最新美国发明专利第2013-01-01期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US08345962B2	Transfer learning methods and systems for feed-forward visual recognition systems A method and system for training a neural network of a visual recognition computer system, extracts at least one feature of an image or video frame with a feature extractor; approximates the at least one feature of the image or video frame with an auxiliary output provided in the neural network; and measures a feature difference between the extracted at least one feature of the image or video frame and the approximated at least one feature of the image or video frame with an auxiliary error calculator. A joint learner of the method and system adjusts at least one parameter of the neural network to minimize the measured feature difference.
US08345957B2	Data processing apparatus, X-ray apparatus, and data processing method An example of the present invention is a data processing apparatus including, a saving part configured to save three-dimensional data of a subject, a two-dimensional image display part configured to display three-dimensional data of the subject as a two-dimensional image, a designation part configured to designate coordinate information associated with a specific coordinate point on the two-dimensional image, a specifying part configured to specify, based on the coordinate information designated on the two-dimensional image, coordinate information on the corresponding three-dimensional data, and a calculation part configured to calculate a view angle of the subject on the basis of the coordinate information on the three-dimensional data.
US08345955B2	Characterizing thermomechanical properties of an organic substrate using finite element analysis A method for characterizing thermomechanical properties of an organic substrate is provided. The method includes the steps of: receiving an image of the organic substrate, the image including a geometric description of the plurality of circuit layers of the substrate; selecting a given one of the plurality of circuit layers for processing; converting the image to a two-dimensional finite element model (FEM) image of the given one of the circuit layers; determining at least one of a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), modulus and Poisson's ratio of the FEM image of the given one of the circuit layers; repeating the steps of selecting a given one of the plurality of circuit layers, converting the image to a two-dimensional FEM image, and determining at least one of a CTE, modulus and Poisson's ratio of the FEM image for all of the plurality of circuit layers corresponding to at least a portion of the organic substrate; and constructing a three-dimensional representation of at least a portion of the organic substrate including the plurality of circuit layers as a function of at least one of the CTE, modulus and Poisson's ratio of each of the plurality of circuit layers.
US08345951B2	Image binarizing method, image processing device, and computer program A binarizing method for binarizing an original image of an electrode pad on a substrate. The method includes the steps of processing an electrode image to generate a binary image of the electrode by binarzing the original image with a first threshold value, calculating a contact trace area to calculate the contact trace area including a portion that is predicted to be a trace of an object that contacted the electrode from the binary image of the electrode, processing a contact trace image to generate the contact trace area binary image by binarizing the original image of the area extracted by the contact trace area extracting unit with a second threshold value different from the first threshold value, and synthesizing the images to synthesize the binary image of the electrode and the contact trace area binary image by taking a logical sum on a corresponding pixel to pixel basis.
US08345950B2	System and method for testing a multimeter A system and method for testing a multimeter provides a mechanical arm to set a gear of the multimeter. Values displayed on the multimeter are captured by a camera. The computer obtains the displayed values from captured images using a difference image method. If a difference between each two obtained values is in an allowable error range of the multimeter, the computer displays that the gear is qualified. If the difference between each two obtained values is not in the allowable error range, the computer displays that the gear is out of tolerance.
US08345949B2	Sequential approach for automatic defect recognition A method of automatic defect recognition includes receiving a initial set of inspection image data of a scanned object from a scanning machine; applying a first image analysis algorithm to this set of inspection image data; then removing from the set of inspection image data any defect-free image regions, so as to retain a set of analyzed inspection image data; applying an additional image analysis algorithm(s) to the set of analyzed inspection image data, wherein the additional algorithm(s) has a higher computational cost than the first image analysis algorithm; and based on the applying of the additional image analysis algorithm(s), removing from the first set of inspection image data a second set of defect-free image regions, thereby retaining a set of twice-analyzed inspection image data.
US08345945B2	Motion artifact compensation A technique for correcting translational and rotational motion of an object, such as an object in a magnetic field, utilizes the k-space representation of the object. An initial region in the k-space representation is used as a motion-free reference region, indicative of the motion-free object. Motion-free data adjacent to the initial region are then estimated by extrapolating from the initial region, and the extrapolated data are subsequently used to estimate motion by correlating it with actual data. Segments adjacent to the initial region are then motion corrected and incorporated into an expanding base region. The expanded base region is used in subsequent correction steps. This process is continued until the entire k-space is motion-corrected. Two different extrapolation methods were used for the purpose of motion estimation: edge enhancement and finite-support solution. One technique is utilized near the k-space center and the other is utilized in the outer k-space regions.
US08345943B2	Method and apparatus for registration and comparison of medical images Methods and apparatuses disclosed herein process medical images, for comparison and analysis of the images. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing a first medical image and a second medical image; registers the second image to the first image using a specific region preserving registration or specific regions preserving registration, to obtain a registered second image; and compares the first image and the registered second image.
US08345942B2	Method and apparatus for detection of caries A method for obtaining an image of tooth tissue directs incident light toward a tooth, wherein the incident light excites a fluorescent emission from the tooth tissue. Fluorescence image data is obtained from the fluorescent emission. Back-scattered reflectance image data is obtained from back-scattered light from the tooth tissue. The fluorescence and back-scattered reflectance image data are combined to form an enhanced image of the tooth tissue for caries detection.
US08345941B2	Biological imaging device Optical waveguide paths to observe a sample on a sample holder from a plurality of directions while guiding an image of light in each direction which is emitted out of the sample toward a direction of a two dimensional detector via a main imaging lens include an optical waveguide path which never receives the light directly from the sample. The optical waveguide path which never receives the light directly from the sample forms an image of the sample within a substantial focus range of the main imaging lens, and includes optical elements arranged such that a light beam after formation of the image proceeds toward a direction of the main imaging lens. Optical elements on at least one optical waveguide path are those for forming real images. Therefore, the main imaging lens images the sample and those real images in block on the two dimensional detector.
US08345940B2	Method and system for automatic processing and evaluation of images, particularly diagnostic images Method for automatic processing and evaluation of images, particularly diagnostic images, comprising an image processing tool in the form of a software program which is executable by the computer hardware and which image processing tool processes image data of a digital input image generating a modified digital output image whose image data are outputted in a graphical and/or alphanumerical format highlighting certain predetermined features or qualities of the corresponding regions of an imaged body or object, characterized in that the image processing tool comprises a first image detecting module which is an image processing module based on image processing non expert algorithms and which furnishes at its output a modified image file which modified image data are further processed by a classification or evaluation module which is a second image processing module comprising an image processing tool consisting in an expert image processing algorithm such as a classification or prediction algorithm the output of which is a further modified image file in which the pixels or voxels are highlighted corresponding to imaged object having a predetermined feature or quality.
US08345936B2	Multispectral iris fusion for enhancement and interoperability A multispectral iris recognition system includes a multispectral camera adapted to acquire spatially registered iris images simultaneously in at least three wavelengths and a database adapted to store the acquired iris images. A texture analysis section identifies an area within each acquired iris image having a maximum texture at each of the wavelengths. The identified areas are combined to generate an enhanced iris image. Additionally, a visible light iris image is acquired and stored along with a set of transformation mappings in a database. The acquired visible light iris image is modeled in a texture model, which clusters textures from the acquired visible light iris image. A mapping is selected from the database for each of the clusters. The selected mappings are applied to the acquired visible light iris image to generate a Near-Infrared equivalent.
US08345933B2	Procedure for identifying a person by eyelash analysis A procedure for identifying a person with a data acquisition device (202) that is configured for capturing the image of their eyelashes (102, 104). The captured image is compared with eyelash images in a database.
US08345930B2	Method for computing food volume in a method for analyzing food A computer-implemented method for estimating a volume of at least one food item on a food plate is disclosed. A first and second plurality of images are received from different positions above a food plate, wherein angular spacing between the positions of the first plurality of images is greater than angular spacing between the positions of the second plurality of images. A first set of poses of each of the first plurality of images is estimated. A second set of poses of each of the second plurality of images is estimated based on at least the first set of poses. A pair of images taken from each of the first and second plurality of images is rectified based on at least the first and second set of poses. A 3D point cloud is reconstructed based on at least the rectified pair of images. At least one surface of the at least one food item above the food plate is estimated based on at least the reconstructed 3D point cloud. The volume of the at least one food item is estimated based on the at least one surface.
US08345928B2	Localizing a surveying instrument in relation to a ground mark A method is disclosed for localizing, in relation to a mark located at a ground level, a surveying instrument having a housing including at least one camera. In at least one embodiment, the method includes aligning the vertical rotational axis of the surveying instrument with the mark using a pointing device; capturing an image of the ground below the housing with the camera arranged in a known camera position and orientation, wherein the camera position is eccentric to the rotation center of the surveying instrument; identifying an object point corresponding to the mark in the captured image; measuring image coordinates of the object point in the captured image; and determining the height of the rotation center of said instrument above the ground based on the image coordinates and camera calibration data. Furthermore, a surveying instrument for performing at least one embodiment of the method is disclosed.
US08345927B2	Registration processing apparatus, registration method, and storage medium A registration processing apparatus generates a polynomial to calculate a value corresponding to a distance from the surface of a target object in a first image, and acquires a plurality of position coordinates on the surface of the target object in a second image. Then the apparatus respectively calculates a value corresponding to the distance from the surface of the target object in the first image using the polynomial, for position coordinates obtained by coordinate conversion of the plurality of position coordinates. The apparatus coordinate-converts the position coordinates of the second image by a coordinate conversion method for the plurality of position coordinates determined based on the calculated values.
US08345926B2	Three dimensional scanning arrangement including dynamic updating A three dimensional machine scanning arrangement for a machine traveling over a worksite includes a pair of scanners that are mounted on the machine. Each of the pair of scanners measures distances to a number of points on the ground at the worksite. One of the pair of scanners faces rearward and the other of the pair of scanners is faces forward. A control is responsive to the pair of scanners. The control determines the contour of the worksite. A display, mounted on the machine, is responsive to the control for displaying the contour of the worksite.
US08345918B2	Active subject privacy imaging A method of surveilling a subject including a person's body may include or an imaging system may provide interrogating the subject with electromagnetic radiation, and generating, from the interrogating, image data representative of at least a first image of at least a portion of the person's body. In some examples, a first portion of the body may be identified, and a first feature of the image may be determined based at least partially on the identified portion of the body. In some examples, the orientation of the person's body may be determined from one or more features of one or more image portions. In some examples, a portion of the image of the person's body may be replaced with a substitute image portion that may be a modified portion of the first image.
US08345914B2	Voice coil bobbin and loudspeaker using the same A loudspeaker includes a frame, a magnetic circuit, a voice coil bobbin, and a voice coil. The frame is mounted on a side of the magnetic circuit. The magnetic circuit defines a magnetic gap. The voice coil bobbin is disposed in the magnetic gap. The voice coil is wound around the voice coil bobbin. The voice coil bobbin includes a carbon nanotube layer structure. The carbon nanotube layer structure includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.
US08345910B2	Microphone devices and methods for tuning microphone devices The present invention relates generally to microphone devices useful, for example, in hearing aid devices. The present invention relates more particularly to tunable microphone devices, and methods used to tune them. One aspect of the present invention is a microphone device that includes at least one microphone element. Each microphone element comprises a diaphragm suspended by a substrate; a solid electrolyte disposed on the diaphragm; an anode electrically coupled to the solid electrolyte; and a cathode electrically coupled to the solid electrolyte. The solid electrolyte is disposed between the anode and the cathode, such that ions flowing from the anode to the cathode travel through the solid electrolyte and electrons can flow in the opposite direction.
US08345902B2	Hearing aid with means for decorrelating input and output signals A hearing aid includes a microphone for converting sound into an audio input signal, a hearing loss processor configured for processing the audio input signal or a signal derived from the audio input signal in accordance with a hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid, a synthesizer configured for generation of a synthesized signal based at least on a sound model and the audio input signal, the synthesizer comprising a noise generator configured for excitation of the sound model for generation of the synthesized signal including synthesized vowels, and a receiver for generating an output sound signal based at least on the synthesized signal.
US08345896B2	Thermoacoustic device A thermoacoustic device includes a thermoacoustic module, a first protection component, a second protection component, and an infrared-reflective film. The thermoacoustic module includes a sound wave generator, at least one first electrode and at least one second electrode. The at least one first electrode and the at least one second electrode are electrically connected to the sound wave generator. The sound wave generator includes a carbon nanotube structure, and the first and second protection components are located on opposite sides of the sound wave generator. The infrared-reflective film is located on the first protection component.
US08345894B2	Impedance converter for microphone and microphone Vacuum tubes that receive output signals from microphone units through grids and with which the signals are output as outputs from cathode followers; FETs in cascade connection with the corresponding vacuum tubes and that define currents flowing in the vacuum tubes; and bias circuits that apply a bias voltage to the grids of the corresponding vacuum tubes are included. Pairs of such vacuum tubes, FETs, and fixed bias circuits are each symmetrically connected so that a balanced signal can be output from two cathode followers, and an adjuster is provided between the pair of fixed bias circuits, the adjuster adjusts currents flowing in the pair of vacuum tubes to achieve a balanced output.
US08345892B2	Front surround sound reproduction system using beam forming speaker array and surround sound reproduction method thereof A front surround sound reproduction system using a speaker array, a front surround sound reproduction system to perform stereo localization using a beam forming speaker array, and a surround sound reproduction method thereof. A front surround sound reproduction apparatus using a plurality of speakers includes a first signal processing unit to adjust a frequency characteristic of each first and second channel signal and to output the adjusted signals to left and right speakers assigned according to a frequency band, a second signal processing unit to generate a plurality of channel signals by copying the first and second channel signals, to adjust a signal characteristic of each of the plurality of channel signals, and to output the adjusted signals to a speaker array in the center, and a speaker unit having a plurality of speakers to reproduce the signals output from the first signal processing unit and the second signal processing unit.
US08345882B2	Method for safeguarding data traffic between a first terminal and a first network and a second terminal and a second network To safeguard data transmission, a first terminal communicates in a first network with the aid of at least one session key and a second terminal communicates in a second network with the aid of at least one session key. The first terminal is connected to the second terminal through a local interface. In the first terminal, at least one first session key is determined and at least one second session key is derived from the first session keys. At least one second session key is transmitted to the second terminal through the local interface by a safety protocol. The second terminal is authenticated to the second network by at least one second session key or by the key derived from the second session key(s) through an authentication protocol.
US08345878B2	Method for distributing cryptographic keys in a communication network A method for generating one or more cryptographic keys between users A and B, in which A generates a public value sensitive to a MIM attack and decomposes it into m segments of redundancy o, and transmits this concatenated information with a reference message Na over the network via k routing paths and vice versa for B, A and B regenerate the common secret by recalculating the inverse transform of all the combinations of o segments and by choosing the value that is statistically most represented, gab˜ for A, and g˜ab for B, A sends a verification message corresponding to Nb from B encrypted with gab˜ and sends it to the party B, B decrypts the message from A with g˜ab and checks consistency with Nb, then refers to the acknowledgment message in the same way: {Na} g˜ab to validate the common secret between the two entities.
US08345877B2	Key management system In a transmitter, data is encrypted by use of a data key, the data key is encrypted based on a first modification key, and the first modification key is encrypted based on a second modification key such that the first and second modification keys are different keys. The encrypted data, the encrypted data key, and the encrypted first modification key are transmitted to a receiver. In the receiver, the encrypted first modification key, the encrypted data key, and the encrypted data are received from the transmitter. The encrypted first modification key is decrypted based on the second modification key, the encrypted data key is decrypted based on the decrypted first modification key, and the encrypted data is decrypted by use of the decrypted data key.
US08345876B1	Encryption/decryption system and method A method of encrypting a plain text message that is m characters in length is described. A one off random key having a length of m characters is generated. The random key uses a character set and modulus that is compatible with the plain text message. A first substitution encryption of the plain text message is performed using the generated random key. A string of random fill characters that is f characters in length, f being a number between zero and infinity is generated. The generated random key and the string of random fill characters is concatenated to the encrypted plain text message to generate an encrypted message string. The encrypted message string has a length 2m+f. The encrypted message string is transmitted to a receiver.
US08345875B2	System and method of creating and sending broadcast and multicast data A method of encrypting broadcast and multicast data communicated between two or more parties, each party having knowledge of a shared key, is provided. The key is calculated using values, some of which are communicated between the parties, so that the shared key is not itself transferred. Avoiding the transfer of the key offers several advantages over existing encryption methods.
US08345874B2	Method and system for providing users with information relating to a position The invention relates to a system for providing information to a user, comprising: a first database; a first module configured to receive information to be entered in said first database from an information provider, said information including at least data representative of a plurality of geographical codes and data representative of at least one categorical code; a second module configured to receive an information request from a user, said information request including at least data representative of a geographical position and data representative of a categorical preference; and a third module configured to enter information received by said first module in said first database, and to search said first database based on requests received by said second module, retrieve entries where a geographical code corresponds with said geographical position and a categorical code corresponds with said categorical preference, and transmit a presentation of retrieved entries to said user.
US08345872B2	Digital local network, notably digital home network, and method for creating and updating such a network The local digital network comprises: access devices (1), for receiving data originating from outside the network and transmitting them at a point of the network; and presentation devices (2,3) for receiving the data flowing in the network and presenting them at a point of the network. The data flow in the network in encrypted form and all the devices of the network use a single key, the local key of the network, for the encryption and decryption of the data. Preferably, the local key of the network is formed by a pair of public and private keys. The purpose of this network is to make it possible to copy data in the local network whilst preventing pirate copies destined for other local networks.
US08345866B2	Secure data transfer on a handheld communications device A handheld communications device comprises a display device, and a data processor that is in communication with the display device. The data processor is configured to generate an encryption key, and vary a visual output of the display device in accordance with a bit sequence of the encryption key. The varying visual output comprises a sequence of colors rendered on the display device and/or brightness levels output by the display device.
US08345864B1	Elliptic curve cryptography scalar multiplication with on demand acceleration table generation An improved technique involves dynamic generation of at least a portion of an acceleration table for use in elliptic curve cryptography. Such dynamic generation is capable of providing savings with regard to carrying out elliptic curve cryptography without an acceleration table. Furthermore, once the portion of the acceleration table is dynamically generated and stored (e.g., in a high speed cache), the portion of the acceleration table is capable of being used on subsequent elliptic curve cryptography operations as well thus enabling the cost of dynamically generating the acceleration table to be amortized across multiple elliptic curve cryptography operations.
US08345862B2	Method of sharing a strong secret between two parties, one of whom has little processing power The invention relates to a method of sharing a strong secret F between two parties (A, B) previously sharing a weak secret F, this method of sharing combining a symmetric algorithm and an asymmetric algorithm, and consisting in using a fixed exponent e of small size, and in encrypting not the exponent e, but the modulus n, by means of the weak secret f.
US08345858B2	Adaptive, context-driven telephone number dialing A technique is disclosed that enables a context-driven, adaptive technique for generating a list of telephone numbers. The technique of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention seeks to dynamically anticipate what telephone numbers a user might want to dial—even before the user knows—and presents the names of the parties and their telephone numbers to the user at his or her terminal. In particular, the technique monitors a user, the user's locale, and one or more terminals in that locale; selects one or more telephone numbers from a master set of numbers, based on the monitored information; and presents the selected numbers to the user—for example, in the form of a speed-dial list or a one-touch dial list. The user can then examine the presented telephone numbers and decide if he or she wants to call one of them. The technique can be implemented at the user's computer, telephone, private branch exchange, or other device in the relevant telecommunications system.
US08345856B1	Method for estimation impact of calls in dialer for predictive dialing A method for determining a number of calls to generate in an automated contact center, wherein the automated contact center comprises a dialer for dialing generated calls and an agent pool where successfully connected dialed calls are handled by agents. The method collects empirical data on durations in which calls spend in the dialer and agent handling times. The collected data is used to generate discrete density or discrete distribution functions. Using the discrete density or distribution functions, an individual impact is calculated for each call presently in the dialer. The method uses the individual impacts to calculate a dialer impact, which is used to predict a future agent occupancy. Based upon the prediction, a number of calls to generate is determined. Calls are generated based upon the number of calls to generate.
US08345855B2	Method, device and program for calculating number of necessary agents The optimum number of agents necessary for contact-center jobs is dynamically calculated in accordance with actual operations. A method of making the same controllable and a computer program to realize such calculation and method are provided. A necessary number-of-people calculating means (4) theoretically calculates the necessary number of people in response to the number of calls varying from time to time and average handling time (“AHT”) for agents by using the well known Erlang C equation. Further, an operation-rate adjusting means (6) adjusts such theoretically calculated data of the necessary number of people by using a predicted operation data based on managers' practically experienced data and a control means (9) provides the calculated result to an output means (7).
US08345853B2	Method for processing an incoming call A method for processing an incoming call, includes: an accessing call mark being preset in a called terminal; the called terminal, on receiving a call initiated by a calling party, determining whether the call contains the accessing call mark of the called terminal; if the call contains the accessing call mark of the called terminal, the called terminal putting through the call; otherwise, the called terminal terminating the call. The invention may solve the problems caused by various methods used in the prior art to avoid being disturbed by phone calls, such as missing important calls, extra service fee, partial protection against harassing telephone calls, and etc. The solution may ensure that the called user will not be disturbed by unimportant calls or harassing calls when the called user does not want to be disturbed, while ensuring that the called user will not miss any important call.
US08345852B2	System to estimate best time to contact a contact center In one embodiment, a method includes obtaining a call from a caller, and determining whether to offer a first callback time to the caller. The first callback time is a future time for a contact between the caller and the call center. The method also includes providing the first callback time to the caller, obtaining a response from the caller, and scheduling the contact at the first callback time if the response indicates that the caller desires a contact at the first callback time. Providing the first callback time to the caller includes soliciting the response from the caller which indicates whether the caller desires the contact at the first callback time.
US08345850B2	System and method for detecting three-way call attempts Embodiments of this disclosure include methods in which a three-way call attempt is detected. Methods include monitoring the active communications of a telephone management system for pulses of energy indicative of a three-way call. A Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is computed for each pulse of energy with time domain characteristics consistent with a click. Phases of each component for the pulse are also analyzed. If the phases are generally linear (i.e., if the phases have a common group delay or phase delay), then the pulse is a three-way call click and appropriate action (e.g., monitoring the call, terminating the call, warning the caller, etc.) is initiated.
US08345848B1	Multi-channel telephony Techniques for providing multi-channel telephony are described herein. In different aspects, a multi-channel telephony apparatus may include a sound interface configured to process a multi-channel sound signal including at least one of causing speakers to emit multi-channel sound or receiving multi-channel sound from microphones and a network interface configured to transmit the multi-channel sound signal from the sound interface to one or more communication lines of a telephone network. In some aspects, a dialer may be configured with the network interface to establish a connection with the telephone network.
US08345847B2	System and method for call hibernation A call hibernation method may include releasing resources allocated to a first call between a calling party and a called party in response to a hibernate message from the called party. The hibernate message may indicate to hibernate the first call, and/or the hibernate message may include reestablishment information for reestablishing communication between the calling party and the called party. A second call may be established between the calling party and the called party in response to a deactivate-hibernated message from the called party. The deactivate-hibernated message may indicate the called party desires to reestablish communication with the calling party, and/or the deactivate-hibernated message may include at least a portion of the reestablishment information.
US08345846B2	Gate intercom with a wireless telephony interface The present invention is directed to a telephony communication interface device. The device includes a communication transceiver configured to communicate with a remote system via a predetermined communication channel. A control circuit is coupled to the communication transceiver. The control circuit is configured to determine a device operating mode status based on communication transceiver activity. The device operating mode status includes a telephonic communications mode and a remote system communications mode. An interface circuit is coupled to at least one telephone set. The interface circuit is configured to propagate voice telephony signals between the at least one telephone set and a telephony network in a telephonic communications mode and propagate voice intercom signals between the at least one telephone set and the communication transceiver in the remote system communications mode.
US08345845B2	Public communications intercom system An improved public intercom system is described which has a sealed enclosure including an extruded chassis having a front wall and a rear wall. The front wall has an interface panel and a viewing panel mounted within cutouts. A plurality of axially aligned module cover plates supporting system components are mounted over cutouts in the rear wall. The interface includes a speaker, a microphone, a call initiation means, and a camera positioned to acquire images of the area in front of the interface panel. One of the cover plates including an outer surface with heat dissipation protrusions, with a blower located on said rear wall being oriented to direct air across the protrusions to extract heat from the chassis interior. A two-way communication means is mounted on a module plate and programmed to initiate a call to a pre-programmed receiver responsive to a command from the call initiation means.
US08345844B2	Caller ID call memo system A system and method of saving and delivering a voice memo or text memo to identify incoming calls is provided. A user of the system of the invention is given the option of recording a memo on the calls he or she has received through a prompt on a telecommunication device. The user can choose to record a voice memo or text memo after each call. The memos are saved in connection with caller id information pertaining to the number from which the call was placed. When a user of the system receives a call from a number that has a memo saved in relation thereto, the user will be prompted to hear, and may listen to, the voice memo before answering the call. If the memo is in text form, the user can configure the system to provide various processing options. In one processing option, a text to speech audio presentation of the text of the memo is made available to permit the message to be heard over a telephone or networked audio capable PDA device. In other processing options, the user has the text of the message sent to the user's PC or emailed or sent by instant message to the user's PDA device.
US08345842B2	System, method, and computer-readable storage medium for telecom billing outsourcing A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium for outsourcing telecom billing are disclosed for issuing one or more first billing statements and one or more second billing statements from a first telecom network; and transmitting at least the one or more first billing statements to a second telecom network. The one or more first billing statements may reflect one or more charges from the first telecom network to the second telecom network, and the one or more second billing statements may reflect one or more charges from the second telecom network to one or more customers thereof. The one or more charges of the first and second billing statements may reflect the same service(s).
US08345841B2	Subscriber partitioning in a charging system A charging device (100) and method (600) are described herein that can segment subscribers on a service class level and then can further segment those subscribers on an account level by using a service offerings parameter (105). The subscribers use communication services such as circuit switched voice, SMS, MMS and/or GPRS.
US08345838B2	Universal linking gateway between telephonic devices A universal linking gateway interfaces between a local network of one or more local phones, such as analog phones or PBX phones, a plurality of cell phones and multiple service lines, including a public switched telephone network. Implementation of industry standard protocols such as hookflash signals enable a simplistic local phone to access enhanced calling features including answering calls on multiple service lines, to select and make calls on any desired service line as well as handle simultaneous calls on either an active service line or multiple service lines. Further, the gateway interfaces between a variety of other telephonic devices including PSTN, VoIP, and telephonic intercoms. Wireless communications are controlled by the gateway for proper pairing management.
US08345833B1	Methods and systems for telephony call completion The present invention is directed to processing calls to busy telecommunications lines. In one embodiment, the presence of a subscriber accessing a computer network over a first telephone line via a first computer terminal is detected, wherein the subscriber also has a first telephone station connected to the first line. When a caller calls the first line and the first line is busy, the call is forwarded to a second telephone line associated with a call manager system. The call manager system determines when the subscriber is no longer accessing the computer network. At least partly in response to determining that the subscriber is no longer accessing the computer network, the call manager system transmits a text message to the caller, the message including the subscriber's phone number. The caller can then call back the first line using the transmitted phone number.
US08345832B2	Enhanced voicemail usage through automatic voicemail preview Textual preview of a voicemail is generated and provided through email or similar media to users along with the audio version. Transcription of the textual version, as well as additional capabilities such as actionable terms, playback-jump, switching between text and audio versions, direct or metadata based searchability, and enhanced response capabilities are provided based on contextual data obtained from voicemail metadata and user associated data stores such as contact list, email history.
US08345830B2	Method and apparatus for voice interactive messaging An audio indication of a recipient for a message is received, the message to be sent by a user to the recipient. An electronic database is searched for the recipient. When the recipient is found in the electronic database, information is determined from the electronic database concerning the recipient. An audio prompt is formed including at least some of the information concerning the recipient that was obtained from the electronic database.
US08345829B2	Authentication of a user to a telephonic communication device The invention provides a method, system, and program product for authenticating a user to a telephonic communication device. In one embodiment, the invention includes obtaining a reference sample of an authorized user's voice, storing the reference sample of the authorized user's voice, collecting a sample of the voice of a user of the telephonic communication device, comparing the sample of the voice of the user to the reference sample of the authorized user's voice, determining whether the user is the authorized user, and in the case that the user is determined not to be the authorized user, prohibiting use of the telephonic communication device.
US08345827B2	Sign language public addressing and emergency system A public addressing and emergency system has a person or message signal generator for generating a message whose contents comprise at least one of a sign language message, a voice message, and a text message and a transmitting system for transmitting the message signal to at least one of a mobile unit and at least one fixed display unit in at least one location. The message signal transmitting system is bi-directional enabling bi-directional message communication and may include a device such as a splitter for generating multiple signals and/or a device such as a booster for increasing or maintaining the power of the signals. The public addressing system can be independent, or tied in with internal processing of commercial entities and their electronic displays to present advertising and educating the public about the emergency system.
US08345824B2	X-ray metering apparatus, and X-ray metering method An X-ray waveform is generated by validating detection data corresponding to when an X-ray (4) is generated at a collision point (9) among X-ray detection data and invalidating other data. For example, when laser light (3) is pulse laser light and an electron beam (1) is a continuous electron beam or a pulse-like electron beam having a pulse width equal to or greater than that of the pulse laser light, the X-ray waveform is generated by detecting the laser light (3) and multiplying the X-ray detection data by laser light detection data after making time axes coincident with respect to the collision point (9).
US08345823B2	X-ray image diagnosing apparatus, and controlling method of X-ray image diagnosing apparatus An X-ray image diagnosing apparatus has a radiating unit, a placement unit, a detecting unit, a supporting unit, a moving control unit, an obtaining unit, a calculating unit, and a frame rate control unit. The placement unit is placeable an object. The supporting unit supports the radiating unit and the detecting unit in opposing relationship across the placement unit. The moving control unit relatively moves the supporting unit and the object on a longwise direction of the placement unit so as to perform an X-ray imaging at different imaging positions along the longwise direction. The obtaining unit obtains X-ray image by performing the X-ray imaging. The calculating unit calculates blood-vessel data on the basis of the X-ray image and calculates a frame rate on the basis of the blood-vessel data. The frame rate control unit configured to change the frame rate on the X-ray imaging.
US08345820B2	Radiographic image capturing apparatus and radiographic image capturing method A radiographic image capturing apparatus includes a radiation source device housing therein a radiation source for outputting a radiation, a cassette housing therein a radiation detector for detecting the radiation which is transmitted through a subject when the subject is irradiated with the radiation by the radiation source, and converting the detected radiation into a radiographic image, and a joining mechanism for selectively integrally joining the radiation source device and the cassette to each other and separating the radiation source device and the cassette from each other when the radiation source outputs the radiation.
US08345819B2	Top-down X-ray inspection trailer A system and method for inspecting a vehicle by means of one or more sources and detectors of penetrating radiation. The source(s) and detector(s) are carried on a mobile conveyance and deployed at a point of operation. One source swings away from the conveyance on a deployable member, such as a boom, such that the source can irradiate a vehicle from above or below. A detector deploys outwardly from the mobile conveyance, remaining mechanically coupled to the mobile conveyance in a position in a horizontal plane, such that the detector intercepts penetrating radiation from the source positioned above the inspected vehicle, which penetrating radiation has interacted with the inspected vehicle. A ramp may be provided to allow the inspected vehicle to be driven to a position between the vertically irradiating source and a transmission detector.
US08345817B2	Apparatus and method for non-rotational computer tomography A multi-dimensional representation of an object is obtained in that first and second pictures of the object illuminated using an X-ray source are created using a sensor that is located, in relation to the X-ray source, behind the object in a preferential direction defined by the relative positions of the object and of the sensor. A distance in the preferential direction between the X-ray source and the object is different in the first picture than in the second picture. The multi-dimensional representation of the object is obtained by combining the first and second pictures.
US08345811B2	Digital radio processor architecture with reduced DCO modulation range requirement A method of achieving reduced modulation range requirement in a Digitally Controlled Oscillator (DCO) which is deployed as part of a DRP (Digital Radio Processor) and tuned to a tuning frequency range having operating-channel center-frequencies, wherein phase difference between consecutive samples is termed as FCW (Frequency Control Word), uses the steps of digitally modifying and limiting the FCW so that the FCW does not exceed known FCW thresholds, e.g., chosen from π/2, π/4, π/8, and redistributing the FCWs while maintaining a cumulative sum of phases and without significant EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) degradation. The FCW threshold can be chosen arbitrarily and need not be in the form of π/2n. The method uses a FCW limiting algorithm which reduces supply voltage sensitivity of the DCO and enables significant reduction in area of capacitor bank which would be otherwise needed.
US08345809B2	Receiver apparatus for receiving a multicarrier signal In time varying OFDM systems, the effect of a non-ideal time synchronization may lead to a poor performance in terms of decoded average bit error rate versus the signal-to-noise ratio. The receiver apparatus (3) of the transmission system (1) estimates a subcarrier-dependent channel frequency response and determines an intercarrier interference spreading on the basis of a cyclic shift in symbols carried by the subcarriers. Therewith, an intercarrier interference included in an OFDM signal can be canceled, even in case of a non-ideal time synchronization.
US08345805B2	Receiving circuit A receiving circuit includes a frame memory to store received data of one frame, a de-rate matching circuit to generate data before encoding by reading the received data from the frame memory and performing de-rate matching in a reverse manner to rate matching performed on the received data at a transmitting end, and a TTI memory to store the data before encoding.
US08345799B2	Channel estimating method and channel estimator There is provided a channel estimating method of performing frequency conversion by a first fast Fourier transformation on a reception signal and extracting a desired signal after demodulating the reception signal, and deriving electrical energy against time delay of a channel by inverse fast Fourier transformation of the extracted result, wherein: values of a low pass filter, having an output from oversampling the input to the first fast Fourier transformation, are thinned by a plurality of thinning circuits with the same synchronization and different discrete times, and based on the outputs of the plurality of thinning circuits, the electrical energy against time delay related to the reception signal arrival time position is derived by respectively performing the first fast Fourier transformation and the inverse fast Fourier transformation.
