| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08412108B2 |
Apparatus, methods and computer programs
A method including: processing at a first processing frequency, such that each instance of processing is separated by a first processing time period, at least a first signal; increasing the processing frequency to a second processing frequency and switching from processing the first signal to processing a second signal; determining a parameter indicative of the quality of the second signal; and determining, within the first processing time period measured from the last instance of processing the first signal at the first frequency, which one or more signals to process at the next instance of processing by comparing respective parameters of at least the first and second signals. |
| US08412099B2 |
Method and device for managing application data in an NFC system in response to contactless data sending or receiving
A method for managing application data in an NFC system embedded or to be embedded in a portable object including a contactless data sending/receiving interface, one or more host processors and a data routing or transferring processor is described. The method includes generating complementary application data in response to the routing or transferring of external application data, and supplying the complementary application data to a host processor of the NFC system. |
| US08412097B2 |
Methods, electronic devices, and computer program products for coordinating bluetooth and wireless local area network communication
An electronic device may be operated by providing Bluetooth communication duty cycle information to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module. A determination is made, based on the Bluetooth communication duty cycle information, if there is sufficient time during a current Bluetooth inactive communication interval to complete a WLAN communication. If it is determined that there is not sufficient time to complete the WLAN communication during the current Bluetooth inactive communication interval, then the WLAN transmission is postponed to a subsequent Bluetooth inactive communication interval. |
| US08412094B2 |
Position signal receiver
Apparatuses are described and disclosed which operate in a first mode to receive non-position signals, for example FM radio signals, and in a second mode of operation to receive land-based position signals, for example LORAN signals. |
| US08412093B2 |
Receiver applying channel selection filter for receiving satellite signal and receiving method thereof
A satellite receiver for receiving at least a target satellite signal includes a channel selection filter and a controller. The channel selection filter is provided with a plurality of channel selection settings conforming to characteristics of a plurality of satellite signals corresponding to different satellite systems, wherein each of the channel selection settings is to receive at least one of the satellite signals. The controller controls the channel selection filter to enable a target channel selection setting selected from the channel selection settings to thereby receive at least the target satellite signal. |
| US08412092B2 |
Broadcast communication system and method for providing users with information associated with a geographical area
A method is presented for providing information associated with a geographical area to users of broadcast communication receivers. The information, as well as an indication of the geographical area associated with the information, are transmitted to, and received by, each of the broadcast communication receivers. In each of the receivers, the indication of the geographical area is compared with a geographic code associated with, and stored within, the receiver. Each of the receivers also provides at least one alert to a user of the respective broadcast communication receiver if the geographic area is located on a travel vector of the respective broadcast communication receiver indicated by the geographical code. |
| US08412090B2 |
Image forming apparatus
Disclosed is an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a housing having a discharge port, a plurality of photosensitive bodies mounted in the housing, a transfer unit to transfer visible images formed on the plurality of photosensitive bodies onto a printing medium, a fusing unit to fuse transferred visible images to the printing medium, and a reverse unit to reverse a moving direction of the printing medium, after the printing medium has passed through the fusing unit. As the moving direction of the printed printing medium is reversed by the reverse unit, the printing medium may be discharged while a printed surface of the printing medium is directed downward, allowing a user to easily draw out the printing medium. |
| US08412087B2 |
Methods, apparatus, and systems for controlling a gloss of an image fixed by warm-pressure fixing
A fixed image gloss control system outputs a warm pressure-fixed image having a low gloss level. The image is alterable to change the low gloss level to a high gloss level or an intermediate gloss level. The fixing system includes a pressure roll and a fixing roll that together form a fixing nip. The pressure roll has a polyurethane contact surface. A polishing mechanism may polish the fused image to achieve a desired gloss level. |
| US08412086B2 |
Image forming apparatus, clear layer forming apparatus, and image forming system
An image forming apparatus has an image forming section which transfers a toner image according to image data onto a recording sheet, a first fixing section which fixes the toner image with heat of the first fixing roller, a clear layer forming section which forms a clear layer on the toner image which the first fixing section has fixed, a second fixing section which fixes the clear layer with heat of the second fixing roller and a control section which controls the clear layer forming section to increase the thickness of the clear layer in a recording sheet area corresponding to a fixed area during the second revolution of the first fixing roller on the recording sheet, compared with a recording sheet area corresponding to a fixed area during the first revolution thereof. |
