Document Document Title
US08370366B2 Method and system for comparing attributes such as business names
Embodiments of systems and methods for comparing attributes of a data record are presented herein. Broadly speaking, embodiments of the present invention generate a weight based on a comparison of the name (or other) attributes of data records. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention generate a weight based on a comparison of name attributes. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention may calculate an information score for each of two name attributes to be compared to get an average information score for the two name attributes. The two name attributes may then be compared against one another to generate a weight between the two attributes. This weight can then be normalized to generate a final weight between the two business name attributes.
US08370361B2 Extracting and normalizing organization names from text
A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for extracting and normalizing organization names from text. The method uses regular expressions, certain rules and dictionaries to identify potential organization names in text, then uses word similarity metrics, clustering, and other considerations to group normalized organization names.
US08370359B2 Method to perform mappings across multiple models or ontologies
Computer-implemented methods for mapping an element of a source information model to an element of a target information model, forming a cluster of elements for mapping across information models, and evaluating a mapping of elements across information models, and a system and computer program product thereof. The method of mapping an element of a source information model to an element of a target information model includes: receiving information for mapping a first element in a source cluster to an element in the target information model; mapping the first element to the target element using the received information for mapping the first element to the target element; and mapping all other elements in the source cluster to the target element.
US08370358B2 Tagging content with metadata pre-filtered by context
Generate tags for content from metadata pre-filtered based on context. A plurality of data items is accessed. Each of the data items has metadata. A context for a user is determined (e.g., at a moment of content capture). One or more of the data items are selected based on the determined context. Upon receipt of content, the received content is compared with the selected data items to identify matches. Metadata is selected from the metadata associated with the matching data items. The selected metadata is associated with the captured content.
US08370355B2 Managing entities within a database
Embodiments of a method for managing entities include candidate selection by a transitive bucketing process where at least one attribute of an initial data record is used to determine a set of candidate data records corresponding to the initial data record. For each candidate data record thus determined, additional candidate data record(s) may be determined using attribute(s) not used in linking the candidate data record to the initial data record. This process may be repeated until no more candidate data records are returned. The initial data record and related candidates thus determined are then resolved into group entities, each having member records that match one another above a certain threshold. If no match is found, a group entity comprising a single data record may be created. These group entities are then reconciled with other entities in a master entity index system.
US08370353B2 Component part search system with public and private communities
A method of providing a searchable parts database includes collecting component part data from a plurality of users to form a component part database. An exclusive group is formed including a subset of the users. User members of the exclusive group are provided with access to the component part data contributed to the database by other user members of the exclusive group. Users excluded from the exclusive group are denied access to the component part data contributed to the database by the user members of the exclusive group. The user members in the exclusive group are enabled to provide images of desired component parts and to search the component part database based upon the images of desired component parts.
US08370352B2 Contextual searching of electronic records and visual rule construction
A web-based system for visual construction of logical rules includes a server, a network, and client operatively connected to the server via the network. The server includes a database and a search engine. The client includes a web-based visual rule building application including selectable windows for displaying and visually editing terms, logical operators, logical rules for storage in the database. The logical rules are generated by visually selecting at least one of the terms and logical operators from the windows. The server may further include a search engine configured to perform at least one of a direct search or a contextual search for an entered query string in records stored in the database and the client may include a visual interface for displaying results of the searches. The search results generated by the search engine may be stored as terms in the database for subsequent rule generation.
US08370351B2 Method and system for generating playlists for content items
A method and system for generating playlists for content items is provided. Generating a playlist involves monitoring user interaction with one or more content items as user-content interactions, determining a context associated with one or more user-content interactions, and generating a playlist of the content items based on the user-content interactions and the associated context.
US08370348B1 Magazine edition recommendations
Methods and systems for providing magazine edition recommendations are provided. Categories associated with retrieved magazine edition articles are analyzed. A magazine edition profile is generated for each magazine edition based on the categories for each of the retrieved articles of the corresponding magazine edition. The categories of magazine edition profiles are compared to categories of a profile of a user, wherein the user profile is based on categories of articles viewed by the user. A magazine edition recommendation based on the comparing is provided for display to the user. The edition recommendation may be a link or section of shown in a view of magazine edition content on a mobile device of the user. A user may be provided a convenient way to subscribe to the recommended magazine edition. A personalized magazine edition recommendation of highest ranked articles may also be provided.
US08370343B2 Selecting directly bid upon advertisements for display
Methods and systems in search marketing which permit advertisers to provide advertisements to a search engine, as well as bids associated with the advertisements themselves, are provided. Advertisements are selected for presentation when they are determined to be relevant and payment for presentation is due only upon the conditions of the bid being met. If desired, advertisers may be permitted to provide, in addition to an advertisement, one or more destination pages associated with selection of the advertisement. In this case, relevance can be determined not only on the basis of the content of the advertisement itself, but also on the content of the destination page(s).
US08370337B2 Ranking search results using click-based data
Methods and computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that facilitate generating a machine-learned model for ranking search results using click-based data are provided. Data is referenced from user queries, which may include search results generated by general search engines and vertical search engines. A training set is generated from the search results and click-based judgments are associated with the search results in the training set. Based on click-based judgments, identifiable features are determined from the search results in a training set. Based on determining identifiable features in a training set, a rule set is generated for ranking subsequent search results.
US08370331B2 Dynamic visualization of search results on a graphical user interface
Various embodiments of systems and methods for dynamic visualization of search results on a GUI are described herein. A search query received by a user is divided into a plurality of search parts. One or more search results for each of the plurality of search parts are retrieved. Further, a search result array is generated from the retrieved search results. Furthermore, Venn diagram graphical representation of the search results in the search result array is determined and the same is displayed on the GUI. The Venn diagram graphical representation defines display of search results in the Venn diagram and the relevancy ranking of the search results. In addition, the user can specify a weighting for each of the plurality of search parts, which dynamically determines display opacity of at least one of the associated search results and search part circles of the Venn diagram on the GUI.
US08370330B2 Predicting content and context performance based on performance history of users
Systems and methods are provided for selecting contexts for new invitational content and invitational content for new contexts. In particular, a performance history of delivered invitational content in known contexts is combined with similarity measures for the delivered invitational content, with respect to a new invitational content, to generate a list of potential contexts for the new invitational content. Similarly, a performance history of in known contexts with delivered invitational content can combined with similarity measures for known contexts, with respect to a new context, to generate a list of potential content for the new context. Further, a combination of these methods can be used to pair new invitational content with new contexts.
US08370329B2 Automatic search query suggestions with search result suggestions from user history
Suggested search results are provided with suggested search queries as a user incrementally enters characters of a search query. At each incremental user input, a query portion is received and suggested search queries are identified based on the query portion. Suggested search results associated with the suggested search queries are also identified. These suggested search results enable direct navigation to web sites associated with the search results. In some embodiments, a user's search history is analyzed to identify search results selected by the user for the suggested search queries. In other embodiments, search histories for a group of users associated with the user are analyzed to identify the suggested search results to provide with the suggested search queries.
US08370328B2 System and method for creating and maintaining a database of disambiguated entity mentions and relations from a corpus of electronic documents
Method and apparatus for creating an electronic database of disambiguated entity mentions and relations from a corpus of electronic documents. The invention automatically extracts from the corpus of electronic documents mentions about entities (e.g., references to people, organizations or places), parses the entity mentions into “mention objects,” and executes a series of grouping, comparison and hierarchical fuzzy object clustering algorithms to cluster together in an electronic database all of the mention objects referring to the same entity and all of the mention objects (e.g. “people”) associated with each other by a relationship (e.g., “co-authors” or “family members”). The resulting electronic database of disambiguated entity mentions and relations, which may comprise, for example, an XML document, a relational database or hierarchical database, is structured to permit useful recordation, access, review and display of all of the mentions and relations associated with a particular entity or collection of entities.
US08370325B2 File structure analyzing apparatus, file structure analyzing method, and program
The present invention provides a file structure analyzing apparatus for analyzing a file including a group of structured data formed into a tree structure by having a plurality of distinct element packets referenced externally, each of the distinct element packets including a unique identifier for identifying the distinct element packet in question and an external referrer for indicating an external reference destination at which to reference externally another distinct element packet using the unique identifier of the latter packet, the file structure analyzing apparatus including: a distinct element packet input section; an external referrer holding section; a unique identifier holding section; and a reference relationship analysis section.
US08370323B2 Providing information services related to multimodal inputs
A system and method provides information services related to multimodal inputs. Several different types of data used as multimodal inputs are described. Also described are various methods involving the generation of contexts using multimodal inputs, synthesizing context-information service mappings and identifying and providing information services.
US08370316B2 Hash-join in parallel computation environments
According to some embodiments, a system and method for a parallel join of relational data tables may be provided by calculating, by a plurality of concurrently executing execution threads, hash values for join columns of a first input table and a second input table; storing the calculated hash values in a set of disjoint thread-local hash maps for each of the first input table and the second input table; merging the set of thread-local hash maps of the first input table, by a second plurality of execution threads operating concurrently, to produce a set of merged hash maps; comparing each entry of the merged hash maps to each entry of the set of thread-local hash maps for the second input table to determine whether there is a match, according to a join type; and generating an output table including matches as determined by the comparing.
US08370310B2 Managing database recovery time
Managing database recovery time. A method includes receiving user input specifying a target recovery time for a database. The method further includes determining an amount of time to read a data page of the database from persistent storage. The method further includes determining an amount of time to process a log record of the database to apply changes specified in the log record to a data page. The method further includes determining a number of dirty pages that presently would be read in recovery if a database failure occurred. The method further includes determining a number of log records that would be processed in recovery if a database failure occurred. The method further includes adjusting at least one of the number of dirty pages that presently would be read in recovery or the number of log records that would be processed in recovery to meet the specified target recovery time.
US08370304B2 Restore of full system backup and incremental backups using multiple simultaneous device streams
A technique for restoring file systems by applying full and incremental backups together while streaming them from multiple devices provides a faster system restore from a full backup where incremental backups must also be applied. A first storage device streams the full backup while at least one second storage device streams at least one incremental backup. As files are detected in the incremental backup, they are written instead of the corresponding file in the full backup. Incremental backups can be pre-merged to reduce their number to one less than a number of storage devices available to stream the backups, so that the full backup can be streamed along with the pre-merged incremental backup(s) to restore the file system.
US08370303B1 Generating snapshots of data tables
Disclosed are various embodiments for generating snapshot data tables. Records are extracted from a predetermined plurality of tables in a master data store. The only records extracted are those which have changed since a last snapshot of the tables was taken. The extraction produces a corresponding plurality of working tables. For each of the working tables, any rows missing in the respective working table are determined. Those missing rows are filled in from the predetermined plurality of master tables based on a plurality of identifiers in working tables other than the one with the missing rows.
US08370299B2 Methods and systems for print job handling
Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems and methods for print job handling using a portable document system residing on a portable memory device.
US08370293B2 Workflow template management for medical image data processing
Some embodiments of a workflow management system to process medical image data generated by a medical imaging device have been presented. In one embodiment, a user selects a workflow template with a predefined set of image processing stages, and applies the workflow template to the medical image data. Each of the predefined set of image processing stages in the workflow template includes one or more image processing operations. Each of the image processing operations is capable of generating metadata for processing the medical image data. The medical image data is then processed through each of the predefined image processing stages. The result of processing is a collection of metadata. Each metadata in the collection can be applied to the medical image data to generate a medical image view.
US08370289B2 BDD variable reordering using parallel permutation
One embodiment accesses a binary decision diagram (BDD) representing a function having n variables, where n≧2, wherein: the BDD comprises n layers corresponding to the n variables, respectively; and the BDD has a first variable order where each variable i is at layer i for 1≦i≦n; and reorders the n variables of the BDD according to a second variable order denoted as π(i), where each variable i is at layer π(i) for 1≦i≦n, by iteratively and alternatingly swapping one or more first disjoint pairs of consecutive layers during each odd iteration and swapping one or more second disjoint pairs of consecutive layers during each even iteration, until the second variable order is achieved, wherein during each iteration, two consecutive layers are swapped only if a current order of two variables at the two consecutive layers differs from an order of the two variables specified by the second variable order.
US08370286B2 System for personalized term expansion and recommendation
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for providing a set of recommended annotations. A set of tags associated with a content item within a content sharing system is identified, where the content item is associated with a user of the content sharing system. A set of global tag co-occurrences within the content sharing system is identified for the set of tags, where each of the global tag co-occurrences in the set of global tag co-occurrences identifies a pair of tags including one of the set of tags, wherein the pair of tags have both been used together to tag at least one of the content items within the content sharing system. One or more sets of personal tag co-occurrences is identified for the set of tags, where each of the sets of personal tag co-occurrences is used in a corresponding one of one or more personal contexts of the content sharing system, the one or more personal contexts relating to the user of the content sharing system. Each of the personal tag co-occurrences in the sets of personal tag co-occurrences identifies a pair of tags including one of the set of tags that have both been used together to tag at least one content item within a corresponding one of the one or more personal contexts. A set of recommended tags is generated from the set of global tag co-occurrences and the one or more sets of personal tag co-occurrences.
US08370285B2 Identification of power system events using fuzzy logic
A method for analyzing an electrical power system using fuzzy logic includes: (a) acquiring data representing a signal of interest of the power system; (b) analyzing the signal using at least one fuzzy logic rule, wherein the fuzzy logic rules include: (1) phase level rules which are based on features extracted from a particular phase on the electric power system; (2) segment level rules which are evaluated using information from different phases; and (3) capture level rules which combine truth values obtained from one or more segments; and (c) based on the analysis, detecting and classifying at least one power system event within the power system.
US08370282B1 Image quality measures
An image quality subsystem computes quality scores for images that represent a measure of visual quality of the images. Initial quality scores and query specific quality scores can be computed for the images based on image feature values for the images and a transformation factor that represents a measure of importance of image quality for computing relevance scores for images. The initial quality scores are query independent quality scores that are computed for the images and can be used as a factor for computing relevance scores for the image relative to any query. Query specific quality scores are computed for images that are identified as relevant for a particular query based on the initial quality scores and a query specific transformation factor for the particular query. Adjusted relevance scores for the images can be computed based on the initial quality scores or the query specific quality scores.
US08370279B1 Normalization of predictive model scores
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for score normalization. One of the methods includes receiving initial training data, the initial training data comprising initial training records, each initial training record identifying input data as input and a category as output. The method includes generating a first trained predictive model using the initial training data and a training function. The method includes generating intermediate training records by inputting input data of the initial training records to a second trained predictive model, the second trained predictive model generated using the training function, each intermediate training record having a score. The method also includes generating a score normalization model using a score normalization training function and the intermediate training records.
US08370278B2 Ontological categorization of question concepts from document summaries
Electronic documents are analyzed to identify assertions, which are inverted to generate questions that may be answered by the assertions. A document or a corpus of electronic documents may be analyzed to identify entities and relationships among entities within the text of the document(s). Assertions are identified based on the entities and relationships among the entities. Each assertion represents a fact about an entity, and a group of assertions represents a summary of the document or document corpus. The assertions are inverted to generate questions that may be answered by the assertions. The questions may be further analyzed to identify relevant concepts and topics and to cluster the questions around the concepts and topics. A combined graph may also be generated that facilitates traversal among topics, concepts, questions, assertions, document summaries, and documents.
US08370277B2 Musical piece recommendation system and method
A musical piece recommendation system that allows instantaneous registration of a new user and a new musical piece without retraining in a basic training section. A first incremental training section monitors a rating history storage section, and each time a change is made to a rating history or a new user is added, performs updating of or addition of the topic selection probability for the user for which the change is made to the rating history or for the new user such that the likelihood determined by a basic training section is kept maximized. A second incremental training section monitors an acoustic feature storage section, and each time a new musical piece is added to perform addition to acoustic features, adds the musical piece selection probability related to the added musical piece such that the likelihood determined by the basic training section is kept maximized.
US08370273B2 Method and apparatus for constructing a canonical representation
Some embodiments provide systems and techniques to facilitate construction of a canonical representation (CR) which represents a logical combination of a set of logical functions. During operation, the system can receive a CR-size limit. Next, the system can construct a set of CRs based on the set of logical functions, wherein each CR in the set of CRs represents a logical function in the set of logical functions. The system can then combine a subset of the set of CRs to obtain a combined CR. Next, the system can identify a problematic CR which when combined with the combined CR causes the CR-size limit to be exceeded. The system can then report the problematic CR and/or a logical function associated with the problematic CR to a user, thereby helping the user to identify an error in the set of logical functions.
US08370267B2 System and method for appraiser-assisted valuation
A system and method that allows an appraiser, real estate broker or other professional, based on preliminary information about a requested appraisal, to use any of a plurality of automated valuation products to effectively calculate an appraisal value. In one embodiment, a lender places an order electronically with or through an appraisal management vendor or other entity, which transmits the order in the form of an assignment to an appraiser appropriately licensed and trained for that assignment. The appraiser will preferably, through e-mail, web site or other means, receive the order and will have the ability to access one or a variety of automated models, such as AVM models. Based on the appraiser's own knowledge and the automated results, the appraiser may arrive at a valuation that combines the relatively low cost and rapid turnaround time of an AVM with the expertise and accuracy of a skilled appraiser.
US08370265B2 System and method for managing status of a payment instrument
A transaction processing service operates as an intermediary between acquirers of financial transaction requests and issuing institutions that process the financial transaction requests. The intermediary service enables a customer to selectively change the status of an account's associated with a payment instrument by activating or deactivating the account. The intermediary service may manage account status locally using a rules module. Alternatively, the issuing institution may manage account status, while the intermediary service provides an interface for customers. A customer communicates with the intermediary service to direct the service to change the account status. The intermediary service determines the account's issuing institution and provides an indication to the issuing institution of the current status of the account (or of the change in status). The intermediary service may provide the indication by transmitting a message to the issuing institution or by storing the account status information in its own database. The issuing institution may then request account status from the intermediary service whenever it needs the information, such as when it receives an authorization request.
US08370264B1 System and method of fulfilling a transaction
A method is disclosed that includes receiving a request for a transaction from a customer at a seller server system via an electronic-commerce website and identifying a customer account stored at the seller server system based on an identity of the customer. A plurality of financial instruments is associated with the customer account. The plurality of financial instruments has a customer-specific sequence including at least a first financial instrument pre-selected by the customer and a second financial instrument. The method includes automatically attempting to collect a particular payment associated with the transaction from a first financial service provider corresponding to the first financial instrument and automatically attempting to collect the particular payment from a second financial service provider corresponding to the second financial instrument in response to data received at the seller server system indicating a denial of the payment.
US08370262B2 System and method for performing secure online transactions
The system and method performing secure online-transactions based on challenge/response procedures executed by a terminal of at least one customer and by a terminal of a service provider, such as a bank, which terminals are connected to a network, preferably the Internet. The inventive method including: capturing biometric elements, such as audio and video samples or related biometric data, from the customer during an enrollment procedure and storing the biometric elements in a database, which is accessible by the service provider's terminal; executing synchronized challenge procedures for each transaction in order to produce identical challenges based on current transaction data; capturing biometric data from the customer's response to the challenge with the customer's terminal; delivering transaction data together with the biometric data of the customer's response to the service provider's terminal; retrieving and assembling biometric elements according to the challenge in order to assemble response in the service provider's terminal; and comparing the biometric data of customer's response with the data of the assembled response and performing the requested transaction in the event that the data of the responses match.
US08370260B2 Printing system for validating printing consumable
A printer system includes a printer and a printing consumable detachably mounted on the printer. The printer has a first integrated circuit which generates a random number, reference information using the random number and a secret key. The printing consumable has a second integrated circuit which generates validation information using the random number and the secret key received from the first integrated circuit. The printer also has processing circuitry configured for receiving the reference information from the first integrated circuit; receiving the validation information from the second integrated circuit; and comparing the reference information and validation information so as to validate the printing consumable device for use with the printer.
US08370259B2 Verifying the source of electronically exchanged value
Computer-implemented method and system are provided for verifying a financial instrument. The method comprises performing a plurality of transactions using a source of electronically exchanged value identified by a user, recording details of the plurality of transactions, inviting the user to identify the details to a verification system, and verifying the source of electronically exchanged value based on the details provided by the user to the verification system.
US08370256B1 Method and apparatus for dynamic financial liability management
Financial liabilities are dynamically managed by receiving liability information relating to a client associated with multiple financial liabilities. Each financial liability is associated with a respective interest rate. A payment is allocated among the financial liabilities, for example, as a function of the interest rates associated with the financial liabilities. When a change in a financial liability occurs, the allocation of the payment is adjusted.
US08370255B2 System and method for providing extra lines of credit
A system and method for upgrading existing credit cards with additional lines of credit is disclosed. Credit information associated with customers holding credit cards issued by a credit card issuer are analyzed to determine a level of risk associated with each customer. One or more extra line of credit may be established for selected customers based on the determined level of risk associated with each customer. Each extra credit line may be exclusively associated with a selected set of vendors that have a partnership agreement with the credit card issuer. The credit card issuer may allow customers to select vendors to be associated with the extra credit line or may automatically choose vendors for selected customers. Customers with established extra credit lines may purchase goods and/or service directly from vendor sites or at the credit card issuer's web sites. Purchases at selected vendor sites may be automatically applied to a customer's newly established extra credit line. Additionally, a customer may choose to apply purchases to their extra credit lines or their primary line of credit.
US08370254B1 Enhanced vehicle identification card
A vehicle identification card is provided to an insured that includes proof of automotive insurance information and charge account information. The card may include an insurance policy covering the insured's vehicle, the VIN number of the vehicle, and other information about the vehicle such as the vehicle's make and model. The card may include account information that allows the card to be used like a credit card. The card may further include means for wirelessly updating information and providing a display to the user, which includes, but is not limited to, a housing, a memory module, a processor, one or more displays, and a power source.
US08370253B1 Method and apparatus for credit brokering for point-of-sale leasing
A computerized method for online brokering of multiple leasing products from multiple providers is provided. The method includes determining the creditworthiness of a Buyer, and determining whether or not to offer a lease, based on the specific criteria provided by multiple credit providers.
US08370247B2 Multi site solution for securities trading
Securities are traded at a primary site according to information received from market makers and traders. The information, including quotes and orders for one or more instruments, is received and stored at the primary site and used to create deals in the securities. The deals are also stored at the primary site. A secondary site stores replicas of the orders and deals, but not quote information. The deals stored at the secondary site may be used to update the orders stored at the secondary site.
US08370244B1 Method and system relating to social media technologies
In an embodiment, a method performed by the computing system comprises steps of: (a) receiving an identifier concerning an investor's ownership or management of a brokerage account or a security; (b) validating by the computing system the investor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain an information from an investment account associated with the investor; (c) extracting by the computing system the information; (d) populating by the computing system a profile for the investor with the extracted information and electronically storing the extracted information to a computer readable medium in a profile database, wherein the extracted information comprises the investor's positional information; (e) providing by the computing system a capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities; and (f) generating by the computing system a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positional information without generating a personal information of the investor.
US08370240B2 System and method for chart pattern recognition and analysis in an electronic trading environment
A system and method are provided for chart pattern recognition and analysis. In one embodiment, a graphical interface is provided to enable a trader to select a portion of a chart to be used in the chart pattern analysis. The pattern of the selected portion of the chart could then be used to find one or more similar chart patterns in a user-defined timeframe, such as any future time period or a time period in the past. When a reoccurring chart pattern is found in any future time period, an alert signal can be generated to alert a user of a possibility of the chart pattern reoccurrence. Alternatively, chart pattern matches can be found in a time period in the past, and a set of studies can be applied to the found matches to generate a set of reoccurring indicator values. The reoccurring indicator values can be used in combination with the chart pattern to detect any similar chart patterns in the future.
US08370235B1 Facilitating submission and processing of requests to perform services on real property
Systems and techniques for submitting requests for approval relating to management of real property include presenting, on a user interface, a form for receiving data from a first user. An indication of one or more requests to be approved is received as a result of a user interaction with the form. For each request, types of data items to be provided by the first user are identified. The types of data items identified for each service are based on a type associated with the request. An indication of the identified types of data items for each request is displayed on the form. After a submission of the form, an approval of at least one, but fewer than all, of the requests can be received from a second user. In response, the first user can be notified of the approval and of requests not approved.
US08370231B2 Method for supporting an exchange transaction
The present invention is a method for supporting an exchange transaction, in which users can complete exchange transactions between and/or among themselves.
US08370230B2 System and method for expedited release of held items
A system for identifying and expediting the release of held items, such as checks. Paying banks (having accounts against which the checks are drawn) provide paid item files to the system, and depository banks (where checks have been deposited) provide held item files to the system. If there is a match of a paid item file and held item file (indicating that a held check has been paid by the paying bank), the depository bank is notified that the item has been paid and that the hold may be released.
US08370224B2 Graphical interface for display of assets in an asset management system
The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that facilitates employing a graphical user interface to monitor and/or manage an asset within an industrial environment. A graphical user interface can facilitate asset management including a first field that provides a user with a hierarchical representation of assets within an industrial environment. The graphical user interface can further include a second field that displays available management functionality associated with an asset selected within the first field.
US08370220B1 Method of completing a transaction using wirelessly transferred payment information
A method of completing a transaction using payment information received from a personal wireless device. The method includes the steps of recording items for purchase, determining a total price of the items, displaying a prompt to provide payment for the total price, and wirelessly receiving payment information from a personal wireless device.
US08370219B1 Methods and apparatus for in-line editing of web page content stored in multiple data stores
Methods and apparatus for in-line editing of web page content stored in multiple data stores are described. In one embodiment, a rendering of a web page is presented in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editing environment. The presenting includes combining business transaction data from an inventory and accounting data store and web page presentation data from a page content data store. The presenting further includes rendering in the what-you-see-is-what-you-get environment the web page as viewable in a browser. Responsive to receiving an edit of an element of editable content from the what-you-see-is-what-you-get editing environment, the element of editable content of the electronic commerce web page is updated in both the inventory and accounting data store and the rendering.
US08370217B1 Methods for determining preferred domain positioning on a registration website
Methods of the present inventions allow for determining preferred domain positioning on a registration website. An exemplary method may comprise the steps of receiving a bid from a registry seeking such preferred placement for a domain that may be administered by the registry, generating a quality score for the domain, and determining the preferred placement based upon the bid and the quality score.
US08370216B2 Personalized preloading of digital content
Techniques are described regarding providing consumers with devices on which digital content appropriate for those consumers has been loaded, such as digital media player devices or other consumer devices that are able to play or otherwise present digital media loaded on those devices. In some situations, when a consumer orders such a digital media player or other consumer device from a merchant (or other distributor of the device), the merchant preloads a copy of the device with digital media content before delivering that device to the consumer or other specified recipient, such as digital media items that are automatically selected in a personalized manner for the recipient to whom the device will be sent. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
US08370210B2 Method for processing cash payment for online purchases
A system and method for processing a cash payment for an online purchase is provided herein, including purchasing online from a payee at least one item of goods or services by a payer defining a transaction; generating a bill for an amount due to the payee by the payer for the item, the bill including a unique identifier for the transaction; paying for the bill in cash by the payer to a third party the amount due to the payee; confirming payer's payment in cash for the item to the payee; and delivering to the payee all or a portion of the amount due to the payee from the payer.
US08370208B1 Determining whether to include items in a data feed
This disclosure relates to determining whether to include items in a feed to a referral network site. A catalog is maintained of a plurality of items sold through an electronic commerce network site, wherein at least a portion of a plurality of sales of the items originate by virtue of a referral from a referral network site. A quantity of commercial data associated with the items is stored in a data store, and a predictive model is trained with the commercial data associated with the items. Each of the items is applied to the predictive model to determine whether such items are to be included in a feed to the referral network site. The feed that includes a subset of the items is sent to the referral network site.
US08370205B2 System for activation of multiple cards
According to one embodiment of the invention, a system is provided for activating a plurality of cards. A first card number and a total number of cards can be provided to an activation system to process the activation of the plurality of cards.
US08370204B2 Providing relevant advertisements and service in communication networks
In some embodiments, methods for providing advertisements from a communication gateway are providing, including: receiving a first request requesting content from a content server; analyzing the first request, including performing deep packet inspection; based on updatable profile information associated with a mobile node and on the analysis including the deep packet inspection, selecting an advertising category; based on the selected advertising category, retrieving an advertisement among a plurality of advertisements and sending the advertisement to the mobile node; updating the profile information to indicate the advertisement has been sent to the mobile node in response to the first request for content; receiving a second request for the content from the mobile node; retrieving the content; and in response to the second request and based on the profile information indicating the advertisement has been sent to the mobile node, sending the content to the mobile node.
US08370203B2 User interface and methods for recommending items to users
Improved user interfaces and methods are provided for presenting item recommendations to a user when the user selects an item to add to a shopping cart. In response to the user's selection, a page generation process generates and returns a page that includes a plurality of recommendations sections, each of which displays item recommendations generated using a different respective recommendation or selection algorithm (e.g., recommendations based on shopping cart contents, recommendations based on purchase history, etc.). These recommendation algorithms may be selected based on collected information regarding the user. The page may also include a shopping cart section which displays contents of the shopping cart.
US08370198B2 Registering media for configurable advertising
A method for registering a media for configurable advertising is described herein. Advertising policies from a publisher of the media may be received at a video advertising platform. A request from the publisher to register the media for advertising may be received at a video advertising platform. The request may have media metadata. A media manifest may be generated at the video advertising platform. The media manifest may be based on the media metadata and the advertising policies. The media manifest may be configured to be received by a media player. The media player may play the media with one or more advertisements as specified by the media manifest.
US08370197B2 Controlling the serving of advertisements, such as cost per impression advertisements for example, to improve the value of such serves
A (e.g., expected) performance of proposed ad placement is compared with a performance threshold (either an initial threshold or an adjusted threshold). The ad may be served if the expected performance meets the threshold (perhaps subject to additional conditions), but is not served if the expected performance is less than the performance threshold. Spend information of the ad so served is analyzed to determine if a target amount (budget) is expected to be overspent or underspent. If the former, the performance threshold is increased (and/or the ad performance value is decreased). If the later, the performance threshold is decreased (and/or the ad performance value is increased).
US08370193B2 Method, computer-readable media, and apparatus for determining risk scores and generating a risk scorecard
Methods, computer readable media, and apparatuses for evaluating risk associated with a process are presented. Input corresponding to one or more risk elements may be received. An exposure score, an impact score, a likelihood score, and an element score may be determined for each risk element. One or more risk category scores may be determined based on the one or more element scores. One or more risk parameter scores may be determined based on the one or more risk category scores. An overall risk score may be determined based on the one or more risk parameter scores. A risk scorecard may be generated, and the risk scorecard may include a risk scorecard that visually depicts one or more of the determined scores.
US08370190B1 Mechanism for collecting feedback from users
A method for collecting feedback from a user, involving determining a location of the user using a user device comprising location detection, sending a feedback request corresponding to an entity at the location to the user device, providing feedback data responsive to the feedback request, wherein feedback data is supplied by the user and includes rating information associated with the entity, and transmitting feedback data and the location from the user device to a remote database.
US08370185B2 System and method for performing assortment planning
A system, method and program product are provided for performing assortment definition/planning (i.e., matching the right articles with the right stores at the right times). The method comprises assigning a first article to the assortment via a first intermediate link, and assigning a first validity period to the first intermediate link to determine a first time period during which the first article is in the assortment.
US08370184B2 System and method for assortment planning
A method for planning an assortment including a store comprises receiving a hierarchical list of articles including a plurality of nodes, and assigning a first node in the hierarchical list to the store to define a first group of articles that are assignable to the assortment. A system and program product for planning an assortment including a store are also provided.
US08370178B1 Systems and methods for marketing and/or servicing personal property insurance
Insurance coverage on valuable personal property (“VPP”) can be marketed and/or serviced through an expert system that interacts with a user through a web site and web browser. VPP coverage tends to have many facets and complexities, and a system can be used to explain the various complexities and to guide said user through the process of selecting coverage, obtaining a quote, and purchasing said policy. The system can provide various forms of user education, such as graphical and/or text screens that explain features of coverage, can also provide said user with a linear process flow for those tasks that can be accomplished simply, and can involve a human representative for more complicated tasks.
US08370177B2 Personalized body image
Delivery of health information to a patient suffering from a chronic condition is personalized by displaying the health information directly on a customized image of a body. The patient's medical record, standards of care for the condition, prescribed treatments, and patient input are applied to a generalized health model of a disease to generate a personalized health model of the patient. The personalized health model comprises an HTML file encoding an image map of a body. The body image illustrates the health condition of the individual patient. Preferably, data is collected from health provider sources and stored in a database on a server at a service provider site. The data is processed at the server, and is displayed in the patient's home using a TV connected to a multimedia processor. The multimedia processor connects the television set to a communications network such as the Internet. Applications include preventive care of chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.
US08370175B2 Icon-based healthcare management system
Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with an icon-based healthcare patient care system are described. One exemplary system embodiment includes an icon-based healthcare patient care system comprising an association data store that stores association information between a category and at least one icon; and, a patient care logic configured to provide icon-based healthcare information based on selection information received from a user.
US08370174B2 Medical image processing apparatus, medical image processing method, and program
A medical image processing apparatus includes a unit configured to analyze a target medical image a unit configured to register information representing an aptitude of each doctor with respect to interpretation of a specific lesion and a modality used by each doctor, and a unit configured to, when the analysis result includes information associated with a lesion, decide an assigned doctor based on information representing the aptitude of each doctor with respect to interpretation of the specific lesion, and, when the analysis result includes no information associated with a lesion, decide an assigned doctor based on the modality.
US08370171B2 Methods for providing an easily comprehendible risk rating for pharmaceutical products
The invention relates to a method for assigning a risk rating to a medical product. The method includes assessing one or more threats associated with the medical product; assessing the level of experience with the medical product; and assigning a risk rating for the medical product to provide an indication of risk associated with the medical product. The method may be implemented as a webpage. For example, a new contraceptive may be assigned a risk rating of yellow for the general treatment population. This risk rating allows consumers to make an informed choice between different products on the basis of benefit versus risk, and help patients decide what steps they may wish to take to minimize their risk if they choose to take the new drug.