US08345796B2	Communication system and method for improving efficiency and linearity A communication system and method is provided that modifies a signal for transmission at a transmitter to reduce peaks associated with the signal. The signal can be modified employing signal shaping, signal clipping, signal decomposition or other techniques to remove peaks associated with the signal. The communication system can also correct the modified signal at a receiver to reconstruct the originally wanted signal.
US08345795B1	System and method of beamforming with reduced feedback A system and method of beamforming may reduce feedback requirements. In some implementations, a beamforming technique may employ a diagonal matrix as a beamforming matrix along with a stream-to-transmit antenna mapping matrix. In some antenna phase beamforming strategies, a diagonal beamforming matrix in which the diagonal elements have a constant magnitude may be employed. Accordingly, a beamforming system may be utilized with few feedback information bits being transmitted from the beamformee; such a system may also minimize or eliminate power fluctuations among multiple transmit antennae.
US08345789B2	Method and systems for receiving plural information flows in a MIMO system In a communication system, such as a Multiple Input Multiple Output system operating in a spatial multiplexing mode, for use, e.g., in a WLAN or HSPDA device, a plurality of information flows are received via a set of receive antennas by deriving from at least some, and possibly all, of the receive antennas, respective RF signals, and producing from the RF signals thus derived, a plurality of receive signals, each receive signal to be demodulated to recover one of the information flows transmitted. The receive signals are produced as combinations of the RF signals having applied thereto relative RF phase shift weights.
US08345786B2	Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving preamble signal and estimating channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing communication systems using multiple input multiple output scheme A signal reception apparatus of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system using a multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) scheme. The signal reception apparatus, when it uses the NR receive antennas, receives a time-domain preamble signal transmitted by a signal transmission apparatus corresponding thereto via each of the NR receive antennas, and estimates a channel according to a channel estimation scheme using the time-domain preamble signal received via each of the NR receive antennas. When the signal transmission apparatus uses NT transmit antennas, the time-domain preamble signal is a signal transmitted by the signal transmission apparatus via each of the NT transmit antennas for a second time period which is set according to a corresponding transmit antenna within a first time period.
US08345785B2	Wireless data communication system and wireless data communication method In MIMO transmission between M transmission antennas and N reception antennas, a transmission signal vector is set as a vector having 2M elements comprising in-phase components and quadrature components of M complex signals, a reception signal vector is set as a vector having 2N elements comprising in-phase components and quadrature components of N complex signals, and a transfer matrix is set as a real matrix comprising 2N rows and 2M columns. Then, a transfer matrix containing IQ mismatch is obtained based on a training signal, thereby executing MIMO encoding and decoding. For learning of the transfer matrix, a training signal which has two linearly-independent signal points on a constellation for each of the transmission antennas is used. With such an arrangement, in MIMO transmission, IQ mismatch in a quadrature modulator and a quadrature demodulator can be compensated and a bit error rate can be improved.
US08345784B2	Reduced-complexity equalization with sphere decoding Techniques for spherical decision-feedback sequence estimation are disclosed. A received signal is equalized by forming a trellis comprising a plurality of stages, each stage corresponding to a symbol time and comprising a plurality of nodes, each having a node state. A most likely received symbol sequence is identified by evaluating cumulative state metrics for the nodes according to MLSE or DFSE criteria. The trellis is formed by selecting a set of fan-out branches for each node by identifying, of all possible state transition branches from the node to successor nodes in the succeeding stage, those state transition branches that have a spherical branch metric less than a pre-determined metric limit, and determining the cumulative state metric for each node as a function of the cumulative state metrics for predecessor nodes in the preceding stage and the spherical branch metrics for fan-out branches connecting the predecessor nodes to the node.
US08345783B1	Phase tracking system and method Phase tracking in an OFDM symbol comprises determining a sufficient statistic for CFO and SFO estimation from a differential metric between a current OFDM symbol and a previous OFDM symbol transmitted on the same frequency band. The sufficient statistics corresponding to positive pilot tones are combined with those corresponding to negative pilot tones to estimate the CFO and SFO.
US08345782B2	Method and apparatus for channel estimation The invention relates to DVB-T system, and in particular, to a channel estimation method for OFDM symbols. A plurality of symbols are received to generate a pilot response. A finite impulse response is generated from the pilot response. A coefficient table is selected based on the characteristics of the finite impulse response. The channel is estimated by interpolating the pilot response based on the coefficient table.
US08345776B2	System and method of error control for video coding A system and method for video coding include an encoder and decoder. The encoder/decoder respectively include a base layer encoding/decoding apparatus, at least one enhancement layer encoding/decoding apparatus, and an encoder/decoder drift control apparatus. The encoder drift control apparatus is configured to determine the amount of local error drift for the encoder according to local information of the base layer encoding apparatus and the enhancement layer encoding apparatus and control the value of an encoder leaky factor according to the amount of error drift. The decoder drift control apparatus is configured to determine the amount of local error drift for the decoder according to local information of the base layer decoding apparatus and the enhancement layer decoding apparatus and control a decoder leaky factor according to the amount of error drift.
US08345771B2	Image coding and decoding method and apparatus considering human visual characteristics An image coding method and apparatus considering human visual characteristics are provided. The image coding method comprises (a) modeling image quality distribution of an input image in units of scenes such that the quality of an image input in units of scenes is gradually lowered from a region of interest to a background region, (b) determining a quantization parameter of each region constituting one scene according to the result of modeling of image quality distribution, (c) quantizing image data in accordance with the quantization parameter, and (d) coding entropy of the quantized image data.
US08345763B2	Motion compensation method and integrated circuit utilizing the same An integrated circuit capable of motion compensation and a method thereof. The integrated circuit includes a partition unit and a motion compensation unit. The partition unit receives a video block having a predetermined block dimension, and partitions the video block into sub-blocks with a sub-block dimension less than the predetermined block dimension when the video block is on a frame boundary of a video frame. The motion compensation unit, coupled to the partition unit, performs motion compensation on the sub-blocks.
US08345762B2	Method for deriving coding information for high resolution pictures from low resolution pictures and coding and decoding devices implementing said method The invention relates to spatially scalable encoding and decoding processes using a method for deriving coding information. More particularly, it relates to a method for deriving coding information for high resolution pictures from the coding information of low resolution pictures. The method mainly comprises the following steps: Computing geometrical parameters characterizing the position of said high layer macroblock relatively to the corresponding base layer macroblocks and deriving from these parameters a macroblock class; Deriving a partition and possibly sub-partitions for each partition of said high layer macroblock from corresponding base layer macroblocks partition and sub-partitions on the basis of the geometrical parameters and HL MB class; and Deriving motion information for said high layer macroblock from motion information of corresponding base layer macroblocks.
US08345759B2	Motion vector encoding device and decoding device A prediction error generating unit generates a predictive vector from the motion vectors of a plurality of adjacent blocks, and obtains a difference from a target vector. A plurality of variable-length coding units respectively encode the output of the prediction error generating unit with different encoding methods. A determining unit estimates the accuracy of the predictive vector generated by the prediction error generating unit based on the degrees of non-uniformity of the motion vectors of the plurality of adjacent blocks. A selecting unit selects one of the encoding results obtained by the plurality of variable-length coding units.
US08345755B2	Inter-layer prediction method for video signal The present invention relates to a method for using interlaced video signal of a base layer in interlayer texture prediction. The present method constructs a pair of frame macro blocks from vertically-adjacent two field macro blocks pertaining to interlaced video signal of a base layer, separates video signal containing the pair of frame macro blocks into even-field and odd-field components, interpolates the even-field and the odd-field components respectively in vertical and/or horizontal direction, and constructs a combined video data by interleaving the interpolated even-field and odd-field components.
US08345753B2	Method, medium, and system visually compressing image data A method, medium, and system compressing and/or reconstructing image data. The data compression method includes compressing current data according to a plurality of modes for compressing current data, determining whether the current data compressed according to the plurality of modes can be represented by a fixed length of bits, selecting a mode from among modes in which the compressed current data can be represented by the fixed length of bits, and outputting the compressed current data according to the selected mode. Accordingly, it is possible to significantly lower the complexity of an image encoder/decoder system, and exactly meet a picture-based Control Bit Rate (CBR) suitable for a Liquid Crystal Display Dynamic Capacitance Compensation (LCD DCC) device/system.
US08345751B2	Method and system for encoding a 3D video signal, enclosed 3D video signal, method and system for decoder for a 3D video signal In a method for encoding and an encoder for a 3D video signal, center view frames, a depth map for center view frames and an occlusion data frame are encoded. On the basis of the depth map for the center view frame a distinction is made between functional and non-functional data in an occlusion data frame. This allows a strong reduction in bits needed for the encoded occlusion data frame. In the decoder a combined data stream is made of functional data in the encoded occlusion data frames and the center view frames. Preferably the center view frames are used as reference frames in encoding the occlusion data frames.
US08345750B2	Scene change detection Scene change detection in encoding digital pictures is disclosed. A statistical quantity μM is calculated for a given section in a current picture. A window of one or more sections is defined around a co-located section in a previous picture. A statistical sum E is calculated over the sections in the window. A difference between the statistical sum E and the statistical quantity μM is calculated. The difference between E and μM is used to determine whether the given section is a scene-change section. Whether the current picture is a scene-change picture may be determined from the number of scene change sections. Information indicating whether or not the current picture is a scene-change picture may be stored or transferred.
US08345748B2	Image encoding and decoding apparatus and method An image encoding and decoding apparatus and method, the image encoding and decoding apparatus includes: an encoding unit adjusting at least one weight value adaptively to the number of bits expressing each pixel of a current image, predicting a pixel value of a block of interest by performing an operation on a pixel value of at least one block having a pixel value similar to the pixel value of the block of interest among blocks included in a previous image and the at least one adjusted weight value, and encoding the pixel value of the block of interest using the predicted pixel value of the block of interest; and a decoding unit adjusting the at least one weight value adaptively to the number of bits, restoring the predicted pixel value of the block of interest by performing an operation on the pixel value of the at least one block having the pixel value similar to the pixel value of the block of interest among blocks included in the restored previous image and the at least one adjusted weight value, and decoding the pixel value of the block of interest using the restored pixel value, wherein the previous image refers to an image displayed prior to a current image, and the block of interest is a target block of interest among blocks belonging to the current image.
US08345746B2	Video quantizer unit and method thereof A quantizer and method are disclosed.
US08345745B2	Method and apparatus for encoding and/or decoding moving pictures A method of encoding moving pictures using a plurality of quantization matrices. The method involves selecting one of the plurality of quantization matrices in consideration of an at least one characteristics of an input image; transforming the input image; and quantizing the transformed input image using the selected quantization matrix.
US08345736B2	Sampling point detection circuit, transmission system, pre-emphasis intensity adjustment method, logic analyzer, and evaluation method for evaluating transmission path A sampling point detection circuit 1 comprises: means 11 for setting amplitude division lines along a time axis and time division lines along an amplitude axis of an eye diagram; means 12 for calculating a virtual circle that is inscribed in a divided region having the smallest area among divided regions obtained when a region that is defined by segments each connecting intersections of a bit error rate contour line of the eye diagram and the amplitude division line and intersections of the bit error rate contour line and the time division line and that contains an intersection of the amplitude division line and the time division line is divided by the amplitude division line and time division line; and means 13 for determining, as a sampling point, the intersection of the time division line and the amplitude division line that are set when the largest virtual circle among the virtual circles is calculated.
US08345735B2	Modulation and demodulation apparatus using frequency selective baseband and transmission and reception apparatus using the same There is provided a communication method using a human body as a medium. A modulation apparatus using a frequency selective baseband according to an aspect of the invention may include: a serial-to-parallel conversion unit converting serial data supplied from an upper layer into parallel data consisting of M+1 number of data input bits; and a frequency selective spreader selecting one subgroup among a plurality of subgroups obtained by dividing 2N number (where N is a positive integer) of spreading codes used for frequency spreading by 2M (where M is a positive integer, and M
US08345734B2	Time error estimation for data symbols The invention relates to a method and a system for estimating a symbol time error in a broadband transmission system, comprising: - determination a timing error signal of an input-signal of a discrete Fourier-transformation block (5) in a data symbol stream on the basis of intersymbol correlation using a predetermined period in each received symbol, - selecting as a predetermined period a number of samples of different useful data parts of a symbol, - determining the time error value (ε) based on the intersymbol interference of the selected samples of the different parts of said symbol.
US08345733B2	Method and apparatus for equalizing signals A system and apparatus are disclosed for a method and apparatus for equalizing signals. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an equalizer (100) having a channel estimation calculator (102) for calculating a time domain channel estimation from a baseband signal, an FFT processor (104) for translating the time domain channel estimation to a frequency domain channel estimation, a tap weight calculator (106) for calculating a frequency domain tap weight according to the frequency domain channel estimation, an inverse FFT processor (108) for translating the frequency domain tap weight calculation to a time domain tap weight calculation, and a filter (110) for equalizing the baseband signal according to the time domain tap weight calculation.
US08345732B2	Feedback of channel information in a closed loop beamforming wireless communication system A method for feeding back transmitter beamforming information from a receiving wireless communication device to a transmitting wireless communication device includes a receiving wireless communication device receiving a preamble sequence from the transmitting wireless device. The receiving wireless device estimates a channel response based upon the preamble sequence and then determines an estimated transmitter beamforming unitary matrix based upon the channel response and a receiver beamforming unitary matrix. The receiving wireless device then decomposes the estimated transmitter beamforming unitary matrix to produce the transmitter beamforming information and then wirelessly sends the transmitter beamforming information to the transmitting wireless device.
US08345729B2	Radio communication device and response signal diffusion method Provided is a radio communication device which can surely prevent inter-code interference while maintaining the use efficiency of an upstream line control channel and suppress separation characteristic of a response signal. The device includes: a control unit (209) which controls a cyclic shift amount of a ZC sequence used for a primary diffusion in a diffusion unit (214) and a Walsh sequence used for secondary diffusion in a diffusion unit (217) according to a PUCCH number inputted from a judgment unit (208); the diffusion unit (214) which performs primary diffusion of the response signal by the ZC sequence set by the control unit (209); and the diffusion unit (217) which performs secondary diffusion of the response signal by the Walsh sequence set by the control unit (209). The diffusion unit (214) performs primary diffusion of the response signal by using the ZC sequence having such a cyclic shift amount that the guard interval at the both ends of the detection window section is maximum in the ZC sequences having different cyclic shift amounts.
US08345725B2	Hidden Markov Model detection for spread spectrum waveforms Systems (100) and methods (700) for processing a data signal in a communications system. The methods involve generating a first chaotic sequence at a transmitter (102). The methods also involve performing first basis function algorithms using the first chaotic sequence to generate first statistically orthogonal chaotic sequences. At least one sequence is selected from the first statistically orthogonal chaotic sequences for combining with a first data signal. The selected sequence is combined with a second data signal to obtain a modulated chaotic communication signal. The modulated chaotic communication signal is transmitted to a receiver (104). At the receiver, the received modulated chaotic communication signal is processed to obtain data therefrom. Notably, the signal processing generally involves performing a deterministic process (e.g., a Hidden Markov Model deterministic process).
US08345723B2	Gas laser A TE gas laser contains a gas contour with the following elements arranged in succession: a discharge gap formed by two elongated electrodes; a diffuser; a heat exchanger; a cross-flow fan; and an additional converging channel, the inlet opening of which is situated on the discharge side of the fan, while the outlet opening is oriented towards the fan impeller on the intake side of the fan. The proposed technical solution makes it possible to produce a compact TE gas laser with a high pulse repetition rate.
US08345722B2	Method of driving semiconductor laser The present invention provides a method of driving a semiconductor laser, where the method can control changes in the internal temperature of a device as well as control optical output using a driving current. A method of driving a semiconductor laser includes steps of: preliminary driving the semiconductor laser by preliminary activating at a current value larger than a threshold value; de-activating the semiconductor laser, after the step of preliminary driving; and starting a formation of a latent image on a photosensitive drum based on a latent image formation signal, after the step of de-activating.
US08345721B2	Method for driving optical transmitter A method to control an LD (laser diode) is disclosed. The method compares the operating temperature of the LD with a transition temperature. When the former temperature exceeds the latter, the modulation current is set based on the bias current, which is independently determined by the APC loop. On the other hand, the operating temperature is less than the transition temperature; the modulation current is determined by the operating temperature.
US08345720B2	Laser diode ceramic cooler having circuitry for control and feedback of laser diode performance A laser diode package includes a laser diode, a cooler, and control circuitry, such as an integrated circuit. The laser diode is used for converting electrical energy to optical energy. The cooler receives and routes a coolant from a cooling source via internal channels. The cooler includes a plurality of ceramic sheets. The ceramic sheets are fused together. The ceramic sheets include traces or vias that provide electrically conductive paths to the integrated circuit. The control circuitry controls the output of the laser diode, e.g. the output at each of the laser diode's emitters. Multiple laser diode packages are placed together to form an array.
US08345719B2	Wavelength-controlled semiconductor laser device A semiconductor laser device comprising a laser diode with an integrated photodiode, wherein one of the components of the laser diode with the integrated photodiode is also used for heating the laser diode. A simpler design of a wavelength-controlled semiconductor laser is thus obtained.
US08345718B2	Pulse shaper and laser with pulse shaper A pulse shaper for compensating group runtime effects is provided. The pulse shaper comprising a first and a second dispersive element. An optical pulse can be coupled to the pulse shaper along a coupling direction such that said pulse exits from the pulse shaper after passing through the first and the second dispersive element along an exit direction. The first and the second dispersive element are formed and arranged to be movable relative to each other such that the path length to be traversed by the optical pulse through the first and the second dispersive element after coupling to the pulse shaper can be adjusted without any change in an offset between the coupling direction and the exit direction. The first and the second dispersive element are arranged in such a way that the shape of the optical pulse experiences a change as the pulse travels through the pulse shaper.
US08345710B2	FDT for EDDL-based field devices A Field Device Tool (FDT)-based application is provided. The FDT-based application includes at least one communication Device Type Manager (communication DTM) and a router Device Type Manager (DTM). The communication DTM corresponds with a type of communication protocol that an at least one plant asset follows. The communication DTM is configured to provide an interface for communication between the FDT-based application and the communication protocol that the plant asset follows. The router DTM is coupleable to an asset optimization device manager that includes electronic device description language (EDDL), the router DTM is configured to transfer data from the asset optimization device manager to the at least one communication DTM for communication with the plant asset.
US08345705B2	Method and apparatus for conducting analog communication over a data cable A method and apparatus for conducting analog communication are provided. A first set of wires carrying a data signal is coupled to a data network. A second set of wires carrying an analog signal is coupled to an analog communication network. A single connector is coupled to the first and second sets of wires. A port in a communication device is coupled to the connector. The communication device communicates the data signal and the analog signal over the first and second sets of wires respectively. The second set of wires may be separate from the first set. The second set of wires may be a subset of the first set, in which case, a filter filters an incoming analog signal from an incoming signal on the second set of wires. A multiplexer multiplexes an outgoing analog signal with an outgoing data signal on the second set of wires.
US08345702B2	Method and apparatus for flexible interface bypass options in switches A network switching module includes first ports to send and receive packets, and second ports each configured to send and receive packets using a respectively different interface. A mode switch designates a selected port of the second ports in response to an interface control signal. A bypass switch, in response to a bypass mode being activated, connects an additional port to the selected port. A switch core module, in response to the bypass mode not being activated, routes the packets among the first ports, the selected port, and the additional port. A multiplexer, in response to the bypass mode not being activated, connects the additional port and the selected port to the switch core module. The switch core module, in response to the bypass mode being activated, routes the packets only among the first ports.
US08345701B1	Memory system for controlling distribution of packet data across a switch A memory system for ingress processing is arranged to access multiple banks in a time interleaved fashion. Each memory bank has an associated memory bank manager, which is arranged to track the contents and egress ports associated with data stored in the memory bank. Incoming data from ingress traffic is evaluated and segregated based on criteria. One of the memory banks is identified based on the criteria, and the incoming data is stored in the identified memory bank in the next available write cycle timeslot. Data constructs in the memory bank manager are updated to indicate the location and egress port associated with the stored data. The memory bank managers submit egress transmit bids to a master scheduler, which controls access to the memory banks. The memory banks are readout in interleaved fashion such that the effective average traffic arrival rate is increased and memory bandwidth requirements are reduced.
US08345700B2	Embedding of MPLS labels in IP address fields MPLS labels may be inserted in IPv6 source or destination IP address fields, potentially reducing network overhead bandwidth. In one implementation, a network device may receive a packet; determine whether the packet is an ingress packet for a MPLS LSP; determine an MPLS label for the packet when the packet is an ingress packet; insert the MPLS label in a portion of a source IP address field or a destination IP address field of the packet, when the packet is an ingress packet; and output the packet to the LSP.
US08345699B2	System and method for enabling a remote instance of a loop avoidance protocol A system and method which enables a provider network to run a loop detection protocol in a customer network communicably coupled to it. The provider network runs a loop detection protocol and the customer network either runs a different protocol or none. The provider network determines its root bridge, or designated customer bridge, which is used to control loop detection decisions for the customer network. A BPDU or other protocol packet received from the customer network is tunneled through the provider network to the designated customer bridge. The designated customer network then processes the received BPDU in accordance with a loop detection instance for the customer network. The designated customer bridge then produces control messages in response to the processing and forwards those messages to the customer network. The control messages may include port state controls for ports in the customer network.
US08345698B2	Wireless communication subsystem with a digital interface Systems and methods are disclosed which provide wireless communication systems implementing subsystems adapted for flexible deployment configurations and to resist the introduction of interference. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a wireless communication system configuration in which an ODU subsystem is coupled to an IDU subsystem using a fiber optic link. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ODU subsystem is adapted to provide conversion between digital and analog to thereby facilitate the use of a digital link between the ODU subsystem and a corresponding IDU subsystem. Embodiments of the present invention utilize a plurality of ODU subsystems configured according to the present invention to provide wireless communication coverage of a service area, such as to provide a wireless application termination system (WATS) hub for use in providing wireless communication links with respect to a plurality of subscriber units.
US08345697B2	System and method for carrying path information A routing bridge in a Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) domain includes a link coupled to a device in the TRILL domain, and an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) Traffic Engineering (TE) module that receives configuration information from the device, and that determines that data packets received by the routing bridge need to be routed to the device based upon the configuration information. The routing bridge receives a data packet, and routes the data packet to the link in response to the IS-IS TE module determining that the data packet needs to be routed to the device.
US08345691B2	Scheduling with quality of service support in wireless system Systems and methods for scheduling wireless communications of a base station with multiple user mobile stations involve grouping the user mobile stations in clusters based on a predetermined criterion, such as a Quality of Service (QOS) profile of a user mobile station. Each cluster is assigned with a cluster weight factor that defines a priority level of the cluster. For each user mobile station in each cluster, a priority index may be determined based on the cluster weight factor of a respective cluster, and throughput and fairness factors respectively selected to maximize throughput and provide fairness to user mobile stations. The user mobile stations may be served in an order based on their priority indexes.
US08345690B2	Selective combining method and apparatus in a mobile communication system An apparatus and method for performing duplicate avoidance of broadcast data packets in a (UE). The includes receiving a broadcast data packet from a plurality of cells; storing, if a sequence number of the received broadcast data packet does not fall within a reception window, the broadcast data packet in a buffer and updating the reception window based on the sequence number; determining, if the sequence number of the received broadcast data packet falls within the reception window, whether a broadcast data packet having the sequence number has previously been stored in the buffer; discarding the broadcast data packet, if the broadcast data packet has previously been stored in the buffer; and storing the broadcast data packet in the buffer, if the broadcast data packet has not previously been stored in the buffer.
US08345680B2	Handling out-of-sequence packets in a circuit emulation service Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node having a playout buffer including one or more of the following: receiving a first packet, a second packet, a first set of at least one subsequent packet, wherein each packet includes a sequence number (SN); determining that the second packet is not in sequence with the first packet by determining that the SN of the second packet is not equal to the SN of the first packet plus an expected increment value; determining whether the second packet represents a jump in SNs by determining whether the SN of a first subsequent packet is equal to the SN of the second packet plus the expected increment value; and when the second packet represents a jump in SNs, gradually normalizing the playout buffer upon receipt of each subsequent packet.
US08345679B2	Providing session initiation protocol request contents method and system An embodiment provides a user equipment that includes a processor configured to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) NOTIFY message transmitted by a network component as a result of a registration event. The SIP NOTIFY message contains at least a portion of information included in a first SIP message sent between a first user equipment and the network component. Another embodiment provides method and apparatus for a network node to determine whether filter criteria include one or more indicators that specify the need for information, and including in a second SIP message the information specified by the one or more indicators.
US08345675B1	Orderly offlining in a distributed, multi-stage switch fabric architecture A network device having a distributed, multi-stage forwarding architecture uses a two-stage process for planned orderly offlining of switch fabric components. The process includes a prepare stage in which preparations are made from downstream components to upstream components for offlining and new spray weights are calculated but not applied, and a commit stage in which new spray weights are committed and applied to traffic from upstream components to downstream components.
US08345673B1	Physical-layer device (PHY) having a serial interface and a magic packet circuit Apparatus having corresponding methods comprise: a physical-layer input circuit to receive first signals representing first data; a first serializer to transmit a serial stream of the first data; and a magic packet circuit to generate a magic packet signal when the first data includes a magic packet.
US08345670B1	Call transfer determination based on a geographic area served by a communication network A call control system to route a voice over internet protocol call between a wireless communication device and a destination device comprises a communication interface and a processing system, wherein the destination device is located in a geographic area served by a communication network. The communication interface is configured to receive an authorization response from an authorization system located in a home wireless network of the wireless communication device, wherein the authorization response comprises a destination identifier of the destination device and a location identifier of the wireless communication device. The processing system is configured to process the destination identifier and the location identifier to determine if the wireless communication device is located in the geographic area, and if so, the processing system is configured to direct the communication interface to transfer the call over a source port associated with the geographic area served by the communication network.
US08345665B2	Text to speech conversion of text messages from mobile communication devices A method includes providing a user interface, at a mobile communication device, that includes a first area to receive text input and a second area to receive an identifier associated with an addressee device. The text input and the identifier are received via the user interface. A short message service (SMS) message including the text input is transmitted to a Text to Speech (TTS) server for conversion into an audio message and for transmission of the audio message to the addressee device associated with the identifier. An acknowledge message transmitted from the TTS server permits the addressee device to allow delivery of the audio message or to decline delivery of the audio message. The TTS server transmits the audio message in response to the addressee device allowing delivery of the audio message. A confirmation message is received from the TTS server that indicates that a reply voice message has been received from the addressee device in response to the audio message.
US08345660B2	Wireless mesh network controller synchronization A set sleep period is coordinated among a plurality of mesh network nodes to conserve power. A controller is synchronized with an existing wireless mesh network by sending a network synchronization signal from the controller indicating that sleep timing information is lost, and receiving a reply from one or more wireless mesh network nodes within the existing wireless mesh network comprising sleep timing information for the wireless mesh network.
US08345657B2	Method and device of transmitting and parsing data in wireless communication network The present invention provides a method and corresponding device of processing and parsing a to-be-transmitted data packet in a communication network, such as a LTE system. A sub-header that is used for a header portion of a transmitted data packet is generated for each component data packet constituting the transmitted data packet, containing: original data packet ID for indicating an original data packet which the component data packet belongs to; segmentation processing ID for indicating times of segmentation happened to the original data packet in order to the component data packet, and a data segment which said component data packet belongs to after each segmentation; data amount IF for indicating a data amount of a data portion of the data packet. With the technical solution provided by the present invention, the header structure definition of a data packet is optimized, and the transmission resource utilization efficiency is improved.
US08345655B2	Techniques for improving control channel acquisition in a wireless communication system A technique of operating a wireless communication system includes determining respective geometries of multiple subscriber stations, which include a first subscriber station and a second subscriber station, with respect to a serving base station. Respective control channels, which include a first control channel associated with the first subscriber station and a second control channel associated with the second subscriber station, for the multiple subscriber stations are then scheduled based on the respective geometries. The first control channel is scheduled to be encountered earlier in a control channel search procedure, of the one or more control channel symbols, than the second control channel. The first subscriber station has a lower geometry than the second subscriber station.
US08345654B2	Method for reducing intra-cell interference between cell phones performing random access A method in a network node in control of a cell in a cellular telecommunication network for reducing intra-cell interference between user equipments (UE) residing in said cell and performing random access (RA). The method comprises the steps of arranging groups of preamble sequences where the sequences within each group are orthogonal to each other, assigning one such group to the cell, from which group the UEs performing RA randomly selects a preamble, and assigning one or more additional group(s) of preamble sequences to said cell if the RACH or traffic load exceeds a certain threshold. The invention further relates to a radio network node in a cellular telecommunication system, capable of carrying out said method.
US08345653B2	Wireless RFID networking systems and methods Embodiments of the present invention include a wireless access point that acquires and processes radio frequency identification (RFID) information. The wireless access point may be coupled to a network of RFID readers over a wireless network. The RFID readers may read a plurality of RFID tags and transmit information to one or more readers. The readers may, in turn, transmit the RFID information to a wireless access point. The wireless access point may include a middleware layer for performing a variety of RFID data processing functions. In one embodiment, the wireless RFID reader network may be used to improve positioning of readers and tags, and may include a GPS system or position assisted GPS system at the reader and/or tag level.
US08345650B2	Access node/gateway to access node/gateway layer-2 connectivity (end-to-end) Systems, methods, and apparatus for providing end-to-end L2 connectivity, are described. The system includes satellites configured to transmit data packets. The system further includes a first non-autonomous gateway in communication with the satellites. The first non-autonomous gateway is configured to receive the data packets from the satellites at L1, generate virtual tagging tuples within L2 packet headers of the data packets, and transmit the data packets each including a virtual tagging tuple. The system further includes a L2 switch in communication with the first non-autonomous gateway. The L2 switch is configured to receive the virtually tagged data packets and transmit the virtually tagged data packets. Further, the system includes a second non-autonomous gateway in communication with the L2 switch. The second non-autonomous gateway configured to receive the virtually tagged data packets and transmit the virtually tagged data packets to an entity based on the virtual tagging tuple associated with each of the virtually tagged packets.
US08345647B2	Flexible multicast and/or broadcast listening intervals The present invention provides a new and unique method and apparatus for communicating information between two nodes, points or terminals in a wireless local area network (WLAN), where a variable multicast and/or broadcast listening interval and associated signalling is allowed between the two nodes, points or terminals in the wireless LAN network. The two nodes, points or terminals include an access point (AP) or other suitable network node or terminal and a station (STA) or other suitable network node or terminal in the WLAN. The AP and the STA can indicate its capability to support a flexible multicast and broadcast listening interval by using new fields in Beacon and Probe Response frames and in (Re)Association Request Frames. The multicast and broadcast service is setup by using Multicast and Broadcast Service Setup signalling.
US08345646B2	Access terminal conditionally opening a data session The access terminal is configured to wirelessly send to a data system a request that the data system assign an access terminal identifier (ATI) to the access terminal. The access terminal delays transmission of the request until after a user of the access terminal has employed the access terminal to request a packet data service from the data system. In some instances, the data system is an Evolution, Data Only (EV-DO) system and the access terminal identifier (ATI) is a Unicast Access Terminal Identifier (UATI) generated by the Evolution, Data Only (EV-DO) system.
US08345644B2	Wireless communication method and system for configuring radio access bearers for enhanced uplink services A wireless communication method and system for controlling an enhanced uplink (EU) radio access bearer (RAB). The wireless communication system includes at least one wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), at least one Node-B and a radio network controller (RNC). The RNC configures an EU RAB to operate on an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH). At least one of the WTRU and the Node-B report EU traffic statistics and EU performance statistics to the RNC. The RNC then adjusts the configuration of the EU RAB in accordance with the received EU traffic statistics, the EU performance statistics, and information collected by the RNC itself.
US08345642B2	Mobile communications network A first user terminal receives data during a time slot assigned for simultaneous transmission of data to a first set of at least one user terminal and to a second set of at least one user terminal using time-division multiplexing, estimates the applied power ratio between a first sub-channel to the first set and a second sub-channel to the second set (the available power ratios are divided into at least one known region and each applied power ratio belongs to one region), estimates bit error probability for each of the bursts of the received data; and applies an adaptation process in order to make the estimated bit error probabilities fall into one of bit error probability intervals of a predefined mapping table with a predetermined probability. which determines the bit error probability that is to be reported to a network.
US08345639B2	Broad propagation pattern antenna An antenna includes a diplexer having a high pass filter coupled to first and second radiating elements and a low pass filter coupled to third and fourth radiating elements, the first and second radiating elements oriented in a different direction relative to the third and fourth radiating elements. Signals are transmitted to or receive from the first and second radiating elements with a greater intensity relative to the intensity with which the signals are transmitted to or received from the third and fourth radiating elements when the signal frequencies are above a low pass roll-off frequency of the low pass filter. Signals are transmitted to or received from the third and fourth radiating elements with a greater intensity relative to the intensity with which the signals are transmitted to or received from the first and second radiating elements when the signal frequencies are below a high pass roll-off frequency of the high pass filter.
US08345638B2	Method of maintaining broadcast service continuity An access node in the boundary area of a single frequency network service area transmits a boundary indication to the mobile terminals in the boundary area to notify the mobile terminals that they are approaching the boundaries of the single frequency network. The mobile terminals receiving the boundary indications may then take steps to maintain continuity of broadcast services when the mobile terminals leave the service area of the single frequency network.
US08345632B2	Method and arrangement for processing mobile station history information in a wireless communication system Methods and apparatus for processing mobile station transaction information at a serving control node in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The serving control node may be a base station, such as an eNodeB in an LTE/SAE wireless communication system. The transaction information, which may include, for example, mobility-related transaction information and traffic-related transaction information for a given mobile station, may be passed between controlling control nodes as the corresponding mobile station is handed over, so that a controlling control node has access to information characterizing the past activities of the mobile station. This information may be used in some embodiments for selecting a target control node for handover or for allocating link resources.