| US08412084B2 |
Fixing device provided with temperature sensor
There is provided a fixing device for thermally fixing a developing agent image to a sheet. The fixing device includes: a tubular flexible member having an inner peripheral surface defining an internal space; a nip member disposed in the internal space and having one surface, the inner peripheral surface being in sliding contact with the one surface; a heater disposed in the internal space: a reflection plate configured to reflect a radiant heat from the heater toward the nip member; a backup member providing a nip region in cooperation with the nip member for nipping the flexible member between the backup member and the nip member; and a temperature sensor disposed in the internal space to detect a temperature of the reflection plate. |
| US08412083B2 |
Fixing device
A fixing device for thermally fixing a developer image transferred onto a recording sheet, includes: a flexible fusing member which is flexibly deformable; a heating element; a nip member disposed in such a manner as to contact with a surface of the flexible fusing member and to allow the flexible fusing member to slide along the nip member; a reflecting plate configured to reflect radiant heat from the heating element in a direction toward the nip member; a backup member configured to nip the flexible fusing member with the nip member to thereby form a nip portion for the recording sheet between the flexible fusing member and the backup member; and a stay configured to support both end portions of the nip member. The reflecting plate has at least one flange portion, and the flange portion is held and supported between the nip member and the stay. |
| US08412082B2 |
Conveying device, fixing device and image forming apparatus having restricting member
A conveying device including: a rotating body that rotates; a conveying belt that rotates while nipping a conveyed member between the conveying belt and the rotating body, thereby conveying the conveyed member; a pressing member that is disposed at an inner periphery of the conveying belt along a conveying belt rotation axis direction and presses the conveying belt towards the rotating body; a pair of support members that are respectively disposed at each of two rotation axis direction edge sides of the conveying belt and that support the pressing member; and a contact member that is disposed at the inner periphery of the conveying belt along the conveying belt rotation axis direction, makes sliding contact with the rotating conveying belt, and is supported so as to be independently displaceable relative to the pressing member. |
| US08412078B2 |
Development agent supply device including an electric-field transfer board and a development agent retrieving unit and image forming apparatus having the same
A development agent supply device includes a casing having an opening, a first development agent storage section, and a second development agent storage section, a development agent holding member housed in the casing such that a development agent holding surface thereof faces a developer-supplied device via the opening, a first electric-field transfer board that transfers development agent with a traveling-wave electric field along a down-facing development agent transfer surface in a predetermined direction from the first development agent storage section to the opening and faces the development agent holding surface at a downstream end in the predetermined direction, and a development agent retrieving unit that agitates development agent stored in the second development agent storage section and inadequately-charged development agent falling from the development agent transfer surface and conveys the development agent to the first development agent storage section. |
| US08412077B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus using the same
The developing device includes: a developing container for storing a developer; first and second conveying passages that are formed in the developing container and sectioned by a partition; first and second conveying members disposed inside the first and second conveying passages, respectively, to agitate and circulatively convey the developer through the first and second conveying passages in opposite directions; a developing roller that supplies the developer in the second developer conveying passage to a photoreceptor drum; first and second communication paths that connect between the first and second conveying passages at both ends of the partition; and, a developer flow regulator that regulates the flow of developer moving from the first conveying passage to the second conveying passage, in accordance with the height of the developer surface of the developer. |
| US08412074B2 |
Charging roller for image forming apparatus and manufacturing method thereof
Disclosed is a charging roller for an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the formations of surface scratches. The charging roller includes a roller shaft, a roller body formed on the roller shaft and a scratch prevention layer formed on the roller body. The scratch prevention layer contains inorganic crystal of polysilicate. |
| US08412070B2 |
Electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a cartridge mounting feature
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; a cartridge including a developing roller for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, the cartridge containing a developer for effecting development and including a force receiving portion, wherein the cartridge is mounted to a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; and an urging member for urging the cartridge; wherein by mounting the cartridge, the force receiving portion receives a force from the urging member to urge the developing roller to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. |
