as a function of stored valid samples, and any missing or erroneous samples in the decoder signal are generated using the estimated operators. The energy of the synthesized signal that is thus generated is controlled by means of a gain that is computed and adapted sample by sample. |
| US08239191B2 |
Speech encoding apparatus and speech encoding method
Disclosed is an audio encoding device capable of adjusting a spectrum inclination of a quantized noise without changing the Formant weight. The device includes: an HPF (131) which extracts a high-frequency component of the frequency region from an input audio signal; a high-frequency energy level calculation unit (132) which calculates an energy level of the high-frequency component in a frame unit; an LPF (133) which extracts a low-frequency component of the frequency region from the input audio signal; a low-energy level calculation unit (134) which calculates an energy level of a low-frequency component in a frame unit; an inclination correction coefficient calculation unit (141) multiplies the difference between SNR of the high-frequency component and SNR of the low-frequency component inputted from an adder (140) by a constant and adds a bias component to the product so as to calculate an inclination correction coefficient ?3. The inclination correction coefficient is used for adjusting the spectrum inclination of a quantized noise. |
| US08239190B2 |
Time-warping frames of wideband vocoder
A method of communicating speech comprising time-warping a residual low band speech signal to an expanded or compressed version of the residual low band speech signal, time-warping a high band speech signal to an expanded or compressed version of the high band speech signal, and merging the time-warped low band and high band speech signals to give an entire time-warped speech signal. In the low band, the residual low band speech signal is synthesized after time-warping of the residual low band signal while in the high band, an unwarped high band signal is synthesized before time-warping of the high band speech signal. The method may further comprise classifying speech segments and encoding the speech segments. The encoding of the speech segments may be one of code-excited linear prediction, noise-excited linear prediction or ⅛ frame (silence) coding. |
| US08239187B2 |
Method of using visual separators to indicate additional character combination choices on a handheld electronic device and associated apparatus
A method and associated apparatus for using visual separators to indicate additional character combination choices from a disambiguation function on a handheld electronic device. |
| US08239184B2 |
Electronic multilingual numeric and language learning tool
The teachings described herein generally relate to a system and method for multilingual teaching of numeric or language skills through an electronic translation of a source phrase to a destination language selected from multiple languages. The electronic translation can occur as a spoken translation, can be in real-time, and can mimic the voice of the user of the system. |
| US08239182B2 |
Data transmission system-on-chip memory model based validation
Systems and/or methods that facilitate simulation, verification, and optimization of a data transmission system by utilizing simulation memory component(s) are presented. A simulation memory component can be used to replace memory components and/or hardware components to facilitate early simulation and/or verification of the overall interconnectivity of the system. A simulation memory component(s) can be configured to emulate various sizes of memory components associated with the system. Data throughput can be measured during simulation, and the depth and/or width associated with a simulation memory component can be adjusted to facilitate obtaining a desired data throughput based in part on predefined data throughput criteria. |
| US08239181B2 |
Inversion of CSEM data with measurement system signature suppression
A method for suppressing measurement system signature, or artifacts, that arise when controlled source electromagnetic survey data are inverted to obtain a resistivity image of a subsurface region. The method involves identifying regions (47) where the image has low or rapidly varying sensitivity to data acquired by a given receiver, typically regions close to and under the given receiver. Then, in the iterative inversion process where a resistivity model is updated to minimize an objective function, the model update is modified (48) to reduce the impact of such low sensitivity regions on the update. |
| US08239178B2 |
System and method of modeling and monitoring an energy load
A system, method, and computer program product for predicting operation for physical systems with distinct operating modes uses observable qualities of the system to predict other qualities of the system. Independent variables including temperature or production volume are observed to determine the degree to which a dependent modeled variable, including energy load, is influenced. Partition variables representing operating conditions of the dependent variables are defined as discrete values. Reference datasets with coincident values of the dependent variable, independent variable, and partition variables are received, and models are created for each discrete value of the partition variables in the reference dataset. Each model is populated with the values of the dependent variable and the independent variable. The dependent variable is modeled as a function of the independent variable. Model accuracy is evaluated by processing new input data to generate output data that includes values of the coincident dependent variable, the independent variable, and the partition variable from the input dataset. |
| US08239174B2 |
Method for disposing a component part while taking into account a positional relationship between the component part and other installed objects existing within a space
In a design support apparatus, a storage unit stores location data of an assembly including a first member long and flexible and a second member connected to the first member and having a larger cross-sectional shape than that of the first member within a product, and respective positions of installed objects. A geometric center calculation unit virtually extends straight lines from a point on a route along which the first member passes, radially in directions normal to a tangential direction of the route, virtually positions points where the straight lines come into contact with the installed objects, and calculates a geometric center from the positioned points. A route change unit changes the route such that the first member passes the calculated geometric center. A verification unit verifies whether or not the assembly interferes with any of the installed objects during passage of the first member along the changed route. |
| US08239173B2 |
System for the computed-aided design of technical devices
The invention concerns an apparatus and a computer software product for the conceptioneering, predesign and configuration of a machine object represented by an object data model. Component objects are stored in an object database, wherein a component object contains at least one parameter object. In addition the database contains functional objects. The modeling approach implemented by the separation according to the invention of component objects and functional objects permits a distinction to be drawn between constraints within a component object and constraints which exist between component objects. The former are embraced by the component objects themselves and the latter by the functional objects. That encapsulation has in particular the advantage that the modeling process can be substantially clearer. In addition encapsulation permits re-use of the component objects in various systems. |
| US08239172B2 |
Method of deep resistivity transient measurement while drilling
A transient electromagnetic signal is recorded in an earth formation in the presence of a pipe having a finite conductivity. A portion of the signal dominated by the pipe signal is analyzed to determine a functional representation, extrapolated back to a time interval where the formation signal is present and subtracted from the recorded signal to provide a corrected signal. |
| US08239169B2 |
Portable computing device and method for asset management in a logistics system
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for tracking one or more items. In one exemplary embodiment, there is provided a device for tracking one or more items. The device may include a plurality of sensors for detecting light, temperature, humidity, pressure, and acceleration. The device may also include a memory for storing information received from the plurality of sensors. |
| US08239167B2 |
Gathering context information used for activation of contextual dumping
An infrastructure is provided for gathering diagnostic data that is relevant to an error or other conditions detected in a monitored system. A diagnosability framework is provided that automates the gathering of relevant diagnostic data upon occurrence of the condition in the monitored system. In one embodiment, context data is determined for the condition detected in the monitored system. A rule-based engine is provided that is configured to automatically determine one or more actions to be performed for the condition detected in the monitored system based on the determined context data. The actions may include performing tasks that gather diagnostic data that is relevant to the detected condition, store the gathered diagnostic data in a repository, recommend one or more diagnostic actions to a user, and other diagnostic related actions. |
| US08239166B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing data processing and control in a medical communication system
Methods and apparatus for providing data processing and control for use in a medical communication system are provided. |
| US08239164B2 |
Statistics estimation apparatus, statistics estimation program, and statistics estimation method
A statistics estimation apparatus that calculates an estimated statistic value of executed program comprises an executer that executes a target program using the number of data that is smaller than the number of data intended to be executed, and calculates a partial process statistic of a processor which executes the partial processes of the program, for each of the numbers of data and each of the partial processes, a creator which creates a mathematical formula for calculating an overall statistic of the processor when a whole program is executed with the number of data intended for execution, based on the calculated partial process statistic and the number of processed data when the partial process statistic is calculated, and a calculator that calculates an estimated statistic when the program is executed with the number of data intended for execution, based on the created mathematical formula. |
| US08239160B2 |
Activity detection in MEMS accelerometers
A method of detecting activity in a MEMS accelerometer captures an acceleration bias, measures acceleration at a predetermined time, calculates a change in acceleration using the measured acceleration and the acceleration bias, and compares the change in acceleration to a threshold to detect activity. A method of detecting inactivity uses a similar technique along with a timer. The method of detecting inactivity in a MEMS accelerometer captures an acceleration bias, measures acceleration at a predetermined time, calculates a change in acceleration using the measured acceleration and the acceleration bias, and compares the change in acceleration to a threshold to detect inactivity. The method further determines if the change in acceleration is less than the threshold and, if so, determines if a predetermined period of time has elapsed to detect inactivity. |
| US08239158B2 |
Synchronizing a loop performed by a measurement device with a measurement and control loop performed by a processor of a host computer
Various embodiments of a system and method for performing a measurement application are described herein. The system may include a host computer having a processor, and a measurement device having a programmable hardware element. The programmable hardware element may be configured to perform a loop to acquire measurement data from a physical system. The host computer may be configured to perform another loop to read the measurement data from the programmable hardware element and use the measurement data in a measurement and control algorithm. The host computer may be further configured to perform a synchronization algorithm to keep the measurement data acquisition loop performed by the programmable hardware element synchronized with the measurement and control loop performed by the host computer. |
| US08239156B2 |
Method for calibrating sensors
A method for calibrating sensors in a system including a plurality of sensors which are arranged so that they can be subjected to the same load includes the steps of detecting the level of an operating parameter for a certain load level individually by at least two of the sensors, calculating a mean value of the operating parameter for the sensors for the load level, determining a deviation from the mean value for each of the sensors, and saving the value of the deviations for use in operation of the system. |
| US08239154B2 |
Method and apparatus for resolver compensation
A system and method for compensating a resolver are disclosed. Briefly described, one embodiment receives at least one output signal from the resolver, the resolver detecting a current position of a rotor coupled to the resolver; determines if the current position of the rotor is detected by a first pole-pair of the resolver or if the current position is detected by a second pole-pair of the resolver; in response to determining that the current position of the rotor is detected by the first pole-pair, synchronizes the output signal from the resolver with a first resolver angle error information; and in response to determining that the current position of the rotor is detected by the second pole-pair, synchronizes the output signal from the resolver with a second resolver angle error information. |
| US08239153B2 |
Dynamic compass calibration in a portable device
The magnitude of a sensed, raw magnetic field in a portable device is monitored over a given time interval. The monitored magnitude is compared with predetermined criteria. Based on the comparison, recalibration of a compass function is signed. Other embodiments are also described and claimed. |
| US08239152B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program product
An information processing apparatus processes information generated by an exposure apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes a collecting unit and a converting unit. The collecting unit collects first apparatus information obtained by the exposure apparatus via an operation of the exposure apparatus with respect to each of a plurality of first regions which form a first array defined on a substrate. The converting unit converts at least part of the first apparatus information collected by the collecting unit into second apparatus information with respect to each of a plurality of second regions which form a second array. |
| US08239134B2 |
Method and system for detecting abnormal operation in a hydrocracker
A system and method for detecting abnormal operation of a hydrocracker includes a hydrocracker model. The model may be configurable to include one or more regression models corresponding to different operating regions of the portion of the hydrocracker. The system and method may also determine if a monitored temperature difference variable deviates significantly from the temperature difference variable predicted by the model. If there is a significant deviation, this may indicate an abnormal operation. |
| US08239133B2 |
Global positioning system and dead reckoning (GPSandDR) integrated navigation system
A global positioning system and dead reckoning (GPS&DR) integrated navigation system includes a GPS receiver coupled to a moving object for periodically generating GPS navigation information of said moving object, a DR system coupled to said moving object for periodically calculating DR navigation information of said moving object, and a filter coupled to said GPS receiver and said DR system for periodically calculating navigation information of said moving object, wherein said filter gets observation information by integrating said GPS navigation information and said DR navigation information according to a weight value of said GPS navigation information and a weight value of said DR navigation information, and calculates a current navigation information by integrating said observation information with previous navigation information from a plurality of previous cycles. |
| US08239131B2 |
Navigation device, navigation method, and navigation program
A navigation device displays, on a screen, a route guidance object indicating a route along which the vehicle is to travel, and includes: an image pickup section that obtains a photographed image ahead of the vehicle; a white line detection section that detects a road white line in the photographed image; a map information storage section that stores map information including road shape data which represents the road shape; a road shape data correction section that corrects the road shape data, based on a detection result of the road white line, such that the route guidance object is displayed along the road white line; a route guidance object generation section that generates the route guidance object, based on the corrected road shape data; and the display section that displays the generated route guidance object on the screen. |
| US08239126B2 |
Method and device for evaluating the driving style of a driver in a motor vehicle with respect to the use of fuel
The disclosure describes a method and a system for evaluating the driving style of a driver in a motor vehicle with respect to the use of fuel. A disclosed method includes: determining a first value which is characteristic of the current speed of the vehicle; calculation of a second value by low-pass filtering said first value; and evaluating of the driving style with respect to the use of fuel by evaluating the difference between said first value and said second value. |
| US08239124B2 |
Traffic information providing system and method for generating traffic information
The invention relates to a method for generating traffic information to be used in a car navigation system, comprising the steps of acquiring traffic information data including information relating to a travel time of links making up a road on a map and for acquiring map data relating to the link, the map data comprising at least information on a road type of the link and checking if a volume of the traffic information data available in is sufficient for performing a statistical estimate for the travel time. In order to enhance the traffic information generated, it is proposed to use the steps of checking if the volume of traffic information data relating to links located in a target area is sufficient and adapting a size of the target area depending on the amount of available traffic information data. |
| US08239119B2 |
Method and system for adapting small fuel injection quantities
A method and system for controlling an engine includes a normal individual cylinder fuel correction determination module determining normal pulse mode individual cylinder fuel corrections in a normal pulse mode. The system also includes a split pulse enable module operating the fuel injectors in split pulse mode having a linear pulse and a ballistic pulse smaller than the linear pulse. The system also includes a split pulse individual cylinder fuel correction determination module determining split pulse mode individual cylinder fuel corrections in the split pulse mode. The system also includes a ballistic pulse adaptation module adjusting ballistic pulse calibration values in response to the normal pulse mode individual cylinder fuel corrections and the split pulse mode individual cylinder fuel corrections to form adjusted ballistic pulse calibration values. |
| US08239117B2 |
Method and device for operating an internal combustion engine
A start quantity adaptation value (ST_AD) is adapted as a function of a variable that is characteristic of a rotational speed profile during the start (ST) of the internal combustion engine. A lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD) is adapted as a function of at least one control parameter (LAM_RP) of the lambda controller if a preset condition (COND) is met, which presupposes the existence of a quasi-stationary operating state. An intermediate correction value (ZW_KOR) is adapted as a function of a change of the start quantity adaptation value (ST_AD) since a last adaptation of the lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD). A fuel mass (MFF) to be metered is determined as a function of at least one operating variable (BG) of the internal combustion engine. The fuel mass (MFF) to be metered is corrected during the start (ST) of the internal combustion engine by means of the start quantity adaptation value (ST_AD). The fuel mass (MFF) to be metered outside of the start (ST) of the internal combustion engine is corrected as a function of the lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD). The fuel mass (MFF) to be metered is corrected as a function of the intermediate correction value (ZW_KOR) until for the first time after the respective start (ST) the lambda adaptation value (LAM_AD) is adapted. |
| US08239114B2 |
Methods and systems for modulating fuel flow for gas turbine engines
A method of combustion stability control for a gas turbine engine is provided, and includes the steps of receiving by a stability controller, information regarding environmental and operating conditions, and comparing the environmental and operating conditions to pre-programmed information to determine if a likelihood of combustion instability exists. The method further includes the steps of determining optimal fuel modulation frequency and amplitude for the environmental condition to reduce combustion instability, if a likelihood of combustion instability exists, and actuating at least one fuel modulation valve to, at the optimal fuel modulation frequency and amplitude, reduce combustion instability, if a likelihood of combustion instability exists. Systems for modulating fuel flow are also provided. |
| US08239113B2 |
Vehicle response during vehicle acceleration conditions
A vehicle control method for a vehicle having powertrain with an internal combustion engine and a transmission having a clutch, the method comprising of transitioning through a lash region of the transmission during clutch slipping conditions in response to a driver tip-in; and during the transition, first retarding ignition timing past maximum torque timing while increasing engine airflow, and then second, advancing ignition timing from the retarded timing while continuing to increase engine airflow. |
| US08239111B2 |
Vehicle driving assist system
An driving assist control unit controls actuators such as a front wheel steering device, an accelerator pedal mechanism, an alarm lamp. The control units estimates permissible tire-force being capable of acting on the vehicle tire on the basis of road-surface friction coefficient and ground load of the tire, and then calculates tire-force margin by subtracting current tire-force currently acting on the tire, such as total driving force and lateral force, from the permissible tire-force. The control unit then controls steering reaction force of the front wheel steering device, reaction force of the accelerator pedal, and flashing frequency of the alarm lamp in accordance with the magnitude of the tire-force margin, respectively. |
| US08239108B2 |
Drive line operation method
A method for operating a vehicle drive train comprising a drive unit, a transmission, and an all-wheel splitter having a clutch. The all-wheel splitter is positioned between the transmission and the output and splits a transmission output torque to vary the torque distribution to driven axles of the output. The split of the output torque to the driven axles is performed by a control unit in such a way that the transmission output torque, less a predetermined nominal torque set by the all-wheel drive strategy, is transferred to a first axle while the nominal torque is transferred to a second axle. When defined operating conditions are met, a clutch monitoring function is activated and the nominal torque is replaced by a torque definition of the clutch monitoring function so that the torque which is transferred by clutch to the second driven axle, is increased, then kept constant, and thereafter reduced. |
| US08239101B2 |
Vehicular safety systems status display
Apparatus for a road vehicle has a plurality of deployable devices, each performing a crash safety function. A device controller controls deployment of a respective deployable device and that provides respective status messages according to a deployment status of the respective deployable device. Respective status messages for each deployable device include a ready message and a deployed message. A crash sensor detects a crash event when the vehicle is involved in an impact, wherein the crash sensor generates a crash event message. A display controller is coupled to the deployable devices to receive the status messages and coupled to the crash sensor to receive the crash event message. A display is coupled to the display controller for displaying status information to a driver of the vehicle. The displayed status information includes pre-crash status of the deployable devices and post-crash status of the deployable devices. |
| US08239089B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting deformations on a vehicle component
An apparatus and a method for detecting deformations of a vehicle component on a motor vehicle are disclosed, which are capable of unambiguously determining the location and temporal progression of the deformation, as well as the severity of the deformation, within a very short time after the deformation of the vehicle component begins. A grid module having a grid, an emitter component with a light emitter; and a detector with at least one sensor unit are hereby provided on the vehicle component. A beam path of a light beam between the light emitter and the detector is alternatingly interrupted when the grid is displaced relative to the emitter component due to a deformation of the vehicle component. The detector detects a signal in form of light pulses generated by the interruption of the light beam and the light pulses are transmitted as a time-modulated signal to an evaluation unit. |
| US08239087B2 |
Method of operating a vehicle accessory