US08345630B2	Method of carrier reselection for providing selective traffic redirection In one embodiment, the access terminal (AT) receives a switching ratio, the AT randomly generates a serving priority value from a uniformly distributed random variable, and the AT determines whether to switch from the first carrier and attach to one of the neighboring carriers based on the serving priority value and the switching ratio.
US08345626B2	Handover method for minimizing packet call reconnection delay time between different mobile communication schemes and multi-mode terminal for the same Provided is a function of minimizing a delay time of a packet call disconnect due to a handover between communication networks providing a communication service using different mobile communication technologies. To do this, even though a handover situation is generated during a packet service, the packet service is continuously provided by maintaining a current mode and performing a mode change after registration in a handover target network succeeds. Accordingly, since the packet service is not provided only while a packet call connecting process is performed, a delay time according to a packet call reconnection can be minimized.
US08345623B2	Unified synchronous ranging channel design and allocation in wireless OFDMA systems A unified synchronous ranging channel is provided. The unified synchronous ranging channel has a ranging cyclic prefix length that is the same as a cyclic prefix length of a data channel. The unified synchronous ranging channel is used for one of initial ranging, handover ranging, and periodic ranging between a mobile station and a femto base station. In one embodiment, the synchronous ranging channel spans over a two-dimensional radio resource region having a first number of subcarriers along frequency domain, a second number of OFDM symbols along time domain, and a third number of time-domain repetition. At the transmit side, a ranging code sequence is generated by applying a fixed time-domain cyclic shift per OFDM symbol to a root sequence. At the receive side, the ranging code sequence is decoded by using a summation module, a likelihood-combining module, and a modified peak test module that normalizes a peak value.
US08345621B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting signals according to the segmented access A method and apparatus of transmitting signals for segmented access in a communication system is disclosed. The method for transmitting signals from a user equipment in a communication system includes the steps of selecting a predetermined channel structure depending on location of the user equipment among available channels defined differently depending on the location of the user equipment within a cell, and transmitting signals using the selected channel structure. Also, a method for transmitting signals using sequences allocated differently depending on location of a user equipment within a cell is disclosed.
US08345615B2	Omitting UE id on an enhanced RACH process A method of an uplink transfer at the UE side in a wireless communications system over a wireless interface between a radio network and a user equipment node uses a first mode of transfer and a second mode of transfer. The first mode of transfer involves sending a first message by the UE to a Node B of the wireless communication system. The second mode of transfer involves receiving a resource by the UE from the Node B, and sending at least one subsequent message by the UE to the Node B, the at least one subsequent message omits an UE id.
US08345613B2	Enhanced UL rate violation detection The present invention relates to a method for grant violation detection in an enhanced uplink (UL) telecommunication system. According to the method a radio network controller (RNC) establishes a first enhanced UL transport channel (E-DCH) which enables uplink data traffic with a certain data rate from a user terminal UE at least to a first base station. At least a first downlink transmission is performed to the user terminal UE including a first E-DCH. A Node B NB detects the scheduled data rate on which the user terminal UE transmits and further controls if the scheduled data rate detected is higher than the maximum data rate defined by the first E-DCH channel scheduled grant. If this is the case the Node B NB performs at least a second following downlink transmission including the first E-DCH channel scheduled grant.
US08345605B2	Transmission of bundled feedback in wireless networks A transmission of information between a secondary to a primary node in a wireless network occurs in a plurality of N logical time durations. Bundled feedback information for multiple DL transmissions is provided in one UL transmission. Each DL transmission is indicated by a DL grant comprising an M-bit downlink assignment indicator (DAI) field. The primary node increments the value of the M-bit DAI field in successively transmitted DL grants. The secondary node examines the value of the M-bit DAI field in received DL grants, to determine the bundled feedback information.
US08345604B2	Effectuating establishment of internet protocol security tunnels for utilization in a wireless communication environment Systems and methodologies are described that effectuate establishment of an IPSec tunnel for utilization in a wireless communication environment. IPSec establishment procedures on home base stations can be used to establish IPSec tunnels between home base stations situated on open access sectors of wireless communication environments and packet data interworking function components positioned at the contiguity of secured segments of the wireless communication environments. Moreover, high rate packet data point-to-point protocol challenge-handshake authentication protocols can be directed through the IPSec tunnels to facilitate authentication of access terminals associated with the home base stations in order to facilitate further communications with components dispersed within secure areas of wireless communication environments. Further, international mobile subscriber identities (IMSI) affiliated with access terminals associated with home base stations can be used to identify packet data serving nodes with which to establish communications between home base stations and packet data serving nodes.
US08345603B2	Method and apparatus for processing GTP triggered messages A GTP Triggered Message handling capability is provided for enabling handling of GTP Triggered Messages. A GTP Triggered Message including a GTP Sequence Number and an invalid TEID is received, and one of a plurality of processing elements is selected for the GTP Triggered Message based on the GTP Sequence Number of the GTP Triggered Message. The selected one of the processing elements is selected based on a mapping of a group of GTP Sequence Numbers to the selected one of the processing elements. The GTP Triggered Message is propagated toward the selected processing element such that the GTP Triggered Message may be processed by the selected processing element. In this manner, processing of GTP Triggered Messages having invalid TEIDs may be performed by processing elements which typically process GTP Triggered Messages having valid TEIDs, such that GTP Triggered Messages having invalid TEIDs are not required to be processed by a central processing module before being provided to the processing elements.
US08345602B2	Wireless communication system, transmitting device and receiving device A wireless communication system has a transmitting device and a receiving device that perform communication by using a multi-carrier signal, wherein the receiving device includes a quality generating unit generating each piece of receiving quality information on each pilot channel for transmitting each pilot signal, a determining unit determining the number of pilot channels needed in the multi-carrier signal based on the receiving quality information, and a notifying unit transmitting a signal requesting the determined number of pilot channels to the transmitting device, and the transmitting device includes an allocation unit determining allocations of pilot signals in the direction of the time axis and in the direction of the frequency axis, corresponding to a requested number of pilot channels, and a transmitting unit transmitting the multi-carrier signal having the determined pilot signal allocations.
US08345598B2	Mobility management method and network device A mobility management method includes: notifying, at a mobile terminal, an edge node of a terminal function indicating that the mobile terminal has a Mobile IP client function; instructing, at the edge node, the mobile terminal to perform an operation for mobility management by using not an MIP function but an IP function when the edge node has a PMIP client function; performing, at the mobile terminal, the operation for mobility management by using the IP function in response to the instruction from the edge node; and performing, the edge node, the operation for mobility management by using the PMIP client function.
US08345596B2	Call control method for seamless mobility service A call control method for an Internet Protocol (IP)-based mobility service is provided. The call control method for ensuring service continuity in a mobile communication service environment, includes: receiving a call signal message including permanent IP addresses and transport IP addresses from a transmitter terminal and a receiver terminal, and acquiring the permanent IP addresses and the transport IP addresses of the transmitter terminal and the receiver terminal; and performing call control between the transmitter terminal and the receiver terminal on the basis of the transport IP addresses and the permanent IP addresses of the transmitter terminal and the receiver terminal. Therefore, by interfacing with an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) for controlling a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based service, an IP mobility control apparatus for controlling mobility of a terminal when a call is controlled, and a network control apparatus for controlling a network, it is possible to prevent data transmission from being interrupted while the terminal is moving, thereby providing an IP-based seamless, high-quality service.
US08345595B1	Sector-based quality-of-service enforcement What is disclosed is a communication system and method of operating a communication system, where a wireless access node configured to receive packet communications from wireless devices communicating in sectors over wireless links, and the packet communications indicate an application type. A wireless access node determines wireless device identifiers of the wireless devices and sector identifiers of the sectors and transfers the packet communications, the wireless device identifiers, and the sector identifiers. A packet processing system is configured to receive the packet communications, the wireless device identifiers, and the sector identifiers; determine the application types of the packet communications; determine sector activity profiles by way of the application types, the wireless device identifiers, and the sector identifiers; determine a quality-of-service policies based on the activity profiles; and transfer the quality-of-service policies. The wireless access node is configured to receive the quality-of-service policies and enforce a level of service to the wireless devices over the wireless links based on the quality-of-service policies.
US08345594B2	Method of executing handover between heterogeneous networks and method of supporting the same A method of executing a handover between heterogeneous networks and method of supporting the same are disclosed, by which the handover can be smoothly performed between a wireless mobile communication network and a wireless LAN. A method of executing a handover between heterogeneous networks, in which a user equipment communicating with a wireless mobile communication network performs the handover into a wireless LAN, includes the steps of making a request for information for at least one cell neighbor to the wireless LAN to a second mobile communication network node via a first mobile communication network node, receiving the information for the at least one cell via the first mobile communication network node from the second mobile communication network node, and executing the handover to the wireless LAN using the received information.
US08345592B2	Method and arrangement for reducing power consumption in user equipments in multi-carrier radio systems The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for reducing power consumption in the user equipments in power saving mode in a communication network, comprising a communication network node transmitting information on shared control channels (SCCH) to one or more user equipments. The information is transmitted over either a narrow or a wide bandwidth depending on which mode said one or more user equipments are, either a power saving mode or an active mode.
US08345591B2	Method and system for utilizing plurality of physical layers to retain quality of service in a wireless device during a communication session A wireless mobile communication (WMC) device may be determine a quality of service (QOS) required to communicate data. The WMC device may utilize a plurality of physical layers available in the WMC device to retain the QOS throughout the data communication. The physical layers may comprise a plurality of wireless technologies and/or a plurality of transmission power levels within each wireless technology. Selection of physical layers that may be utilized may comprise determination of available QOS through the physical layers, available power in the WMC device, and/or power requirement for communicating data via the physical layers. Data encoding may also be utilized to alter size of communicated data while retaining the required QOS. Data encoding may comprise utilizing encoding schemes, data compression, and/or redundancy bits. A set of deadlines may be utilized to enable switching between available physical layers to ensure maintaining and/or achieving required QOS.
US08345590B2	Wireless communication system and wireless communication method for switching wireless channels In a wireless communication system including a plurality of wireless terminal apparatuses and a relaying apparatus, the relaying apparatus performs a channel search to select a wireless channel in a good communication situation when the relaying apparatus transmits a beacon signal at a constant period, and transmits switching destination information to be used to switch the wireless channel to the selected one in a state of being stored in the beacon signal. When the communication situation of the wireless channel has deteriorated, the relaying apparatus switches the wireless channel being used by the communication section to the selected one based on the switching destination information. When the communication situation of a wireless channel of the wireless terminal apparatus has deteriorated, the wireless terminal apparatus switches the wireless channel to the selected one based on the switching destination information.
US08345586B2	Wireless data communication system and method Embodiments of the present invention provide a communication system, comprising: a first wireless network including a coordinator and a plurality of network devices associated with the coordinator; a second wireless network; wherein the first coordinator is arranged to notify at least one network device of the availability of data; and the at least one network device notified of the availability of data is arranged to associate with the second wireless network and to receive the data.
US08345584B2	Wireless local area network and access point for a wireless local area network Embodiments related to Wireless Local Area Networks and access points for a Wireless Local Area Network are described and depicted.
US08345582B2	Mobile communications system, base station apparatus, user apparatus and method A base station apparatus used for a FDD mobile communications system which uses at least a predetermined frequency bandwidth is disclosed. The base station apparatus includes a control unit which provides an instruction signal which at least indicates a frequency band used in wireless communications; and a unit which wirelessly communicates with a user apparatus according to the instruction signal, wherein, if the base station apparatus belongs to a predetermined border area between mobile communications systems, an instruction signal which indicates that use of one part of the predetermined frequency band is permitted, but use of another part is prohibited is provided by the control unit, and, if the base station apparatus belongs to a predetermined non-border area, an instruction signal which indicates that use of one part and use of the other part are permitted.
US08345579B2	Relay device suppressing frame flooding In a relay device, a first memory stores correspondence information representing a correspondence relationship between a node and a port. A second memory stores information by which a port to suppress flooding of a frame is distinguishable. A relay part limits a port, which floods a frame addressed to a node of which information is not stored in the first memory, based on the information stored in the second memory.
US08345578B2	Methods for configuring sender and receiver antennas, corresponding storage means and nodes Methods for configuring antennas of first and second nodes of a wireless communications network clocked by transmission cycles, each cycle being divided into time slots, the first node and second nodes having first and second time slots for transmitting data in the first mode, the first node having a third time slot for transmitting data to the second node in a second mode, are proposed. The configuring method, on the second node side, comprises steps of determining a receiving configuration of the antenna of the second node, verifying that the determined receiving configuration is invariant, relative to a receiving configuration previously used for receiving data transmitted from the first node to the second node in the second mode; in the event of negative verification: sending a predetermined signal in the second mode, by using a sending configuration that is determined based on the determined receiving configuration; configuring, during the third time slot, the antenna of the second node by using this determined receiving configuration.
US08345577B2	High speed wireless infrastructure High speed wireless infrastructures and techniques are provided. Wireless radios are situated within an enterprise, each radio positioned at the end of the wireless frequency range for that of a neighboring radio. Each radio wireless transmits using direction steerable antennas at 60 Gigahertz. At lease one radio is interfaced to a back-end enterprise information server. Each radio capable of interfacing to a consumer's wireless device within the enterprise when that wireless device is within range of the directional steerable antennas. The wireless radios and the back-end information server combine to form a high speed wireless communication network within the enterprise.
US08345576B2	Methods and systems for dynamic subring definition within a multi-ring Embodiments of the present invention automatically determine via heuristics optimal configurations to form sub-rings of nodes and where to position gateway processors among these sub-rings. The heuristics may be applied at a predefined timing interval configured by the user or in response to various events, such as a node failure or when a node joins the multi-ring network. Another embodiment of the invention may use automatic heuristics to determine when a suboptimal multi-ring configuration exists and formulates a new multi-ring configuration.
US08345573B2	Communication quality estimation system, equipment, method and program A communication quality estimation system has: a plurality of equipments performing packet transmission on a network; and a communication quality estimation equipment. The plurality of equipments includes: a first equipment; a second equipment; and a third equipment placed downstream of the first equipment and upstream of the second equipment. The communication quality estimation equipment estimates communication quality in the third equipment by comparing a number of first packets satisfying a first sampling rule out of packets transmitted by the first equipment and a number of second packets satisfying the first sampling rule out of packets transmitted by the second equipment.
US08345569B2	Multiple watermarks for fidelity assessment A system and method of perceptual quality assessment for multimedia content in a communications network employing digital watermarking. A content preparer prepares content for quality assessment by embedding digital watermarks into the multimedia data, each watermark having a different level of robustness with respect to a specified type of potential degradation introduced during content transmission. A quality assessor provides an assessment of the quality of the transmitted content by attempting to detect the presence of at least one watermark, and calculating a quality assessment score based on the level(s) of robustness of the detected watermark(s) with respect to the specified type of potential degradation. The quality assessment score can be calculated based on the level of robustness of the least robust watermark whose presence was successfully detected by the quality assessor. The quality assessor generates an output indication of the transmitted content fidelity using any suitable type of output indication.
US08345568B2	Low loss layer two ethernet network A method may include provisioning a first virtual connection between a first device and a second device, and provisioning a second virtual connection between the first device and the second device. A data flow is received and duplicated at the first device to generate duplicated data flows. The duplicated data flows are transmitted to the second device via the first virtual connection and the second virtual connection. The duplicated data flows are received at the second device via the first virtual connection and the second virtual connection. A performance characteristic of the data flow received via the first virtual connection is determined. The performance characteristic of the data flow received via the second virtual connection is determined. The data flow received via the first virtual connection or the data flow received via the second virtual connection is selected for forwarding based on the performance characteristics of the data flow received via the first virtual connection and the performance characteristic of the data flow received via the second virtual connection. The selected data flow is forwarded.
US08345566B2	Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving information through fast feedback channel in broadband wireless communication system An apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving information through a fast feedback channel in a broadband wireless communications system are provided. The apparatus includes a generator for generating a quasi-orthogonal signal stream corresponding to a codeword to be fed back, a plurality of mappers for mapping the quasi-orthogonal signal stream to a plurality of bundles in the fast feedback channel by using different mapping patterns, and a transmitter for transmitting the quasi-orthogonal signal stream mapped to the plurality of bundles.
US08345564B2	Universal plug and play method and apparatus to provide remote access service Disclosed are a universal plug and play (UPnP) method and a UPnP apparatus providing remote access service. The method includes receiving external inputs of an identifier of a remote access server (RAS) to generate a credential and a session initiation protocol (SIP) identifier of the RAS, generating a payload of a SIP packet including a credential identifier (ID) generated based on the identifier of the RAS, remote access transport agent (RATA) capability information, and a transport address (TA) set corresponding to candidate IP addresses to access a remote access client (RAC), and transmitting the SIP packet to the RAS.
US08345561B2	Time monitor A method and system for measuring latency is provided. A monitor node is used to measure latency in a computer network or in a computing device by time stamping signal messages sent from nodes in the computer network and/or tasks in a particular node or device. The time stamps are generated using a system clock of the monitor node to reduce any discrepancies in timing. In addition, the monitor node may compensate for latencies between the monitor node and each of the one or more nodes or devices across which latency is to be measured. Signal messages may include a data message ID and/or a node ID identifying the message that is being tracked and for which latency is being measured. Latency may further be measured across multiple tasks being performed in the same or different nodes or devices by transmitting signal messages for each of the multiple tasks.
US08345560B2	Methods and apparatus to pre-qualify user communities for communication services Example methods and apparatus to pre-qualify user communities for communication services are disclosed. An example method comprises configuring a first remote network demarcation associated with a first loop to a loop-back state, interrogating the first loop to determine a first parameter representative of the first loop, configuring a second remote network demarcation associated with a second loop to the loop-back state, interrogating the second loop to determine a second parameter representative of the second loop, and compiling a report based on the first and second parameters, the report containing a value that represents a degree to which a communication service can be provided to a user community associated with the first and second loops.
US08345549B2	Techniques for channel access and transmit queue selection Various embodiments are disclosed for techniques to perform channel access decisions and to select a transmit queue. These decisions may be performed, for example, based upon the age and number of packets in a queue. These techniques may allow a node to improve the length of data bursts transmitted by the node, although the invention is not limited thereto.
US08345547B2	Channel access mechanism for wide channels used in overlapping networks When a device is contending for the right to transmit on a wide channel (composed of a primary narrow channel and one or more secondary narrow channels), it may halt its backoff counter if one of the secondary channels is detected as busy, and restart the backoff counter from its halted value when all the channels are again detected as idle. Some embodiments may use a guard interval detection technique to aid in sensing whether the secondary channels are busy.
US08345542B2	Method of M:1 protection An apparatus comprising a first segment endpoint bridge (SEB) configured to couple to a second SEB via a plurality of path segments, wherein the path segments comprise a working segment and a plurality of candidate protection segments, wherein the candidate protection segments comprise a protection segment that is configured to protect the working segment, wherein the candidate protection segments other than the protection segment do not protect the working segment, wherein only one first state variable is used to maintain each of the candidate protection segments other than the protection segment, and wherein a plurality of second state variables are used to maintain each of the working segment and the protection segment.
US08345541B2	Providing services in case of call diversion in a communication system The present invention relates to an S-CSCF receiving a terminating request associated with a called user and executing services for the called user. The S-CSCF determines an indication in Session Case indicating originating services handling in call forwarding situation, and based on this executes a subset of services for the user.
US08345540B2	Virtual snooping bridge in computer networks In general, techniques are described for implementing a virtual snooping bridge in computer networks. The techniques may be implemented by a ring network comprised of a plurality of ring network devices arranged in a ring topology. In one aspect, a ring network device coupled to an adjacent device that provides access to multicast content implements the techniques. This ring network device comprises one or more ports and a control unit. The ports receive ring messages from one or more of the other ring network devices in accordance with a group management ring protocol (GMRP). The ring messages indicate operations requested by one or more host devices with respect to delivery of content of the multicast group. The control unit then presents the received operations to the adjacent network device such that, from the perspective of the adjacent network device, the ring network appears as a single layer two network device.
US08345539B2	Addressing of redundant subscribers in a communication network A system and a method are provided for addressing at least two subscribers that are redundant in respect of each other in a communication network. The subscribers are each permanently assigned a unique address which is different for each subscriber. The subscribers form a group such that the subscribers in the group are redundant in respect to each other. The group of subscribers is assigned a unique group address which is only activate for one of the subscribers in the group and de-active for each of the remaining subscribers in the group. At least one higher-order unit is provided for the activation and deactivation.
US08345535B2	Method and apparatus for generating ranging preamble code in wireless communication system A method and apparatus of generating a ranging preamble code in a wireless communication system is provided. A mobile station (MS) generates one of a plurality of ranging preamble codes, wherein the plurality of ranging preamble codes are based on a padded Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence to which a cyclic shift is applied in a unit of NCS, where NCS is a function of a cyclic prefix (CP) length in a time domain.
US08345531B2	Selecting a transmission technology The present invention discloses a method for selecting a transmission technology (MIMO or non MIMO) for a HSDPA connection established between a RNC and a UE depending on the mobility of said UE, measured at the RNC as variations of the position of the UE. Then, if the connection is established with HSDPA MIMO technology and the position variations exceed a first pre-defined threshold, the connection is switched to HSPDA non MIMO technology. Also, if the connection is established with HSPDA non MIMO technology and the position variations are below a second pre-defined threshold, the connection is switched to HSPDA MIMO technology.
US08345529B2	Optical pickup apparatus with astigmatism correcting collimating lens An optical-pickup apparatus includes: a laser diode having a first-laser element, which emits a first-laser beam, and a second-laser element, which emits a second-laser beam having a wavelength shorter than a wavelength of the first-laser beam, arranged in the same package; an objective lens to condense the first- and second-laser beams emitted from the laser diode to signal-recording layers of first- and second-optical discs, respectively, the second-optical disc being of a standard different from a standard of the first-optical disc; and a collimating lens arranged in an optical path between the laser diode and the objective lens, the collimating lens configured to change the first- and second-laser beams from divergent light to parallel light, the collimating lens being inclined with respect to optical axes of the first- and second-laser beams so that astigmatism in the first- and second-laser beams is corrected.
US08345527B2	Optical phase controller and optical phase control method An optical phase controller includes an optical phase control element so that a phase of incident light applied to the optical phase control element is controlled. The optical phase control element includes a metal structure having anisotropy in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction within an electric-field vibration plane of the incident light, the wavelength of the incident light includes a plasmon resonance wavelength possessed by the metal structure, and the incident light is linearly polarized light or elliptically polarized light simultaneously having polarized components in the first direction and the second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
US08345526B2	Non-binary holograms for increased capacity Techniques are provided for increasing storage capacity in a holographic storage system. While typical holographic storage systems involve binary storage for each data position in a holographic disk, present techniques involve storing data such that more than two data levels may be recorded in each data position. In some embodiments, a recording beam directed to the disk may be adjusted to different power levels depending on the data level to be recorded. Furthermore, the recording time at a data position may be adjusted to increase the energy directed to the data position by increasing the amount of time the recording beam is impinged on the data position. Embodiments are suitable for different types of holographic storage, including dye-based medium.
US08345524B2	Information readout apparatus An offset corrector of an information readout apparatus receives a digital signal DRF output from an A/D converter, and performs offset correction. The offset corrector is capable of switching between a level-correction operation that corrects the offset so that the DC level of the shortest period signal included in the readout signal assumes a zero amplitude reference and a HPF operation that matches the level of the readout signal with the zero amplitude reference. The offset corrector corrects the offset in the level correction operation during a normal reproduction, and switches to the HPF operation for offset correction when a defect judgment unit detects a defective area. The information readout apparatus is stable and has a superior performance without a symmetry deviation if there occurs a waveform fluctuation caused by a defect etc.
US08345522B1	Flexible optical write strategy A method of controlling a laser driver includes determining a set of timing parameters in response to contents of a received bit stream. The method further includes creating a plurality of sets of pulse defining parameters in response to the set of timing parameters, and generating a plurality of generic pulses in response to the plurality of sets of pulse defining parameters. The method also includes combining the plurality of generic pulses into a plurality of enable signals, and creating a plurality of adapted enable signals by selectively replacing one of the plurality of enable signals with an alternative signal. The method further includes outputting the plurality of adapted enable signals to the laser driver.
US08345521B2	Optical disc apparatus and signal generation method An optical disc apparatus includes a light separator configured to separate a light beam emitted from a light source into a main beam and a sub-beam, an objective lens configured to, when the light beam is condensed and irradiated to an optical disc having a uniform recording layer in which a track is formed by record marks, irradiate at least part of the sub-beam to an area where the main beam is not irradiated in a radial direction which is defined as a direction of radius of the optical disc, and a signal generating unit configured to generate a mark layer distance signal, representing a distance between a focus of the light beam and a mark layer to which the track belongs, based on a return light beam resulting from at least one of the main beam and the sub-beam, which has been irradiated to the track.
US08345520B2	Method of vertical deviation disc detection A method for detecting whether vertical deviation of an optical disc occurs is provided. First, before a pickup head is successfully focused on the optical disc, a pickup head is actuated based on an input control signal so as to generate a focus error signal with a plurality of S-curves. Then, a plurality of zero crossing points of the S-curves in the focus error signal is identified and a plurality of input control values respectively corresponding to the zero crossing points is obtained. A variation of the input control values is then calculated. Whether vertical deviation of the optical disc occurs can be determined according to the variation of the input control values.
US08345517B2	Method and apparatus for aligning a laser diode on a slider An apparatus includes a structure including a waveguide and a pocket adjacent to an input facet of the waveguide. A laser has an output facet and is positioned in the pocket. A stop is included one at least one of the laser and a wall of the pocket. The stop is positioned at an interface between the laser and the wall of the pocket such that the output facet of the laser and the input facet of the waveguide are separated by a gap.
US08345513B2	Stacked transducing devices Implementations include a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) having an additional transducing device overlaid in a vertically stacked relationship. In some implementations the additional transducing device is a second CMUT configured to operate at a different frequency from the first CMUT.
US08345512B2	Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) device and method of controlling the same A capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) device, comprising: a cMUT formed on a semiconductor substrate; a DC high-voltage generation unit that is provided on the semiconductor substrate and that is for generating a DC high-voltage signal to be superposed on a driving signal for the cMUT; a driving signal generation unit that is provided on the semiconductor substrate and that is for generating the driving signal; and a superposition unit that is provided on the semiconductor substrate and that is for branching the DC high-voltage signal output from the DC high-voltage generation unit and for superposing one of the branched DC high-voltage signals on the other of the branched DC high-voltage signals via the driving signal generation unit.
US08345509B2	System and method to create three-dimensional images of non-linear acoustic properties in a region remote from a borehole In some aspects of the disclosure, a method for creating three-dimensional images of non-linear properties and the compressional to shear velocity ratio in a region remote from a borehole using a conveyed logging tool is disclosed. In some aspects, the method includes arranging a first source in the borehole and generating a steered beam of elastic energy at a first frequency; arranging a second source in the borehole and generating a steerable beam of elastic energy at a second frequency, such that the steerable beam at the first frequency and the steerable beam at the second frequency intercept at a location away from the borehole; receiving at the borehole by a sensor a third elastic wave, created by a three wave mixing process, with a frequency equal to a difference between the first and second frequencies and a direction of propagation towards the borehole; determining a location of a three wave mixing region based on the arrangement of the first and second sources and on properties of the third wave signal; and creating three-dimensional images of the non-linear properties using data recorded by repeating the generating, receiving and determining at a plurality of azimuths, inclinations and longitudinal locations within the borehole. The method is additionally used to generate three dimensional images of the ratio of compressional to shear acoustic velocity of the same volume surrounding the borehole.
US08345508B2	Large area modular sensor array assembly and method for making the same A modular and tileable sensor array with routing in the interposer carrying the signals from the sensors to the integrated circuits. In one embodiment a large area modular sensor array assembly includes one or more tileable modules coupled together. The tileable modules have a plurality of transducer cells forming a sensor, an interposer coupled on a first side to the plurality of transducer cells by a plurality, one or more integrated circuits coupled to a second side of the interposer, wherein the interposer is configured to form the connection of at least some of the transducer cells to the integrated circuits, and one or more input/output connectors coupled to the interposer and providing an external interface.
US08345506B2	Semiconductor memory device In order to latch and store a word line reset level voltage (negative voltage) which is set during reset operation, a word line driver includes PMOS transistors and NMOS transistors. The word line driver further includes a stress-reducing PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor, and also a word line bias control circuit which controls and activates a supply bias during setting of a word line, start of resetting, and a reset period.
US08345500B2	Memory having a disabling circuit and method for disabling the memory A memory with disabling circuit includes a memory matrix and a disabling circuit. The memory matrix includes a data input/output end and an output enable end. The disabling circuit includes a fuse and an output end. When the fuse is not blown, the disabling circuit transmits the signal of the data input/output end to the output end according to the signal of the output enable end. When the fuse is blown, the disabling circuit generates a tri-state to the output end. Therefore, external circuits cannot perform actions of reading or writing to access the memory matrix.
US08345497B2	Internal bypassing of memory array devices An output control circuit for a memory array includes a latched output node precharged to a first logic state prior to both a read and write operation; first logic that couples memory cell data from a memory read path to the output node during the read operation, the first logic controlled by a timing signal; second logic that internally bypasses the memory read path during a write operation by decoupling it from the output node, such that a logical derivative of write data written to the memory array is also coupled to the output node, the second logic also controlled by the timing signal; and wherein a transition of the output node from the first logic state to a second logic state during the write operation occurs within a time range as that of the same transition during the read operation.
US08345494B2	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory cell mats each comprising a plurality of normal memory cell arrays; and a redundancy memory cell array configured to replace a defective memory cell with a plurality of redundancy memory cells corresponding to a redundancy word line when the redundancy word line corresponding to one or more redundancy memory cell arrays is activated in response to an address corresponding to the defective memory cell among the plurality of normal memory cell arrays.
US08345486B2	Programming a memory device to increase data reliability Methods for programming a memory array, memory devices, and memory systems are disclosed. In one such method, the target reliability of the data to be programmed is determined. The relative reliability of different groups of memory cells of the memory array is determined. The data is programmed into the group of memory cells of the array having a relative reliability corresponding to the target reliability.
US08345483B2	System and method for addressing threshold voltage shifts of memory cells in an electronic product Methods and systems for addressing threshold voltage shifts of memory cells. A method includes reading a pattern of data from a first plurality of memory cells, comparing the read of the pattern of data with a known pattern of data using a reference, and if the read of the pattern of data and the known pattern of data do not match, adjusting the reference to find a reference level that results in a matching of a read of the pattern of data and the known pattern of data. Thereafter, trim sector data is read into a second plurality of memory cells using the adjusted reference level.
US08345481B2	NAND based NMOS NOR flash memory cell, a NAND based NMOS NOR flash memory array, and a method of forming a NAND based NMOS NOR flash memory array A NOR flash nonvolatile memory or reconfigurable logic device has an array of NOR flash nonvolatile memory circuits that includes charge retaining transistors serially connected in a NAND string such that at least one of the charge retaining transistors functions as a select gate transistor to prevent leakage current through the charge retaining transistors when the charge retaining transistors is not selected for reading. The topmost charge retaining transistor's drain is connected to a bit line parallel to the charge retaining transistors and the bottommost charge retaining transistor's source is connected to a source line and is parallel to the bit line. The charge retaining transistors are programmed and erased with a Fowler-Nordheim tunneling process.
US08345469B2	Static random access memory (SRAM) having bit cells accessible by separate read and write paths A method is for reading a first bit cell of a static random access memory in which the static random access memory has a first plurality of bit cells including the first bit cell. Each bit cell of the first plurality of bit cells includes a cross coupled pair of inverters for storing a logic state, optimized for being written, and powered by a read voltage during a read of the first plurality of bit cells. Each bit cell of the first plurality of bit cells is coupled to a true read bit line and a true write bit line, and a second plurality of bit cells is coupled to a complementary read bit line and a complementary write bit line. The true and complementary read bit lines are precharged to a precharge voltage of about half the read voltage. The true read bit line is predisposed to a logic low condition. One of a group consisting of a high impedance from the first bit cell to indicate that the logic state is a logic low and a signal voltage greater than the intermediate voltage to indicate that the logic state is a logic high is output from the first bit cell to the true read bit line.
US08345468B2	Capacity and density enhancement circuit for sub-threshold memory unit array A capacity and density enhancement circuit for a sub-threshold memory unit array which can decrease the drain current in the bit lines and enhance the pull-up capability of memory cells. The capacity and density enhancement circuit is composed of a first enhancement transistor, a second enhancement transistor, a first mask transmission gate, a second mask transmission gate, a first logic memory capacitor and a second logic memory capacitor.
US08345463B2	Resistive memory device and method for fabricating the same A resistive memory device includes: a bottom electrode formed over a substrate; and an insulation layer having a hole structure formed over the substrate structure. Herein, the hole structure exposes the bottom electrode, has sidewalls of positive slope, and has a bottom width equal to or smaller than a width of the bottom electrode; a resistive layer formed over the hole structure; and an upper electrode formed over the resistive layer.
US08345459B2	Architecture to facilitate reuse in multiple applications A method includes generating, from a representation of a first integrated circuit, a representation of a second integrated circuit. The representation of the first integrated circuit includes a plurality of representations of operative memory channel interfaces including a representation of a first operative memory channel physical interface. The representation of the second integrated circuit includes a representation of a pseudo-memory channel physical interface and at least a representation of a second operative memory channel physical interface. The generating includes replacing an instantiation of a first circuit of the representation of the first operative memory channel physical interface with an instantiation of a second circuit. The instantiation of the second circuit is a representation of a circuit that is logically equivalent to a first circuit represented by the instantiation of the first circuit.
US08345457B2	Voltage source converter for high voltage direct current power transmission A high voltage AC/DC or DC/AC power conversion system including a voltage source converter with at least two series-connected converter valve bridges, at least two reactors, where each of the reactors is connected to one of the AC phase terminals of the at least two bridges and at least one transformer connected to an AC supply voltage. In order to block a DC voltage from the at least one transformer, one of at least two capacitors is connected in series with each of the at least two reactors and is connected between the corresponding reactor and the at least one transformer.