| US08412069B2 |
Charging unit, manufacturing method for charging unit, process cartridge and image forming device
A charging unit is provided, the charging unit including: a charging member; and a charging member clean-up member having an elastic layer, the elastic layer containing a silicon oil, wherein a silicone concentration in analyzing the charging member by an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy satisfies following condition: about 1 atm %≦(difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the silicone concentration in Si2p detected by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy above the charging member)≦about 3 atm %. |
| US08412068B2 |
Cooling device including a water-absorbing member and image forming device
A cooling device is disclosed. The cooling device includes a cooling section which is moveably provided with respect to an image forming device body between a first location and a second location, the second location being different from the first location, and which cools surroundings with a cooling medium to be supplied; a cooling medium supply section which is provided at the image forming device body and which cools the cooling medium to supply the cooled cooling medium to the cooling section; and a connecting member which connects the cooling section and the cooling medium supply section to circulate the cooling medium between the cooling section and the cooling medium supply section, wherein the connecting member includes a flexible member and is supported by a guiding member which guides an operation of tracking the connecting member in conjunction with movement of the cooling section. |
| US08412064B2 |
Image forming apparatus to control photosensitive member irradiation
An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable photosensitive member, a charging member, an applying device, an irradiation device, and a controller. The charging member contacts the photosensitive member to charge the photosensitive member. The applying device applies a direct-current voltage to the charging member. The irradiation device irradiates with light an upstream charging gap located upstream of a contact portion between the photosensitive member and the charging member in a rotation direction of the photosensitive member. The controller controls the irradiation device to irradiate with a first light amount when the photosensitive member rotates at a first speed, and to irradiate with a second light amount that is larger than the first light amount when the photosensitive member rotates at a second speed that is lower than the first speed. |
| US08412063B2 |
Image forming apparatus that performs image stabilization control
An image forming apparatus has an image bearing member that moves at a specified speed; a toner pattern forming section for forming toner patterns of a specified type on the image bearing member under specified image forming conditions; a toner pattern detection member for detecting the toner patterns formed on the image bearing member; a toner amount varying section for varying a target amount of toner to adhere to the toner patterns; and a control section that calculates a toner adherence amount and a toner adherence position from detection results outputted from the toner pattern detection member and that performs image stabilization control to adjust the image forming conditions based on the calculation results. In the image stabilization control, the control section uses detection results of the same toner patterns both to calculate the toner adherence amount and to calculate the toner adherence position. |
| US08412062B2 |
Paper profile and reading systems
Methods, systems, computer readable media and other means for generating a profile for a particular type of media are provided. The profile represents a set of preferred printing parameters to be used to achieve a target print quality for a reference printing device. The profile may be used by other non-reference printing devices in order to optimize printing for that type of media. For each non-reference printing device, an offset may be established that represents the differences between the non-reference and the reference printing devices. A processor of the non-reference printing device may identify the type of media and the profile for that media and then adjust the printing parameters for the non-reference printing device based on the profile and the offset in order to optimize the print quality. The profile may also include a parameter that is based on a temperature coefficient associated with the type of printer. |
| US08412058B2 |
Method for detecting low toner in an electro-photographic toner cartridge
A method for detecting low toner in an electro-photographic toner cartridge having an optical sensor using a light beam to detect the presence or absence of toner in the cartridge includes transmitting to a processor a signal related to the strength of the light beam sensed as a paddle disposed within the cartridge rotates. The processor calculates an average value for the signal for each of a plurality of sets of paddle revolutions. The processor then calculates a variation value for the signal for each of the plurality of sets of paddle revolutions. The processor filters each variation value to determine a plurality of short term variation values. The processor monitors whether at least one short term variation value exceeds a first threshold. When the at least one short term variation value exceeds the first threshold, the processor signals that the toner level is low. |
| US08412057B2 |
Image forming cartridge, image forming apparatus and toner cartridge