A vehicle includes a controller, a touch screen display in communication with the controller, and a plurality of accessories in communication with the controller. The various accessories are each individually controlled by inputting commands into the touch screen display. The controller transmits the inputted command via a communication system to the selected accessory to motivate the accessory between a first setting and a second setting. |
| US08239086B2 |
Imaging system for vehicle
An imaging system for a vehicle includes an imaging array sensor and a control. The imaging array sensor is disposed at least partially within an exterior rearview mirror assembly that is attached at a side of a vehicle. The field of view of the imaging array sensor encompasses at least one of a rearward field of view, a sideward field of view and a forward field of view. The control may utilize edge detection in processing captured image data. Responsive at least in part to processing of captured image data by the control, the control determines an object of interest present in the field of view of the imaging array sensor. A portion of the equipped vehicle is present in the field of view of the imaging array sensor and the control may be operable to determine that the portion of the equipped vehicle is not an object of interest. |
| US08239085B2 |
Method for detecting road lane markings
A method for detecting road lane markings for a motor vehicle in motion with an image recording unit is presented. The image recording unit points to the road in front of the vehicle and in the recorded image data, brightness differences (contrasts) are analysed and/or edges are extracted. Road lane markings are detected by means of their periodic arrangement. For evaluation purposes, the measuring signal of the image recording unit is transformed into another coordinate system, and the auxiliary function thus obtained is tested for periodic structures. |
| US08239076B2 |
Vehicle slowdown control via short range wireless communication
A method and system for enabling police pursuing a vehicle to slow the vehicle down via short range wireless communication with the vehicle. The process can be carried out with or without involvement of a call center that provides telematics services to the vehicle. The method involves configuring the vehicle to accept a slowdown command, confirming the target vehicle at a pursuing police vehicle, establishing the short range connection between the police vehicle and target vehicle, and slowing the target vehicle by sending it the slowdown command over the wireless connection. The call center can enable or disable the slowdown service according to the vehicle owner's wishes. |
| US08239066B2 |
System and method of use for a user interface dashboard of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning network
The disclosure provides systems and methods of use of an HVAC graphical interface dashboard. In various embodiments, the dashboard includes a weather tab, wherein invoking the weather tab advances to a weather screen. The dashboard also includes an indoor humidity tab. A programs tab and a home tab are also provided. The dashboard further comprises: a) a screen that employs a backlight to display information to a user; b) a backlight, and c) a motion detector, wherein the backlight is turned on by the motion detector upon a detection of motion. |
| US08239065B2 |
Air conditioner with operation according to a user-defined curve and the control, method thereof
An air conditioner with operation according to a user-defined curve and the control method thereof are disclosed. The air conditioner includes a main unit, the main unit includes: a receiving unit of user-defined curve for receiving the user-defined curve set by a user, the user-defined curve is used to define the coincidence relation between the needed air conditioning temperature and the time, and a control unit connected to the receiving unit of user-defined curve for controlling the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioner at different time according to the user-defined curve. The user-defined curve can be set by a keyboard of a remote controller by the user, the data of the user-defined curve can be stored in a memory chip and then can be sent into an infrared signal receiving unit of the main unit, a MCU control chip controls the operation of the air conditioner according to the user-defined curve. |
| US08239064B2 |
Robot mechanism for inspection of live-line suspension insulator string
Disclosed herein is a robot mechanism for inspection of a live-line suspension insulator string. A robot body of the robot mechanism reciprocates along the live-line suspension insulator string and includes upper and lower robot frames configured to encircle the insulator string, a battery module provided to either end of the robot body, an actuation module for moving the robot body along the insulator string, an inspection module for electrically inspecting an insulator, a connection module for coupling the robot body to an installation/dismantlement mechanism, a wing opening/closing module for manually separating the robot body from the insulator string, a measurement module for measuring electrical properties of the insulator, a controller for controlling operation of the robot body, and a crack detection unit for detecting cracks formed in the insulator. |
| US08239062B2 |
Removal or return of items associated with a patient-specific bin systems and methods
Systems, methods, and devices are described related to the assignment and management of patient-specific bins. A dispensing device at a healthcare facility includes a number of bins for storage of medical supplies, with some of the bins designated as patient-specific bins allocated to be assigned to patients for storage of their medications or certain other supplies. A central server computer system, in communication with a computer of the dispensing device, may monitor and assign current and future patient-specific use of the bins for the dispensing device. The assignment and management of patient-specific bins may be performed by devices distributed through the system. |
| US08239058B2 |
Method for controlling mold clamping device
A predetermined speed control pattern A is set. In controlling mold opening, in the mold opening section Zm, mold opening control is performed at the mold opening speed Vm, and based on a current mold opening speed Vd and a current mold opening position Xd, which are both detected, a deceleration starting position Xmc of the deceleration section Zmd where a current mold opening speed Vd becomes a zero (O) at a virtual stop position Xso is sequentially forecasted at each predetermined time interval by calculation. Upon reaching the deceleration starting position Xmc the deceleration section Zmd is started, and in the deceleration section Zmd, based on the detected current mold opening position Xd, a speed command value Dm corresponding to the speed control pattern A is obtained sequentially by calculation, and according to the speed command value Dm deceleration control is performed. Upon reaching a last-transition speed Vc, a predetermined stop controlling processing is performed. |
| US08239050B2 |
Economical loudness measurement of coded audio
Measuring the loudness of audio encoded in a bitstream that includes data from which an approximation of the power spectrum of the audio can be derived without fully decoding the audio is performed by deriving the approximation of the power spectrum of the audio from said bitstream without fully decoding the audio, and determining an approximate loudness of the audio in response to the approximation of the power spectrum of the audio. The data may include coarse representations of the audio and associated finer representations of the audio, the approximation of the power spectrum of the audio being derived from the coarse representations of the audio. In the case of subband encoded audio, the coarse representations of the audio may comprise scale factors and the associated finer representations of the audio may comprise sample data associated with each scale factor. |
| US08239047B1 |
Systems and methods for indirect control of processor enabled devices
Individuals can operate processor enabled devices at a high level of performance, even if they have little or no familiarity with those devices, by indirectly operating them through a first processor enabled device. The direct interactions of individuals with a familiar device can be communicated to one or more processors that perform signal processing functions in order to generate control signals that direct the operation of a second, unfamiliar processor-enabled device. In this closed-loop system, individuals can receive real-time feedback on the performance of the second device in a form associated with the operation of the first device. |
| US08239046B2 |
Sensor network controllers
A control element for a sensor network having a set of different sensors. In operation, the control element transfers connections between the control element and the set of different sensors, where the transfer connections are compliant with respective sensor-specific protocols. A sensor controller element is provided for each sensor, and establishes transfer connections between the control element and new sensors in runtime. Information obtained in a sensor-specific protocol format from the sensors is converted into a common format in the sensor controller elements. The common format information is processed by a set of common control components of the control element. The control element provides a service based on the information in the common format to at least one consumer, and updates the service in accordance with the sensors present in the sensor network. |
| US08239040B2 |
Electrode catheter for intervention purposes
An electrode catheter that includes an elongate electrode catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end, at least one electrode pole in the area of the distal end of the electrode body, and at least one supply line, which runs insulated in the electrode body in the main direction (H) from the proximal end to the distal end, to the at least one electrode pole, wherein the at least one supply line is configured to desensitize the electrode catheter to the radiation of an electromagnetic field of an interfering frequency having a specific wavelength(λ), with the supply line changing its run direction at least twice in such a way that it runs at least once opposite to the main direction (H), the distance (L1,L2) between two direction changes (R) is shorter than half of the wavelength (λ/2) of the interfering frequency. |
| US08239037B2 |
Intravascular implant anchors having remote communication and/or battery recharging capabilities
A medical implant system comprises an implant proportioned for implantation within a blood vessel, a lead coupled to the implant, and an anchor coupled to the lead, the anchor configurable in a radially compressed position so as to be positioned in the blood vessel, and a radially expanded position for engagement with the wall of blood vessel. The anchor functions as an antenna for telemetric communication with an extracorporeal device and/or as a receiver for inductive recharging of secondary cells in the implant using an extracorporeal charging device. |
| US08239033B2 |
Visual prosthesis
A method for stimulating a subject's retina. The method comprising selecting at least a first and a second electrode each configured to apply current to a subject's retina, determining impedance for the at least first electrode and second electrode, and applying current to the subject's retina through the at least first and second electrode, wherein current to be applied by the first electrode and the second electrode is configured to be higher for the first electrode when the first electrode has an impedance lower than a second electrode's impedance. |
| US08239029B2 |
Stimulation of the amygdalohippocampal complex to treat neurological conditions
A system and/or method treating for a neurological disorder by brain region stimulation. The system and/or method comprises a probe and a device to provide stimulation. The probe has a stimulation portion implanted in communication with a predetermined brain region site. The stimulation portion of the probe may be implanted in contact with a predetermined brain region. |
| US08239027B2 |
Responsive gastric stimulator
A responsive gastrointestinal stimulation device is provided where one or more sensors sense data corresponding to a subject or the gastrointestinal tract of a subject and responds to sensing the data by stimulating, adjusting stimulation, or stopping stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract. A stimulation device is also provided to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract to produce a sensation of satiety or to control hunger or food consumption. |
| US08239026B2 |
Implantable medical device with a voltage protection circuit
An implantable medical device has a hermetically sealed housing with at least one feedthrough therein for a conductive path between an RF antenna carried by the housing, and an RF telemetry circuit contained in the housing. The feedthrough has a feedthrough housing with a capacitor element therein having first and second capacitor plate configurations, with a first of the capacitor plate configurations being connected to the RF antenna and a second of the capacitor plate configurations being connected to the RF telemetry circuit. The feedthrough functions both as a hermetic seal and as a galvanic isolation for voltage protection of the components of the RF telemetry circuit, and other circuitry in the sealed housing connected thereto. |
| US08239024B2 |
Pulse detection apparatus, software, and methods using patient physiological signals
The presence of a cardiac pulse in a patient is determined by evaluating physiological signals in the patient. In one embodiment, a medical device evaluates two or more different physiological signals, such as phonocardiogram (PCG) signals, electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, patient impedance signals, piezoelectric signals, and accelerometer signals for features indicative of the presence of a cardiac pulse. Using these features, the medical device determines whether a cardiac pulse is present in the patient. The medical device may also be configured to report whether the patient is in a VF, VT, asystole, or PEA condition, in addition to being in a pulseless condition, and prompt different therapies, such as chest compressions, rescue breathing, defibrillation, and PEA-specific electrotherapy, depending on the analysis of the physiological signals. Auto-capture of a cardiac pulse using pacing stimuli is further provided. |
| US08239023B2 |
Integrated cardiac rhythm management system with heart valve
Systems and methods using a heart valve and an implantable medical device, such as for event detection and optimization of cardiac output. The cardiac management system includes a heart valve, having a physiological sensor. The physiological sensor is adapted to measure at least one of an intrinsic electrical cardiac parameter, a hemodynamic parameter or the like. The system further includes an implantable electronics unit, such as a cardiac rhythm management unit, coupled to the physiological sensor of the heart valve to receive physiological information. The electronics unit is adapted to use the received physiological information to control delivery of an electrical output to the subject. |
| US08239016B2 |
Detection of pain/awakening integral value
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for monitoring the autonomous nervous system of a sedated patient. A skin conductance signal is measured at an area of the patient's skin during a measurement interval. A first measure and a second measure, both reflecting the state of the autonomous nervous system of the patient, is calculated by means of certain integral functions. The largest one of the first and second measures is then selected as the output signal (Y) that reflects the state of the autonomous nervous system of the sedated patient. |
| US08239015B2 |
Distraction detection apparatus, distraction detection method, and computer program
The distraction detection apparatus includes: an electroencephalogram detection section for detecting an electroencephalogram signal of a driver; an arousal level estimation section for retaining a first rule of mapping parameter values of an electroencephalogram signal to arousal levels, and estimating an arousal level based on the detected electroencephalogram signal and the first rule; an attention allocation estimation section for retaining a second rule of mapping parameter values of an electroencephalogram signal to attention allocations, and estimating an attention allocation based on the detected electroencephalogram signal and the second rule; a driver state estimation section for retaining a third rule of deriving an amount of attention from an arousal level and an attention allocation, estimating an amount of attention of the driver paid to driving based on the estimated arousal level and attention allocation and the third rule, and classifying a state of the driver into a normal state, a state of reduced attention, or a state of reduced arousal level; and an output section for performing an intervention for the driver based on a result of classification by the driver state classification section. |
| US08239013B2 |
EEG prediction method for medication response
The present invention includes a system and method for computerized analysis of a patient's electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded by electrodes placed on the scalp, for the purpose of predicting patient response to medications and therapeutic agents commonly used in psychiatric practice. The prediction of the responses to medications (adverse, no effect, favorable outcome) is an important problem in the clinical practice of psychiatry. A growing number of therapeutic agents are available to the clinician but these agents generate variable responses when prescribed based solely on the patient's history and current symptoms. The present invention is used by physicians to improve patient outcome by selecting agents most likely to be effective for a given patient, using a standardized analysis of the digitized EEG and comparison of individual patient EEC data to a particular database of similar patients whose clinical outcome to pharmacotherapy is known. |
| US08239012B2 |
Microcontrolled electrocardiographic monitoring circuit with differential voltage encoding
A microcontrolled electrocardiographic monitoring circuit with differential voltage encoding is provided. An input signal path includes an electrode, a low pass filter, and an amplifier, which are each connected in-line. The electrode senses an input signal via a conductive surface and the amplifier outputs a filtered amplified output signal. A microcontroller circuit includes an input codec, an analog-to-digital converter, and an encoder. The analog-to-digital converter is connected to the input signal path through an output of the amplifier and converts the filtered amplified output signal into a data stream of discrete digital values. The encoder determines a differential voltage between a current discrete digital value and a prior discrete digital value in the data stream. Persistent memory is connected to the microcontroller circuit via a peripheral serial interface bus, wherein the differential voltages for each of the discrete digital values in the data stream are stored into the persistent memory. |
| US08239011B2 |
Atrial arrhythmia detection and discrimination based on intracardiac impedance
An apparatus comprises an implantable impedance sensing circuit configured to sense an atrial impedance signal when coupled to a plurality of implantable electrodes, and an impedance signal analyzer circuit configured to detect a sudden change in a characteristic of the sensed atrial impedance signal that indicates atrial tachyarrhythmia. The impedance signal analyzer circuit classifies the atrial tachyarrhythmia indication as ST when the detected sudden change satisfies an ST threshold value of the characteristic, classifies the atrial tachyarrhythmia indication as AT when the detected sudden change satisfies an AT threshold value of the characteristic that is different from the ST threshold value, classifies the atrial tachyarrhythmia indication as AF when the detected sudden change satisfies an AF threshold value of the characteristic that is different from the ST and AT amplitude threshold values, and provides a classification of the tachyarrhythmia to a user or process. |
| US08239008B2 |
Sentinel node identification using fluorescent nanoparticles
Various compositions, methods, and devices are provided that use fluorescent nanoparticles, which can function as markers, indicators, and light sources. The fluorescent nanoparticles can be formed from a fluorophore core surrounded by a biocompatible shell, such as a silica shell. In one embodiment, the fluorescent nanoparticles can be delivered to tissue to mark the tissue, enable identification and location of the tissue, and/or illuminate an area surrounding the tissue. In another embodiment, the fluorescent nanoparticles can be used on a device or implant to locate the device or implant in the body, indicate an orientation of the device or implant, and/or illuminate an area surrounding the device or implant. The fluorescent nanoparticles can also be used to provide a therapeutic effect. |
| US08239007B2 |
Biocompatible nanoparticle compositions and methods
Various compositions, methods, and devices are provided that use fluorescent nanoparticles, which can function as markers, indicators, and light sources. The fluorescent nanoparticles can be formed from a fluorophore core surrounded by a biocompatible shell, such as a silica shell. In one embodiment, the fluorescent nanoparticles can be delivered to tissue to mark the tissue, enable identification and location of the tissue, and/or illuminate an area surrounding the tissue. In another embodiment, the fluorescent nanoparticles can be used on a device or implant to locate the device or implant in the body, indicate an orientation of the device or implant, and/or illuminate an area surrounding the device or implant. The fluorescent nanoparticles can also be used to provide a therapeutic effect. |
| US08239006B2 |
Method and apparatus for medical imaging using near-infrared optical tomography and fluorescence tomography combined with ultrasound
Methods and apparatus for medical imaging using diffusive optical tomography and fluorescent diffusive optical tomography are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for medical imaging comprises, scanning a tissue volume with near-infrared light to obtain structural parameters, wherein the tissue volume includes a biological entity, scanning the tissue volume with near-infrared light to obtain optical and fluorescence measurements of the scanned volume, segmenting the scanned volume into a first region and a second region, and reconstructing an optical image and a fluorescence image of at least a portion of the scanned volume from the structural parameters and the optical and fluorescence measurements. In another embodiment an apparatus for medical imaging is disclosed. |
| US08239005B2 |
Systems and methods for real-time tracking of targets in radiation therapy and other medical applications
Systems and methods for tracking targets in real time for radiation therapy and other applications. In one embodiment, a method includes collecting position information of a marker implanted within a patient at a site relative to the target at a time tn, and providing an objective output indicative of the location of the target based on the position information collected at time tn. The objective output is provided to a memory device, user interface, and/or radiation delivery machine within 1 ms to 2 seconds of the time tn when the position information was collected. This embodiment of the method can further include providing the objective output at a periodicity of 10-200 ms during at least a portion of a treatment procedure. For example, the method can further include generating a beam of ionizing radiation and directing the beam to a machine isocenter, and continuously repeating the collecting procedure and the providing procedure every 10-200 ms while irradiating the patient with the ionizing radiation beam. |
| US08239002B2 |
Guiding a tool for medical treatment by detecting a source of radioactivity
Systems and methods disclosed provide for guiding a tool using a source of radioactivity. The method includes implanting a source of radioactivity at a position having a geometric relationship to a target tissue, determining at least an indication of a location of the source using at least one radioactivity detecting position sensor, and positioning a tool at a desired relative location with respect to the target tissue based on the determined location. |
| US08238998B2 |
Tab electrode
A disposable tab electrode has core elements that include an adhesive conductive laminate layer and a logo sticker layer with a penetrating hole for contacting a sensor electrode. A protecting film is put around both ends of the core elements. As a result, the disposable tab electrode can be made inexpensively, stored hygienically for a long time and used easily. A lead wire for connecting to the tab electrode has a projection on one end of a sensor electrode that is adhered onto the conductive laminate layer of the disposable tab electrode. The projection is fixed to the lead wire body by a fixing member. As a result, expensive Ag—AgCl electrode sensors can be used repeatedly. The lead wire can have a nipper self-contained or integrated with the lead wire body to prevent the lead wire from separating from the disposable tab electrode during use. |
| US08238997B2 |
Chin adhesive and method for use
The current invention is an apparatus that comfortably fits on an individual's chin and holds electrodes in place. |
| US08238991B2 |
Precursor wire of oxide superconducting wire and production method thereof and oxide superconducting wire produced by using the precursor wire
A precursor wire of an oxide superconducting wire includes a first sheath made of silver or silver alloy, a center portion in the first sheath, and a plurality of peripheral segments placed close to one another at the inside of the first sheath so as to surround the center portion. Each of the peripheral segments is formed as a monofilamentary segment that has an arch-shaped cross section and that includes a ribbon-shaped filament made of a precursor of an oxide superconductor and covered with a second sheath made of silver or silver alloy. The multiple peripheral segments are placed in a multilayer state in the form of concentric circles such that wide-width surfaces of the peripheral segments surround the center portion. |
| US08238990B2 |
Granular superconducting joint