US08345456B2	Control system of a power factor correction circuit A control system for a power factor correction circuit performs stabilized oscillation operation and suppresses switching frequency variation due to change of the AC power source. A control system includes a voltage error amplifier for outputting a voltage error signal obtained by amplifying a difference between a DC output voltage Vo and a command value Vref of the DC output voltage, a current command value generating circuit for outputting a current command value Vi for controlling the input current Iin, a comparator comparing an inductor current signal obtained by detecting an inductor current running in the switching element by a current detecting resistor with a magnitude of the output signal Vi from the multiplier, a timer circuit for setting an off-period of the switching element corresponding to the voltage Vd, and a reset-set type flip-flop circuit for setting an off-timing of the switching element after an elapse of the off-period.
US08345451B2	DC to AC converter that generates the sine wave from the pulse width modulated signal A method and apparatus for converting DC electricity to AC electricity, the AC electricity having a sine wave shape. DC electricity is supplied to a pulse width modulator. A pulse width modulated signal is formed from the DC electricity, the pulse width modulated signal comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse having a duration representing an amplitude of the sine wave during an interval of the sine wave represented by the pulse, the pulse width modulated signal comprising a plurality of pulses (or a pulse train) during one sine wave period. The sine wave is generated from the pulse width modulated signal, values of the sine wave during successive sine wave intervals responsive to the duration of the pulse that represents the sine wave interval.
US08345447B2	Mounting apparatus for expansion cards An assembly includes a circuit board, a support perpendicular to the circuit board, and a mounting apparatus including a sliding bracket to accommodate an expansion card, a driving member pivotably mounted to the second support, and a clamping arm mounted to the sliding bracket. The sliding bracket is slidably mounted to the second support, and the driving member is fixed to the sliding bracket. The clamping arm is operable to press or release the expansion card. When the driving member is moved in a first direction, the sliding bracket is moved towards the circuit board, and the expansion card is moved to connect to the circuit board. When the driving member is moved in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the sliding bracket is moved away from the circuit board, and the expansion card disengages from the circuit board.
US08345446B2	Fastening structure for portable electronic device A portable electronic device includes a housing, a cover, and a member positioned between the housing and the cover. The housing includes at least one hook. The cover is attached to the housing and includes at least one positioning pin. The member defines at least one locking hole. The hook passes through the locking hole to lock the member to the housing. The positioning pin is positioned adjacent to the hook to prevent the hook from disengaging from the locking hole.
US08345443B2	Supporting frame for circuit board A circuit board includes a substrate and a supporting frame fixed to, and supporting, the substrate. The supporting frame includes a main body, a pressing supporting portion, two pulling supporting portions and two fixing portions. The main body includes a first arm and a second arm connected to the first arm. The pressing supporting portion extends downwards from a junction of the first arm and the second arm for counterbalancing a downward force applied upon the substrate. The pulling supporting portions respectively extend downwards from distal ends of the first arm and second arm for counterbalancing an upward force applied upon the substrate. The two fixing portions are respectively formed on the first arm and second arm. Each of the fixing portions is located between the pressing supporting portion and one corresponding pulling supporting portion and is closer to the corresponding pulling supporting portion.
US08345442B2	Latching structure of electronic device A latching structure of electronic device includes a lower housing, a circuit board and an upper housing. The lower housing forms at least one fixing pole; The circuit board defines at least one positioning slot corresponding to the fixing pole; The upper housing defines at least one engaging hole corresponding to the fixing pole. The fixing pole, passes through the positioning slot and the engaging hole, and the distal end of the fixing pole becomes liquefied, secures the lower housing with the circuit board and the upper housing, the circuit board is clamped between the lower housing and the upper housing.
US08345441B1	Stub minimization for multi-die wirebond assemblies with parallel windows A microelectronic assembly can include first and second microelectronic packages mounted to respective first and second opposed surfaces of a circuit panel. Each microelectronic package can include a substrate having first and second apertures extending between first and second surfaces thereof, first and second microelectronic elements each having a surface facing the first surface of the substrate and a plurality of contacts at the surface of the respective microelectronic element aligned with at least one of the apertures, a plurality of terminals exposed at the second surface in a central region thereof, and leads electrically connected between the contacts of each microelectronic element and the terminals. The apertures of each substrate can have first and second parallel axes extending in directions of the lengths of the respective apertures. The terminals of each microelectronic package can be configured to carry all of the address signals transferred to the respective microelectronic package.
US08345440B2	Industrial module assembling apparatus An industrial module apparatus includes a frame, a module signal integrated backplane, a plurality of function modules and a module terminal panel. The module signal integrated backplane is disposed at a side of the frame. The function modules can be inserted into the frame and electrically connected to the module signal integrated backplane for signal transmission, and can be removed from the frame for replacement. The function modules include a video analysis module, a network module, and/or a sensing module. The module terminal panel is connected to the module signal integrated backplane and serves as a signal transmission port for the function modules.
US08345439B1	Modular chassis arrangement with redundant logic power delivery system A modular packet network device has a chassis in which multiple logic cards mate to the front side of an electrical signaling backplane. Logic power for the logic cards is supplied from a group of power converter cards that convert primary power to the logic voltages required by the logic cards. The power converter cards lie in a separate cooling path behind the backplane. Advantages achieved in at least some of the embodiments include removing primary power planes from the signaling backplane or portion of the backplane, providing redundant, upgradeable power modules whose individual failure does not cause logic card failure, and providing cool air to power converter circuits that would be subject to only heated air if located on the logic cards. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US08345438B2	Electronic part module and method of making the same An electronic part module includes a wiring substrate, a passive device group of passive devices formed on the wiring substrate, and device chips mounted on the wiring substrate. Such an electronic part module is made in the following manner. First, a wiring substrate wafer is made, to include a plurality of electronic part module formation areas. Then, a plurality of passive devices are formed in each of the electronic part module formation areas on the wiring substrate wafer. Then, the device chips are formed on each of the electronic part module formation areas on the wiring substrate wafer. Finally, the wiring substrate wafer is divided.
US08345437B2	Connection structure and connection method of wiring board A connection structure for connecting a wiring board to a to-be-connected body having electric contacts, the wiring board including: a base having board-side contacts provided on its facing surface that is to face the to-be-connected body; and a cover film which covers the facing surface except the board-side contacts and a non-covered partial region of the facing surface, the connection structure including: conduction portions formed of electrically conductive resin, for bonding the electric contacts and the board-side contacts to permit electrical conduction therebetween; and a reinforcement portion formed of the same resin as the conduction portions and disposed at a position which is different from positions of the conductive portions and at which the reinforcement portion extends across both of a surface of the cover film and a surface of the non-covered partial region of the base, the reinforcement portion bonding the to-be-connected body and the wiring board for reinforcing connection therebetween.
US08345436B2	Printed wiring board and connection configuration of the same A printed wiring board having an insulating base material; a wiring formed on at least one surface of the insulating base material, the wiring forming a predetermined circuit pattern; a first connection terminal portion formed on the surface and electrically connected to the wiring, the first connection terminal portion having a first width; a second connection terminal portion formed on the surface and electrically connected to the wiring, the second connection terminal portion having a second width; and a cover layer configured to cover the wiring and expose the first and the second connection terminal portion.
US08345435B2	Terminal structure and manufacturing method thereof, and electronic device and manufacturing method thereof A conductor having a projecting portion is formed which forms a terminal portion. An uncured prepreg including a reinforcing material is closely attached to the conductor and the prepreg is cured to form an insulating film including the reinforcing material. When the prepreg is closely attached, the prepreg is stretched by the projecting portion, so that a region of the prepreg, which is closely attached to the conductor, can be thinner than the other region of the prepreg. Then, by reducing the thickness of the entire insulating film, an opening can be formed in the portion having a smaller thickness. The step of reducing the thickness can be performed by etching. Further, it is preferable not to remove the reinforcing material in this step. The strength of a terminal and an electronic device can be increased by leaving the reinforcing material at the opening.
US08345433B2	Heterogeneous organic laminate stack ups for high frequency applications Organic laminate stack ups are disclosed for a variety of applications, including high frequency RF applications. One or more inner core layers may be disposed between outer layers along with bondply or prepreg layers as needed. Discrete devices, including surface mount components and flip chips, may be embedded within the organic laminate stack up structures. The embedding of the discrete devices, which may be active or passive devices, may be in the form of a layer of bondply or prepreg encapsulating the discrete devices. In addition or in the alternative, cavities may be formed in at least the outer layers for housing discrete devices, which include surface mount components, flip chips, and wire bonded integrated circuits. A variety of caps may be utilized to seal the cavities. Further, shielding may be provided for the organic laminate stack up structure, including through a wall of vias or a plated trench cut along at least one side of the stack up structure. Each stack up structure may be packaged in a variety of ways, including as a surface mount component, ball grid array, or land grid array.
US08345431B2	Thin multi-chip flex module A multichip module comprises a flexible circuit having conductive patterns on its surface(s) to which microelectronic device(s) are attached. The flexible circuit is enclosed and supported by two rigid frames, which may further be provided with protective heat spreading covers. Contact pads on the rigid frame(s) may be configured to engage a mating socket or they may be solderable to a printed circuit board.
US08345430B2	IC card An IC card includes a frame of a rectangular border-shape, a printed circuit board, and one pair of shells. The printed circuit board is disposed on an interior portion of the frame and equips an electronic component. The one pair of shells cover the area surrounded by the frame with both faces of the shells, and constitute an outer shell of the IC card. One of the shells has a plurality of intermittent bent pieces on a periphery thereof. The bent pieces face an edge portion of the frame. The bent pieces establish one pair of hook pieces which protrude from a plate thickness surface (a flat side) on a front end portion thereof. Ultrasonic vibration is applied to a front end portion of the bent pieces while an edge portion of the frame is subjected to pressure, joining the bent pieces to the frame.
US08345419B2	Server assembly A server assembly includes a first server and a first airflow guiding pipe. The first server comprises a front wall. An input hole is defined in the front wall. A first input opening and a first output opening are defined in the first airflow duct. The first output opening corresponds to the input hole so as to guide airflow into the inner of the first server to dissipate heat generated by the first server. The first airflow guiding pipe is connected to the first input opening of the first airflow duct, the first airflow guiding pipe is configured to receive and guide airflow into the first airflow duct.
US08345417B2	Extension positioning structure for a portable memory device An extension positioning structure for a portable memory device comprises a main body in a shell. A first end of the main body is disposed a drive element, and a spring is mounted outside a second end of the main body. A positioning element is pivotally disposed between the shell and the drive element. The positioning element includes a pivot shaft and an engaging portion. The engaging portion is helically formed with multiple cutting surfaces, and the positioning block is formed with a positioning block and a limiting block. By pushing the drive element, the cutting surface of the engaging portion of the positioning element cooperates with the positioning block and the limiting block to make the connecting terminal extend out of and retract into the shell, facilitating the operation and storage of the memory device while reducing both the production cost and increasing the yield rate.
US08345416B2	Portable electronic device with interface protector Interface protector for an electronic device includes a housing defining an opening exposing the interface; a retaining element defining a first stopping slot and a second stopping slot, the retaining element mounted to the housing by a retaining member; a cover having a protrusion protruding therefrom, the cover rotatably mounted to the retaining element by a rotation member. When the protrusion is received in the first stopping slot, the cover shields the interface; when the protrusion slides out of the first stopping slot, until latching in the second stopping slot, the cover is rotated to expose the interface.
US08345415B2	Display apparatus A display apparatus is provided. A frame is fixed and supported at the rear of a front panel forming the front portion of the display apparatus, and a separate bracket member is not mounted on the edges of the front panel. Thus, the front exterior of the display apparatus is neatly finished, and the display screen looks bigger than it actually is.
US08345414B2	Wearable computing module In an example embodiment, a computing module includes a case, an optical display subsystem coupled to the case, a circuit element assembly, a power cell and an interface connector. The case includes a bottom portion and multiple lateral sidewalls. The case defines an enclosure. The circuit element assembly is positioned within the enclosure and is coupled to the optical display subsystem. The power cell is coupled to the circuit element assembly. The interface connector is defined in the case and includes multiple side openings, multiple bottom openings and multiple connector pads. The side openings are defined in at least one of the lateral sidewalls. The bottom openings are defined in the bottom portion of the case. The connector pads include multiple side pads coupled to the case and in communication with the side openings and multiple bottom pads coupled to the case and in communication with the bottom openings.
US08345410B2	Handheld computing device A portable computing device is disclosed. The portable computing device can take many forms such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and so on. The portable computing device can include at least a single piece housing. The single piece housing including a plurality of steps. The plurality of mounting steps is formed by at least removing a preselected amount of housing material at predetermined locations on the interior surface. At least some of the mounting steps are used to mount at least some of the plurality of internal operating components to the housing.
US08345407B2	Low viscosity ionic liquids Disclosed is an ionic liquid: wherein: n is 1 or 2; R1 is selected from H and (C1-C6)alkyl; R2 is selected from —(CH2)wO[(CH2)xO(CH2)y]m(CH2)zCH3 and wherein w is 1 to 6, x is 1 to 6, y is 0 to 6, z is 0 to 6, m is 0 to 3 and [w+m(x+y)+z] is less than or equal to 12; and R3 is selected from H and methyl, wherein if n is 1 then R3 is methyl, and if n is 2 then R3 is H. Also disclosed are electrochemical devices and devices employing such electrochemical devices as energy sources.
US08345405B2	Multilayer ceramic capacitor Disclosed is multilayer ceramic capacitor. The multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a capacitive part including dielectric layers and first and second internal electrodes alternately laminated therein, wherein the dielectric layers include first ceramic particles having an average particle size of 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm, and one set of ends of the first internal electrodes and one set of ends of the second internal electrodes are exposed in a lamination direction of the dielectric layers, a protective layer formed on at least one of top and bottom surfaces of the capacitive part, including second ceramic particles and having a porosity of 2% to 4%, wherein an average particle size ratio of the second ceramic particles to the first ceramic particles ranges from 1.1 to 1.3; and first and second external electrodes electrically connected to the first and second internal electrodes exposed in the lamination direction of the dielectric layers.
US08345404B2	Anti-static part and its manufacturing method A conductive layer mainly made of gold is formed on an upper surface of an insulating substrate. Plural electrodes facing each other via a gap is formed by forming the gap in the conductive layer. An overvoltage protective layer covering the gap and a portion of each of the plurality of electrodes is formed. This method can provide the gap with a narrow width precisely, and thereby, provide an electrostatic (ESD) protector with a low peak voltage, stable characteristics of suppressing electrostatic discharge, and a high resistance to sulfidation.
US08345402B2	Degaussing apparatus with highly uniform magnetic field Generation of an intense magnetic field to erase high coercivity magnetic media uses delivery of energy to a degaussing cavity. To conserve energy storage and delivery requirements and to obtain a desired magnetic strength generally uniformly within the cavity, strategic placement of supplemental turns at ends of the magnetic field generating coil wound around the cavity can promote uniformity. Construction of at least cavity ends from an adequate quantity of magnetically soft ferrous material can also promote uniformity. A combination of both approaches is possible.
US08345399B2	Electrical protection assembly and system An electrical protection assembly for connection between an electrical power supply line and electrical equipment has an insulating mounting structure; a first arm connectable to a live conductor for connection to a fusible device at a first end and a voltage surge protection unit at a second end, pivotally attached to the mounting structure in a displaceable manner intermediate its ends; a first connection arrangement at the first end of the first arm for connection to the fusible device; and a second connection arrangement at the second end of the first arm for connection to the voltage surge protection unit. The assembly further includes first and second springs for urging the first arm relative to the mounting structure. The springs may urge the second connection arrangement towards the voltage surge protection unit and the first connection arrangement away from the fusible device.
US08345397B2	Sensor control apparatus and sensor control method A sensor control apparatus (100) includes a signal output section (60) which outputs an instruction signal for selecting a drive or protection mode, and a drive circuit (70) which controls the supply of electric current to the sensor. The drive circuit (70) includes detection means (77) for detecting an anomaly of the electrical connection state of the sensor, protection means (81), operable when the anomaly is detected, for forcedly switching to the protection mode, and report means (80) for outputting a report signal after the drive circuit has entered the protection mode. When the report is input, the signal output section outputs an instruction signal for switching the energization mode to the protection mode, and then outputs an instruction signal for switching to the drive mode. When the report signal is again input a predetermined number of times, the signal output section determines that an anomaly has occurred.
US08345396B2	Electrostatic discharge protectors having increased RC delays An RC delay circuit for providing electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection is described. The circuit employs an NMOS transistor and a PMOS transistor to produce a large effective resistance using a relatively small circuit layout area.
US08345395B2	Electrostatic discharge protection circuit having a reduced size and enhanced discharge The present invention describes an electrostatic discharge protection circuit that protects an internal circuit of a semiconductor device from electrostatic discharge. The electrostatic discharge protection circuit includes a first electrostatic protection unit that transfers static electricity as a driving signal and also discharges the static electricity to a first discharge line when the static electricity is generated in a pad. It also includes a second electrostatic protection unit that discharges the static electricity generated in the pad to a second discharge line in response to the driving signal transferred from the first electrostatic protection unit. Since the first electrostatic protection unit performs an electrostatic discharge operation and at the same time aids the driving of the second electrostatic protection unit, electrostatic discharge performance can be enhanced while a layout area of the electrostatic discharge protection circuit can be reduced.
US08345393B1	Exterior primary fuse system for transformers An externally replaceable primary fuse for a pole-mount electrical distribution transformer, thereby eliminating a need for a conventional internal fuse, and a method of use thereof is herein disclosed. The fuse is accessed using a bayonet-style fuse holder mounted to an outside surface of a transformer tank being internally wired thereto a primary transformer lead. The fuse holding apparatus permits fuse replacement while the transformer remains mounted to a pole, providing a reduction of down time and expense during said fuse replacement.
US08345392B2	Quench energy dissipation for superconducting magnets An energy dissipation arrangement for a cryogenically cooled superconductive magnet comprising a plurality of superconductive coils (10) connected in series and housed within a cryostat (24), comprising a superconducting switch (25) having a superconductive current path (28) in series with the superconductive coils (10); and a resistor (38), external to the cryostat, electrically connected in parallel with the superconductive current path (28) of the superconducting switch (25). The superconductive switch is arranged (26, 32, 30) to open in response to an electric current applied to an associated heater (26; 40).
US08345389B2	Magnetoresistive element utilizing a peltier effect junction of Au and CuNi to cool the element A magnetoresistive element includes a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer, a nonmagnetic layer, a first metal layer, a second metal layer, a first electrode, and a second electrode. The nonmagnetic layer is provided between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer. The first metal layer includes Au and is provided so that the first ferromagnetic layer is sandwiched between the nonmagnetic layer and the first metal layer. The second metal layer includes a CuNi alloy, and is provided so that the first metal layer is sandwiched between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second metal layer. In addition, magnetization of either one of the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer is fixed in a direction. Magnetization of the other is variable in response to an external field. At least one of the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer includes a half metal.
US08345387B1	Disk drive with transverse plane damper Described herein is a disk drive having an actuator arm constrained layer damper, for reducing, during use, vibration of the actuator arm. The damper can include a first substantially planar portion that is configured to be positioned on and coupled to a top surface of an actuator arm. The damper can also include a second substantially planar portion extending in a plane transverse to the first planar portion and configured to be coupled to at least one of a side surface of the actuator arm or a surface of an adjacent actuator body.
US08345383B2	Method to make an integrated side shield PMR head with non-conformal side gap A non-conformal integrated side shield structure is disclosed for a PMR write head wherein the sidewalls of the side shield are not parallel to the pole tip sidewalls. Thus, the side gap distance between the leading pole tip edge and side shield is different than the side gap distance between the trailing pole tip edge and side shield. As a result, there is a reduced side fringing field and improved overwrite performance. The side gap distance is constant with increasing distance from the ABS along the main pole layer. A fabrication method is provided where the trailing shield and side shield are formed in the same step to afford a self-aligned shield structure. Adjacent track erasure induced by flux choking at the side shield and trailing shield interface can be eliminated by this design. The invention encompasses a tapered main pole layer in a narrow pole tip section.
US08345382B1	Magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording having a main pole and a shield and specifically structured and located coil elements and magnetic coupling layers A magnetic head includes a coil, a main pole, a gap part, a write shield, and a return path section. The return path section includes a yoke part with a first coupling layer connected to the write shield and a second coupling layer magnetically coupling the first coupling layer to the yoke part. The second coupling layer has an end face facing toward a medium facing surface and located away from the medium facing surface. The coil includes i) a first coil element disposed with the first coupling layer interposed between the medium facing surface and the first coil element and ii) a plurality of second coil elements aligned perpendicularly to the medium facing surface and disposed with the second coupling layer interposed between the medium facing surface and the second coil elements. The first coil element being interposed between the main pole and the second coil elements.
US08345379B2	Disk drive device equipped with a bearing unit relatively rotatably supporting a hub against base member A disk drive device has a hub so configured as to place and hold recording disks. Where the non-rotating eigenfrequency of resonance in a secondary rocking mode with the recording disks placed on the hub is defined to be F0 (Hz) and the rotational frequency of the hub is defined to be N (Hz), an extending part of the hub and a second cylinder part of the hub are formed such that the radial dimension of the extending part is smaller than the axial dimension of the second external cylinder part to satisfy to a relation F0>N·(3·P+2).
US08345372B2	Apparatus for a medium having a medium identification pattern and a segment identification pattern A tape drive apparatus is for a tape medium having a magnetic segment for magnetically transducing information and an identification segment carrying a medium identification pattern and a segment identification pattern. The tape drive apparatus has a data transfer apparatus configured to transfer data between the tape medium and the tape drive apparatus, a reader configured to read a signal representative of the identification segment, a detector configured to detect the segment identification pattern in the signal, and a decoder configured to decode the medium identification pattern in response to the detection of the segment identification pattern.
US08345371B2	Information storing device and method for controlling same to record/reproduce information by selecting one of working modes An information storing device and an information processing device having a memory for registering a plurality of working modes at recording/reproduction and a switching circuit for selecting one of the plurality of working modes, which select the optimum working mode automatically or by an instruction of an operator according to power supply capacity of a device of higher rank to effect recording/reproduction.
US08345369B2	Systems and methods for data recovery using enhanced sync mark location Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for identifying a reproducible location on a storage medium. As an example, a circuit is discussed that includes a data storage circuit, a pattern comparison circuit, and a threshold comparison circuit. The data storage circuit is operable to store a first set of data samples corresponding to a region of interest. The pattern comparison circuit is operable to compare a subset of the first set of data samples with a subset of a second set of data samples corresponding to the region of interest. The pattern comparison circuit is operable to yield a match value corresponding to a degree of similarity between the first set of data samples with the subset of a second set of data samples. The threshold comparison circuit is operable to indicate an anchor point based at least in part on the magnitude of the match value relative to a threshold value.
US08345366B2	Storage drive performance characterization A storage system is configured to determine a redundancy group configuration for a plurality of storage drives by grouping storage drives with a similar performance group designation together. When a storage drive is inserted, the storage system tests the performance of the storage drive. The storage drive may comprise a serial ATA (advanced technology attachment) (SATA) hard drive and/or a solid state drive. The storage system stores the result in a database. The storage system assigns the storage drive a performance group designation based on the result and groups the storage drive into a redundancy group. The storage system then displays the redundancy group configuration for the plurality of storage drives so that a storage administrator may configure the redundancy groupings of the storage drives of the storage system based on the redundancy group configuration displayed.
US08345365B2	Data processing system having data reproduction independent of data processing A processing unit performs a method including controlling a reading-out of data from a first storage medium at a predetermined read-out data rate to produce inputted data, and controlling a compression of the inputted data to produce first compressed data of a first compressed format. The method includes controlling a storage of the first compressed data in a second storage medium at a faster writing data rate than the predetermined read-out data rate, controlling a reading-out of second compressed data of a second compressed format from the second storage medium, and controlling a decompression of the second compressed data to produce decompressed data. The method also includes controlling simultaneously the storage of the first compressed data in the second storage medium, the reading-out of the second compressed data from the second storage medium, and audibly reproducing the decompressed data. The first compressed format is different from the second compressed format.
US08345363B2	Drive device, lens part, and camera module A drive device capable of engaging a drive shaft and a part holding the drive shaft with a suitable force without accompanying increase in the size of the drive device. The drive device includes a couple member with a piezoelectric element and a transmission shaft coupled together, a lens holder that holds a lens and to which the couple member is secured, a biasing member that biases the transmission shaft in a direction intersecting a placement direction of the transmission shaft viewed from the lens holder (excluding a lengthwise direction of the transmission shaft), and a link member (link body) that holds the transmission shaft in a slidable manner together with the biasing member.
US08345362B2	Lens holder and camera module using the same A camera module includes a base board and a lens holder mounted on the base board. The lens holder includes a main body and at least one ventilation portion integrally formed with the main body. The main body includes a top wall and a peripheral wall extending from a peripheral edge of the top wall. The top wall and the peripheral wall cooperatively define an accommodating space. The top wall defines a viewing aperture through the top wall thereof and at least one riser vent positioned adjacent to the peripheral wall. The at least one ventilation portion covers the riser vent, and is made of a waterproof breathable material.
US08345361B2	Projecting device and lens adjusting module thereof The invention discloses a lens adjusting module for adjusting the position of a lens module. The lens adjusting module includes an input rod and an output rod, wherein the input rod is configured along a first direction and has an inclined surface. The output rod is configured along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The output rod has a first contact surface contacting the inclined surface, and a second contact surface contacting the lens module. When the input rod moves along the first direction, the first contact surface of the output rod moves along the inclined surface of the input rod, and the lens module moves with the output rod along the second direction.
US08345360B2	Camera unit and macro lens thereof A camera unit is provided, including a camera lens and a macro lens coupled with the camera lens module along an optical axis. The macro lens comprises a plane substrate and a plano-convex lens structure formed on the plane substrate by wafer level processing, wherein the effective focal length of the macro lens is between 80-150 mm.
US08345358B2	Image-capturing optical lens assembly The present invention provides an image-capturing optical lens assembly comprising, in order from an object side to an image side, a front lens group, a stop, and a rear lens group. The front lens group comprises, in order from the object side to the image side: a first lens element with negative refractive power having a convex object-side surface and a concave image-side surface; and a second lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface and a concave image-side surface. The rear lens group comprises, in order from the object side to the image side: a third lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface and a convex image-side surface; a fourth lens element with negative refractive power; and a fifth lens element with positive refractive power having a convex image-side surface. With such an arrangement of optical elements, the optical system will have a field of view that is large enough; meanwhile, aberrations of the optical system can be favorably corrected to obtain good image quality.
US08345356B2	Objective lens, optical pickup device, and optical recording/reproducing apparatus An objective lens for converging light emitted from a light source onto an optical recording medium to record and reproduce information consists of a single lens that has at least one aspheric surface. The following conditional expressions (1) and (2) are satisfied: −0.90
US08345353B2	Long-length lens A lens including a lens portion having first and second opposite oblong surfaces is disclosed. At least one of the first and second oblong surfaces of the lens portion is a curved lens surface having a reflective power. A rib portion is disposed at each of two opposite sides of the lens portion facing in a direction of a width of the first oblong surface. The rib portion extends along a longitudinal direction of the lens portion in a position separate from the second oblong surface. A draft surface extends between the second oblong surface and the rib portion. The draft surface includes a slant surface slanting outwardly toward the rib portion. The slant surface is curved inwardly with a draft thereof increasing gradually toward the rib portion.
US08345352B2	Polarization-maintaining reflector arrangement The present invention discloses a polarization-maintaining reflector arrangement comprising a reflector group including at least one polarizing reflector and at least one compensating reflector, wherein the incident plane for the polarizing reflectors is perpendicular to the incident plane for the compensating reflectors, and the product of s-wave reflectance of all the polarizing reflectors and p-wave reflectance of all the compensating reflectors is equal to the product of s-wave reflectance of all the compensating reflectors and p-wave reflectance of all the polarizing reflectors. One or more reflector groups can be used in the light path. The invention can conveniently and effectively eliminate the polarization caused by reflection.
US08345348B1	Method and optical gain fiber having segments of differing core sizes Apparatus and method for amplifying laser signals using segments of fibers of differing core diameters and/or differing cladding diameters to suppress amplified spontaneous emission and non-linear effects such as four-wave mixing (FWM), self-phase modulation, and stimulated Brillouin and/or Raman scattering (SBS/SRS). In some embodiments, different core sizes have different sideband spacings (spacing between the desired signal and wavelength-shifted lobes). Changing core sizes and providing phase mismatches prevent buildup of non-linear effects. Some embodiments further include a bandpass filter to remove signal other than the desired signal wavelength and/or a time gate to remove signal at times other than during the desired signal pulse. Some embodiments include photonic-crystal structures to define the core for the signal and/or the inner cladding for the pump. Some embodiments include an inner glass cladding to confine the signal in the core and an outer glass cladding to confine pump light in the inner cladding.
US08345343B2	Reflective display device A reflective display device including: a substrate; a reflective layer on the substrate and configured to reflect light incident on the reflective layer; a color filter layer on the reflective layer; and an optical shutter layer on the color filter layer. Each pixel of a plurality of pixels of the reflective display device includes a plurality of sub-pixels and each sub-pixel includes the substrate, the reflective layer, the color filter layer, and the optical shutter layer, and for each pixel, the color filter layer includes a plurality of color filter elements corresponding to colors respectively obtained by the plurality of sub-pixels. At least one of the plurality of color filter elements includes a composite color area including a plurality of white areas configured to let white light pass through them such that the white light is directly reflected by the reflective layer and the plurality of white areas are discontinuously distributed in at least a portion of the composite color area through which light of the obtained colors passes.
US08345342B2	Multilayer structure having a photochromic host matrix and manufacturing method A photochromic structure includes a plastic support of optical grade with good light transparency, having at least one face with an adhesive layer impregnated with a solution of a solvent with photochromes, having a flexible host matrix for the photochromes, which is mounted by adhesion onto another support. A structure with a uniform flexible photochromic matrix, which has rapid transition times, notably a rapid relaxation time, is thus obtained. The structure is mountable, and advantageously repositionable. It is produced via a process using roll-milling combined with a system for dispensing the solvated solution of photochromes upstream of the rolls, via which a support strip of an adhesive is entrained by the rolls, and the adhesive is gradually impregnated and then laminated on another support.
US08345338B2	Method of modifying color composition for a color-blind person in a mobile displaying apparatus Disclosed is a method for evaluating the qualities of the user's color vision by means of the FM chromaticity test or directly measuring the defective factors of the user causing the color blindness. Thus it modifies the color composition of a video displaying apparatus according to a numerical analysis of the color and degree of color blindness specific to each dichromatic individual, so that he may perceive the same colors as the normal person. Also discloses is an apparatus for performing the method steps described herein.
US08345336B2	MEMS scanning micromirror with reduced dynamic deformation A MEMS scanning micromirror with reduced dynamic deformation with a mirror support including a rotation axis beam 120 having a rotation axis 58; a pair of extension bars 56 parallel to the rotation axis 58, each having a first end 140, a midpoint 142, and a second end 144; and a pair of X beams 130, each of the pair of X beams 130 having a cross midpoint 134. One of the pair of X beams 130 is connected to the first end 140 and the midpoint 142 of each of the pair of extension bars 56; the other of the pair of X beams 130 is connected to the midpoint 142 and the second end 144 of each of the pair of extension bars 56; and the rotation axis beam 120 is connected to the cross midpoint 134 of each of the pair of X beams 130.
US08345333B2	Displacement/distortion measuring method and displacement/distortion measuring apparatus Provided are a displacement/distortion measuring method and a displacement/distortion measuring apparatus for easily and highly accurately measuring displacement or distortion of an object. An image of the surface of the measuring object is picked up by a line scanner apparatus adhered or brought close to the surface of the measuring object. The image is taken, displacement or distortion is measured by image analysis of the image of the measuring object surface prior to time lapse and that after time lapse, and displacement or distortion measuring results are outputted.
US08345330B2	Document reading apparatus In reading an image of a document in a monochromatic document reading mode, a document reading apparatus reads the image of the document while conveying the document at a speed determined according to a variable magnification ratio, executes digital variable magnification on the read multivalued image in a main scanning direction by using a main scanning direction variable magnification unit, binarizes the multivalued image, and stores the binary image on a memory. In reading an image in a color document reading mode, the document reading apparatus reads the image of the document while conveying the document at a predetermined speed, stores the read multivalued image on the memory, and executes digital variable magnification on the multivalued image in the main scanning direction and a sub scanning direction.
US08345329B2	Systems and methods for improving image quality in image forming devices An image forming device may select from among a plurality of rendering parameters to include selectable halftone frequency candidates automatically based on an internal determination regarding an operating condition of the device to improve image quality for formed images. As a time varying function of the status and/or condition of the components and/or consumables employed in the image forming device, a capability is provided for the device to independently determine an optimal individual or set of rendering parameters to be employed based on a monitored device status. Available monitoring data for a current overall condition of the image forming device, to include monitoring a condition of the components and/or the consumables within the device, is used to allow the device to internally perform automatic adjustment of one or more image rendering parameters, including automatically implementing an optimal halftone frequency election scheme.
US08345325B2	Segmented reflective optical system An optical system, used for scanning, forms an image using reflective optical surfaces. The system may be telecentric, and may form an image that is reduced in size as compared with the scanned original. Several image-forming optical channels may be combined to form a page-wide scanning array.
US08345322B2	Scanning apparatus having dual power mode A scanning apparatus having dual power mode is described. The scanning apparatus includes a detection module, a switch unit, and a power controller. The detection module detects a first voltage signal and a second voltage signal for generating a detecting signal. The switch unit receives the commands from the power controller for outputting the first voltage signal and/or the second voltage signal to the image acquiring device of the scanning apparatus. The power controller determines whether the first voltage signal is detected according to the detecting signal. While the first voltage signal is detected, the power controller controls the switch unit to output the first voltage signal and/or the second voltage signal to the image acquiring device. While the first voltage signal is not exist, the power controller controls the switch unit to output the second voltage signal to the image acquiring device.