An image forming cartridge comprises a developing unit configured to hold toner including a developing section configured to use the toner for developing and a supplying section configured to provide the toner to the developing section and a toner cartridge attachable to the developing unit, wherein the toner cartridge contains toner and supplies toner to the developing unit and the toner cartridge includes a stand-by charging unit configured to perform stand-by charge to the toner in the toner cartridge. |
| US08412056B2 |
Image forming apparatus performing image formation by conveying paper
An image forming apparatus includes a transfer belt that conveys a transfer material, and a photosensitive body that catches the transfer material between the photosensitive body and the transfer belt and that transfers a toner image to the transfer material. The transfer belt is driven in conjunction with the opening action of the front cover, and the photosensitive body is separated from the transfer belt in conjunction with the opening action of the front cover. |
| US08412049B2 |
Wireless optical data probe
A portable data probe includes a portable housing, an optical transceiver circuit and a wireless communication circuit. The optical transceiver circuit is disposed substantially within the portable housing, but is also configured to be in optical communication with an exterior of the portable housing. The optical transceiver circuit is operable to convert between electrical signals and corresponding optical signals. The wireless communication circuit is also disposed substantially within the housing, and is operably coupled to the optical transceiver circuit. The wireless communication circuit is operable to communicate wireless signals to a remote wireless circuit. |
| US08412048B2 |
Surface and sub-surface wave front management
A method and apparatus are present for managing a transmission of photons. The number of parameters for transmitting the photons as a beam in a liquid are identified using a number of characteristics of the liquid to form a number of selected parameters. The photons are transmitted in the liquid as the beam to a target using the number of selected parameters to form the transmission of the photons. |
| US08412044B2 |
Optical fiber network with improved fiber utilization
A passive optical network system and method in which at least part of the data is optically transmitted through a single optical fiber using a wavelength division multiplexing technique, with a plurality of signals being carried through the fiber in each direction, a different wavelength being used for each of the multiplexed upstream and downstream signals. The system may be retrofitted into existing telecommunications system to provide a multi-fold increase in the available bandwidth of long-distance optical fiber transmission. |
| US08412037B2 |
Image photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same
A method of controlling an image photographing apparatus includes checking a photographing mode of the image photographing apparatus, displaying a characteristic curve indicating a relationship between photographing conditions and a recommended region if the checked photographing mode is a manual mode to manually adjust the photographing conditions, and changing the photographing conditions if a user specifies any point of the characteristic curve or the periphery of the characteristic curve. Accordingly, it may be possible to implement the user interface which is conveniently and easily controlled. |
| US08412035B2 |
Imaging apparatus having autofocus function, and control method for the imaging apparatus
An apparatus includes an imaging unit, a focus detection unit configured to detect a focusing state of a focus lens, a designation unit configured to receive a designation of an in-screen position of an object displayed on a display screen, and a control unit configured to control a movable range of the focus lens when the focusing state is detected by the focus detection unit such that if the designation unit does not designate the in-screen position of the object, the movable range is set to be a first range and, if the designation unit designates the in-screen position of the object, the movable range is set to a second range that is wider than the first range. |
| US08412031B2 |
Camera with a function of automatically setting shooting conditions and shooting method
A camera with a function of automatically setting shooting conditions, is provided with a memory storing plural pieces of feature information of an object corresponding to different positions, respectively, the feature information of an object representing features of the object, a judging unit for, when a shooting operation is performed with the camera at a position to obtain an image, obtaining from the memory feature information corresponding to the camera position and judging whether or not an object corresponding to the obtained feature information is found in the image obtained in the shooting operation, and a shooting-operation controller for changing shooting conditions depending on the judgment made by the judging unit. |
| US08412030B2 |
Method and apparatus for dispensing a fragrance
A method of dispensing a volatile active into the surrounding environment includes the steps of providing a fragrance dispenser having a housing, a fan disposed within the housing and having a airflow director, first and second chambers disposed within the housing, and first and second fragrances disposed in the first and second chambers. The first and second chambers include first and second shutters covering first and second outlets, and first and second heaters, respectively. The method further includes the steps of activating the first heater to volatilize the first fragrance for a first time period, simultaneously activating the fan and the opening the first shutter to dispense the volatilized first fragrance from the first chamber into the surrounding atmosphere, activating the second heater to volatilize the second fragrance for a second period of time, and simultaneously activating the fan and opening the second shutter to dispense the volatilized second fragrance from the second chamber into the surrounding atmosphere. |