US08370170B2 System for controlling a physical task
A system for controlling physical activity for a person, including the steps of providing a task database having a plurality of task files which each have data relating to physical task requirements for a person and a plurality of frequency requirements which indicate a frequency for performing a physical task for the particular type of task of the task file, providing a personal data file for a person including data relating to allowable physical tasks and allowable frequency limits for the person when performing the physical task, comparing one personal data file having a selected persons allowable physical task and allowable frequency limits data with a task file having data relating to physical task requirements and frequency requirements of the task type of the task file and from the comparison outputting an indication of whether the selected person is able to safely perform one or more physical tasks in the task file.
US08370167B2 System and method of performing an engineering-based site development and risk assessment process
A system and method is provided for on-site site risk assessment and to encourage collaboration between professional disciplines related to land development and construction projects. A graphical risk analysis system is provided based on answers to interdisciplinary questions related to risks. Use of the system promotes a complete checklist of interdisciplinary and informational consultation which, when completed for a project, assesses the risk related to land development and allows for reduction in risk as the project progresses.
US08370166B2 Script-based information retrieval
One implementation provides a method for providing a solution to a problem durring an interaction. In this implementation, the method includes displaying to the user a first question and possible answers to the first question in a graphical user interface (GUI) upon identification of the problem. Each possible answer to the first question is associated with an electronic document stored in a first knowledge base. The method further includes receiving input from the user selecting one of the displayed answers to the first question during the interaction. In response to receiving this input, a name of the electronic document is displayed within the GUI. The electronic document whose name is displayed is associated with the selected answer to the first question and that provides a solution to the problem.
US08370164B2 Apparatus and method for coding and decoding multi-object audio signal with various channel including information bitstream conversion
Provided is an apparatus and method for coding and decoding multi-object audio signals with various channels and providing backward compatibility with a conventional spatial audio coding (SAC) bitstream. The apparatus includes: an audio object coding unit for coding audio-object signals inputted to the coding apparatus based on a spatial cue and creating rendering information for the coded audio-object signals, where the rendering information provides a coding apparatus including spatial cue information for audio-object signals; channel information of the audio-object signals; and identification information of the audio-object signals, and used in coding and decoding of the audio signals.
US08370163B2 Processing user input in accordance with input types accepted by an application
In a voice processing system, a multimodal request is received from a plurality of modality input devices, and the requested application is run to provide a user with the feedback of the multimodal request. In the voice processing system, a multimodal aggregating unit is provided which receives a multimodal input from a plurality of modality input devices, and provides an aggregated result to an application control based on the interpretation of the interaction ergonomics of the multimodal input within the temporal constraints of the multimodal input. Thus, the multimodal input from the user is recognized within a temporal window. Interpretation of the interaction ergonomics of the multimodal input include interpretation of interaction biometrics and interaction mechani-metrics, wherein the interaction input of at least one modality may be used to bring meaning to at least one other input of another modality.
US08370157B2 Aircraft speech recognition and voice training data storage and retrieval methods and apparatus
A speech recognition system and a personal speech profile data (PSPD) storage device that is physically distinct from the speech recognition system are provided. In the speech recognition system, a PSPD interface receives voice training data, which is associated with an individual and the operating conditions of an aircraft, from the PSPD storage device. A speech input module produces a digital speech signal derived from an utterance made by a system user. A speech processing module accesses voice training data stored on the PSPD storage device through the PSPD interface, and executes a speech processing algorithm that analyzes the digital speech signal using the voice training data, in order to identify one or more recognized terms from the digital speech signal. A command processing module initiates execution of various applications based on the recognized terms. Embodiments may be implemented in various types of host systems, including an aircraft cockpit-based system.
US08370156B1 Editing suggestions in different formalisms
Exemplary embodiments enable generating and propagating editing suggestions for system representations implemented in different formalisms. Exemplary embodiments enable representation of one or more portions of an underlying system in different formalisms. Exemplary embodiments automatically generate suggestions for editing a particular representation based on an analysis of the particular representation, the formalism in which the particular representation is implemented, at least one other representation of the underlying system, and the formalism in which the at least one other representation is implemented. Exemplary embodiments also generate corresponding suggestions for editing at least one other representation of the underlying system based on an analysis of the at least one other representation and the formalism in which it is implemented.
US08370152B2 Method, apparatus, and program for certifying a voice profile when transmitting text messages for synthesized speech
A mechanism is provided for authenticating and using a personal voice profile. The voice profile may be issued by a trusted third party, such as a certification authority. The personal voice profile may include information for generating a digest or digital signature for text messages. A speech synthesis system may speak the text message using the voice characteristics, such as prosodic characteristics, only if the voice profile is authenticated and the text message is valid and free of tampering.
US08370147B2 System and method for providing a natural language voice user interface in an integrated voice navigation services environment
A conversational, natural language voice user interface may provide an integrated voice navigation services environment. The voice user interface may enable a user to make natural language requests relating to various navigation services, and further, may interact with the user in a cooperative, conversational dialogue to resolve the requests. Through dynamic awareness of context, available sources of information, domain knowledge, user behavior and preferences, and external systems and devices, among other things, the voice user interface may provide an integrated environment in which the user can speak conversationally, using natural language, to issue queries, commands, or other requests relating to the navigation services provided in the environment.
US08370146B1 Robust speech recognition
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for recognizing speech input. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a user input and a grammar including annotations, the user input comprising audio data and the annotations providing syntax and semantics to the grammar, retrieving third-party statistical speech recognition information, the statistical speech recognition information being transmitted over a network, generating a statistical language model (SLM) based on the grammar and the statistical speech recognition information, the SLM preserving semantics of the grammar, processing the user input using the SLM to generate one or more results, comparing the one or more results to candidates provided in the grammar, identifying a particular candidate of the grammar based on the comparing, and providing the particular candidate for input to an application executed on a computing device.
US08370143B1 Selectively processing user input
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A computing system receives text that represents content input by a user. A computing system determines a randomness level for a portion of the text. A computing system determines whether the randomness level for the portion of text exceeds a threshold level. A computing system, responsive to determining that the randomness level does not exceed the threshold level, provides the portion of text for processing by a text processing system.
US08370142B2 Real-time transcription of conference calls
Described herein are embodiments of systems, methods and computer program products for real-time transcription of conference calls that employ voice activity detection, audio snippet capture, and multiple transcription instances to deliver practical real-time or near real-time conference call transcription.
US08370138B2 Scalable encoding device and scalable encoding method including quality improvement of a decoded signal
A scalable encoding device is capable of improving quality of a decoded signal without increasing an encoding amount and compensating data with a sufficient quality upon data loss. An extension layer bit distribution calculator calculates a bit distribution of a quality improving encoding data and compensation encoding data in the extension layer according to an audio mode of the input signal. An extension layer encoder generates quality improving encoding data according to the specified number of bits. A compensation information encoder extracts a part of core layer encoding data and makes it as compensation encoding data for the core layer. An extension layer encoded data generator multiplexes the extension layer bit distribution information, the compensation encoding data, and the quality improving encoding data so as to obtain extension layer encoding data.
US08370137B2 Noise estimating apparatus and method
A noise estimating apparatus estimates two types of noise spectra for removing a noise component using the two types of noise spectra. The noise estimating apparatus includes an A/D converter that converts an input speech signal to a digital signal, and a Fourier transformer that performs a discrete Fourier transform on the digital signal having a predetermined time length to obtain an input spectrum and a complex spectrum. The noise estimating apparatus also includes a noise spectrum storage device that stores the two types of noise spectra, including a mean noise spectrum and a compensation noise spectrum, and a noise estimator that estimates a new compensation noise spectrum and a new mean noise spectrum as new two types of noise spectra.
US08370135B2 Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding
An encoding method includes extracting background noise characteristic parameters within a hangover period, for a first superframe after the hangover period, performing background noise encoding based on the extracted background noise characteristic parameters, for superframes after the first superframe, performing background noise characteristic parameter extraction and DTX decision for each frame in the superframes after the first superframe, and for the superframes after the first superframe, performing background noise encoding based on extracted background noise characteristic parameters of the current superframe, background noise characteristic parameters of a plurality of superframes previous to the current superframe, and a final DTX decision. Also, a decoding method and apparatus and an encoding apparatus are disclosed. Bandwidth occupancy may be reduced substantially while the signal quality may be guaranteed.
US08370127B2 Systems and methods for building asset based natural language call routing application with limited resources
A method of processing limited natural language data to automatically develop an optimal feature set, bypassing the standard Wizard of OZ (WOZ) approach. Natural language understanding models process existing data from other domains, such as the Internet, for domain-specific adaptation through the use of an optimal feature set. When the optimal feature set is passed on to any engine, the optimal feature set produces robust models that can be used for natural language call routing.
US08370125B2 Handheld electronic device and method for disambiguation of text input providing artificial variants comprised of characters in a core alphabet
A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software that is operable to disambiguate text input. In addition to identifying and outputting representations of language objects that are stored in the memory and that correspond with a text input, the device is able to generate artificial variants in certain circumstances. The artificial variants comprise characters within a core alphabet of the device and are free of extended characters that may otherwise be active on the device.
US08370118B2 Systems, methods, and tools for proofing a computer-aided design object
A casting tolerance proofing tool adapted to be implemented with a computer system. The computer system has a processor and a memory storing a CAD object of an apparatus to be manufactured with a casting process. The proofing tool includes a criteria selector operable to prompt for and receive a type of casting process for the apparatus to be manufactured with, and an extractor operable to determine a nominal dimension and a related tolerance from the CAD object. The proofing tool further includes a comparator operable to compare the tolerance with a first threshold and a second threshold.
US08370114B1 Method and apparatus for optimal placement of actuators for shaping deformable materials into desired target shapes
The invention is a novel method and apparatus for optimal placement of actuators responsible for shaping of elastically deformable structures into desired target shapes using sparse number of actuators such that the discrepancy between deformed surfaces and target shapes is minimized. The invention utilizes a computational algorithm for optimal placement of actuators using particle swarm optimization, a biologically inspired evolutionary optimization paradigm that searches for the minima (or maxima) of objective functions with possibly large number of parameters.
US08370113B2 Low-power and low-cost adaptive self-linearization system with fast convergence
A signal processing method includes inputting a digital signal, providing a plurality of coefficients; and determining an output. The output is approximately equal to an aggregate of a plurality of linear reference components, and each of the linear reference components is approximately equal to an aggregate of a corresponding set of digital signal samples that is scaled by the plurality of coefficients.
US08370110B2 Network performance management
Measuring performance of a performance measuring tool comprises: a first data loader acquiring a first set of network data for passing to a first data channel; the first data channel calculating a first set of performance metrics using the first set of network data and storing the first network data and performance metrics in a database; a first data viewer displaying the first set of performance metrics; time stamping all operations performed in one or more of the acquisition, calculation and storing steps and saving the time stamp and operation details in a log file; a second data loader acquiring the time stamped data; a second data channel, calculating a second set of performance metrics using the time stamped data, storing the time stamped data and second set of performance metrics in the database; and a second data viewer, displaying the second performance metrics from the database.
US08370108B2 Diagnostic device
A diagnostic device detects a fault and estimates its cause based on the degree of change of measured data attributes. A diagnostic object change degree pattern (CDP) generation unit calculates the degree of change of each attribute of data, including attributes of the object being diagnosed measured from the object being diagnosed to generate a diagnostic object CDP which is a combination of values of the degree of change of the respective attributes. A criterion CDP memory holds in store a criterion CDP, formed of a pattern of values of the degree of change of the attributes of data measured from the object being diagnosed, in association with event(s)-to-be-diagnosed on the fault sort basis or on the fault cause basis. A CDP diagnosis unit effects pattern matching between the diagnostic object CDP and the criterion CDP in the criterion CDP memory to diagnose the object being diagnosed.
US08370105B2 System for detecting position of underwater vehicle
A position detection system for an underwater inspection unit or vehicle improves the detection accuracy of the unit's position. The unit includes a pressure sensor for detecting its vertical position, and an inertial sensor for detecting its attitude angle. The unit also includes a range sensor unit for detecting relative distances relative to a neighboring structure A in several directions on substantially the same plane. A control unit computes a position of a detection direction plane of the range sensor unit based on the unit's detected vertical position and attitude angle, and a cross-sectional shape and position of the structure at the computed position of the detection direction plane. Additionally, the control unit computes the unit's relative position with respect to the structure's cross-sectional shape based on detection results by the range sensor unit, and computes the unit's horizontal position based on position information of the structure's cross-sectional shape.
US08370103B2 Information processing apparatus and method
A moving context and a moving time of a user are specified by acceleration information while the user is moving. The moving context represents the user's moving status. The acceleration information is measured by an acceleration sensor carried with the user. The moving context and the moving time are stored in time series. The moving context and the moving time between a moving start time and an arrival time are set as a moving pattern. A tag is set to the moving context in the moving pattern. The tag identifies a function to be executed for the moving context. A moving estimation pattern is generated as the moving pattern having the moving context and the moving time specified by acceleration information measured when the user is newly moving. The function identified by the tag is executed, when the moving context set with the tag in the moving estimation pattern coincides with a moving context specified by acceleration information measured while the user is newly moving.
US08370102B1 Computer aided feature alignment process
The different advantageous embodiments provide a method for alignment of platform features. A number of feature locations for a platform is identified using a platform model. A number of platform instructions for taking measurements at the number of feature locations is identified using the platform model. Instructions are generated having a number of measurement locations for each feature location in the number of feature locations for the platform.
US08370099B2 Method of calibrating a measurement sensor
Method of calibrating an angular sensor includes a transducer for converting a real value of a physical quantity (φ), lying within an overall range of variations, into an electrical signal (VS1) according to a first predefined function f1(VS1=cos 2φ+OB1) having a factor (OB1) liable to drift according to an external condition, the method including a first step of measuring known values of the physical quantity within the overall range of variations and with at least two values of an external condition, a step of determining a set of correcting parameters, a second step of measuring a known additional value of the physical quantity chosen in a restricted range of variations, and a step of adjusting the set of correcting parameters from the second measurement step.
US08370096B2 Method and system of improved uniformity testing
A method and system includes a first substrate and a second substrate, each substrate comprising a predetermined baseline transmittance value at a predetermine wavelength of light, processing regions on the first substrate by combinatorially varying at least one of materials, process conditions, unit processes, and process sequences associated with the graphene production, performing a first characterization test on the processed regions on the first substrate to generate first results, processing regions on a second substrate in a combinatorial manner by varying at least one of materials, process conditions, unit processes, and process sequences associated with the graphene production based on the first results of the first characterization test, performing a second characterization test on the processed regions on the second substrate to generate second results, and determining whether at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate meet a predetermined quality threshold based on the second results.
US08370093B1 Method and system for calculating energy metrics of a building and one or more zones within the building
A method and system can provide building energy performance metrics that can help identify specific zones within a building which may have energy efficiency problems. The method and system can collect data from: indoor temperature sensors and humidity sensors present in each zone of a building; one or more temperature sensors and humidity sensors present outside of the building; one or more utility meters; and one or more HVAC devices. This data from the sensors can be aggregated and formed into a first profile. The energy efficiency calculation system can analyze the first profile to provide various energy performance metrics which can include, but are not limited to, energy efficiency ratios for air conditioners, the R-value or thermal resistance of the building, an amount of heat loss for the building, energy consumption by the building, current HVAC performance parameters, and utility usage comparisons.
US08370088B2 Method for the real-time determination of the filling level of a cryogenic tank
The invention relates to a method for the real-time determination of the filling level of a cryogenic tank intended to house a two-phase liquid/gas mixture, in which at least one of the the level, volume or mass contained in the tank is calculated for the liquid or the gas at each time step. The method includes the use of a thermal model at each time step to calculate the average temperatures of the liquid and the gas in the tank on the basis of the measured pressure differential and at least one of the pressures of said differential; calculation of the change over time in at least the density of the liquid on the basis of the average temperature of the liquid and the pressures in the tank.
US08370083B2 Method for automatically determining the condition of a hydraulic aggregate
A hydraulic aggregate for supplying a hydraulic cylinder in consecutive load strokes is monitored for its working load in order to determine the condition of the aggregate automatically. For this purpose, the time integral of the pressure is determined for each load stroke. The pressure and duration are processed into a characteristic number which indicates the wear. This makes it possible to diagnose the condition of the hydraulic aggregate at any time.
US08370081B2 Determining particle properties by means of superimposed fields
Modeling the gravitational field-induced or centrifugal field-induced separation of particles of a dispersion by use of one or more additional force fields that also influence the migration of the particles. A method includes detecting and measuring the modified separation behavior with the help of concentration-measuring sensors. The force acting upon the particles can be calculated from the change in velocity of the particles, and the corresponding particle properties can be calculated if the respective field intensities are known.
US08370080B2 Methods and systems for determining whether to trigger an alarm
According to embodiment, systems and methods for processing a physiological measurement and generating alarms based on the measurement are provided. Multiple features of a single physiological measurement may be concurrently monitored to generate alarms. One or more of the features may be based on a trend of the physiological measurement. One or more of the features may be based on a wavelet transform of the physiological measurement. Different features may be used in different combinations to lower the percentage of false alarms while still recognizing valid alarm events.
US08370075B2 Portable plant height and ear height measuring device
A method and apparatus for dimensionally characterizing a target structure. In an example of the apparatus, the apparatus has a pole having a bottom end and a top end, an indicator system adapted to apprise an operator of the position of a dimension determination system relative to the target structure, and a measurement system adapted to apprise the operator of a dimension of one or more features of the target structure. In another example, the method includes taking a pole having a bottom and top end with a height determination system, a height indicator system and a height measurement system, orienting the pole relative to the plant structure, raising the height determination system to the height of the target plant structure, and determining the height of the target plant structure.
US08370073B2 Integrated biosensor and simulation system for diagnosis and therapy
BioMEMS/NEMS appliance biologically monitors an individual, using biosensors to detect cellular components. Data is simulated or analyzed using systems-biology software, which provides diagnostic or therapeutic guidance.
US08370072B2 Integrated biosensor and simulation system for diagnosis and therapy
BioMEMS/NEMS appliance biologically monitors an individual, using biosensors to detect cellular components. Data is simulated or analyzed using systems-biology software, which provides diagnostic or therapeutic guidance.
US08370070B2 Integrated biosensor and simulation system for diagnosis and therapy
BioMEMS/NEMS appliance biologically monitors an individual, using biosensors to detect cellular components. Data is simulated or analyzed using systems-biology software, which provides diagnostic or therapeutic guidance.
US08370068B1 Integrated biosensor and simulation system for diagnosis therapy
BioMEMS/NEMS appliance biologically monitors an individual, using biosensors to detect cellular components. Data is simulated or analyzed using systems-biology software, which provides diagnostic or therapeutic guidance.
US08370064B1 Integrated global navigation satellite system and inertial navigation system for navigation and tracking
A system for navigation and tracking may include an inertial navigation system adapted to generate a replica GNSS signal and a global navigation satellite system. The global navigation satellite system may include a module to digitize a GNSS signal received from a constellation of global navigation satellites. A correlator receives the digitized GNSS signal and the replica GNSS signal. The correlator correlates the digitized GNSS signal to the replica GNSS signal to generate a correlated GNSS signal. A coherent integration module coherently integrates the correlated GNSS signal to generate an integrated signal having a predetermined rate. A filter receives the integrated signal and generates a data signal for navigation and tracking. An output device may present the navigation and tracking information based on the data signal, or the navigation and tracking information may be used to provide guidance for a vehicle or may be used to track a target.
US08370062B1 Switching between location contexts
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for switching between location contexts on a mobile computing device. An estimated geographic location of the mobile computing device is determined by a mobile computing device. A user-identified location is received from an application program invoked on the mobile computing device. The estimated geographic location and the user-identified location are concurrently stored in computer-readable memory. One of the concurrently-stored locations is identified as a current location. A plurality of interface elements that each identify a venue that is geographically near the current location are presented on a display of the mobile computing device. User input that changes the current location from one to the other of the concurrently-stored locations is received at the mobile computing device.
US08370061B2 Navigation device and navigation road data creating device
A navigation device stores road data in a storage part. The road data includes a consecutive connection of a plurality of links as a link queue, the plurality of links acquired by sectioning a road length into a plurality of pieces. The navigation device includes a guidance part that performs route search and guidance to a destination using the road data. The link queue includes a standard link for which, based on a sectioned link of a specific road stored in the storage part, information relating to the sectioned link is stored as road-related information in the storage part, and an invariance link for which the road-related information is not stored in the storage part if there is no difference in the road-related information compared to an adjacent link in the link queue. A navigation road data creating device is also provided.
US08370060B2 Method of operating a navigation system to provide route guidance
A method of operating a navigation system to provide a route guidance message for traveling a route is disclosed. A plurality of features visible from a road segment of the route is obtained from a geographic database associated with the navigation system. An importance rating for each of the identified features is determined. The guidance message references the identified feature having a highest determined importance rating. The importance rating considers a permanence or a seasonal dependency of the identified feature.
US08370059B2 Navigation apparatus and navigation program
A display is divided into two regions, a standard region and an enlarged region with a user positioned is at an angle relative to the display. The standard region is formed on a side nearer the user and the enlarged region is formed on a side farther from the user. When the navigation device displays guidance information, information displayed in the standard region is displayed on a standard scale, while information displayed in the enlarged region is displayed enlarged relative to the standard scale. Since the display on the side farther from the user position is thus enlarged, the user can more easily view that guidance information.
US08370055B2 Driver assistance system
A driver assistance system includes a distance measuring device which detects distance values of objects from the surroundings of a vehicle. Based on a coordinate system that is fixed to the vehicle, the surroundings of the vehicle are subdivided into zones. Individual quality measures are assigned to distance values from the particular zones or measured quantities derived from these distance values. The individual quality measure is a function in particular of the variation of the component of the relative velocity in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
US08370049B1 Control system of internal combustion engine
A control system of an internal combustion engine in which as fuel, a first fuel of ammonia and a second fuel easier to burn than ammonia are used. These two types of fuel are burned in the combustion chamber. A basic ammonia ratio is set in accordance with an engine load and engine speed. The set basic ammonia ratio is corrected based on at least one of a combustion state, knocking strength, temperature of an exhaust gas or temperature of a catalyst arranged in an engine exhaust passage, NOx concentration in the exhaust gas, actual compression ratio, air-fuel ratio, and fuel properties.
US08370048B2 Pollution control system
The pollution control system includes a controller coupled to a sensor monitoring an operational characteristic of a combustion engine, such as engine RPM. A PCV valve having an inlet and an outlet is adapted to vent blow-by gas out from the combustion engine. A fluid regulator associated with the PCV valve and responsive to the controller selectively modulates engine vacuum pressure to adjustably increase or decrease a fluid flow rate of blow-by gas venting from the combustion engine. The controller selectively adjustably positions the fluid regulator to vary the degree of vacuum pressure to optimize the recycling of blow-by gases.
US08370046B2 System and method for monitoring a gas turbine
A system for monitoring a gas turbine includes a memory containing information from comparable gas turbines and an input device that generates a unit data signal and a risk signal. A processor in communication with the memory and the input device incorporates the unit data signal into the database, projects information for the gas turbine, and calculates a conditional risk that the gas turbine will reach a limit. An output signal includes repair or maintenance schedules. A method for monitoring a gas turbine includes receiving information from comparable gas turbines, adding information from the gas turbine to the information from comparable gas turbines, and projecting information for the gas turbine. The method further includes calculating a conditional risk that the gas turbine will reach a limit and generating an output signal containing repair or maintenance schedules.
US08370043B2 Apparatus for determining an air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders of an internal combustion engine
An apparatus for determining an air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders including an upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, a catalytic converter, and a downstream air-fuel ratio sensor disposed at positions downstream of an exhaust gas aggregated portion, calculates a sub feedback amount to have an output value of the downstream air-fuel ratio sensor coincides with a value corresponding to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, and performs an air-fuel ratio feedback control to have an air-fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to an engine based on the sub feedback amount and the output value of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor.
US08370042B2 Vehicle speed control device and method
A vehicle speed control device calculates a desired axle torque for maintaining a speed of a vehicle to a set speed, and conducts cruise control. Specifically, the vehicle speed control device calculates a drive force including a feedforward component corresponding to the set speed and a travel resistance against the travel of the vehicle, and a feedback component corresponding to a deviation of the set speed from the actual speed of the vehicle as a desired axle torque. The vehicle speed control device interrupts the cruise control when a requested drive axle torque requested by an accelerator operation during the cruise control exceeds the desired axle torque, and restarts the cruise control when the requested drive axle torque becomes lower than the desired axle torque.
US08370041B2 Reduced energy vacuum pump control
A method is provided that includes determining a state of a vehicle ignition switch; determining a state of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle state including at least one of whether the vehicle is in a torque producing mode, whether the vehicle is moving, and whether the vehicle brake system is engaged; and, controlling the vacuum pump in response to the vehicle state and the ignition switch state.
US08370039B2 Electric parking brake having a control element for switching into a service mode
During service and repair work on an electric parking brake (1) of a motor vehicle, there is the problem that, in order to switch into a service mode in which the parking brake (15) can be completely opened, in order for example to be able to exchange a brake cable, a special diagnosis unit must generally be used. A diagnosis unit of this type is however not always available in workshops. It is therefore proposed to carry out the switch into the service mode of the electric parking brake (1) with at least one control element (2,2a) of the motor vehicle. Here, it is provided that, for safety reasons and in order to avoid an undesired switch into the service mode, the actuation of the at least one control element (2, 2a) must take place according to a predefined input procedure.
US08370038B2 Vehicle subsystem control method and apparatus
A method is provided for controlling at least one active subsystem in a vehicle chassis. The method includes, but is not limited to the steps of evaluating a driver's driving style based on data (ax(K), ay(K)) representative of acceleration of the vehicle and setting an operating state of the subsystem according to the driving style.
US08370034B2 Control device and control method for vehicle power transmission device
When an engine stop control is executed while an automatic ratio shift portion is in a neutral state, a switching clutch is operated, so that a differential portion carrier of a differential portion planetary gear device that is linked to an engine, and a differential portion ring gear linked the automatic ratio shift portion are integrally rotated. Therefore, along with the engine stop control, the rotation speed of the rotating elements of the differential portion planetary gear device is reduced while the rotating elements are integrally rotated or substantially integrally rotated. Since the rotating elements are rotated integrally or substantially integrally, the high rotation speed of the differential portion ring gear linked to the automatic ratio shift portion, which tends to have a heightened rotation speed particularly during the neutral state, is prevented.
US08370030B1 System for a shared vehicle involving feature adjustment, camera-mediated inspection, predictive maintenance, and optimal route determination
The present invention relates to a system for automatically adjusting a vehicle feature of a vehicle, where the system includes a first sensor, an onboard computer, a camera, a mirror, a controller; an actuator; and an algorithm. The algorithm instructs the onboard computer in steps for adjusting one or more vehicle features. The first sensor and the controller are in electronic communication with the onboard computer and the controller is in electronic communication with one or more actuators that connect to and adjust the various vehicle features. The onboard computer includes or accesses a database that correlates users, features, and vehicle feature settings. Such vehicle features include seat position and camera viewing angle.
US08370026B2 Activation device for occupant protection apparatus and method for activating the occupant protection apparatus
An activation device is configured to activate a protection apparatus for protecting an occupant. The activation device includes a front collision detection unit and a rear collision detection unit. The front collision detection unit outputs a front-collision-state activation signal to a front-collision protection apparatus so as to activate the front-collision protection apparatus when detecting front collision of the vehicle. The rear collision detection unit outputs a rear-collision-state activation signal to a rear-collision protection apparatus so as to activate the rear-collision protection apparatus when detecting rear collision of the vehicle. The rear collision detection unit prohibits output of the rear-collision-state activation signal to the rear-collision protection apparatus for a first period when the front collision detection unit detects front collision of the vehicle.
US08370025B2 Steering apparatus, steering method, and computer readable storage medium
A target value for yaw angle velocity gain is computed according to a map expressing a relationship between steering wheel angle and yaw angle velocity gain predetermined such that a direction as seen from a driver of a target destination point for vehicle travel at a predetermined time after a forward gaze and a direction as seen from the driver are caused to match each other, and a steering gear ratio is controlled accordingly. A target value for a steering wheel torque corresponding to the detected steering wheel angle and the acquired yaw angular velocity is set, based on a relationship between yaw angular velocity and resistance-feel level predetermined such that the resistance feel level for a driver monotonically increases with increasing yaw angular velocity. Control is then preformed so as to realize the steering wheel torque target value.
US08370023B2 Driver assistance system
A driver assistance system having a lane-keeping function, having a device for detecting the lanes on a roadway, and a control unit for intervening in the steering system of the vehicle for lane-keeping. Means are provided in the driver assistance system for detecting the position of the vehicle with respect to the lane marking of the lane. Furthermore, means are provided for detecting a travel of the vehicle through a curve. The control unit executes its control function as a function of the position of the vehicle on the lane and as a function of the cornering. The intervention depends on whether the vehicle is located on the inner side of the curve or on the outer side of the curve.
US08370020B2 Method and system for communicating vehicle diagnostic data to internet server via Bluetooth enabled cell phone for subsequent retrieval
A method and system for communicating vehicle diagnostic data to a vehicle service provider employs sensors for generating sensor signals indicative of the status or condition of vehicle components. A diagnostics module in the vehicle generates diagnostic data based on the sensor signals and transfers the diagnostic data to a communications module of a hands-free phone system in the vehicle. The communications module wirelessly communicates the diagnostic data to a Bluetooth enabled cell phone in the vehicle using Bluetooth communications. The cell phone communicates the diagnostic data to an Internet server via the Internet. The provider accesses the diagnostic data from the Internet server using a computer connected to the Internet to determine if any of the vehicle components are in need of repair or maintenance. The provider notifies a user of the vehicle of any vehicle component that is in need of repair or maintenance.
US08370013B2 System for generating an estimation of the ground speed of a vehicle from measures of the rotation speed of at least one wheel
A system for producing an estimation of the overall speed of a vehicle relative to the ground is described which comprises the generation of a measurement of the instantaneous road grip coefficient (μr) of at least one wheel (1) of a vehicle with electric traction wherein a rotary electric machine (2) is coupled to said wheel to drive it individually in traction and in braking. This system comprises an indicator of the torque applied at each instant to that wheel based on the measurement of the current (Ic) in the electric machine, an indicator of the instantaneous dynamic load on said wheel and a stage for calculating the instantaneous road grip coefficient of said wheel (1) relative to the ground based on the torque indicator and the dynamic load indicator in order to determine the ratio of the tangential force applied to the ground by the wheel under the action of said torque to the normal force applied to the ground by the wheel under the action of the dynamic load. One or more tests of the value of the duly calculated road grip coefficient are used to validate the ability of a measurement of the corresponding circumferential wheel speed to supply an adequate approximation of the speed of advance of the vehicle in the position of that wheel.
US08370011B2 Operation controller and method of controlling operations
An operation controller controls operations of a plurality of electrical loads mounted on a vehicle and includes a start-up request accepting unit and a start-up coordinating unit. The start-up request accepting unit accepts a start-up request from the electrical loads. The start-up coordinating unit: controls start-up of the electrical load, from which the start-up request is output, on the basis of a priority assigned to the electrical load; outputs a signal for restricting start-up to a first electrical load having a relatively high priority, when the start-up request accepting unit accepts the start-up request from a second electrical load having a relatively low priority; and allows the second electrical load to start up, when the first electrical load is stopped after a predetermined waiting time elapses since the signal has been output.
US08370010B2 Control apparatus for power transmission system of hybrid vehicle
A stop range changing unit changes an engine stop range, which is a cruise range in which an operation of an engine is stopped, based on a type of fuel that is burned in the engine and that is determined by a fuel type determination unit. Therefore, the engine is stopped or started up under a cruise condition that suits the fuel type. Accordingly, even if start-up performance of the engine varies due to variation of the fuel type, unfavorable effects of the variation in the start-up performance of the engine on a smooth motion of a hybrid vehicle is alleviated.
US08370009B2 System, method, and computer program product for monitoring oil condition
The present invention relates to a system, method, and computer program product for monitoring oil condition. In one embodiment, a marine powertrain is provided that includes a marine engine and a gear casing containing an oil and a gas. An engine speed sensor generates an output value, which indicates a speed of the marine engine. An oil sensor generates an output value, which indicates a condition of the oil. The condition of the oil is selectively monitored according to whether the marine engine is operating at a speed that is less than an engine speed threshold value, which denotes a speed of the marine engine at which the oil and the gas form an oil and aerated gas mixture.
US08370006B2 Method and apparatus for optimizing a train trip using signal information
One embodiment of the invention includes a system for operating a railway network comprising a first railway vehicle (400) during a trip along track segments (401/412/420). The system comprises a first element (65) for determining travel parameters of the first railway vehicle (400), a second element (65) for determining travel parameters of a second railway vehicle (418) relative to the track segments to be traversed by the first vehicle during the trip, a processor (62) for receiving information from the first (65) and the second (65) elements and for determining a relationship between occupation of a track segment (401/412/420) by the second vehicle (418) and later occupation of the same track segment by the first vehicle (400) and an algorithm embodied within the processor (62) having access to the information to create a trip plan that determines a speed trajectory for the first vehicle (400), wherein the speed trajectory is responsive to the relationship and further in accordance with one or more operational criteria for the first vehicle (400).
US08370001B2 Pool temperature controller
A device for controlling the temperature of a swimming pool is disclosed. The device measures the temperature of the water as well as other environmental conditions (such as air temperature). The device controls a circulation pump, which circulates water throughout the pool. The pool water exchanges heat with the surfaces of the water (including the side walls, ground and surface air) when a heat differential exists between the water and the surfaces. When the water is circulated throughout the pool it increases the volume of water that exchanges heat with the surfaces, thus cooling or heating the water depending on the temperature of the surfaces. A target temperature is entered into the device and using this target temperature the device automatically controls the pump in order to take advantage of the heat exchange between the water and the water's surfaces to alter the water temperature in the direction of the target temperature. Additionally a heating element may be used to supplement the heating operation of the circulation pump.