US08345321B2	Image input and output using scan-all-first input mode In processing documents, a scan-all-first mode is available, in which a set of documents is input part by part until all documents have been input, and, after completion of the input process, an output process is performed as a single job for the set of documents. In an intermediate state during the input process in which the set of documents is input part by part in the scan-all-first mode, a user is allowed to make settings of processing conditions associated with, for example, insertion of a sheet or insertion of a form image. In the job processed in the scan-all-first mode, insertion of the sheet or insertion of a composite image including the form image is performed according to the settings made in the intermediate state.
US08345318B2	Scanner Disclosed is a scanner with a main body, hinge, cover member, and plurality of sets of pins and pin holes. The main body includes a transparent plate on the top surface for placing a document. The hinge connects the main body and the cover member. The cover member rotates between an opened and closed state with respect to the main body. The cover member has a bottom surface, which contacts the top surface of the main body when closed. The pins are fanned on either the top surface of the main body or the bottom surface of the cover member, while the pin holes are formed on the opposing surface. The plurality of sets adjusts a positional relationship between the main body and the cover member in the closed state.
US08345317B2	Copying apparatus A copying apparatus detects a non glossy portion (K, M, C, or Y) and a glossy portion (T) of a document based on image data output from a reader unit. The copying apparatus forms an image of the detected non glossy portion (K, M, C, or Y) with a colored toner and an image of the detected glossy portion (T) with a transparent toner, on a sheet, based on the image data output from the reader unit.
US08345316B2	Layered security in digital watermarking A media object authentication system uses layers of security features based on digital watermarks embedded in media objects. The system generates a first digital watermark with a message payload carrying data about the object, such as a hash of text data printed on the object. The first digital watermark is combined with a content signature derived from features of the media object, such as frequency domain attributes, edge attributes, or other filtered version of the media signal (e.g., image photo on a secure document) on the media object. This combination forms a new digital watermark signal that is embedded in the host media object. To verify the object, the digital watermark payload is extracted and compared with the data about the object. The combined digital watermark and content signature is also evaluated to authenticate the media signal on the media object.
US08345314B2	Methods and systems to embed glossmark digital watermarks into continuous-tone images Disclosed are methods/systems to embed a watermark into a contone image. Specifically, the disclosed methods and systems spatially modulate a contone image substantially adjacent a watermark area according to a first polarization and spatially modulate the contone image substantially within the watermark area according to a second polarization. These spatially modulated images may then be subsequently processed, stored, communicated and/or rendered.
US08345311B2	Reduction of harmonic artifacts in halftone screens A halftone screen is modified to reduce harmonic artifacts. Artifacts are modeled from the screen in a frequency domain. Threshold values in the screen are modified to reduce amplitude of at least some of the modeled artifacts.
US08345309B2	Secure printing-out using color toner and particular toner An image processing apparatus forming an image with color toners used for full color printing and a particular toner is provided. The apparatus comprises a storage storing image data and attribute information indicating an attribute of each pixel in the data; a compression component compressing the information; a change component changing attribute information except particular toner information for forming an image with the particular toner of the attribute information, so that a data amount of the compressed attribute information does not exceed the storage capacity, when a data amount of the compressed attribute information exceeds the storage capacity; a component storing the attribute information changed by the change component into the storage; and a component forming a full color image and a particular toner image by image processing using the attribute information in the storage for the image data in the storage.
US08345308B2	Image forming apparatus and method of combining processing modes An image forming apparatus includes a user interface, and an image forming unit to perform an image forming job in a new image mode by combining two or more image modes when the two or more image modes are selected through the user interface. The image forming unit may include a controller to combine color lookup tables of the two or more selected image modes and to create a new color lookup table, and an engine unit to perform the image forming job in an image mode corresponding to the new color lookup table. Therefore, it is possible for the image forming apparatus to support various image modes.
US08345305B2	Image-processing device and image-processing method An image-processing device includes: an acquiring unit that acquires image data representing a document which includes a plurality of pages; an extracting unit that extracts, from the acquired image data, a character area in a first page that is at least one of the plurality of pages; and an output unit that outputs first partial image data within the extracted character area associated with the acquired image data of a second page other than the first page, the second page determined by having a character area corresponding to the extracted character area in the first page.
US08345304B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and image processing control program capable of processing document data An image processing method of forming images of data onto a plurality of recording media each having an obverse surface and a reverse surface is disclosed. This method has a recognizing step of recognizing a delimiter of the data in document data and a recognizing step of, in the case where the delimiter of the data is recognized in the recognizing step when an image process is executed so as to form the image onto the obverse surface of a predetermined recording medium, recognizing an instruction showing either a mode to continue the image forming operation to the reverse surface of the recording medium or a mode to exchange the recording medium and continue the image forming operation from the obverse surface of another recording medium.
US08345300B2	Computer readable medium, document processing apparatus, document processing system, and document processing method for managing electronic documents A computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process for document processing, the process includes: receiving image data obtained by, with an image reading apparatus, reading a document of a predetermined format in which contents of an electronic document stored in a storage portion while being associated with identification information, the identification information, and an entry for additional information are arranged; extracting entered additional information from the entry area of the received image data; and correlating the extracted additional information with an electronic document associated with the identification information.
US08345298B2	Print control apparatus, for performing a printing operation by reusing rendering completed data In determining whether to use RIP completed data, a print control apparatus determines whether objects constituting a processing target page are all reusable objects. As a result of this determination, if it is not determined that the objects constituting the processing target page are all reusable objects, the print control apparatus performs RIP on the processing target page data without using the RIP completed data. On the other hand, if the objects constituting the processing target page are all reusable objects, it is then determined whether a registered common page matching the processing target page is present in a common page table. As a result of this determination, if the registered common page is present, the print control apparatus reuses the RIP completed data. If the registered common page is not present, the print control apparatus performs the RIP on the processing target page without using the RIP completed data.
US08345297B2	Data communication system including address management apparatus and data communication apparatus, address management method using address management apparatus, and address management program controlling address management apparatus In order to facilitate updating of information on a destination of data, a data communication system includes a server and an MFP capable of communicating with each other. The MFP transmits to the server an update requesting signal including a source address of an e-mail received from another apparatus and related information on the source, transmits an address request to the server and receives user address data from the server, and transmits data to at least one destination address included in the received user address data. The server stores the user address data having destination addresses and related information on the destinations associated with each other, and in receipt of the update requesting signal from the MFP, rewrites the related information associated with the source address included in the update requesting signal by the user address data with the related information included in the update requesting signal.
US08345292B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing apparatus control method, and storage medium An information processing apparatus selects attribute information in a predetermined layer based on a result of measurement of the number of appearances of attribute information included in print data, determines a priority order of the attribute information based on the number of times of references to a reusable object from a page corresponding to a record that includes the selected attribute information, serially selects attribute information based on the determined priority order, generates intermediate data for a page corresponding to the selected attribute information, and generates image data by rasterizing the generated intermediate data.
US08345290B2	Apparatus for determining facsimile transmission authorizer and facsimile machine having the apparatus In a facsimile machine having the function of authorization by the authorizer, an authorizer determining apparatus that can alleviate workload on the authorizers is provided, and a facsimile machine having such an authorizer determining apparatus is also provided. The authorizer determining apparatus for the facsimile machine includes a candidate selecting unit selecting, based on a sum of condition values of a plurality of attributes (such as sender, destination, and format of document to be transmitted) selected in advance for a facsimile transmission, a set of authorizer candidates consisting of possible authorizers having condition values not smaller than the sum, and an authorizer determining unit for determining an authorizer candidate having the lowest condition value among the set of authorizer candidates.
US08345274B2	Imaging device and method of controlling the same An imaging device receives from a host image data and commands including a normal command and a real-time command to be processed prior to the normal command. A receiver receives a real-time processing disable command with a parameter indicating a number of bytes of the image data, and a processor processes the image data in terms of the number of bytes without processing the real-time command, after processing the real-time processing disable command. In a method for so controlling an imaging device, the host controls transmission of image data and commands including normal and real-time commands to an imaging device as noted above. The host comprises a detector that determines if data to be transmitted includes image data, and a processor that transmits the image data after transmitting a real-time processing disable command with the parameter described above, if the detector determines that the data includes the image data.
US08345273B2	Information processing apparatus for managing an expansion module, control method therefor, and program for executing the method The present invention discloses, as an example, an information processing apparatus for downloading an expansion module for a print driver from a server apparatus for setup, including: a reception unit for receiving a program from the server apparatus; a determination unit for determining whether the reception unit receives the expansion module for the print driver and a license management program which is an expansion program for the print driver; an obtaining unit for obtaining, in response to a determination by the determination unit that the reception unit receives the expansion module for the print driver and the license management program, by calling the received license management program, license information indicating a license status of the expansion program; and a decision unit for deciding whether a use of the expansion program is permitted in the information processing apparatus by using the obtained license information.
US08345271B2	Printing control apparatus for assigning parameter selections to specific keys A printing control apparatus has an input unit with several keys, and a printing control unit that receives a print command from the input unit. The print command initiates a print operation at a printer. A determination unit of the printing control apparatus determines whether a predetermined key is pressed at the same time that the print command is received. If the determination unit determines that the predetermined key is pressed at the same time that the print command is received, an update unit updates a setup value of a parameter relating to a printing mode to a specific value from a predetermined value. The printer executes the print operation in accordance with the setup value of the parameter.
US08345269B2	Method and apparatus for measuring the width of composite tape Apparatus is provided for slitting composite material int1aaaaaaaaaaao tape and for measuring the width of the slit tape as the tape is being reeled onto take up rolls. The tape width is measured by an optical micrometer. The optical micrometer includes a transmitter for directing radiant energy over the tape and, a receiver for receiving radiant energy from the transmitter that passes across an edge of the tape and for producing a signal related to the width of the tape.
US08345266B2	Method and system for measuring wear in the lining of a vessel In a method and system for measuring wear in the lining of a vessel by a laser contouring system having an electromagnetic radiation emitting and receiving device. The laser contouring system references permanent marks and temporary marks positioned outside, on, or within the vessel. The distances and direction from the electromagnetic radiation emitting and receiving device to the fixed and temporary marks is determined during an initial measurement by the electromagnetic radiation emitting and receiving device from a first scanning position. The electromagnetic radiation emitting and receiving device is then moved along a path from the first scanning position to a second scanning position wherein some of the marks which were scanned from the first scanning position are scanned again to determine the relative position of the vessel and points on the internal lining of the vessel to determine the contour of the lining.
US08345265B2	Lithographic apparatus and methods for compensating substrate unflatness, determining the effect of patterning device unflatness, and determining the effect of thermal loads on a patterning device A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, and a sensor configured to measure a height level, curvature and/or angle of a surface of a patterning device supported on the support.
US08345264B2	Laser reflection optical fiber sensor A sensor, sensor assembly and a method of sensing, in which the sensor is in contact with a material or structure and the sensor directly measures one or more property changes in the material by means of light reflection and scattering using a reflective target.
US08345263B2	Measurement method and measurement apparatus that measure a surface figure of an aspheric surface based on an interference pattern The present invention provides a measurement apparatus that illuminates a surface to be tested having an aspheric surface using light beams that form spherical waves to measure a figure of the surface to be tested, including a detection unit configured to detect interference patterns between light beams from the surface to be tested and light beams from a reference surface, and a controller configured to control processing for obtaining a figure of the surface to be tested based on the interference patterns detected by the detection unit.
US08345262B2	Method and apparatus for determining a deviation of an actual shape from a desired shape of an optical surface An optical element having an optical surface (12; 103), which optical surface has an actual shape, the actual shape deviating from a desired shape by maximum 0.2 nm, wherein the desired shape is either: a free-form surface having a deviation from its best-fitting sphere of at least 5 μm or a substantially rotationally symmetrical surface having a deviation from its best-fitting sphere of at least 0.5 mm.
US08345261B2	Optical coherence tomography imaging A digitized image of an object may include representations of portions of the object that are obscured, occluded or otherwise unobservable. The image may be a multi-dimensional visual representation of dentition. Characteristics of the dentition and its surfaces, contours, and shape may be determined and/or analyzed. A light may be directed toward and reflected from the dentition. The reflected light may be combined with a reference to determine characteristics of the dentition, including obscured areas such as subgingival tissue.
US08345258B2	Synchronous frequency-shift mechanism in fizeau interferometer An optical device for characterizing a test surface combines a Fizeau interferometer with a polarization frequency-shifting element. Two substantially collinear, orthogonally polarized beams having respective frequencies differing by a predetermined frequency shift are generated by the polarization frequency-shifting element and projected into the Fizeau optical cavity to produce a pair of test beams and a pair of reference beams, wherein the beams in each pair have orthogonal polarization states and have frequencies differing by the predetermined frequency shift. A second, substantially equal frequency shift is introduced in the Fizeau cavity on either one of the pairs of test and reference beams, thereby generating a four-beam collinear output that produces an interferogram without tilt or short-coherence light. The invention may also be implemented by reversing the order of the Fizeau cavity and the polarization frequency-shifting element in the optical train.
US08345246B2	Running yarn line inspection method and carbon fiber manufacturing method using thereof A running yarn line inspection method inspects yarn lines running in parallel in the same surface. The running yarn line inspection method is provided with a first illumination means and a line sensor for imaging the yarn lines on the side of the first surface of the running surface of the yarn lines and a second illumination means on the side of the second surface, and comprises a data processing means which processes data obtained by the line sensor and a recording means which records data processed by the data processing means with time.
US08345241B1	Application of digital light processor in imaging ellipsometer and the like systems Application of digital light processor (DLP) systems in an imaging ellipsometer or imaging polarimeter with a focusing means, sample and detector arranged to meet the Scheimpflug condition.
US08345240B2	Rotation detection kit A rotation detection kit, comprising a source for generating at least a first polarized beam emitted along a propagation axis, a receiver comprising at least a first beam intensity sensor and an analyzer. The analyzer comprises a first polarizer device for location in the at least first polarized beam between the source and at least first beam intensity sensor. The first polarizer device is configured such that the receiver can measure rotation between the source and the analyzer about a first axis that is non-parallel to the propagation axis based on the at least first beam intensity sensor's output.
US08345239B1	System and method for monitoring birefringent particles in a fluid An imaging system with an imaging mechanism which includes polarization analyzers, which may be crossed polarization analyzers, positioned to provide birefringence images of particles in the fluid passing through the flow chamber. Captured images are of high resolution and may be used in comparison to known images of a library of images. The system and related method enhance the accuracy and sensitivity of particle monitoring by utilizing birefringence imaging combined with particle analysis and the detection of each particle's characteristic features, such as crystalline features. The system includes a scatter detector used to trigger backlighting of the flow chamber and capture images of particles therein.
US08345238B2	Measuring optical spectral property of light based on polarization analysis A device for measuring spectrum of light includes a differential group delay (DGD) device positioned to receive light under measurement and to produce output light with a DGD value representing a difference in the group delay between two orthogonal optical polarizations of the light under measurement. An optical detector is positioned to receive the output light from the DGD device to measure a state and a degree of polarization of the output light. A processing device receives and processes measurements of the state and the degree of polarization from the optical detector. A probe light source produces probe light. An optical sensor receives the probe light and interacts with the probe light at a resonance wavelength of the optical sensor. A processing unit processes the optical spectrum of the returned probe light to extract information on a parameter to change the resonance wavelength.
US08345237B2	Optical information analyzing device and optical information analyzing method An optical information analyzing device includes an irradiating unit that irradiates irradiation light to specimens, a transmitted light receiving unit that receives transmitted light and detects the transmitted light as a transmitted light signal, a scattering/fluorescent light receiving unit that receives lateral scattering light and fluorescent light and detects the lateral scattering light and the fluorescent light as a scattering/fluorescent light signal, a nozzle position adjusting mechanism, and an analyzing unit that measures the optical information on the specimen on the basis of the detected transmitted light signal and the detected scattering/fluorescent light signal and analyzes the specimen.
US08345235B2	Measurement of sample reflectance An accessory for a spectrometer for carrying out measurements of specular reflectance of a sample. The accessory is designed so that all components can be located in a housing and the sample can be located horizontally on a top-plate of the housing with the components disposed below the plane of that plate.
US08345234B2	Self calibration methods for optical analysis system Disclosed is a system and methodologies for providing self-calibration in an optical analysis system. Illumination light is directed toward a material to be sampled while provisions are made to modify the characteristics of at least a portion of the illumination light falling on a reference detector. The modified characteristics may include light presence and/or spectral characteristics. Light presence may be modified by rotating or moving mirror assemblies to cause light to fall on either a sample detector or a reference detector while spectral characteristics may be modified by placing materials having known spectral characteristics in the path of the illumination light.
US08345230B2	Illumination apparatus and reflective characteristics measuring apparatus employing the same An illumination apparatus to illuminate a sample surface with excellent illumination efficiency and a reflective characteristics measuring apparatus using the illumination apparatus. The illumination apparatus includes a plane light source positioned on a normal at a center of the sample surface and a mirror having an internal reflective surface positioned between the plane light source and the sample surface. The internal reflective surface has a circular or polygonal shape in a section perpendicular to the normal and the circular or polygonal shape substantially corresponds to an imaginary circle centered on the normal and having a radius equal to half a distance between the plane light source and the sample surface. In place of the mirror, a plurality of reflective faces may be positioned.
US08345227B2	Measuring volume and constituents of cells A method of determining a hemoglobin content value of a red blood cell includes: (a) illuminating the cell with incident light at a plurality of illumination wavelengths; (b) obtaining at least one two-dimensional image of the cell corresponding to each illumination wavelength; (c) for each illumination wavelength, determining a mean optical density and a maximum optical density for the cell; (d) determining an area of the cell; (e) for each illumination wavelength, determining a volume of the cell; (f) for each illumination wavelength, determining an integrated optical density for the cell; and (g) determining the hemoglobin content value of the cell based on the area of the cell, the volumes of the cell corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths, and the integrated optical densities for the cell corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths.
US08345224B2	Methods and devices for driving micromirrors A micromirror of a micromirror array in an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus can be tilted through a respective tilt angle about two tilt axes. The micromirror is assigned three actuators which can respectively be driven by control signals in order to tilt the micromirror about the two tilt axes. Two control variables are specified, each of which is assigned to one tilt axis and which are both assigned to unperturbed tilt angles. For any desired combinations of the two control variables, as a function of the two control variables, one of the three actuators is selected and its control signal is set to a constant value, in particular zero. The control signals are determined so that, when the control signals are applied to the other two actuators, the micromirror adopts the unperturbed tilt angles as a function of the two control variables.
US08345221B2	Aberration measurement method, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method A method for measuring a spherical aberration amount of a projection optical system that projects an image of a pattern formed on an original plate onto a substrate, includes: obtaining a first focal position in a direction of an optical axis of the projection optical system under a first measurement condition; obtaining a second focal position in the direction of the optical axis of the projection optical system under a second measurement condition; calculating the spherical aberration amount of the projection optical system based on a difference between the first focal position and the second focal position. Under the first measurement condition the focal position in the direction of the optical axis with respect to the spherical aberration amount does not change; and under the second measurement condition the focal position in the direction of the optical axis with respect to the spherical aberration amount changes.
US08345219B2	Method and apparatus for setting an illumination optical unit A method for setting an illumination optical unit involves determining an actual value of an intensity-weighted illumination parameter of the illumination optical unit for multiple field points and for multiple illumination angles. The influence of a deformation of at least one of the optical surfaces of the illumination optical unit on the at least one illumination parameter is then determined. A desired value of the illumination parameter is then predefined. A desired form of the at least one optical surface is determined so that the actual value of the illumination parameter corresponds to the desired value of the illumination parameter within predefined limits. Finally, the optical surface is deformed with the aid of at least one actuator so that an actual form of the optical surface corresponds to the desired form.
US08345216B2	Substrate conveyance device and substrate conveyance method, exposure apparatus and exposure method, device manufacturing method A substrate conveyance device that conveys a substrate having been exposed with a pattern image via a projection optical system and a liquid, the substrate conveyance device comprising: a liquid detector that detects the liquid adhering on the substrate.
US08345215B2	Optical means for calibrating temperature The invention relates to a system and method for the optical calibration of the temperature of a micro-environment. The system comprises a thermochromic liquid crystal in combination with a luminophore. The steps of the method comprise providing in combination in the micro-environment at least one thermochromic liquid crystal and a luminophore, varying the temperature of the environment while irradiating the combination with light that includes light at one or more excitation wavelengths of the luminophore, and monitoring luminescence emitted by the combination while recording the temperature of the environment.
US08345213B2	Liquid crystal device, method of manufacturing liquid crystal device and electronic apparatus Provided is a liquid crystal device including a first substrate and a second substrate which face each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, wherein a plurality of columnar spacers for maintaining a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate is arranged on a surface of a liquid crystal layer side of the first surface, and spacer reception portions are arranged on a surface of a liquid crystal layer side of the second substrate in regions which face the columnar spacers, and wherein the spacer reception portions include contact reception portions which are in contact with the columnar spacers and non-contact reception portions which are not in contact with the columnar spacers.
US08345211B2	Display apparatus and manufacturing method therefor, and active matrix substrate A display panel includes a plurality of display lines provided in each of blocks and extending in parallel with each other, a plurality of drive circuits provided outside a display region and connected to the display lines in the respective blocks, a plurality of first lines provided outside the display region and intersecting end portions closer to the drive circuits of the display lines in the respective blocks, the first lines being insulated from the display lines, and a second line provided outside the display region and intersecting end portions farther from the drive circuits of the display lines of all the blocks, the second line being insulated from the display lines. The second line is configured to intersect the first lines while being insulated from the first lines, and be supplied with a display signal from each of the drive circuits via an amplifier circuit.
US08345204B2	Liquid crystal display A liquid crystal display is provided. In the liquid crystal display, a common line includes an edge common line that is formed in a non-display area outside a display area of a liquid crystal display panel to receive a common voltage through a plurality of input units, a plurality of pixel common line patterns that are formed along edges of each of subpixels to be electrically connected to one another, and a plurality of longitudinal common lines that is electrically connected to the edge common line to apply the common voltage to the pixel common line patterns. Each of the pixel common line patterns has a mesh structure and is connected to common electrodes of the subpixels. Each of the longitudinal common lines is formed between two horizontally adjacent pixels in a direction parallel to the data lines.
US08345201B2	Alignment film material comprising polyimide and a vinyl-type monomer, alignment film comprising polyimide and polyvinyl compound, method of forming the alignment film, and liquid crystal display having the same An alignment film material according to the present invention includes: a precursor of a first polyimide (p1); a second polyimide (p2) and a precursor thereof; and a vinyl-type monomer. The vinyl-type monomer is represented by general formula (1) P1-A1-(Z1-A2)n-P2 (in general formula (1), P1 and P2 are, independently, acrylate, methacrylate, acrylamide or methacrylamide; A1 and A2 represent, independently, 1,4-phenylene, 1,4-cyclohexane or 2,5-thiophene, or naphthalene-2,6-diyl or anthracene-2,7-diyl; at least one of A1 and A2 is substituted by at least one fluorine group; and Z1 is a —COO— group, a —OCO— group, a —O— group, a —CONH— group or a single bond, where n is 0 or 1).
US08345191B2	Liquid crystal display device having optical component for changing state of polarized light An optical component capable of changing polarization light state and a liquid crystal display (LCD) device using the same are provided. The optical component including a transparent substrate and a wavelength compensator is disposed at any position from the outer side of the LCD device to the outside in an output direction of an output light. The wavelength compensator is directly attached to the surface of the substrate to convert an output light of the LCD device from a linearly polarized light into a circularly polarized light or an elliptically polarized light, thereby effectively reducing eye fatigue. The LCD device is provided with such an optical component such that a linearly polarized light emerging from the LCD device is converted into a circularly polarized light or an elliptically polarized light to lessen the eye fatigue.
US08345188B2	Illumination device and liquid crystal display device A backlight (illumination device) of this invention includes a plurality of light source units (12) each including (i) at least one light source (5) and (ii) a light guide body (7) for surface-emitting light which has come from the at least one light source. In the light source unit (12), the light source is disposed at one end portion of the light guide body (7), and another end portion of the light guide body (7), opposite to the one end portion, has a thickness from 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm. As a result, it is possible to further improve luminance uniformity in an illumination device including a plurality of light guide bodies.
US08345184B2	Surface light source apparatus A light guide plate (63) includes a light introducing section (65), which is at a position facing a point light source (62), for confining light from the point light source, and a light guide plate main body (64), which has a thickness smaller than a thickness at an end of the light introducing section on the point light source side, for outputting the confined light to an outside from a light outputting surface by light outputting means (70). The light introducing section (65) has an inclined surface (67), which is inclined from a surface of the light introducing section towards a surface of the light guide plate main body (64). The inclined surface (67) has a directivity converting pattern (68) for converting a directivity expansion in a thickness direction of the light guide plate of the light entered to the light introducing section (65) to directivity characteristics tilted towards a direction parallel to a surface direction of the light guide plate. The directivity converting pattern (68) has a structure in which a plurality of V-shaped groove structures (68a) are lined.
US08345179B2	Flat panel display module A flat panel display module is introduced herein, which principally includes an upper bezel, a liquid crystal panel, a frame, an optical film set and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), wherein various types electrical components mounted on the PCBA are capable of being completely or mostly accommodated within a caved structure constructed within the inside of the flat panel display module so as to reduce a thickness of the whole flat panel display module. Simultaneously, a better structural strength for the whole flat panel display module can be achieved therefore by closely stacking up the above-mentioned elements of the whole flat panel display module.
US08345175B2	Array substrate for liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same An array substrate for an in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device includes a substrate, a gate line disposed along a first direction on the substrate, a data line disposed along a second direction and crossing the gate line to define a pixel region, a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the data line, pixel electrodes disposed in the pixel region and connected to the thin film transistor, common electrodes disposed in the pixel region and alternating with the pixel electrodes, a semiconductor layer underlying the data line and including a portion having a width greater than a width of the data line, and a first blocking pattern comprising an opaque material and disposed under the semiconductor layer.
US08345173B2	Thin film transistor substrate, display device having the same and method of manufacturing the same A display substrate includes a first sensor line substantially parallel with the gate line or the data line, a first protrusion portion protruded from the first sensor line, and a first sensor electrode electrically connected to the first protrusion portion. The first sensor electrode includes a malleable metal. The malleable metal can overcome pressure and elastic deformation. Thus, the sensor electrode made from the malleable metal is not easily damaged by pressing the sensor electrode repeatedly.
US08345172B2	Video display device and light source driving method thereof A display device uses a field sequential color scheme. Assume that a panel video writing period defines a period from the start of writing image data into a display panel to the completion of displaying the image on the basis of the image data in a sub-frame. A light source driving circuit generates a driving signal for gradually increasing the luminance of a light source of a color corresponding to a displayed image in the present sub-frame from zero to a predetermined value within the panel video writing period of the present sub-frame and for gradually decreasing the luminance of the light source from the predetermined value to zero within the panel video writing period of the next sub-frame. A light source driver drives the light source to emit light in accordance with the driving signal.
US08345170B2	Display device and its control method When an operation mode of a television receiver is a normal mode, insertion of a memory card having trigger information stored therein into a card insertion portion causes a storefront mode setting screen to be displayed on a video display unit. When the operation mode of the television receiver is a storefront mode, detection of supply of power by a power supply detector causes a storefront mode release screen to be displayed on the video display unit. Users performs selection and setting on the storefront mode setting screen and the storefront mode release confirmation screen by operating a remote controller to switch the operation mode of the television receiver.
US08345169B2	Signal transmitter and signal receiver In a signal transmitter and a signal receiver, a multiplexing part multiplexes a video signal and a time-base-compressed audio signal on the basis of a multiplexing control signal to transmit the multiplexed signal through a data line in the signal transmitter. Further, a demultiplexing part demultiplexes a video/audio multiplexed signal received through the data line into the original video signal and audio signal by a demultiplexing control signal in the signal receiver. According to the so-configured signal transmitter and signal receiver, it is possible to realize a signal transmission system compliant with the DVI standard, in which the audio signal as well as the video signal can be transmitted.
US08345168B2	Digital broadcast receiver unit A display apparatus coupled with a video processing apparatus including: an input unit which inputs a video signal scanned by one of the plurality of scanning methods and a scanning method data detected based on said video signal from said video processing apparatus, a display which displays said video signal inputted by said input unit, a controller which controls as said display displays said video signal based on said scanning method data inputted by said input unit.
US08345167B2	Methods of storing and accessing pictures A method of storing and accessing pictures in a multi-field video operation includes storing a first portion of a first field in first page of a first bank of a DRAM; storing a first portion of a second field in the first page of the first bank; reading the first page of the first bank; and performing the multi-field video operation according to the first portions of the first field and the second field. Another method includes storing a first field in a first bank of a DRAM; storing a second field in a second bank of the DRAM; reading a first portion of the first field from the first bank of the DRAM and reading a first portion of the second field from the second bank of the DRAM; and performing the multi-field video operation according to the first portions of the first field and the second field.
US08345162B2	Systems and methods for triggering an out of focus alert In order to trigger an out of focus alert when the focus level of a video frame meets a focus criteria, a method is performed including the operations of: receiving a video frame, partitioning the video frame into a plurality of blocks, calculating an array of discrete cosine transformation (DCT) coefficients for at least one of the plurality of blocks using a DCT, classifying each of the at least one of the plurality of blocks based on the array of DCT coefficients for that block, calculating a focus level of the video frame from the block classifications, and triggering an out of focus alert if the focus level meets a focus criteria.
US08345161B2	Signal processing device, and image output device In a case of changing the resolution of the synthesized image signal obtained by synthesizing the first image signal and a second image signal, identification information for identifying whether or not the character signal is contained is added to the synthesized image signal based on presence/absence of the character signal, by a character signal creating unit and a character signal synthesizing unit. Then, based on the identification information, a resolution changing unit separates the synthesized image signal into a third image signal containing a component of the character signal and a fourth image signal containing no component of the character signal, changes the resolutions of the third image signal and the fourth image signal, and synthesizes the third image signal and the fourth image signal with the resolutions changed, based on the identification information.
US08345160B2	Synchronous signal conversion circuit, signal processing system including it, and synchronous signal conversion method A synchronous signal conversion circuit converts a first synchronous signal, which is transmitted with a data signal, to a second synchronous signal conforming to a predetermined standard. In the synchronous signal conversion circuit, a transition detection circuit detects transition of the first synchronous signal. A synchronous signal generation circuit generates a second synchronous signal in response to a detection result by the transition detection circuit. An output timing control circuit delays the second synchronous signal generated by the synchronous signal generation circuit so that the second synchronous signal synchronizes with the data signal.
US08345159B2	Captioning evaluation system A captioning evaluation system. The system accepts captioning data and determines a number of errors in the captioning data, as well as the number of words per minute across the entirety of an event corresponding to the captioning data and time intervals of the event. The errors may be used to determine the accuracy of the captioning and the words per minute, both for the entire event and the time intervals, used to determine a cadence and/or rhythm for the captioning. The accuracy and cadence may be used to score the captioning data and captioner.
US08345156B2	Progressive scanning conversion apparatus and progressive scanning conversion method According to one embodiment, a progressive scanning conversion apparatus comprising: a motion detecting unit that detects a motion during one frame for each pixel and that outputs an output value between a still image determination value and a moving image determination value; a still image interpolation pixel generating unit that generates still image interpolation pixels from at least one of a preceding field signal and a following field signal; a moving image interpolation pixel generating unit that generates moving image interpolation pixels from at least one of a current field signal, the preceding field signal and the following field signal; an interpolation pixel mixing generating unit that mixes the still image interpolation pixels to the moving image interpolation pixels at an adjustable mixing ratio; an inter-field zero vector correlation detecting unit that detects correlation of corresponding small regions in a current field and a preceding field or in the current field and a following field, the corresponding small regions occupying the same area in an entire screen; and a motion detection correcting unit that corrects the output value to be closer to the moving image determination value when the correlation detected by the inter-field zero vector correlation detecting unit is lower; wherein, when the corrected output value is closer to the still image determination value, the interpolation pixel mixing generating unit increases the adjustable mixing ratio; and wherein, when the corrected output value is closer to the moving image determination value, the interpolation pixel mixing generating unit decreases the adjustable mixing ratio.
US08345152B2	Shutter for CCD imager A CCD sensor has a shutter to prevent frame shift smear during transfer of an image from the image region to a store region. The CCD sensor has an extended dynamic range, because each integration is in two parts, the second part of which has a different sensitivity than the first part. In order to avoid an asymmetry in the uncovering and covering of the image region, a two-bladed shutter is used.
US08345148B2	Method and system for inverse telecine and scene change detection of progressive video Certain aspects of a method and system for inverse telecine and scene change detection of progressive video may include determining a cadence, for example, 3:2 or 2:2 pulldown, and phase of received progressive input pictures. A difference between two or more consecutive received progressive input pictures may be determined. The motion compensation of a plurality of output pictures may be controlled based on the determined cadence, phase and difference between two or more consecutive received progressive input pictures. The system may be enabled to determine repeated pictures and scene changes. The motion compensation of output pictures may be stopped during detected scene changes.
US08345144B1	Methods and apparatus for rich image capture with focused plenoptic cameras Methods and apparatus for rich image capture using focused plenoptic camera technology. A radiance camera employs focused plenoptic camera technology and includes sets of modulating elements that may be used to modulate the sampling of different aspects of the range of plenoptic data. The radiance camera, via the modulating elements, may capture a particular property of light, such as luminance, color, polarization, etc., differently in different microimages or in different portions of microimages. With the focused plenoptic camera technology, the microimages are captured at the same time in a single image. Thus, multiple microimages of the same image of a scene may be captured at different exposures, different colors, different polarities, and so on, in a single image at the same time. Captured images may be used, for example, in High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, spectral imaging, polarization imaging, 3D imaging, and other imaging applications.
US08345143B2	Image capturing apparatus and image capturing apparatus control method An image capturing apparatus has either one of a first display mode for continuously displaying a captured image on an image display unit and a second display mode for not displaying the captured image on the image display unit and displays an image according to the detection result on the image display unit when the second display mode is set.