| US08412029B2 |
Fragrance producing lighting device
A light and fragrance producing device includes an electrically powered light source and a separate electrically powered heating element. The device also includes a fragrance disk that can emit fragrances when heated by the heating element. The fragrance disk also can be configured to remain solid while heated by the heating element rather than melting or evaporating. The device can also include a decorative outer housing that can be interchangeable. |
| US08412027B2 |
Display controlling apparatus for playing back moving image and control method for the same
Information regarding frames of a moving image, which are included in a predetermined segment that includes the current playback position and a segment that has not been played back yet, is displayed in a time-series indicator region along with the moving image that is being played back. Furthermore, a segment indicator that indicates the start position and end position of a fixed segment that includes the current playback position is displayed in the time-series indicator. For example, in the case where moving image data at a position corresponding to the segment indicator is generated as a separated moving image file in accordance with a moving image copy instruction that has been given, the user can become aware ahead of time what kind of moving image file would be generated if such an instruction were given. |
| US08412026B2 |
Information recording method, information recording medium, and information reproducing method, wherein information is stored on a data recording portion and a management information recording portion
With this invention, at least one of a video file containing video information, a still picture file containing still picture information, and an audio file containing audio information and a management file having management information on a control method of reproducing the information in the file are recorded on an information storage medium. This realizes a data structure that causes the recording and deleting places on the information storage medium to correspond spuriously to places on a single tape, such as a VTR tape. Use of the data structure provides users with an easy-to-use interface. |
| US08412024B2 |
Information recording method, information recording medium, and information reproducing method, wherein information is stored on a data recording portion and a management information recording portion
With this invention, at least one of a video file containing video information, a still picture file containing still picture information, and an audio file containing audio information and a management file having management information on a control method of reproducing the information in the file are recorded on an information storage medium. This realizes a data structure that causes the recording and deleting places on the information storage medium to correspond spuriously to places on a single tape, such as a VTR tape. Use of the data structure provides users with an easy-to-use interface. |
| US08412023B2 |
Information recording method, information recording medium, and information reproducing method, wherein information is stored on a data recording portion and a management information recording portion
With this invention, at least one of a video file containing video information, a still picture file containing still picture information, and an audio file containing audio information and a management file having management information on a control method of reproducing the information in the file are recorded on an information storage medium. This realizes a data structure that causes the recording and deleting places on the information storage medium to correspond spuriously to places on a single tape, such as a VTR tape. Use of the data structure provides users with an easy-to-use interface. |
| US08412021B2 |
Video player user interface
A video playback user interface includes display of tags or other information outside of a video play area. Tags can be visually associated with items in the video by using connectors such as lines, arrows, etc. that bridge between a tag and an item. Tag and other information can be included with a video file or associated with a video file and stored as a separate file or other data structure. Users can add text or other annotations for viewing at a later time or by other users. A snapshot of a video frame during playback can be obtained and sent to an email address, web site, storage device, or other destination. The snapshot includes a video frame or portion of a frame along with added information such as tags, annotations, etc. |
| US08412019B2 |
Apparatus for and a method of storing a real time stream of digital information signals
An apparatus for recording a real time stream of digital information signals on a disc like record carrier has been proposed. The stream of information signals represent information arranged in a sequence of video frames, each video frame arranged in separate, consecutive data blocks comprised in separate, consecutive data packets. The apparatus comprises input means (1) for receiving the stream of digital signals, processing means (100) for processing the stream of digital information signals to obtain digital information signals and writing means (102) for writing the digital information signals into the units of recording on the disc like record carrier. The processing means (102) are adopted to detect the data blocks in the data packets and to allocate consecutive data blocks comprised in multiple data packets into consecutive logical units, a size of each logical unit corresponding to the predetermined size of the unit of recording. This apparatus is specifically suitable for recording digital video (DV). |