US08369998B2 Updating demand response settings
An appliance controller is provided comprising an appliance including demand response settings. The settings include threshold variables for determining a reaction of the appliance in response to reaching one or more threshold variables. The controller further comprises a signal from an associated utility to the appliance, wherein the appliance includes a controller in signal communication with the associated utility. The controller receives and processes the signal from the associated utility. The signal is converted and compared to the demand response threshold variables and the appliance is operated in one or more power consuming functions based on the comparison of the signal to the demand response variables.
US08369996B2 Method, apparatus, and computer program for irrigating a field space with a center pivot irrigation machine
To allow for optimal uniform application of irrigation fluid in a field space outfitted with a center pivot irrigation machine having a main pipeline and an auxiliary or corner pipeline, the auxiliary pipeline is operable to both lead and lag the main pipeline as the main pipeline makes a progressive rotation in a single direction through the field space. In one embodiment a control system for the irrigation machine comprises a buried cable control system. In another embodiment a control system comprises a global positioning satellite control system. In a third embodiment a control system comprises at least two position sensing devices, a first device for sensing an angle of the main pipeline with respect to a center tower and a second device for sensing an angle between the main pipeline and the auxiliary pipeline, and a speed controlling device for controlling a speed of rotation of the main and auxiliary pipelines.
US08369991B2 Humanoid fall direction change among multiple objects
A system and method is disclosed for controlling a robot having at least two legs, the robot falling down from an upright posture and the robot located near a plurality of surrounding objects. A plurality of predicted fall directions of the robot are determined, where each predicted fall direction is associated with a foot placement strategy, such as taking a step, for avoiding the surrounding objects. The degree to which each predicted fall direction avoids the surrounding objects is determined. A best strategy is selected from the various foot placement strategies based on the degree to which the associated fall direction avoids the surrounding objects. The robot is controlled to implement this best strategy.
US08369989B2 Robot with an automatic charging function
A robot with an automatic charging function, comprising: a body, an arm mechanism rotatably connected to the body, a head mechanism and a driver rotatably connected to the arm mechanism; wherein a receiving space is formed in the body for receiving the arm mechanism; the head mechanism comprises two conduction terminals for receiving power from power outlets of a charging station; when power of the robot is lower than a preset level, the driver is configured to drive the arm mechanism to rotate out of the receiving space of the body, simultaneously, the driver is configured to drive the head mechanism to rotate relatively to the arm mechanism till the two conduction terminals of the head mechanism are electronically connected to the power outlets of the charge station, thereby receiving power from the charge station.
US08369986B2 Paper sheet handling apparatus
A paper sheet handling apparatus 1 includes: a casing which includes a first face and a second face opposed to the first face; a receiving unit 211 which receives paper sheets; a recognition unit 212 which performs at least one of a counting process and a recognition process with respect to the paper sheets; at least two stacking units 31-34 which stack the paper sheets after processing in the recognition unit 212; a transport unit 4 for transporting the paper sheets among the receiving unit 211, the recognition unit 212 and the stacking units 31-34; and a controller which controls each of the units, thereby having each of the paper sheets selectively stacked in the stacking units 31-34. Each of the stacking units 31-34 has at least two paper sheet removal openings 3L, 3R which are open in the first face and the second face. The paper sheets in the stacking units 31-34 are allowed to be removed through the paper sheet removal openings 3L, 3R, from the first face side and the second face side of the casing.
US08369985B2 Mail sorter for simultaneous sorting using multiple algorithms
A mail sorter, method, and software product are used for sorting inbound mail pieces and outbound mail pieces. The mail sorter includes sorter modules cooperatively engaged with each other, so as to receive mail pieces that are a mixture of both inbound mail pieces and outbound mail pieces, and so as to sort both the inbound mail pieces and the outbound mail pieces. The mail sorter also includes an unsorted mail piece path that is utilized by both the inbound mail pieces and the outbound mail pieces. The outbound mail pieces are mail pieces destined for sorting at a remote postal facility prior to delivery to destination addresses, whereas the inbound mail pieces are mail pieces that are not destined for sorting at a remote postal facility prior to delivery to destination addresses.
US08369983B2 Fitting apparatus
A fitting apparatus includes a robot arm having, at the forward end thereof, a gripper for holding a workpiece, a force detector for detecting a force and moment received by the workpiece held by the gripper, and a controller for controlling an operation of the robot arm. The controller includes a motion command generating unit for generating an operation command to fit two workpieces to each other, and an operation command correcting unit for correcting the operation command so as to correct the position of the gripper in a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction and the orientation of the gripper around an axis perpendicular to the fitting direction until the detected force and moment become less than or equal to a threshold value, based on either maximum values of the force and moment detected by the force detector while the two workpieces are in contact with each other or the force and moment detected by the force detector when the two workpieces first come into contact with each other.
US08369981B2 Methods and apparatus for managing location information for movable objects
Systems and techniques for locating stored goods. A plurality of fixed contactless identification devices are deployed in an area. Each fixed device exhibits a fixed device identifier that can be read from a distance. Locations within the area are identified through mapping to combinations of fixed device identifiers detected at the location. In addition, a plurality of movable contactless identification devices are associated with goods to be stored and retrieved. Each movable device exhibits a movable device identifier, and movable contactless identification devices are located by identifying a combination of fixed device identifiers received when a movable device identifier is received. The location information may be used independently, or as a supplement to expected location information obtained through other means.
US08369980B2 Method of operating a machine tool, a machine tool system and components thereof
A method of operating a machine tool, e.g., an electrical discharge machine, and a machine tool system with a machine, e.g. an electrical discharge machine, for machining a workpiece may include numerous configurable modules (DRIVE; GEN; CONTROL) to perform at least one of controlling, monitoring and carrying out of the machining of a workpiece. The modules (DRIVE; GEN; CONTROL) are arranged on the machine and are linked by a data network to a node for at least one of sending data to the node and receiving data from the node.
US08369977B2 Coating and developing apparatus
A coating and developing apparatus includes: a delivery mounting unit on which a carrier housing a plurality of substrates is to be mounted and the carrier being accessed by a delivery mechanism; a plurality of retreat mounting units on which the carriers are to be mounted; a carrier carry mechanism moving and mounting the carriers between the retreat mounting units and the delivery mounting unit; a collection schedule creating function determining a collection order for collecting the substrates placed in modules into original carriers in which the substrates were housed, when a trouble occurs; and a carry control unit controlling to carry the substrates to the carriers in which the substrates were housed according to the determined collection order.
US08369967B2 Alarm system controller and a method for controlling an alarm system
An alarm system controller is provided, having a packet data network interface; a security alarm system interface configured to communicate with security alarm sensors; and a controller configured to receive at least one input from the security alarm system interface, to process the at least one input to determine an alarm condition, and to communicate the alarm condition and a markup language interface through the packet data network interface. The packet data network interface may communicate with the Internet. An environmental control system interface may also be provided to communicate with an environmental control system and to communicate the markup language interface through the packet data network interface, wherein the packet data network interface is configured to control the environmental control system. The markup language interface may be, for example HTML or XML.
US08369965B2 Expandable systems for medical electrical stimulation
A medical system for electrical stimulation includes a first column of electrodes, a second column of electrodes, an expandable member disposed between first and second columns, and an expansion mechanism adapted to transmit an externally applied pressure to the expandable member. The pressure expands the expandable member in order to force the first column of electrodes apart from the second column of electrodes. The first and second columns, disposed side-by-side, may be inserted through a percutaneous needle and into a epidural space, alongside a spinal cord; after insertion, the first column may be forced apart from the second column by applying the pressure to the expandable member.
US08369962B2 Medical telemetry system and operating method therefor
A method in a telemetry system for establishing a connection between a base station and an implantable medical device includes the steps of: starting, in the base station, a first timer B-T2; determining, in the base station 4, channels that are free for communication among a number of available channels, and selecting one of the free channels; starting, in the base station, a second timer; transmitting, as long as the first or second timer has not expired, a recognition message on the selected channel to the implantable medical device; and establishing, upon receipt of a recognition reply message from the implantable medical device, communication between the base station and the implantable medical device on the selected channel. The invention is readily adaptable for fulfillment of different requirements, such as stipulated by the ETSI standard.
US08369961B2 Multi-antenna for an implantable medical device
A system for enabling telemetry in implantable medical devices is provided. An implantable medical device has radio-frequency telemetry capabilities. The device includes a housing and electronic circuitry contained within the housing. The device also includes an array of antennas connected to the electronic circuitry. According to various embodiments, the array and circuitry are adapted to facilitate far-field transmission and reception of modulated radio-frequency energy at one or more specified carrier frequencies. Individual antenna elements in the array are connected simultaneously or in a mutually exclusive manner to electronic circuitry, according to various embodiments. Individual antenna element geometries are sized to optimize individual antennas each for a different range of operating frequencies, according to various embodiments. Other aspects and embodiments are provided herein.
US08369953B2 Urinary incontinence device and method
A method for treating urinary incontinence is provided. The method includes providing a device having an expandable portion having an outer surface, a first electrode, and a second electrode, the first and second electrodes coupled to the outer surface of the expandable portion and configured to cause a contraction of a muscle in communication with the electrodes. The method further includes causing the expandable portion to inflate such that the first and second electrodes contact vaginal walls and causing a contraction of a muscle in communication with the electrode.
US08369951B2 Feed-through connector assembly for implantable pulse generator and method of use
A connector assembly for a medical device for connecting an IPG to a connector assembly for connecting the IPG to a relatively large plurality of electrodes that can support 24 or more stimulation channels for stimulating one or more stimulation regions of a patient. Also the IPG and the stimulation system and the stimulation therapy utilizing the connector assembly.
US08369947B2 Nerve stimulation device
To provide a nerve stimulation device capable of stimulating a vagus nerve stably while reducing the risk of interrupting a treatment by nerve stimulation due to disconnection or the like. Adopted is a nerve stimulation device including a first electrode and a second electrode disposed in different positions on the vagus nerve, a pulse generating part connected to each of these electrodes, for outputting an electric pulse for stimulating the vagus nerve, and a setting part for switching the electrode to which the electric pulse from the pulse generating part is transmitted.
US08369941B2 High definition impedance imaging
A method for producing a computationally efficient system that reduces the number of iterations required to generate a conductivity image pattern of a subsurface object, and its attendant conductivity distribution, through a solution to the system of field equations that simultaneously satisfies all of the boundary conditions and conserves internal current flux densities.
US08369932B2 Optical methods of identifying the location of a medical device within a patient's body in order to locate the fossa ovalis for trans-septal procedures
A system and method for identifying the location of a medical device within a patient's body may be used to locate or identify the fossa ovalis for trans-septal procedures. The systems and methods measure light reflected by tissues encountered by an optical array. An optical array detects characteristic wavelengths of tissues that are different distances from the optical array. The reflectance of different wavelengths of light at different distances from an optical array may be used to identify the types of tissue encountered, including oxygenated blood in the left atrium as detected from the right atrium through the fossa ovalis.
US08369931B2 Method of determining the position of a deep brain stimulation electrode
The present invention relates to a method of determining the position of a deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode which finds the position of the DBS electrode with respect to a deep brain target region, by using a first volume data set containing information on the deep brain target region and a second volume data set containing information on the DBS electrode implanted toward the deep brain target region, and which includes: a first step of generating a subvolume of the deep brain target region from the first volume data set, and also generating a subvolume of the DBS electrode from the second volume data set; and a second step of overlapping and displaying the subvolume of the deep brain target region and the subvolume of the DBS electrode.
US08369930B2 MRI-guided devices and MRI-guided interventional systems that can track and generate dynamic visualizations of the devices in near real time
An MRI-compatible catheter includes an elongated flexible shaft having opposite distal and proximal end portions. A handle is attached to the proximal end portion and includes an actuator in communication with the shaft distal end portion that is configured to articulate the shaft distal end portion. The distal end portion of the shaft may include an ablation tip and includes at least one RF tracking coil positioned adjacent the ablation tip that is electrically connected to an MRI scanner. The at least one RF tracking coil is electrically connected to a circuit that reduces coupling when the at least one RF tracking coil is exposed to an MRI environment. Each RF tracking coil is a 1-10 turn solenoid coil, and has a length along the longitudinal direction of the catheter of between about 0.25 mm and about 4 mm.
US08369927B2 Method for creating a model of a structure
A method for creating a model of a part of the anatomy from the scan data of several subjects is described. The method comprises the steps of collecting scan data; applying a feature detector to the scan data; converted the output of the feature detector into a common reference system; and accumulating the converted data to generate the model. It is therefore possible for the method to generate a model from the scan data of several subjects automatically. The method may also include an optional step of receiving user input to select which of the accumulated data should be included in the final model. This user input requires much less effort than manual contouring and is substantially independent of the number of subjects used to create the model.
US08369923B2 Dual-deflecting electrophysiology catheter
An electrophysiology catheter includes a tubular body having a proximal region, a neck region, and a distal region predisposed into a loop and including electrodes. A first deflection wire extends through at least a portion of the proximal region of the catheter body and includes a first flattened section, while a second deflection wire extends through the neck region and at least a portion of the distal region and includes a second flattened section within the neck region. A first activation wire is joined to the flattened section of the first deflection wire, while a second activation wire is joined to the flattened section of the second deflection wire. Thus, forces acting on the first and second activation wires, such as forces imposed by a handle-based actuator, are respectively transmitted to the first and second deflection wires, thereby deflecting the proximal and neck regions, respectively.
US08369921B2 Accelerometer-based contact sensing assembly and system
A catheter system including an accelerometer-based sensing assembly is provided. In particular the present teachings relate to an accelerometer based assembly used to determine contact between a catheter and surrounding proximate tissue, such as cardiac tissue. An embodiment of such a system may, for example, be used for visualization, mapping, ablation, or other methods of diagnosis and treatment of tissue and/or surrounding areas.
US08369920B2 Mucosal sensor adaptor
Devices for treating a patient by measuring a condition, such as the partial pressure of CO2, at a location on a mucosal membrane surface in the mouth region of the patient, includes a sensor (14, 16) with an end (44, 46) that lies against the mucosal surface, and a seal (20) that extends 360° around the sensor end and presses against the mucosal surface. The sensor end and the seal lie on the first end portion (24) of a holder (22) which has a second end portion (26) that presses against the outside of the patient at a location opposite the sensor and seal. The holder is a clasp which can be formed as a single piece of resilient material that extends in a loop, or which can be formed in the manner of a clothespin with a spring that pivots two bars to urge their end portions towards each other.
US08369919B2 Systems and methods for processing sensor data
Systems and methods for processing sensor data are provided. In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided for calibration of a continuous analyte sensor. In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided for classification of a level of noise on a sensor signal. In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided for determining a rate of change for analyte concentration based on a continuous sensor signal. In some embodiments, systems and methods for alerting or alarming a patient based on prediction of glucose concentration are provided.
US08369915B2 Integrated miniaturized fiber optic probe
A fiber optic probe having one or more photodetectors bound thereto is provided. By directly integrating thin, flexible photodetectors with an optical fiber, the probes provide a compact structure that increases throughput and decreases cost, making it practical for a clinical use. In some embodiments, the fiber optic probes are small enough for insertion into the shaft of a needle, such as a biopsy needle.
US08369911B2 Single-coil superconducting miniundulator
A miniundulator that includes a first bobbin and a second bobbin parallel to and spaced from the first bobbin, and a superconductive wire wound around the outer surfaces of the first bobbin and the second bobbin, and method for the assembly of the miniundulator are disclosed.
US08369908B2 Portable electronic device with movable keypad
A portable electronic device includes a main body, a fixed keypad, a driving module and a movable keypad. The main body defines a cavity inside and an opening in a sidewall thereof. The fixed keypad is mounted on the main body. The movable keypad stays in the cavity until being driven to move away from the main body through the opening when a button is pressed.
US08369901B2 Hands-free telephony and in-vehicle communication
The present invention relates to a signal processing system, comprising a number of microphones and loudspeakers, a hands-free set configured to receive a telephone signal from a remote party and to transmit a microphone signal supplied by at least one of the microphones to the remote party; an in-vehicle communication system configured to receive a microphone signal supplied by at least one of the microphones; receive the telephone signal; amplify the microphone signal to obtain at least one first output signal; output the at least one first output signal and/or a second output signal corresponding to the telephone signal to at least one of the loudspeakers; and wherein the signal processing systems is configured to detect speech activity in the telephone signal and to control the in-vehicle communication system to reduce amplification of the microphone signal by a damping factor, if it is detected that speech activity is present in the telephone signal.
US08369900B2 Mobile terminal and display method of operational section
A mobile terminal and an operation section display method are provided, in which predetermined display data can be displayed in both of key frame inside regions and key frame outside regions in an operation section of the mobile terminal. This is achieved by the mobile terminal including the operation section, a display device, an application control section and a display control section. The operation section has a plurality of keys. The display device displays operation section display data for the operation section. The application control section controls an application instructed by the user who operates the plurality of keys to start. The operation section display data is supplied to the display device when the application is started and the operation section display data is displayed on a region included in the operation section and in both of key frame inside regions and key frame outside regions of each of the plurality of keys.
US08369897B2 Method and system of using smart antennas for backhauling
A method and system for utilizing smart antenna in transmission of messages between nodes are disclosed. A wireless communication system includes a plurality of nodes, and each node is capable of being connected to each other node. At least a portion of the nodes are provided with a smart antenna configured to generate a plurality of directional beams. Each node maintains a list of other nodes and beam configuration information to be used in transmission of messages to other nodes. When a source node is required to transmit to a target node, the source node retrieves the beam configuration information and transmits with a directional beam directed to the target node.
US08369889B2 Method and system for sharing a single antenna for frequency modulation (FM) transmission, FM reception and near field communication (NFC)
Aspects of a method and system for sharing a single antenna for frequency modulation (FM) transmission, FM reception and near field communication (NFC) are presented. Aspects of a system may include at least one circuit that enables, via a single antenna, simultaneous transmission of an FM signal and reception of an FM signal, and transmission of an NFC signal or reception of an NFC signal.
US08369883B2 Transmission power control technique and wireless communications system using the same
A transmission power control method that reduces the possibility of going out of synchronization is presented. In a reduced power mode, a target SIR is set equal to or higher than SIR_reduced where deemed appropriate, whereby frequent issues of Out-of-sync and the probability of generation of RL_Failure are suppressed. To raise a reception SIR to a value equal to or higher than SIR_reduced, the target SIR may be periodically set at SIR_temp that is a value equal to or higher than SIR_reduced. Alternatively, when brought in the reduced power mode, a mobile station itself may periodically set its transmission power such that a value equal to or higher than SIR_reduced can be achieved.
US08369882B1 Systems and methods for setting-up group calls based on a group call request
Systems and methods for establishing a push-to-talk (PTT) call are provided. When a group call request that identifies a first and second destination mobile station is received from an originating mobile station, a location of the first destination mobile station is determined. The call is established between the originating mobile station and the first destination mobile station prior to a determination of a location of the second destination mobile station. When the group call involves mobile stations of two different networks, a gateway of the second network sends an acknowledgement message accepting the call to a gateway of the first network and the gateway of the second network receives an acknowledgement message accepting the call from the first destination mobile station. The acknowledgement message is received from the first destination mobile station subsequent to the sending of the acknowledgement message from the second gateway to the first gateway.
US08369878B2 Personalized multimedia messaging system
A method for providing a personalized multimedia messaging service, wherein the method includes obtaining an MMS message. Recipient according to preferences of the at least one targeted recipient, thereby producing a personalized MMS message, and transmitting the personalized MMS message to the at least one targeted recipient indicate that the at least one targeted recipient is not interested in receiving the personalized MMS message.
US08369874B2 Method and system for providing a mobile terminal search service
A method and system for providing a mobile terminal search service includes the steps of (a) requesting, by a first mobile terminal, to search for a second mobile terminal, the first mobile terminal having avatar information stored thereon, and (b) searching for the second mobile terminal within a geographical range corresponding to the avatar information of the first mobile terminal.
US08369871B1 System and method for mobile device self-location
A system is provided for mobile client-side location determination. The system includes a mobile device, which includes base transceiver station location data, a memory, a processor, and a location engine stored in the memory. When executed by the processor, the location engine receives information that identifies multiple base transceiver stations in response to the mobile device registering with a communication network. The location engine also reads a location for each of the base transceiver stations from the base transceiver station location data and calculates a location of the mobile device based on the location of each of the base transceiver stations. Additionally, the location engine provides the location of the mobile device in a defined portion of a communication transmitted by the mobile device.
US08369868B2 Location service based secure user plane location
An IP connection is released when a SUPL-based periodic triggered service starts, so as to prevent consumption of network resources. After releasing the IP connection, if a location is measured thereby to generate location information, only the fact that the location has been measured is notified to a requester, and the requester is allowed to receive the location information only when a secure transmission is ensured after the notification, thereby avoiding the location information from being exposed externally.
US08369867B2 Location sharing
Geographic location data is sent from a first device to a second device with a modified message to signal the presence of geographic location data associated with the message. The message can include (or attach) the geographic location data or file, or the message can include a link to a network-based resource which the second device can use to obtain the geographic location data. In some implementations, when a user of the first device views a location on a map display of the first device, a graphical user interface is presented to allow the user to select an option to share the geographic location with the second device. The second device receives geographic location data or a link from the first device which can trigger a map display on the second device showing the location of the first device and, optionally, the location of the second device.
US08369865B2 Data transmission method and data re-transmission method
A method which can reduce loss in data transmission is provided. A data block is prepared in a high-level layer and the data block is transmitted in a low-level layer. Status report information associated with reception or non-reception of the data block is received through the low-level layer. When a receiver fails to receive data transmitted from a transmitter, the transmitter can rapidly recognize the reception failure and can retransmit the data.
US08369861B2 Base station and mobile station communicating with OFDM system using a plurality of subcarriers and communication method with OFDM system using a plurality of subcarriers
A multicarrier communication apparatus that is capable of suppressing interference of feedback information with other channels and alleviating a reduction in an uplink capacity. In PL signal reception section of this apparatus, PL signal extraction section extracts pilot signals and reception quality measuring section measures reception quality such as an SIR. Here, since pilot signals are included in respective subcarriers, reception quality measuring section measures reception quality of subcarriers. FBSC determining section determines a feedback information subcarrier based on the reception quality of subcarriers. More specifically, FBSC determining section determines a subcarrier having the highest reception quality as a feedback information subcarrier. FBSC determining section outputs information about the feedback information subcarrier (FBSC information) to control CH transmission section and FB information reception section.
US08369860B2 Sending and reducing uplink feedback signaling for transmission of MBMS data
The present invention is related to a method and system for sending and reducing uplink feedback signaling by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) related to transmission of multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) data over a high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) channel. A Node B may pre-allocate a time/frequency region or a common channelization code for the feedback. A triggering criterion for reporting a channel quality indicator (CQI) is set and WTRUs send a CQI to a Node B only if the triggering criterion is satisfied. The triggering criterion may be a current operating CQI value at the Node B, or based on erroneous transport block reception statistics, or a predetermined time period. A feedback reduction method related to ACK/NACK includes the WTRU sending an indication of an average number of transmissions needed to successfully decode the data instead of sending an ACK/NACK for every transmission interval.
US08369857B2 Speed-dependent adaptation of mobility parameters with dual speed measurement
Mobility parameters, such as those used in handoff decisions, are based on the speed of User Equipment (UE) (10), measured at two points. UE speed estimates are taken at both the UE (10) and base station (12), and the two speeds compared. If the speeds match (or differ by less than a predetermined amount), one or more mobility parameters are adapted based on the UE speed. These parameters may include time to trigger (TTT), time to satisfy (TTS), measurement time, forgetting factor, β, measurement period (Tm), handover prohibit timer, MeasurementReportingmargin, HOmargin, hysteresis, and the like. The UE speed comparison may be performed at the UE (10) or at the base station (12). In one embodiment, a plurality of UE speed ranges are defined (e.g., low, medium, high), with corresponding mobility parameter values associated with each range.
US08369851B2 Mobility management entity information deleting method and device
A mobility management entity (MME) information deleting method includes: receiving a message sent by a first MME; and if needed, determining whether it is necessary to delete information about the first MME according to version information about the first MME. The method further includes: receiving a message sent by a target MME, in which the message carries version information about a source MME acquired by the target MME or an indication of deleting information about the source MME added by the target MME; and deleting the information about the source MME according to the message. A network device for deleting MME information is also provided. According to the present invention, a network device, such as a home subscriber server (HSS), is capable of acquiring version information about a source MME or receiving an indication of deleting information about the source MME, so as to determine whether it is necessary to delete the information about the MME.
US08369850B2 System and method for IMEI detection and alerting
A system and method for detecting and storing information regarding a mobile communications device within a mobile communications network. Initially, a first data record is received at a subscriber/device database comprising subscriber/device data. Next, a second data record is received at the subscriber/device database comprising additional subscriber/device data. A first data record of a subscriber may then be compared to a second data record of the same subscriber, and if the first data record is different from the second data record a service provider may be notified.
US08369849B2 Wireless communication terminal, communication control method of wireless communication terminal, and wireless communication system
It is possible to provide a radio communication terminal, a radio communication terminal communication control method, and a radio communication system which can effectively capture a communication system and try connection by a communication method desired by a user even if judgment of a blind spot is made when a transmission operation is performed. The radio communication terminal includes at least: a communication system selection unit (185); and a capture instruction function execution unit (186). The communication system selection unit (185) reports a capture failure to a capture instruction function execution unit (186) only when all the communication systems in which the radio communication terminal can perform a system scan cannot be captured. Moreover, the capture instruction function execution unit (186) does not issue a system scan again unless the capture failure is reported as a result of all the system scan from the communication system selection unit (185).
US08369848B1 System and method for providing content to portable devices
The present disclosure introduces a system and method for distributing content. Content is stored on a server located on a vehicle prior to departure by the vehicle for a destination. A portable device is provided by a passenger on the vehicle. A communication link is established between the server and the portable device, and the content is transmitted to the portable device.
US08369847B1 Mobile devices having a common communication mode
A second communication mode can be enabled for a source device and a destination device. Each device can be a mobile device having a first communication mode and a default number for the first communication mode. The default numbers for the source device and the destination device can be stored. A call request can be received from the source device operating in the second communication mode. The call request can be directed to the default number of the destination device. The destination device can be determined as a client based on the default number of the destination device. A communication session can be established between the source device and the destination device over a network upon determining the destination device is an active client.
US08369837B2 Task management based on travel distance
Methods, program products, and systems for task management based on travel distance are disclosed. In general, in one aspect, a method executed on a mobile device can include receiving a request to perform a task in a first subsystem (e.g., an application subsystem) of the mobile device. The request can indicate that the task is to be performed when the mobile device travels at least a threshold distance. The mobile device can determine a duration of silence. The mobile device can configure a second subsystem (e.g., a baseband operating system) of the mobile device to send a notification to the first subsystem notifying that the mobile device has traveled after at least the duration of silence. The first subsystem can receive the notification and determine that the threshold distance has been satisfied based on the received notification. The first subsystem can perform the task upon the determining.
US08369834B2 User device identification using a pseudo device identifier
A system configured to receive a first request to generate a pseudo identifier associated with a user device; retrieve an identifier associated with the user device; and generate, using a mathematical function, the pseudo identifier based on the identifier associated with the user device, where the pseudo identifier may be generated in a format corresponding to a telephone number. The system is further configured to send a second request to register the user device, where the second request may include the pseudo identifier; receive a confirmation code that permits the user device to access information, associated with the server device, without using the identifier associated with the user device or a telephone number associated with the user device; send a third request for information associated with the server device, where the third request may include the confirmation code; and receive the information associated with the server device.
US08369833B2 Systems and methods for providing authentication and authorization utilizing a personal wireless communication device
An authorization and authentication system utilizing a mobile communication device. The authentication and authorization system enables a trusted server, in conjunction with a user controlled mobile communication device (which has been registered with the trusted site), to authorize a transaction carried out at a transaction management system. An identity of the user is authenticated by a verification that the user is in possession of the mobile communication device. In this way, the transaction management system is able to effectuate an authorized transaction with confidence that the authorization was from the user and not a third party. In variations, the authentication is a multi-factor authentication, i.e., the user must both possess the mobile communication device and information, e.g., a password.
US08369830B2 Method and system for detecting attacks in wireless data communications networks
A method of detecting attacks in a wireless data communications network, includes: monitoring wireless traffic over the wireless data communications network; deriving a first network state from the monitored wireless traffic; acquiring trusted information indicative of a wireless network state from at least one apparatus of a network infrastructure; establishing a second network state based on the acquired trusted information; comparing the derived first network state with the second network state, and determining a wireless network attack in case of incoherence between the derived first network state compared to the second network state.
US08369827B2 Method of determining a unique subscriber from an arbitrary set of subscriber attributes
Various exemplary embodiments relate to a subscriber profile repository (SPR) for determining a subscriber associated with a set of subscription identifiers. The subscriber profile repository may include: an interface which receives a subscriber profile request including at least one subscription identifier; a subscriber record database that includes a set of subscription identifiers; a subscriber record cache that contains a subset of the records contained in the subscriber record database; and a search manager that queries the subscriber record cache using each subscription identifier and queries the subscriber record database when the subscriber record cache does not contain a record matching a subscription identifier. The SPR may also include a results manager that compares subscriber records and updates the cache when a result is found in the subscriber records database. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by the SPR and a machine-readable medium including instructions for an SPR.
US08369826B2 Methods and apparatus to identify wireless subscriber activity status
Example methods and apparatus to identify wireless subscriber activity status are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes identifying a market of interest associated with wireless services, and creating a list of telephone numbers (TNs) from the identified market of interest. The example method also includes initializing each TN in the list of TNs as dormant, monitoring each TN in the list of TNs during a monitoring duration for an indication of activity, and when the indication of activity is received, associating one of the TNs in the list of TNs with an active status.
US08369820B2 Frequency multiplier device
A frequency multiplier device comprises a first signal combiner having a first port for receiving a first input signal having a first frequency f1 and a second port for receiving a second input signal having a second frequency f2, the first signal combiner configured to provide an output signal having either a sum of the first frequency and second frequency or a difference of the first frequency and second frequency; and a frequency divider having a dividing ratio N, the frequency divider configured to output a divided signal, wherein the output signal from the first signal combiner is coupled to the frequency divider, the divided signal from the frequency divider is coupled to the second port of the first signal combiner, and the output signal from the first signal combiner has a frequency of (N/(N±1))×f1.
US08369815B2 Method for spectrum noise detection
A method for spectrum noise detection is provided. Means and a total mean of spectrum blocks of a frequency-domain signal are calculated. Whether the means are greater than a cut-off threshold is checked. If all the means are greater than the cut-off threshold, whether the means range between a variance lower bound and a variance upper bound is checked, an estimation bandwidth corresponding to the spectrum blocks is obtained according to a bandwidth check threshold, and whether a central frequency of the estimation bandwidth approximates a central frequency of the spectrum of the frequency-domain signal is checked. If the number of the means ranging between the variance lower bound and the variance upper bound exceeds a default value, and the estimation bandwidth is greater than a predetermined bandwidth and the central frequency of the estimation bandwidth approximates the central frequency, the frequency-domain signal is determined as a noise signal.
US08369810B2 Interference variance estimation for signal detection
The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program product, wherein a level of a first signal received via first channel is determined. Additionally, a moving average of a plurality of determined levels of the first signal is obtained, and the moving average is subtracted from the determined level. The subtraction result is then used for estimating a noise variance of a second signal received via a second channel.
US08369804B2 Wireless communication unit, semiconductor device and power control method therefor
A wireless communication unit comprises a transmitter comprising a power amplifier, an inner feedback power control loop having a power control logic module comprising loop priming logic module operably coupled to the power amplifier, and a switchable outer digital loop comprising switchable logic module. The loop priming logic module is arranged to set a power reference value for controlling the power amplifier prior to a ramping operation of the power amplifier and the switchable logic module switching the switchable outer digital loop on or off, thereby restricting adverse transient behavior of the power amplifier.
US08369803B2 Power correction module for power amplifiers
A power correction module for use with an amplifier driving a load impedance is configured to sample the supply current and to cause a change in a control voltage, which corrects the supply voltage in response to a change in the load impedance. The supply voltage is corrected to cause the power amplifier to have a substantially constant output power. The power correction module is further configured to output a corrected peak voltage determined by an average value of the supply current.
US08369802B2 Polar modulation transmission apparatus and polar modulation transmission method
The polar modulation apparatus of the present invention can control the output power of a transmission signal over a wide range and compensate characteristic degradation reliably upon temperature change. Polar modulation transmission apparatus 100 is provided with: temperature sensor 120; temperature compensation section 160-1 that corrects an amplitude signal and performs temperature compensation for transmission power amplification section 190; temperature compensation section 160-2 that corrects a power amplification signal and performs temperature compensation for power adjustment section 180; and correction value setting section 130 that sets correction values for temperature compensation section 160-1 and temperature compensation section 160-2, and, while only the amplitude signal is corrected according to a measurement result in temperature sensor 120 in the first mode, the amplitude signal and the power adjustment signal are corrected according to a measurement result in the second mode.
US08369800B2 Methods and apparatus related to power control and/or interference management in a mixed wireless communications system
Methods and apparatus related to the sharing of wide area network (WAN) uplink bandwidth with peer to peer communication signaling usage are described. A base station transmits a signal to be used by a peer to peer wireless terminal in controlling its peer to peer transmit power level. The peer to peer wireless terminal receives and measures the strength of the base station signal. The measurement information is used in determining whether or not peer to peer signal transmission is permitted and/or in determining a peer to peer transmission power level. Current service level information and/or encoded information, e.g., an interference level indicator value, conveyed by the received base station signal are, in various embodiments, also utilized in determining a peer to peer transmission power level.