US08345138B2	Imaging apparatus An imaging apparatus includes an imaging element, an image signal transmitter, an image signal receiver, a signal processor and a control unit. The imaging element includes pixels arranged in two-dimensional array. The pixels output an imaging signal in synchronization with a first synchronizing signal. The image signal transmitter superimposes a second synchronizing signal on the imaging signal and transmits an image signal. The second synchronizing signal indicates a start position in vertical and horizontal directions in the two-dimensional array and is different from the first synchronizing signal. The image signal receiver receives the image signal from the image signal transmitter, and separates the received image signal into the imaging signal and second synchronizing signal. The signal processor processes the separated imaging signal based on the separated second synchronizing signal. The control unit receives the first synchronizing signal, and controls peripheral circuits in synchronization with the first synchronizing signal.
US08345133B2	Photoelectric conversion apparatus and imaging system using the same A plurality of photoelectric conversion elements including a first photoelectric conversion element, a second photoelectric conversion element, and a third photoelectric conversion element, are arranged in a photoelectric conversion apparatus of the present invention. Provided, between the first photoelectric conversion element and the second photoelectric conversion element, is a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type and of a first width in which a signal charge is a minor charier. And, provided, between the first photoelectric conversion element and the third photoelectric conversion element, is a second semiconductor region of the first conductivity type in a higher impurity concentration and of a second width narrower than the first width at a position deeper in a semiconductor substrate rather than a depth of the first semiconductor region.
US08345129B2	Camera placed behind a display with a transparent backlight A method and combined video display and camera system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system comprises a first sheet and a second sheet oriented parallel to the first sheet, the second sheet including a light diffuser. A light source is placed along an edge of the second sheet, wherein the second sheet diffuses light generated by the light source. One or more cameras are placed behind the second sheet to capture an image through the second sheet and the first sheet.
US08345127B2	Image processing apparatus and method of processing image for reducing noise of the image An image processing apparatus calculates a smoothed value obtained by smoothing signal levels of a plurality of pixels including a processing target pixel in a local area of an input image and a feature amount representing an edge degree of the processing target pixel using a pre-noise reduction image obtained by reducing an impulse noise of the input image. The image processing apparatus weighted-adds a signal level of the processing target pixel and the smoothed value at a ratio corresponding to the feature amount and outputs the weighted-addition result as a signal level after noise reduction processing.
US08345123B2	Image sensing apparatus, registration apparatus, and control method and program therefor A lens unit 1 acquires identification information for an attached lens unit from the lens unit and stores the acquired identification information in a second memory 37. In a case in which correction information for the stored identification information is not registered, a CPU 36 reads the correction information for the stored identification information out from an external memory 39 and registers it.
US08345120B2	Electronic camera with self-adjusting flash and image-capture sensitivity An electronic camera includes: an image-capturing unit with variable image-capturing sensitivity, which captures an image of a subject through a photographic lens; a brightness detection unit that detects subject brightness; an exposure calculation unit that executes an exposure calculation by using, at least, the image-capturing sensitivity set at the image-capturing unit and the subject brightness having been detected; a flash quantity calculation unit that calculates a main flash quantity for a flash unit that illuminates the subject when capturing an image thereof; and a sensitivity adjusting unit that adjusts the image-capturing sensitivity so as to achieve optimal exposure with a main flash quantity within a flash quantity control range of the flash unit when the main flash quantity having been calculated by the flash quantity calculation unit is outside the flash quantity control range. And if the image-capturing sensitivity has been adjusted by the sensitivity adjusting unit, the exposure calculation unit re-executes the exposure calculation.
US08345118B2	Image capturing apparatus, image capturing method, album creating apparatus, album creating method, album creating system and computer readable medium An image capturing apparatus includes: an image capturing section for capturing an image; a person determining section for determining whether the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person; an input notification section for notifying a user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted when the image determining section determines that the image includes the person; a personal identification information input section for causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section by a predetermined timing after the input notification section notifies the user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted; and an image storage section for storing the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with the image captured by the image capturing section when the personal identification information input section inputs the personal identification information.
US08345115B2	Visual occultation to measure refractivity profile Presented is a system and method for measuring the refractivity profile of a parcel of atmosphere comprising an image capturing device for capturing an image of a visual feature, such as a topographic feature like the horizon, combined with a lens having focal length adapted to focus an image onto image capturing device such that the combination of the lens and the image capturing device are adapted to resolve at least 100 microradians of angle, and an image processor adapted to compare a detected position of the visual feature in the image to the expected position of the visual feature. The system uses the difference between the detected position and the expected position to detect the change in arrival angle caused by atmospheric refraction of light from the visual feature as it passes through the atmosphere.
US08345107B2	Display control device, imaging device, and printing device A digital camera 1 has an image recorder 12, a microprocessor 3, and an image display controller 13. The image recorder 12 records a plurality of sequentially captured images along with a panning mode signal 60 related to the panning operation of the digital camera 1. The microprocessor 3 determines the layout of the plurality of images on the basis of the panning mode signal 60 recorded to the image recorder 12. The image display controller 13 displays a plurality of images side by side on a liquid crystal monitor 55 on the basis of the determination result of the microprocessor 3.
US08345105B2	System and method for accessing and utilizing ancillary data with an electronic camera device A system and method for accessing and utilizing ancillary data with an electronic camera device includes a data source that stores various selectable ancillary data files such as image template files, text overlay files, image background files, and special program instruction files. The data source may be implemented in any effective manner, including as a service on an distributed computer network like the Internet, as a discrete electronic device such as a personal computer, or as a removable, non-volatile memory device such as a flash memory. The electronic camera device may then utilize an ancillary data module to access, select, and download the ancillary data files from the data source for subsequently combining with other captured image data to thereby produce new composite images.
US08345103B2	Apparatus and method of obtaining 3D image An apparatus and method for obtaining an image. A first filter unit of the apparatus of obtaining an image may pass a light in a first wavelength band corresponding to visible light. Also, a second filter unit may pass a light in a second wavelength band corresponding to an Infrared ray (IR). A sensor unit may sense the light in the first wavelength band and the light in the second wavelength band. An operating unit may operate at least one of the first filter unit and the second filter unit.
US08345099B2	Optical path protection device and method for a railroad track inspection system A railroad track inspection system and method for facilitating inspection of a rail component while traveling on the railroad track. The railroad track inspection system includes an optical path protection device for a protective window for optical sensors of an optical inspection system when it becomes contaminated with dirt, dust, mud, grease, and other contaminants that block or obscure an optical path of the sensors. The optical path protection device eliminates the need for a human operator to perform the periodic cleaning of the protective window by using a clear film with an automated advancement mechanism for providing clean film, as needed, for keeping the optical path of the optical sensors unobstructed and clear.
US08345090B2	Fluoroscopy apparatus having an image correction section A fluoroscopy apparatus includes an illumination portion irradiating an observation target with illumination light; a fluorescence image acquisition device acquires fluorescence emitted from an observation target to acquire a fluorescence image; a fluorescence image-acquisition optical system forms an image of the observation target using the fluorescence; a reference-light image acquisition device acquires returning light from the observation region to acquire a reference image; a reference-light image-acquisition optical system forms an image using the returning light; and an image correction section corrects the fluorescence image by the reference image, wherein the product of an pixel density of the reference-light image acquisition device and the image-forming magnification of the reference-light image-acquisition optical system is less than the product of the pixel density of the fluorescence image acquisition device and the image-forming magnification of the fluorescence image-acquisition optical system.
US08345088B2	Autostereoscopic display apparatus In an autostereoscopic display apparatus comprising a liquid crystal spatial light modulator having an array of pixels of different colors, each pixel comprising plural domains of different polar alignments, and a parallax element comprising an array of optical elements having geometric axes extending in parallel across the spatial light modulator in an inclined direction, the domains are shaped to improve the angular contrast uniformity. For each individual domain, a notional line parallel to the geometric axes of the optical elements of the parallax element has a total length of intersection with the individual domain, summed over adjacent pixels of the same color, is the same for all positions of the notional line. The total length of intersection for different domains is proportional to the area of the individual domains.
US08345085B2	Method and apparatus for generating files for stereographic image display and method and apparatus for controlling stereographic image display An apparatus for generating a file comprises a file obtaining means, image composing means and a file generating means. The file obtaining means obtains a main image file in which a main stereographic image is recorded and a sub-image file in which a sub-image is recorded. The image composing means generates a first synthetic stereographic image by synthesizing a sub-stereographic image reconstructed to conform to a main stereographic image with the main stereographic image and generates a second synthetic stereographic image by synthesizing a main stereographic image reconstructed to conform to a sub-stereographic image with the sub-stereographic image. The file generating means generates a file of a predetermined format including the synthetic first and second stereographic images.
US08345084B2	Stereoscopic image-capturing objective optical system and endoscope A system includes a first prism pair that converts beams emitted from a subject and having two substantially parallel optical axes arranged side-by-side in one direction into beams arranged side-by-side in a direction intersecting the aforementioned side-by-side direction; and a second prism pair that performs conversion to reduce the distance between the optical axes of the two beams converted by the first prism pair and that has exit surfaces arranged side-by-side in a direction perpendicular to the side-by-side arrangement direction before entering the first prism pair. The first prism pair includes a first parallelogram prism that reflects, twice, the beam containing one of the two optical axes in a first plane containing one of the optical axes, and a second parallelogram prism that reflects, twice, the beam containing the other of the two optical axes in a second plane containing the other optical axis and parallel to the first plane.
US08345082B2	System and associated methodology for multi-layered site video conferencing A video conferencing system with more than three endpoints and a multipoint control unit displays a merged image of the video conference participants at an endpoint monitor. The participant images are separated from their corresponding background and merged to make all participants appear the same size on the monitor. The system also identifies an active endpoint based on the level of sound received from the endpoints and highlights a corresponding participant as a speaker.
US08345078B2	Optical component bowing device, optical device, optical scanning device, and image forming apparatus An optical component bowing device includes a bending moment generating structure. In a particular embodiment, the bending moment generating structure can have extension members that extend in a direction substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of an optical component. The extension members can be positioned adjacent longitudinal end portions of the optical component. The bending moment generating structure can also have loading members that load the extension members in a direction that is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the optical component, whereby displacement of the extension members can generate a bending moment in a supported portion of the optical component that reflects or shapes a light beam. The bending moment generating structure can also include a reflective surface. Extension members on at least one end of the optical component can be T-shaped when seen in plan view in a direction orthogonal to the reflective surface.
US08345074B2	Light-emitting device, print head and image forming apparatus A light-emitting device includes: a board; plural light-emitting chips that are one-dimensionally arrayed in a longitudinal direction of the board and that are connected to a first potential and a second potential; and plural capacitors that each include a first electrode and a second electrode arranged in a short-side direction of the board, and that are arrayed in the longitudinal direction of the board so that the first electrode and the second electrode are alternately positioned between each adjacent two of the capacitors. The first electrode is connected to the first potential for the light-emitting chips, and the second electrode is connected to the second potential for the light-emitting chips.
US08345071B2	Display control circuit, liquid crystal display device including the same, and display control method In a display control circuit of this invention, a write gray scale level determining part outputs write gray scale level data for performing overshoot drive on a liquid crystal display device. Moreover, an achievable gray scale level determining part outputs achievable gray scale level data indicating a gray scale level which achieves after a lapse of one frame. Further, an error noise predicting part compares, with a predetermined threshold value, predicted values as differences between gray scale level values of plural pieces of input image data and a mean gray scale level value of these gray scale level values to control a data selecting part such that when at least one of the predicted values exceeds the threshold value, the data selecting part gives, to an image compressing part, the input image data rather than the achievable gray scale level data predicted that a decoding error becomes large. This configuration allows suppression or elimination of after-image noise.
US08345070B2	Apparatus and method for frame rate up conversion A method for frame rate up conversion. The method is executed by a frame rate up-converter. The frame rate up-converter receives a plurality of consecutive input video frames and detects luminance information for a current frame. The frame rate up-converter generates a first output frame according to the luminance information for the current frame and a preceding frame before the current frame and generates a second output frame according to the luminance information for the current frame and a succeeding frame after the current frame, wherein the second output frame is outputted after the first output frame.
US08345065B2	System and method for providing graphics using graphical engine Systems and methods that provide graphics using a graphical engine are provided. In one example, a system may provide layered graphics in a video environment. The system may include a bus, a graphical engine and a graphical pipeline. The graphical engine may be coupled to the bus and may be adapted to composite a plurality of graphical layers into a composite graphical layer. The graphical engine may include a memory that stores the composite graphical layer. The graphical pipeline may be coupled to the bus and may be adapted to transport the composite graphical layer.
US08345063B2	Filtering method and apparatus for anti-aliasing Embodiments of a filtering method and apparatus for anti-aliasing as described herein take advantage of improved existing hardware by using as input the data stored in the multisampling anti-aliasing (MSAA) buffers after rendering. The standard hardware box-filter is then replaced with a more intelligent resolve implemented using shader programs. Embodiments find scene edges using existing samples generated by Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) hardware. Using samples from a footprint larger than a single pixel, a gradient is calculated matching the direction of an edge. A non-linear filter over contributing samples in the direction of the gradient gives the final result.
US08345062B2	Automatic color adjustment of a template design The present invention generates a color template design to format a presentation. According to one aspect, a plurality of template designs are provided on a visual display. A selection of one of the plurality of template designs is received from a user. A plurality of source images that are separate from the plurality of template designs are provided on the visual display. A selection of a color from one of the plurality of source images is received from the user. Colors of the selected template design are automatically adjusted to match the selected the color from the source image. The selected template design may include framing, mat, background, and foreground portions, at least one of which is adjusted. After automatically adjusting the colors, the selected template design may be displayed and/or stored for use as a template.
US08345060B2	Method and system for improved internet color The present invention provides a technique for providing color corrected images to a user over a network. In particular, the present invention allows multiple image providers to provide color corrected images to a user when the user's computer and its associated devices are not calibrated and/or characterized, or the calibration and/or characterization data is not available over the network to the image providers. This abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the rules requiring an abstract to allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure contained herein. This abstract is submitted with the express understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.
US08345056B2	User-directed path-based region filling A method for filling closed regions in a drawing using a region filling tool. Rather than selecting individual regions to fill, or filling based on style-by-layer techniques, the user creates a path or an area boundary to identify the regions to be filled. A graphics application may then fill each region that intersects the path or area boundary with a selected color or graphical style. In this manner, multiple regions in the drawing may be identified using one interaction with the region filling tool, allowing the user to more efficiently and intuitively fill regions in the drawing with the selected color or graphical style.
US08345053B2	Graphics processors with parallel scheduling and execution of threads A graphics processor capable of parallel scheduling and execution of multiple threads, and techniques for achieving parallel scheduling and execution, are described. The graphics processor may include multiple hardware units and a scheduler. The hardware units are operable in parallel, with each hardware unit supporting a respective set of operations. The hardware units may include an ALU core, an elementary function core, a logic core, a texture sampler, a load control unit, some other hardware unit, or a combination thereof. The scheduler dispatches instructions for multiple threads to the hardware units concurrently. The graphics processor may further include an instruction cache to store instructions for threads and register banks to store data. The instruction cache and register banks may be shared by the hardware units.
US08345051B2	Processing of 3-dimensional graphics A graphic rendering pipeline has a number of different rendering units and receives fragments for rendering. A renderer stated word cache is used to store rendering state data to be used to configure the rendering units when they render a fragment. Each rendering unit includes a functional block which carries out a rendering operation on a received fragment and a renderer state word interface that can be used to look up the required rendering state data from the renderer state word cache. Each fragment is provided to the rendering pipeline with fragment data that indicates, inter alia, a fragment index, a renderer state word index, and other fragment data that is necessary to render the fragment. When a rendering unit of the rendering pipeline receives a fragment to be rendered, it firstly uses the renderer state word index associated with the fragment to look-up, using its renderer state word interface, the relevant rendering state data from the renderer state word cache. It then uses that rendering state data to configure its functional block, and then renders the fragment.
US08345049B2	Method and apparatus for predicting avatar movement in a virtual universe The present invention provides a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer useable program code to offer to move an avatar in a virtual universe. A computer predicts a location selection to form a prediction. The computer renders a first viewport in a computer display, based on the prediction. The first viewport includes a first user-control; a first coordinate; and a first attitude. The computer renders a second viewport comprising a second user-control, a second coordinate and a second attitude wherein at least one object is rendered in a computer display from a perspective distinct from a perspective of the first viewport. The computer receives an instruction corresponding to the first user-control.
US08345047B2	Method for displaying performance information for one or more vehicles A method and system for displaying information related to a work vehicle comprises sensors for detecting levels associated with corresponding performance variables. An assignor assigns points in an image or graphical data representation associated with corresponding detected levels. A graphical module interconnects the points in the image to form a performance polygon indicative of a collective level of performance of the performance variables. A display is arranged for displaying the performance polygon to a user.
US08345044B2	Indirect binding with segmented thin layers to provide shape-preserving deformations in computer animation A method for use in deformation of an object. The method includes providing a high-resolution model of the object and providing a control cage for the model that includes control faces each defined by control vertices. The method includes generating a thin-layer segment for each of the control faces including extruding a set of the control vertices a distance toward the model. The method includes binding the control cage to the high resolution model based on the thin-layer segments. Each of the thin-layer segments includes a segmented mesh corresponding to a set of the control faces surrounding each face as it is used as seed for a segment. The method includes determining heat diffusion weights for the segments and using the weights along with mean value coordinates to statically bind the cage to the model and to determine influences of segments during deformation of the model with the cage.
US08345043B2	Solving networks of geometric constraints Systems, program products and program products for accepting a request to move a first geometric entity that is constrained to other geometric entities in a drawing that may contain both one-way and two-way geometric constraints. A set of affected geometric entities that need to be repositioned or otherwise changed as the result of moving the first geometric entity is identified. The affected geometric entities and the geometric constraints are classified into groups which are solved using a variational geometric constraint solver. If the geometric constraints cannot be satisfied, the movement of the first geometric entity is restricted. Otherwise the affected geometric entities are updated.
US08345040B2	Information processing system and information processing apparatus A display state of input data and a setting dialog on a display screen is determined to display the setting dialog at an appropriate position based on a determination result. An information processing system includes a scanner apparatus for inputting data and a PC for displaying input data input by the scanner apparatus on a display screen of a large-sized display. The PC includes a display control portion for displaying the input data and the setting dialog for setting document reading conditions relating to the input data on the display screen, and a display state determining portion for determining a display state of the input data and the setting dialog. The display control portion controls a display position of the setting dialog based on a determination result by the display state determining portion.
US08345037B2	Liquid crystal display device and driving method thereof A liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a driving method thereof are provided. The LCD device includes a display panel including pixel units, a data driving circuit, and a gate driving circuit. The gate driving circuit provides a first gate off voltage to one pixel unit of the pixel units when the data driving circuit provides a data voltage having a positive polarity to the pixel unit, the gate driving circuit provides a second gate off voltage to one pixel unit of the pixel units when the data driving circuit provides a data voltage having a negative polarity to the pixel unit. The second gate off voltage is less than the first gate off voltage.
US08345036B2	Display method, display system, mobile communication terminal, and display controller When there is a circuit that has to wait for one frame cycle to switch LCD resolution, a user feels uncomfortable because the resolution is switched while the screen is temporarily turned off and blackened or while the screen does keep display but causes flickers. When the user switches to an application that will display in QVGA mode on the LCD while the LCD is displaying in VGA mode, a synchronization signal, etc. are stopped from being output from an LCD controller within a vertical blank period (step S2). Then, a pseudo vertical synchronization signal whose cycle falls within the vertical blank period is generated by the LCD controller to trigger a circuit in a par/ser converting circuit triggered by a vertical synchronization signal (steps S3 to S5), and to realize resolution switching (steps S6 to S8). This prevents blackening/flickering of the screen when the resolution is switched.
US08345035B2	Liquid crystal display and display apparatus A liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal panel switchable between normal mode for displaying images and standby mode, a control circuit coupled to the liquid crystal panel controlling the liquid crystal panel mode according to video signals transmitted thereto, and a power board providing a power voltage to the control circuit. When the liquid crystal panel is in a standby mode, the control circuit outputs a corresponding feedback signal to interrupt power voltage supply from the power board to the control circuit.
US08345028B2	Driving circuit, electronic display device applying the same and driving method thereof A driving circuit applied in an electronic display apparatus is provided. The driving circuit includes a first exchange circuit and a first buffer. The first buffer includes first and second input stages, a second exchange circuit and first and second output stages. The first exchange circuit selectively couples a first input signal and a first output signal outputted from the first output stage to one of the first and the second input stages; and selectively couples a second input signal and a second output signal outputted from the second output stage to the other of the first and the second input stages. The second exchange circuit selectively couples the first input stage to one of the first and the second output stages and selectively couples the second input stage to the other of the first and the second output stages.
US08345024B2	Display system, display device, and method for the same A display system includes a display device with a display section. A display-data providing device provides a display control signal containing display data to the display device. The display-data providing device stores display data to be provided to the display device and information corresponding to the display data in association with each other. The display device holds the corresponding information associated with the display data provided from the display-data providing device. If the display data is lost from the display device, and if the display-data providing device identifies the display content indicated by the corresponding information contained in the display-data identifying signal output by the display device, the display device erases the display content according to a second inverted erase signal sent from the display-data providing device, and the second inverted erase signal includes the display data corresponding to the display content identified by the display-data providing device.
US08345018B2	Image display that moves physical objects and causes tactile sensation An image display including a touch-sensitive display, that creates tactile sensation and movement of an object (3-2) along its surface is provided. Actuators including conductive rods (4-111, 4-112) attached together may be used, such that each rod of the actuator (4-11) may increase or decrease in size when current is applied to that rod to cause the actuator to bend toward a specified direction. Also, an image display that includes ball bearings (1-10) whose rotation is controlled by driving magnets (1-21, 1-22) to cause an object to move is provided. Further, air holes (3-11) tilted in various directions to control object movement by air pressure may be provided. Moreover, rods (3-10) may be moved up or down as activated by driving magnets (2-20). The actuators, rods, ball bearing assemblies, or holes may provide touch sensitivity for the image display.
US08345011B2	Method for express execution of playing computer multimedia data with device group activation A method for express execution of multimedia playing with device group activation is provided. A device activation group table is provided to a multimedia computer system. The device activation group table defines, according to the functional features of each multimedia players connected to the computer, each hot key and its associated multimedia player, driver, and application program. To execute the express activation of the group function menu, the method includes the following steps: detecting the depression of a hot key; computer loading and executing the driver for the multimedia player associated with the depressed hot key in the computer by referring to the device activation group table; and loading and executing the application program for the multimedia player associated with the depressed hot key to activate the associated multimedia player. For those multimedia players associated with the hot keys that are not depressed, no action is taken.
US08345006B2	Deformable computer mouse A deformable computer mouse for easy storage and portability. The mouse housing includes a flat top layer having at least two splitable pieces and an intermediate layer sliding mounted underneath. By pulling the two splitable pieces upward, the intermediate layer slides out and forms an arced surface together with the two splitable pieces, thus forming a full sized computer mouse.
US08345005B2	Push-detecting hall effect mini-joystick and corresponding control device The invention relates to a mini joystick including a handle which can be moved in relation to a body, in rotation along at least two axes of rotation.According to the invention, such a mini-joystick includes a Hall effect movement detection set including at least one first element interdependent in rotation with said handle and at least one second element fixed in relation to said body, said elements belonging to the group including the sensors and the magnets, delivering at least one item of information regarding the position of said handle, and detection means for detecting at least one push applied onto an upper part of said handle, able to deliver at least one item of control information when a push is applied, whatever the position of said handle in relation to said body.
US08345002B2	Control apparatus and method for controlling an image display A control apparatus for controlling an image display includes at least one reference object for generating a predetermined spectrum signal; a modulation unit for modulating the predetermined spectrum signal with a predetermined method; and a remote controller. The remote controller includes an image sensor for receiving the modulated predetermined spectrum signal and generating a digital signal; and a processing unit for receiving the digital signal, demodulating the digital signal so as to generate a digital image which only contains the image of the reference object, and calculating an image variation of the image of the reference object formed on the digital image, wherein the remote controller controls the image display according to the image variation thereby eliminating the interference from a light source which generates a light band overlapping the band of the predetermined spectrum signal. The present invention also provides a control method for controlling an image display.
US08344999B2	Powerless electronic notepad and powerless wireless transmission system using the same The present invention relates to a powerless electronic notepad and a powerless wireless transmission system using the same, and more particularly, to a powerless electronic notepad that stores data recorded on an electronic notepad using piezoelectric elements and transmits the stored data using a passive RFID tag without the use of a power source, and a powerless wireless transmission system using the same.
US08344998B2	Gesture-based power management of a wearable portable electronic device with display Methods and systems for providing gesture-based power management for a wearable portable electronic device with display are described. An inertial sensor is calibrated to a reference orientation relative to gravity. Motion of the portable device is tracked with respect to the reference orientation, and the display is enabled when the device is within a viewable range, wherein the viewable range is a predefined rotational angle range in each of x, y, and z axis, to a user based upon a position of the device with respect to the reference orientation. Furthermore, the display is turned off if an object is detected within a predetermined distance of the display for a predetermined amount of time.
US08344997B2	Method and system for writing data to electromechanical display elements Methods and devices for applying bias potentials of opposite polarities to columns of electromechanical display elements are described herein. The bias potentials may be applied such that a column and an adjacent column receive bias potentials of opposite polarity. The bias potentials may be applied such that a polarity of bias voltages received by columns of a first set of the display elements is opposite a polarity of bias voltages received by columns of a second set of the display elements.
US08344996B2	Line addressing methods and apparatus for partial display updates A method for updating a submatrix of a display matrix of a display device comprises sequentially selecting rows of the display matrix starting from an initial row of the display matrix. The method includes determining whether a selected row precedes a first row of the submatrix in a first drive frame of a waveform having two or more drive frames. If a condition that a selected row precedes the first row of the submatrix in the first drive frame of the waveform is false, the method includes addressing the selected row for a first line address period. If a condition that a selected row precedes the first row of the submatrix in the first drive frame of the waveform is true, the method includes addressing the selected row for a second line address period.
US08344995B2	Portable electronic device and illumination controlling method thereof A portable display device includes a display formed with electronic paper, an illuminating unit, and a controller. The electronic paper displays data in response to applied electrical current, and maintains displaying of the data in an absence of the applied electrical current. The illuminating unit selectively illuminates each particular region of a plurality of regions of the display and includes a plurality of light sources which are individually associated with one or more of the plurality of regions of the display. The controller activates the illuminating unit, selectively activating a first group of the plurality of light sources to illuminate a particular region of the display responsive to user contact, and the first group includes at least one of the plurality of light sources.
US08344994B2	Reduced energy let through mode indication and delay in switching devices A method of improved reduced energy let through (RELT) mode selection in a switching apparatus includes receiving a request to disable a RELT mode of the switching apparatus, and, if the RELT mode of the switching apparatus is active, increasing a current threshold of the switching apparatus after a configurable amount of time has elapsed from the receipt of the request to disable the RELT mode.
US08344993B2	Backlight device and method for LCD displays A backlight device for LCD displays can include a light-emitting source of the type that includes a cold-cathode or hot-cathode fluorescent tube that is lit with a high-frequency power supply. The high-frequency power supply can be PWM-controlled to adjust the brightness. The high-frequency power supply can also be randomly phase-modulated with an irregular modulation code to light the fluorescent tube. This enables the infrared radiation from the fluorescent tube to be spread over a wider band such that the level thereof is lowered to a level that does not interfere with typical remote controls.
US08344988B2	Signal output circuit, shift register, output signal generating method, display device driving circuit, and display device A signal output circuit of one embodiment of the present invention is provided in a unit stage of a shift register. The signal output circuit includes a set-reset flip-flop, and a signal generation circuit for generating an output signal by loading or blocking a clock signal in accordance with a signal inputted thereto. The signal output circuit is arranged such that: the signal generation circuit receives a signal outputted from the flip-flop and the output signal fed back to the signal generating circuit; and the output signal is fed back to a reset input of the flip-flop. This makes it possible to achieve a reduction in the area of the circuit and a simplification of the circuit.
US08344985B2	Liquid crystal display with common voltage compensation and driving method thereof An exemplary liquid crystal display (300) includes a liquid crystal panel (301) having a plurality of pixel units (340), a data processor (391) having a calculation circuit (393) and an analyzing circuit (394), and a common voltage circuit (305). The calculation circuit is configured to carry out a predetermined calculation between display signals corresponding to a current frame period and display signals corresponding to a previous frame period. The analyzing circuit is configured to provide a compensating signal according to a result of the calculation. The common voltage circuit is configured to adjust a reference voltage signal according to the compensating signal, so as to generate a common voltage signal for the pixel units. A related method for driving a liquid crystal display is also provided.
US08344984B2	Liquid crystal display and method of driving the same A liquid crystal display and a method of driving the same are provided. The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal display panel including data lines, gate lines crossing the data lines, and liquid crystal cells and having a quad type pixel structure in which red, green, blue, and white subpixels constitute one pixel, a logic circuit sequentially outputting polarity control signals, a data drive circuit that inverts a polarity of a data voltage in response to the polarity control signals to supply the data voltage with the inverted polarity to the data lines, and a gate drive circuit sequentially supplying gate pulses to the gate lines. A logic level of each of the polarity control signals is inverted every three horizontal periods, and phases of the polarity control signals are different from one another.
US08344983B2	Driving method of liquid crystal display apparatus, driving apparatus of liquid crystal display apparatus, and program thereof A liquid crystal display apparatus includes a plurality of areas in which response speeds greatly different from each other coexist in a pixel. A first replacement process section replaces the image data of the desired target frame with a first gradation, when a gradation transition from a current frame to a desired target frame corresponds to the above gradation transition. A second replacement process section replaces the image data of the current frame with a second value. The first value is set to a value causing the pixel to respond at a relatively higher speed without the occurrence of the excessive brightness. Without avoiding the deterioration of the image, it is possible to drive a liquid crystal display apparatus including areas whose response speeds are different from each other coexist in the pixel, such as a liquid crystal display apparatus of vertically aligned mode and normally black mode.
US08344981B2	Display driver, display device, and drive method A display driver including: a data line driver circuit which drives an output line based on a drive voltage corresponding to display data; a first switching element connected between a first power supply line and the output line; a second switching element connected between a second power supply line and the output line; and a switch control circuit which controls the first and second switching elements. The lengths of first and second periods are determined based on at least part of the display data in a horizontal scanning period which is immediately before a current horizontal scanning period. The first and second switching elements are respectively turned ON and OFF in the first period, and are respectively turned OFF and ON in the second period. After the second period, the first and second switching elements are turned OFF, and the output line is driven by the data line driver circuit.
US08344979B2	Method and apparatus for over-driving liquid crystal display A method and an apparatus for over-driving a liquid crystal display (LCD) are provided, which are suitable for compensating a gray level brightness of the LCD. The method includes the following steps. Firstly, a data buffer unit outputs a current frame data. Then, the current frame data is stored into a frame memory unit, and the frame memory unit outputs a previous frame data. Next, several look-up tables (LUTs) are searched for a driving voltage in a corresponding LUT according to the current frame data and the previous frame data. Afterward, a position scanning unit receives the current frame data to determine a current position. Finally, a multiplexer outputs the corresponding driving voltage at the current position. Thus, a display panel has the same gray level brightness in upper, middle, and lower portions thereof, thereby avoiding ghosting.
US08344976B2	Display device and liquid crystal display panel A display device is provided that comprises a liquid crystal display panel for displaying an image by spatial light modulation, and circuitry for switching liquid crystal in the panel between having a first configuration in a first mode to cause an image displayed using the panel to be discernible from a wide range of viewing angles, and having a second configuration in a second mode to cause an image displayed using the panel to be discernible substantially only from within a narrow range of viewing angles. Several types of display panel to achieve such in-panel switching between public and private viewing modes are disclosed.
US08344972B2	Light emitting device and electronic device A TFT for controlling the amount of current flowing into a power supply line when an EL element does not emit light (electric discharge TFT) is provided in each pixel. When an EL driving TFT is turned ON to make an EL element emit light, the electric discharge TFT is turned OFF. On the other hand, the electric discharge TFT is turned ON when the EL driving TFT is turned OFF and no EL element emit light. Therefore variation of the difference in electric potential over the length of a power supply line depending on an image to be displayed is contained. Thus reduced is the difference in amount of current flowing into EL elements in adjacent pixels while the EL elements emit light, thereby avoiding crosstalk.
US08344968B2	Plasma display apparatus A plasma display apparatus is disclosed. The plasma display apparatus includes a plasma display panel including a scan electrode and a sustain electrode that are positioned parallel to each other, and an address electrode crossing the scan electrode and the sustain electrode and a driver that supplies a reset signal to the scan electrode and supplies a first signal, whose a direction is the same as a direction of the reset signal, to the sustain electrode in a reset period of at least one of a plurality of subfields of a frame. The first signal overlaps a predetermined period during which the reset signal rises to a maximum voltage and then again rises to a voltage less than the maximum voltage.
US08344966B2	Method and system for providing a fault tolerant display unit in an electronic device Method and apparatus for providing a fault tolerant display unit for an electronic device such as a glucose meter, including display unit, and a controller unit operatively coupled to the display unit, the controller unit configured to control the display unit to display an information, where when a failure mode of the display unit occurs, the display unit is configured to display a modified information, where the modified information is different from the information for display under the control of the controller unit, is provided.
US08344965B2	Head mounted display device A head mounted display device has a frame. The frame includes a front portion mountable on a nose of a user, and extending to a right side edge of the front portion, and to a left side edge of the front portion, in front of at least one eye of the user, a connection portion connected to an edge portion of at least one of the right and left side edge, and the connection portion extends rearward from the edge portion, and a temple portion configured to be mountable on an ear of the user, rotatably connected to the connection portion, and rotates around a rotation axis. The head mounted display also has an image display unit having an optical system, for generating an image to be displayed at a position viewable by the user, and a retaining mechanism to hold the image display unit within the connection portion.