| US08412013B2 |
Optical fiber cable and laying method thereof
An optical fiber cable includes an elongated optical element portion having an optical fiber, a pair of tensile strength members and an outer jacket. The optical fiber is composed of one or more plastic coated optical fibers, tight-buffered optical fibers or optical ribbon fibers. The pair of tensile strength members is arranged in parallel at both sides of the optical fiber in a width direction of the optical fiber. The outer jacket covers outer circumferences of the optical fiber and the pair of tensile strength members. A frictional coefficient of the outer jacket is equal to or less than 0.20. Shore D hardness of the outer jacket is equal to or more than 60. |
| US08412012B2 |
Compact, low-cost outside plant or indoor/outdoor cables
An optical fiber cable includes an unbuffered optical fiber, a tensile reinforcement member surrounding the unbuffered optical fiber, and a jacket surrounding the tensile reinforcement member. The jacket is suitable for outside plant environment. A water blocking material is placed between the unbuffered fiber and the jacket. The unbuffered optical fiber comprises an ultra bend-insensitive fiber that meets the requirements of ITU-T G.657.B3 and exhibits an additional loss of less than approximately 0.2 dB/turn when the fiber is wrapped around a 5 mm bend radius mandrel. The optical fiber cable also exhibits an additional loss of less than approximately 0.4 dB/km at 1550 nm when the cable is subjected to −20° C. outside plant environment. |
| US08412011B2 |
Optical fiber cable
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber cable which can reliably prevent increased transmission loss due to damage of the optical fiber as a result of the egg-laying behavior of cicadas. The cable includes at least an optical fiber 1, tension members 6 and a sheath 3. The sheath 3 has a shore D hardness of 55 or more and a minimum distance L from a surface of the optical fiber 1 to an outer surface of the sheath 3 of greater than 0.3 mm. Further, in the cable, the surface of sheath 3 has a coefficient of friction of 0.45 or less and the sheath 3 has a shore D hardness of 57 or more. In addition, the cable is made by using a specific flame retardant composition (P) as the sheath material. |
| US08412007B2 |
3-D waveguide coupling device capable of two-step coupling and manufacture method thereof
The present invention relates to a 3-D waveguide coupling device capable of two-step coupling and a manufacture method thereof, the 3-D waveguide coupling device comprises: a first substrate, at least one waveguide layer, at least one assisting grating, at least one coupling material layer, and at least one 3-D tapered structure layer, wherein 3-D waveguide coupling device is able to couple the light into the waveguide layer by way of two-step coupling through the 3-D tapered structure layer, the coupling material layer and the assisting grating. Moreover, the light can also be coupled out from the waveguide layer through the assisting grating, the coupling layer, and the 3-D tapered structure. The manufacture method is adapted to fabricate the 3-D waveguide coupling device capable of two-step coupling via the present semiconductor process technology without increasing any other new equipment. |
| US08412005B2 |
Mach-Zehnder interferometer type optical modulator
A Mach-Zehnder interferometer type optical modulator includes first and third optical waveguides; input and output optical couplers; and a phase shifting section disposed between the input and output optical couplers. The phase shifting section includes first and second optical waveguide structures each including an n-type semiconductor section, a core layer and a cladding layer. The cladding layer of the first optical waveguide structure includes a first section disposed on the core layer, and second and third sections disposed on the first section. The second and third sections are juxtaposed to each other in a direction that intersects a waveguiding direction. The first and second sections are composed of a p-type semiconductor, and the third section is composed of an undoped semiconductor. |
| US08412002B2 |
Method for generating all-in-focus image
A method for generating an all-in-focus image is provided. In the method, a plurality of frames including one source frame and several reference frames captured at different focus lengths are obtained. After performing a motion compensation procedure on the frames, for each pixel position belonging to an edge, a characteristic similarity between the source frame and each reference frame is calculated respectively to accordingly select a plurality of qualified reference frames among the reference frames. The method further includes determining a first type color space component of the pixel position within an all-in-focus image by an edge sharpness corresponding to the pixel position within each of the source frame and the qualified reference frames, and determining a second type color space component of the pixel position within the all-in-focus image by an color brightness corresponding to the pixel position within each of the source frame and the qualified reference frames. |
| US08411997B2 |
Image capture device and program storage medium
An image capture device includes a capture unit configured to capture an image of an object, an object detection unit configured to detect the object in the image captured by the capture unit, an angle detection unit configured to detect an angle of the object detected by the object detection unit, and a control unit configured to perform a predetermined control operation for the image capture device based on the angle of the object detected by the angle detection unit. |
| US08411992B2 |
Image processing device and associated methodology of processing gradation noise