A superconducting joint that structurally binds a first superconducting segment to a second superconducting segment. The first and second superconducting segment each include corresponding areas containing a granular superconducting substance formed by a first element and a second element. The superconducting joint includes a solid non-superconducting binding formed from a source of the first element and a source of the second element combined to produce the granular superconducting substance around the solid non-superconducting binding to permit for the flow of superconducting current through the first superconducting segment and the second superconducting segment. |
| US08238980B1 |
Efficient utilization of multiple radio access technologies in a communications device
A communications device, and a method for efficient utilization of multiple radio access technologies in the communications device, is disclosed. The communications device includes a plurality of radios, where each of the plurality of radios is communicable with a respective one of a plurality of radio access technologies. The communications device attempts to extract control channel information from a radio access technology assigned a highest priority in a first geographic area by a radio associated with the highest priority radio access technology in the first geographic area and, if the control channel information for the highest priority radio access technology in the first geographic area is extracted by the radio associated with the highest priority radio access technology in the first geographic area, the communications device does not enable a second radio associated with a second lower priority radio access technology in the first geographic area. |
| US08238979B2 |
System and method for mobile device display power savings
Systems and methods displaying information from a mobile device are described herein. One embodiment of the disclosure provides a method comprising detecting a wireless connection between a mobile device and an external display device. The method further comprises adjusting a display of the mobile device based on at least the detection of the wireless connection. |
| US08238978B2 |
Portable apparatus
A portable apparatus includes a first case portion including a full keyboard, a second case portion superposed on the first case portion, a slide connection member connecting the first case portion to the second case portion in such a manner that the first case portion is slidable in a direction perpendicular to a length direction of the full keyboard, and a display screen unit directly or indirectly disposed on a front surface of the second case portion, wherein the first and second case portions have a hiding mechanism with which a part of the slide connection member is prevented from being exposed to the outside when the first case portion is maximally slid out with respect to the second case portion. |
| US08238977B2 |
Antenna systems with common overhead for CDMA base stations
Systems and methods for use in CDMA antenna systems are provided in which signals each having a common overhead component are transmitted on a set of adjacent beams of a sector with a micro-timing offset between signals transmitted on adjacent pairs of beams which is large enough that destructive cancellation substantially does not occur between the pair of beams. |
| US08238976B2 |
Base station arrangement for a cellular communication system
A base station arrangement for a cellular communication system comprises a plurality of antennas (101-105) where each antenna (101-105) has a different coverage area. The base station arrangement can operate in a sectorised mode and a non-sectorised mode controlled by a mode controller (119). When in the sectorised mode, the base station arrangement provides an individual broadcast control carrier to each antenna (101-105) of the plurality of antennas (101-105) thereby supporting a plurality of cells each having a coverage area of the corresponding antenna (101-105). When in the non-sectorised mode, the base station arrangement provides a common broadcast carrier to all antennas (101-105) of the plurality of antennas (101-105) thereby supporting a single cell having a coverage area corresponding to a combined coverage area of the plurality of antennas (101-105). The invention may allow reduced power consumption at low loading without sacrificing peak capacity. |
| US08238975B2 |
Method and apparatus for antenna selection in a diversity antenna system for communicating with implantable medical device
A diversity antenna system including a plurality of antennas can include an antenna interface circuit configured to connect an antenna of the plurality of antennas to a transceiver using an antenna selection signal. The antenna control circuit can be configured to produce the antenna selection signal using at least one of a random sequence generator configured to generate a random antenna selection signal or a predetermined sequence generator configured to generate a predetermined antenna selection signal according to a predetermined sequence. |
| US08238974B2 |
Display module for mobile communication device
An embodiment of the invention discloses an display module for mobile communication device which comprises a display panel, a flexible printed circuit board, an electronic component. The flexible printed circuit board is coupled to the display panel and is divided into a first portion and a second portion. The electronic component is disposed on a first surface of the flexible printed circuit board, and the location of the electronic component corresponds to that of the second portion of the flexible printed circuit board. The extensibility of the second portion of the flexible printed circuit board is smaller than that of the first portion of the flexible printed circuit board. |
| US08238973B2 |
Method for administering the authorization of mobile telephones without a SIM card
The present invention relates to a method for administering the authorization of at least one mobile telephone (5) relative to a mobile communications network (8), wherein the mobile telephone (5) is design for near-field communication (7) and in case a mobile radio card (6) is not present in the mobile telephone (5), the authorization thereof takes place by an external device (1) having one or more mobile radio card(s) (10) and a device (3) for near-field communication (7) with said mobile telephone (5), and wherein near-field communication (7) takes place between the external device (1) and the mobile telephone (5) for authorizing, and a connection is permitted to be established to the mobile communications network (8) after successful authorization by the external device (5). |
| US08238965B2 |
Flexible communication systems and methods
A method of initiating a telecommunication session for a communication device include submitting to one or more telecommunication carriers a proposal for a telecommunication session, receiving from at least one of the one or more of telecommunication carriers a bid to carry the telecommunications session, and automatically selecting one of the telecommunications carriers from the carriers submitting a bid, and initiating the telecommunication session through the selected telecommunication carrier. |
| US08238962B2 |
System and method for ground station selection
A communication system comprises a radio to transmit and receive communication signals to and from a selected ground station; and a management unit coupled to the radio and operable to dynamically set a threshold value for selecting another ground station based on a signal strength corresponding to the selected ground station. The management unit is operable to select another ground station when a signal strength corresponding to the other ground station exceeds the signal strength corresponding to the selected ground station by more than the threshold value set by the management unit. |
| US08238960B2 |
Method and apparatus for multi-transmitter power control
A method (100) in a multi-transmitter mobile device (201) can include transmitting (102) a signal in a first mode causing an interrupting signal to a transmission in a second mode, receiving (104) commands to increase power in the second mode as a result of the interrupting signal, and circumventing (106) the commands to increase power in the second mode when transmitting the signal in the first mode interrupts the signal in the second mode. The method can circumvent commands to increase power by alternating (108) a power control bit up and down and masking a true bit coming from a base station to the multi-transmitter mobile device. In another alternative, the method can circumvent by storing (110) a power control setting prior to the interrupting signal with a stored value, waiting for a removal of the interrupting signal, and overwriting a calculated power control setting with the stored value. |
| US08238957B2 |
Communication control method, communication control system and its control program
In a communication control method which realizes the quick and stable provision of a service by increasing efficiency in transmission power control, a target SIR setting part 18 controls downlink transmission power from a base station so that the T-SIR will be equal to the SIR measured in a known inner loop, by increasing a target signal interference ratio (T-SIR) by a first predetermined value when a reception field level of a common pilot channel before the establishment of synchronization of a dedicated control channel, which is provided by the quality measurement part 12, falls below a first threshold selected by a target quality setting part 14 depending on the reception quality of a DPDCH, and decreasing the target signal interference ratio (T-SIR) by a second predetermined value when the reception field level of the common pilot channel exceeds a second threshold selected by the target quality setting part 14 depending on the reception quality of the DPDCH. |
| US08238956B1 |
Adjusting power of a control channel based on a characteristic of a message in the control channel
An entity, such as a base station, in a wireless communications network performs power control of a control channel based on one or more characteristics of a message in the control channel. For example, the control channel can be a paging channel. The one or more characteristics include, as examples, the size and/or the type of message in the control channel. |
| US08238950B2 |
Method and system to facilitate interaction between and content delivery to users of a wireless communications network
A system and method of creating affinity groups of portable communication device users, and distributing targeted content to said users is disclosed. The user affinity groups may be formed by comparing user profiles with each other or with a predefined affinity group profile definition. |
| US08238949B1 |
International text messaging bridge system
At present, there exist systems which send SMS text messages across national boundaries and telephonic carriers from one mobile phone operator to another. The proposed system would create a series of real number to virtual number(s) mappings, allowing the sending and receiving of messages across national borders without incurring international charges. |
| US08238947B2 |
Method and installation for transmitting a message with predetermined duration of validity addressed to a subscriber terminal
Method of transmitting a message with duration of validity destined for a subscriber terminal, comprising the formulating, in the message, of a field containing information regarding duration of validity of the message and the monitoring of the validity of the message on the basis of the information contained in said field, wherein the message is transmitted to the terminal of the subscriber and, on the expiry of the duration of validity of the message, the message received by the terminal is modified or deleted in such a way as to prevent consultation thereof. |
| US08238946B2 |
Method for personalizing messages delivered to a communication terminal that preserves the privacy of the recipient of the message
A method for enhancing the privacy of recipients of personalizing text messages such as advertisements delivered to communication terminals such as cellular telephones. A common carrier such as a cellular telephone service provider gathers personal information from a subscriber at the time the subscriber signs on for service and receives a communication terminal. The carrier loads the terminal with a table that assigns variables to elements of personal information. The carrier accepts messages such as advertisements for distribution to subscribers. These messages use the variables that the carrier has loaded into the subscribers' terminals. When such a message is received, a subscriber's terminal replaces the variables with the elements of personal information by referring to the table. |
| US08238943B2 |
Moving body terminal, information providing apparatus, and information transmission method
A moving body terminal is basically provided with a position information acquiring section, a receiving section and a control section. The position information acquiring section is configured to acquire position information indicating a current position of the moving body terminal. The receiving section is configured to receive from an information providing apparatus simple map information which includes information transmission determining information indicating an information transmission unnecessary region of the simple map information where the position information of the moving body terminal is not required to be transmitted from the moving body terminal to the information providing apparatus. The control section is configured to prohibit a transmission of the position information to the information providing apparatus when the position information acquired by the position information acquiring section is inside the information transmission unnecessary region contained in the simple map information that was received. |
| US08238938B2 |
Facilitating use of a device based on short-range wireless technology
Various devices may include a short-range wireless transmitter and/or one or more short-range wireless readers. When a first device including the transmitter is placed near a second device including the one or more readers, a relative location of the first device may be determined. Information regarding the relative location of the first device, may be used to facilitate use of the first device with a processing device. In one embodiment, the processing device may automatically configure itself, such that the first device may be used with the processing device. In another embodiment, the processing device may provide feedback, such as, for example, step-by-step instructions to facilitate setup and use of the first device with the processing device. In some embodiments, an application program interface may provide information about the device to an application executing on the processing device. |
| US08238937B2 |
Location sensing system and method for mobile communication system
A location sensing system and method for a mobile communication system is provided for maintaining location sensing service with the support of mobile nodes when there is an insufficient number of anchor nodes for reference points. A location sensing method for a mobile communication system includes discovering, at a source mobile node, anchor nodes in a vicinity; discovering, when a number of discovered anchor nodes is less than a predetermined number of reference nodes required for location sensing, neighboring mobile nodes; selecting at least one of neighboring mobile nodes as a reference mobile node; and computing a location of the source mobile node in cooperation with the predetermined number of reference nodes including the discovered anchor nodes and the reference mobile node. |
| US08238935B2 |
Real-time location information from mobile devices including embedding location information in media packet payload
One embodiment includes a method in a mobile device, including accepting real-time location information on the location of the mobile device, and ascertaining whether real-time information is to be included. In the case it is ascertained that real-time location information is to be embedded, the method includes embedding the accepted location in a payload portion of a media packet; and sending the packets to one or more recipients. At least some of the sent packets include location information embedded in the payload portion. |
| US08238932B2 |
Dynamically allocating carriers
To determine which traffic and terminal types and in which parts of a call should be best served by a given carrier there is provided a method and system for dynamically allocating carriers in a MIMO network using S-CPICH. The consideration of which carrier to allocate addresses problems caused by the enablement of the diversity transmission technique. Carriers are dynamically allocated to terminals in a WCDMA network scenario taking into account each terminal's vulnerability to interference from a carrier using S-CPICH or STTD according to certain parameters, such as a requested service or the radio conditions at any given time. The carriers are allocated from carriers using P-CPICH, S-CPICH and/or STTD. The invention also relates to a system that implements this method in a WCDMA network. |
| US08238930B2 |
Home network system and mobility anchor allocation method used in the home network system
A home network system in which an appropriate mobility anchor is allocated for a mobile node and the number of mobility anchors can be reduced. A subscriber information accumulation server accumulates first communication load prediction data for each time of a mobile node. An anchor information accumulation server accumulates second communication load prediction load for each time of each mobility anchor. When “a mobility anchor allocation request” is transmitted from the mobile node to an anchor allocation server, the anchor allocation server adds the first communication load prediction data and the second communication load prediction load data so as to obtain third communication load prediction data. Among a plurality of mobility anchors, a mobility anchor in which the third communication load prediction data is not greater than the load upper limit value at all the times and the maximum value of the second communication load prediction data is minimum is selected and allocated. |
| US08238927B2 |
OFDM cellular communication method, system and base station
Since the OFDM communication method does not select whether plural sectors use a same terminal as a transmission destination, or always use it as a transmission destination, giving a preference to system throughput deteriorates channel quality of a terminal in a sector boundary, while increasing channel quality in sector boundaries greatly deteriorates system throughput. In a base station, when a sector transmits to a terminal in the front of a beam, only the sector performs the transmission, and when transmission is made to a terminal in a sector boundary off the direction of the beam, a different sector transmits to the same terminal using a same hopping pattern. Thereby, tradeoff between the channel quality of the terminal in a sector boundary and deterioration in system throughput can be minimized. |
| US08238920B2 |
Method and apparatus for triggering measurements of other radio access technologies (RATS)
Automatic setting and/or adjusting of the threshold(s) for triggering measurements of signal strength/quality of other RATs that are needed for IRAT mobility is described. The setting and/or adjusting of the threshold(s) triggering IRAT measurements is automatically optimized and preferably performed for each BS. Initially, constraints on the optimization of the IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) are set, and a start value for the optimization of the IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) is provided or determined. Input information needed for the optimization of the IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) are then collected, and new IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) are determined and set or existing IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) are adjusted if appropriate. Operator expenses for adjusting the IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) to appropriate values are thereby reduced as compared to manual setting, and the efficiency loss caused by non-optimized IRAT measurement triggering threshold(s) is reduced or minimized. |
| US08238918B2 |
Hand over method from asynchronous mobile communication network to synchronous mobile communication network
The present invention relates to a method of performing handover from an asynchronous mobile communication network to a synchronous mobile communication network. If the access network of the asynchronous mobile communication network (100) requests handover to an MSC (104) of the asynchronous mobile communication network, the MSC requests/receives subscriber information of the mobile communication terminal from a dual-stack HLR (300), and transmits a handover request message to the synchronous mobile communication network (200). The MSC (203) of the synchronous mobile communication network assigns a forward channel to the mobile communication terminal. The asynchronous mobile communication network (100) transmits a handover instruction message to the asynchronous RF device of the mobile communication terminal. Accordingly, the mobile communication terminal sets up a synchronous RF device, connects to the synchronous mobile communication network through reverse channel assignment and synchronization. The mobile communication terminal transmits a handover completion message to the synchronous mobile communication network. |
| US08238916B2 |
Mobile communication method and mobile station
A mobile communication method according to the present invention is to communicate between a mobile station (UE) and a radio base station (eNB) by using a certain key generated using a first key. The mobile communication method includes the steps of: updating, at the mobile station (UE), the first key upon receiving a handover command signal from the radio base station (eNB); transmitting, from the mobile station (UE) to the radio base station (eNB), a handover complete signal by using the certain key generated using the updated first key; and performing, at the mobile station (UE), a cell selection processing when failing to transmit the handover complete signal and detecting a radio link failure, and transmitting, from the mobile station to a selected re-establishment target cell, a re-establishment request signal by using the first key before being updated. |
| US08238914B2 |
Handoff method, switching device and terminal
A handoff method, a switching device, and a terminal are provided. A first service link is established between a first terminal and a second terminal through a switching device. The method includes the following steps. A first switching device receives a call request from the first terminal, and the first switching device sends a link establishment request to the switching device on the first service link according to the call request. A switching device and a terminal are also provided. By adopting the handoff method, the switching device, and the terminal, only the switching device on the first service link is updated to support the universal handoff logic, and there is no requirement of whether the first switching device supports the universal handoff logic. In the case that it is difficult to update all the switches one by one to support the universal handoff logic in the current network, the handoff method is simple to operate and has wide universality. |
| US08238913B1 |
Wireless network augmentation using other wireless networks
Systems and methods are discussed for providing multiple network interfaces to devices to communicate with each other using various policies, for using a proxy to maintain a connection with a legacy system such that a data connection to the legacy system may be continued when an end device connects with the proxy, and for maintaining application states when devices become disconnected such that their activities may be resumed when reconnected. Multiple wireless networks allow communication sessions to transfer across each of the multiple wireless networks in a seamless fashion. One wireless network may control the handoff to another wireless network or a mobile device with an OCMP may control the handoff. |
| US08238909B2 |
Method and apparatus for identifying user equipment, and method for transmitting and allocating a temporary identifier
A method and an apparatus for identifying a UE in an SAE network, and an MME are provided herein. The method includes: receiving an SAE-TMSI which is allocated to a UE that accesses an SAE network and includes at least: a pool-ID, an MME-ID, and a UE temporary identifier; using the SAE-TMSI to temporarily identify the UE in the SAE network. The apparatus includes: a receiving unit and a temporary identifying unit. The MME includes a temporary identifier allocating unit. Moreover, a method for transmitting and allocating a temporary identifier, and a method for receiving and transmitting information according to the temporary identifier are disclosed herein. |
| US08238905B2 |
Predictive intelligence
The present invention provides a method for facilitating roaming tests for a host network. The method includes creating a fake profile via a gateway associated with the host network for a roaming subscriber at a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)/Visiting Location Register (VLR). The MSC/VLR is associated with at least one of the host network and a roaming partner network of the host network. The roaming subscriber is associated with both the host network and the roaming partner network. The method further includes simulating via the gateway, transactions with a first network element associated with at least one of the host network and the roaming partner network to test at least one of the first network element's response for the simulated transactions, and network routing on the roaming subscriber to a second network element associated with at least one of the host network and the roaming partner network. |
| US08238901B2 |
Provision of position information in telecommunications networks
A mobile or cellular telecommunications network includes a plurality of terminals which are registered. The terminal may be fixed in position, such as a terminal in a vending machine. Alternatively, the terminal may be fixed to a vehicle used for sending an SOS message when the vehicle is involved in an accident. The terminal may be immobile, and therefore does not need to continually advise the network of its location. The terminal may not receive incoming calls or other communications. The terminals therefore may not require paging by the network. In the embodiments described, such terminals are assigned a special terminal type identifier which indicates to the network that these terminals do not require paging. The way in which the network interacts with the terminals is adjusted so that signaling to perform location updates is eliminated or at least reduced. |