US08369797B2 Communication apparatus and communication method, and computer program therefor
A communication apparatus includes a transmitter for transmitting wireless signals, and a receiver for receiving wireless signals. A first communication functional unit uses the transmitter and the receiver to operate as a station in a first network operating on a first communication channel, while a second communication functional unit uses the transmitter and the receiver to operate as a station in a second network operating on a second communication channel different from that of the first network. A controller conducts time division data transfer by utilizing the respective time periods of receiver inactivity on the first and second channels in order to switch operation to the other channel and attempt to receive a signal on the corresponding other network. In so doing, the communication apparatus is able to fulfill dual roles on the networks operating on different channels with the use of a single modem.
US08369796B2 Multi-band tunable frequency reconfigurable antennas using higher order resonances
A wireless device using natural higher order harmonics on multi-band reconfigurable antenna designs where the antenna higher order resonance is used to build a multi-band to multi-band frequency reconfigurable antenna.
US08369794B1 Adaptive carrier sensing and power control
Carrier sensing and power control, or trade-off among two or more communication parameters, can provide relative improvement in throughput. A sensing threshold or transmission power are varied, thus altering a sensing range and a transmission quality, thus maximizing a feasible transmission rate. Transmission power and rate are collectively altered to find a best throughput rate. A transmission rate can incremented after successful transmission and decremented after failed transmission, the described increment possibly being less than the described decrement. Thus, pairs of transmissions where one fails and one succeeds decrease the net transmission rate. Smaller increments, with larger decrements, cause increases to increase throughput without degrading quality, while causing decreases to restore transmission quality if an increase does degrade transmission quality.
US08369789B2 Wireless communication system, interference cancelling station, and interference cancelling method
An interference cancelling station ICS includes a transmission weight factor calculating unit calculating a transmission weight factor w2 and an interference cancelling data signal transmitting unit generating an interference cancelling data signal by multiplying, by the transmission weight factor w2, a data signal transmitted by a base station BSb of the wireless communication system B and transmitting the interference cancelling data signal in synchronization with timing with which the base station BSb of a wireless communication system B transmits the data signal, and a mobile station MSa of a wireless communication system A receives a data signal transmitted by a base station BSa of the wireless communication system A, the data signal having cancelled interference from the base station BSb of the wireless communication system B.
US08369786B2 Radio frequency communication device and method for operating the same
A radio frequency (RF) communication device (1, 1′, 10) has data transmission means and data receiving means. The data transmission means comprise load modulating means (3) being adapted to receive a radio frequency carrier signal (CS1, CS2) emitted by another RF communication device (1, 1′, 10) and to modulate the RF carrier signal (CS1, CS2) by means of load modulation in accordance with data to be sent. The data receiving means comprise a RF frequency carrier signal generator (4) being adapted to emit a radio frequency carrier signal (CS1, CS2) and load demodulating means (5) being connected to an emission path (4a) of the radio frequency carrier signal and demodulating the radio frequency carrier signal (CS1, CS2) when it has been load modulated by another RF communication device (1, 1′, 10).
US08369782B1 Bluetooth wideband scan mode
Different scan modes are provided for Bluetooth devices. In at least some embodiments, a narrowband scanning mode looks for signal energy on individual transmission frequencies at a time. By looking for signal energy rather than decoding transmitted packets, at least some of the components in a Bluetooth device can remain in an idle or rest state. A midband scanning mode looks for signal energy across multiple different frequencies at a time. Again, by looking for signal energy across multiple different frequencies rather than decoding transmitted packets, at least some of the components in a Bluetooth device can remain in an idle or rest state. A wideband scanning mode looks for signal energies across all relevant frequencies at a time. At least some embodiments enable a Bluetooth device to switch between scanning modes.
US08369778B2 Portable object inductively coupled to a fixed station and comprising gain control means
The portable object is equipped with an antenna inductively coupled to a fixed station of a remote transmission device. The portable object comprises a variable load impedance and a rectifier connected in parallel to the terminals of the antenna, a regulation loop of the voltage at the terminals of the load impedance, connected between the output of the rectifier and a control terminal of the load impedance. The regulation loop comprises, in series, means for determining a difference between a setpoint voltage and the output voltage of the rectifier, a one-bit analog-to-digital converter, and command means of integrator type. The command means comprise a gain control input connected to an output of the gain control means receiving on input signals representative of the difference. Demodulation means are connected to the output of the converter.
US08369773B2 Repeater and self-excitation detecting method and system
The present invention relates to the communication field and provides method and system for detecting repeater self-excitation and the repeater using the method and system. The method includes detecting an output power of an up link; judging whether the detected output power of the up link exceeds a threshold of self-excitation and, if so, adding a numerically-controlled attenuation to the up link accordingly; and judging whether the change in the output power of the up link is equal to that in the numerically-controlled attenuation and, judging whether the repeater is subject to a self-excitation according to the result of judgment regarding the change in the output power of the up link. The repeater self-excitation detecting method has the following advantages: 1. The self-excitation can be detected in time, thus avoiding had effect on the communication system; 2. The devices of repeater can be protected from being burned down; and 3. The cost incurred by the patrol inspection personnel can be reduced.
US08369762B2 Heating device including a heating member, a pressure member, a tensioning member, and an inside heating unit, and an image forming apparatus
A heating device includes: a heating member heating a recording medium; a pressure member forming a heating pressure portion with the heating member, through which the recording medium passes; a tensioning member facing the pressure member across the heating member, and providing a tension to the heating member; a peeling member placed downstream of the heating pressure portion and adjacent to the tensioning member, and peeling off the recording medium from the heating member; and an inside heating unit heating the heating member and controlling meandering of the heating member, the inside heating unit including: a secured center shaft; an outer circumferential portion rotating about the center shaft; a heater placed inside the outer circumferential portion to heat thereof from inside; and a heat reflecting member secured to the center shaft and placed at each end portion of the outer circumferential portion, and that reflects heat from the heater.
US08369759B2 Transfer apparatus and image forming apparatus
A transfer apparatus includes a transfer belt being configured to carry an image, a transfer roller having an elastic layer and being configured to transfer the image from the transfer belt onto a transfer material, and a backup roller being configured to have pressure against the transfer roller with the transfer belt therebetween in order to form a transfer nip portion. The transfer nip portion includes a pressure-contact nip and a contact nip. A length of the contact nip is smaller than half a length of the pressure-contact nip in the rotational direction of the transfer roller.
US08369757B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image bearing members; a rotatable intermediary transfer member for carrying toner images transferred from the plurality of image bearing members in contact with the plurality of image bearing members; a transfer member for press-contacting to the intermediary transfer member to form a transfer portion, at which the toner images on the intermediary transfer member are to be transferred onto a recording material; and a control portion for controlling an image forming operation so that, during execution of a continuous image forming mode in which images are formed on a plurality of recording materials conveyed with a preset minimum interval, a recording material passes through the transfer portion and thereafter transfer of a toner image to be formed on a subsequent recording material from an image bearing member, located upstream of the transfer portion and most downstream of the plurality of image bearing members with respect to a rotational direction of the intermediary transfer member, onto the intermediary transfer member is started.
US08369756B2 Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program product
An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer-sheet conveying member that rotates to convey a transfer sheet; a first image forming unit that directly transfers a color image onto the transfer sheet; an intermediate transfer member that rotates while an image is transferred thereon; a second image forming unit that transfers images onto the intermediate transfer member; a secondary transfer unit that transfers the images on the intermediate transfer member onto the transfer sheet; a measuring unit that measures a surface velocity of the transfer-sheet conveying member and the intermediate transfer member; and a control unit that performs phase matching control by accelerating or decelerating the transfer-sheet conveying member or the intermediate transfer member so as to match a phase of fluctuation of the measured surface velocity of the transfer-sheet conveying member and a phase of fluctuation of the measured surface velocity of the intermediate transfer member.
US08369753B2 Developer supply container and developer supplying system
A developer supply container detachably mountable to a developer receiving apparatus and settable in a developer receiving apparatus by a setting operation including at least a rotation toward a setting position, includes a containing portion for containing the developer; a rotatable discharging member for discharging the developer out of said containing portion; drive transmitting means, engageable with a driving gear provided in said developer receiving apparatus and rotatable in a direction opposite the setting direction, for transmitting a rotating force from said driving gear to said discharging member.
US08369750B2 Developing device
Provided is a developing device which can prevent the occurrence of a phenomenon of an excessive increase of a developer quantity in a developer standby space, thereby acquiring a stable image. The developing device comprises a developer agitation-transfer unit, a developer roller, a developer feeding roller, a developer guide member and a space forming member. The developing device is characterized in that the developer feeding roller rotates to transfer the developer transferred by the agitation-transfer means, upward from the clearance between the developer feeding roller and the developer guide member, and in that, when the developer standby space formed in the device is filled with the developer transferred by the developer feeding roller, the developer feeding roller is rotated to carry the developer, which overflows from the developer standby space, and to move the same in the direction away from the developer roller, so that the developer is once discharged from the developer standby space.
US08369748B2 Image forming apparatus with developing cartridge having engaging portion
An image forming apparatus forming an image on a recording material includes an image bearing member; a rotary rotatably provided in a main assembly of the apparatus; a locking member; and a developing cartridge detachably mounted to the rotary, wherein the developing cartridge includes a developer carrying member for developing a latent image formed on the image bearing member, a demountably mounted covering member for covering a surface of the developer carrying member, and an engaging portion which is movable between a first position in which it is projected beyond an outer surface of the covering member to engage with the main assembly locking member when the rotary is rotated in a forward direction which is a direction of rotation during image formation, and a second position in which it is retracted from the outer surface of the covering member.
US08369747B2 Charging device and image forming apparatus
A charging device is provided. A charging device includes a charging section and a discharge product adsorption removal section. The charging section includes a shield case having a shield opening, a discharge electrode, and a rotation shaft which is parallel to a rotation axis of a photoreceptor. The discharge product adsorption removal section has an adsorption layer that adsorbs a discharge product and is disposed downward in a vertical direction of the photoreceptor. The charging section is displaceable about an axial line of the rotation shaft from a position where the shield opening opposes to the photoreceptor to a position where the shield opening opposes to the discharge product adsorption removal section.
US08369743B2 Process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus
A process cartridge is provided for detachably mounting to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a developing roller for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum unit containing the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and a developing unit which contains the developing roller and which is movable relative to the drum unit such that developing roller is movable between a contact position in which the developing roller is contacted to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a spaced position in which the developing roller is spaced from the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The process cartridge also includes a force receiving member capable of taking an operating position for moving the developing frame from the contacting position to the spacing position by receiving an external force, and a stand-by position retracted from the operating position.
US08369738B2 Toner container and image forming apparatus
A toner container and an image forming apparatus are disclosed. The toner container includes a guiding member formed at a part surrounding a toner outlet to be protruded from a circumferential surface of the toner container for guiding an opening or closing operation of a shutter member in a circumferential direction of the toner container. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body includes a main body side shutter for opening or closing a toner supplying opening to be connected to the toner outlet. When the shutter member is opened, an end surface of the guiding member pushes the main body side shutter together with the opening operation of the shutter member, and the toner supplying opening is opened and is connected to the toner outlet.
US08369735B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming unit having a plurality of photoconductor drums arranged in tandem; an intermediate transfer belt arranged opposite to the photoconductor drums and configured to receive developer images formed on the photoconductor drums and to transfer the developer images onto a recording sheet; a cleaning unit comprising a cleaning member positioned in contact with the intermediate transfer belt and configured to collect substance adhering to the intermediate transfer belt, and a receptacle configured to store the substance collected by the cleaning member, wherein the cleaning unit is arranged on the same side as the image forming unit with respect to the intermediate transfer belt; and a support member configured to support the image forming unit and the cleaning unit and to be pulled out from a main body.
US08369734B2 Image forming apparatus and image forming unit
An image forming apparatus comprises a photosensitive drum, a charged wire which extends in a shaft direction of the photosensitive drum and charges the photosensitive drum by electric discharge, a frame disposed so as to surround the charged wire, the frame in which a cover side opening is formed in the side opposite to the photosensitive drum with respect to the charged wire, and a cover member disposed so as to cover the cover side opening while forming a blow path in communication with the cover side opening between the frame and the cover member. The cover member moves along the charged wire and is constructed detachably from a side surface of the frame and also a cleaning member for cleaning the charged wire is disposed.
US08369731B2 Image forming apparatus and method of charging usage fee of image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus counts a number of sheets to be printed with a limited number of colorants or a limited amount of colorant using an other counter that is provided other than a color counter and a monochrome counter. The counter value of the other counter is adjusted using a weighting factor before being added to or subtracted from a counter value of the color counter or the monochrome counter.
US08369730B2 Fixing device
A fixing device has a heating rotor, a pressure belt, a sheet member, first and second pressurizing members, a motor and a control unit. The control unit controls the motor to rotate the heating rotor and the pressure belt in a direction opposite to a conveyance direction of a recording material at startup time after jam treatment of the recording material. Contact positions of the sheet member with respect to the first and second pressurizing members are changed, so that the sheet member is prevented from obstructing independent actions of each of the first and second pressurizing members, which allows the nip portion N to maintain proper nip width and proper nip pressure. Thus, the fixing device has excellent stability at the nip portion to improve fixability and conveyability of the recording material with a simple construction.
US08369728B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a latent image holder that holds a latent image; a developing unit that contains developer including toner particles and carrier particles, develops a latent image with the toner particles, and forms a toner image; a voltage applying unit that applies a voltage to the developing unit; a toner concentration detection unit that detects a toner concentration that is a proportion of the toner particles to the developer contained in the developing unit; and a setting unit that sets a setting value of the voltage on the basis of the toner concentration detected by the toner concentration detection unit, the voltage being applied by the voltage applying unit to the developing unit, wherein a difference between an upper limit and a lower limit of the set value increases as the toner concentration increases, the set value being set by the setting unit.
US08369725B2 Image forming apparatus and method of correcting image concentration
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a first detector including a first light emitting device, a first mixed-light receiving device and a first diffuse reflection light receiving device, a second detector including a second light emitting device and a second mixed-light receiving device, and a concentration correction unit. The first mixed-light receiving device detects a mixed light including regular and diffuse reflection light reflected from a transport member. The first diffuse reflection light receiving device detects the diffuse reflection light. The second mixed-light receiving device detects the mixed light. The concentration correction unit conducts concentration correction using detection results of the first and second detectors. A first correction pattern reflecting the regular and diffuse reflection light and detectable by the first detector and a second correction pattern reflecting only the regular reflection light and detectable by the second detector are formed different positions on the transport member.
US08369722B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a development device including a development roller and a driving force receiving member, a movable member configured to move the development device between a development position and a retracting position, a first driving force transmission member configured to transmit a driving force to the movable member, a second driving force transmission member configured to engage with the driving force receiving member and transmit the driving force to the driving force receiving member, and a controller configured to perform drive control for the first driving force transmission member based on a temperature detected by a sensor. If α1 represents acceleration of the development device in a case where the temperature is T1 and the driving force receiving member disengages from the second driving force transmission member and α2 represents acceleration of the development device in a case where the temperature is T2 and the driving force receiving member disengages from the second driving force transmission member, the controller performs the drive control for the first driving force transmission member so as to satisfy a relationship α1≦α2 when T1≦T2.
US08369720B2 Powder container apparatus and image forming apparatus
A powder container apparatus for containing a powder material removed from a cleaned body using a cleaning unit includes a casing having an opening at the top; a collecting bag made of a soft and freely deformable material detachably disposed within the casing, the collecting bag being configured to contain the powder material that is dropped via the opening of the casing; a displaced member disposed between the collecting bag and the casing and configured to be horizontally displaced by the collecting bag when the collecting bag is inflated by the powder material contained in the collecting bag; a displacement amount detecting unit configured to detect the displacement of the displaced member; and a collected amount detecting unit configured to determine a collected amount of the powder material in the collecting bag based on the horizontal displacement of the displaced member detected by the displacement amount detecting unit.
US08369718B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus, which has a plurality of image forming units, comprises a plurality of cartridges adapted to supply developer; a plurality of supply members adapted to supply developer to the image forming units from a plurality of the cartridges; a drive unit adapted to drive a plurality of the supply members; and a control unit adapted to supply developer from a plurality of the cartridges by selectively operating a plurality of the supply members based on the amount of developer accommodated in the cartridges.
US08369715B2 Method and device and communication system for measuring optical power
A method for measuring an optical power includes: acquiring code type information in an optical signal of a communication system, in which the optical signal includes an optical signal of burst emission and/or an optical signal of burst reception; measuring the optical signal of the communication system, and acquiring an optical power value of the optical signal; and correcting the optical power value according to the code type information.
US08369709B2 Optical transceiver and packaging method thereof
An optical transceiver includes a substrate, a plurality of laser components, a bracket and a plurality of lenses. The substrate defines a plurality of through holes, a plurality of receiving grooves and at least two fixing holes. The laser components are received in the plurality of receiving grooves and installed on the substrate. The bracket includes a top cover with an upper surface and one or more side walls. The one or more sidewalls include at least two positioning posts and one or more fixing surfaces. The positioning posts are engaged with the fixing holes to position the bracket to the substrate. The fixing surfaces are affixed on the substrate by an adhesive. The one or more sidewalls define one or more through channels extending from the one or more fixing surface to the upper surface. The lenses are installed on the bracket and correspond to the laser components.
US08369706B2 Open access service model using WDM-PON
Methods and apparatuses to provide an “Open access” service model using wavelength division multiplexing (“WDM”) passive optical networks (“PONs”) are described. A cross-connect is used to supply a first set of optical signals corresponding to a first service provider and a second set of optical signals corresponding to a second service provider to a WDM multiplexer/demultiplexer. The WDM multiplexer/de-multiplexer is used to multiplex and transmit the first set and the second set to a remote location. Another WDM multiplexer/de-multiplexer at the remote location is used to de-multiplex the first set and the second set. The first set may be supplied to a first user and the second set may be supplied to a second user. Transceivers coupled to the cross-connect may be used to generate the optical signals. For one embodiment, the transceivers include a wavelength-locked light source. For one embodiment, the transceivers are alike.
US08369703B2 Moving picture camera and electronic device including the same
There is provided a moving picture camera. The moving picture camera includes a case having an internal space, a frame supporting a camera module in the internal space, a printed circuit board on which circuit devices are mounted, the circuit devices receiving and processing a moving picture signal captured by the camera module, and an electrostatic transfer gasket interposed between the frame and the printed circuit board and transferring static electricity from the frame to the printed circuit board.
US08369698B2 Image blur correction apparatus and camera
The invention provides an image blur correction apparatus including: a tabular base portion; a movable portion that holds an image pickup device and that is movable with respect to the base portion; and a voice coil motor that has a permanent magnet arranged on a face of the base portion that faces the movable portion, and a coil arranged in a region of the movable portion facing the permanent magnet, and that generates a force that moves the movable portion by an electromagnetic force. The base portion is composed of a magnetic body. A tabular second magnetic body portion composed of a magnetic body that, when viewed from the incident light axis direction, occupies a region surrounding the external shape of the permanent magnet is arranged on the base portion side of the permanent magnet.
US08369696B2 Micro-heaters, methods for manufacturing the same, and methods for forming patterns using the micro-heaters
Example embodiments relate to micro-heaters, micro-heater arrays, methods for manufacturing the micro-heater, and methods for forming a pattern using the micro-heater. A micro-heater according to example embodiments may include a metal pattern formed on a substrate. A support may be formed beneath the metal pattern, the support securing the metal pattern to the substrate while spacing the metal pattern apart from the substrate. A spacer may be formed on the substrate and adjacent to the metal pattern, a first distance from the substrate to the top surface of the spacer being greater than a second distance from the substrate to the top surface of the metal pattern. The distance between the micro-heater and a target substrate positioned above the metal pattern may be controlled by the spacer, thus allowing the formation of a relatively fine pattern on the target substrate.
US08369691B2 Recording apparatus/method/medium and reproduction apparatus/method
An apparatus which easily discriminates 3D (stereoscopic vision) contents from non-3D contents among recorded program contents can be provided. Further, a unit to prohibit unintentional generation of a virtual play list where 3D contents and non-3D contents are mixed can be provided. For these purposes, a 3D flag is recorded in a play list file. Further, upon virtual play list generation, the recorded 3D flag set values are obtained and it is checked whether or not 3D contents and non-3D contents are mixed.
US08369688B2 Information burying device and detecting device
The present invention provides an information embedding apparatus that is capable of preventing playback stop of a content that has been shot without intention of misuse. The information embedding apparatus comprises: an acquisition unit operable to acquire the content that is played back along the playback time-line; a watermark generating unit operable to generate the watermarks such that values held by the watermarks vary according to a first rule, the first rule showing that the values should vary according to a sequential order on the playback time-line; and an embedding unit operable to embed two or more of the watermarks into the content while keeping the sequential order.
US08369687B2 Electronic device and method for embedding product information in videos with product placements
A method embeds product information in videos with product placements using an electronic device. The electronic device defines product information of one or more products that are embedded in a video, and embeds the product information in an image file having a file format that is compatible with the video, the embedding according to appearance times of the one or more products. During display of the video on the display device, the electronic device determines whether the image file includes product information about a product that is presented during display of the video. If the image file includes product information about the product, the electronic device displays a prompt on the display device concurrently with the product. After receiving a selection operation to select the prompt, the electronic device displays the product information on the display device.
US08369683B2 Reproducing apparatus, reproducing method, reproducing program, recording medium, and data structure
A state transition of a player operation is explicitly defined to facilitate the production of interactive contents. As a player model for reproducing a disk, a model including a player 300 for reproducing a stream, a platform 301 providing an interface between the player 300 and a hardware, and a script player 302 for realizing a scenario intended by a content producer is conceived. The states of the player 300 are defined by four states defined by combinations of two states as to whether the play list reproduction is performed or not and two states as to whether the command 311 is accepted or not. The state transition of the player 300 among the four states is generated by a method 313 from the script layer 302, but not by the player 300 itself or the command 311. The states of the player 300 are small in number, and the conditions for state transition are definite. Therefore, the interactive contents can be easily produced and mounted on devices.
US08369681B2 Video reproducing apparatus
When a mark key of a remote control is pressed by a user during fast-forward reproduction of video images and audio sounds, a system control unit searches a position of a video image which is presumed as a scene change closest to and on rewind side from the position of the video image reproduced at the time the mark key is pressed. This search is performed, based on rate of change in amount of data (bit rate) of the compressed video data used per unit time to generate the video signals by a video and audio signal processing unit. The system control unit then sets, as a mark position, the position of the video image presumed as the scene change.
US08369678B2 Optical devices for guiding illumination
Optical devices for guiding illumination are provided each having a body of optical material with staircase or acutely angled ramp structures on its top surface for distributing light inputted from one end of the device from the front exit faces of such structures along certain angular orientations, while at least a substantial portion of the light is totally internally reflected within the body until distributed from such front exit faces. Optical devices are also provided each have a body of optical material having a bottom surface with acutely angled ramp structures and falling structures which alternate with each other, such that light is totally internally reflected within the device until reflected by such ramp structures along the bottom surface to exit the top surface of the device or transmitted through the ramp structures to an adjacent falling structure back into the device. Acutely angled ramp structures may be provided on both top and bottom surfaces of optical devices for distributing light along such top surface. Illumination apparatuses are also provided using such optical devices.
US08369677B2 Fiber optic connector storage apparatus and methods for using the same
A fiber optic connector storage apparatus for storing a fiber optic connector having an exposed ferrule includes a housing and a dust cap portion. The housing defines a socket to receive and hold the fiber optic connector. The dust cap portion is integral with the housing and is configured to receive and protect the exposed ferrule when the fiber optic connector is inserted into the socket.
US08369675B2 Optical waveguide, optical waveguide mounting substrate, and light transmitting and receiving device
An optical waveguide is provided. The optical waveguide includes: a layered structure including: a first cladding layer; a second cladding layer; and a core layer that is sandwiched between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer, wherein an inclined surface is formed on at least one longitudinal end of the layered structure; and an outer cladding layer that seals at least a portion of the inclined surface corresponding to the core layer, wherein a refractive index of the outer cladding layer is smaller than that of the core layer.
US08369672B2 Single-polarization fiber
Embodiments of the invention relate to a single-polarization fiber that may include a W-type refractive-index profile having a depressed region along an unguided principal axis of the fiber, and a quasi step-index profile along a guided principal axis of the fiber. The quasi step-index profile may have a depressed region with a radial extent at least twice that of the depressed region along the unguided axis.
US08369671B2 Hermetically sealed fiber sensing cable
In one aspect, the present invention provides a hermetically sealed fiber sensing cable comprising: a core fiber comprising at least one Bragg grating region, an outer surface and a length; a fiber cladding in contact with the core fiber along the entire length of the core fiber, the fiber cladding having an outer surface and a length; a carbon layer disposed upon the outer surface of the fiber cladding along the entire length of the fiber cladding, the carbon layer comprising diamond-like carbon; a hydrogen ion absorption layer in contact with the carbon layer, the hydrogen ion absorption layer being disposed on the outer surface of the carbon layer; and an outer sleeve. Also provided in another aspect of the present invention, is a component for a hermetically sealed fiber sensing cable.
US08369670B2 Optical devices having controlled nonlinearity
An optical device is provided having a solid state nonlinear material with a nanostructured extent, in at least one dimension, that is less than about 10 nm or that is at a temperature of less than about 77 K. An electronic band gap, EGap, of the material is at least about twice as large as an energy of a photon with a wavelength, λ, equal to an operational wavelength of the device. The material is characterized by a switching figure of merit, ξ, having a value that is at least about 2π. A dielectric structure is around at least one dimension of the nonlinear material in a geometric arrangement having a characteristic photonic band gap that at least partially overlaps the electronic band gap of the material. At least one waveguide is disposed at the dielectric structure in sufficient proximity with the material for coupling light to the material.
US08369664B2 Optical apparatus for forming a tunable cavity
An optical apparatus includes an optical fiber formed of a core surrounded by cladding, in which the optical fiber includes an end portion. In addition, an optical layer composed of a material having a relatively high refractive index is positioned on the end portion, in which the optical layer includes a non-periodic sub-wavelength grating positioned in optical communication with the core.
US08369663B2 Optical waveguide for touch panel, touch panel using the optical waveguide and manufacturing method of the optical waveguide
An optical waveguide for a touch panel which eliminates the need for alignment between the optical waveguide and a lens and which achieves the appropriate emission and reception of light beams, to provide a touch panel using the optical waveguide, and to provide a manufacturing method of the optical waveguide for a touch panel. A total distance (L) which is the sum of a distance from the center of curvature of the first lens portion 30 to the light reflecting surface 60 and a distance from the light reflecting surface 60 to the tip of the second lens portion 50, and the radius (R) of curvature of the second lens portion 50 satisfy the following condition (A): (L/3)−0.5
US08369657B2 Selecting wider bandwidth channels in a wireless network
Techniques are provided for selecting channels for a wider bandwidth operation mode of a wireless network, such as wireless network that operates in accordance with the IEEE 802.11n amendment. Alignments of so-called primary and secondary channels are selected to mitigate interference. Interfering sources, such as other transceivers or external interferers, or the energy from their transmissions, are identified and channels are selected. The selected channels are analyzed to determine whether primary-secondary channel assignments for the selected channels are feasible.
US08369656B2 Interactively ranking image search results using color layout relevance
This disclosure describes various exemplary user interfaces, methods, and computer program products for the interactively ranking image search results refinement method using a color layout. The method includes receiving a text query for an image search, presenting image search results in a structured presentation based on the text query and information from an interest color layout. The process creates image search results that may be selected by the user based on color selection palettes or color layout specification schemes. Then the process ranks the image search results by sorting the results according to similarity scores between color layouts from the image search results and the interest color layout from a user based on the color selection palettes and the color layout specification schemes.
US08369653B1 System and method for image upsampling using natural image statistics of first and second derivatives
Systems and methods for upsampling input images may evaluate potential upsampling solutions with respect to an objective function that is dependent on a sparse derivative prior on second derivative(s) of the potential upsampling solutions to identify an acceptable higher-resolution output image. The objective function may also be dependent on fidelity term(s) and/or sparse derivative prior(s) on first derivative(s) of potential upsampling solutions. The methods may include applying the iteratively re-weighted least squares procedure in minimizing the objective function and generating improved candidate solutions from an initial solution. The identified solution may be stored as a higher-resolution version of the input image in memory, and made available to subsequent operations in an image editing application or other graphics application. The methods may produce sharp results that are also smooth along edges. The methods may be implemented as program instructions stored on computer-readable storage media, executable by a CPU and/or GPU.
US08369651B2 Image processing apparatus and image processing program
An image processing apparatus includes: an image obtaining unit that obtains a photographic image captured with an image sensor; a flat portion extraction unit that extracts a flat portion area within the photographic image having been obtained; and a defect information generating unit that generates defect information corresponding to the extracted flat portion area.
US08369650B2 Image defect map creation using batches of digital images
A method of automatically determining a need to service a digital image acquisition system including a digital camera with a lens assembly includes analyzing pixels within one or more acquired digital images according to probability determinations that such pixels correspond to blemish artifacts. It is automatically determined whether a threshold distribution of blemish artifacts is present within one or more of the digital images. A need for service is indicated when at least the threshold distribution is determined to be present.
US08369648B2 Image correction apparatus and image correction method
An image correction apparatus calculates a feature value indicative of an average brightness of an input image from the pixel values of the input image and determines a pixel value at a boundary for correcting each pixel of the input image to make it brighter or darker by using the calculated feature value of the input image. The image correction apparatus calculates, with respect to the pixel value of each pixel of the input image, an area for determining a contrast correction amount for a pixel value smaller than the pixel value at the determined boundary such that a pixel is to be made darker and calculates an area for determining a contrast correction amount for a pixel value larger than the pixel value at the determined boundary such that a pixel is to be made brighter, thereby correcting the contrast of the input image by using the calculated areas.
US08369647B2 Image processing apparatus and image processing method
An image processing apparatus includes a detection circuit configured to detect an image, a luminance correction circuit configured to determine luminance of the detected image and to execute correction for reducing a luminance variation in the detected image, and an extraction circuit configured to extract feature amount data from the detected image corrected by the correction circuit for use in authentication processing.
US08369645B2 Image correction circuit, image correction method and image display
An image correction circuit includes: a region determining means for determining an intermediate luminance region in each image frame on the basis of the description of input image data; a luminance distribution acquiring means for acquiring a luminance distribution of input image data in the determined intermediate luminance region in each image frame; a determining means for determining an input/output characteristic line in each image frame by adaptively changing a predetermined reference input/output characteristic line on the basis of the acquired luminance distribution of the intermediate luminance region, the input/output characteristic line defining the substance of image correction on input image data; and a correction executing means for executing image correction on input image data on the basis of the determined input/output characteristic line.
US08369641B2 Image processing apparatus, display device, and image processing method
According to one embodiment, an image processing apparatus includes an extracted coordinates setting module, an image generator, and an output module. The extracted coordinates setting module sets extracted coordinates in a captured image along a direction in which a viewpoint moves with respect to an object in the captured image. The image generator sequentially extracts partial areas from the captured image in which perspective deformation of the object has been corrected based on the extracted coordinates, and generates a plurality of partial area images from the partial areas. The partial areas are in a size corresponding to the viewing angle of the human eye calculated according to an angle of view of the captured image. The output module outputs a moving image including the partial area images as frames.
US08369631B2 Methods and devices for coding and decoding, a telecommunication system and computer program implementing them
The method of coding a multidimensional digital signal, said signal comprising a plurality of samples denoted “initial”, characterized in that it comprises: —a step of determining at least one secondary signal representing said multidimensional digital signal, each secondary signal having a lower number of samples than the number of samples of the multidimensional digital signal; —a step of determining filtering orientations on the basis of at least one secondary signal and—a step of determining at least one tertiary signal representing the signal to code, each tertiary signal having a lower number of samples than the number of initial samples, by implementing, on said multidimensional digital signal, filtering that is oriented on the basis of said filtering orientations.
US08369630B2 Image encoding device and image encoding method with distance information
An image encoding device includes a single image pickup unit generating image data by shooting a subject, an image compression unit generating digital image data by encoding the image data, a distance measuring unit measuring a distance to the subject during the shooting, and a multiplexing unit generating multiplexed data based on the digital image data and the measured distance by multiplexing distance data indicating the distance to a subject of each of given pixel blocks of the digital image data onto the digital image data.
US08369629B2 Image processing using resolution numbers to determine additional component values
First and second codewords are determined, based on first feature vector components of the image elements in an image block, as representations of a first and second component value. Third and fourth codewords are determined, based on second vector components, as representations of a third and fourth component value. First N1 and second N2 resolution numbers are selected based on the relation of a distribution of the first vector components and a distribution of the second vector components. N1 additional component values are generated based on the first and second component values and N2 additional component values are generated based on the third and fourth component values. Component indices indicative of the generated component values are then provided for the different image elements.
US08369623B2 Image forming apparatus that automatically creates an index and a method thereof
An image forming apparatus capable of automatically creating an index, and a method for the same. The image forming apparatus includes a scan unit to scan a document, a text/image separation unit to separate the scanned document into a text area and an image area and to separate texts in the text area into symbols, an index determination unit to extract one or more properties of the separated symbols and to compare the extracted symbol properties with one or more index thresholds to determine whether text including the symbols is an index object, and an index page creation unit to create an index page including the text determined as the index object and information about a page including the text that corresponds to the index object. Accordingly, since the index page is automatically created, main contents of each page of the document can be easily selected and/or presented. Also, a search for desired contents in the document is facilitated by a link between the index page and original contents of the pages in the document, thereby improving user convenience.
US08369618B2 Image processing apparatus and image processing method for reducing color blur
The image processing apparatus includes a first reducing part configured to reduce a component of chromatic aberration of magnification which is included in the image, and a second reducing part configured to reduce a component of longitudinal chromatic aberration which is included in the image in which the component of chromatic aberration of magnification has been reduced. The image processing method includes a first step of reducing a component of chromatic aberration of magnification which is included in the image, and a second step of reducing a component of longitudinal chromatic aberration which is included in the image in which the component of chromatic aberration of magnification has been reduced. The apparatus and method can reduce color blur in the image caused by the chromatic aberration of magnification and the longitudinal chromatic aberration.