An image processing device includes: an estimated plane calculation portion calculating, for inputted image data, estimated planes defined by luminance values in blocks each containing a predetermined number of pixels including a reference pixel; an optimal estimated plane selection portion selecting an optimal estimated plane having a least summation of errors between luminance values of respective pixels in a block and an estimated plane among the estimated planes; a weighting factor calculation portion calculating a weighting factor for the reference pixel base on luminance values of the reference pixel and in the optimal estimated plane; and a weighted smoothing portion computing a sum of products of relative luminance differences between the luminance values of the respective pixels in the block and in the optimal estimated plane and the weighting factor for the reference pixel and adding a luminance value in the optimal estimated plane at a reference pixel position to a result of computation. |
| US08411989B2 |
Spectral characteristic calculating device and method
A spectral characteristic calculation device stores a plurality of conversion matrices used to calculate the spectral characteristic values based on brightness values of a digital color image, and a plurality of pieces of brightness value information respectively corresponding to a plurality of sample groups. The plurality of conversion matrices are generated based on the sample color image information contained in the plurality of sample groups, respectively. An evaluating unit is configured to evaluate similarity of brightness value information of the target data with respect to each of the plurality of pieces of brightness value information of the plurality of sample groups. A conversion matrix corresponding to the sample group that is evaluated to have the highest similarity is selected as the conversion matrix. Then, a calculating unit calculates the spectral characteristic values of the target data using the conversion matrix selected by the selecting unit. |
| US08411985B2 |
Image processing device, image processing method and non-transitory computer readable medium recording image processing program
A first exemplary aspect of the present invention is an image processing device that executes image processing including first image processing and second image processing by using a pipeline mechanism, the image processing device including: a first processing unit that executes the first image processing on an input image data, generates history information recording specifics of processing executed in the first image processing, and outputs the history information to the first processing unit; and a second processing unit that executes the second image processing on the image data obtained in the first image processing according to the output history information. |
| US08411982B2 |
Universal blurriness measurement approach for digital imagery
Systems and methods of performing quantitative measurements of image blur in digital images and digital image sequences that are computationally efficient, and that employ no reference information in the measurement process. Each of the image blur measurements is performed using a Markov Chain, where a gradient image array is calculated for a pixel array derived from a given digital image, and a transition probability matrix is constructed for the transition probabilities between adjacent elements in the gradient image array. The transition probability data contained in the transition probability matrix can be pooled or otherwise accumulated to obtain a quantitative measurement of image blur in the given digital image. |
| US08411979B2 |
Digital image processing and enhancing system and method with function of removing noise
The present invention provides a digital image processing enhancing system and method with denoising function. The collected digital image is input; the obtained digital image is decomposed into an illumination image and a reflection image, and then the decomposed illumination image and the reflection image is processed, at last, the processed illumination image and the reflection image are composed into an output image, which is output to an output device. The present invention can improve the image quality, remove the noises of the image, remain details features of an object and obtain the natural visual effect. |
| US08411978B1 |
Group encoding of wavelet precision
A method and system of transmitting a set of wavelet coefficients, the wavelet coefficients representing an image, comprising: arranging a set of wavelet coefficients into a spatially-oriented tree data structure of groups of wavelet coefficients, determining group significance levels for groups in the tree; computing encoded data associated with a refinement range, the refinement range describing a selection from the group consisting of one of an initial quality level and an incremented quality level, to which an image is encoded, the encoded data describing group significance levels in terms of partial scalar components, the partial scalar components related to the refinement range, the encoded data further describing portions of the set of wavelet coefficients that are within the refinement range; and transmitting the encoded data. |
| US08411972B2 |
Information processing device, method, and program
An information processing device includes a storage storing information indicating a first region subjected to moving-image compression and transmission; an identification unit identifying a second region where the update amount of an image is greater than or equal to a threshold value; a determination unit determining whether the image of the second region being associated with the moving image of the first region is to be transmitted, based on an overlapping relationship between the first region and the second region; and a transmission unit transmitting an image of a region including a portion of the second region, following the transmission of the image of the first region, with the image of the region being subjected to moving-image compression, and transmitting information indicating a display position of the image subjected to moving-image compression, when the second region is to be transmitted with being associated with the first region is determined. |