| US08238899B2 |
Soliciting first party in communication session to maintain call when degradation of connection to second party is anticipated
A system and method are provided for monitoring the quality of a communication session with a mobile device. Should the communication session degrade, rather than dropping the communication session the user of a device communicating with the mobile device is prompted to wait while an attempt is made to improve the quality of the communication session. Similarly if the user of the mobile device moves out of a coverage area, rather than dropping the communication session the user of the device communicating with the mobile device is prompted to wait until a new communication session can be established. |
| US08238893B2 |
Techniques for controlling a portable media device having a radio frequency tuner
Techniques for facilitating interoperation between a portable media device having an RF tuner and an accessory device. In certain embodiments, the portable media device and the accessory can exchange various commands pertaining to the capabilities, state, and/or operation of the tuner. For example, in one set of embodiments the accessory can send one or more commands requesting information about the capabilities of the tuner, and the portable media device can provide the requested capability information. In another set of embodiments, the accessory can send one or more commands requesting execution of a particular action with respect to the tuner, and the portable media device can perform the requested action. In this manner, certain embodiments of the present invention enable a user to control the tuner functionality of the portable media device via the accessory, rather than, e.g., via an input interface located directly on the portable media device. |
| US08238885B2 |
System and method for image and data upload by means of a terminal
In order to avoid erroneous or incorrectly attributed comments in picture-assisted documentation systems, the invention proposes a system which comprises at least one mobile terminal, at least one server and at least two machine-readable markers applied to or on articles, in which the mobile terminal comprises a reading unit which can be used to read the markers applied to or on the articles, a camera for taking pictures, and means for sending pictures. |
| US08238884B2 |
Dynamic identity association within a wireless network
A method of providing access to telecommunication services involves receiving a routing information request for terminating a communication with a mobile station located within a visited geographic region, the routing information request including a directory number local to the visited geographic region. A subscriber identity associated with the received directory number is then dynamically selecting from an evaluation of a decision tree, the decision tree associating a reference directory number with a plurality of reference subscriber identities. Each reference subscriber identity is associated with a telecommunications service user, each user being registered to receive telecommunication services within a respective home geographic region, the home geographic region being different from the visited geographic region. The mobile station receives access to the telecommunication services within the visited geographic region via the selected subscriber identity. |
| US08238881B2 |
System and method for providing multi-modal bookmarks
A system for enabling multi-modal bookmarks comprises a bookmark repository coupled to two browsers. A user bookmarks content using a first browser, and a bookmark is stored in the bookmark repository. The user subsequently uses a second browser and requests that the bookmark be de-referenced to point the second browser to the bookmarked content. The second browser accesses the bookmark in the content repository and is directed to the bookmarked content. The first and second browsers may be visual and voice browsers that render Wireless Markup Language (WML) and Voice Extensible Markup Language (VXML) content, respectively, wherein a mapping is provided that links a given piece of visual content to an equivalent piece of voice content. |
| US08238879B2 |
Policy-based controls for wireless cameras
A system and method provide parental and corporate control for a wireless camera. An administration authority web site is provided that enables an owner of a wireless camera to log into a server and establish a set of control policies that specify what actions on the phone are authorized for what user. The control policies are downloaded to the wireless camera, and the wireless camera is then operated such that a user of the wireless camera is only able to perform actions authorized by the control policies. In a further embodiment, a control policy is provided that requires the wireless camera to upload captured images to the server for review by the wireless camera owner. In addition, the images may be quarantined until the wireless camera owner authorizes their release to the user. |
| US08238875B2 |
Jamming presence
A system, method, and computer readable medium to provide alternative communications during jamming in a presence system, that comprises, registering a mobile device as a presentity to a presence server in the presence system, detecting a communication jamming of the mobile device, providing information related to the detected communication jamming as a state information to the presence server, and upon attempting to communicate with the mobile device while being jammed, providing the state information and offering an alternative communication suggestion. |
| US08238874B2 |
Method and system for location-dependent billing for services
A method for location-dependent billing for a services that are available to a mobile terminal, a local communication connection is set up to a fixably installed external location tag with a corresponding wireless interface between the fixably installed tag and the mobile terminal, the method including the steps of accessing the external location tag and transmitting a billing rate code from the external location tag to the mobile terminal, forwarding the billing rate code from the mobile terminal to a central unit of a mobile communication network, in which the mobile terminal is logged, determining a geographic location identification of the external location tag by evaluation of the billing rate code at the central unit, and selecting a billing rate for billing for the service available to the user based on the billing rate code at the central unit. |
| US08238872B2 |
Vehicle data management system and method
A system and method of for establishing a connection between a vehicle and an external network includes a plurality of personal electronic devices and a transceiver. The plurality of personal electronic devices are each configured for establishing a data connection to the vehicle. Each of the plurality of personal electronic have a mobile plan that includes a data limit and an amount of data used. At least one of the plurality of personal electronic devices are selected to be in communication with the external network. Selection of at least one of the plurality of personal electronic devices is based on a corresponding amount of data available in a mobile plan for each of the personal electronic devices. |
| US08238870B2 |
Method and device for transmitting emergency broadcast message
A method for transmitting emergency broadcast message is disclosed in the present invention. The method comprises the following steps: setting an emergency broadcast message transmitting group in a terminal, and adding a user name and/or a telephone number of a receiving user of an emergency broadcast message to the emergency broadcast message transmitting group; after the terminal receives the emergency broadcast message via the broadcast communication system, extracting the phone number or the user name from the emergency broadcast message transmitting group and transmitting an emergency broadcast message in the mode of short message to the receiving user corresponding to the phone number or user name. The method makes the terminals which do not have the function of directly receiving an emergency broadcast message be able to receive the emergency broadcast message, through transmitting the emergency broadcast message received by the terminal which is able to directly receive the emergency broadcast message to the terminals which cannot receive the emergency broadcast message directly from the emergency broadcast system in the mode of short message, therefore achieves the objective of notifying the emergency broadcast message quickly and widely. |
| US08238864B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit
The present invention aims to efficiently calibrate the characteristics of a pair of reception or transmission low-pass filters by a receiving or transmitting circuit. A semiconductor integrated circuit includes an RF receiver that processes an RF reception signal, an RF transmitter that generates an RF transmission signal and a frequency synthesizer. A reception low-pass filter of the RF receiver suppresses undesired components contained in I and Q baseband reception signals. A transmission low-pass filter of the RF transmitter suppresses noise due to D/A conversion, which is contained in I and Q transmission analog baseband signals. A calibration test signal is supplied to the inputs of the pair of reception or transmission low-pass filters. A difference in phase between the pair of filters is detected by a phase detection unit. A calibration controller calibrates a relative mismatch between the cut-off frequencies of the pair of filters. |
| US08238863B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for identifying and mitigating interference in a wireless signal
Methods and apparatuses are provided that may be implemented in various electronic devices and/or circuits to identify and mitigate to some extent various known and unknown interference signals that may appear in a received signal. |
| US08238861B2 |
Automatic gain control in a wireless communication network
Techniques for performing automatic gain control (AGC) at a terminal in a wireless communication network are described. In an aspect, the terminal may use different receiver gain settings to receive different types of signals in different time intervals. The terminal may determine a receiver gain setting for each signal type and may use the receiver gain setting to receive signals of that signal type. In another aspect, the terminal may determine a receiver gain setting for a future time interval based on received power levels for peer terminals expected to transmit in that time interval. The terminal may measure received power levels of signals received from a plurality of terminals. The terminal may determine a set of terminals expected to transmit in the future time interval and may determine the receiver gain setting for the future time interval based on the measured received power levels for the set of terminals. |
| US08238854B2 |
Feedback generator for codebook with nested structure
A multi-rank beamforming (MRBF) scheme in which the downlink channel is estimated and an optimal precoding matrix to be used by the MRBF transmitter is determined accordingly. The optimal precoding matrix is selected from a codebook of matrices having a recursive structure which allows for efficient computation of the optimal precoding matrix and corresponding Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR). The codebook also enjoys a small storage footprint. Due to the computational efficiency and modest memory requirements, the optimal precoding determination can be made at user equipment (UE) and communicated to a transmitting base station over a limited uplink channel for implementation over the downlink channel. |
| US08238852B2 |
Power consumption management based on receiver parameter and method for use therewith
An integrated circuit (IC) includes an RF receiver having an AGC module that generates an automatic gain control (AGC) signal based on a strength of a received signal, and a low noise amplifier that amplifies the received signal based on the AGC signal. A processing module generates a power mode signal based on the AGC signal, the power mode signal for adjusting a power consumption parameter of the IC based on the power mode signal. |
| US08238851B2 |
Method and system for improving efficiency over power control for linear and class AB power amplifiers
Aspects of a system for improving efficiency over power control for linear and class AB power amplifiers may include a current source circuit that enables determination of a bias current level for a PA circuit within an IC die based on an amplitude of an input modulation signal. The PA circuit may enable generation of an output signal based on a differential input signal and the input modulation signal to the current source circuit. A generated bias voltage may be applied to a transformer external to the IC die, but internal to an IC package containing the IC die and/or a circuit board containing the IC package. One or more amplifier bias voltage levels may be applied to the PA circuit wherein the amplifier bias voltage levels may be derived from the generated bias voltage level and/or the determined bias current level. |
| US08238847B2 |
Systems and methods of RF power transmission, modulation, and amplification, including cartesian 4-branch embodiments
Methods and systems for vector combining power amplification are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a plurality of signals are individually amplified, then summed to form a desired time-varying complex envelope signal. Phase and/or frequency characteristics of one or more of the signals are controlled to provide the desired phase, frequency, and/or amplitude characteristics of the desired time-varying complex envelope signal. In another embodiment, a time-varying complex envelope signal is decomposed into a plurality of constant envelope constituent signals. The constituent signals are amplified equally or substantially equally, and then summed to construct an amplified version of the original time-varying envelope signal. Embodiments also perform frequency up-conversion. |
| US08238846B2 |
Multi carrier leakage tuning by error power detection
A communication device and method of removing an LO leakage signal from a signal path on the fly is disclosed. The signal path may be that of a transmitter or receiver. An initial RF output signal, containing a desired RF output signal and an LO leakage signal, is supplied from a feedforward path to a combiner/splitter on a feedback path. A 180° out-of-phase copy of the desired RF output signal is also supplied to the combiner/splitter. The resulting LO leakage signal is down-converted and the power of the down-converted signal determined and used to suppress the LO leakage signal. The resulting LO leakage signal is also supplied to the feedforward path of the feedback loop. |
| US08238843B2 |
Strap attaching section of folding portable apparatus, and method for manufacturing the strap attaching section
A strap attaching section of a folding portable apparatus includes a recessed section arranged on a hinge section of a case configuring the portable apparatus, a strap holder stored in the recessed section, and a coupler for coupling the strap holder and the hinge section. The coupler includes a first pin hole which penetrates the strap holder, a second pin hole formed on the hinge section, a groove formed on an outer surface of the hinge section, and a pin. The groove is provided with a first region whereupon one end of the second pin hole opens, and a second region continued to the first region. A first portion of the pin extends through the first and second pin holes, and a second portion of the pin is arranged in the second region in the groove. A cover is removably attached to the case to cover the groove. |
| US08238842B2 |
Method and system for an on-chip and/or an on-package transmit/receive switch and antenna
Methods and systems for an on-chip and/or on-package T/R switch and antenna are disclosed and may include selectively coupling one or more low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and/or one or more power amplifiers (PAs) to one or more ports of a multi-port distributed antenna utilizing configurable transmit/receive (T/R) switches integrated on a chip with the LNAs and PAs. The LNAs and PAs may be impedance matched to the antenna by coupling them to a port based on a characteristic impedance at the port. The T/R switches may be integrated on a package to which the chip may be coupled. The signals transmitted and received by the antenna may be time division duplexed. The antenna, which may include a microstrip antenna, may be integrated on the chip or the package. The LNA and the PA may be coupled to different ports on the antenna via the T/R switches. |
| US08238840B2 |
Communication apparatus
A communication apparatus includes: a communication unit COM that performs operation control of a function involving transmission or reception of an electromagnetic wave by an antenna; a touch sensor module TSM having an oscillation circuit and an electrode connected to the oscillation circuit; a power supply PS that supplies power to the oscillation circuit; and a power supply controller PSCON that controls supply of power by the power supply PS. The touch sensor module TSM detects a contact operation based on an oscillation state of the oscillation circuit which varies in accordance with a contact operation. As a result, a state where the power supply PS is supplying power to the oscillation circuit under the control of the power supply controller PSCON and a state where the communication unit COM is performing operation control of the function involving transmission or reception of an electromagnetic wave do not exist concurrently. |
| US08238835B2 |
Wireless communication system, wireless terminal station, wireless base station, and wireless communication method
A first wireless terminal station transmits beam transmission direction identification information in all directions. A second wireless terminal station receives the transmission direction identification information, combines reception direction identification information and the transmission direction identification information, and transmits directivity direction combination information to a wireless base station. The first and the second wireless terminal stations form directional beams in directions indicated by the directivity direction combination information to thereby perform a direct communication. |
| US08238834B1 |
Diagnostic structure for wireless networks
A set of techniques includes devices, methods, and user interfaces, capable of conducting proactive automated tests of a wireless system, and capable of operating while the wireless system is conducting its normal operations. A diagnostic device not controlled by the wireless system controls drivers and clients in that wireless system's access points, with the effect that the diagnostic device can inject message traffic into the wireless system while simulating clients of that system. The wireless system responds to that traffic and those simulated clients as if real clients were generating substantially real traffic for the system to handle. The diagnostic device can initiate messages from within that wireless system, can force those messages to traverse selected trajectories in that system, and can measure aspects of that system in response to those messages. Trajectories might include specific wireless devices, specific wireless parameters, and specific physical paths. |
| US08238829B2 |
Communication apparatus, control method of communication apparatus, and storage medium
To enable a user to easily approximate a portable information device to a position where the portable information device should be approximated so as to cause the portable information device and a communication apparatus to communicate with each other by wireless communication, there is provided a control method for controlling the communication apparatus, comprising: performing data transfer between the communication apparatus and the portable information device by the wireless communication through a communication unit; acquiring identification information for identifying the portable information device; and displaying position information which indicates the position where the portable information device should be approximated to the communication apparatus so that the portable information device identified by the acquired identification information and the communication unit perform the data transfer by the wireless communication. |
| US08238828B2 |
System and method for multimedia storing and retrieval using low-cost tags as virtual storage mediums
Systems, methods and computer program products for storing, securing, identifying, authenticating and retrieving multimedia messages using low-cost barcode or RFID tags are disclosed. Additionally, a set of software features facilitate the easy and intuitive storage and retrieval of multimedia information using a mobile telephone acting on the media tags. Such tags can be attached or affixed to physical, real-world objects thus allowing multimedia messages associated with the tags to be retrieved with the real-world objects in a time-shifted and space-shifted manner from when and where they were recorded. The present invention uses low-cost (metal, paper or plastic) tags—encoded using barcodes or RFID—as virtual message storage units and commercially-available terminals equipped with appropriate software and sensors, such as mobile telephones, as recording and reading devices. |
| US08238827B2 |
Information processing apparatus
In a mobile telephone device applicable as an information processing apparatus, a protocol layer control unit controls a protocol layer used when a wireless communication is performed with a head set. A command queue puts an execution of a command to the protocol layer in a standby state. A request management unit manages piling up of requests accepted sequentially from the higher level layer in the command queue. A forced interruption unit requests the protocol layer control unit to disconnect a physical connection with the head set in a case where a forced interruption factor is generated. The protocol layer control unit is used to disconnect the physical connection with the head set. When a forced interruption request is accepted, a request management unit does not pile up the forced interruption request in the command queue but executes a forced interruption processing by the forced interruption unit. |
| US08238825B2 |
Method and system for sharing a single antenna for frequency modulation (FM) reception or FM transmission and near field communication (NFC)
Aspects of a method and system for sharing a single antenna for frequency modulation (FM) transmission or FM reception, and near field communication (NFC) are presented. Aspects of a system may include at least one circuit that enables, via a single antenna, simultaneous transmission of an FM signal and transmission of an NFC signal or reception of an NFC signal. |
| US08238824B2 |
Communication system and communication apparatus
A communication system includes the following elements: a transmitter including a transmission circuit unit configured to generate an RF signal for transmitting data and an electric-field-coupling antenna configured to transmit the RF signal as an electrostatic field; a receiver including an electric-field-coupling antenna and a reception circuit unit configured to receive and process the RF signal received by the electric-field-coupling antenna; and a surface-wave propagation medium configured to provide a surface-wave transmission line to transmit a surface wave emanating from the electric-field-coupling antenna of the transmitter with low propagation loss. |
| US08238821B2 |
Remote antenna system
Various methods, apparatuses, and systems are described in which a WAP is coupled to an antenna unit and provides a wireless LAN. In one embodiment, the antenna unit includes at least one remote antenna circuit having one or more ports to receive a control signal and a transmit signal transmitted from the WAP located in a multi-tone transmitter-receiver. Each remote antenna circuit includes a transmit amplifier unit that amplifies the transmit signal, a receive amplifier unit that amplifies a receive signal, and control unit that receives the control signal. The control unit controls an operation of the transmit and the receive amplifier units to extend a range of the wireless WAP with the at least one remote antenna circuit. |
| US08238820B2 |
On-channel repeater and on-channel repeating method
Provided is an on-channel repeater, which includes a receiver for receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; a subtractor for subtracting replica from the RF signals to thereby produce output signals of the subtractor; a repeating process unit for performing a repeating process onto the output signals of the subtractor; and a replica generator for calculating replica based on the output signals of the subtractor and the signals obtained after repeating process performed thereon and feeding the replica back to the subtractor. |
| US08238817B1 |
Noise reduction system and method thereof
The reduction of echo noise in satellite communications includes receiving an aggregate signal from multiple remote stations, where the aggregate signal includes a transmit signal, whose bandwidth is in the range of 0.1 MHz to 66 MHz, is previously sent from a hub to the multiple receiving stations, computing a scaled, delayed and distorted replica of the transmit signal and using the replica to compensate for satellite transponder nonlinearities and reduce echo noise interference from a received aggregate signal received by the hub from the multiple remote stations. |
| US08238810B2 |
Alternate radio channel selection adapted per user patterns
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for selecting alternate channels for broadcast radio channels, and for tracking alternate channel selections, are provided. Some radio systems provide alternate frequencies for tuned radio frequencies to use when the tuned radio frequency signal is no longer receivable. In aspects of the present invention, historical information is generated from alternate channel switching attempts. In further aspects, the generated historical information is used to aid in making a subsequent switch to an alternate channel. |