US08344961B1	C-band radiating element for broad area maritime surveillance (BAMS) The present invention is Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) radiating element which includes a plurality of dipole layers, a stripline feed layer and a cover portion. The radiating element is low-profile and may have a thickness of 180 mils. Further, the radiating element may have an operating frequency range from 5.35 GHz to 5.46 GHz and a depth of 0.083 free space wavelengths at the high end of the operating frequency range. Still further, the dipoles of the dipole layers of the BAMS radiating element vary in width from layer to layer to maximize match at the edge of the scan volume. The BAMS radiating element may be at least partially constructed of printed circuit board material, such as Rogers 4003. The BAMS radiating element may have a return loss of less than −10 decibels over its entire scan volume and frequency band.
US08344958B2	Secured document with a contactless chip with protection of date against unauthorized access The invention relates to a secured document in the form of a booklet of at least one sheet which may be folded about a folding axis, the document having a transponder with an electronic chip provided with a memory for storing data and a transponder antenna. The document also includes a foldable amplifier antenna, distinct from the transponder antenna and arranged on the document such that, when the same is open, the amplifier antenna amplifies the electromagnetic flux received by the transponder antenna to permit communication of the document with a remote reader and, in the closed position of the document, the amplifier antenna reduces the electromagnetic flux received by the transponder antenna beneath a minimum threshold permitting communication of the electronic chip with a remote reader.
US08344955B2	Integrated antenna with e-flex technology A first printed wiring board PWB includes a core and a power layer and a ground layer. A second PWB includes a flexible portion that is partially embedded within an end section of the first printed wiring board and abutting the core. The flexible portion includes a first layer having an antenna feed coupled to the power layer of the core, and a second layer. In a particular embodiment, the second PWB also includes a rigid section in which an opposed end of the flexible portion is also partially embedded.
US08344952B2	Portable terminal and antenna module thereof for receiving broadcast signal A portable terminal with an antenna for receiving broadcast signals, includes an antenna module having a chip antenna patterned on a dielectric chip so as to define a physical length of the antenna module that enables the chip antenna to operate within a broadcast band, and a conductive plate connected to the chip antenna and having an area such that conductive plate leads a main radiation of the antenna module on the broadcast band, whereby the physical length of the antenna module can be reduced as short as possible by employing the chip antenna. Accordingly, the chip antenna facilitates making the antenna module and the portable terminal be smaller in size. Also, the chip antenna is configured to lead a main radiation on the conductive plate, thereby increasing radio reception quality and improving radio performance.
US08344951B2	Antenna for use in radio frequency identification (RFID) device An antenna for use in an RFID device is disclosed. The antenna of the RFID device includes an antenna substrate including a cavity in which an RFID chip is inserted, and also includes a first antenna electrode and a second antenna electrode. The first and second antenna electrodes are formed on the antenna substrate so as to connect to the RFID chip, and are tilted at specific slopes while interposing the cavity therebetween. The antenna is connected to the RFID chip using a simple insertion method, so that connection speed is increased.
US08344950B2	Dual-loop antenna and multi-frequency multi-antenna module A dual-loop antenna includes a grounding unit, a shorting unit, a feeding unit, a first loop radiating unit and a second loop radiating unit. The shorting unit has at least one shorting pin disposed on the grounding unit. The feeding unit has at least one feeding pin separated from the shorting pin by a predetermined distance and suspended above the grounding unit at a predetermined distance. The first loop radiating unit is disposed above the grounding unit at a predetermined distance. The first loop radiating unit has two ends respectively electrically connected to the shorting unit and the feeding unit. The second loop radiating unit is disposed above the grounding unit at a predetermined distance and around the first loop radiating unit. The second loop radiating unit has two ends respectively electrically connected to the shorting unit and the feeding unit.
US08344946B2	Single frequency user ionosphere system and technique A method and apparatus for directly estimating depleted ionosphere delay in a GPS receiver and using the estimate for improved navigation precision in satellite based augmentation systems.
US08344944B2	Method and system for continuous wave interference suppression in pulsed signal processing A System and Method for CW interference suppression in pulsed signal processing having a front-end, an A/D converter, a data store, and a suppressor module coupled to both the A/D converter and the data store. The front-end is operable to receive a waveform and communicate such to the A/D converter to digitize for processing by the suppressor module. The suppressor module being operable to further process the digitized waveform by way of applying a FFT to obtain a corresponding amplitude spectrum of the digitized waveform, clipping the amplitude spectrum to obtain a clipped amplitude spectrum, performing successive piece-wise IFFTs on the positive frequency points of the clipped amplitude spectrum to obtain multiple amplitude-time series, each having a frequency value assigned, and then stacking such amplitude-time series successively in the data store to form a time-frequency spectrogram array to thereby facilitate suppression of interference signals and detection of data pulses.
US08344942B2	System and method for resolving ambiguity in radar, lidar, and acoustic systems Range and Doppler ambiguities are common in radar, lidar, and acoustic systems. Resolving these ambiguities is important to achieve desirable geolocation and image quality performance in these systems. A new method is described to iteratively resolve the ambiguities. For Doppler ambiguity applications, a first PRF value and an initial Doppler frequency search window are selected. A new PRF is determined based on the ratio of the initial search window to the first PRF. The radar data of the first pair of PRF's is used to determine two modulo Doppler estimates. The modulo Doppler estimates are used to determine a new Doppler estimate with a confidence interval smaller than the first search window. The ratio of the new Doppler search window to the first PRF, is used to determine the next PRF. This process is iterated until the new Doppler search window is less than the first PRF.
US08344941B2	Relative vibration measurement A method of detecting motion in a load bearing member on a machine. The method includes positioning a Doppler radar detector on the machine and orienting the Doppler radar detector such that the Doppler radar detector floods the load bearing member transmitted radio frequency signals. The method further includes receiving reflected radio frequency signals from the load bearing member with an antenna and generating intermediate frequency signals based on differences between the transmitted radio frequency signals and the reflected radio frequency signals. The method further includes measuring the intermediate frequency signals.
US08344940B2	Apparatus and sensor for adjusting sensor vertical alignment Provided are a sensor capable of adjusting vertical alignment and a sensor vertical alignment adjusting apparatus using the same. The sensor has a structure with a plurality of switchable transmitting and receiving antennas so as to be able to adjust the vertical alignment, or a structure with a tilting motor for adjusting a radiating or receiving angle. The sensor vertical alignment adjusting apparatus using such a sensor corrects vertical misalignment of the sensor by determining whether or not the vertical misalignment of the sensor occurs, variably switching one from among the plurality of transmitting or receiving antennas of the sensor or controlling the tilting motor, and adjusting the radiating angle of the sensor signal or the receiving angle of a reflected wave of the sensor signal.
US08344938B2	System to prevent two rotating antennas from illuminating each other An apparatus or a method for preventing radio-frequency (RF) interferences between rotating antennas. For example, the invention is particularly applicable to radar and communication systems on board naval ships.
US08344936B2	Systems and methods for providing an advanced ATC data link Embodiments of the present invention disclose systems and methods for providing an avionics overlay data link. Through embodiments of the present invention, existing ATC (or other) modulated signals using existing frequencies (or other frequencies) may be utilized to transmit (e.g., from an aircraft transponder) additional information in a manner that does not render the transmitted signal unrecognizable by legacy ATC equipment. In various embodiments, legacy equipment may demodulate and decode information that was encoded in the transmitted signal in accordance with preexisting standard modulation formats, and updated equipment can also extract the additional information that was overlaid on transmitted signals.
US08344929B2	A/D converter device and signal processing unit An A/D converter device is provided, which has a D/A conversion function and changes a resolution of A/D conversion and D/A conversion. The A/D converter device is configured to selectively execute an A/D conversion operation and a D/A conversion operation, by the operation of a control circuit controlling switching of switches according to an ADC/DAC function switching signal supplied from an external side. The A/D conversion operation performs A/D conversion of an input signal voltage inputted via a signal input terminal from an external side and outputs an A/D conversion value of 12 bits. The D/A conversion operation outputs, via a signal output terminal, an analog voltage produced by performing D/A conversion of a digital value supplied from the external side.
US08344928B2	Method and apparatus for capacitance sensing A capacitance-to-digital converter for an extended range of capacitances includes a reference capacitor and one or more offset capacitors. Electrical charge accumulated in the offset capacitors is used to at least partially cancel the charge accumulated in a sensed capacitance to facilitate matching with a charge accumulated in the reference capacitor. The residual charge is passed to an integrator, the output from which is quantized and used to control switching of the capacitors. Immunity to tonal external noises and improved conversion speed are achieved by controlling the capacitor switching with a spread spectrum clock. The capacitance-to-digital converter may be used, for example, for sensing of the capacitances of capacitive elements in touch and proximity displays or other user interfaces.
US08344927B2	Analog digital converting device and reference voltage controlling method thereof Provided are an analog digital converting device and a reference voltage controlling method thereof. The analog digital converting device includes: a first reference voltage generating circuit generating a first reference voltage; a second reference voltage generating circuit generating a second reference voltage; a first sub analog digital converter receiving an analog input signal and converting the analog input signal into a first digital signal by using the first reference voltage; an amplifier converting the first digital signal into a voltage corresponding to the first digital signal by using the first reference voltage and amplifying a difference between a voltage level of the analog input signal and a voltage level corresponding to the first digital signal to output a residual signal; and a second sub analog digital converter receiving the residual signal and converting the residual signal into a second digital signal by using the second reference voltage.
US08344921B2	Sigma-delta modulator with SAR ADC and truncater having order lower than order of integrator and related sigma-delta modulation method A sigma-delta modulator includes a processing circuit, a quantizer, a truncater and a feedback circuit. The processing circuit receives an input signal and an analog information and generates an integrated signal by perform an integration upon a difference between the input signal and the analog information. The quantizer includes a successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for receiving the integrated signal and generating a digital information according to the integrated signal. The truncater receives the digital information and generates a truncated information according to the digital information. The feedback circuit generates the analog information to the processing circuit according to the truncated information, wherein an order of the truncater is lower than an order of the integration.
US08344920B1	Methods and apparatus for calibrating pipeline analog-to-digital converters Methods and apparatus are provided for calibrating a pipeline analog-to-digital converter including one or more serially connected analog-to-digital pipeline stages and a back-end analog-to-digital converter.
US08344919B2	Processing system compensating DC offset and gain error A processing system including a first processing module and a second processing module is disclosed. The first processing module transforms and amplifies a grounded signal to generate a first processed signal and transforms and amplifies a predetermined signal to generate a second processed signal. The second processing module transforms the first processed signal to a first digital code according to a first reference voltage group and transforms the second processed signal to a second digital code according to a second reference voltage group. The second processing module adjusts a third reference voltage group according to the first and the second digital codes, and during a normal mode, the second processing module generates a third digital code according to the adjusted third voltage group.
US08344915B2	Keyboard and information processing device A keyboard includes a base, and plural keys arranged on the base, wherein at least a part of the plural keys are arranged in plural steps in a depth direction of the keyboard, in the shape of a sector in such a manner that the keys closer to a central portion in a width direction of the keyboard are arranged backward whereas the keys closer to both end portions in the width direction of the keyboard are arranged forward.
US08344913B2	Transmission of an emergency call comprising address data An automatic emergency call is transmitted in the form of voice data which contain address information for the vehicle. The address information has been ascertained inside the vehicle by the emergency call device on the basis of a GPS position.
US08344908B2	Monitoring management and presentation of preemption control data of centrally managed traffic signals Managing traffic signal preemption data accumulated at a plurality of intersections. In one approach a method includes reading the preemption data stored at each of the intersections. The preemption data includes for each preemption request an emitter code, and a date and a time the preemption request was submitted. The preemption data read from the intersections are stored in a database, and each emitter code is associated with a vehicle name in the database. Selected preemption data and associated vehicle names are read from the database in response to user input, and the selected preemption data and associated vehicle names are displayed. The database further stores data identifying the intersection from which the preemption data was read.
US08344907B2	Vehicle traffic flow data acquisition and distribution Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for vehicle traffic flow data acquisition and reporting for onboard vehicle navigation. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for vehicle traffic flow data acquisition and reporting for onboard vehicle navigation can include acquiring imagery of multiple vehicles traveling on a roadway between two locations and individually identifying the different vehicles in the imagery. An elapsed time of travel can be determined for the individually identified vehicles between the two locations and a rate of travel can be computed for each of the individually identified different vehicles based upon the elapsed time of travel. Thereafter, the rate of travel for at least one of the individually identified different vehicles can be broadcast to a subscriber for at least one of the two locations.
US08344906B2	Automated traffic synchronization Spatial relationship information and performance information are determined for vehicles within a vehicular environment. Traffic signaling information is received from a traffic regulation system associated with the vehicular environment. At least one synchronized control action is calculated for each of the vehicles to synchronize the vehicles with the traffic regulation system based upon the traffic signaling information, the determined spatial relationship information, and the determined performance information for each of the vehicles. The associated at least one synchronized control action is communicated to each of the vehicles. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08344896B2	Process for detecting scale formation in a beverage preparation machine The invention concerns a process for detecting scale deposit in the liquid supply means of a water pump driven machine comprising at least a water tank, a pump and a heating means, where water is pumped from the water tank and fed to the heating means, and where the pump is energized by a controller by providing the pump with an energizing signal to provide an intended water flow rate F, wherein the actual water flow rate f is measured and the discrepancy Δ between the actual water flow rate f and the intended water flow rate F is directly and/or indirectly compared to an operating instruction related to scale deposit.
US08344895B2	Photoelectric sensor and photoelectric sensor system There are provided a photoelectric sensor and a photoelectric sensor system in which received light quantities of a plurality of photoelectric sensors are displayed in an integrated manner, and slight variation in the received light quantity that has nothing to do with a detected condition of a workpiece is ignored and a photoelectric sensor with abnormity is easily found out. Upon acceptance of an instruction to execute scaled display by a control unit of a photoelectric sensor, a scaling adjustment ratio is calculated by assigning the received light quantity to a target value set to be greater than a display upper limit while executing the scaled display. A received light quantity that is subsequently obtained is scaled based on the calculated scaling adjustment ratio to obtain a received light quantity after the scaling.
US08344892B2	Personalization of event participation in mobile neighborhoods Embodiments described herein are directed to personalizing event participation of a visitor at an event. Embodiments include communication nodes that form defined wireless areas. A first one of the communication nodes determines when the visitor enters a first defined wireless area in response to detecting an identifier associated with the personal portable wireless device associated with the visitor, records user activities of the visitor within the first one of defined wireless areas, and determines an interest of the visitor in response to the user activities in the first defined wireless area, where the interest is used to customize the event for the visitor.
US08344890B2	Systems and methods for a RFID enabled metal license plate In the embodiments described herein, a RFID enabled license plate is constructed by using the license plate, or a retro-reflective layer formed thereon as part of the resonator configured to transmit signals generated by and RFID chip integrated with the license plate. Such an RFID enabled license plate can include a metal license plate with a slot formed in the metal license plate, and a RFID tag module positioned in the slot. The RFID tag module can include a chip and a loop, and the loop can be coupled with the metal license plate, e.g., via inductive or conductive coupling. In this manner, the metal license plate can be configured to act as a resonator providing increased performance.
US08344887B2	System, control station, and method for controlling circulation of media materials A system for controlling circulation of media materials from a library includes a control system and a circulation control station having a housing defining a receptacle which is configured to receive a packaged unit of securable media therein. The circulation control station includes an electronic security control mechanism and a mechanical security control mechanism, each mounted to the housing. The electronic security control mechanism may include an RFID reader/writer, and the mechanical security control mechanism may include a magnet and an actuator. The control system is configured to release a packaged unit of securable media to circulation by disabling an electronic security device and a magnetic security device of a packaged unit of securable media resident within the receptacle and executing a media checkout procedure.
US08344885B2	Container with interior enclosure of composite material having embedded security element An apparatus is disclosed including one or more security structures. The one or more security structures includes: a weldable frame; a plurality of composite panels, each panel securable to the weldable frame, each composite panel configured to form at least one joint with at least one adjoining composite panel; and a respective security element embedded within each of the composite panels. The security element is configured to detect a breach in the composite panel.
US08344884B2	System, method, and apparatus for triggering an alarm According to some example embodiments, systems, apparatus, methods and computer program products are provided for triggering an alarm. In this regard, one example apparatus includes means for receiving an instruction to alarm a security gate device, and means for tuning a security resonator at a location such that a field generated by the security gate device interacts with the security resonator to cause the security gate device to trigger an alarm in response to at least receiving the instruction to alarm the security gate device.
US08344877B2	Track worker safety system A safety system for providing early warning notifications to an authorized track worker performing official duties along a rail road network is disclosed herein. The safety system determines the position of the authorized worker and determines an estimated time to collision between the authorized track worker and an approaching rail vehicle. The result of the safety system is that the track worker has enough time and sufficiently accurate warning that will enable the track worker to move to a point of safety so as to remain unharmed by the approaching rail vehicle.
US08344875B2	Pump stand A vacuum pump stand (1) for generating and regulating the vacuum intended for a rotary vaporizer, including a control device having a control connection to a control unit (4) having at least one control element (3, 6). In the pump stand (1), the control unit (4) is designed as a remote control unit having a wireless control connection to the control device of the pump stand. Laboratory personnel can thus observe the rotary evaporator and the associated pump stand (1) through the divider of a fume cupboard, in order to be able to modify and readjust the process parameters at the remote control panel as needed. Because the remote control unit (4) has a wireless control connection to the control device of the pump stand (1), the fume cupboard no longer needs to be opened, even momentarily. Rather, the pump stand (1) can be operated from a sufficient distance outside the fume cupboard without the laboratory personnel needing to be exposed to special hazards.
US08344874B2	Intelligent power-enabled communications port A port that supplies power in accordance with a standard is equipped with a variable power supply and a power line communications module. Power line signals on the power conductors are used to allow a port controller to negotiate power requirements with peripheral devices and the power supply is adjusted accordingly. If the peripheral device does not support such negotiation, power is delivered in accordance with the standard. The port may be a data communications port that supplies power and data in accordance with a standard.
US08344872B2	System and method for sensing presence of media in a mailing machine A sensor is paired with an emitter, such as in a postage metering machine, and the sensor is calibrated for ambient light conditions. Ambient light is measured with a sensor while the emitter is unpowered. If the measured ambient light is less than a current trip level (voltage level at the sensor), then a current level of light is measured with the sensor while the emitter is powered. If the measured current level of light exceeds the current trip level, then the signal output from the sensor indicates that an object such as an envelope awaiting postage to be printed thereon is present at the sensor. The current trip level may be determined by measuring light at the sensor when the emitter is on and adding some voltage margin to it, but if the sensor is blocked during this calibration a default threshold is used as the current trip level.
US08344868B2	Maintenance of proper tire inflation pressure thru active material actuation An adaptive tire utilizing active material actuation to sense and/or modify an excessive and/or low inflation pressure, so as to autonomously maintain proper inflation pressure.
US08344865B2	Method and apparatus for monitoring a vehicular propulsion system battery A method and apparatus for determining coolant leakage in a vehicular propulsion system battery. An AC isolation resistance test is used to determine whether an isolation fault has occurred within the battery, but can also determine the capacitance of the circuit or system, which can further determine the coolant leakage levels of the vehicular propulsion system battery. This eliminates having an additional device to measure the coolant leakage.
US08344862B1	Tactile messaging system The disclosure relates to a tactile messaging system configured to send tactile messages between users. The system may be configured so a first user may input tactile information into a first wearable tactile user device and a second user may receive sensory output from a second tactile user device that corresponds to the tactile information entered by the first user into the first tactile user device. This may allow users to communicate by touch, without having to manually enter electronic input information into the system.
US08344861B2	Haptic motion feedback mechanism In one embodiment, the invention is a haptic motion feedback mechanism. One embodiment of an apparatus for communicating motion in a virtual space includes a base and a feedback mechanism coupled to the base, the feedback mechanism using forced air to convey motion in the virtual space. In another embodiment, a method for communicating motion in a virtual space using a feedback mechanism includes receiving a signal indicative of user motion from a computing device on which the virtual space is running and forcing air through the feedback mechanism in order to convey the user motion.
US08344857B1	RFID tags with synchronous power rectifier The present disclosure provides a power rectifier for a Radio Frequency Identification tag circuit. The rectifier is constructed from a pair of complementary MOS transistors. Gates of the transistors have predetermined voltages applied to them. The applied voltages bias the transistors to near their active operating region. During the same time additional control signals are applied to the gates of the transistors, the control signals are synchronous, but out of phase, with each other.
US08344856B2	Position detecting system and cable unit A position detecting system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a moving machine capable of moving along a predetermined path, plural storage media configured to store position information and arranged in parallel along the path, and a reading unit provided on the moving machine side and configured to read the position information of the storage media arranged in a reading range corresponding to the reading unit.
US08344854B2	Transient routing slips and inter-office envelopes An inter-office communication management system can include an inter-office communication item such as an inter-office mail envelope or routing slip. The inter-office communication item can be a transient document. An inter-office communication identifier placement module can affix an inter-office communication identifier to the first inter-office communication label. The inter-office communication label can be attached to the inter-office communication item. An inter-office communication tracking module can be used to track the inter-office communication item based on the inter-office communication identifier affixed to the inter-office communication label.
US08344852B2	Method and system for transmitting a plurality of notifications in a notification pool A method for transmitting a plurality of notifications in a notification pool includes determining a first notification batch having the plurality of notifications, and assigning a priority weight to each of the plurality of notifications, at least two of the priority weights being different. The method further includes inserting the first notification batch into the notification pool, and transmitting the plurality of notifications in the notification pool sequentially, based on the priority weights of the plurality of notifications. A system for transmitting a plurality of notifications is also provided.
US08344851B2	Method for providing remote mobile device access and control Provided is a remote mobile device access and control method, and particularly a generic approach for providing remote mobile device access and control. To this end, there is provided a method for a user to access and control his/her mobile device at a remote location by using a remote mobile device access and control architecture that allows the user to access an application and data of his/her mobile device.
US08344848B2	Method and device for the safe, systematic, exclusive assignment of the command authorization of an operator to a controllable technical installation The invention relates to methods and appropriate devices for safely, unequivocally and exclusively, temporarily assigning the command authority of an operator (1) to a controllable technical system (60) using a mobile control device (2) which is technically suitable for periodically controlling a plurality of controllable technical systems (60), which is equipped as standard with safety switch elements (38, 39) such as an emergency stop switch, ok key and operating mode selection switches and for a data coupling with the controllable technical system (60) in spite of having only normal transmission means (6) or network technologies without any particular features specific to safety function.
US08344847B2	Coordination of control commands in a medical device system having at least one therapy delivery device and at least one wireless controller device A medical device system includes at least one controllable patient-worn or patient-carried medical device, and a plurality of controller devices that are capable of independently controlling features or functions of the patient medical device. Control commands and other data is wirelessly communicated among the patient medical device and the multiple controller devices. A number of techniques, protocols, and other measures are provided to coordinate wireless communication between the various devices in a medical device system. These control command coordination processes address situations where conflicting, redundant, or concurrent control commands might be independently issued by the multiple controller devices.
US08344842B1	Vertical PCB surface mount inductors and power converters An vertical PCB inductive device is adapted to be surface mount soldered to a substrate. The inductive device may comprise a transformer having a plurality of windings or one or more discrete inductive devices. The inductive device, being amenable to volume production, may also provide cost savings by reducing the number of layers and the PCB area otherwise required by planar magnetics in a power converter. A power converter may be fashioned to be vertically oriented and surface mount soldered to a substrate such as a customer PCB.
US08344838B2	Transformer and transformer assembly A transformer includes: a bobbin on which a coil is wound; a core coupled with the bobbin to provide a magnetic flux, at least a portion of the core being installed on the PCB in a penetrating manner; and a base plate electrically connected to the coil and having a lead frame connected to the PCB, wherein the base plate is installed to be reversedly disposed at an upper side of the bobbin on the PCB, a space is formed between a lower surface of the base plate and an upper surface of the PCB, and the space between the lower surface of the base plate and the upper surface of the PCB is supported by a support member in contact with the upper surface of the PCB.
US08344836B2	Protective cover for a tablet computer A magnetic attachment mechanism and method is described. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasable attach at least two objects together in a preferred configuration without fasteners and without external intervention. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach an accessory device to an electronic device. The accessory device can be used to augment the functionality of usefulness of the electronic device.
US08344834B2	Input apparatus The invention provides an input apparatus An input apparatus according to the present invention includes: an operating member, operable to move in at least X and −X directions from a neutral position; first and second magnets, being arranged with spacing along an X and −X direction and having opposite magnetic polarities to each other, wherein when the operating member moves in either one of the two directions, the first and second magnets moves in the same direction as the operating member; and a first magnetic sensor, provided at a position displaced from a middle point between the two magnets when the operating member is located in the neutral position, the position being equidistant from the two magnets. When the operating member moves in one of the two directions, the first magnetic sensor outputs a signal in accordance with the magnetic polarity of one of the first and second magnets.
US08344832B2	Magnetic switch A magnetic switch comprises a first frame and a second frame, a stationary contact to face the second frame, a movable contact contactable with or separated from the stationary contact, a coil assembly that generates a magnetic force in accordance with a flow of an electric current, a movable unit that makes the movable contact to be contactable with or separated from the stationary contact, a contact spring that applies an elastic force to the movable contact in a direction that the movable contact moves toward the stationary contact, a movable distance limiting unit limiting a movable distance of the movable unit to determine a contact pressure distance that the movable contact contacts the stationary contact and the contact spring is pressed, and a return spring to apply an elastic force to the movable unit in a direction that the movable contact is separated from the stationary contact.
US08344830B2	Magnet core; method for its production and residual current device A magnet core (1) that is suitable for use in a fault current circuit breaker and that is made of a helically wound, magnetically soft band has a top (4) and a bottom (5), the top (4) and the bottom (5) being formed by side surfaces (16) of the magnetically soft band. The magnet core (1) is fixed in a protective housing (6), and there is a contact cement (11) between the bottom (5) of the magnet core (1) and an inside wall (10) of the housing for fixing the magnet core (1).
US08344829B2	Technique for conveying a wireless-standard signal through a barrier The RF signal generated by a ZigBee radio on the outside of a building structure is conveyed to the interior of the building by guiding it along an electric cable bundle that passes through the building's wall to supply domestic electric power to the interior of the structure. The RF signal is launched by a unique coupler comprising a pair of insulated foil conductors.
US08344828B2	Metamaterial transmission line apparatus and method of implementing the same A metamaterial transmission line for transmitting an electromagnetic wave. The metamaterial transmission line may include a substrate including a substrate configured to include a an upper portion and a lower portion on which a ground plane is formed, a signal line configured to be formed on the substrate, and a defected ground structure configured to include an etched region and two metal portions, wherein the etched region is generated by etching a part of the ground plane and the metal portions extend from the signal line and are disposed on the etched region.
US08344827B2	Phase shifter where a rotation member is combined with a guide member A phase shifter for reducing a loss by friction, etc by combining a rotation member with a guide member is disclosed. The phase shifter includes a rotation member, a first rotation axis member combined with the rotation member in a direction crossing over the rotation member, a first guide member combined with the first rotation axis member, and configured to rotate in accordance with rotation of the first rotation axis member, and a first power delivering member configured to connect at least one of the rotation member and the first rotation axis member to the first guide member.
US08344825B2	Acoustic wave device An acoustic wave device includes an input terminal; a balun that is connected to the input terminal, converts a signal input from the input terminal into two anti-phase signals, and outputs the two anti-phase signals; and a filter that is connected to the balun, and outputs the two anti-phase signals input from the balun as balanced output signals. An output impedance of the balun is equal to an input impedance of the filter, and is larger than an output impedance of the filter.
US08344817B2	Compensating DFLL with error averaging A compensating DFLL (CDFLL) is disclosed that utilizes temperature readings at regular intervals in combination with production characterization data of a reference oscillator to compensate for frequency drift and nominal frequency error. In some implementations, the CDFLL selects a calibration value that is not optimal for frequency accuracy to minimize accumulated frequency error over time. More particularly, during a calibration run, mismatch between an ideal frequency and an actual frequency is measured, and the measurement is used as a starting point for a next calibration run, such that the accumulated frequency error is averaged almost to zero over time.
US08344816B2	Fundamental wave/overtone crystal oscillator Provided is a fundamental wave/overtone crystal oscillator to obtain fundamental wave oscillation and overtone oscillation with one crystal unit and to optimize the excitation current depending on the fundamental wave oscillation and the overtone oscillation. The fundamental wave/overtone crystal oscillator includes a crystal unit that oscillates with fundamental waves or with overtones, and an oscillator circuit that amplifies an excitation current from the crystal unit and outputs an oscillatory frequency. A capacitor Cf and a capacitor Co are connected in parallel with the base of a transistor in the oscillator circuit as well as the emitter. A switch is provided so as to connect or disconnect the capacitor Cf with respect to the circuit in response to a switching signal. The switch turns ON when the crystal oscillator oscillates with fundamental waves, and turns OFF when the crystal oscillator oscillates with overtones.
US08344812B2	Loop filter and voltage controlled oscillator for a phase-locked loop A phase-locked loop includes a loop filter and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The VCO includes multiple transistors, each transistor having a smaller transconductance (gm) than if a single transistor were used while maintaining the same loop bandwidth and drain-to-source current through the transistor. As a result of a smaller transconductance in the VCO, a larger resistor can be used in the loop filter without increasing the noise. With a larger resistor, a smaller capacitor can be used in the loop filter as well. Alternatively, the transconductance can be reduced by a certain factor and the resistance value can be increased by the same factor to maintain a constant loop bandwidth but with a reduction in the amplitude of the noise. Thus, a smaller loop filter capacitor can be achieved albeit with the same noise level, or a lower noise level with the same size capacitor for the loop filter.
US08344809B2	System and method for adjusting gain frequency response of RF power amplifier A radio frequency (RF) amplifier is disclosed including an active device adapted to amplify an input signal in accordance with a gain frequency response to generate an output signal, and a dissipative circuit adapted to modify the gain frequency response by dissipating the input or output signal more so at a first frequency range than at a second frequency range. The dissipative circuit may include a resistive element, and an open circuit adapted to operate as an open at a specified frequency to substantially minimize the dissipation of the input or output signal through the resistive element at the specified frequency. The open circuit may include an open-ended transmission line having an electrical length of a half wavelength or multiple thereof at the specified frequency. Alternatively, the open circuit may include a short-ended transmission line having an electrical length of a quarter wavelength or odd multiple thereof at the specified frequency.
US08344808B2	Non-linear capacitance compensation Embodiments are directed to capacitance compensation via a compensation device coupled to a gain device to compensate for a capacitance change occurring due to an input signal change, along with a controller coupled to the compensation device to receive the input signal and to control an amount of compensation based on the input signal. In some embodiments, banks may be formed of multiple compensation devices, where each of the banks has a different size and is coupled to receive a different set of bias voltages.
US08344807B2	Distributed low noise amplifier A distributed low noise amplifier (DLNA) comprises at least a first amplifier part 30.1 providing a first path 36.1 form an input of the amplifier to an output of the amplifier and a second amplifier part 30.2 providing a second path 36.2 from the input to the output. Each of the first and second paths being associated with a respective and different change in phase. The difference being larger than degrees in a noise suppression band to cause a phase difference between noise generated by the amplifier arrangement propagating along the first and second paths and destructive interference of the noise before the output of the DLNA, thereby to suppress noise in the noise suppression band. The respective gains of the amplifier parts 30.1 to 30.n may decrease in a direction from the input of the amplifier to the output thereof.
US08344805B2	High-frequency differential amplifier circuit There is provided a high-frequency differential amplifier circuit comprising: a first MOS transistor, a second MOS transistor, a first positive feedback element and a second positive feedback element. The first MOS transistor and the second MOS transistor each has a source connected to a first power source and a drain connected through loads to a second power source. The first and second MOS transistors receives at their gates, first and second input signals having phases reverse to each other. The first positive feedback element includes a first capacitor and a first variable resistance connected in series between the gate of the first MOS transistor and the drain of the second MOS transistor. The second positive feedback element includes a second capacitor and a second variable resistance connected in series between the gate of the second MOS transistor and the drain of the first MOS transistor.
US08344802B2	Operational amplifier device An operational amplifier device includes an operational amplifier, a first transmission gate, and a first switch module. The operational amplifier includes an output stage, which has a first signal input terminal and a signal output terminal, and outputs an output voltage at the signal output terminal. The first transmission gate is coupled between the signal output terminal and a transmission output terminal, having a first transmission control terminal. The first switch module is utilized for controlling electrical connection between the first signal input terminal and the first transmission control terminal. During a first transmission period, the first switch module controls the first transmission control terminal to be coupled to the first signal input terminal, thereby conducting the first transmission gate to not only transmit the output voltage but also act as a Miller capacitor.
US08344800B2	Repeating system and method for cancellation of feedback interference signal with pre-distortion function There is provided a repeating system for cancellation of a feedback interference signal, including: a PA (Power Amplifier) for power-amplifying an output signal; a feedback ICS (Interference Cancellation System) for canceling a feedback interference signal and detecting a residual error; a pre-distorter for compensating for an error of the PA by applying pre-distortion and compensating for the residual error by using information on the residual error detected by the feedback ICS to linearize the characteristic of the PA; and a control unit for controlling the feedback ICS and the pre-distorter.
US08344788B2	Semiconductor device The semiconductor device includes a power element which is in an on state when voltage is not applied to a gate, a switching field-effect transistor for applying first voltage to the gate of the power element, and a switching field-effect transistor for applying voltage lower than the first voltage to the gate of the power element. The switching field-effect transistors have small off-state current.
US08344786B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a level shift circuit which is located so that a second IO cell region is interposed between the level shift circuit and a first IO cell region, and converts a signal output from an IO cell of the first IO cell region into a signal having an amplitude of a second voltage and outputs the resultant signal, and an internal circuit which is operated using the signal having the amplitude of the second voltage output from the level shift circuit. A signal interconnect via which the signal output from the IO cell of the first IO cell region is input to the level shift circuit is provided between the IO cell of the first IO cell region and the level shift circuit, extending over or in an IO cell of the second IO cell region.