US08369617B2 Cross device image recognition improvement
A method includes modifying values of image data of a first image of an object, the first image taken by a user using a user equipment. The modifying is performed to map one or more color characteristics of one or more color components of the user equipment to corresponding one or more color characteristics for the one or more color components of a reference device. The modifying creates a modified image. On the user equipment, comparisons are performed between the modified image and a number of second images of objects taken by the reference device. Apparatus and program products are also disclosed. Additionally, a user interface is disclosed that provides for training a device model that is used during the mapping.
US08369607B2 Method and apparatus for processing three-dimensional images
A three-dimensional sense adjusting unit displays three-dimensional images to a user. If a displayed reaches a limit of parallax, the user responds to the three-dimensional sense adjusting unit. According to acquired appropriate parallax information, a parallax control unit generates parallax images to realize the appropriate parallax in the subsequent stereo display. The control of parallaxes is realized by optimally setting camera parameters by going back to three-dimensional data. Functions to realize the appropriate parallax are made into and presented by a library.
US08369602B2 Length measurement system
Disclosed herewith is a length measurement system, which obtains a value closer to its true one when figuring out the size and edge roughness of a pattern from a noise-included pattern image. Among plural band-like regions representing a portion around an edge in an image respectively, the system calculates the dependency of the edge point position on the image processing parameter at each of a narrow width band-like portion and a wide width band-like portion to calculate an image processing condition that calculates each measured value closer to its true value or estimates the true value itself.
US08369599B2 Fast two-point mapping of the bound pool fraction and cross-relaxation rate constant for MRI
A two-point reconstruction technique provides an efficient clinical method for measuring parametric bound pool fraction and cross-relaxation rate constant spatial distributions in biological objects from two experimental measurements based on magnetization transfer effect obtained in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The method is based on linearization of an analytical pulsed magnetization transfer mathematical model so that spatial distribution maps of the bound pool fraction and cross-relaxation rate constant can be obtained in a time-efficient manner by using only two experimental magnetization transfer images of the bio-logical object in which water and macromolecules are present.
US08369598B2 Method for identifying a pathological region of a scan, such as an ischemic stroke region of an MRI scan
A method for identifying a pathological region of a scan (such as a stroke region within a MRI DWI volume scan) is proposed. A region of the scan which is likely to contain pathological tissue (e.g. infracted tissue) is identified by obtaining a parameter which, for a given slice, or portion of a slice, characterizes the distribution of the intensity of pixels, e.g. the relative proportion of high intensity pixels. In a first case, such a parameter is used to identify those slices of a volume scan which are likely to include infarction. In a second case, such a parameter (hemisphere parameter) is obtained for each of the left- and right-hemispheres of a brain, to estimate which hemisphere contains the stroke. In either case, the parameter may be calculated based on ranges, percentiles and functions of the percentiles of the intensity distribution. These ranges, percentiles and functions of the percentiles are not pre-defined but are selected to maximize sensitivity.
US08369596B2 Feature intensity reconstruction of biological probe array
The invention provides methods and systems for reconstructing feature intensities from pixel level data. In certain embodiments, the invention uses an empirically determined transfer function to construct a theoretical estimate of pixel level data and then iteratively updates feature intensities based on a minimum multiplicative error between the pixel level data and the theoretical estimate of the pixel level data.
US08369595B1 Texture features for biometric authentication
This specification describes technologies relating to biometric authentication based on images of the eye. In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include obtaining one or more image regions from a first image of an eye. Each of the image regions may include a view of a respective portion of the white of the eye. The method may further include applying several distinct filters to each of the image regions to generate a plurality of respective descriptors for the region. The several distinct filters may include convolutional filters that are each configured to describe one or more aspects of an eye vasculature and in combination describe a visible eye vasculature in a feature space. A match score may be determined based on the generated descriptors and based on one or more descriptors associated with a second image of eye vasculature.
US08369593B2 Systems and methods for robust learning based annotation of medical radiographs
Systems and methods for performing a medical imaging study include acquiring a preliminary scan. A set of local feature candidates is automatically detected from the preliminary scan. The accuracy of each local feature candidate is assessed using multiple combinations of the other local feature candidates and removing a local feature candidate that is assessed to have the lowest accuracy. The assessing and removing steps are repeated until only a predetermined number of local feature candidates remain. A region of interest (ROI) is located from within the preliminary scan based on the remaining predetermined number of local feature candidates. A medical imaging study is performed based on the location of the ROI within the preliminary scan.
US08369592B2 System and method for imaging and locating punctures under prostatic echography
The present disclosure relates to a prostatic imaging system including steps of recording and processing images acquired by the ultrasonographic head of a rectal probe equipped with an active puncture guide, characterized in that it includes steps of processing at least a part of the images acquired by the probe for calculating transformations to a “reference image” repository relative to the initial position of the prostate, at least a part of the images acquired during the successive punctures including the location of the various positions of the needle being recorded with a view to visualising representations thereof on a single image including at least a part of the prostate. The present disclosure also relates to a system for the prostatic imaging implementing said prostatic imaging method.
US08369590B2 Method for segmenting objects in images
A method for identifying an attribute of an object represented in an image comprising data defining a predetermined spatial granulation for resolving the object, where the object is in contact with another object. In an embodiment, the method comprises identifying data whose values indicate they correspond to locations completely within the object, determining a contribution to the attribute provided by the data, and identifying additional data whose values indicate they are not completely within the object. The method next interpolates second contributions to the attribute from the values of the additional data and finds the attribute of the object from the first contribution and second contributions. The attribute may be, for example, a volume, and the values may correspond, for example, to intensity.
US08369589B2 System and method for concurrent transfer and processing and real time viewing of in-vivo images
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for a concurrent transferring of an image stream gathered by an in-vivo sensing device, including creating a plurality of segments from at least a portion of the image stream and concurrently transferring the created segments. Other embodiments of the present invention provide and system and method for a concurrent processing of an image stream gathered by an in-vivo sensing device, including creating a plurality of segments from at least a portion of the image stream and concurrently processing the created segments.
US08369587B2 Digital signature system and method thereof
A digital signature system includes an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) server and a portable terminal communicating with the EDI server. The portable terminal includes a touch-sensitive display, and a processing unit includes a receiving module configured for receiving a file from the EDI server, a signature mode control module configured for providing a signature file mode for users to select, a signature file creating module configured for recording signature input through the touch-sensitive display and creating a signature file to record the input signature if the signature file mode is selected, and a file combining module configured for combining the signature file and the file from the EDI server into a composite signature file. A related method is also provided.
US08369585B2 Automatic classification of information in images
A system and method of analyzing and using volumetric data of a patient is disclosed. Volumetric data characterizing a patient is obtained using an imaging modality such as a computerized tomographic device (CT), magnetic resonance imager (MR), or other tomographic modality. The volumetric data or image slices derived from the data is compared with anatomical image or model data from an anatomical atlas so as to associate the patient data with a body structure. The anatomical association is used as a search term in a data base to retrieve information which may be useful in diagnosis or treatment of the patient.
US08369584B2 Method and apparatus for eye-scan authentication using a liquid lens
A method and apparatus for providing eye-scan authentication using an adaptive liquid lens are disclosed. For example, in one embodiment, the method receives a request for eye-scan authentication from a mobile endpoint device of a user, wherein the request comprises a first retinal image of the user captured using an adaptive liquid lens of the mobile endpoint device. The method obtains a second retinal image of the user, wherein the second retinal image is a stored retinal image of the user. The method authenticates the first retinal image against the second retinal image. In another embodiment, the method captures a first retinal image of a user via a mobile endpoint device of the user, wherein the mobile endpoint device comprises an adaptive liquid lens. The method then sends a request for eye-scan authentication from the mobile endpoint device over a network, wherein the request comprises the first retinal image.
US08369583B2 Hybrid biometric authentication device, hybrid biometric authentication method, and computer-readable medium storing hybrid biometric authentication program
A hybrid biometric authentication device that includes a plurality of feature extraction portions that respectively extract, from biometric information, a plurality of types of feature information that have mutually distinct properties, a feature combining portion that generates hybrid feature information by combining the plurality of types of feature information, a feature information storage portion that stores the hybrid feature information, a plurality of similarity computation portions that separates each of new information and registered information into the plurality of types of feature information, and compute a plurality of degrees of similarity between separate sets of a same type of the feature information, and a determination portion that, based on the plurality of degrees of similarity, determines whether the biometric information on which the new information is based and the biometric information on which the registered information is based have been acquired from a same person.
US08369572B2 System and method for passive automatic target recognition (ATR)
A passive automatic target recognition (ATR) system includes a range map processor configured to generate range-to-pixel map data based on digital elevation map data and parameters of a passive image sensor. The passive image sensor is configured to passively acquire image data. The passive ATR system also includes a detection processor configured to identify a region of interest (ROI) in the passively acquired sensor image data based on the range-to-pixel map data, and an ATR processor configured to generate an ATR decision for the ROI.
US08369570B2 Method and system for tagging an image of an individual in a plurality of photos
A system and method for tagging an image of an individual in a plurality of photos is disclosed herein. A feature vector of an individual is used to analyze a set of photos on a social networking website such as www.facebook.com to determine if an image of the individual is present in a photo of the set of photos. Photos having an image of the individual are tagged preferably by listing a URL or URI for each of the photos in a database.
US08369569B2 Method and apparatus for detecting non-uniform fracturing of a photomask shape
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that detects an occurrence of a given shape which has been fractured into a configuration of primitive shapes which is different from a desired configuration. The system selects a fractured-shape instantiation of the given shape, to which other fractured-shape instantiations for the given shape are compared. As a part of the comparison process, the system generates a filtered mask-pattern-description which includes primitive shapes in the mask-pattern-description that match at least one primitive shape in the selected fractured-shape instantiation. Next, the system identifies a first set of shape occurrences from the filtered mask-pattern-description which match the given shape, and identifies a second set of shape occurrences from the mask-pattern-description which match the given shape. The system then generates a third set of shape occurrences by performing an exclusive-OR comparison between the first and second sets of shape occurrences.
US08369568B2 Methods and systems for digital image security
Methods and systems for securing digital imagery are provided. In one respect, embedding, compression, encryption, data hiding, and other imaging processing techniques and systems may be provided for digital image security. In one non-limiting example, a method for producing a compressed and encrypted image is provided. An image may be converted into a binary bit stream, and the bit stream may be decomposed into a plurality of segments. A binary sequence based on a first key may be generated and may be used to generate a code matrix. A distance between the code matrix and the distance may be determined for each of the plurality of segments. Using a combined first and second key, a compressed and encrypted image may be obtained.
US08369567B1 Method for detecting and mapping fires using features extracted from overhead imagery
A method for automatically detecting and mapping fires based on information extracted from commercial overhead EO/IR imagery, creating geo-referenced files which can be opened in most common geographic information system (GIS) software packages. The method creates a shapefile (*.shp & *.shx) and a Google Earth file (*.kmz) which contain the outlines of the areas from the image being processed with active fire in them, which types of files are typically very small compared to the size of the image file being processed. The method utilizes algorithms designed to process information contained in multi-spectral electro-optical imagery to classify pixels as ‘fire’ or ‘non-fire’. The method also has the ability to identify the approximate length, width, and area of the fires detected.
US08369563B2 Automatic detection of fires on earth's surface and of atmospheric phenomena such as clouds, veils, fog or the like, using a satellite system
A method for automatically detecting fires on Earth's surface using a satellite system is provided. The method includes acquiring multi-spectral images of the Earth at different times, using a multi-spectral satellite sensor, each multi-spectral image being a collection of single-spectral images each associated with a respective wavelength (λ), and each single-spectral image being made up of pixels each indicative of a spectral radiance (Rλ) from a respective area of the Earth. The method also includes providing a model relating the spectral radiances (Rλ) of each pixel in multi-spectral images acquired at different times and physical quantities representing thermodynamic phenomena occurring on the Earth's surface, in the Earth's atmosphere, and related to the Earth and the Sun relative positions. The method further includes computing for each pixel, at a given time, at least the physical quantity in the model representing a possible fire on the Earth's surface.
US08369553B2 Hearing assistance device with stacked die
The present subject matter relates to a hearing assistance device for an ear of a wearer comprising a microphone for receiving sound, hearing assistance electronics in communications with the microphone, the hearing assistance electronics including a hybrid circuit, and a wearable housing adapted to house at least the hearing assistance electronics. The hybrid circuit comprises a first integrated circuit die having one or more through-silicon-vias (TSVs), a first redistribution layer disposed on a surface of the first integrated circuit, and a second integrated circuit die having one or more contacts, the second integrated circuit die disposed on the first redistribution layer, wherein the first redistribution layer is adapted to connect one or more of the one or more TSVs of the first integrated circuit die to one or more of the one or more contacts of the second integrated circuit die.
US08369551B2 Hearing aid with wireless signal transmission
A hearing aid with wireless signal transmission is provided which includes a radio reception unit for wireless reception of modulated and/or coded audio signals, a device to estimate the reception quality of the received audio signal, a device to generate an acoustic limit signal whose level increases when the estimated reception quality of the received audio signal decreases, a device to heterodyne a demodulated and/or decoded audio signal with the limit signal, and a device to output the audio signal heterodyned with the limit signal to a hearing aid wearer. To generate a limit signal, the hearing aid includes a device to generate an impulse response and a device to perform the operation of convolving the demodulated and/or decoded audio signal with the impulse response. This convolution produces a desired signal which appears closer to the hearing aid wearer when the estimated reception quality is better.
US08369549B2 Hearing aid system adapted to selectively amplify audio signals
A hearing aid includes a microphone to convert sounds into electrical signals and a memory to store a plurality of voice prints and a plurality of sound-shaping instructions. Each of the plurality of sound-shaping instructions is associated with one of the plurality of voice prints. The hearing aid further includes a processor coupled to the microphone and the memory. The processor is configured to compare at least one sample from the electrical signals to the plurality of voice prints to identify a voice print. The processor selects sound-shaping instructions associated with the voice print and applies the sound-shaping instructions to selectively shape a portion of the electrical signals corresponding to the voice print to produce a shaped signal. The hearing aid further includes a speaker coupled to the processor and configured to reproduce the shaped signal as an audible output.
US08369546B2 Ultrasonic transducer for parametric array
An ultrasonic transducer having a reduced cost of manufacture. The ultrasonic transducer includes a first insulative retaining layer, a second insulative retaining layer, and a vibrator film layer sandwiched between the first and second retaining layers. The first retaining layer includes a first plurality of apertures formed therethrough, and the second retaining layer includes a second plurality of apertures formed therethrough, in which the second apertures are substantially in registration with the first apertures. The ultrasonic transducer further includes a first cover portion having a plurality of spring/backplate assemblies connected thereto, and a second cover portion. The combination of the first retaining layer, the vibrator film layer, and the second retaining layer is sandwiched between the first and second cover portions of the ultrasonic transducer. The laminated construction of the ultrasonic transducer allows the formation of an array of ultrasonic film transducers using a single piece of ultrasonic vibrator film.
US08369545B2 Flexible luminescent electro-acoustic transducer and electronic device using the same
An electro-acoustic transducer according to the present invention is provided. The electro-acoustic transducer includes a conductive plate with a plurality of openings, an electret diaphragm and a fluorescent layer. The electret diaphragm is positioned on the conductive plate and has a film body and an electrode layer. The film body has static charges carried and the electrode layer is formed on the upper surface of the film body. The fluorescent layer is positioned between the lower surface of the film body and the conductive plate.
US08369539B2 Audio system with parental maximum volume control
The disclosed embodiments relate to an audio system (100) and an associate method. An exemplary embodiment of the system (100) comprises a user interface (104) that enables adjustment of a volume level of an audio signal being reproduced on at least a portion of the audio system to a desired maximum volume level. The user interface further enabling the desired maximum volume level to be selected as a set maximum volume level. A processor (102) electrically interconnected with the user interface is adapted to limit the volume at which audio programs are reproduced on at least a portion of the audio system to said set maximum volume level. An exemplary method comprises generating an audio signal, adjusting a volume level of the audio signal to a desired maximum volume level in response to a user input, and establishing the desired maximum volume level as a set maximum volume level for audio programs played on at least a portion of the audio system (100).
US08369538B2 Effect adding method and effect adding apparatus
An effect adding method, includes: applying different gains to a positive side waveform portion and a negative side waveform portion of an audio signal respectively when absolute values of input levels of the positive side waveform portion and the negative side waveform portion are smaller than a predetermined value; producing a higher range component of the audio signal based on a high range component of the audio signal to which the gain is applied, the higher range component being higher in frequency than the high range component; producing a lower range component of the audio signal based on a low range component of the audio signal to which the gain is applied, the lower range component being lower in the frequency than the low range component; and synthesizing an audio signal having an effect sound by adding the audio signal to which the different gains are applied, the higher range component, and the lower range component with each other.
US08369535B1 Acoustic signal level limiter for hearing safety
An acoustic signal level limiter provides a telephone handset/headset user with protection against loud audible signals generated within a communications system. The acoustic signal limiter comprises an acoustic signal level attenuation circuit and at least one acoustic signal level relay circuit. Once activated, the acoustic signal level attenuation circuit creates an attenuation network that attenuates an electrical acoustic signal transmitted through the communications system. Additional acoustic signal level relay circuits are activated to further attenuate the electrical acoustical signal to prevent the acoustic signal level attenuation circuit from operating in a deep saturation mode and provide further hearing safety for the telephone headset/handset user. A fuse in series and “Zener Zap” shunting transistor diodes may provide additional failsafe protection.
US08369530B2 Network set-up device
A network device adapted to communicate with other devices over a network, the device being arranged to, when the device is connected to a physical data carrier, automatically store a representation of a security key on the data carrier, and to provide at least one service over the network only to other devices making use of the security key.
US08369529B1 Re-keying based on pre-generated keys
A system and method for pre-generating encryption keys for re-keying stored ciphertext. The encryption keys are illustratively distributed to LKMs and therefrom to the security appliances communicating with each other. A minimum number of un-used pre-generated encryption keys is established wherein when that number is reached more pre-generated encryption keys are created and distributed.
US08369521B2 Smart card based encryption key and password generation and management
An apparatus can include a smart card based encryption key management system used to generate an encryption key using encryption key seed material, and an encryption key data store to store the encryption key seed material. An apparatus can include a smart card based password management system used to generate a password using password seed material, and a password data store to store the password seed material.
US08369520B2 Cryptographic device employing parallel processing
A cryptography processor includes a central processing unit and a co-processor, the co-processor comprising a plurality of calculating subunits as well as a single control unit which is coupled to each of the plurality of calculating subunits. A cryptographic operation is distributed among the individual calculating subunits in the form of sub-operations by the control unit. The central processing unit, the plurality of calculating subunits and the control unit are integrated on a single chip, the chip comprising a common supply current access for supplying the plurality of calculating subunits and the control unit with current. Due to the arrangement of the calculating subunit in parallel, on the hand, the throughput of the cryptography processor is increased. On the other hand, however, the current profile that may be detected at the supply current access is randomized to such an extent that an attacker can no longer infer numbers processed in the individual calculating subunits.
US08369518B2 Electronic data encryption and encrypted data decryption system, and its method
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic data encryption and decryption system allowing a privileged user to decrypt all encrypted data without using a plurality of secret keys but only by using a single secret key that the privileged user himself has. An electronic data encryption and decryption system includes: a privileged user device, a user device, and an encrypted data generation device. The privileged user device has: a privileged user key generation means for generating a privileged user secret key x and a privileged user public key x·P (P is a generator); a first session key generation means for generating a session key K; and a first decryption means for decrypting the encrypted data by using the session key K generated by the first session key generation means. The user device has: a user key generation means for generating a user secret key r, a user public key r·P, and a public key rx·P; a second session key generation means for generating the session key K; and a second decryption means for decrypting the encrypted data by using the session key K generated by the second session key generation means. The encrypted data generation device has: a third session key generation means for generating the session key K by using the public key rx·P, session key generation information s, and a random point Q; and a means for encrypting the input electronic data by using the session key K generated by the third session key generation means.
US08369513B2 Methods and systems for compensation for alien crosstalk between connectors
The present invention relates to methods and systems for minimizing alien crosstalk between connectors. Specifically, the methods and systems relate to isolation and compensation techniques for minimizing alien crosstalk between connectors for use with high-speed data cabling. A frame can be configured to receive a number of connectors. Shield structures may be positioned to isolate at least a subset of the connectors from one another. The connectors can be positioned to move at least a subset of the connectors away from alignment with a common plane. A signal compensator may be configured to adjust a data signal to compensate for alien crosstalk. The connectors are configured to efficiently and accurately propagate high-speed data signals by, among other functions, minimizing alien crosstalk.
US08369511B2 Robust method of echo suppressor
This invention proposed an Echo Suppressor which can efficiently suppress both echoes and background noise without introducing “choppiness”. The Echo Suppressor System includes said two adaptive gains Gr(RSR) and Gn(NSR), said one adaptive zeros-filter A1(z) and said one adaptive poles-filter A2(z); wherein, thr gain Gr(RSR) is controlled by RSR (Residual echo level to Signal level Ratio); the gain Gn(NSR) is controlled by NSR (Noise signal level to current Signal (Tx) level Ratio); the filter A1(z) is converted from LSF1 obtained from the first modification of LSFTx (Line Spectral Frequencies of Tx signal); the filter A2(z) is converted from LSF2 obtained from the second modification of LSFTx.
US08369509B2 System and method for search-based work assignments in a contact center
Provided herein is a system and method for assigning a service contact from a customer to a service agent. The method may include: generating a customer information record from the service contact; producing a result set of eligible service agents by use of the customer information record; sorting the result set of eligible service agents based upon a predetermined criterion, to produce a sorted result set of eligible service agents; assigning a service agent from the sorted result set of eligible service agents, to produce an assigned service agent; and monitoring a communication channel for a refusal message from the assigned service agent. If a refusal message is received from the assigned service agent, then the method may further include: classifying the assigned service agent as ineligible; and assigning another service agent from the sorted result set of eligible service agents, to produce an assigned service agent.
US08369508B2 Call routing in telephone switch based on duplicate leg detection
The disclosed technology described herein provides devices and methods for disconnecting only the duplicate legs of a call which may have been twice or more received on a telecommunications switch for the same phone call. In embodiments of the disclosed technology, the duplicate legs indicate a twice (or more) rejected call from a called party indicating that the call should not be returned to the called party, where the called party is defined as the intended recipient of the phone call. A remaining leg or legs are kept open upon duplicate leg detection on a switch, and the call is then handled with a premium feature, such as forwarding to voicemail.
US08369507B2 Ringback update system
A ringback replacement update system for creating or modifying ringback associations is disclosed. Communications devices activate and interact with the ringback update system to allow for modifications of the network service.
US08369505B2 Call access management
Receiving a request from a device for an incoming call to a called number. Obtaining presence information of the called party. Presenting the obtained information via the calling device. Presenting action option(s) including an option to proceed with the call. Receiving an action choice corresponding to proceed with the call. Presenting a request for credentials to the calling party. Receiving credentials corresponding to a calling party permitted to continue with the call. Proceeding with the call.
US08369500B2 Revenue management systems and methods with sponsored top-up options
A revenue management system for telecommunication systems is disclosed. The revenue management system can have multiple integrated modules. The modules can include a revenue generation module, a revenue capture module, a revenue collection module, a revenue intelligence module, and others. The revenue management system can also be configured to simultaneously manage revenue for prepaid, postpaid, now-paid payment models.
US08369499B2 Methods and systems for providing on-line bills for use in communication services
A method is provided for operating a communications system that provides a service, where a plurality of parties may be associated with members of an account with the system to receive the service. The method includes receiving a call from one of a plurality of members of an account, the call including a request for a service, where a common bill is provided for services rendered to the members of the account. An identifier to be used to identify the one party from among the plurality of members is received from the one party among the plurality of members. The common bill is provided for services rendered to the plurality of members of the account to a communications device via a network. In the common bill an indicator is provided of the one party requesting the service in association with a respective entry for the requested service.
US08369497B2 Enhanced voicemail system and method
A system for processing voicemail is provided that includes a voicemail database processor establishing one or more of an accounts table, a messages table, a distribution list table, a distribution lists members tables, and a delete request table. In operation a message navigation menu is provided to a user to allow the user to move back and forth a specified number of voicemails, change between urgent and normal priority voicemails, retrieve messages only from a specific mailbox or from outside the system, or initiate an improved deletion operation.
US08369493B2 System and method for recording an audio to-do list and adding to-do list items to a calendar application
An embodiment of a method for recording a to-do list includes receiving an incoming call by a first communication device from a caller using a second communication device. In at least one embodiment, the first communication device is located at a customer premise location. The method further includes prompting the caller to record an audio to-do list, recording an audio to-do list from the caller, and converting the audio to-do list into a text to-do list. The method further includes converting the text to-do list into at least one to-do list item, and sending the at least one to-do list item to a computing device to be utilized by an application. In at least one embodiment, the method further includes adding the at least one to-do list item to a software calendar application associated with the computing device.
US08369491B2 Automated answering party identification by a voice over internet protocol network
A server device transmits a call to a user device; receives a signal in response to the call; receives speech when the call is answered; performs an operation to determine a signal factor and another signal factor based on a signal duration; performs another operation to determine a speech factor and another speech factor based on a speech duration; determines whether the speech contains key words; performs an action to determine a confidence factor and another confidence factor based on the speech; computes a factor based on the signal factor, the speech factor, and the confidence factor; computes another factor based on the other signal factor, the other speech factor, and the other confidence factor; determines that the party is the user device when the total factor is less than the other total factor; and outputs a non-interactive message based on the determination that the party is the user device.
US08369490B2 Incoming call screening, control and prioritisation in a telephone device
A circuit for a telephone such as a mobile radiotelephone. The circuit has a memory for storing phonebook items and for storing group attributes associated with phonebook items, a connection to a radiotelephone receiver for receiving telephone calls and calling party identifications, and a controller for selecting the disposition of received calls. An operating mode is selected (45) from a plurality of operating modes, e.g. “Personal”, “emergency”, “personal-plus-emergency”, “all calls”, “no calls”, etc. A received calling party identification is compared (42) with a phonebook item, and a disposition for a received call (46, 47, 48, 49) is selected dependent on a group attribute for that phonebook item and a present operating mode.
US08369486B1 Systems and methods for testing telephony equipment
A communication system comprises a network server connected to a telephone at a customer premises via a subscriber line. The server is further connected to a cellular communication device through a cellular network. Upon installation of telephony equipment at the customer premises, a service technician uses a cellular communication device to communicate with the server of the network such that the server initiates a voice call to the telephone via the subscriber line. The technician then takes the telephone off hook, aligns a speaker of the cellular communication device with a microphone of the telephone, and aligns a microphone of the cellular device with a speaker of the telephone such that the telephone and the cellular device are acoustically coupled. A plurality of acoustic tones are communicated between the telephone and the cellular communication device in order to test the quality of the inbound and/or outbound connections for the telephone.
US08369481B2 X-ray inspection device
An X-ray inspection device includes an X-ray detecting unit, a determining unit, and an output unit. The X-ray detecting unit is configured and arranged to detect a level of X-rays passing through an article. The determining unit is configured to determine a state of the article based on a detection level of the X-rays detected by the X-ray detecting unit using a plurality of thresholds including a first threshold and a second threshold for a single determination criterion. The output unit is configured and arranged to output a result of determination made by the determining unit.
US08369479B2 Shift register with embedded bidirectional scanning function
The present invention relates to a shift register having a plurality of stages electrically coupled to each other in series. Each stage includes a first and second TFT transistor. The first TFT transistor has a get electrically coupled to the output of the immediately prior stage, a drain electrically coupled to the boost point of the stage, and a source configured to receive one of the first and second control signals. The second TFT transistor has a get electrically coupled to the output of the immediately next stage, a drain and a source electrically coupled the drain and the source of the first transistor, respectively.
US08369475B2 Nuclear fuel assembly support grid
A nuclear fuel assembly support grid formed from an array of a plurality of orthogonally arranged straps in an egg-crate configuration with angled trailing and/or leading edges that are designed to break the correlation of vortices shed from the edges of the grid straps by varying the phase of the vortices to avoid resonant vibration of the straps.
US08369474B2 Nuclear fission reactor, flow control assembly, methods therefor and a flow control assembly system
A nuclear fission reactor, flow control assembly, methods therefor and a flow control assembly system. The flow control assembly is coupled to a nuclear fission module capable of producing a traveling burn wave at a location relative to the nuclear fission module. The flow control assembly controls flow of a fluid in response to the location relative to the nuclear fission module. The flow control assembly comprises a flow regulator subassembly configured to be operated according to an operating parameter associated with the nuclear fission module. In addition, the flow regulator subassembly is reconfigurable according to a predetermined input to the flow regulator subassembly. Moreover, the flow control assembly comprises a carriage subassembly coupled to the flow regulator subassembly for adjusting the flow regulator subassembly to vary fluid flow into the nuclear fission module.
US08369472B2 Semiconductor integrated circuit device and method for clock data recovery
A clock data recovery circuit of an interpolator type capable of corresponding to multi-rate data without increasing the bandwidth of the interpolator. A clock generated by an interpolator is divided to generate a recovery clock. A pointer that controls the phase of the clock generated by the interpolator uses the clock before division, and the other circuits are operated by the recovery clock after division.
US08369471B1 Method and apparatus for improving channel estimation
A plurality of sub-channel response estimates corresponding to a plurality of contiguous sub-channels in a communication channel are determined, and a plurality of weight coefficients are determined. The plurality of sub-channel response estimates are multiplied with the plurality of weight coefficients to generate a plurality of weighted sub-channel response estimates. A filtered sub-channel response estimate for one of the plurality of contiguous sub channels is generated using the plurality of weighted sub-channel response estimates.
US08369467B2 Automatic gain control system
A received signal is amplified in an amplifier to create an amplified signal. The amplified signal is then filtered. The power of permanent common pilot sub-carriers present in the filtered amplified signal is calculated. A wideband power measurement is determined based on the amplified signal, and a narrowband power measurement is determined based on the filtered amplified signal. The first gain for the amplifier is controlled in dependence on the calculated power of the permanent common pilot sub-carriers, the wideband power measurement and the narrowband power measurement. The power of the permanent common pilot sub-carriers may be calculated in the frequency domain to mitigate fast switching of the controlled first gain. The filtered amplified signal may be amplified in a further amplifier, and a second gain can be controlled for the further amplifier in dependence on the calculated power of the permanent common pilot sub-carriers, the wideband power measurement and the narrowband power measurement.
US08369466B2 Automatic gain control circuit, receiving apparatus and automatic gain control method
An automatic gain control circuit includes: an amplification degree control section for calculating power of a digital value of a received signal, and for controlling an amplification degree of an amplifier of a receiving apparatus so that a difference between the power and predetermined reference power is zero; a received signal quality measuring section for measuring quality of the received signal; a reference power adjusting section for, upon finding that the measured quality of the received signal is below a fixed level, adjusting the reference power for a predetermined period of time; and a reference power updating section for causing the reference power adjusting section to continue to adjust the reference power until the quality of the received signal recovers to be at a predetermined recovery level or above, and for updating the reference power so that the reference power takes on an optimally adjusted value.
US08369462B2 DTV receiver and method of processing signal in DTV receiver
A DTV receiver includes a tuner, a demodulator, a channel equalizer, a sequence detector, and a burst controller. The tuner receives a DTV signal having main data and at least one burst of enhanced data. The demodulator demodulates the DTV signal by performing carrier and time recovery and the channel equalizer equalizes the demodulated signal. The sequence detector detects one or more known data sequences from any one of the received signal and the demodulated signal. The demodulator and the channel equalizer use the detected known data sequences when performing the carrier and timing recover and the channel-equalization, respectively. Lastly, the burst controller supplies power to the tuner, the demodulator, the channel equalizer, and the data detector only during a burst time for each burst of enhanced data for efficient power consumption.
US08369460B1 Reduced complexity constellation pattern recognition and classification method
A simplified, highly accurate, and real-time constellation pattern recognition and classification device for a software-defined communications apparatus is provided. The constellation pattern recognition and classification device includes an r(k) input, a group of test functions, a means for estimating, a means for calculating, a means for selecting the optimal test function, a means for signal processing, and a means for classifying a pattern that substantially decreases the amount of current constellation pattern calculations and intensive computational requirements and provides a real-time rapid response that improves performance of the software-defined communications apparatus. The present invention also includes a simplified, highly accurate, and real-time constellation pattern recognition and classification article of manufacture with a storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for a software-defined communications system and a method for highly accurate and real-time reduced complexity constellation pattern recognition and classification for a software-defined communications system.
US08369458B2 Wireless receiving system with an adaptively configurable analog to digital converter
A circuit is disclosed that comprises a controller and an analog to digital converter (ADC) coupled to controller. The speed and/or the resolution of the ADC is configurable to provide optimum performance during the operation of the ADC. In an embodiment a wireless receiver with an adaptively configurable ADC for is provided. The speed and resolution the ADC is configurable depending on the operational mode of the receiver. Accordingly, through the use of an adaptively configurable ADC, power consumption and speed is optimized for each operational mode.
US08369456B2 Data processing apparatus and method and encoding device
A data processing apparatus able to start decoding at a timing earlier than the conventional timing and able to reduce the storage capacity required for a storing means for storing the encoded data until a decoding side decodes the input encoded data in comparison with the conventional storage capacity, which apparatus selects frame data from frame data f(5) having the last decoding order to frame data f(0) having the first decoding order for processing for calculating a delay time min_delay and calculates the delay time min_delay. It calculates the delay time min_delay indicating the delay time from when the decoding side starts to receive input of the frame data to when the data is decoded based on the specified size and the bit rate of the input of the frame data to the decoding side for each of the frame data for processing.
US08369455B2 Receiving apparatus, receiving method, and program
The present invention provides a receiving apparatus including: a capturing section configured to correct an error of a receive signal and capture the receive signal; a filtering section configured to remove a low frequency component of a signal indicative of an integrated value of an error of the receive signal; and a capture detecting section configured to monitor a signal outputted from the filtering section and, if the signal is within a predetermined range for a predetermined time, detect that the capturing section has captured the receive signal.