| US08238806B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus is provided which includes: an image carrier that carries an image; a transfer roller that includes a gripping member, and transfers the image to the transfer medium; a suction guide portion that includes a suction unit, and suctions and guides the transfer medium transferred the image, vertically upward with a plane transferred the image of the transfer medium being directed vertically downward; and a transfer medium transporting section that includes a suction member and transports the transfer medium while suctioning the transfer medium by the suction member, the transfer medium transporting section being configured such that a position of starting to suction the transfer medium is arranged at a position having a predetermined relationship with respect to a position of releasing the transfer medium from the gripping member and a position at which the image carrier is separated from the transfer medium. |
| US08238800B2 |
Developing apparatus
A developing apparatus for developing a latent image formed on an image bearing member with a developer includes a first developer carrying member for carrying and feeding the developer by rotation thereof about a rotation axis which is at a fixed position; a second developer carrying member for carrying and feeding the developer by rotation thereof, the second developer carrying member having a rotation axis which is swingable relative to the first developer carrying member; a supporting member for supporting the second developer carrying member swingably about the first developer carrying member; a driving device for applying a driving force to the first developer carrying member; and a driving belt for transmitting the driving force applied to the first developer carrying member to the second developer carrying member. |
| US08238798B2 |
Developing device and developing method for image forming apparatus
According to an embodiment, a developing device, comprising: a developing unit configured to store an initial two-component developer including an initial toner containing silica externally added and a carrier and to form a toner image on an image bearing member with the two-component developer; a discharging section configured to discharge a part of the initial developer from the developing unit; and a developer supplying unit configured to supply a supply developer including a supply toner containing silica externally added and the carrier to the developing unit, the amount of silica added to the supply toner being smaller than the amount of silica added to the initial toner. |
| US08238797B2 |
Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus using the same
A toner cartridge includes: a toner storing portion for storing toner; a toner discharger having a toner discharge port; a screw auger having a rotary shaft and a helical blade for conveying the toner in the toner storing portion to the toner discharger; and an inner shutter that sections between the toner storing portion and the toner discharger. The inner shutter is provided so as to be movable to such a position as to create communication between the toner storing portion and the toner discharge port in linkage with rotation of the screw auger. |
| US08238795B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus for forming a color image on a recording material includes mounting means for detachably mounting a plurality of process cartridges each including a photosensitive drum and a developing roller. Movable members are provided that are actable on first and second clutches for switching between an operation state for transmitting the driving force to the developing rollers and a non-operation state not transmitting the driving force thereto. Also provided is a switching member for switching among a first mode for transmitting the driving force to the developing rollers of all of the process cartridges, a second mode for not transmitting the driving force to any one of the developing rollers, and a third mode for transmitting the driving force only to the developing roller of a black process cartridge. |
| US08238790B2 |
Image forming apparatus with improved housing panel structural strength
In an image forming apparatus, a moving member is provided with a first engagement member. A lever is provided with a second engagement member to engage and disengage the first engagement member provided in the moving member. The lever moves between a predetermined first position and a second position different from the first position to move the moving member in such a manner that when the lever is at the first position, a transfer member reaches a contact position at which the transfer member is pressed against an image carrier via a belt, and when the lever is at the second position, the transfer member reaches a separation position at which the transfer member separates from the image carrier. |
| US08238789B2 |
Article of consumption and image forming apparatus having the same
An image forming apparatus having a consumable detachably installed in the main body is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a main body having a first opening, a consumable which is detachably installed in the main body, a door mounted on the main body to open and close the first opening, and locking members operable in association with the movement of the door to secure the consumable in place as the door is closed. Possible damages due to the movement of the consumable such as a photosensitive cartridge during shipping and/or transporting of the image forming apparatus can be prevented by the locking members. |
| US08238788B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus and an image forming method are provided that realize both the use of a decolorizing toner and a non-decolorizing toner and miniaturization of the apparatus. |
| US08238782B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a charge member disposed near an image bearing member
Provided is an image forming apparatus having a charge brush for charging a transfer residual toner remaining on an intermediate transfer member. A toner is adhered to the charge brush. While a charge voltage is applied to the charge brush, the toner adhered to the charge brush is attracted by an electric field onto the charge brush. However, when the charge voltage is not applied to the charge brush, the toner adhered to the charge brush is moved to the intermediate transfer member. When a subsequent toner image is formed on the toner adhered to the intermediate transfer member, the quality of the subsequent image is deteriorated. Accordingly, the charge voltage is applied to the charge brush when an intermediate transfer area to which the toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member immediately afterward faces the charge brush. |
| US08238781B2 |
Image forming apparatus having cleaning member for cleaning transmission member
An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, an optical unit provided below the photosensitive drum and including a cover glass for transmitting light emitted toward the photosensitive drum, and a cleaning member configured to clean a surface of the cover glass. The cleaning member includes a cleaning sheet configured to move foreign substances on the surface, and a wiping member configured to wipe foreign substances from the surface. The cleaning sheet and the wiping member move in contact with the surface of the cover glass when the cleaning member cleans the surface. The wiping member moves in contact with a portion of the surface of the cover glass after the cleaning sheet moves in contact with the portion. Accordingly, the cover glass can be reliably cleaned even when an unexpectedly large number of foreign substances that vary in particle size and shape adhere to the cover glass. |
| US08238779B2 |
Volatile chemical substance catching device and electronic apparatus
A color multifunction printer of the present invention includes a volatile chemical substance catching device, provided in an exhaust duct provided above a fixing unit, which generates an electric field in an atmosphere with use of an electric-field generating and catching member, which attracts volatile chemical substances contained in the atmosphere to a surface of the electric-field generating and catching member by the action of the electric field, and which catches the volatile chemical substances. This makes it possible to realize a volatile chemical substance catching device and an electronic apparatus that hardly suffer from aged deterioration in performance and can catch volatile chemical compounds such as VOCs and odors over a long period of time. |
| US08238778B2 |
Image forming apparatus with vibration generating source and damping member
An image forming apparatus has a vibration generating source, a holding member that holds the vibration generating source and a sealing member arranged between them. An elastic damping member is inserted in a through-hold formed in the holding member and is brought into pressure contact with the vibration generating source, the damping member having a retaining portion which is retained to a surface of the holding member on the side opposite to a holding surface of the vibration generating source and a main body portion that has a diameter smaller than a diameter of the through-hole so that it is inserted into the through-hole without contacting the through-hole and brought into pressure contact with the vibration generating source. There is also a fixing portion that integrally fixes the holding member and the vibration generating source through the damping member. |
| US08238776B2 |
Image forming device to perform auto color registration and method thereof
An image forming device to perform an auto color registration. The image forming device includes a print unit capable of performing a print job in accordance with a plurality of print modes, a color registration processing unit to perform an auto color registration (ACR), a storage unit to store color registration conditions for the respective print modes, and a control unit to control the color registration processing unit to perform the ACR in accordance with the color registration condition corresponding to the present print mode of the print unit. The color registration condition may be at least one of a color registration execution period, a color registration execution time, and a color registration pattern. According to the image forming device, the proper ACR can be performed by print modes. |
| US08238773B2 |
Image forming apparatus and control method therefor which controls a primary and secondary transfer electric field
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, an intermediate transfer member, a primary transfer member, and a power supply unit to form a primary-transfer electric-field between the image carrier and the primary transfer member by performing constant-current control. The primary transfer member also detects a change in a primary transfer voltage in a sub-scanning direction that is applied to the primary transfer member from the power supply unit in the sub-scanning direction. There is a conductive member, a secondary transfer member, and a secondary-transfer electric-field forming member to apply a secondary transfer current to the secondary transfer member or the conductive member. A control device controls the secondary transfer current applied to the secondary transfer member or the conductive member in accordance with the change in the primary transfer voltage in the sub-scanning direction detected by the power supply unit. |
| US08238772B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus which forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum, serving as an image carrier, develops the image using toners of a plurality of colors, and transfers a toner image onto a printing medium in accordance with an electrophotographic process. A toner consumption amount detection unit detects the toner consumption amount of each of the toners of the plurality of colors, a decision unit decides a color to be calibrated, based on the detected toner consumption amount of each color, a patch sensor detects the density of a patch of the decided color by generating the patch at a predetermined position on the photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier, and an adjustment unit adjusts the printing density of the color decided by the decision unit, based on the detected patch density. |
| US08238768B2 |
Image forming apparatus including developing unit and toner supplying unit
A first developer container having a toner supplying opening is provided in a developing unit. A toner concentration sensor is arranged downstream of the toner supplying opening to detect toner concentration in developer. A supply controlling unit is provided to determine an excess or a shortage in the amount of supplied toner based on image information correspondingly to a detection result by the toner concentration sensor, and to correct the driving amount of a toner supplying unit that has been determined based on the image information correspondingly to the recognized excess or shortage in the amount of supplied toner. |
| US08238767B2 |
Visualizing agent quantity display system, image forming apparatus, image forming system and computer readable medium
A visualizing agent quantity display control system includes a first container, a second container, a detection unit, a display unit, a control unit. The second container, which is replaceable, contains the visualizing agent to be supplied to the first container. The detection unit detects a quantity of the visualizing agent contained in the second container. The control unit causes the detection unit to detect a remaining quantity of the visualizing agent in the second container except the visualizing agent which decreases when an operation of supplying the visualizing agent in the second container to the first container has first been executed. The control unit causes a display unit to display information indicating that the remaining quantity of the visualizing agent in the second container is full regardless of the quantity of the visualizing agent which decreases when the operation has first been executed. |
| US08238766B2 |
Image forming apparatus for printing on sheets fed from a stacking unit and a manual feed slot
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit; a transport roller transporting the sheet to the image forming unit; a stacking unit stacking a sheet; a manual feed path extending from a manual feed slot to the transport roller; a feed path extending from the stacking unit to the transport roller; a feed unit transporting the sheet of the stacking unit to the transport roller through the feed path; a first detection unit detecting a sheet inserted into the manual feed path from the manual feed slot; and a control unit, when the first detection unit detects the sheet inserted from the manual feed slot while an operation to feed the sheet of the stacking unit to the image forming unit by the feed unit and the transport roller, and an image forming operation by the image forming unit are executed, aborting the image forming operation. |
| US08238764B2 |
Image forming apparatus and development cartridge in which information stored on the development cartridge can be read by the image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus is provided. A development cartridge having a first memory storing therein cartridge information is detachably mountable to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes: an apparatus casing and an exposure unit having plural light emitting portions. The exposure unit is supported by the apparatus casing so that the light emitting portions face a photosensitive member rotatably supported by the apparatus casing. The image forming apparatus further includes a reader unit disposed on the exposure unit and configured to read the cartridge information from the first memory when the development cartridge is mounted to the image forming apparatus. |
| US08238760B2 |
Optical receiver with improved noise tolerance
The present invention provides a system, apparatus and method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio performance in receivers configured to receive differential data signals. According to various embodiments of the invention, a received differential signal is processed to consider both forward-looking and backward-looking error components to improve SNR performance, and ultimately the reach of the optical line system. Additional processing is provided to further enhance noise tolerance related to chromatic dispersion. |
| US08238758B2 |
Three-arm DQPSK modulator
A modulator is disclosed that includes three arms between a splitter portion and a coupler portion. The modulator typically requires at most a π/2 phase shift between constellation points. Accordingly, the modulator is more efficient and consumes less power. |
| US08238757B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating optical duobinary signals with enhanced receiver sensitivity and spectral efficiency
An optical network transmitter comprising a fractional-bit delay module, an optical modulator coupled to the fractional-bit delay module, and a band-limiting optical filter coupled to the optical modulator. Also disclosed is a transmission system comprising a source configured to generate two complementary binary data streams, a fractional-bit delay module in communication with the source and configured to delay one of the complementary binary data streams, a modulation module in communication with the source and the fractional-bit delay module and configured to convert the undelayed complementary binary data streams and the delayed complementary binary data streams into a fractional-bit delayed optical duobinary signal, and a band-limiting node in communication with the modulation module and configured to filter and transmit the optical duobinary signal. |
| US08238756B2 |
Long-reach passive optical network using remote modulation of an amplification optical signal
A passive optical network is provided, which includes an optical central office connected to a line termination device by a branch of the network including a passive amplification medium. The central office is adapted to send/receive a first data optical signal and has a first amplifier for sending a second amplification optical signal. The second signal exciting the amplification medium to amplify the optical power of an optical signal. The line termination device is adapted to receive the first optical signal, modulate the second amplification optical signal; and inject the modulated second signal into the network. |
| US08238752B2 |
PON (passive optical network) station side apparatus, PON uplink line communication method, and program recording medium
A PON station side apparatus is provided with a selection section and a receiving section. For multiple data transferred from multiple PON terminal apparatuses that transmit data at different communication speeds in time division multiplexing, the selection section selects any of the multiple receiving circuits to be a receiving circuit for a receiving destination at which data is received on the basis of the transmission time zones for the data. The receiving section switches the receiving circuit selected by the selection section among the multiple receiving circuits to be the receiving circuit for the destination at which data is received of the data and receives the data through the switched receiving circuit. |
| US08238751B1 |
Method and apparatus for enabling multiple optical line termination devices to share a feeder fiber
A method and apparatus for enabling multiple optical line termination (OLT) devices to share a feeder fiber are disclosed. For example, the optical network comprises a plurality of optical line termination (OLT) devices, where each OLT device having a transceiver for sending and receiving optical signals. The optical network further comprises a wave division multiplexer (WDM) combiner, coupled to the plurality of OLT devices, for combining optical signals received from the plurality of OLT devices. The optical network further comprises an optical extender box comprising at least one hybrid SOA-Raman amplifier, wherein the optical extender box is coupled to the WDM combiner via a first standard single mode fiber section. Finally, the optical network further comprises at least one optical splitter coupled to the optical extender box via a second standard single mode fiber section. |
| US08238750B2 |
Split/smart channel allocated WDM-PON architecture
Various example embodiments are disclosed. According to an example embodiment, a dual split passive optical network (PON) may be provided that includes an optical splitting device, and a first and second distribution fibers connected to the optical splitting device. A first cyclic AWG may be coupled to the optical splitting device via the first distribution fiber and a second cyclic AWG may be coupled to the optical splitting device via the second distribution fiber. In other example embodiments, an asymmetric power splitting ratio may be used for the splitting device, or optical seeds and/or optical data signals may be allocated to each of the cyclic AWGs based on a performance of the optical data signals and/or power loss/attenuation of the respective distribution fibers. |
| US08238745B2 |
Collection of data from an optical channel monitor without causing a malfunction of a transmission apparatus
A method of collecting data from an optical channel monitor for monitoring the power of a wavelength-division multiplexed light signal at each wavelength is disclosed. The total light power is analog-to-digital converted by an A/D converter. The data of the total light power which has been analog-to-digital converted is compared with a reference light power by a comparator for each conversion, and when the difference between the total light power and the reference light power exceeds a predetermined threshold, a power fluctuation flag is turned ON. After the comparison, the above process of the analog-to-digital conversion and the comparison is iterated until the optical channel monitor completes the data collection for each wavelength. Thereafter, the processor determines whether the power fluctuation flag is ON or not. When the power fluctuation flag is ON, the processor discards the currently collected data and maintains the data which were collected immediately before. |
| US08238740B2 |
Light quantity adjustment apparatus and photographing apparatus including the same
A light quantity adjustment apparatus includes a support plate with a first through hole, a rotation plate with a second through hole corresponding to the first through hole and rotatable with respect to the support plate, 2D iris plates rotatably connected to the support plate so as to move between a location in which the first through hole is completely opened and another location in which the first through hole is completely closed, two 3D iris plates each having one end rotatably connected to the support plate and another end engaged with the rotation plate, a shading plate, and a shading plate driving unit. The 2D iris plates adjust an open area of the first through hole. The two 3D iris plates move between a retreat location away from the first through hole and a photographing location where a first photographing hole and a second photographing hole are formed. |
| US08238736B2 |
Optical unit with shake correcting function and photographic optical device
Provided is a photographing optical device, which is able to reliably correct an unintentional movement by hand of a user by improving the constitution of a camera unit driving mechanism for correcting the deflection of a camera unit. In order that a camera unit is made to be rocked to correct the unintentional movement, a photographing optical device includes a first camera unit drive mechanism and a second camera unit drive mechanism, which are so disposed at two side portions sandwiching a pivot portion therebetween as to make a pair. In these camera unit drive mechanisms, camera unit driving magnets are held on the side of the camera unit as a movable body side, and camera unit driving coils are held on the side of a stationary body. The camera unit is pushed toward the pivot portion by a gimbal spring. |
| US08238730B2 |
High voltage temperature limited heaters
A heater system may include an alternating current supply and an electrical conductor. An alternating current may be applied to one or more electrical conductors at a voltage above about 200 volts. The electrical conductors may be located in a formation. The electrical conductors may provide an electrically resistive heat output upon application of the alternating electrical current. At least one of the electrical conductors may include an electrically resistive ferromagnetic material. An electrical conductor may provide a reduced amount of heat above or near a selected temperature. Heat may be allowed to transfer from an electrical conductor to a part of the formation. |
| US08238721B2 |
Scene changing in video playback devices including device-generated transitions
A video playback device automatically generates transition indications when a user selects a new video stream while a current video stream is playing. Transitions can be any visual and/or audio indication including a wipe, fade, title overlay, graphics overlay, etc. Predetermined default transitions are associated with different transition types or a user can create and associate transitions to be used. Different types of transitions include a scene change, angle change, exit to a control menu, etc. |
| US08238717B2 |
Reproducing device
A reproducing device for playing back data from a recording medium, including: play back circuits for reading first stream data, which includes first video data, first audio data, and first subpicture data, from a recording medium; download data storage circuits for storing second stream data, which includes at least one of second video data, second audio data and second subpicture data downloaded via a network; and selection circuits for conducting at least one of: switching from said first video data to said second video data; switching from said first audio data to said second audio data, and switching from said first subpicture data to said second subpicture data; wherein data which is newly switched by said selection circuits and data which is not switched by said selection circuits are synchronously superimposed and outputted. |
| US08238715B2 |
Optical disc, video data editing apparatus, computer-readable recording medium storing an editing program, reproduction apparatus for the optical disc, and computer-readable recording medium storing an reproduction program
An optical disc includes a data area for recording a plurality of video segments and an index area from recording original type chain information and user-defined type chain information. The original type chain information defines an original type chain including first ones of the video segments by describing a reproduction order of the first video segments. The user-defined type chain information defines a user-defined type chain including second ones of the video segments by describing a reproduction order of the second video segments. The first video segments are positioned in the data area in the reproduction order of the first video segments whereas the second video segments are positioned in the data area independently of the reproduction order of the second video segments. |