US08344777B2	Method and apparatus for adaptively modifying a pulse width of a pulse width modulated output Systems, methods, and apparatus for improving steady state operation of a pulse width modulator during transient and soft start events are described herein. An apparatus can include a phase component configured to adaptively modify a pulse width of a first pulse width modulated (PWM) output signal based on a pulse width of a PWM input signal. Further, the apparatus can include a power stage component configured to source at least one of a voltage or a current to a load based on the first PWM output signal. In one example, the phase component can be configured to linearly extend the pulse width of the first PWM output signal based on the pulse width of the PWM input signal. In another example, the phase component can be configured to adaptively modify the pulse width of the first PWM output signal based on a predetermined maximum pulse width.
US08344776B2	Memory interface circuit and drive capability adjustment method for memory device Provided is a memory interface circuit connected to a memory device that outputs a first data signal, and including: a first delay unit delaying a first strobe signal outputted from the memory device by a first delay amount to generate a first delayed strobe signal; a first data latch unit latching the first data signal as a first latched data signal in synchronization with the first delayed strobe signal; a first range calculating unit calculating a first delay range width that is a width of a range of values of the first delay amount which allow the first data latch unit to correctly latch the first data signal as the first latched data signal; and a drive capability setting unit adjusting the drive capability of the memory device so as to widen the first delay range width.
US08344774B2	Frequency synthesizer with immunity from oscillator pulling Frequency synthesizer with immunity from oscillator pulling. The frequency synthesizer for generating an output frequency includes an oscillator that is capable of generating a first frequency. The frequency synthesizer also includes an output divider coupled to the oscillator. The output divider is configurable to allow the oscillator to generate a second frequency to prevent degradation in phase noise due to an interference to the first frequency of the oscillator, and to generate the output frequency from the second frequency.
US08344771B2	Delay locked loop of semiconductor integrated circuit and method for driving the same A delay locked loop (DLL) of a semiconductor integrated circuit includes a first delay line configured to variably delay a source clock signal and output a locked clock signal, a phase comparator configured to compare the phase of the source clock signal with the phase of a feedback clock signal, a second delay line configured to variably delay the locked clock signal, a first delay controller configured to control the first delay time of the first delay line, a second delay controller configured to control the minimum delay time of the second delay line, and an operation mode controller configured to control the first and second delay controllers in response to an output signal of the phase comparator, and switch operation modes of the first and second delay controllers depending on locking state of the delay lines.
US08344770B2	PLL circuit A PLL circuit is provided capable of reducing phase noise and facilitating design. In the PLL circuit, a PLL receives a reference frequency and an output from a VC-TCXO, performs a lock operation. In a lock state, a selector selects an output of a first divider that divides the reference frequency. When PLL detects input of reference frequency being lost or an unlock state, the PLL outputs an alarm signal to the selector. When receiving the alarm signal from the PLL, the selector switches from the output of the first divider to an output of a second divider that frequency-divides an output of the VC-TCXO, and outputs the same. Then, a PLL receives an output of the selector and an output of a VCXO and performs a lock operation.
US08344766B2	Reset circuit of high voltage circuit A reset transistor is prevented from being deteriorated when power-down occurs during a programming operation or an erasing operation. It is made possible to protect the reset transistor as well as other transistors in a circuit to which a high voltage is applied when the power-down occurs during the erasing operation on an EEPROM, because the system is not reset all at once based only on a first reset signal POR of a power-on reset circuit, but is reset based on the first reset signal POR and a low voltage detection signal LD from a low voltage detection circuit so that the reset transistor is not turned on while the high voltage is applied to it.
US08344762B2	Gate driving circuit A primary circuit turns on switching elements and generates energy from a direct-current power supply to a secondary circuit through a transformer. The secondary circuit charges a driven element using the energy obtained from the primary circuit through the transformer, turns on a switching element, discharges the energy accumulated in the driven element, and generates the energy in the primary circuit through the transformer. The primary circuit returns the energy obtained from the secondary circuit to the direct-current power supply.
US08344758B2	Magnetic device for performing a logic function A device for performing a “logic function” consisting of a magnetic structure including at least a first magnetoresistive stack including a first ferromagnetic layer and a second ferromagnetic layer separated by a non-ferromagnetic interlayer and at least one first line of current situated in the vicinity of the first magnetoresistive stack and generating in the vicinity of the first stack a magnetic field when an electric current passes through it. The first line includes at least two current input points so that two currents can be added together in the first line, with the sum of the two currents being determined by the logic function.
US08344757B2	Semiconductor device and data processing system including the same A semiconductor device includes a first circuit block connected between first and second power lines, a logic circuit that receives an output signal of the first circuit block that is connected between the first power line and a fourth power line or a third power line and the second power line, and a second circuit block that receives an output signal of the logic circuit that is connected between the third and fourth power lines. In an active state, a first potential is supplied and in a standby state, a second potential lower than the first potential is supplied between the first and second power lines. In any of the active state and the standby state, the first potential is supplied between the third and fourth power lines. With this configuration, speeding-up of a critical path can be realized while maintaining a subthreshold current low.
US08344752B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit A semiconductor integrated circuit includes an impedance control signal generation block configured to transmit first impedance control signals and second impedance control signals through same signal lines at predetermined time intervals, and input/output blocks configured to separately receive the first impedance control signals and the second impedance control signals at corresponding time intervals and perform a data input/output operation based on set impedance.
US08344746B2	Probe interface for electrostatic discharge testing of an integrated circuit A system, probe interface, and method to test an integrated circuit with an electrostatic discharge signal. The probe interface includes a pulse generation circuit, ground plane, and a relay matrix, while the integrated circuit includes a plurality of contact points. The probe interface is configured proximate to the integrated circuit and the relay matrix is configured to electrically connect at least one of an operative signal, the pulse generation circuit, or the ground plane to a contact point of the integrated circuit. The probe interface is thus configured to provide a shortened path for at least one of the electrostatic discharge signal from the probe interface to the integrated circuit, or to the ground plane from the integrated circuit. The probe interface may selectively electrically connect to up to about thirty-two contact points of the integrated circuit, while the system may include up to about four probe interfaces.
US08344740B2	System for diagnosing impedances having accurate current source and accurate voltage level-shift The present invention relates to a system for measuring a capacitor (C). A current source (12) is connected in parallel to the capacitor (C) between a supply plane (Vc) and ground (VGND) for providing a current to the capacitor (C). A voltage level-shift is connected between the supply plane (Vc) and the ground (VGND) in parallel to the capacitor (C) and in parallel to the current source (I2). The voltage level-shift senses a voltage across the electronic component (C) and provides a level-shifted output voltage Vout in dependence thereupon. The voltage level-shift comprises a resistor (RI) connected in series with a current source (II) and an output port interposed between the resistor (RI) and the current source (II). The current sources (I,) and (12) have opposite temperature coefficients such that the current provided to the electronic component is substantially constant.
US08344735B2	Solid electrolytic capacitor The solid electrolytic capacitor includes a solid electrolyte type capacitor element including a dielectric layer intervening between an anode section and a cathode section, and an insulating substrate. The insulating substrate includes a first surface on which the capacitor element is mounted and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The first surface is provided thereon with a first anode layer to which the anode section is electrically connected and a first cathode layer to which the cathode section is electrically connected. The second surface is provided thereon with a second anode layer electrically connected to the first anode layer and a second cathode layer electrically connected to the first cathode layer. Here, a pad member with electrical insulation property projects on the first surface of the insulating substrate, and the first anode layer is formed on a tip end surface of the pad member.
US08344734B2	Test module for radio frequency identification chips and method of the same A test module and method for radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are provided. The test module includes a test head having a chip carrier for carrying a RFID chip to be tested, the chip carrier having a first antenna electronically connecting the RFID chip. The module further includes a second antenna for communicating with the first antenna; and a base supporting the chip carrier and the second antenna. The test module further includes a test computer electronically connecting the second antenna, wherein the test computer evaluates functions of the RFID chip by way of the communications between the first antenna and the second antenna.
US08344732B2	Measuring system There is provided a measuring system capable of rendering a power source voltage of an internal circuit higher than a drivable voltage of the internal circuit by removing or reducing a chloride film with greater certainty, thereby enabling operation, and initial activation of the internal circuit to be normally executed, or preventing the internal circuit from running away. The measuring system comprises a thionyl chloride based primary cell, a cell voltage measurement unit, and an internal circuit provided with state-transition controller wherein in the case of transition of the internal circuit to a state thereof, having a discharge current larger than the discharge current in the present state thereof, the transition is made according to results of comparison of a voltage measured by the cell voltage measurement unit with a threshold on the basis of a discharge current in a state before, or after the transition of the internal circuit.
US08344731B2	NMR device for detection of analytes This invention relates generally to detection devices having one or more small wells each surrounded by, or in close proximity to, an NMR micro coil, each well containing a liquid sample with magnetic nanoparticles that self-assemble or disperse in the presence of a target analyte, thereby altering the measured NMR properties of the liquid sample. The device may be used, for example, as a portable unit for point of care diagnosis and/or field use, or the device may be implanted for continuous or intermittent monitoring of one or more biological species of interest in a patient.
US08344728B2	Systems and methods using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to evaluate pain and degenerative properties of tissue NMR spectroscopy is performed on intervertebral disc tissue. Extent of degeneration is determined based on the NMR spectroscopy. Correlation between NMR spectral regions and at least one of tissue degeneration and pain are made. Accordingly, NMR spectroscopy is used to determine location and/or extent of at least one of degeneration or pain associated with a region of tissue, such as for example in particular disc degeneration, or discogenic pain. NMR spectral peak ratios, such as between N-Acetyl/cho and cho/carb, are readily acquired and analyzed to predict degree of tissue degeneration and/or pain for: tissue samples using HR-MAS spectroscopy; and larger portions of anatomy such as joint segments such as a spine, using clinical 3 T MRI systems with surface head or knee coils; and tissue regions such as discs within spines of living patients using 3 T MRI systems with a surface spine coil, thus providing a completely non-invasive diagnostic toolset and method to image and localize degeneration and/or pain.
US08344725B2	Device for nondestructive testing of pipes A device for nondestructive testing of a pipe made of ferromagnetic steel for detection of longitudinal, transverse or inclined flaws using magnetic or magnetic-induction test procedures is disclosed. The device includes a magnetizing yoke which transmits the magnetic flux contactless into the pipe and at least two magnetic-field-sensitive scanning probes having GMR sensors. The GMR sensors are combined into sensor groups in form of a sensor array and electrically connected in parallel. A single preamplifier connected to each sensor group in one-to-one correspondence. The device further includes an evaluation unit.
US08344720B2	Reference voltage generators, integrated circuits, and methods for operating the reference voltage generators A reference voltage generator includes a proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) current source and a voltage divider. The PTAT current source is capable of providing a first current that is proportional to a temperature. The voltage divider is capable of receiving a second current that is proportional to the first current. The voltage divider is capable of outputting a reference voltage. The reference voltage is substantially independent from a change of the temperature.
US08344719B2	Regulator circuit and RFID tag including the same in wireless communication to improve noise margin One object of the present invention is to provide a regulator circuit with an improved noise margin. In a regulator circuit including a bias circuit generating a reference voltage on the basis of the potential difference between a first power supply terminal and a second power supply terminal, and a voltage regulator outputting a potential to an output terminal on the basis of a reference potential input from the bias circuit, a bypass capacitor is provided between a power supply terminal and a node to which a gate of a transistor included in the bias circuit is connected.
US08344718B2	DC-DC converter, method for controlling DC-DC converter, and electronic device A DC-DC converter includes a switching element to generate a pulse waveform by repeatedly admitting and cutting off the input voltage, a fluctuation component restraining circuit to restrain a fluctuation component generated in superposition on the pulse waveform and having a shorter cycle than a cycle of the pulse waveform, and a control circuit to operate the fluctuation component restraining circuit when the input voltage is equal to or larger than a reference voltage.
US08344717B2	Switching regulator with balanced control configuration with filtering and referencing to eliminate compensation A switching regulator and controller and an electronic device using same are disclosed in which the controller includes a sense circuit, an error amplifier circuit, a filter and reference circuit, and a comparator circuit. The switching regulator includes a pulse switch circuit coupled to an output inductor for developing an output voltage. The sense circuit provides a sense signal indicative of current through the output inductor. The error amplifier circuit develops an error signal indicative of error of the output voltage. The filter and reference circuit high pass filters the sense signal to provide a filtered sense signal and which balances the filtered sense signal and the error signal at a common DC level. The comparator circuit develops a pulse control signal using the error signal and the filtered sense signal, where the pulse control signal is for controlling switching of the pulse switch circuit.
US08344715B2	System and method for adaptive switching frequency control System and method for providing frequency control to a power converter. The system includes a controller configured to receive a load signal and generate a first control signal. The load signal indicates an output load for a power converter. Additionally, the system includes a signal generator configured to receive the first control signal and generates at least a first output signal. The first output signal is associated with a first signal strength and a first frequency. The first frequency is inversely proportional to a sum of a first time period, a second time period, and a third time period. The first signal strength increases with the time during the first time period, the first signal strength decreases with the time during the second time period, and the first signal strength is constant with respect to the time during the third time period.
US08344714B2	Linear voltage regulator circuit with power saving capability A linear voltage regulator circuit includes first and second voltage input terminals to receive a first or second external voltage, a voltage output terminal, a voltage regulator unit, a voltage switch unit, and a voltage detecting unit. The voltage regulator unit selectively receives the first or second external voltage controlled by the voltage switch unit. The voltage detecting unit outputs a first control signal to control the voltage switch unit to output the first external voltage to the voltage regulator unit, in response to an output voltage of the voltage output terminal being less than or equal to a predetermined value. The voltage detecting unit outputs a second control signal to control the voltage switch unit to output the second external voltage to the voltage regulator unit in response to the output voltage being greater than the predetermined value.
US08344712B2	Modification of activation order in a multi-phase power delivery system A power supply system includes multiple power converter phases. A controller (e.g., a processor device) monitors energy delivery for each of multiple power converter phases that supply energy to a load. The controller analyzes the energy delivery associated with each of the multiple power converter phases to identify an imbalance of energy delivered by the multiple power converter phases to the load. Based on the analyzing and detection of an imbalance condition, the controller modifies a future order of activating the multiple power converter phases for powering the load. Accordingly, a single phase of a multiphase switching power converter may be prevented from becoming overloaded while delivering energy to power the load.
US08344705B2	Method and apparatus for lead-unity-lag electric power generation system A method employing a lead-unity-lag adjustment on a power generation system is disclosed. The method may include calculating a unity power factor point and adjusting system parameters to shift a power factor angle to substantially match an operating power angle creating a new unity power factor point. The method may then define operation parameters for a high reactance permanent magnet machine based on the adjusted power level.
US08344702B2	Battery having universal serial bus port A universal serial bus battery includes a universal serial bus interface, a battery, a charger, a comparator, a first switch, and a second switch. The comparator is configured for comparing the voltage at the universal serial bus interface and the voltage of the battery, and to produce an ON signal when the voltage at the serial bus interface exceeds the voltage of the battery, or to produce an OFF signal otherwise. The first switch is configured for establishing an electrical connection between the USB interface and the charger upon receiving the ON signal or cutting off the connection upon receiving the OFF signal. The second switch is configured for establishing a connection between the universal serial bus interface and the battery when the connection between the USB interface and the charger is terminated by the first switch.
US08344701B2	Electronic apparatus with fake charging preventing function and method thereof A method for preventing fake charging of an electronic apparatus is provided. The method includes: providing a power management table for setting function units for each power range; activating a fake charging preventing function according to a predetermined condition or an activating operation of users; detecting power of the electronic apparatus every a first predetermined time interval; determining a current power range the detected power falls into; determining whether the current power range is changed; beginning to time when the current power range is changed; activating function units which are disabled and whose power range is the current power range when the timing reaches a second predetermined time interval and the detected power is still in the current power range.
US08344699B2	Power supply, system having a plurality of power storage units, vehicle using the same, and its control method When the relation of battery temperature Tb1>battery temperature Tb2 is satisfied, a temperature increase request for a power storage unit becomes relatively large. Therefore, a target power value P2* for the power storage unit is determined with priority. The target power value P2* is calculated by multiplying the required power value Ps* by a distribution ratio Pr2 (0.5≦distribution ratio Pr2≦1.0) determined in accordance with temperature deviation between battery temperature Tb1 and battery temperature Tb2. The target power value P1* is determined by subtracting the target power value P2* from the required power value Ps*.
US08344698B2	Lead storage battery charging control method, charging control circuit, power source device, and lead storage battery Disclosed is a charging control method including: a full charging step of charging a lead storage battery until the battery is fully charged; a refresh charging step of performing refresh charging of charging the lead storage battery with a predetermined refresh charging quantity of electricity after the lead storage battery has been fully charged; and a refresh charging quantity setting step of setting the refresh charging quantity of electricity in the refresh charging step for the lead storage battery which has been fully charged at a present time, depending on a temperature of the lead storage battery throughout a deficient charging period, the deficient charging period being a period from a time when the lead storage battery has been fully charged at a previous time to a time when the lead storage battery has been fully charged at the present time in the full charging step.
US08344697B2	Method for optimized design and operation of battery cooling system in electric vehicles A method and system for controlling temperature in an electric vehicle battery pack such that battery pack longevity is preserved, while vehicle driving range is maximized. A controller prescribes a maximum allowable temperature in the battery pack as a function of state of charge, reflecting evidence that lithium-ion battery pack temperatures can be allowed to increase as state of charge decreases, without having a detrimental effect on battery pack life. During vehicle driving, battery pack temperature is allowed to increase with decreasing state of charge, and a cooling system is only used as necessary to maintain temperature beneath the increasing maximum level. The decreased usage of the cooling system reduces energy consumption and increases vehicle driving range. During charging operations, the cooling system must remove enough heat from the battery pack to maintain temperatures below a decreasing maximum, but this has no impact on driving range.
US08344692B2	Charging device and charging structure A charging device includes an air nozzle that prevents power-feeding-side terminals from becoming wet by blasting air, fitting switches operated when a power feeding connector is removed from a connector holding portion, and an ECU that activates an air compressor and a vacuum pump on the basis of operations of the fitting switches. The power-feeding-side terminals can be prevented from becoming wet while the power feeding connector is attached to a power receiving connector of an electric vehicle after being removed from the connector holding portion.
US08344689B2	Hearing aid and energy charger as well as associated method A hearing aid with a rechargeable energy storage unit used as a power supply and an antenna used for wireless transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals is provided. The hearing aid also includes an energy charging unit which is arranged between the antenna and the energy storage unit, with the energy transmitted electromagnetically in a charging mode to the antenna being fed electrically via the energy charging unit into the energy storage unit. An energy charger and an energy storage method are also provided.
US08344687B2	Battery pack updating method A battery pack updating method updates firmware stored in internal control circuit memory via an update signal sent from a main device that supplies power. When battery pack memory is updated, an AC adapter is connected to the main device, and power is supplied to the main device from the AC adapter. The updating method transmits a charging and discharging blocking signal from the main device to the battery pack control circuit via a communication line. The charging and discharging blocking signal stops discharge from the battery pack rechargeable battery, and stops charging of the rechargeable battery. With rechargeable battery discharging and charging to and from the main device stopped by the charging and discharging blocking signal, the updating method transmits update data from the main device to the battery pack control circuit to update memory.
US08344685B2	System for automatically gathering battery information A method that includes affixing a radio frequency identification tag on a storage battery at a battery manufacturing plant. The method also includes storing battery manufacturing information into the radio frequency identification tag at the battery manufacturing plant. The battery manufacturing information includes a battery algorithm suitable for use in testing the storage battery.
US08344679B2	Method and apparatus to maintain motion control during manual patient positioning A method and apparatus are provided to maintain motion control during manual positioning of a patient table. The method and apparatus of the present application control the amount of resistance to manual motion of the patient table without using switches to control the amount of assistance provided during manual positioning. The amount of resistance to manual motion may vary as a function of the velocity and position of the patient table. Further, the resistance to initial manual movement of the patient table may be reduced.
US08344668B2	Method and apparatus for propagating optical signals along with power feed to illuminators and electrical appliances In a method and apparatus for propagating optical signals via optical cables such as plastic optical fiber, known as lightguide joint and mingled with the electrical wiring and home automation system for controlling LED illuminators enclosed in standard screw type bulb bases or plug-in bases, such as used for halogen lamp via optical signal propagated through such standard bases. Same optical signals are propagated through power outlets and via power cable assemblies to electrical appliances for controlling the appliances operation and on-off switching. Full range of control, distribution, signal conversion, keypads and touch screen including video interphones monitors and shopping terminals operate and controls such home automation via the optical cables.
US08344666B1	Circuit for and method of implementing a configurable light timer A circuit for implementing a configurable light timer controlling a light is disclosed. The circuit comprises an input portion for receiving timing characterization data, the input portion having a slot adapted to receive a portable memory device storing the timing characterization data; a control circuit coupled to access a set of data of a plurality of sets of data of the timing characterization data; and a multiple setting selection actuator coupled to the control circuit, the multiple setting selection actuator enabling a selection of the set of data to be implemented by the control circuit. A method of implementing a configurable light timer is also disclosed.
US08344660B2	Lighting control An apparatus and method of controlling a light are disclosed. One method includes detecting a light adjusting trigger event, selecting a random delay time, and adjusting the light, wherein the light adjustment occurs the random delay time after detecting the light adjusting trigger event.
US08344657B2	LED driver with open loop dimming control An LED driver with open loop dimming including a full wave rectifier circuit, a DC/DC converter, and an oscillator circuit. The rectifier is configured to receive an input voltage in the form of an AC conductive angle modulated voltage and to provide a rectified voltage. The DC/DC converter converts the rectified voltage to an output voltage and an output current, where the output current has a magnitude which varies proportionately with a square of a quadratic mean of the input voltage. The oscillator circuit controls switching of the DC/DC converter with constant frequency and constant duty cycle. The DC/DC converter may be a flyback converter and may include a transformer operated in DCM. The driver may include output voltage and/or output current limit. The output current may be limited when the input voltage is within normal operating range of an AC line voltage from which the input voltage is derived.
US08344649B2	Universal electronic ballast for operating Hg-free lamps and Hg-containing discharge lamps An electronic ballast for a discharge lamp includes a microcontroller, which is configured to identify the parameters which determine the discharge lamp type. The microcontroller implements an orientation mode program once when the lamp is first switched on, which orientation mode program can be used to determine the type of discharge lamp.
US08344644B2	Electronic ballast for HID lamps with active lamp power control An electronic ballast includes a ballast control circuit controlling an inverter circuit to supply a rectangular wave AC power to a high-pressure discharge lamp. The ballast control circuit includes a load voltage detection circuit adapted to detect load voltages of both positive and negative polarities applied to the lamp, a comparison and selection circuit adapted to compare the detected load voltages of the positive and negative polarities and select one of the positive and negative polarities, and a switching control circuit adapted to use the load voltage of the polarity selected by the comparison and selection circuit for controlling load current in one cycle after a period of detecting the load voltages of both the positive and negative polarities.
US08344636B2	Fixed frequency dimming method and fixed frequency dimming circuit for light emitting module A fixed frequency dimming method and fixed frequency dimming circuit for a light emitting module can control light emitting brightness of the light emitting module through a hysteresis control circuit. A voltage difference between an upper limit voltage and a lower limit voltage of a hysteresis width of the hysteresis control circuit is maintained at a fixed value, and a driving current flowing through the light emitting module is changed by changing the upper limit voltage or the lower limit voltage.
US08344633B2	Driving circuit for driving a plurality of light sources arranged in a series configuration A driving circuit (10) for driving a plurality of light sources (1) arranged in a series configuration (2) is described. A controllable current source (20) is connected to said series arrangement of light sources. Each light source (1(i)) is bridged by a corresponding controllable switch (25(i)). A controller (30) controls the operation of the current source (20) to set a current level and controls the operative states of the respective switches (25(i)) in order to individually control the light output of the corresponding light sources. The controller (30) is capable of individually setting the switch control signals (SL(O) for the respective switches (25(i)). Especially, the controller (30) is capable of boosting the light output of one selected light source (1(x)) while maintaining the light output of other light sources in the series arrangement (2). To this end, the current level is increased while the other light sources are dimmed.
US08344626B2	Electron beam tube output transition including a rectangular to conical waveguide transition with conical internal propagation surfaces The invention relates to a microwave output transition for a high-power electron tube comprising a body (78) of tubular shape, along a longitudinal axis ZZ′, having two ends (80, 90), a passage (79) between the two ends that has internal surfaces for propagating electromagnetic waves, one of the ends (90), in the form of a circular cylindrical tube, comprising a conical internal propagation surface (130) and the other end (80), in the form of a tube of rectangular cross section, having two long sides (84, 85) and two short sides (86, 87) perpendicular to the long sides, the passage having two plane internal propagation surfaces (120, 122) parallel to the long sides (84, 85) and two other plane internal surfaces (124, 126) parallel to the short sides (86, 87).Each of the plane internal propagation surfaces (120, 122) parallel to the long sides (84, 85) is joined to the conical internal propagation surface (130) via a respective curved connecting surface (132, 133) having bidirectional radii of curvature.
US08344620B2	Active matrix electroluminescence device having a metallic protective layer and method for fabricating the same An active matrix electroluminescence display device and a method for fabricating the same, whereby damage caused by UV light rays during the fabrication process can be prevented, are disclosed. The active matrix electroluminescence display device includes a plurality of transistors formed on a substrate having an emissive area and a non-emissive area defined thereon, an insulating layer formed on the substrate and the thin film transistors, a metallic protective layer formed on the insulating layer of the non-emissive area, a first electrode formed on the insulating layer of the emissive area, an electroluminous layer formed on the first electrode, and a second electrode formed on the electroluminous layer.
US08344614B2	Organic light emitting display device and method of manufacturing the same An organic light emitting display (OLED) device and a method of manufacturing the same, the OLED device including a first substrate having an organic emission unit on a surface thereof, a second substrate above the first substrate, an inorganic sealing member between the first substrate and the second substrate, the inorganic sealing member bonding the first substrate and the second substrate. and a filler, the filler filling a space between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein a volume of the filler is greater than a volume of a space between the first substrate, the second substrate, and the inorganic sealing member prior to bonding the first substrate and the second substrate.
US08344611B2	Oxyfluoride phosphors and white light emitting diodes including the oxyfluoride phosphor for solid-state lighting applications A blue-green emitting Ce3+-activated oxyfluoride phosphor for use with a light emitting diode (LED) in solid state lighting applications. The blue-green emitting Ce3+-activated oxyfluoride phosphor is represented as: (Sr1-x-yAEy)3(Al1-zTz)O4F:Ce3+x wherein 0
US08344609B2	Image display apparatus including electron-emitting device A plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix, a row wiring that connects electron-emitting portions of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same line to one another, and a column wiring that connects gate connection members of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same column to one another are included. Each of the plurality of gates is positioned at one side of an electron-emitting portion in an arrangement direction in which the plurality of electron-emitting portions are arranged.
US08344608B2	Hot cathode fluorescent lamp and electrode for fluorescent lamp A long-life hot cathode fluorescent lamp can include a pair of parallel lead wires that can be arranged at each end of a tube. A coiled filament can be connected at its opposite end portions to the lead wires. The coiled filament can have two long pitched regions in which a coil pitch is longer than regions outside of the long pitched regions. Emitter can be located in a region defined between the two long pitched regions. Shape characteristics and intensive current flow obtained by the presence of the long pitched regions can form the origins of discharge near the boundaries between long and short pitched regions. Accordingly, stable discharge can be achieved with the origins of discharge located at ends of the emitter. As a result, the hot cathode fluorescent lamp is allowed to have a long life and stable light emission characteristics.
US08344604B2	Spark plug for internal combustion engine A precious metal tip on the side of a ground electrode is indirectly joined to the front end portion of the ground electrode via a mounting part interposed therebetween. The mounting part includes a base part and a protruding part. First, in the state where the precious metal tip is in contact with the protruding part, laser welding or the like is performed thereon to form a fused part and obtain a complex, and the base part is joined to a flat surface of the ground electrode by resistance welding. The grain size of grains of the mounting part in the vicinity of the of the fused part is greater than the grain size of the grain size of the grains thereof in the vicinity of the ground electrode, and the grain size of the grains of the flange part of the mounting part is smaller than the grain size of the grains of the protruding part.
US08344602B2	Light emitting diode and light source module incorporating the same A light emitting diode (LED) includes an LED chip, a casting, two metallic electrodes and a heat sink. The casting includes a first surface, a second surface and an outer peripheral side surface interconnecting the first and second surfaces. The casting defines a receiving space concaved inwardly from the first surface for receiving the LED chip therein. A through hole is defined in the casting and extends from the receiving space to the second surface. The metallic electrodes are separated from each other. Each metallic electrode includes a first terminal electrically connecting with the LED chip, and a second terminal disposed at the outer peripheral side surface of the casting. The heat sink is filled in the through hole and thermally contacts the LED chip. The heat sink is thermally and electrically insulated from the metallic electrodes by the casting.
US08344600B2	Heat dissipating structure of LED circuit board and LED lamp tube comprised thereof A heat dissipating structure of an LED circuit board includes an LED circuit board having a plurality of soldering points. The soldering points of the LED circuit board are covered by a coating layer including Nanoparticles and a bonding agent. The LED circuit board is covered by the coating layer in an LED lamp tube to accelerate dissipating the heat of the LED circuit board. The coating layer has the characteristics of high emitting rate, temperature resistance, and conductivity insulation. On the other hand, the coating layer can increase the contacting areas of the soldering points with the air to enlarge the heat dissipation area of the LED circuit board to, thereby accelerating dissipating the heat.
US08344595B2	Ultrasonic transducer, ultrasonic transducer array, and ultrasonic device An ultrasonic transducer is configured to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic transducer includes a vibrating member and a piezoelectric member coupled to the vibrating member. The piezoelectric member includes a first piezoelectric part configured and arranged to be deformed by applied voltage to vibrate the vibrating member or configured and arranged to be deformed by vibration of the vibrating member to produce a potential difference, and a second piezoelectric part configured and arranged to be deformed by applied voltage to statically deflect the vibrating member.
US08344592B2	Ultrasonic motor The invention relates to an ultrasonic motor having a multilayer actuator in the form of a multilayer plate, having one or more friction elements or friction layers on its side surfaces and having an electrical exciter apparatus for the actuator. According to the invention, the multilayer plate has two intersecting, mirror-imaged asymmetrical generators for ultrasonic vibrations, to be precise in the form of layers of exciter electrodes and general electrodes which are alternately arranged with layers of piezoelectric ceramic, wherein a two-dimensional asymmetrical acoustic standing wave is generated in the multilayer actuator.
US08344587B2	Capacitive electro-mechanical transducer, and fabrication method of the same A capacitive electro-mechanical transducer includes a plurality of cavities, a communicating portion for connecting the cavities to each other, and two electrodes sandwiching each of the cavities. The cavities are sealed from outside, and at least a portion of the communicating portion is closed to interrupt the communication between the cavities through the communicating portion.
US08344586B2	Temperature-activated voltage generator An illustrative embodiment of a temperature-activated voltage generator includes a generator housing having a housing interior; a flexible, temperature-sensitive bimetallic element disposed in the housing interior; and a piezoelectric element carried by the generator housing. The bimetallic element is positional between a first position wherein the bimetallic element disengages the piezoelectric element and a second position wherein the bimetallic element engages the piezoelectric element. Electrical voltage output leads are electrically connected to the piezoelectric element. A voltage-generating method is also disclosed.
US08344581B2	Induction motor rotor core having shaped slots To provide an indication motor rotor capable of improving motor performance by concentrating portions under magnetic saturation conditions of rotor teeth. The rotor of an induction motor of this invention may include slots formed approximately in the shape of a T. The slots may be formed so that top slots are arranged on an outer peripheral portion of a rotor core, and bottom slots are arranged on an inner side of the top slots. The width in the circumferential direction of the top slot is wider than the width in the circumferential direction of the bottom slot, and the width in the circumferential direction of a rotor tooth between adjacent top slots is narrower than the width in the circumferential direction of the rotor tooth between adjacent bottom slots.
US08344580B2	Stator for a polyphase electric machine and method for manufacturing same A stator (16) is proposed for a polyphase electric machine, having a core body (17), which is provided with slots (114), which are situated in the radial direction with respect to an axis of rotation of the electric machine on one side of the core body (17) parallel to the longitudinal axis of the core body (17), having a slot width (bn1, bn2) and a stator yoke (122) being provided on the opposite side, with two slots (114) each being separated from one another by a tooth (116) having a tooth width (bz1, bz2) and extending from a slot base (120) to a tooth head (118), these slots (114) being provided to receive at least one coil winding having a plurality of coils that is electrically connected in series and are manufactured from at least one continuous wire (124) without interruption, the ratio (bz2/hj) of the tooth width (bz2) to the yoke height (hj) at the tooth head (118) being between 0.3 and 0.8 and/or the ratio (bz2/bn2) of the tooth width (bz2) at the tooth head (118) to the slot width (bn2) at the tooth head (118) being between 0.3 and 3, and/or the ratio (mCu(slot)/mCu(total)) of the copper mass of the wire (124) in the slot (114) to the total copper mass of the wire (124) being between 0.43 and 0.55.
US08344575B2	Stator and manufacturing method thereof The disclosed embodiments relate to a stator and manufacturing method of the stator in which the coil conducts of the stator have three phases (a U phase, V phase, and W phase), which are arranged in a distributed winding form in a plurality of slots of a stator core. The coil conductors of the three phases each include a slot conductor portion that is disposed in the slot, and a pair of coil end conductor portions disposed on both axial sides of the stator core to connect the slot conductor portions disposed in the different slots. The stator also includes a first side transition wire portion in each phase that is disposed further toward a radial inner side than an inner peripheral end surface of a tooth provided on each circumferential side of the slot so as to overlap another first side transition wire portions in the axial direction.

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