US08369446B2 Transmitter
An apparatus comprising a first circuit configured to receive a signal and output a first output signal, a second circuit configured to receive the same signal and output a second output signal with a phase delay compared to the first signal, and a combiner configured to combine said first and second output signals to provide a combined signal, wherein said phase delay is controlled such that an amplitude of said combined signal is controlled.
US08369443B2 Single-wire asynchronous serial interface
The present invention discloses a single-wire asynchronous serial interface, and a method for transmitting commands and data through one transmission wire, wherein the transmission wire is capable of transmitting signals of three level states. The disclosed interface comprises a signal level extraction circuit receiving signals transmitted through the wire and outputting logic or functional bits according to the received signals; a clock extraction circuit generating clock signals according to the functional bits, and a memory circuit controlled by the clock signals and storing the logic bits. The disclosed method comprises: using two of the level states to represent logic 0 and logic 1, and the third of the states as a functional bit; and determining whether a group of signals is a command or data by the existence of a functional bit within the group.
US08369441B2 Receiving apparatus and receiving method
A receiving apparatus includes a converting unit that multiplies first and second reception signal points for the respective first and second reception signals by a matrix and outputs resulting converted first and second reception signal points; a number-of-candidates determining unit that determines a number of candidates for at least first transmission-signal candidate points, based on a reception quality for the first and second reception signals; and an estimating unit that selects, based on the converted first and second reception signal points, the first transmission-signal candidate points and second transmission-signal candidate points, the number of first transmission-signal candidate points corresponding to the determined number of candidates, and that estimates, as the first and second transmission signals, the first and second transmission-signal candidate points with which distances between the selected first and second transmission-signal candidate points and the corresponding converted first and second reception signal points are smallest.
US08369440B2 Communication apparatus, communication method, and mobile station apparatus
A communication apparatus includes a plurality of transmitting units that transmit a signal stream from each different antenna; a scheduling unit being configured such that the number of outputs is set so as to not exceed the number of transmitting units capable of transmitting, and a combination of transmitting units corresponding to the number of outputs, to each of which one of the signal streams is to be input, is defined in the form of a precoding matrix; a codeword generating unit that generates, from data to be transmitted, a predetermined number of codewords to be transmitted out simultaneously; an encoder that generates, from the codewords, signal streams corresponding to the number of outputs; and a modulation unit that supplies each of the signal streams to a corresponding one of the transmitting units in accordance with the precoding matrix.
US08369439B2 Transmission of precoding codebook over an air interface
Embodiments of the present invention include a system for transmitting a precoding codebook over an air interface. The system includes a first station configured to signal a set of indicators via at least one antenna to a second station from which the precoding codebook is derived at the second station based on the signaled set of indicators. The set of indicators includes less information than the precoding codebook.
US08369436B2 Multiple-input multiple-output spatial multiplexing system with dynamic antenna beam combination selection capability
A spatial diversity receiver for wirelessly receiving a modulated RF signal and a method for wirelessly transmitting and receiving the modulated RF signal. The spatial diversity receiver includes at least two antenna arrays and an antenna beam selection control unit. Each antenna array of the spatial diversity receiver includes at least two fixed beam antennas with distinct radiation patterns, and combinations of the fixed beam antennas are selectable for wireless receipt of the modulated RF signal. The antenna beam selection control unit is configured to control at least one antenna switching and/or combining unit in order to select a specific combination of fixed beam antennas from each antenna array.
US08369435B2 Frame structure for a QAM system
A novel framing method for a variable net bit rate digital communications system that utilizes a set of different QAM constellations and punctured trellis code combinations, each combination designated as a mode. This frame structure has a variable integral number of QAM symbols per frame depending on the selected mode, but the number of bytes and Reed-Solomon packets per frame is constant. This is achieved even though the number of data bits per QAM symbol for some modes is fractional. Also the number of trellis coder puncture pattern cycles per frame is an integer for all modes. This arrangement simplifies the synchronization of receiver processing blocks such as the Viterbi decoder, de-randomizer, byte de-interleaver, and Reed-Solomon decoder.
US08369434B2 16k mode interleaver in a digital video broadcasting (DVB) standard
A data processing apparatus maps input symbols to be communicated onto a predetermined number of sub-carrier signals of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) symbol. The data processor includes an interleaver memory which reads-in the predetermined number of data symbols for mapping onto the OFDM sub-carrier signals. The interleaver memory reads-out the data symbols on to the OFDM sub-carriers to effect the mapping, the read-out being in a different order than the read-in, the order being determined from a set of addresses, with the effect that the data symbols are interleaved on to the sub-carrier signals. The set of addresses are generated from an address generator which comprises a linear feedback shift register and a permutation circuit.
US08369431B2 Peak-to-average power reduction method
A method of reducing peak-to-average power in a hybrid signal is provided. The method determines peaks in power by defining a sample point by way of a digital vector and an analog vector. The digital and analog vectors are added together to generate a hybrid vector which is used to compare the sample point to the maximum desired peak threshold. An error vector is used to correct the sample point to a desired power level. Once the sample point has been corrected it can be added back to the analog signal and transmitted.
US08369430B2 Method for detecting signal, device for detecting signal, and receiving device
The present invention relates to a method for detecting a signal, a device for detecting a signal, and a receiving device. A method for detecting a signal according to the present invention is a method for detecting a signal from a receiving device in a communication system including a multi-output multi-input antenna, including: estimating a channel matrix of a signal received from a plurality of receiving antennas; generating at least one channel matrix groups by aligning the channel matrix and generating at least one transmitting signal group by aligning a transmitting signal to be estimated to correspond thereto; determining a first candidate vector in consideration of all constellation points for a first layer of the at least one transmitting signal group; determining a second candidate vector in consideration of all constellation points for a second layer of the at least one transmitting signal group; generating a final candidate vector including the first candidate vector and the second candidate vector; and calculating a soft output using the final candidate vector.
US08369429B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting precoding matrix index in a wireless communication system using CoMP scheme
A method and apparatus for transmitting a Precoding Matrix Index (PMI) in a Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) communication system are disclosed. The method includes receiving signals in a same frequency band from Base Stations (BSs) included in a CoMP set, which operate in joint processing mode, selecting a first precoding matrix for each of the BSs using the received signals, generating a second precoding matrix by combining the first precoding matrices, and transmitting an index of the second precoding matrix to a serving BS among the BSs.
US08369424B2 Frequency selective and frequency diversity transmissions in a wireless communication system
Techniques for efficiently supporting frequency selective scheduling (FSS) and frequency diversity scheduling (FDS) are described. In one design, a first transmission for an FSS user may be mapped to a subband selected for this user from among at least one subband in a first frequency region of the system bandwidth. The first transmission may be mapped to a fixed portion or different portions of the selected subband in different time intervals. A second transmission for an FDS user may be mapped across multiple subbands in a second frequency region of the system bandwidth. The second transmission may be mapped to different subbands or different resource blocks in the second frequency region in different time intervals. Each time interval may correspond to a symbol period, a slot, a subframe, etc. The frequency hopping may be performed based on a fixed hopping pattern or a pseudo-random hopping pattern.
US08369421B2 Coding distortion removal method by selectively filtering based on a pixel difference
Mosaic-shaped block noise occurs when a compressed video signal is reproduced. This block noise is removed, but removing block noise from every block using a deblocking filter imposes a significant load on the deblocking filter. This load is therefore reduced by determining whether coding distortion removal (deblocking) is necessary, and applying a deblocking filter only when needed.
US08369420B2 Multimode filter for de-blocking and de-ringing
A multimode filter that is versatile for digital signal processing including in-loop processing (de-blocking and de-ringing), post processing (de-blocking and de-ringing), and overlap smoothing. A flexi-standard filter includes the multimode filter. An electronic device includes the flexi-standard filter. A process for digital signal processing includes in-loop processing (de-blocking and de-ringing), post processing (de-blocking and de-ringing), and overlap smoothing.
US08369417B2 Optimal denoising for video coding
An optimal denoising method for video coding. This method makes use of very few pixels and linear operations, and can be embedded into the motion compensation process of video encoders. This method is simple and flexible, yet offers high performance and produces appealing pictures.
US08369416B2 Error concealment method and apparatus
An error concealment method and apparatus are provided. The error concealment method includes determining a reference direction of a lost frame by determining whether a scene change between frames has occurred based on the lost frame; extracting concealment reference points for a pixel of the lost frame by using at least one frame except for the lost frame according to the determined reference direction; obtaining a concealment pixel value of the pixel of the lost frame by giving weight values to the extracted concealment reference points; and restoring the lost frame by performing a concealment of the pixel using the concealment pixel value. According to the error concealment method and apparatus, when a frame loss occurs in an appliance that receives/outputs compressed moving images, error concealment in the unit of a frame can be effectively performed, and the deterioration of picture quality due to the error propagation can be minimized.
US08369412B2 Method and system to improve the transport of compressed video data
A method comprises determining a plurality of time intervals Tp and Tn within a variable bit rate (VBR) representation of an image sequence. The time intervals Tp are those in which a number of blocks of information per unit time is greater than a baseline value. The time intervals Tn are those in which a number of blocks of information per unit time is less than the baseline value. A second representation of the image sequence is created in which some blocks of information Bp are removed from the time intervals Tp and interlaced with blocks of information Bn in the time intervals Tn to reduce a variation in a number of blocks of information per unit time between the time intervals Tp and Tn.
US08369409B2 Motion vector detection apparatus and method, moving picture encoding apparatus and method, and moving picture decoding apparatus and method
A motion vector detection apparatus that obtains, for each of the blocks of a predetermined size into which one frame is divided, motion vector information in units of a plurality of partitions of differing rectangular shapes and differing sizes, up to the size of the blocks, has a partition connector means (23) that, when motion vectors for a plurality of partitions are obtained for one of the blocks, decides whether or not to connect a plurality of the partitions for which the motion vectors are obtained, and if the partitions are connected, includes motion vector information about the resulting connected partition in the motion vector information output from the motion vector detection apparatus. The motion vector encoding rate can be reduced.
US08369408B2 Method of fast mode decision of enhancement layer using rate-distortion cost in scalable video coding (SVC) encoder and apparatus thereof
A method of fast mode decision of an enhancement layer using a bitrate-distortion cost in an SVC encoder includes: calculating a bitrate-distortion cost for a current macro block of an enhancement layer and a bitrate-distortion cost for a previous macro-block of the current macro block of an enhancement layer based on an optimal motion mode and an motion vector for a macro block of a base layer of a current frame; correcting the bitrate-distortion cost for the previous macro block calculated at the calculating by a correction value for reflecting relationship with the previous frame to calculate a final bitrate-distortion cost for the previous macro block; and comparing the bitrate-distortion cost for the current macro block calculated at the calculating with the final bitrate-distortion cost calculated at the correcting and selecting a motion mode that will be removed from the current macro block according to the comparison result.
US08369407B2 Method and a system for indexing and searching for video documents
A method of indexing a video document represents the video document in the form of a parallelepipedal volume obtained by juxtaposing, on a time axis, successive frames of the video document where each frame is represented by a matrix of pixels in a two-dimensional space. A space-time video slice of the video document is constructed by extracting a set of pixels for each frame of the video document in a same line defined relative to a first direction of the frames and juxtaposing the lines of pixels corresponding to the frames on a time axis to form a space-time video slice of a length defined by the juxtaposed lines of pixels and of a height equal to the length of the lines extracted from each of the frames. The length is a function of the dimension of the frames in a second direction and the orientation of the lines. The colorimetric values of the pixels of the lines of the space-time video slice are initialized on the basis of the content of the lines extracted from the frames of the video document.
US08369403B2 Image processing device and image processing method
The present invention can suppress the decline in video quality during encoding. The present invention generates, for each of the nine intra image prediction modes preset according to the AVC standard, a difference image data item containing a difference value from pixels surrounding a process-target pixel. Then, an encoding device (10) ranks the intra image prediction modes depending on the sum of absolute difference (SAD), which is the sum of differences that is based on the sum of absolute values of each process-target pixel of the difference image data item and a preference order of offset[n] preset for the intra image prediction mode.
US08369402B2 Apparatus and method for prediction modes selection based on image formation
An image coding apparatus determines an image pattern of image data and, based on the determined image pattern, selects a prediction mode for generating predicted pixel values by predicting pixel values in a frame using pixel values in the same frame. Alternatively, based on photographing information concerning input image data, an image coding apparatus selects a prediction mode for generating predicted pixel values by predicting pixel values in a frame using pixel values in the same frame.
US08369393B2 Wireless in-band signaling with in-vehicle systems
This invention pertains to methods and apparatus for data communications from vehicles, to obtain emergency, concierge and other services, using a voice channel of a digital wireless telecommunications network. Signaling is described for commencing data sessions after establishing a voice channel call. The call may be initiated from the vehicle automatically, and the call taker location may be unattended. Signaling methods are selected for traversing both newer and legacy vocoders for ubiquitous operation.
US08369388B2 Single-chip wireless tranceiver
Embodiments of a wireless transceiver are provided. Embodiments can be used in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless transceivers. In an embodiment, radio control signal bundles are provided as direct parallel interconnects between digital signal processing modules and the radio module of the wireless transceiver to enable a precise low-latency control of radio functions. In another embodiment, a separate physical line is provided to control each radio setting of the radio module, thereby enabling simultaneous real-time control of any number of radio settings. In a further embodiment, the various digital and analog components of the wireless transceiver are integrated within a single chip of the same process technology.
US08369387B1 Bit sync for receiver with multiple antennas
A receiver with multiple antennas, such as an 802.11b receiver may generate a magnitude signal for each antenna and add the results to determine a peak signal point in a received frame to provide a bit synchronization signal to a rake receiver component. The receiver may include one or more threshold switches that only pass individual or combined magnitude signals when the magnitude signals are above a certain level. The received frame may be dividing into segments using a switching circuit and registers. A comparator may then evaluate the registers to determine the segment with the highest magnitude signal. In one embodiment, values for adjacent segments may be added to a current segment when determining the segment with the highest magnitude signal.
US08369385B2 Cancellation of pilot and traffic signals
A method for removing selected signals from a received signal prior to decoding begins by receiving communication signals from a transmitter over a CDMA air interface. The received communication signals are input to a traffic signal cancellation system for canceling unwanted traffic signals, thereby producing an output (O). The received communication signals are input to a pilot signal cancellation system for removing a global pilot signal, thereby producing an output (Oadd). The output (Oadd) of the pilot signal cancellation system is subtracted from the output (O) of the traffic signal cancellation system to provide a cancellation system output.
US08369383B2 Method and apparatus for setting received signal processing delays as a function of channel dispersiveness
A method and apparatus provide for setting processing delay assignments in a CDMA receiver using a flat-channel placement or using a dispersive channel placement, in dependence on characterizing the channel as flat or dispersive. For example, a receiver maintains a logical flag reliably indicating the current channel state as flat or dispersive, and assigns or otherwise sets processing delays—e.g., for received signal demodulation—using a flat-channel placement algorithm or a dispersive-channel placement algorithm. The “flat-channel” placement algorithm generally provides better performance in flat-channel environments, and the “dispersive-channel” placement algorithm generally provides better performance in dispersive channel environments. Such processing may be regarded as “activating” a simplified processing delay placement grid that offers better performance if the channel truly is flat, with the underlying advantage of providing a reliable mechanism for detecting flat channel conditions.
US08369375B2 Semiconductor light-emitting device
Disclosed is a semiconductor light-emitting device including a package having a light outlet, a semiconductor laser diode disposed in the package and radiating a light having a first wavelength falling within a range of ultraviolet ray to visible light, and a visible-light-emitter containing a phosphor which absorbs a light radiated from the semiconductor laser diode and emits a visible light having a second wavelength differing from the first wavelength, the visible-light-emitter being disposed on an optical path of the laser diode and a peripheral edge of the visible-light-emitter being in contact with the package.
US08369371B1 Passivated semiconductor surfaces
The method of these teachings includes processing a semiconductor structure forming an active waveguide of a semiconductor laser in an environment free of contamination in order to provide contamination free mirror facets at the ends of the active waveguide, and depositing a single crystal passivation layer comprised of a semiconductor whose bandgap exceeds that of the active layer and the waveguide layers and that does not form misfit dislocations with the laser diode semiconductor, the deposition occurring at a temperature at which the semiconductor structure does not degrade.
US08369369B2 Systems, methods, and circuits for driving large off-chip loads
A method and system to drive large off-chip loads, such as, for example, laser diodes, wherein the system includes an integrated circuit coupled to an external differential diode load. Alternatively, the external diode load may be driven single-ended. The integrated circuit includes a data buffer device and a clock buffer device. The integrated circuit also includes a multiplexer device coupled to the clock buffer device configured to multiplex a data input signal and a clock input signal received at respective inputs of the integrated circuit. If the external diode is single-ended, the data input signal is transmitted to the data buffer device, which is then used solely to drive the diode load. If the diode load is differential, the data buffer device receives the data input signal. At the same time, the multiplexer device receives both the data input signal and the clock input signal and selects the data signal to drive the clock buffer device. For a diode load being driven differentially, the outputs of the two buffer devices are merged together externally through the use of a power-combining network, which includes external or off-chip transmission lines, which carry a respective output signal for the data buffer device and the clock buffer device.
US08369367B1 Tunable laser system
A tunable laser system utilizes a frequency shift compensated acousto-optic tunable filter. The wavelength accuracy and stability is achieved by a wavelength locker utilizing two separate intracavity light beams without the need to use beam splitters to significantly reduce the space typically needed by a conventional wavelength locker, and provide more stable operation and easy assembly. The acoustic optical tunable filter includes an acousto-optical crystal with a transducer coupled to the crystal to generate acoustic waves, and an optical mirror to reflect the diffracted light beam back to the acousto-optical medium again such that the frequency shift by two diffractions is compensated. By using different laser gain mediums, acoustic wave driving frequencies and acousto-optical crystals, this invention can be used to make tunable lasers in wide range of optical wavelengths for many different applications.
US08369366B2 Semiconductor laser excited solid-state laser device
To make it possible to use a type I nonlinear optical crystal or a quasi phase matching element as a third harmonic generation crystal there is provided a semiconductor laser, a solid state laser medium that outputs a fundamental wave, a second harmonic generation crystal that outputs a second harmonic wave from the fundamental wave, and a third harmonic generation crystal that outputs a third harmonic wave from the fundamental wave and the second harmonic wave. A quasi phase matching elements is utilized as the second harmonic generation crystal. It is possible to use a type I nonlinear optical crystal or a quasi phase matching element as the third harmonic generation crystal.
US08369362B2 Audio and video data processing device for multimedia communication via a local network set up within an asynchronous network
A device is dedicated to the processing of audio and video data for multimedia communication, via an asynchronous network, between first LAN audio and video terminals and second LAN audio and video terminals. This device includes i) a connector which establishes communications with the first LAN audio and video terminals and with other connectors installed in another device, ii) a first dating module which attaches a transmit time mark and an identifier to the audio and video data emitted by the first LAN audio and video terminals, before their transmission to the other connector and iii) a processor which determines a time difference representing the transmission time difference between the received audio and video data and presenting the same identifier.
US08369359B2 Communication device, communication method, and integrated circuit
A communication device for transmitting data to an other communication device via a transmission channel, includes a communication characteristic acquisition section which acquires a communication characteristic of the transmission channel, and a frame length control section which controls a frame length of a communication frame storing the data based on the communication characteristic of the transmission channel.
US08369357B2 System and method for providing simultaneous handling of layer-2 and layer-3 mobility in an internet protocol network environment
An apparatus for providing mobility in an Internet protocol (IP) network environment is provided that includes a cell site element operable to receive an address resolution protocol (ARP) signal from a base station. The ARP signal is associated with a selected mobile station that can roam between networks. In response to the signal, the cell site element evaluates a table that identifies a plurality of mobile stations and if the selected mobile station is not present in the table, then a mobility registration request is generated and communicated to a next destination.
US08369354B2 Method for synchronizing a transmission of applications data frames, corresponding sender and receiver devices and storage means
It is proposed a method for synchronizing a transmission of applications data frames provided to a sender device, the transmission being done between said sender device and at least one receiver device via a synchronous communications network implementing a clock that defines a network cycle.Upon detection of an event representing a start of an applications data frame, the sender device performs steps of: determining a piece of information on time offset between the instant of detection of the event and a reference instant of a network cycle as well as a piece of information on position of said first network cycle in a sequence of network cycles; transmitting the piece of information on time offset and the piece of information on position, during a first network cycle; processing for transmission, in a bounded lapse of time, a set of applications data starting from the start of the frame; transmitting, the processed applications data starting from a second network cycle subsequent to said first network cycle.
US08369353B1 Dynamic heterogeneous backhaul
A method of operating a communication system is disclosed. A first communication link of a first type is established to exchange communication traffic. A performance indicator for said first communication link is monitored. A second communication link of a second type is established. Based on the performance indicator, a portion of the communication traffic is moved from the first communication link to the second communication link.
US08369352B1 Scheduling access terminals via one or more wireless schedulers
A method, medium, and wireless system are provided for scheduling access terminals to prevent starvation of other access terminals connected to a communication network. The wireless system includes access terminals and base stations that are configured with a first wireless scheduler and a parallel wireless scheduler that select access terminals to communicate during specified time slots. The access terminals may measure channel conditions associated with communications to the base station and transmit requests that specify a desired communication rate to the base station. The first and parallel wireless schedulers on each base station receive the requests from each access terminal and select an access terminal to communicate during a subsequent time slot that may be based on, for example, the channel conditions and weighted average functions of the communication rates—corresponding to the access terminal—generated by the first and parallel wireless schedulers.
US08369351B2 Method and apparatus for collision avoidance
A wireless communication device, a wireless communication system and a method of avoiding collisions by transmitting a packet length field before transmitting a header of the packet.
US08369345B1 Multi-router system having shared network interfaces
A multi-router system is described in which hardware and software components of one or more standalone routers can be partitioned into multiple logical routers. The multiple logical routers are isolated from each other in terms of routing and forwarding functions yet allow network interfaces to be shared between the logical routers. Moreover, different logical routers can share network interfaces without impacting the ability of any of the logical routers to be independently scaled to meet the bandwidth demands of the customers serviced by the logical router.
US08369343B2 Device virtualization
Methods and apparatus for device virtualization and for communication between network devices are described. In one example, all devices on a first Local Area Network (LAN1) which are to communicate with devices on a second Local Area Network (LAN2) have a virtual presence on LAN2, and all the devices on LAN2 which are to communicate with devices on LAN1 have a virtual presence on LAN1, enabling these devices to communicate as if they were located in the same LAN. In another example, a device which uses different networking protocols to other devices on a network is virtualized on its own network, along with all the devices with which it communicates. In either example, the proposed virtualization technique may ensure that virtualized devices appear like physical devices to the other devices such that no modifications of the networking protocol is necessary to interact with a virtualized device.
US08369342B2 System, apparatus, and method for extending network with power supply
System, apparatus, and method for extending network with power supply are disclosed. The apparatus includes a processing unit, a signal and power integration unit, a power supply unit, a transmission rate regulation unit, a display unit, and a symmetric transmission control unit. The signal and power integration unit integrates the electrical power with the data packages, so that the normal data transmission line can also transmit electrical power alone with signals to the electrical devices which are connected to the network extending apparatus. Therefore, the electrical devices do not need any extra power transmission line or independent power supply for obtaining the requisite power.
US08369339B2 System and method of subscriber to content provider network access service management
A system and method are provided for subscriber to content provider network access service management which is requested by and paid for by the content provider to the network access provider. In response to the request from the content provider the network access provider invokes changes in bandwidth and/or quality of service for network traffic traversing between the web service provided by the content provider and the subscriber, either automatically or in response to a run-time request. The changes made in bandwidth and/or quality of service for the network traffic enables more robust and timely content and applications to be delivered to the specific subscriber from the content provider.
US08369337B1 Methods and devices for assigning a wireless communication device to a wireless coverage area based on early termination gain
Methods and systems for assigning a wireless communication device (WCD) to a wireless coverage are a based on early termination gain (ETG) are presented. In particular, a RAN may receive a request, from a WCD, for an assignment to one of a plurality of wireless coverage areas. In response to receiving the request, the RAN may select a wireless coverage area of the plurality that has a highest ETG, and assign the WCD to the selected wireless coverage area. Prior to selecting this wireless coverage area, the RAN may optionally remove one or more wireless coverage areas with high utilization from consideration.
US08369336B2 Method for requesting domain transfer and terminal and server thereof
A method, terminal and server for controlling a domain transfer operation, are discussed. According to an embodiment, the method includes receiving, by a terminal, a domain transfer request from a network server, the domain transfer request including domain transfer related information; evaluating, by the terminal, the domain transfer related information when deciding whether or not to initiate a domain transfer; determining, by the terminal, whether to initiate the domain transfer of an ongoing call based on the evaluation result; and initiating, by the terminal, the domain transfer of the ongoing call when the evaluated domain transfer related information indicates that the domain transfer of the ongoing call needs to be initiated, wherein the domain transfer is for voice call continuity that is capable of transferring voice calls between a circuit switched (CS) domain and an (IMS) domain.
US08369335B2 Method and system for extending routing domain to non-routing end stations
A system is provided for facilitating assignment of a virtual routing node identifier to a non-routing node. During operation, the system assigns to a non-routing node coupled to a switch a virtual routing node identifier unique to the non-routing node. In addition, the system communicates reachability information corresponding to the virtual routing node identifier to other switches in the network.
US08369334B2 Internet real-time deep packet inspection and control device and method
A deep packet inspection and control device includes a first rule table unit for storing a rule table including a first set of rule entries which are pre-defined or generated dynamically; a first scanning unit for receiving a first real-time packet data stream from the internet, and scanning the first real-time packet data stream according to a scanning window defined by the first set of rule entries; a first analysis unit for matching the first real-time packet data stream with the first set of rule entries in the scanning window of the first scanning unit, and outputting a matching result; and a first rule linkage unit for performing linkage control on the first real-time packet data stream to be output back to the internet according to the matching result output from the first analysis unit.
US08369332B2 Server-side load balancing using parent-child link aggregation groups
Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: establishing, at the network node, a first Child Link Aggregation Group (CLAG), wherein the first CLAG includes at least one link to a first downstream node; establishing, at the network node, a second CLAG, wherein the second CLAG includes at least one link to a second downstream node; establishing, at the network node, a Parent Link Aggregation Group (PLAG), wherein the PLAG includes the first CLAG and the second CLAG; receiving, at the network node, a packet including an address of a destination of the packet; determining that the destination of the packet is associated with the PLAG; and transmitting the packet over both the first CLAG and the second CLAG.
US08369330B2 Provider backbone bridging—provider backbone transport internetworking
An Ethernet virtual switched sub-network (VSS) is implemented as a virtual hub and spoke architecture overlaid on hub and spoke connectivity built of a combination of Provider Backbone Transport (spokes) and a provider backbone bridged sub-network (hub). Multiple VSS instances are multiplexed over top of the PBT/PBB infrastructure. A loop free resilient Ethernet carrier network is provided by interconnecting Provider Edge nodes through access sub-networks to Provider Tandems to form Provider Backbone Transports spokes with a distributed switch architecture of the Provider Backbone Bridged hub sub-network. Provider Backbone transport protection groups may be formed from the Provider Edge to diversely homed Provider Tandems by defining working and protection trunks through the access sub-network. The Provider Backbone Transport trunks are Media Access Control (MAC) addressable by the associated Provider Edge address or by a unique address associated with the protection group in the Provider Backbone Bridged network domain.
US08369325B2 Method and apparatus for packet classification and spreading in a virtualized system
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system for packet classification and spreading in a virtualized system. The system can use information in a packet's header to determine a destination system-image in the virtualized system, and a packet-spreading policy for the destination system-image. The system can determine a key using the information in a packet's header. Alternatively, the system can hash the information in the packet's header to obtain an index value. Next, the system can use the key or the index value to perform a lookup in a table which associates keys or index values with system images and/or packet-spreading policies. Once the destination system-image and the packet-spreading policy are determined, the system can deliver the packet to a thread on the destination system-image according to the packet-spreading policy.
US08369323B1 Managing voice-based data communications within a clustered network environment
This disclosure relates to managing voice-based data communications within a clustered network environment using application-layer functionality, and more particularly to a primary network device within a cluster that manages transmissions related to a communication and synchronizes state information associated with the communication to other network devices within the cluster. One exemplary method includes receiving, by a network device in a cluster, information associated with a data communication between a first user device and a second user device, and analyzing, by the network device, the received information using application-layer functionality to identify a primary network device that manages the data communication. When the network device is not the primary network device, the network device forwards the received information to the primary network device. Upon receipt of the information, the primary network device provides updated state information for the communication with other network devices within the cluster for synchronization purposes.
US08369320B2 Multiplexing apparatus and cell discard method
An ATM multiplexing apparatus of the present invention is the apparatus for selectively performing cell discard processing in the case of congestion on the basis of a use state of the same connection formed by cells from the side of an ATM switching unit and subscribers without installing UPC units, and the ATM multiplexing apparatus, which is connected to the ATM switching unit and each of plural subscribers through ATM communication lines and performs multiplexing processing to ATM cells sent from the plural subscribers, comprises: detection means 118 for detecting a level of a congestion state corresponding to the received ATM 157 from the subscribers; and discard means (111, 115 and 117) for selectively discarding the received ATM cells from the subscribers on the basis of a communication state determined by the received ATM cells 155 from the ATM switching unit and the received ATM cells from the subscribers and a level value of a warning signal 129 indicating the detected congestion state.
US08369319B2 System and method for originating a call via a circuit-switched network from a user equipment device
Methods and apparatus for originating a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) call from a user equipment (UE) device in a network environment including a circuit-switched (CS) network and an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) network to a called party are disclosed. In one illustrative example, when the SIP call is originated by the UE device in the CS network domain, a SIP Invite message which includes a SIP Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) or Tel URI of the called party is sent from the UE device to the IMS network (e.g. to an application server (AS) node). At the AS node, a pool of E.164 numbers are maintained as IP multimedia routing numbers (IMRNs) which are utilized for mapping to or otherwise associating with called party URIs. Thus, the AS node dynamically allocates a select E.164 number with respect to the called party's URI received from the UE device, and returns it to the UE device in a SIP Response message, e.g., a SIP 380 (Alternative Service) message. Subsequently, the dynamically-allocated E.164 number is sent from the UE device in a call setup message for identification of the URI at the AS node, via the mapping, so that the SIP call may be properly routed towards the called party.
US08369315B2 Call connection method, equipment, and system in IP multimedia subsystem
A call connection method in an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) is provided. The method includes the following steps. An entrance network element (NE) of a called network receives a session request carrying called user identification (ID) information from a calling network. When determining that the called user ID information is incomplete, the entrance NE of the called network sends a response message indicating that the called user ID information is incomplete to the calling network. The calling network updates the called user ID information according to the response message, and sends the updated called user ID information to the entrance NE of the called network. An interface NE, a called network system, a call connection system, and a method of informing a call connection failure are also provided.
US08369314B2 Call control method and IMS CS control apparatus
A call control method and an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) circuit-switched (CS) control apparatus are disclosed. The call control method includes these steps: a terminal device and a second party set up a call through a CS call leg set up between the terminal device and an IMS CS control function (ICCF) and a second call leg set up between the ICCF and the second party; and the ICCF receives a media type change request, and rejects the change of media type for the call between the terminal device and the second party if more than one session is available on the terminal device. Embodiments of the present invention avoid call failure upon session transfer due to the change of media type in the prior art, thus improving the reliability and stability of session transfer.
US08369313B2 IMS and method of multiple S-CSCF operation in support of single PUID
A method for providing multimedia services to subscriber user equipment (UE) within an IP multimedia subsystem network (IMS) may include configuring the IMS to enable a single UE to fork register and cooperate with multiple serving-call session control functions (S-CSCFs). After obtaining IP connectivity, the single UE signals to register with the IMS and the IMS determines whether the UE is configured to fork register with multiple S-CSCFs. If the UE is configured, the IMS determines which S-CSCFs are eligible for the UE registration and fork registers the UE to multiple S-CSCFs of the eligible S-CSCFs. Consequently, incoming and outgoing calls to/from the UE are routed by the IMS to any of the multiple registered S-CSCFs.
US08369311B1 Methods and systems for providing telephony services to fixed and mobile telephonic devices
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications and in particular to systems and methods for routing telephone calls. A first address, such as a first phone number, can be associated with a telephonic terminal, such as a fixed or mobile phone. Incoming calls to the first address can be routed using an Internet Protocol, such as SIP, or other protocol to the telephonic terminal or to other destinations based on telephonic terminal status and/or based on a user instruction.
US08369310B2 Method for reliable detection of the status of an RTP packet stream
In a method for determining the status of a real-time transfer protocol (RTP) packet stream, several steps are performed. A time period elapsed since reception of the last RTP packet is determined, the content of the last received RTP packet is determined, and the status of the RTP packet stream based on the elapsed time period and the content of the last received RTP packet is categorized. The method is advantageous in that the risk of false detection of dead RTP packet streams is reduced.
US08369304B2 Methods to reduce power for asynchronous internet message protocols
A method for reducing power consumption in a mobile station is provided. The method includes holding data associated with a first polling message until a first scheduled RF wake-up of the mobile station. The method also includes sending the data associated with the first polling message at substantially the same time as the first scheduled RF wake-up of the mobile station. The method further includes holding a second polling message until a second scheduled RF wake-up of the mobile station. The scheduled RF wake-ups of the mobile station are determined according to a schedule established by a service provider of the wireless communication network. In certain embodiments, the polling messages are associated with an ActiveSync® Ping command.
US08369303B2 Techniques for uplink multi-user MIMO MAC support
An embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless station (STA), comprising a transceiver operable for communicating in a wireless network, wherein the transceiver is adapted for Uplink Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (UL MU MIMO) Medium Access Control (MAC) support.
US08369301B2 OFDM/OFDMA frame structure for communication systems
An OFDM/OFDMA frame structure technology for communication systems is disclosed. The OFDM/OFDMA frame structure technology comprises a variable length sub-frame structure with efficiently sized cyclic prefixes and efficient transition gap durations operable to effectively utilize OFDM/OFDMA bandwidth. Furthermore, the frame structure provides compatibility with multiple wireless communication systems. An uplink frame structure and a downlink frame structure are provided.