| US08238714B2 |
Reproduction device
A playback apparatus has a platform 1410 that is a program execution environment of an application 1400. When the platform 1410 initiates the application 1400, a graphics information transmission unit 1403, which corresponds to an API function, obtains graphics information and stores the graphics information in a graphics information storage unit 1413. A graphics information control unit 1414 selects graphics information to be rendered, based on a stream event obtained by a stream event reception unit 1416 and the graphics information stored in the graphics information storage unit 1413. The graphics information control unit 1414 has a graphics rendition unit 1415 render the selected graphics with a video playback timing relating to the stream event. |
| US08238709B2 |
Multi-configuration mounting system for fiber distribution hub
A fiber distribution hub (FDH) includes an enclosure and brackets with provisions to be mountable in multiple configurations. More particularly, the FDH is mountable in multiple configurations to a pole. The brackets are rearrangeable to provide the mounting configuration with either a short or extended offset between an FDH cabinet and the pole. |
| US08238707B2 |
Locking spool for telecommunications cable and method
The present disclosure relates to a spool for a telecommunications cable. The spool prevents twisting of the cable when the spool is operated by requiring that any connections to a side of the spool are disconnected before rotation of the spool can begin. The spool includes a base, a hub, a connector bulkhead, a barrier member, and a hub locking member. A first flange of the hub is rotatably mounted to the base. The connector bulkhead receives a terminated end of the cable and is attached to a second flange of the hub. The barrier member is moveably attached to the second flange of the hub. The barrier member has a first position that obstructs access to the terminated end of the cable and a second position that allows access to the end of the cable. The hub locking member is operably connected to the barrier member such that the hub and the base are not locked by the hub locking member when the barrier member is at the first position, and the hub and the base are locked together by the hub locking member when the barrier member is at the second position. |
| US08238706B2 |
Flat drop cable with medial bump
An example fiber optic cable includes an outer jacket having an elongated transverse cross-sectional profile defining a bowtie shape. The outer jacket defines at least first and second separate passages that extend through the outer jacket along a lengthwise axis of the outer jacket. The fiber optic cable includes a plurality of optical fibers positioned within the first passage and a tensile strength member positioned within the second passage. The tensile strength member has a highly flexible construction and a transverse cross-sectional profile that is elongated in the orientation extending along the major axis. |
| US08238698B2 |
Optical measuring probe for process monitoring
The invention relates to an optical measurement probe for process monitoring, having a distal end, arranged in the region of a process apparatus, with a light entrance opening, and a proximal end coupled to a spectrometer, wherein a shaft comprising a light-guiding connection between the distal and proximal ends of the measurement probe is arranged between the two ends. The measurement probe is characterized in that the measurement probe has, in its distal region relative to the shaft and/or the proximal end, a reduced external diameter (FIG. 1). |
| US08238697B2 |
Polarization beam splitter-polarization rotator structure
A polarization beam splitter-polarization rotator-polarization beam combiner optical structure comprising a pair of polarization rotators having a polarization beam splitter associated with the input ends of the two polarization rotators, and a polarization beam combiner associated with output ends of the two polarization rotators, and a method of purifying a light signal comprising TE and TM modes by disassociating the primary TE and TM modes from first order splitter and rotation error components. |
| US08238696B2 |
Systems and methods for the implementation of a digital images schema for organizing units of information manageable by a hardware/software interface system
In an Item-based system, Images (e.g., JPEG, TIFF, bitmap, and so on) are treated as core platform objects (“Image Items” or, more simply, “Images”) and exist in an “Image Schema” that provides an extensible representation of an Image in the system—that is, the characteristics of an Image and how that Image relates to other Items (including but not limited to other Images) in the system. To this end, the Image Schema defines the properties, behaviors, and relationships for Images in the system, and the Schema also enforces rules about Images, for example, what data specific Images must contain, what data specific Images may optionally contain, how specific Images can be extended, and so on and so forth. |
| US08238695B1 |
Data reduction techniques for processing wide-angle video
A system and method for reducing the data-rate when processing video, particularly wide-angle video. |
| US08238688B2 |
Method for enhancing perceptibility of an image using luminance characteristics
A method for enhancing a perceptibility of an image, includes the steps of: processing the image in accordance with a first luminance characteristic and a second luminance characteristic of the image, wherein a plurality of pixels with the first luminance characteristic are brighter than a plurality of pixels with the second luminance characteristic; compressing the plurality of pixels with the first luminance characteristic; and adjusting the plurality of pixels with the second luminance characteristic. |
| US08238687B1 |
Local contrast enhancement of images
A set of local noise variation values characterizing local noise levels in the input image is calculated. Local contrast enhancement is performed on image forming element values derived from the input image to produce a contrast enhanced image. Values of local noise amplification caused by the local contrast enhancement are ascertained. Noise in the contrast enhanced image is reduced based on the set of local noise variation values and the local noise amplification values. |
| US08238685B2 |
Image noise reduction method and image processing apparatus using the same
An image noise reduction method is provided. An image is received. A first-stage process is performed to the image to obtain a luminance information Y and a color information Cb and/or Cr corresponding to a pixel array in an YCbCr domain. A second-stage process is performed to the luminance information Y to reduce at least a luminance noise. A third-stage process is performed to the color information Cb and/or Cr to reduce at least a color noise. The luminance information Y and the color information Cb and/or Cr are then combined. |
| US08238681B2 |
Adaptive configuration of windows-of-interest for accurate and robust focusing in multispot autofocus cameras
In accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the invention there is at least a method, executable computer program, and apparatus to provide operations including logically separating into a plurality of parts at least one sub-window of interest of a plurality of sub-windows of interest arranged in a grid formation in an autofocus window of interest, assigning a focus value mask to each of the plurality of parts of the at least one sub-window, and executing an autofocus algorithm using the assigned focus value masks. |
| US08238670B2 |
Method, apparatus and storage medium for image classification
In an image classification method, dividing an input image into blocks; obtaining block features of each block of the image; performing an evaluation of each block based on the block features thereof; obtaining image features based on the evaluations of the blocks of the image; and classifying the image based on the image features into pre-defined categories. |
| US08238666B2 |
Recognition of parameterised shapes from document images
A method (1100) of creating a document comprising a modifiable shape, is disclosed. The method analyzes an image to detect at least a graphical object. The method matches the detected graphical object with at least one of a plurality of predetermined modifiable closed-form non-textual template shapes (e.g., 420) comprising control parameters for modifying the closed-form non-textual template shape in a non-affine manner. The number of control parameters of the predetermined modifiable closed-form non-textual template shape is less than the number of sections making up the modifiable closed-form non-textual template shape. The method creates a document comprising the at least one modifiable closed-form non-textual template shape. |
| US08238665B2 |
Processing of printed documents
A document processing method comprises adding document markers to predetermined locations of an electronically stored document. These are printed with the document. The document is scanned and the scanned document markers are used to process the scanned image. This processing comprises at least pixel threshold setting, and determination of the locations of the scanned image which are to be processed to derive the pixels of a digital version of the document. This enables local deformations in the paper document to be corrected, and enables correct thresholds for the printing and scanning operations to be applied. The electronically stored document can be processed to derive a set of document properties which can be used when constructing the digital version. |
| US08238656B2 |
System and method for filtering noise in an image
A method for filtering noise in an image filters noise pixels in a discrepant block between a current image and a background image firstly, and further filter each small block whose area is less than a preset value from the discrepant block. The method further calculates a total area of each big block whose area is greater than or equal to the preset value from the discrepant block, and adds the current image to a background list of the current image if the total area is less than another preset value. |
| US08238654B2 |
Skin color cognizant GMA with luminance equalization
A method for mapping/enhancing the color of an image to be displayed on a display includes receiving an image having a plurality of pixels where each of the pixels has a plurality of color components. The image is processed using a pair of gamut color mapping operations in combination with skin-tone pixels detection to modify the image in a suitable manner for presentation on the display, wherein the technique includes color temperature compensation. |
| US08238643B2 |
Method and system for calculating weight of variable shape product manufactured from product blank
A computerized system, method, and computer-readable media implementing a method for determining a weight of a product, and optionally its shipping weight and postage are described. A product having a variable shape in two dimensions wherein the shape is defined in the two dimensions by a set of cutlines is manufactured from a product blank of known weight. The weight of the product is determined from the number of pixels in a scaled image of the cutlines, the image having the same aspect ratio as the product blank. The weight of the product blank and the ratio of the pixels corresponding to product surface area relative to the total number of pixels in the image are used to calculated the actual weight of the product. |
| US08238638B2 |
Tag validation for efficiently assessing electronic check image quality
Efficiently assessing the quality of an electronic check image by determining whether the check image is suitable for image quality analysis prior to performing the image quality analysis. A check processing module of a check processor can determine whether the check image is suitable for image quality analysis by validating certain tags in the image. For example, such validation can include determining whether the check image includes certain mandatory tags and whether any optional tags present in the image are valid. The check processing module can determine that the check image is not suitable for image quality analysis if it does not include the mandatory tags or if it includes any invalid optional tags. The check processing module can assign a failure value to any check image that is not suitable for image quality analysis. The failure value can indicate a reason for the unsuitability of the check image. |
| US08238636B2 |
Device, method and computer-readable storage medium for generating an exposure plan to implement radiation therapy
In a device, method and computer program product for generation of an exposure plan for irradiating a patient, at least one reference data set independent of the patient is provided, from which an attenuation of high-energy radiation upon passage through a reference body can be determined. A patient magnetic resonance image of the patient is adapted using the reference data set and an exposure plan is generated based on the patient magnetic resonance image and the patient-specific attenuation of high-energy radiation upon passage through the patient. The patient-specific attenuation of high-energy radiation upon passage through the patient is determined using the adaptation of the patient magnetic resonance image with the reference data set. |
| US08238627B2 |
Identification and classification of virus particles in textured electron micrographs
The method is for the identification and characterization of structures in electron micrographs. Structures in a first image are selected. The structures have a first shape type deformed in a first direction. The selected structures are transformed to a second shape type different from the first shape type. The transformed structures of the second shape type are used to form a plurality of templates. A new structure in a second image is identified. The new structure has the first shape type. The second shape type structure of each template is deformed in the first direction. It is determined which template is a preferred template that best matches the new structure. |
| US08238624B2 |
Hybrid medical image processing
The present invention uses a common, hybrid system platform to provide a generalized medical image processing system that can handle the existing medical image application as it is and route the compute intensive medical image processing to a multi-core processor/processing system. The invention allows the processing platform to be shared among healthcare system such as mammography, X-ray, CT Scan MRI, two-photon, laser microscopy, digital pathology, etc. It also allows the processing platform to deliver medical images to a variety of client devices, such as a desktop computer or a handheld device, through the network without high-performance graphical display capabilities because the rendering of the medical images is performed on the Cell BE based platform of the invention. |
| US08238623B2 |
Method and apparatus for characterizing the imperfections of skin and method of assessing the anti-aging effect of a cosmetic product
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for characterizing the imperfections of the skin.The apparatus comprises: a) a digital camera allowing the taking of at least one digital image of at least one determined skin zone, the said image being defined by a multiplicity of pixels, that is transmitted to a digital image processing device; b) means of splitting the digital image into three color planes: red, green, blue, termed R, G, B, with the aid of the said image processing device; c) means of extracting a single of these planes; d) means of calculating at least one of the following parameters on the basis of this plane: the mean grey level of the image; the surface area of the imperfections of the skin of the said image, some of which are related to aging, such as wrinkles, lines, spots, dark circles, pigmentary imperfections, slackening or loosening zones; the variance of the grey levels over the set of pixels of the image as parameter representative of the homogeneity of the skin. The invention finds an industrial application in a method of assessing the anti-aging effect of a cosmetic product. |
| US08238621B2 |
Fingerprint preview quality and segmentation
A ridge flow based fingerprint image quality determination can be achieved independent of image resolution, can be processed in real-time and includes segmentation, such as fingertip segmentation, therefore providing image quality assessment for individual fingertips within a four finger flat, dual thumb, or whole hand image. A fingerprint quality module receives from one or more scan devices ridge-flow—containing imagery which can then be assessed for one or more of quality, handedness, historical information analysis and the assignment of bounding boxes. |
| US08238617B2 |
Vehicle operation control device and method, as well as, program
A similarity degree calculating unit calculates a similarity degree of a feature quantity of a face image of an imaged checking target, and a feature quantity of a face image of a registrant or a non-registrant registered in a registrant information DB or a non-registrant information DB. A check determination unit notifies a service determination unit when the similarity degree is higher than a threshold value. A related information acquiring unit acquires related information including inter-registrant information, and provides to a time-series information DB generation unit and the service determination unit. The time-series information DB generation unit updates the time-series information DB. A statistical information DB generation unit generates the statistical information DB from the time-series information DB. The service determination unit provides services based on the related information, the time-series information DB, and the statistical information DB. |
| US08238611B2 |
Enhancing stereo depth measurements with projected texture
A system for distance calculation is disclosed. The system includes an illuminator unit, one or more camera units, and a distance processor. The illuminator unit illuminates a scene in a target area using a textured pattern creator and wherein the textured pattern creator includes a diffractive optical element. The one or more camera units captures two or more images of the target area from two or more physical locations. A textured pattern illumination is visible in each of the two or more images of the target area. The images are used to calculate distances to one or more points in the scene in the target area. |
| US08238607B2 |
System and method for detecting, tracking and counting human objects of interest
A method of identifying, tracking, and counting human objects of interest based upon at least one pair of stereo image frames taken by at least one image capturing device, comprising the steps of: obtaining said stereo image frames and converting each said stereo image frame to a rectified image frame using calibration data obtained for said at least one image capturing device; generating a disparity map based upon a pair of said rectified image frames; generating a depth map based upon said disparity map and said calibration data; identifying the presence or absence of said objects of interest from said depth map and comparing each of said objects of interest to existing tracks comprising previously identified objects of interest; for each said presence of an object of interest, adding said object of interest to one of said existing tracks if said object of interest matches said one existing track, or creating a new track comprising said object of interest if said object of interest does not match any of said existing tracks; updating each said existing track; and maintaining a count of said objects of interest in a given time period based upon said existing tracks created or modified during said given time period. |
| US08238604B2 |
System and method for validation of face detection in electronic images
The subject application is directed to a system and method for validation of face detection in electronic images. Image data is first received along with at least one image portion that includes a possible facial depiction. Eye position data, nose position data, and mouth position data are also received. A reference point at a central location of the at least one image portion is then isolated. A width of the image portion is then isolated, and a facial region is isolated in accordance with the eye, nose, and mouth position data. The eye distance is then determined from the received eye position data. The isolated facial region data is then tested against the reference point and eye distance is tested against a width of the image portion. An output is generated corresponding to the accuracy of isolated facial region in accordance with the tests. |
| US08238602B2 |
Method and system for tracking and processing items in personal mailbox
The present invention discloses a method and system to track and process the received postal items in their personal mailbox. The present invention resides inside the personal mailbox of a user. When mail item arrives in the mailbox, controller initiates the tiny robot arm to pick up the item and moves it to scanner and initiates the scanner to scan the item. Controller then collects associated entities of the received mail item using OCR and sends a notification to the user. An associated entity includes sender name and address and other information on the face of the mail item. If there is no sender address in the mail item then controller realizes that the received mail item is junk/unwanted and sends it to shredder using robot arm for trash. |
| US08238601B2 |
System and method for removing digital watermarks from a watermarked image
A system and method for removing digital watermarks from a watermarked image of an electronic device are provided. The method decomposes the watermarked image to a plurality of Eigen-images, assigns an identifier to each of the Eigen-images in sequence, and identifies an identifier range of the Eigen-images to be removed from the watermarked image. The method further selects Eigen-images having watermarked information from the identifier range, deletes the Eigen-images having watermarked information from the Eigen-images within the identifier range, and integrates the remainder Eigen-images of the identifier range to form a composite image. Additionally, the method determines whether the composite image is distorted, and stores the composite image into a storage device of the electronic device if the composite image is not distorted. |
| US08238599B2 |
Image processing device and image processing method for identifying a selected one or more embedding methods used for embedding target information
An image processing method is disclosed that is capable of efficient information extraction when embedding information in an image by using plural information embedding methods. The image processing method includes steps of embedding target information in the image by using one or more methods selected from plural information embedding methods; and embedding identification information in the image for identifying the selected one or more methods. The identification information is embedded in a method allowing an amount of the embedded information to be less than an amount of the embedded information in each of the selected one or more methods. |
| US08238598B2 |
Sound system of wall mounted flat panel display apparatus
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a sound system of a wall-mounted flat panel display apparatus can include a speaker, being mounted in an area except for a display area, which plays back a video, in the flat panel display apparatus and playing back a corresponding sound; and an acoustic resonator, having a box shape including one surface formed with an open area and being mounted such that the surface formed with the open area is closely in contact with an outer side of a case of the flat panel display apparatus, the acoustic resonator being configured to induce a resonance of a sound projected from the speaker and inputted through the open area. With the present invention, it can be possible to adequately improve audio balance by simply mounting a pipe or box shaped acoustic resonator in an outer side of a case of the flat panel display apparatus. |
| US08238597B2 |
Headset with foldable microphone arm
A headset (1; 101; 102) comprising a housing (2; 102; 103) and a microphone arm (3; 103; 203). The microphone arm (3; 103; 203) is connected to a hinge member (4; 104; 204), which is pivotally connected to the housing (2; 102; 103) such that the microphone arm (3; 103; 203) can be rotated about a first pivot axis (P1; P101; P201) between a first position, in which it lies along a first surface (9; 109; 209) of the housing (2; 102; 202) and a second, extended position in which it extends away from the housing (3; 103; 203). The headset is further provided with a switch (19), which is operably connected to the microphone arm (3; 103; 203) or the hinge member (4; 104; 204), such that a rotation of the microphone arm (3; 103; 203) from the first position to the second position or vice versa activates the switch (19) and changes headset mode. The microphone arm (3; 103; 203) is movably connected to the hinge member (4; 104; 204) so that the microphone arm (3; 103; 203) can be moved into a third position, in which it lies along a second surface (10; 110; 210) of the housing (2; 102; 202). |
| US08238594B2 |
Front plate with sealing apparatus
The invention specifies a sealing apparatus for a microphone opening in a front plate. It comprises a sound-permeable covering medium made of a first material and a sound-permeable membrane, with a sealant arranged on the exterior of the covering medium made of a second material being designed so as to produce a tight form fit between the covering medium and the front plate when said covering medium is inserted into the microphone opening. A front plate that is compatible with the sealing apparatus according to the invention is also specified. The advantage here is that the microphone opening can be sealed in a water-tight fashion and as a result protects a microphone positioned beneath it against external influences. |
| US08238590B2 |
Automated audio source control based on audio output device placement detection