US08369296B2 Distributed link aggregation
Systems and methods to forward data frames are described. A particular method may include generating a plurality of management frames at a controlling bridge. The management frames may include routing information. The plurality of management frames may be communicated to a plurality of bridge elements coupled to a plurality of server computers. The plurality of bridge elements are each configured to selectively forward a plurality of data frames according to the routing information.
US08369293B2 Mobile router, home agent, and terminal position management method
In a mobile network system composed of plural mobile networks and a home agent, the home agent inquires mobile routers in a mobile network whether or not a terminal is connected, if detecting the absence of the terminal, when data addressed to the terminal arrives at a home network of the terminal in the mobile network. Responding to this inquiry, the mobile routers search whether or not the terminal is connected to the own mobile networks. If the terminal is connected, the mobile routers inform the home agent of the presence of the terminal. When receiving this notice, the home agent transfers data addressed to this terminal to a mobile router as a notice source. This process, even if a terminal moves to a mobile network having a same network prefix as that of the home network, allows transferring a packet accurately to the terminal.
US08369292B2 Method and apparatus for mobility management in communication networks
A communication network for use in mobile communications may include at least one mobile device configured to communicate with a corresponding host through the communication network. The communication network may also include a packet data gateway configured to detect an attachment of the mobile device roaming into a wireless local area network controlled by the packet data gateway. Further, the communication network may include a mobility server coupled to the packet data gateway to establish a call session between the mobile device and the corresponding host.
US08369290B2 System and method for supporting handovers between different radio access technologies of a wireless communications system
A system and method for supporting handovers between different radio access technologies is provided. A method for communications device operations includes sending a request to a controller of the communications device to change an operating mode of the communications device, and receiving a transmission responsive to the request. The method also includes in response to determining that the controller has granted the request to change the operating mode and that the communications device is operating in a border cell, changing the operating mode of the communications device, tuning at least one receiver of the communications device to an alternate radio access technology (RAT), and initiating a handover with the alternate RAT.
US08369287B2 System and method for balancing communication traffic loading between adjacent base stations in a mobile communications network
A mobile communication device measures a received signal strength indicator, RSSI, from a base station. An adjusted signal strength indicator, RSSI-ADJ, is calculated for the base station as a function of both the RSSI and a traffic indicator received from the base station. A determination is made, based on the calculated RSSI-ADJ, whether the mobile communication device should roam.
US08369286B2 Radio communication system and method
A mobile station determines, in accordance with reception quality of a radio signal from a base station, a measurement cycle of a predetermined measurement on a link status and/or on/off of the predetermined measurement and controls execution of the predetermined measurement based on the determination.
US08369285B2 Radio communication apparatus and radio communication method
A CIR measuring section 307 measures CIRs of all blocks received and a block selection section 308 makes a threshold decision based on the CIR measurement result and threshold information according to an amount of traffic in the own cell and neighboring cells. As a result of the threshold decision, blocks whose CIRs exceed the threshold are regarded as usable blocks. A CIR averaging section 309 averages the CIRs of the usable blocks and a CQI generation section 310 generates a CQI based on the CIR average value. The CQI generated and selected block numbers are reported to a base station apparatus. This allows the throughput of the own cell and neighboring cells to be improved.
US08369284B2 Method and system for maintaining multiple PDN network connection during inter-technology handover in idle mode
The present invention provides a method and system for supporting an optimized an idle mode handoff of user equipment from a 3GPP (EUTRAN) to a non-3GPP system (HRPD, cdma2000) where the user equipment washes to maintain connectivity with multiple PDN networks. Namely, during an idle mode registration of the user equipment with the non-3GPP system, the user equipment will provide an indication to the access node on the non-3GPP system so that the access point in that non-3GPP system contacts the appropriate entity (HSS or AAA) on the home network for the user equipment to download the addresses of the multiple PDN gateway addresses that are currently in use by the user equipment. This indication to the non-3GPP access node, the contact message from the access node to the home network, and the response from the home network to the access node on the non-3GPP system are novel features that are not shown in the prior art, and provide the access node with sufficient information to maintain multiple PDN connectivity to the user equipment during an idle mode handover.
US08369282B2 Ranging by mobile station in femto system
A ranging method in a mobile station of a femto system is disclosed. According to the present invention, a femto base station enables non-synchronized ranging channel (NS-RCH) information to be carried on S-SFH SP1. A mobile station receives S-SFH and then determines whether a base station is a femto base station. If the base station is the femto base station, the mobile station is able to perform a periodic ranging using the NS-RCH information within the S-SFH as well as an initial/handover ranging.
US08369281B2 Cell-to-WiFi switcher
Systems and methods that enable a user to seamlessly switch between networks and/or devices, during a content delivery session. The system comprises a network change detection component that can determine when the user switches from one network to another. Further, a context management component is employed that stores a context state of the content delivery session on the first network when a change in network is detected. The context state is employed to seamlessly resume content delivery on the newly connected network and continue the content delivery session.
US08369280B2 Control channels in multicarrier OFDM transmission
A base station transmits control information on a subframe of a first carrier starting from the first OFDM symbol of the subframe. The control information provides transmission format and scheduling information for data packets transmitted on a first data channel of the first carrier. The base station transmits a control message on the first data channel to a wireless device. The control message configures radio resources of a second data channel to start from the first OFDM symbol of subframes of a second carrier. The base station transmits data packets on the second data channel.
US08369274B2 Communication system, communication device, program and communication control method
There is provided a communication system comprising: a first communication device that senses a communication environment surrounding the first communication device; a second communication device that acquires sensed data sensed by the first communication device; and a third communication device that determines availability of usage of a second communication service using a part or whole of a spectrum assigned to a first communication service based on the sensed data transmitted from the second communication device.
US08369272B2 Apparatus and method for implementing configurable resource management policies
A resource management apparatus adapted to implement resource management policies for the management of resources of a system, being susceptible of being assigned to entities requesting services to the system. The resource management apparatus includes: a configuration interface adapted to receive resource management configuration data from a user, the configuration data including a resource management decision logic adapted to specify a resource management policy; a resource management policy implementation unit responsive to service requests from the requesting entities and adapted to manage the assignment of the resources of the system to the requesting entities based on the resource management decision logic. The configuration interface is adapted to receive, and the resource management policy implementation unit is adapted to manage resource management decision logic structured as a set of one or more decision rules, each decision rule including: a description of at least one service request intended to be governed by the decision rule; a description of a state of the system in respect of which the decision rule is intended to apply; and action to be taken by the apparatus in case the decision rule applies.
US08369270B2 Method and a mobile phone terminal enabling to merge telephony services over heterogeneous networks
A method to merge telephony services over a circuit switched network (3) and a packet switched data network (4), in a mobile phone terminal, comprises the steps of: receiving communication events arriving via a circuit switched network (3), receiving communication events arriving via a packet switched data network (4), storing communication events into a shared memory, and analyzing communication events arriving via the circuit switched network (3) and communication events arriving the via the packet switched data network (4), and then routing each communication event to a voice application, either directly or via said means for storing, in order to store it temporarily, so that all the events concerning a same call are synchronized when they are received by said voice application.
US08369269B2 Radio communication system, base station device, mobile station device, and random access method
A radio communication system includes a base station device and a plurality of mobile station devices which radio-communicate with the base station device. The base station device allocates random access signal identifiers for identifying random access signals to the mobile station devices and decides an allocation period for each of the random access signal identifiers used by the mobile base stations. During the allocation period, each of the mobile station devices transmits a random access signal corresponding to the allocated random access signal identifier. Thus, it is possible to suppress a delay until the random access procedure using a dedicated preamble is complete.
US08369266B2 Two stage mobile device geographic location determination
A system and method for mitigating the delay associated with using GPS technologies to determine the location of a mobile device. The system utilizes a two-stage location determination process. During the first stage, an estimated position of the mobile device is immediately provided based on the most accurate stored location information that is available to the system. If greater accuracy is still required, during the second stage a more accurate position of the mobile device is provided using GPS-based technologies.
US08369263B2 Geographical web browser, methods, apparatus and systems
A geographical web browser allows a user to navigate a network application such as the Word Wide Web by physically navigating in geographical coordinates. For example, a geographical web browser is implemented in a mobile unit such as a dashboard computer. The mobile unit includes one or more transducers such as antennas and is operative to receive locally broadcast signals or to operate a global positioning system (GPS) receiver. As the mobile unit navigates into different physical localities, different web pages are displayed by the geographical web browser. For example, a user desiring to buy a house can set the web browser to a real estate web page. Instead of clicking on a hyperlink to access web pages of properties in an area, the user drives into a first area and automatically receives web pages relating to homes in that area. When the mobile unit crosses town and enters a second area, a new set of web pages is downloaded relating to properties in the second area. The geographical web browser, methods, apparatus and systems disclosed herein enable improved road-navigation and traffic management, advertisement, and related services.
US08369261B2 Method and apparatus for interference reduction
A method and apparatus for reducing interference caused by an interfering signal are disclosed for use in an access node, such as a base station, communicating with at least one mobile terminal in a wireless network, the method comprising the following steps: receiving information related to at least one data packet that is to be transmitted by a second access node to at least a second mobile terminal, receiving time-frequency information about the point in time when the at least one data packet will be transmitted from the second access node to the second mobile terminal, estimating the interfering signal based on the at least one data packet, cancelling interference based on the estimated interference signal at the point in time. This facilitates interference cancellation, especially in a network using distributed RRM.
US08369259B2 Network handover method, communications system, and relevant devices
A network handover method, a communications system, and relevant devices are provided, so as to implement handover between a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) network and a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) network. The method specifically includes the following steps. A user terminal determines a target network access point (AP) and acquires a tunnel destination address. A signaling transmission tunnel between the user terminal and the target network AP is established through a current network according to the tunnel destination address. The user terminal executes a network access operation with the target network AP through the signaling transmission tunnel. The communications system and the relevant devices are further provided. Thus, the handover between the WiFi network and the WiMAX network can be implemented.
US08369258B2 Scalable IP-services enabled multicast forwarding with efficient resource utilization
Methods, apparatus and data structures are provided for managing multicast IP flows. According to one embodiment, a network switch module includes a memory and multiple processors partitioned among multiple virtual routers (VRs). Each VR maintains a data structure including information relating to multicast sessions handled by the VR and including a first pointer for each multicast session, a chain of blocks of second pointers and one or more TCBs. Each first pointer points to a chain of blocks of second pointers. Each second pointer corresponds to an OIF of the VR participating in the multicast session defined by the first pointer and defines how many times to replicate packets associated with the multicast session. The TCBs store control information relevant to processing or routing packets. Each second pointer points to a TCB, which identifies the OIF out which packets of the multicast session are transmitted from the VR.
US08369254B2 Network interface apparatus
An intelligent network interface apparatus to provide always-on, always-connected processing for call signals is described. One embodiment of the apparatus includes logic to selectively handle incoming call signals even when a computer to which the apparatus is operably connected is unavailable (e.g., asleep). The apparatus may also include logic for selectively waking up a sleeping computer upon determining that incoming call signals indicate that a communication with the computer is desired. The incoming call signals may be associated with a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) communication.
US08369251B2 Timestamp quality assessment for assuring acoustic echo canceller operability
A voice communication end device provides echo reduction when operating in a full duplex mode using acoustic echo cancellation, which includes periodic audio queue adjustments to account for drift. The end device performs a quality assessment by calculating consistency statistics for the queue adjustments to determine whether acoustic echo cancellation would be ineffective, and if so falls back to a half duplex mode using voice switching.
US08369246B2 Method and apparatus for sending and receiving multicast packets on a multicast tree
The present invention relates to a solution for taking a network equipment in a communication network as a root node to generate a logical topology tree for a subscriber terminal which requests the sending of multicast packets, and then generating a multicast tree on the logical topology tree with the network device as the root node, so as to forward the multicast packets. With the solution of sending a multicast packet to the subscriber terminal, it can effectively save the network bandwidth resource and reduce the transmission delay of multicast packet.
US08369245B2 Communication apparatus having network interfaces and responding to device search, communication method, and storage medium
A communication apparatus that enables a device on a searching side to obtain a single search result, thereby reducing user confusion, even when the same search packet is received by network interfaces of the apparatus. The communication apparatus of a device on a searched side receives a search packet via one of a first and second NIC of the apparatus from a device on the searching side, and determines whether information that is same as information indicating the received search packet is stored. If the information is stored, one of the NICs to be used to respond to the search packet is selected, a response message is created, and the created response message is transmitted via the selected NIC to the device on the searching side. And if the information is not stored, the information indicating the search packet is stored.
US08369240B2 Wireless communication system, base station apparatus, mobile station apparatus, and communication method
TPC is appropriately operated in response to access method switching timing, an error is prevented from occurring in communication, and influence given to another cell due to transmission of unnecessary power is reduced.A base station apparatus which performs wireless communication with a mobile station apparatus while switching a plurality of kinds of communication method, transmits control information for performing transmit power control of the mobile station apparatus to the mobile station apparatus. The mobile station apparatus receives the control information for performing the transmit power control from the base station apparatus and determines a transmitted power according to the control information when switching the communication method.
US08369237B2 Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving packet in dual modem mobile communication terminal
An apparatus and a method for transmitting/receiving a packet in a dual modem mobile communication terminal support data communication using both a host modem and a slave modem by additionally driving the slave modem when packet traffic is heavy. In the method for transmitting/receiving, at a host modem, a packet in a mobile communication terminal that includes the host modem and a slave modem, when a packet is received under a state where only the host modem is driven, it is determined whether a buffer count of the host modem is greater than a reference value. When the buffer count of the host modem is greater than the reference value, the slave modem is additionally driven and the received packet is provided to the slave modem.
US08369230B1 Method and apparatus for determining a direct measure of quality in a packet-switched network
A method and system for analyzing deficiencies in a packet-switched network is described. In one example, network measurement data pertaining to components within a packet-switched network are obtained. Reliability estimates of access networks and associated access links coupled to the packet-switch network are conducted. Lastly, an end-to-end direct measure of quality (DMOQ) is calculated from the network measurement data and network estimation data derived from the reliability estimates.
US08369229B2 Methods for monitoring delivery performance of a packet flow between reference nodes
In one of many possible embodiments, a method may comprise using one or more packet delivery monitoring packets to monitor packet delivery between a first reference node and a second reference node communicatively coupled to one another by at least one network path, each of said PDM packets comprising an Internet Control Message Protocol packet modified to include at least one packet delivery monitoring extension.
US08369227B2 Management system and information processing system
Provided is a management system for managing a plurality of management target information processing apparatuses including a plurality of network apparatuses and a computer. This management system determines the reachability of a route network apparatus as a network apparatus on a communication between the system and the computer, and calculates a certainty factor concerning the certainty on whether a prescribed network apparatus contained in a route network apparatus based on the reachability is the cause of unreachability from the management system to the computer. The management system subsequently displays information showing that communication from the management system to the computer is unreachable, and the certainty factor as the certainty that the prescribed route network apparatus is the cause of unreachability.
US08369223B2 Packet processing apparatus, interface unit and method thereof
A packet processing apparatus includes a plurality of communication connecting unit each connected with a communication partner apparatus using one of a work path and a protection path, connecting unit for connecting, using a data bus, the plurality of communication connecting unit with one another; determination unit for, when a packet sent from the communication partner apparatus is received by one of the communication connecting unit, determining whether the packet is a maintenance packet that is used for monitoring a connection state with the communication partner apparatus; and transmitting unit for, when it is determined that the packet is a maintenance packet by the determination unit, transmitting the maintenance packet to the plurality of communication connecting unit using the data bus via the connecting unit.
US08369219B2 System and method for managing bandwidth
A system for managing bandwidth use in a device. In a specific embodiment, the device is a network device that includes a first data scheduler that is adapted to initially share available device bandwidth among a first type of traffic and a second type of traffic on an as-needed basis. A traffic monitor communicates with the first scheduler and causes the first data scheduler to guarantee predetermined transmission characteristics for the second type of traffic. The first data scheduler includes one or more routines for prioritizing first type of traffic above the second type of traffic when the network device is in a first operational mode, and prioritizing the second type of traffic above the first type of traffic when the network device is in a second operation al mode. The minimum transmission characteristics include a minimum service rate and a minimum latency for the second type of traffic.
US08369217B2 Quality of service monitoring architecture, related method, network and computer program product
An architecture for monitoring quality of service in a telecommunication network having a set of terminals provides for the terminals of the set of terminals to house measuring agents able to be configured to interlace with processes selected among processes for managing the application sessions of the network and processes for measuring the operating conditions of the network itself. Also provided is a management and configuration sub-system having a module for scheduling quality of service measurement campaigns capable of involving respective sub-sets of terminals according to a set of characteristics identifying the measurement campaign. The scheduling module is capable of configuring, for the purposes of the execution of the measurement campaigns, the measuring agents housed by the terminals included in the related subsets according to the set of identifying characteristics. An additional sub-system for managing the collection of the measurement data has a database for storing the measurement data and a processing center for processing the data.
US08369214B2 Apparatus and method of transmitting and receiving data in soft handoff of a wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a method of transmitting and receiving data in soft handoff of a wireless communication system. According to an aspect of the present invention, in the method of receiving data in soft handoff of a wireless communication system, a mobile station receives a first sequence being generated by interleaving transmission data using a first interleaver pattern, and also receives a second sequence being generated by interleaving the transmission data using a second interleaver pattern. Then, the mobile station combines and decodes the first sequence and the second sequence before receiving an entire frame having the first sequence allocated thereto.
US08369213B2 Optimization of distributed tunnel rerouting in a computer network with path computation at an intermediate node
In one embodiment, an intermediate node computes paths for a set of tunnels that do not include a particular link (e.g., and possibly a scaled-down bandwidth for each tunnel), considering all of the tunnels of the set. The intermediate node informs head-end nodes of the tunnels of the computed paths (e.g., and scaled bandwidth) and/or a time to reroute the tunnels.
US08369211B2 Network distribution prevention when virtual chassis system undergoes splits and merges
A method performed by network devices that includes operating in a normal mode, where the network devices form a virtual chassis that corresponds to a single logical network device; detecting when a failure within the virtual chassis occurs; executing a splitting process to form one or more new virtual chassis in correspondence to the failure; determining whether one of the one or more new virtual chassis operates as a functioning virtual chassis based on whether at least one of a set of criteria is satisfied, where the functioning virtual chassis operates according to resources configured for the virtual chassis; and operating as a nonfunctioning virtual chassis when it is determined that the one of the one or more virtual chassis does not satisfy the at least one of the set of criteria, where the nonfunctioning virtual chassis operates in a pass-through mode.
US08369208B2 Fault-tolerant communications in routed networks
A method for providing fault-tolerant network communications between a plurality of nodes for an application, including providing a plurality of initial communications pathways over a plurality of networks coupled between the plurality of nodes, receiving a data packet on a sending node from the application, the sending node being one of the plurality of nodes, the data packet being addressed by the application to an address on one of the plurality of nodes, and selecting a first selected pathway for the data packet from among the plurality of initial communications pathways where the first selected pathway is a preferred pathway.
US08369207B2 Failure recovery method, computer system, and storage medium recorded failure recovery program for a stream data processing system
Provided is a failure recovery method for switching to a standby system if a failure occurs in an active system, which allows reduction of loads on the standby system and a network. A computer system, which receives data to which timestamp information is appended in a chronological order and processes the received data by registered queries, includes the active system for processing the received data and the standby system for processing the received data instead of the active system upon occurrence of a failure. The active system processes the received data by the respective queries according to a predefined sequence, and transmits results obtained from the received data by the respective queries to the standby system as intermediate data on a query basis at a predetermined timing. The standby system restores the data by processing the received data and the intermediate data if a failure occurs in the active system.
US08369206B2 Cell-specific shifting of reference signals in multi-stream transmissions
A base station is provided. The base station comprises a downlink transmit path comprising circuitry configured to transmit a plurality of reference signals in one or more subframes. Each subframe comprises one or more resource blocks. Each resource block comprises S Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. Each of the S OFDM symbols comprises N subcarriers, and each subcarrier of each OFDM symbol comprises a resource element. The base station further comprises a reference signal allocator configured to allocate the plurality of reference signals to selected resource elements of a resource block, and circularly shift the plurality of reference signals in a time domain of the resource block by an hshift value that is based at least partly upon a cell_ID of the base station.
US08369203B2 Thermally-assisted magnetic recording head having concave core at light entrance surface
An optical waveguide of the present invention is an optical waveguide in order to directly introduce light beams emitted from a light emitting element. In a core that is a waveguide through which light propagates, a concave part is formed that is a depression in a light incident end surface that is one side where light enters. Therefore, an optical waveguide is realized that can obtain a large optical coupling efficiency is possible by the operation of phase alignment in the concave part.
US08369200B2 Optical recording medium, and optical information device
An optical recording medium and an optical information device that improve the quality of a servo signal and a reproduction signal. In the optical recording medium, when shape-wise thicknesses tr1, tr2, tr3, and tr4 of a cover layer (42), a first intermediate layer (43), a second intermediate layer (44), and a third intermediate layer (45) are respectively converted into thicknesses t1, t2, t3, and t4 of the respective corresponding layers each having a predetermined refractive index “no”, a defocus amount with respect to a layer having a refractive index nrα and a thickness trα (satisfying: 1≦α≦n (where α is a positive integer and n is an integer of 4 or more)), and a defocus amount with respect to a layer having the refractive index “no” and a thickness tα (satisfying: 1≦α≦n (where α is a positive integer and n is an integer of 4 or more)) are equal to each other. Further, the thicknesses t1, t2, t3, and t4 satisfy |t1−(t2+t3+t4)|≧1 μm, a difference between any two values of the thicknesses t1, t2, t3, and t4 is set to 1 μm or more, and |(t1+t2)−(t3+t4)|≧1 μm.
US08369199B2 Methods and systems for tuning at least one write strategy parameter of an optical storage device
A method for tuning a write strategy parameter of an optical storage device, includes: writing a segment of data according to a plurality of write strategies; reading the data back and detecting a plurality of lengths, each length corresponding to a pit or a land on an optical storage medium accessed by the optical storage device; performing calculations according to the lengths and a plurality of data types to generate a plurality of calculation results, each of the data types corresponding to at least a specific target pit length or at least a specific target land length; and utilizing the calculation results to determine a proper write strategy.
US08369195B2 Information storage medium and method and apparatus for recording/reproducing data on/from the same
An information storage medium and a method and apparatus for recording/reproducing data on/from the information storage medium. The information storage medium includes a plurality of recording layers, each having a user data area, on which data can be recorded by a pickup. Data is recorded in the order of recording layers from closest to farthest from the pickup, and a recordable region in a user data area of a recording layer on which data is to be recorded is smaller than that in a recording layer between the pickup and the recording layer on which data is to be recorded. Each recording layer contains a recordable region in a user data area and a optimum power control (OPC) area in order to maintain the same recording/reproducing characteristics between the plurality of recording layers.
US08369194B2 Optical disc device, optical disc recording method, and reproduction method
Even when recording data which is continuously inputted at a high speed, it is possible to correct a recording error and reproduce preferable AV data without a noise upon reproduction. A recording error detection circuit (14) detects an error generation upon recording according to the fluctuation of amplitude of a tracking error signal or a focus error signal. A recording signal processing circuit (6) again records (performs skip recording) the same data in a region subsequently adjacent to a region where a recording error has occurred. When performing the skip recording, address information contained in the recording data is rewritten into address information on a new recording region. Moreover, an identifier (skip mark) indicating that a recording error has occurred is added to the pattern of the link region of the recording data.
US08369190B2 Proximity sensing system
A data storage system for detecting a location of a head relative to a magnetic media is described. This system comprises arms, a preamplifier circuit coupled to the arms for controlling the arms, a proximity sensing system positioned within the preamplifier circuit, the proximity sensing system comprising: an input stage for transmitting an input sense signal; a programmable gain stage coupled to receive the input sense signal and operative for transmitting a gain signal in response to receiving the input sense signal; a multiplexer coupled to receive the gain signal and at least one control signal, the multiplexer operative for transmitting a multiplexed signal; a detector coupled to receive the multiplexed signal and a second control signal, the detector operative for transmitting an output signal; wherein an amplitude associated with the output signal enables detecting the location of the head.
US08369187B2 Warning device
The invention relates to a warning device, provided with an electronic warning unit, capable of generating warning signals at pre-programmed constant time intervals, embedded inside a body formed by a single piece of mouldable synthetic material, such as a plastic or silicone, which is provided with starting means for staring the warning device, which means can be actuated by means of the application of a pressure on a part of the outer surface of the mentioned body.
US08369186B2 System and method of increasing battery life of a timekeeping device
Methods and systems of extending battery life of remote battery-operated timekeeping devices by minimizing the number of required synchronizations per unit of time needed to maintain a predetermined accuracy of the devices. The number of synchronizations are minimized by first calculating a time error rate between the remote timekeeping device and a master device over a sample period. Then, a synchronization is delayed and the remote timekeeping device is compensated based on the time error rate. The compensation delays the need for a synchronization yet maintains the predetermined accuracy of the remote timekeeping device. In some embodiments, the remote timekeeping device is compensated and multiple synchronizations are delayed before a new synchronization is necessary to maintain the predetermined accuracy.
US08369184B2 Systems and methods with improved three-dimensional source location processing including constraint of location solutions to a two-dimensional plane
Systems and methods are disclosed associated with processing origin/location information of a source or event. In one exemplary implementation, there is provided a method of performing improved three-dimensional source location processing including constraint of location solutions to a two-dimensional plane. Moreover, the method includes obtaining a plane of constraint characterized as a plane in which the source is likely to occur, providing one or more virtual sensing elements each characterized as being located on a first side of the plane of constraint in a mirror image/symmetrical position across from a corresponding actual sensing element on an opposite side of the plane, and constraining possible origin locations to be located in the plane of constraint. Other exemplary implementations may include determining the origin location as a function of positions of the sensing elements and the virtual sensing elements as well as time-of-arrival and/or angle-of-arrival information.
US08369183B2 Analysis of fracture networks
A method of analysing the dynamic behavior of fracture networks in a seismic volume is provided. The method includes providing a plurality of seismic time lapse vintages of the same geological volume; identifying and parameterising fractures within fracture networks of each vintage; determining one or more distributions of fracture parameters for the fracture networks of each vintage; and identifying changes to the fracture networks by comparing corresponding distributions across the vintages.
US08369181B2 Semiconductor integrated circuit device for controlling a sense amplifier
A semiconductor IC device includes a command decoder that provides internal read and internal write command signals in response to external command signals, and a delay control unit that is connected with the command decoder and provides an internal read command delay signal by controlling an activation timing of the internal read command signal in response to a test mode signal in a read mode.
US08369177B2 Techniques for reading from and/or writing to a semiconductor memory device
Techniques for reading from and/or writing to a semiconductor memory device are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus including a first memory cell array having a first plurality of memory cells arranged in a matrix of rows and columns and a second memory cell array having a second plurality of memory cells arranged in a matrix of row and columns. The apparatus may also include a data sense amplifier latch circuitry having a first input node and a second input node. The apparatus may further include a first bit line input circuitry configured to couple the first memory cell array to the first input node of the data sense amplifier latch circuitry and a second bit line input circuitry configured to couple the second memory cell array to the second input node of the data sense amplifier latch circuitry.
US08369176B2 Multi-chip memory device
A multi-chip memory device includes a number of chips and a control circuit included in each of the chips and configured to generate an internal chip enable signal in response to set data stored therein and an external chip enable signal
US08369175B1 Memory elements with voltage overstress protection
Integrated circuits may include memory elements that are provided with voltage overstress protection. One suitable arrangement of a memory cell may include a latch with two cross-coupled inverters. Each of the two cross-coupled inverters may be coupled between first and second power supply lines and may include a transistor with a gate that is connected to a separate power supply line. Another suitable memory cell arrangement may include three cross-coupled circuits. Two of the three circuits may be powered by a first positive power supply line, while the remaining circuit may be powered by a second positive power supply line. These memory cells may be used to provide an elevated positive static control signal and a lowered ground static control signal to a corresponding pass gate. These memory cells may include access transistors and read buffer circuits that are used during read/write operations.
US08369172B2 Integrated circuits for providing clock periods and operating methods thereof
An integrated circuit includes a capacitor. A switch is electrically coupled with the capacitor in a parallel fashion. A comparator includes a first input node, a second input node, and an output node. The second input node is electrically coupled with a first plate of the capacitor. The output node is electrically coupled with the switch. A transistor is electrically coupled with a second plate of the capacitor. A circuit is electrically coupled with a gate of the transistor. The circuit is configured to provide a bias voltage to the gate of the transistor so as to control a current that is supplied to charge the capacitor.
US08369171B2 Reduced signal interface memory device, system, and method
A memory has a serial interface. The serial interface is programmable to either use separate dedicated input and output pads, or to use one bidirectional pad. When one bidirectional pad is used, the interface signal count is reduced by one.
US08369169B2 Sense amplifier and semiconductor memory device including the same
A sense amplifier includes a first inverter having an input terminal connected to a first line and an output terminal connected to a second line, and a second inverter having an input terminal connected to the second line and an output terminal connected to the first line, wherein an NMOS transistor of the first inverter and an NMOS transistor of the second inverter have well biases different from each other.
US08369164B2 Bimodal memory controller
A memory controller has a communication path which is coupled to an external, wired electrical path. The memory controller includes at least two alternative interface circuits to communicate with the external, wired electrical path using signals having one of two different formats. Each of the alternative interface circuits is electrically coupled to a corresponding signal connector, and only one of these signal connectors, in turn, is electrically coupled to the external path via an I/O pin or printed-circuit board connection (depending upon implementation). The remaining signal connector may be left electrically uncoupled from the external, wired electrical path, and, if desired, the corresponding remaining interface circuit may be left unused during operation of the memory controller.
US08369161B2 Semiconductor device and control method therefor
A semiconductor device includes an insulation layer (14) provided on a semiconductor substrate (12), a p-type semiconductor region (16) provided on the insulation layer, an isolation region (18) provided that surrounds the p-type semiconductor region to reach the insulation layer, an n-type source region (20) and an n-type drain region (22) provided on the p-type semiconductor region, a charge storage region (30) provided above the p-type semiconductor region between the n-type source region and the n-type drain region, and an voltage applying portion that applies a different voltage to the p-type semiconductor region while any of programming, erasing and reading a different data of a memory cell that has the charge storage region is being preformed.
US08369160B2 Data output circuit of semiconductor memory and related method
Various embodiments of a data output circuit of a semiconductor memory and related method are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, a data output circuit may include a plurality of global lines, a sense amplifier block configured to output a plurality of data to the plurality of global lines at different timings, a pipe latch block configured to latch the plurality of data transmitted through the plurality of global lines at different timings, and a control unit configured to control output timings of the plurality of data from the sense amplifier block and latch timings of the pipe latch block using an address signal.
US08369157B2 Methods for programming a memory device and memory devices
Methods for programming memory cells and memory devices are disclosed. One such method for programming includes performing a program verify operation of a group of memory cells. A number of potential CS2 situations are detected. If the number of detected potential CS2 situations is greater than a threshold, programming compensation for a CS2 situation is used in a subsequent programming operation.
US08369156B2 Fast random access to non-volatile storage
Techniques are disclosed herein for efficiently operating memory arrays of non-volatile storage devices. In one embodiment, when reading data from an MLC block, reading is sped up by not discharging bit lines between successive sensing operations. For example, all even bit lines are charged up and odd bit lines are grounded to set up sensing of memory cells that are associated with a first word line and the even bit lines. Then, memory cells associated with the first word line and the even bit lines are read by, for example, sensing the even bit lines. Then, while the even bit lines are still charged, memory cells associated with another word line and the even bit lines are read. Because the even bit lines remain charged between the two sensing operations, time is saved in not having to re-charge the bit lines to an appropriate level for sensing.
US08369154B2 Channel hot electron injection programming method and related device
A nonvolatile memory device for reducing programming current and improving reliability comprises a memory cell array, a write circuit, and a verification circuit. The memory cell array comprises memory cells arranged at crossing points of a bit-line and word-line matrix of the memory cell array. The write circuit provides multiple variable pulses to each word-line for programming. The multiple variable pulses have predetermined amplitude for keeping gate injection current roughly maximum while lowering conduction current during programming operation. The verification circuit senses variation of the conduction current during the programming operation, and disables the programming operation if the sensed conduction current during the programming operation reaches a predetermined value.
US08369153B2 Semiconductor memory device including stacked gate having charge accumulation layer and control gate and method of writing data to semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes memory cells, word lines, a driver circuit, and a control circuit. The driver circuit repeats a programming operation of selecting any one of the word lines, of applying a first voltage to selected one of the word lines, and of applying a second voltage to unselected one of the word lines, to write data to selected one of the memory cells connected to the selected one of the word lines. The control circuit, while the driver circuit is repeating the programming operation, steps up the first voltage and keeps the second voltage constant until the first voltage reaches a first threshold. The control circuit steps up the second voltage after the first voltage has reached the first threshold.
US08369151B2 Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device
According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array including regular memory cells and permanent memory cells and a control circuit. The regular memory cells are capable of switching between a first data storage state and a second data storage state. The permanent memory cells are fixed in a third data storage state that is read as the same logic level data as the first storage state. Data is stored in at least one of the regular memory cells and at least one of the permanent memory cells. The control circuit rewrites at least one of the regular memory cells from the second data storage state to the first data storage state at the time of data holding. The control circuit performs a reading operation after rewriting the regular memory cells from the first data storage state to the second data storage state.
US08369145B2 Apparatus and method for detecting over-programming condition in multistate memory device
A system embodiment comprises a nonvolatile memory device, a memory, and a controller. The nonvolatile memory device includes a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells. Each nonvolatile memory cell is adapted to store at least two bits. The memory is adapted to store a program when the system powers up. The controller is adapted to implement the program to provide instructions used to program and erase nonvolatile memory cells. A method embodiment comprises loading a program into memory upon powering up a memory system, and implementing the program using a controller, including programming and erasing multi-bit nonvolatile memory cells.