An apparatus and method for automatically remotely controlling an audio source providing the apparatus with audio for being audibly output to a user of the apparatus entails monitoring various sensors to determine whether or not one or more ear couplings of the apparatus are positioned in close proximity to one or both of the user's ears to determine whether the user is listening to the audibly output audio with either one or both ears, or is not listening at all. In response to changes in whether the user is listening with either one or both ears, or whether the user is listening at all, the audio source is automatically signaled with one or more commands to cease or resume providing the audio to the apparatus, perform or cease performing various alterations on the audio before providing it to the apparatus, etc. |
| US08238585B2 |
Audio playing module and method of the same
An audio module used for a display device is disclosed. The display device has a display substrate. The audio module has a filter, an amplifier, and at least one output unit. The filter receives and filters an audio signal to generate a filtered signal. The amplifier is coupled to the filter and amplifies the filtered signal to generate an amplified signal. At least one output unit is coupled to the amplifier and plays the amplified signal in a predetermined way. |
| US08238583B2 |
Microphone circuit and method for analog-to-digital conversion therein
The invention provides a method for analog-to-digital conversion in a microphone circuit. First, a first gain is determined. A first analog signal is then amplified according to the first gain to obtain a second analog signal. The second analog signal is then converted from analog to digital to obtain a first digital signal. A second gain is then determined according to the first gain so that a product of the first gain and the second gain is kept constant. The first digital signal is then amplified according to the second gain to obtain a second digital signal. |
| US08238574B2 |
Method for determining a time delay for time delay compensation
The invention provides a computer-implemented method for determining a time delay for time delay compensation of a microphone signal from a microphone array in a beamformer arrangement. For a given time, an instantaneous estimate of a position of a wanted sound source and/or of a direction of arrival of a signal originating from the wanted sound source is determined. The computer system then determines whether the instantaneous estimate deviates from a preset estimate of a position of the wanted sound source and/or of a direction of arrival of a signal originating from the wanted sound source according to a predetermined criterion. The predetermined criterion comprises a check whether the instantaneous estimate deviates from the preset estimate by at least a predetermined deviation threshold. If the predetermined criterion is fulfilled, the instantaneous estimate for the given time is set by the computer system as the preset estimate, and the computer system determines the time delay for time delay compensation of the microphone signal based on the instantaneous estimate. |
| US08238573B2 |
Conference apparatus
Microphone arrays, which are formed by arranging a plurality of microphones, are provided on a front side and a rear side of a housing, respectively. A virtual focus is set for each of the microphone arrays in a direction opposite to a direction in which sound is picked-up sound signals picked up by the plurality of microphones are delayed such that distances to the virtual focus are the same, and the delayed sound signals are synthesized. Therefore, sound in a sound-pickup area of a predetermined angle on each of the front side and the rear side can be picked up at a high level, and even though there is a noise source in areas other than the sound-pickup area, noise from the noise source is not picked up. |
| US08238571B2 |
Automatic input sensitivity selector for auxiliary devices
An audiovisual system including a circuit coupled to the first input and having an adjustable sensitivity control and a detector configured to detect the presence of a signal from the second input. The sensitivity control is responsive to the detector to set the sensitivity for a first input sensitivity level when the detector detects the presence of the signal from the second input and to set the sensitivity for a second input sensitivity level when the detector does not detect the signal from the second input. |
| US08238569B2 |
Method, medium, and apparatus for extracting target sound from mixed sound
A method, medium, and apparatus for extracting a target sound from a mixed sound. The method includes obtaining the mixed signal from a microphone array, generating a first signal which is emphasized and directed toward a target sound source, and a second signal which is suppressed and directed toward the target sound source, calculating a non-linear filter which is adaptive to at least one of an amplitude ratio of the first signal to the second signal in a time-frequency domain, frequencies of the first and second signals, and a ratio of an interference signal to the mixed signal, and filtering the first signal by the non-linear filter. |
| US08238563B2 |
System, devices and methods for predicting the perceived spatial quality of sound processing and reproducing equipment
The present invention relates to a method and corresponding system for predicting the perceived spatial quality of sound processing and reproducing equipment. According to the invention a device to be tested, a so-called device under test (DUT), is subjected to one or more test signals and the response of the device under test is provided to one or more means for deriving metrics, i.e. a higher-level representation of the raw data obtained from the device under test. The derived one or more metrics is/are provided to suitable predictor means that “translates” the objective measure provided by the one or more metrics to a predicted perceived spatial quality. To this end said predictor means is calibrated using listening tests carried out on real listeners. By means of the invention there is thus provided an “instrument” that can replace expensive and time consuming listening tests for instance during development of various audio processing or reproduction systems or methods. |
| US08238562B2 |
Diffuse sound shaping for BCC schemes and the like
In one embodiment, C input audio channels are encoded to generate E transmitted audio channel(s), where one or more cue codes are generated for two or more of the C input channels, and the C input channels are downmixed to generate the E transmitted channel(s), where C>E≧1. One or more of the C input channels and the E transmitted channel(s) are analyzed to generate a flag indicating whether or not a decoder of the E transmitted channel(s) should perform envelope shaping during decoding of the E transmitted channel(s). In one implementation, envelope shaping adjusts a temporal envelope of a decoded channel generated by the decoder to substantially match a temporal envelope of a corresponding transmitted channel. |
| US08238561B2 |
Method for encoding and decoding multi-channel audio signal and apparatus thereof
Methods and apparatuses for encoding and decoding a multi-channel audio signal are provided. In the encoding method, spatial information that is calculated based on a multi-channel audio signal and a downmix signal is encoded, and additional configuration information is generated based on information that is selected from the encoded spatial information. The downmix signal is encoded, and then, a bitstream is generated by combining the encoded downmix signal with the encoded spatial information. Thereafter, the additional configuration information is inserted into the bitstream. Therefore, it is possible to configure an optimum bitstream according to the circumstances by retransmitting all or part of information included in a header. |
| US08238555B2 |
Management server, communication apparatus and program implementing key allocation system for encrypted communication
Both a management server and a validation server are installed. Both a terminal and a terminal register setting information which is usable in an encrypted communication in the management server. When carrying out the encrypted communication, the management server searches the registered setting information for coincident setting information. The management server generates keys for the encrypted communications which can be used by the terminals, and delivers these generated keys in combination with the coincident setting information. The management server authenticates both the terminals in conjunction with the validation server. Since the terminals trust such results that the management server has authenticated the terminals respectively, these terminals need not authenticate the respective communication counter terminals. |
| US08238553B2 |
Steganographic method and device
An apparatus and method for encoding and decoding additional information into a stream of digitized samples in an integral manner. The information is encoded using special keys. The information is contained in the samples, not prepended or appended to the sample stream. The method makes it extremely difficult to find the information in the samples if the proper keys are not possessed by the decoder. The method does not cause a significant degradation to the sample stream. The method is used to establish ownership of copyrighted digital multimedia content and provide a disincentive to piracy of such material. |
| US08238546B2 |
Echo canceler circuit and method
An echo canceler circuit (10) and method attenuates at least post-echo canceler uplink data (90) to produce attenuated uplink data (100) in response to uplink echo return loss based attenuation data (40). The echo canceler circuit (10) includes an echo return loss based attenuation data generator (20) and at least an uplink data attenuator (30). The echo return loss based attenuation data generator (20) produces the uplink echo return loss based attenuation data (40) in response to echo return loss data (70). The echo return loss data (70) is based on at least one of: attenuated downlink data (50), pre-echo canceler uplink data (60), and/or amplifier gain data (80). The uplink data attenuator (30) attenuates the post-echo canceler uplink data (90) to produce attenuated uplink data (100) based on the uplink echo return loss based attenuation data (40). |
| US08238541B1 |
Intent based skill-set classification for accurate, automatic determination of agent skills
The present invention is directed toward a method and system for determining the skill levels of an agent in a contact center. The invention creates a relationship between contact intent and agent skill to help determine agent skills based on successfully completed contacts. |
| US08238537B2 |
System and method for reconnecting a device to a group call
A system and method for reestablishing a voice communications session moderated by a group call server between two or more telephony devices. The method is performed by a processor monitoring the communications session. The method comprises: storing one or more data records representing group call information; detecting disconnection of at least one participating telephony device from the group communications session, and determining that the disconnection was not intentionally initiated; accessing the stored call group information data and causing signals to enable reestablishment of participation by the disconnected device to be sent to the disconnected device; and upon receipt by the group call server from the disconnected device of signals representing a request to reconnect the disconnected device, outputting command signals for reestablishing a communications session between the disconnected device and at least one other device participating in the group communications session. |
| US08238530B2 |
Authenticating a user based on the user's ability to distinguish type-A from type-B sounds
A method of authentication is disclosed. When a user registers with an enterprise, the enterprise instructs the user to select sounds from a selection of sounds. Any sound that the user selects is designated as a “type-A” sound and any sound that is not so designated is deemed a “type-B” sound. To authenticate the user, the enterprise combines type-A sounds and type-B sounds into a temporal series of sounds and constructs questions about the series that can only be answered by someone who can recognize and distinguish type-A sounds from type-B sounds. The series of sounds and the questions are then transmitted to the user. If the user is able to answer the questions, then he or she is authenticated, and if not, then he or she is not authenticated. |
| US08238526B1 |
Voicemail outbox
The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes receiving a voicemail message from a first telephone user for a second telephone user; providing, for display in a messaging inbox of the second telephone user, the voicemail message or information used to retrieve the voicemail message; and providing the voicemail message or information used to retrieve the voicemail message in a messaging outbox of the first telephone user, wherein the messaging outbox is formatted to display to the first telephone user a plurality of messages sent by the first telephone user. |
| US08238524B2 |
Microscope color image pickup apparatus, microscope color image pickup program product, and microscope color image pickup method
An apparatus includes: an image pickup unit capturing a color image observed by the microscope; a camera characteristic information storage unit storing camera characteristic information about a characteristic of the microscope color image pickup apparatus; a color correction parameter calculation unit calculating a color correction parameter for a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit according to the color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit; and a color correcting unit performing a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit according to the color correction parameter calculated by the color correction parameter calculation unit. |
| US08238522B2 |
Filter changing assembly for filtering a radiation beam
A filter changing assembly that can be used in, for example, a radiology system includes shape filters that can used to shape a radiation beam and that can be moved back-and-forth, for example. The filter changing assembly also includes beam hardening filters that can be used to change the energy spectrum of the radiation beam, and that also can be moved back-and-forth, for example. The filter changing assembly includes a control system that can be used to select at least one of the filters and automatically move the selected filter from one position to another position. |
| US08238508B2 |
Clock extraction device with digital phase lock, requiring no external control
A device for extracting a clock signal from a baseband serial signal, includes an injection-locked oscillator (19), a phase-locked loop (25) including a digital phase detector (26). The oscillator (19) includes a digital input for controlling the value of its natural frequency, and the phase-locked loop (25) includes a counting circuit (30, 35) aggregating the relative values of the digital signal supplied by the digital phase detector (26) and supplying a control signal in digital form for the oscillator (19). |
| US08238506B2 |
Phase-discriminating device and method
A high-accuracy and computational efficient phase-discriminating device is provided and includes a phase-discriminating unit. The phase-discriminating unit converts an input and a reference signals into an input and a reference sequences respectively by a one-bit A/D conversion operation, determines a first value, an in-phase component and a quadrature component of the input signal in response to the input and the reference sequences, and produces an estimated phase of the input signal according to a relation among the first value, the in-phase component and a polarity of the quadrature component, wherein the first value is a certain integer being one of a first integer and a second integer, the first integer is a sampling count of the one-bit A/D conversion operation for producing the input sequence, and the second integer is a summation of an absolute value of the in-phase component and that of the quadrature component. |
| US08238505B2 |
Method and circuit for line-coupled clock generation
The invention relates to a method or to a correspondingly equipped circuit for line-coupled generation of a clock (t), wherein the clock (t) is controlled in relation to a synchronization signal (hs) and by means of a closed loop (FLL) with respect to the phase and/or the frequency in relation to the synchronization signal (hs); wherein a plurality (n) of at least two count values (cn, c0-c7) is determined, wherein each of the count values (cn, c0-c7) is determined with at least one count duration number (z) of consecutive periods of the synchronization signal (hs), and wherein each of the count values (cn, c0-c7) is determined offset relative to at least one further count value (cn, c0-c7) with a count offset (v) which is different from the count duration number of consecutive periods of the synchronization signal (hs). |
| US08238504B2 |
Clock generation circuit and system
A clock generation circuit includes: a first determination circuit that detects an input signal at a first phase position based on first frequency signal; a second determination circuit that detects the input signal at a second phase position based on second frequency signal; a phase detector that compares output of the first determination circuit and output of the second determination circuit; a first summing circuit which sums comparison result and first control signal; a second summing circuit which sums comparison result and second control signal; a first voltage controlled oscillation circuit which receives output of the first summing circuit and outputs the first frequency signal; a second voltage controlled oscillation circuit which received output of the second summing circuit and outputs the second frequency signal; and a phase adjustment circuit which generates first control signal and second control signal based on first frequency signal and second frequency signal. |
| US08238498B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method, wireless communication system, and computer program
There is provided a wireless communication apparatus including: a matrix estimating unit that estimates a channel matrix of N rows and M columns (N and M are natural numbers); a selecting unit that selects S rows (S is a natural number, and S |
| US08238491B2 |
Device and method for demodulating control signals
A device performs demodulation of control signals from multiple radio terminals, based on the correlations in the frequency domain between a predetermined code and the orthogonalized control signals and reference signals of the multiple radio terminals obtained by cyclic shifts of the predetermined code. The device includes: a demultiplexer which demultiplexes a reference signal component and a control signal component based on a correlation profile; a path detector which detects a path location or path locations for each radio terminal based on the power values of the reference signal components; extractor which extracts the correlation values of the reference signal components and the correlation values of the control signal components, respectively; and RAKE combiner which combines the extracted values. |
| US08238489B2 |
Apparatus and method for processing signal using single correlator
An apparatus and method for processing a signal using a single correlator are provided. The apparatus may include a first storage unit storing satellite signal samples, a correlator receiving the satellite signal samples stored in the first storage unit in units of at least two satellite signal samples and performing correlation, and a controller storing the satellite signal samples received from an RF terminal in the first storage unit and controlling the correlator based on a predetermined control value. Accordingly, it is possible to ensure speed and performance even when tracking a plurality of satellite signals using a single correlator. |
| US08238481B2 |
Blind channel estimation for PSK and D-PSK modulated multicarrier communication systems
An apparatus and method is described that provide an efficient blind channel estimation approach for PSK and DPSK modulated multicarrier communication systems. With the requirement that the channel phase difference between any two adjacent carriers is smaller than one half of the minimum phase difference between two symbols of the PSK or DPSK constellation, a low-complexity deterministic approach to channel estimation is devised. This approach is highly effective, robust, and particularly useful for time varying channels with low AWGN noise. |
| US08238480B2 |
Adaptive self-quieter suppression for OFDM wireless communication systems
Various embodiments to provide cancellation techniques that can be used to address the self-quieter problem are described. For example, a receiver that includes a tone selector and a self-quieter suppressor is provided. The tone selector (202) determines and selects a self-quieter corrupted tone from a frequency domain signal that exhibits a self-quieter. The self-quieter suppressor (203) determines an initial phase, an angular speed and an amplitude estimate for the frequency domain self-quieter. The suppressor then generates a reconstructed frequency domain self-quieter using the initial phase, the angular speed and the amplitude estimate and subtracts the reconstructed frequency domain self-quieter from the corrupted tone to produce a self-quieter suppressed tone to replace the corrupted tone. Such an approach can realize a significant reduction in processing and complexity, as compared to known alternatives, making it an attractive and cost-effective solution for dealing with the self-quieter problem. |
| US08238479B2 |
Synchronization and acquisition for mobile television reception
A method for synchronizing a receiver to a received signal begins by down-converting the received signal to a first baseband signal. A coarse frequency offset (CFO) of the first baseband signal is determined and is applied to the down-converting of the received signal to a second baseband signal. A fine frequency offset (FFO) of the second baseband signal is determined. The receiver is synchronized to the received signal using the CFO and the FFO. |
| US08238478B2 |
Multi-symbol noncoherent CPM detector having a trellis structure and a lock detector therefore
Multi-symbol non-coherent continuous phase modulation (CPM) detectors having a trellis structure, methods of continuous phase detection using a trellis structure, and trellis-based lock detectors and methods for digitally modulated signals are described. The continuous phase modulation detector includes receiver, observation, memory, and adjustment portions. The receiver has a trellis structure and is adapted for receiving digitally modulated signals having a generally continuous phase. The observation portion is adapted for performing multi-symbol observations on received digitally modulated signals and the memory is adapted for storing historic observation data corresponding to multi-symbol observations performed by the observation portion. The adjustment portion is adapted for selectively adjusting the receiver in accordance with stored historic observation data. A trellis-based lock detector computes a global survivor for consecutive time indexes as a maximum cumulative branch metric corresponding to a given time index for consecutive branches of the trellis structure. |
| US08238473B2 |
Selective peak power reduction
The present invention provides a technique for reducing the peak power of a combined signal that has a first signal of a first modulation type and a second signal of a second modulation type. Based on the combined signal, peak reduction distortion is determined. The peak reduction distortion is configured such that, if applied to the entirety of the combined signal, excessive peaks throughout the combined signal would be reduced. However, instead of applying the entirety of the peak reduction distortion, a selected portion of the peak reduction distortion is applied to a corresponding portion of the combined signal to reduce the peak power of the combined signal. |
| US08238466B2 |
Equal power output spatial spreading matrix for use in a wireless MIMO communication system
A spatial spreading unit is configured to utilize a spatial spreading matrix to distribute two or more encoded spatial data streams to transmission antennas. The spatial spreading matrix has components (i) associated with each row of a row dimension having a number of rows equal to the number of the transmission antennas to be used to transmit the encoded spatial data streams and (ii) associated with each column of a column dimension having a number of columns equal to the number of the encoded spatial data streams to be transmitted. Additionally, the spatial spreading matrix satisfies one or more of the following two constraints: (1) the ratio of squared norms of the sum of the components of a row, for different rows of the spatial spreading matrix, is equal to a first constant sequence, and (2) the ratio of squared norms of the sum of a symbol Sl to be transmitted, when the symbol Sl is equal to 1 or −1, multiplied by each of the components of a row, for different rows of the spatial spreading matrix, is equal to a second constant sequence. |
| US08238461B2 |
Apparatus for generating precoding matrix codebook for MIMO system and method of the same
An apparatus for generating a precoding matrix codebook includes a matrix group generator to generate a first group of unitary matrices based on a vector-based codebook for precoding of a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication scheme; a matrix group extender to extend the first group of unitary matrices to generate a second group of unitary matrices; and a matrix group selector to select a group of columns corresponding to a communication rank from each of the unitary matrices that are elements of the second group so that the columns are optimized based on a distance between the columns corresponding to the communication rank. |
| US08238455B2 |
Methods and apparatus for downlink PDSCH power setting
Methods and apparatus for transmitting power setting information in a downlink Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in a communication system. In this communication system, a plurality of methods for calculating traffic-to-pilot ratios (T2P) are established. In addition, a mapping scheme between a plurality of overhead signals and a plurality of reference signal (RS) overhead ratios, ηRS, and the plurality of T2P calculation methods is established. A user-specific T2P ratio PB,k/PRS for certain OFDM symbols, a RS overhead ratio ηRS and a calculation method selected from the plurality of T2P calculation methods are assigned to a wireless terminal. Then, an overhead signal corresponding to both of the assigned RS overhead ratio ηRS and the assigned T2P calculation method is selected in accordance with the mapping scheme and is transmitted to the wireless terminal. In addition, the user-specific traffic-to-pilot ratio PB,k/PRS is transmitted to the wireless terminal. The wireless terminal may calculate the traffic-to-pilot ratios across different transmission antennas and different OFDM symbols in dependence upon the received traffic-to-pilot ratio PB,k/PRS, and the RS overhead ratio and the T2P calculation method indicated by the RS overhead signal. |
| US08238454B2 |
System and method for communicating data using efficient fast fourier transform (FFT) for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) demodulation
A communications device includes a signal input that receives an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communications signal. A demodulator is connected to the signal input for receiving the OFDM communications signal and demodulating the OFDM communication signal. It includes at least one memory element for storing the at least one sine/cosine basis waveform approximation as complex exponential functions. A logic circuit performs logical shifts in additions and multiples of +/−2n and extracts amplitude and phase values from a plurality of N data subcarriers within the OFDM communications signal. The demodulator includes efficient implementation of the FFT for use as an OFDM demodulator where the complex exponentials are approximated by multi-level complex sinusoids and optionally oversampled to increase SNR of the FFT output. |
| US08238449B2 |
Apparatus for removing a blocking phenomenon in a first block using properties of second and third blocks adjacent the first block
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder configured to obtain a block type of the second block and the third block. The second block is adjacent to the first block horizontally, and the third block is adjacent to the first block vertically. The decoder is configured to determine whether the second and third blocks have non-zero transform coefficient information if the block type of the second and third block, respectively, are not an intra-coded blocks. First and second motion vector differences between a motion vector for the first block and motion vectors for the second and third blocks, respectively, are obtained by the decoder. A horizontal filter strength value and a vertical filter strength value are determined by the decoder based on the above steps, and the blocking phenomenon in the first block is removed by the decoder according to the horizontal filter strength value and the vertical filter strength value. |
| US08238446B2 |
Method and apparatus for reproducing digital broadcasting
Provided are a method and apparatus for reproducing digital broadcasting. The method includes parsing an input video stream to extract a presentation time stamp (PTS) and a compressed frame and decoding the extracted compressed frame to generate frames sequentially. If a PTS corresponding to a current frame does not exist, a virtual PTS is generated based on the extracted PTS The extracted PTS or the virtual PTS is compared with a system time clock (STC) in synchronization with a vertical synchronization signal and an output time of a display frame is determined. |
| US08238442B2 |
Methods and apparatus for concealing corrupted blocks of video data
Methods and apparatus for concealing corrupted blocks of streaming data are disclosed. It is determined whether a subdivision of the streaming data is a corrupt subdivision. The corrupt subdivision is concealed using a previously reconstructed or concealed subdivision in a manner that does not require information from pairs of direct neighbor subdivisions that have not been previously reconstructed or concealed. |
| US08238441B2 |
Method and system for scalable representation, storage, transmission and reconstruction of media streams
Methods and systems for defining a compression and reconstruction scheme of a media stream, for generating and transmitting a base media layer and enhancement data layers and for reconstructing compressed representations of the media stream from the base media layer and the enhancement data layers. |
| US08238440B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit
The present invention is directed to lessen burden at the time of solving a conflict of overlapping processes in processes for a plurality of interruption factors. On completion of data transfer to an external memory, a data transfer completion interruption of high priority is generated. In the case where data transfer of predetermined number of packets is not completed in reception interruption, a timer interruption of low priority is generated. Before processing data in an external memory responding to the interruption, the number of transfer packets is obtained from a counter. After restart of reception, the counter stores the number of transfer restart packets. After obtaining the number of transfer packets from a counter responding to the occurrence of the timer interruption, a data transfer completion interruption is generated. According to the obtained number of transfer packets, execution of either a process responding to occurrence of the timer interruption or a process responding to occurrence of the data transfer completion interruption is omitted. |
| US08238439B2 |
Methods and apparatus for multi-view information conveyed in high level syntax
There are provided methods and apparatus for multi-view information conveyed in high level syntax. An encoding method and apparatus is disclosed for encoding multi-view video content in a resultant bitstream and multi-view coding information for the multi-view video content in at least one high level syntax element. A decoding method and apparatus is disclosed for decoding multi-view video content from a resultant bitstream and multi-view coding information for the multi-view content from at least one high level syntax element. |
| US08238432B2 |
Weighted prediction information calculation method, apparatus, and program, and video coding method, apparatus, and program
A weighting factor calculation unit (1903) calculates a weighting factor using characteristics respectively corresponding to a picture to be predicted and a selected reference picture in accordance with a weighting factor equation derived from a fade effect generation principle. For each picture, an intra-picture characteristic calculation unit (1901) calculates the characteristics as characteristics closed in the picture. The weighting factor of a fade picture can be obtained with a small calculation amount at high accuracy. |
| US08238431B2 |
Method and system for rate reduction of video streams
A method for rate reduction of a video stream, the method includes: selecting a non-reference picture of a video stream; and replacing the non-reference picture by a duplicating picture that substantially consists of information that instruct a decoder to duplicate another picture that differs from the non-reference picture; wherein the duplicating picture is smaller than the non-reference picture. |
| US08238427B2 |
Rate distortion optimized adaptive intra refresh for video coding
A method of video coding comprising Intra prediction coding at least a predetermined constant M macroblocks within an ordinary frame. These M macroblocks include naturally selected macroblocks where the bit cost of Intra prediction coding is less than for Inter prediction coding and optional additional macroblocks. The optional additional macroblocks have the least bit cost of Inter prediction coding as adjusted by a penalty factor each time a corresponding macroblock is Intra coded in a predetermined number of frames. An end frame Intra prediction codes each macroblock having no corresponding Intra prediction coded macroblock in a predetermined number of ordinary frames. |
| US08238426B2 |
Image encoding apparatus, image encoding method, image encoding program, image decoding apparatus, image decoding method, and image decoding program
The image encoding apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention comprises a coding mode determination unit, a prediction image generation unit, a storage unit, and an encoding unit. The coding mode determination unit determines a coding mode relating to which of the first image prediction processing or second image prediction processing is used for generating prediction image of a partial area of input images. The prediction image generation unit extracts the prediction assist information by the first image prediction processing and generates a prediction image based on the prediction assist information. The storage unit stores the reproduced image that is based on the prediction image. The encoding unit generates a bit stream comprising data obtained by encoding the coding mode information and prediction assist information. |
| US08238422B2 |
Method of removing a blocking phenomenon using properties of two blocks
In one embodiment, the method includes obtaining a coded block pattern of first and second blocks. The coded block pattern may be one of a plurality of coded block patterns, the plurality of coded block patterns may include an intra-coded block, and the second block may be adjacent to the first block. Whether the first block and the second block have non-zero transform coefficient information is determined if the block type of the first block and the second block is not intra-coded block. A non-zero filter strength value is determined based on the obtained coded block pattern of the first and second block and the determination of whether the first block and second blocks have non-zero transform coefficient information, and the blocking phenomenon is removed according to the filter strength value. |
| US08238419B2 |
Displaying video at multiple resolution levels
A method of displaying video includes receiving a video bitstream corresponding to a video. The video comprises a sequence of frames having an associated video resolution level. At least a portion of the video bitstream is decoded. A background region of the video is displayed at a first video resolution level and a window region of the video is displayed at a second video resolution level. The second video resolution level is higher than the first video resolution level. |
| US08238418B2 |
Apparatus for removing blocking artifact by filtering pixels in a horizontal and then vertical direction
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder configured to obtain quantization information of a first block, and determine a filtering coefficient based on values obtained from a table using the quantization. Four successive filtered pixel values in horizontal direction are obtained by the decoder based on the filtering coefficient, and four successive filtered pixel values in the vertical direction are obtained by the decoder based on the filtering coefficient after obtaining the four successive filtered pixel values in the horizontal direction. |
| US08238417B2 |
Apparatus for filtering a pixel of an image using a weighted filtering coefficient
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder configured to obtain a pixel value difference between two successive pixels. The two successive pixels are on a block boundary. The decoder is configured to calculate the filtering coefficient based on the pixel value difference, weight the filtering coefficient, and obtain a filtered pixel value based on the weighted filtering coefficient. |
| US08238415B2 |
Method and system for programmable breakpoints in an integrated embedded image and video accelerator
A method and system for programmable breakpoints in an integrated embedded image and video accelerator are described. Aspects of the system may include circuitry that enables generation of control signals for pipeline processing of video data within a single chip by at least selecting a target location of the video data and generating an interrupt at a time instant corresponding to the pipeline processing of the target location. The system may enable programmable breakpoints to be set and/or triggered based on policies determined in executable software. The ability to set programmable breakpoints may enable flexible utilization of system memory resources. |
| US08238414B1 |
Sliding error sampler (SES) for latency reduction in the PWM path
A digital control loop within power switchers and the like includes a sliding error sampler pulse width modulation timing variably setting a number of clock cycles relative to a digital pulse width modulator output trailing edge for loading control variables for a filter. A computation time for the proportional-integral-derivative filter is predicted based on an average for previous digital pulse width modulator outputs, computed within the integral path for the previous loop iteration. A margin is added to accommodate transient conditions accelerating the trailing edge of the digital pulse width modulator output, either fixed or variable depending on the previous iteration pulse width. |
| US08238410B2 |
Method and apparatus for mitigating the effects of narrowband interfering signals in a GPS receiver
A positioning system receiver that mitigates narrowband interference by dynamically choosing the mitigation technique that yields the best interference mitigation capability with the least signal degradation to maximize receiver performance parameters such as receiver sensitivity, multipath resolution, and low power. |
| US08238409B2 |
Managing tap positions in a digital delay line
This method of reading a plurality of chip sample values at tap positions (66, 68) in a digital delay line (64) having a starting point and an end point for delaying symbols of a signal (82) received in a receiver comprises:—reading the plurality of chip sample values in the digital delay line (64) at the tap positions (66, 68) according to a chip rate clock (70) having a chip rate clock cycle and a chip rate clock frequency,—oversampling the received signal (82) according to a sample rate clock (84) having a sample rate clock cycle and a sample rate clock frequency to produce a plurality of chip sample values supplied in the digital delay line (64), the sample rate clock frequency being higher than the chip rate clock frequency,—shifting the tap positions (66, 68) towards either the starting point or the end point of the digital delay line (64), and—adjusting the chip rate clock cycle when shifting the tap positions. |
| US08238406B2 |
Time-hopping sequence for burst mode communications
A method consisting of determining, by a symbol mapper, whether a previous burst position is below a threshold, wherein the previous burst position defines a location within a previous symbol. A determination that the previous burst position is below the threshold causes generating, by the symbol mapper, a random number in a complete set, the random number defines a current burst position, the current burst position defines a location within a current symbol and sending or receiving a value in the current burst position. A determination that the previous burst position is above the threshold causes generating, by the symbol mapper, a random number in a reduced set, the random number defines a modified current burst position, the modified current burst position defines a location within the current symbol and sending or receiving a value in the modified current burst position. |
| US08238393B2 |
Multi-beam laser light-intensity control circuit and optical scanning apparatus including the same
A multi-beam laser light-intensity control circuit includes laser diodes; a light-receiving element for receiving a laser beam emitted from each laser diode and outputting a current corresponding to the light intensity of the received laser beam; and an automatic power control circuit for automatically controlling output power of each laser diode based on the current output from the light-receiving element. The automatic power control circuit includes a current/voltage conversion unit for converting the current output from the light-receiving element into a voltage; an error amplifying circuit for amplifying a difference voltage between the voltage output from the current/voltage conversion unit and a predetermined reference voltage; storing circuits each configured to store the difference voltage output from the error amplifying circuit in association with the corresponding laser diode; and drive current generating units each configured to generate a drive current for the corresponding laser diode based on the difference voltage. |
| US08238391B2 |
P-type group III nitride semiconductor and group III nitride semiconductor element
This invention provides a p-type group III nitride semiconductor, with good p-type properties, having a composition expressed by AlXGaYInZN in which each of X, Y and Z indicates a rational number satisfying a relationship of X+Y+Z=1.0, even if Al content is as high as 1.0>X≧0.5. It is achieved that a proportion of a hole concentration at 30° C. to an acceptor impurity atom concentration is 0.001 or more in the p-type group III nitride semiconductor of the invention, by doping acceptor impurity atoms such as Mg in concentration of 5×1018 to 1×1020 cm−3 using the method, for example, MOCVD with attention not to incorporate an impurity atom other than the acceptor impurity atom or not to form dislocation in the crystal when producing the group III nitride semiconductor expressed by the above composition. |
| US08238390B2 |
Methods for stabilizing the output of a pulsed laser system having pulse shaping capabilities
Methods stabilize the output of a pulsed laser system using pulse shaping capabilities. In some embodiments, transient effects following a transition between a QCW regime and a pulse shaping regime are mitigated by ensuring that the average QCW optical power substantially corresponds to the average pulsed optical power outputted in a steady-state operation of the pulsed laser system in the pulse shaping regime. The QCW signal or the pulse shaping signal may be adapted for this purpose. In other embodiments, transient effects associated with non-process pulses emitted between series of consecutive process pulses are mitigated through the proper use of sequential pulse shaping. |
| US08238387B2 |
Mode-locked laser device, ultrashort pulse light source device, broad bandwidth light source device, non-linear optical microscopy device, recording device and optical coherence tomography device
There is provided a mode-locked laser device including: a resonator; a solid-state laser medium that is disposed in the resonator and outputs oscillation light in accordance with the incidence of excitation light; a saturable absorber that is disposed in the resonator and induces soliton mode-locking; a group velocity dispersion correction component that is disposed in the resonator and controls group velocity dispersion in the resonator; and an excitation portion that causes excitation light to be incident at the solid-state laser medium, wherein a resonator length of the resonator is at least a resonator length with which soliton mode-locking is inducible and is less than a resonator length with which non-soliton mode-locking is inducible. |
| US08238386B2 |
Pulsed light source
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact and low-cost system for generating ultra short high energy laser light pulses that does not use the known CPA scheme. The proposed approach is based on spectral filtering of laser light pulses of a mode locked laser source. The used mode locked laser source can be of any kind as long as its filtered residual pulse bandwidth supports pulse durations longer than 20 ps and up to 1 ns. After filtering the laser light pulses are directly amplified in an amplification element consisting of one or more amplification stages. At the same time or just after amplification the light pulses are spectrally broadened through a spectral broadening element, for example a fiber of suitably chosen core diameter and length to achieve a spectral bandwidth that is wide enough to support sub 10 ps pulses. Finally, the spectrally broadened laser light pulses are compressed by a compact dispersive element consisting of one or more Bragg gratings or a grating pair. |
| US08238381B2 |
Robust digital communication system
Normally ordered robust VSB data are reordered in accordance with a first interleave to produce reordered robust VSB data. The reordered robust VSB data and ATSC data are reordered in accordance with a second interleave to produce normally ordered robust VSB data and reordered ATSC data. The normally ordered robust VSB data and reordered ATSC data are time multiplexed for transmission to a receiver. The receiver discards the reordered ATSC data or the normally ordered robust VSB data depending upon receiver type or user selection. A robust VSB receiver is able to process the normally ordered robust VSB data upstream of an outer decoder without an interleave thereby avoiding the delay associated with an interleave. |
| US08238376B2 |
Synchronized audio/video decoding for network devices
A method of synchronizing decoders within a network to a server includes receiving a set of timestamps and local clock signals upon receiving the beacon interrupt signal, computing differential timestamp and local clock values based on values of timestamp and local clock signals, respectively, within the sets of timestamp and local clock signals, determining whether the differential local clock value has a predetermined relationship with the differential timestamp value, and transmitting a clock rate adjustment command signal to the decoder when differential local clock value does not have the predetermined relationship with the differential timestamp value. The clock rate adjustment command signal adjusts the local system time clock of the decoder such that a subsequent differential clock value will have the predetermined relationship with the differential timestamp value. When this method is performed for each decoder within the network, the decoders are substantially synchronized and the decoding delay can be kept below humanly perceptible levels. |
| US08238375B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting broadcasting information
In a method of transmitting broadcasting information, the broadcasting information is classified into fixed broadcasting information for transmitting to a fixed position of a super-frame and variable broadcasting information to be variably transmitted in the form of a broadcasting message. The fixed broadcasting information may be classified into primary broadcasting information having a short cycle and secondary broadcasting information having a long cycle. |
| US08238374B2 |
Methods and apparatus for balancing modulation in cellular communications over noisy channels
Methods and apparatus for balancing multi-symbol modulation schemes in cellular communications are provided. The modulation schemes include a plurality of modulation symbols, each of which codes a predefined bit group, which includes one or more bits. The bit groups define different bit positions for bits within the bit groups. The bit positions of the modulation symbols are associated with different error probability levels. Each error probability level defines a probability level of an erroneous bit value at a defined bit position in the bit group, which is obtained by a mapping operation from the modulation symbol transmitted over a radio frequency channel with noise. Binary content to be modulated is provided in form of code blocks I (where i=1 to n). Each of the code blocks is carried on a corresponding code channel i. The code blocks on the code channels are supplied to the modulation schemes in that each code channel is associated with one predefined bit position of the bit groups to enable a mapping to modulation symbols. The bit groups are formed from the binary content of the code blocks in accordance with the code channel-to-bit position association defined above. The binary content of at least two code blocks is shuffled, distributed, or scattered in accordance with predetermined shuffling, distributing, or scattering rules. The shuffling, distributing, or scattering aims to achieve substantially balanced or same error probability levels for said code channels. The shuffling operation should be performed to achieve a substantially evenly distribution of the binary content upon the involved code blocks. |
| US08238368B2 |
Method and system making it possible to manage erratic interruptions in a transmission system
Method and system are disclosed for managing erratic interruptions in a transmission system where the messages to be transmitted are composed of data packets and are expressed by means of a polynomial of degree t−1. The senders and the receivers share information making it possible to reference the data packets. In the course of the transmission of a message represented by a polynomial P, at least t points Ai are generated and P(Ai) of the polynomial P is evaluated, with t′ greater than or equal to t. The evaluations P(Ai) are transmitted of the t′ points to the receiver or receivers concerned, with information allowing the receivers to detect the transmission errors. Each receiver verifies that it has received t valid evaluations, that is to say free of transmission errors, uses the information referencing the packets and the t valid evaluations P(Ai) of the polynomial to determine the points Ai, and on the basis of the P(Ai) and of the Ai and determines the polynomial P used and on the basis of said polynomial deduces the message therefrom. |
| US08238355B2 |
IP-USN with multiple and communication method
A router connects an Internet protocol (IP)-ubiquitous sensor network (USN) with an external network. The IP-USN is disclosed when the IP-USN includes one or more routers. An IP-USN with multiple routers includes one or more routers, and sensor nodes in the IP-USN may reliably communicate with the external network. The sensor nodes in the IP-USN may communicate with one another using the router if necessary. When one router does not operate, communication with the external network is performed by using other routers. |
| US08238351B2 |
Method for determining a most probable K location
The process of traversing a K may involve determining a match between a root node and a Result node of a node on the asCase list of a current K node. When learning is off and a match is not found, the procedure may ignore the particle being processed. An alternative solution determines which node on the asCase list is the most likely to be the next node. While the K Engine is traversing and events are being recorded into a K structure, a count field may be added to each K node to contain a record of how many times each K path has been traversed. The count field may be updated according to the processes traversing the K. Typically, the count is incremented only for learning functions. This count field may be used in determining which node may be the most (or least) probable. |