US08369144B2 Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a device region which is isolated by a device isolation film, a first conductive layer provided on the device region via a gate insulation film, an inter-gate insulation film provided on the first conductive layer and including an opening on the first conductive layer, a second conductive layer disposed over the device region and the device isolation film via the inter-gate insulation film, a third conductive layer provided on the first conductive layer, isolated from the second conductive layer by a peripheral trench, and connected to the first conductive layer via the opening of the inter-gate insulation film, and source/drain diffusion layers provided, spaced apart, in the device region in a manner to sandwich the first conductive layer.
US08369143B2 Early detection of degradation in NOR flash memory
The embodiments of the invention in this disclosure describe techniques for early warning of degradation in NOR Flash memories by estimating the dispersion of the threshold voltages (VT's), of a set of NOR Flash memory cells during read operations. In an embodiment invention the time-to-completion (TTC) values for the read operation for the memory cells are used as a proxy for dispersion of the threshold voltages (VT's). If the measured TTC dispersion differs by more than a selected amount from the reference dispersion value, a warning signal is provided to indicate that the page of memory has degraded significantly. Higher level components in the system can use the warning signal to take appropriate action. Since every cell's VT position in an ideal distribution can be estimated, the data from each cell can have a confidence level assigned based on deviation from the mean of an ideal distribution.
US08369141B2 Adaptive estimation of memory cell read thresholds
A method for operating a memory (28) that includes a plurality of analog memory cells (32) includes storing data in the memory by writing first storage values to the cells. Second storage values are read from the cells, and a Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of the second storage values is estimated. The estimated CDF is processed so as to compute one or more thresholds. A memory access operation is performed on the cells using the one or more thresholds.
US08369140B2 Systems and methods for programming a memory device
A multi-Level Cell (MLC) can be used to store, for example, 4 bits per cell by storing two bits on each of two sides. Each side can store, e.g., four different current level states that can be determined by the number of holes injected into, e.g., nitride layer, during programming. As more holes are injected the current decreases for a given voltage. The current can be low, therefore, it can be advantageous in one embodiment to use a current amplifier. The current amplifier can be a BJT, MOS or other type of device.
US08369137B2 Semiconductor memory device including a write driver to output a program signal
A semiconductor memory device prevents a faulty operation of a program operation, and increases the reliability of operation. The semiconductor memory device includes a unit cell including a memory element configured to have a different resistance value in response to data, and a write driver configured to output a program current and voltage for programming the unit cell in response to a test signal.
US08369132B1 Methods of programming and erasing programmable metallization cells (PMCs)
A method can include programming a selected programmable metallization cell (PMC) by coupling the anodes of a group of PMCs to a first power supply voltage and connecting a cathode of one of PMCs of the group to a second power supply voltage with a select device; and erasing a selected PMC by coupling the anodes of a group of PMCs to the second power supply voltage and connecting the cathode of one of PMCs of the group to the first supply voltage with the select device.
US08369130B2 Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device according to an embodiment comprises a memory cell array including plural mutually crossing first and second lines and memory cells arranged at intersections of the first and second lines, each memory cell containing a variable resistance element and a rectifier element connected in series; and a data write/erase circuit operative to apply a voltage required for data write/erase to the memory cell via the first and second lines. The data write/erase circuit includes a first current limit circuit operative to limit the current flowing in the cathode-side line provided on the cathode side of the rectifier element, of the first and second lines, at the time of data write/erase.
US08369127B2 Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device with transistor and variable resistor
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device according to the present invention includes a memory cell array layer including a first line; a plurality of second and third lines that are formed below or above the first line and cross each other; and a plurality of memory cells arranged at each intersection of the second and third lines, the memory cell including a variable resistor and a transistor, which are connected to each other in series between the first line and the third line, the variable resistor being electrically rewritable and storing a resistance value as data in a nonvolatile manner, and the transistor being a columnar transistor having the second line arranged at its side face as a gate.
US08369125B2 Semiconductor integrated circuit device capable of securing gate performance and channel length
A semiconductor integrated circuit device includes a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of word lines extending parallel to one another on the semiconductor substrate; a plurality of bit lines extending parallel to one another on the semiconductor substrate, arranged to cross with the word lines, and delimiting a plurality of crossing regions where the word lines intersect the bit lines and a plurality of unit memory cell regions with each cell region bounded by an adjacent pair of the word lines and an adjacent pair of the bit lines; and gate electrodes for the respective unit memory cell regions, each gate electrode electrically connected with any one of a pair of word lines which delimit a corresponding unit memory cell, and formed such that at least a portion of the gate electrode is bent toward a bit line direction.
US08369120B2 Methods and apparatus for sum of address compare write recode and compare reduction
Techniques are described for sum address compare (A+B=K) operation for use in translation lookaside buffers and content addressable memory devices, for example. Address input signals A and B are supplied as input to the A+B=K operation and K is a previous value stored in a plurality of memory cells. In each memory cell, a single logic gate circuit output and its inversion are generated in response to updating the memory cells, wherein each single logic gate circuit has as input an associated memory cell output and a next lowest significant bit adjacent memory cell output. In each of the memory cells, a portion of the A+B=K operation associated with each memory cell is generated in a partial lookup compare circuit wherein the corresponding address input signals A and B are combined with the associated memory cell output and the generated single logic gate circuit output and its inversion during a read lookup compare operation.
US08369115B2 Time domain voltage step down capacitor based circuit
A time domain voltage step down capacitor based circuit has an oscillating circuit for generating a clock signal. The circuit also has a capacitor based charge pump circuit for receiving the clock signal and an input voltage signal having an input current and generates an output voltage signal, less than the input voltage signal and an output current greater than the input current. The circuit further comprises a comparator circuit for receiving the output voltage signal, as a first input signal thereto, and a reference voltage signal as a second input signal thereto and compares the first input signal to the second input signal and generates a control signal in response thereto. Finally the control signal is supplied to the oscillating circuit to control the generating of the clock signal.
US08369103B2 Fixing structure and fixing method of multi-screen display device
A multi-screen display device forms a large screen by adjacently arranging a plurality of display devices on a frame by engaging a monitor fixing provided on a back surface of a display device with a bracket that is provided on the frame; the monitor fitting that includes a plate-like body that is provided so as to project out from the back surface of the display device and a long hole that is formed in the plate-like body along with a lateral direction of the display device, is arranged at corner portions of the back surface of the display device; and the bracket includes a plate-like body that is perpendicularly provided at a position corresponding to the monitor fixing and a pin member that is provided in a standing manner in a vertical direction on the plate-like body, and is inserted in the long hole of the monitor fixing.
US08369099B2 Electronics device module
Disclosed is an electronic device module including a module substrate having first and second electronic device pair portions. The first electronic device pair portion may include a first and a second contact pad area and a first via area between the first and second contact pad areas. The first electronic device pair portion may also include a first layer and a second layer. The first layer may include a plurality of first lines connecting a plurality of contact pads in the first contact pad area on one side of the module substrate to a plurality of vias. The second layer may include a plurality of second lines connecting a plurality of contact pads in the second contact pad area to a plurality of vias in the via area. The second layer may also include a plurality of third lines connecting the first and second electronic device pair portions.
US08369098B2 Bracket for supporting motherboard
A bracket is used to support a motherboard. The bracket includes a framework, a first supporting element, and a second supporting element. The framework includes a front bar, a back bar, and two side bars, corporately bounding a receiving space. The first and second supporting elements are received in the receiving space and connected to the two side bars. A number of through holes corresponding to a number of through holes of the motherboard are defined in the framework, the first supporting element, and the second supporting elements to fix the motherboard on the bracket via a plurality of screw pillars extending through the plurality of through holes of the bracket and the plurality of through holes of the motherboard.
US08369096B2 Electronic apparatus
An electronic apparatus includes a wiring board, a main member to which the wiring board is fixed, a first component mounted rigidly on the wiring board and positioned with respect to the main member, and a second component mounted movably on the wiring board and positioned with respect to the main member, and a positioning portion provided on the wiring board to determine a position of the wiring board with respect to the main member, wherein a distance from the positioning portion to the first component is shorter than a distance from the positioning portion to the second component.
US08369092B2 Input/output and disk expansion subsystem for an electronics rack
An input/output (I/O) and disk expansion subsystem is provided for an electronics rack which provides expanded I/O and/or disk storage capabilities to electronic subsystems of the rack. The expansion subsystem includes a subsystem enclosure having first and second sides in opposing relation, with the first side accessible through a front of the rack and the second accessible through a back of the rack when the enclosure resides within the rack. A plurality of field-replaceable units reside within the subsystem enclosure, and are accessible and removable through the first or second sides of the enclosure without removing the enclosure from the rack. The field-replaceable units include an input/output adapter cage(s), a storage device cage, power and control supplies, fan assemblies, and a midplane connector assembly. The adapter cage, storage device cage, and power and control supply dock to and are electrically interconnected by the midplane connector assembly.
US08369087B2 Computer server system
A computer server system includes a server cabinet, and at least one server accommodated in the server cabinet. The server forms a fixing structure at each of four corners thereof. In addition, the server cabinet includes fixing structures which are correspondingly matched with the fixing structures of the server. The fixing structure of the server cabinet can be in the form of protrusions, mounting holes, and engagement holes. The fixing structure of the server can be in the form of ears and mounting grooves. The server is mounted in the server cabinet by means of the fixing structures thereof.
US08369084B2 Dustproof structure for laptop
A dustproof structure for a laptop includes a gate, a motor and a controller. The laptop includes a shell having an air vent defined therein. The gate is movably mounted on the shell. The motor is mounted on the shell and connected to the gate. The controller is installed inside the laptop and configured for controlling the motor to drive the gate to open the air vent of the shell when the laptop is powered on, and to close the air vent of the shell when the laptop is being powered off.
US08369082B2 In-wall dock for a tablet computer
In one embodiment, an in-wall dock for a tablet computer includes a rotatable receiving tray to which a tablet computer is secured. A housing of the in-wall dock is at least partially disposed within a wall cavity of a wall. The receiving tray is rotatably mounted to the housing. The receiving tray is configured to rotate from a first orientation disposed at an acute angle to a front face of the housing to permit engagement of the tablet computer with the receiving tray, to a second orientation that is substantially parallel to the front face of the housing and that prevents removal of the tablet computer from the receiving tray. A lock down mechanism retains the receiving tray in the second orientation. A removable bezel covers at least a portion of a front face of the housing and a front face of the tablet computer.
US08369080B2 Removable hard disk drive bay
A removable hard disk drive (HDD) bay has a casing, a door assembly and an extracting assembly. The door assembly has a pivoting member, a cover slidably mounted on the pivoting member, a retainer slidably mounted in the cover and selectively hooking the casing, and a driving member driving the retainer. The extracting assembly pivotally connects the door assembly to the casing. When the door assembly is opened relative to the casing, the extracting assembly extracts the HDD (AA) with a simple mechanism and the door assembly does not occupy any room in the casing. The casing does not have to reserve a room for the door assembly and a volume of the removable HDD bay is efficiently minimized.
US08369078B2 Locking apparatus
A locking apparatus of a CD-ROM drive includes a support and a transmitting wheel. The support includes a shaft and a clasp formed thereon. The support is arranged in a chassis of the locking apparatus. The shaft and the clasp are received in the transmitting wheel. The clasp is configured for clasping the transmitting wheel.
US08369075B2 Foldable electronic device
A foldable electronic device includes a foldable casing and a flexible display. The flexible display is disposed in the foldable casing, and is connected to the foldable casing through an elastic member, and the elastic member provides the flexible display the extending flexibility when being unfolded or folded together with the foldable casing, such that the flexible display is capable of being used as a display screen of the foldable electronic device.
US08369073B2 Systems and methods for connecting multiple hard drives
A multiple hard drive connection system includes a first backplane, a second backplane, and a card assembly. The first backplane includes a pass-through and a first socket, and couples to a control system such that the first socket is in electrical communication with the control system. The second backplane is adjacent to and spaced apart from the first backplane, includes a second socket aligned with the pass-through, and couples to the control system such that the second socket is in electrical communication with the control system. The card assembly includes a first edge card connected to the first socket and a second edge card extending through the pass-through and connected to the second socket. The card assembly couples to a hard drive such that the hard drive is in electrical communication with the control system via the first backplane, the second backplane, and the card assembly.
US08369070B2 Photostructured electronic devices and methods for making same
A photostructurable ceramic is processed using photostructuring process steps for embedding devices within a photostructurable ceramic volume, the devices may include one or more of chemical, mechanical, electrical, electromagnetic, optical, and acoustic devices, all made in part by creating device material within the ceramic or by disposing a device material through surface ports of the ceramic volume, with the devices being interconnected using internal connections and surface interfaces.
US08369065B2 Electric double layer capacitor
An electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) includes an electric double layer cell and first and second external electrodes. The electric double layer cell includes a separator and at least one first polarizable electrode and at least one second polarizable electrode. The first and second external electrodes are formed at first and second side surfaces of the electric double layer cell facing each other, respectively. The first polarizable electrode includes a first current collection layer and a first active material layer formed on either surface of the first current collection layer facing the separator and the second polarizable electrode includes a second current collection layer and a second active material layer formed on either surface of the second current collection layer facing the separator.
US08369061B2 Anti-ESD elastic plate and device
The present invention provides an anti-ESD elastic plate comprising a first conducting part, and a pair of second conducting part. The first conducting part has at least one projection structure. The two second conducting parts are connected respectively to the two lateral sides of the first conducting part. Each of the second conducting part further has a second conducting element and a press element, whereas the second conducting element is configured with a second projection structure and the pressing element is disposed aside the second conducting element. In another embodiment, the present invention further provides an anti-ESD device for conducting ESD by arranging the anti-ESD elastic plate as a conducting medium that is disposed at the boundary between an opening of a housing and a cover for sealing the opening.
US08369050B2 Circuit for protecting a DC network with DC loads against overvoltage
A circuit (S) for protecting a DC network having DC loads (1) and connectable to the circuit (S), the circuit (S) is suitable and configured to supply the DC network with electric power via a three-phase rectifier (G) and wherein the circuit (S) includes a means (2, 3, 4, TH1, LS, CS, DU, DV, DW) for detecting an overvoltage, wherein the means is suitable and configured to detect an overvoltage at the input of the DC network, and the circuit (S) includes a means (2, 3, 4, TH1, LS, CS, DU, DV, DW) for transferring a current, wherein the means is suitable and configured to supply current to one or several current-carrying thyristors (THU1, THV1, THW1) of the rectifier (G), wherein the current causes the thyristor or thyristors (THU1, THV1, THW1) to turn off as soon as the detection means has detected an overvoltage.
US08369049B2 Method for shutting down an electric machine in the event of a malfunction
A method for shutting down an electric machine having a pulse-controlled inverter in the event of a malfunction. Undesirable side effects during shut-down of the electric machine may be minimized and the regular machine operation may be maximized when the electric machine is first switched to a disconnect mode in which all switches of the pulse-controlled inverter are open and subsequently is switched to a short-circuit mode in which the switches connected to the high potential are open and the switches connected to the low potential are closed.
US08369041B2 Method and apparatus for reducing repeatable runout in storage systems
A storage system includes a first buffer configured to store a first repeatable runout profile (RRP) for a sector of a rotating storage medium. A second buffer is configured to store a second RRP for the sector. A controller: controls a servo of the rotating storage medium based on the first RRP during a first revolution of the rotating storage medium; and learns the second RRP (i) while operating in a track-following mode, and (ii) during the first revolution. The controller ceases learning of the second RRP when one of (i) the controller is operating in a seek mode and (ii) the rotating storage medium is in an off-track state. Subsequent to the first revolution of the rotating storage medium and based on whether the learning of the second RRP was stopped during the first revolution, the controller replaces the first RRP with the second RRP in the first buffer.
US08369033B2 Method of manufacturing lens and lens manufactured using the same
There is provided a method of manufacturing a lens, including applying a second lens material to a first lens member made of a first lens material; aligning and fixing a light shielding member to the second lens material; and further applying the second lens material to the first lens member and performing curing thereon to complete a second lens member.
US08369029B2 Image capturing lens assembly
This invention provides an image capturing lens assembly in order from an object side to an image side comprising: a first lens group has only one first lens element with a positive refractive power, and a second lens group in order from the object side to the image side comprising: a second lens element with a negative refractive power, a third lens element, a fourth lens element and a fifth lens element; while a distance between an imaged object and the image capturing lens assembly changes from far to near, focusing is performed by moving the first lens group along the optical axis and a distance between the first lens group and an image plane changes from near to far. By such arrangement and focusing adjustment method, good image quality is achieved and less power is consumed.
US08369025B2 Lens barrel
A lens barrel capable of distributing, upon receipt of the impact of, e.g., dropping, a torque load so as not to concentrate on a particular linear movement key and groove for linearly moving a barrel member, thereby suppressing occurrence of a failure. The lens barrel has a fixed barrel (8) and a third lens group barrel (3). In a movement region of the third lens group barrel (3) moving in the optical direction relative to the fixed barrel (8), each of a set of a first linear movement groove (8c) and a first linear movement key (3c) and a set of a second linear movement groove (8d) and a second linear movement key (3d) has a mutually engageable region and a mutually disengageable region, and a set of a groove (8e) and a projection (3e) has not a mutually engageable region.
US08369021B2 Zoom lens system, optical apparatus equipped therewith, and method for zooming zoom lens system
A zoom lens system ZL installed in an electronic still camera 1 and the like comprising, in order from an object side: a first lens group G1 having negative refractive power; and a second lens group G2 having positive refractive power; the second lens group including at least two cemented lenses each of which includes a positive lens disposed to the object side and a negative lens disposed to an image side, a distance between the first lens group and the second lens group varying upon zooming from a wide-angle end state to a telephoto end state, thereby providing a zoom lens system having excellent optical performance, an optical apparatus equipped with the zoom lens system, and a method for manufacturing the zoom lens system.
US08369019B2 Waveguides
A projection display (60) includes a first waveguide (64) incorporating a grating structure (74) and second waveguide (66) incorporating an exit grating (84). The first and second waveguides (64, 66) are arrange to expand an image in orthogonal directions. The second waveguide (66) includes a first layer (86) with a first predetermined refractive index and/or first predetermined thickness, a second layer (88) with a second predetermined refractive index and/or second predetermined thickness. The exit grating (84) is arranged to direct at least some impinging light out of the second waveguide(66) and to provide at least some beam splitting of light passing through the exit grating (84). The first and second layers (86, 88) are arranged to abut one another such that the exit grating (84) is therebetween. The first predetermined refractive index and second predetermined refractive index and/or first predetermined thickness and second predetermined thickness are arranged to vary the spatial periodicity of pupils of image bearing light radiated from the second waveguide (66).
US08369012B2 Discontinuous or variable thickness gain modification coating for projection film and method for making same
The present invention relates to projection films and methods of making the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a projection film whereby the microspheres exhibit improved alignment on the light exit surface and have alignment on the light entrance surface that varies according to the individual microsphere diameter. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a projection film that has the attributes of variable gain within the single projection film. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to an exposed microsphere projection film construction that provides modification of the head-on and angular pattern of light transmission (gain).
US08369011B2 Observation optical system and microscope including the observation optical system
An observation optical system includes, in order from a sample side, an infinity-corrected objective, a first lens group having a positive power, a second lens group having a positive power, and a tube lens having a positive power. An intermediate image is formed between the first lens group and the second lens group, and at a front side focal position of the second lens group. A space along an optical axis between the objective and the first lens group is configured to be changeable, and a space along an optical axis between the second lens group and the tube lens is configured to be changeable.
US08369005B2 Fiber light source
A fiber light source includes an exciting light source to emit exciting light and an optical fiber to guide the exciting light. The optical fiber contains, in a portion in the longitudinal direction, phosphors that emit fluorescence in accordance with the application of exciting light. The optical fiber includes a high reflection film covering the outer surface of a portion through which fluorescence emitted from the phosphor travels.
US08369003B2 Wavelength tunable single-pass optical parametric amplifier
A single-pass optical parametric amplifier is provided. The single-pass optical parametric amplifier comprises a light source emitting a fundamental wave having a wavelength range; a nonlinear material, which the fundamental wave passes therethrough to form a second harmonic generation wave having a light path; a supercontinuum generator extending the wavelength range of the fundamental wave to form a supercontinuum generation seed; and an optical parametric wavelength transformer transforming the supercontinuum generation seed and the second harmonic generation wave into a signal wave and an idler wave.
US08369001B2 Compact high power terahertz radiation cell
A device for generating terahertz radiation using a phase matched optical rectification technique. The device converts laser radiation to terahertz radiation via a particular type of photonic downconversion. The device includes a crystalline material suitable for photonic downconversion of laser radiation, a first coupling component for coupling the laser radiation to the crystalline material and a second coupling component for coupling the generated terahertz radiation from the crystalline material to the environment. By sustaining the phase matching condition over a significant distance, the device is capable of providing terahertz radiation with high peak and average power. Also disclosed is a method for generating terahertz radiation including the steps of optically coupling laser radiation to a crystalline material suitable for downconversion of the laser radiation to terahertz radiation, downconverting the laser radiation to terahertz radiation and optically coupling the generated terahertz radiation from the crystalline material to the environment.
US08369000B2 Reflection-minimized photonic crystal and device utilizing same
A photonic crystal structure that is composed of a host media having periodic dielectric holes disposed in the media at a period of ah. Each dielectric hole has a radius rh. The host media has an absolute refractive index expressed as |nh| that is less than 0.2. The photonic crystal structure has at least one reflection minimization layer disposed at an air/photonic crystal interface. The reflection minimization layer has periodic dielectric holes disposed therein at a period am with each dielectric hole having a radius rm such that ah=am and rm>rn and a beam steerable device including the photonic crystal structure. The device having a scanning rate of larger than 1 KHz and a scanning angle up to ±25 degrees.
US08368989B2 Light amount adjusting device and optical device
A light amount adjusting device includes: a board including an opening; a linear moving blade linearly and movably supported by the board; and a swinging blade swingably supported by the board, wherein: the linear moving blade and the swinging blade are receded from the opening to form a fully opened state; the linear moving blade covers the opening to form a fully closed state; and the swinging blade has a small aperture opening with a diameter smaller than a diameter of the opening, and causes the small aperture opening and the opening to be overlapped with each other to form a small aperture state.
US08368988B2 Micro shutter device and method of manufacturing the same
A micro shutter device and a method of manufacturing the micro shutter device are provided. A transparent substrate is provided. A barrier is formed on the substrate to partition a unit pixel. A pattern layer is formed with a transparent material to have a transparent first pattern portion on the substrate in the unit pixel. A movable plate is arranged to face the pattern layer, has an opaque second pattern layer corresponding to a shape of the first pattern portion, and is configured to transmit light therethrough except the second pattern portion. An actuator is for moving the movable plate. Therefore, light leakage due to diffraction can be prevented, resulting in increasing contrast ratio and improving light efficiency.
US08368987B1 Optical processing device
Provided is an optical processing device including: a beam emission portion which includes a plurality of optical fibers; a dispersion element which disperses a beam emitted from one optical fiber of the plurality of optical fibers; a condenser lens which concentrates the beam passing through the dispersion element; and an optical path conversion optical system which converts an optical path of the beam passing through the condenser lens so that the beam is incident to one of the other optical fibers of the plurality of optical fibers. An optical axis of the condenser lens is inclined with respect to an optical axis direction from the beam emission portion to the optical path conversion optical system. The inclination angle is set so that a maximum difference in focal depth of a plurality of beams having different wavelengths obtained by the dispersion element becomes smaller.
US08368986B2 Optical scanning device and image forming apparatus
An optical scanning device includes: a light source; a polygon scanner that deflects a light beam output from the light source; and various types of optical elements for focusing the light beam deflected by the polygon scanner onto a desired position on a surface to be scanned, wherein a hole or a thin-walled portion that is provided on an arrangement surface of an optical housing on which the polygon scanner and an optical element having power in a sub-scanning direction are arranged, wherein the hole or a thin-walled portion extends along a main-scanning direction, and is provided near to the optical element having power in the sub-scanning direction between the polygon scanner and the optical element having power in the sub-scanning direction.
US08368984B2 Pseudo bipolar MEMS ribbon drive
A pseudo bipolar method for driving a MEMS ribbon device reduces charging effects in the device.
US08368978B2 Linear processing in color conversion
Methods and systems herein provide for color conversion of image data to another color space, such as that of a printer. Such color conversion includes linearly processing the color conversions when using radial basis functions for the conversions. One color conversion system herein includes a modeling module operable to generate a numerical model according to a radial basis function for converting the color values in the image data to the color space. The numerical model includes error approximations operable to form the radial basis function into a linear process. The system also includes a color converter operable to convert the color values in the image data to the color space based on the numerical model.
US08368976B2 Automatic document feeding and scanning apparatus
An automatic document feeding and scanning apparatus includes an automatic document feeder and a flatbed scanner mechanism. The flatbed scanner mechanism includes a casing, a scanning module and a scanning platform. The scanning platform has a first scanning window and a second scanning window for fixing a first transparent plate and a second transparent plate, respectively. In addition, an inner periphery of the second scanning window and an edge of the second transparent plate have complementary profiles.
US08368973B2 Image forming apparatus
An image reading apparatus includes a sheet feeding unit configured to sequentially feed a plurality of documents loaded on a document positioning plate, a reading sensor arranged in a conveyance path configured to read a document of the plurality of documents fed by the sheet feeding unit, an acquisition unit configured to acquire an interval of the document between a trailing edge of a preceding document and a leading edge of a next document conveyed through the conveyance path, and a reading unit configured to execute a first reading mode using the reading sensor to read the document conveyed at a first conveyance speed, and a second reading mode using the reading sensor to read the document conveyed at a second conveyance speed that is lower than the first conveyance speed, wherein the reading unit executes the second reading mode after the first reading mode when the interval of the document is less than a predetermined interval.
US08368972B2 Surface-emitting semiconductor laser, surface-emitting semiconductor laser device, optical transmission apparatus, and information processing apparatus
A surface-emitting semiconductor laser includes a substrate, a first semiconductor multi-layered reflector of a first conductivity type, an active region, a second semiconductor multi-layered reflector of a second conductivity type, a columnar structure, a current-confining layer including a conductive area surrounded with an oxidized area, a first electrode defining a light-emitting window, a first dielectric film covering the light-emitting window, and a second dielectric film formed on the first dielectric film. The second dielectric film has an asymmetrical shape having a long axis and a short axis, the second dielectric film is located at a position overlapping with the conductive area, the second refractive index n2 is greater than the first refractive index n1, the thickness of the first dielectric film is an odd multiple of λ/4·n1 (λ: oscillation wavelength), and the thickness of the second dielectric film is an odd multiple of λ/4·n2.
US08368970B2 Image reader
Disclosed herein is an image reader. The image reader can include a reading unit receiving light reflected from a document to thereby read image of the document and an automatic document feeder configured to supply the document to the reading unit. The automatic document feeder can include a channel defined within the automatic document feeder along which the document is supplied to the reading unit such that the reading unit is able to read the image of the document as the document moves along the channel. The channel can include a component having a surface tension that is less than or equal to about 40 dyne-per-centimeter.
US08368969B2 Methods and devices for rasterizing transparent pages
A method for rasterizing transparent pages scans each transparent page twice. The first scanning syntactically interprets a page description file of the transparent page, divides it into page blocks, and writes information of image element objects and transparency parameters into intermediate files. The second scanning reads the image element objects and the transparency parameters from the intermediate files and builds a page bitmap in blocks. A device for rasterizing transparent pages includes interpreting, dividing, file storing and building units. The interpreting unit implements syntactical interpretation. The dividing unit divides pages into transparent and nontransparent page blocks. The building unit implements rasterization according to the transparent or nontransparent page blocks, the information of image element objects and the transparent parameters to build a page bitmap in blocks. The methods and devices herein improve the efficiency of building a page bitmap and decrease memory utilization during generation of the page bitmap.
US08368968B2 Imaging apparatus and image correction method
An image processing unit generates image data of an image based on an output signal from an imaging device, corrects the image data, and outputs corrected image data. An optical filter is structured such that an upper limit of a transmitting wavelength decreases as a distance from an optical axis of the imaging optical system increases on an imaging plane of the imaging device so that a light in an infrared region is transmitted on the optical axis and cut off at a position farthest away from the optical axis on the imaging plane. The image processing unit corrects the image data based on a correction equation corresponding to the upper limit of the transmitting wavelength.
US08368967B2 Scanning controller, scanning apparatus and method for performing the scanning controller
A scanning controller, a scanning apparatus and a method for performing the scanning controller are disclosed herein. The scanning controller includes an image data processing unit, a memory control unit, a dummy line control unit, a buffer condition control unit, a motor condition control unit, a motor controlling unit and a relation control unit. Based on at least one of several predetermined contrastive relationships among each stored data amount with regard to an image buffer and its corresponding motor move timing, the relation control unit controls generation of a motor move timing from the motor controlling unit to drive a motor with variance of a scanned data generation rate and simultaneously enable determination of the dummy line control unit on which part of scanned image data should be skipped by catching of the image data processing unit.
US08368962B2 Color look up table adjusting apparatus, recording medium on which a color look up table adjusting program is recorded and color look up table adjusting system
A color look up table adjusting apparatus includes: a color gamut acquisition unit that determines a color gamut from an image output by an image forming apparatus, and determines, from an image output by another image forming apparatus, a position of input color values in a color space as a target point; an interpolation process unit that calculates a point corresponding to the target point within the color gamut of the image forming apparatus as an adjustment point; a color value adjustment table generating unit that generates a color value adjustment table for converting the input color values into input color values corresponding to a position of the adjustment point; and a table organization unit that converts arbitrary input color values based on the color value adjustment table, and inputs input color values obtained after the conversion as input color values based on a color look up table.
US08368958B2 Apparatus, method, and program product for processing color and transparent images according to the same layout setting or not based the determined image type to output as one image
An image processing apparatus includes a setting unit configured to execute a layout setting on first image data, a determination unit configured to determine an image type of second image data, an image processing unit configured, if it is determined, as a result of determination by the determination unit, that the image type of the second image data is an image type for applying a layout setting set for the first image data, to execute image processing on the second image data according to the layout setting set for the first image data, and an output unit configured to form an image of the first image data on a printing sheet by using color toners, to form an image of the second image data on the printing sheet by using a transparent toner.
US08368957B2 Method for digital image adaptation for printing an image on a printing apparatus
An image dependent gamut mapping method for mapping source colors of an image to destination colors reproducible by a printing apparatus, each source color having a lightness component within a range between a source white point and a source black point, and each destination color having a lightness component within a range between a destination white point and a destination black point. A composed transfer function maps the source white point onto the destination white point and the source black point onto the destination black point, applying the composed transfer function on each lightness component of source colors of at least a part of the image. The transfer function is composed of linear mappings. The steepness of each linear mapping is determined by a mathematical optimization problem intended to preserve lightness and contrast in the image produced by the printing apparatus under the conditions of at least one constraint.
US08368954B2 Image processing method
A technology that enables accurate position specification on an image displayed on a screen to perform processing and correction of the image data is provided. When the image is printed on a sheet on which a dot pattern is printed, a reference point of the image on the display device is set and the reference point is printed in a visible mark together with the image. This mark is imaged with an imaging means, and calibration is performed in which position coordinates of the marks on the sheet and the reference points of the image are matched, thereby preventing variation in coordinates between designation made on the sheet with the imaging means and processing on the image.
US08368953B2 Image forming device and method thereof
An image forming device having a plurality of developing units is provided. The image forming device includes a control unit to determine whether to perform an auto color registration (ACR) with respect to one or more of the plurality of developing units, and a print engine unit to perform an ACR of the determined developing units.
US08368952B2 Image processing apparatus and control method the same
A method of controlling an image processing apparatus, and an image processing apparatus to carry-out the method. The edge pixels of a black character may be evaluated to improve visibility of edge pixels and to enhance the blackening of the edge pixels when the evaluated edge pixels are determined to be the actual edge pixels of the original image and to correct the edge pixels to be suitable for original background pixel values and to brighten the edge pixels when the evaluated edge pixels are determined to be the actual background pixels of an original image. The black character may be enhanced so that the actual black character becomes blacker and that the background pixels become brighter to improve the visibility of the black character. The black character may be distinguished from a scanned image, the print thickness of the distinguished black character may be controlled, and the black character having controlled print thickness may be printed out using only a K color.
US08368946B2 Imaging device, information processing device, information processing system, recording control method thereof, and program for causing a computer to execute the method
An information processing system includes: an imaging device including a first recording medium recording a content file, and a management information storage unit storing management information for managing the content file in the first recording medium; an information processing device including a second recording medium recording a predetermined content file; and a control unit controlling so as to detect difference information relating to the storage state of the content file recorded in the first recording medium, based on the results of comparing present management information stored in the management information storage unit, with past management information which has been recorded before the present management information and is management information of the point-in-time at which the content file in the first recording medium was saved to the second recording medium, and record, in the second recording medium, the content file in the first recording medium, based on the detected difference information.
US08368945B2 Priority based printer setting
An information processing apparatus for outputting a document to a printer. Whether or not each of a plurality of set values set for one printing condition is a set value by which a print output can be performed in the printer is discriminated. If a plurality of set values determined to be the set values by the print output can be performed in the printer exists among the plurality of set values, by deciding the set value of the printing condition according to a priority added to each of the plurality of set values, a proper print result is provided according to the printing conditions set on a distributing source side of print content.
US08368944B2 Printing index images and file information together
An image forming apparatus is provided with a data retrieving unit that retrieves index image data and associating file information corresponding to files from a recording medium. The index image data and associating file information are allocated to a plurality of arrangement sections. The index image data and associating file information may be printed on a printing sheet in accordance with a predetermined layout. A judging unit is provided to judge whether the associating file information is less than or equal to a predetermined length. The associating file information which is longer than the predetermined length is normally printed incompletely so as to be printed within the arrangement section. A layout modifying unit is provided to modify the predetermined layout for the arrangement section if the associating file information is longer than the predetermined length so that the associating file information is printed completely on the printing sheet.