| US08411968B2 |
Album creating apparatus, method and program that classify, store, and arrange images
An album creating apparatus for crating an album by automatically selecting an appropriate image to be laid out in an image layout frame arranged in a template and laying out the selected image in the image layout frame is provided. The album creating apparatus according to the present invention includes: a classification method storage section for classifying images into groups in association with the kind of album; an image input section; a kind of album determining section for determining the kind of album to be created; an in image classification section for classifying the images into the groups based on the classification method stored in the classification method storage section in association with the kind of album; a template storage section for storing a template in which the image layout frame with which the classified group is associated is arranged; and an album creating section for laying out in an image layout frame the image classified into the group associated with the image layout frame to create the album. |
| US08411963B2 |
Methods and apparatus to count persons in a monitored environment
Methods and apparatus to count persons in a monitored environment are disclosed. An example apparatus to count the number of people in a monitored environment is described, which includes an image sensor having a plurality of pixels, a pseudorandom number generator to generate pseudorandom coordinates, a reader to read first pixel data generated by a first pixel of the image sensor at a first time, the first pixel corresponding to the pseudorandom coordinates, a comparator to compare the first pixel data with second pixel data generated by the first pixel at a second time different from the first time to generate a change value, and a counter configured to generate a count of persons based at least on the change value. |
| US08411961B1 |
Method and apparatus for image feature matching in automatic image stitching
Method and apparatus for image feature matching in automatic image stitching processes. Embodiments may provide a computer-implemented method for performing a portion of an automatic image stitching process where feature correspondences are established between pairs of images. In embodiments, a computer-implemented image feature matching component may use a combination of one or more of heuristic techniques, information obtained from the user, file information related to the component images, and/or information obtained from previous feature matching iterations to narrow the number of images that are in a subset of component images to be compared for any given component image, and thus to narrow the number of pairs of component images on which image feature comparisons are performed. |
| US08411959B2 |
Extraction method of an interest region for multimedia mobile users
Disclosed is a method for extracting a region-of-interest of a user in a multimedia mobile terminal. The method includes: setting a search region in an input picture input to the multimedia mobile terminal on a screen picture-to-screen picture basis, and extracting a group of boundary of a region-of-interest based on a brightness difference between the set search region and an environment around the set search region; determining boundary coordinates of the region-of-interest through learning during a predetermined frame among the extracted group of boundary coordinate candidates; and enlarging the region-of-interest having the determined boundary coordinates, and displaying the enlarged region-of-interest. As a result, a region the user is most interested in or pays more attention to than other regions on a screen is automatically extracted. Accordingly, it is possible for users to view pictures in such an efficient manner as to provide the users with an even better experience and understanding during viewing. |
| US08411955B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method and computer-readable medium
An image processing apparatus includes an extracting unit, a representative-image generating unit and a vector converting unit. The extracting unit extracts pixel blocks from image data. The representative-image generating unit generates representative images from the pixel blocks extracted by the extracting unit, based on a similarity between the pixel blocks. The vector converting unit converts the representative images generated by the representative-image generating unit into vector information. |
| US08411954B2 |
Image processing system, image processing program, and image processing method
It is determined whether a repeating pattern is present in an image (100). When no repeating pattern is present, the image is divided into patch images, the resultant patch images are used to create a random repeating pattern, and the random repeating pattern is output (108). In addition, when the number of repetitions of the repeating pattern in the image is 2×2 or more (102), the repetition period is determined by transforming pixel values into frequency coefficients, and the repeating pattern is extracted based on the result of determining the repetition period, and is output (104). When the number of repetitions of the repeating pattern in the image is less than 2×2, the repetition period is determined by performing division using local maximum values of autocorrelation coefficients, and the repetition pattern is extracted based on the result of determining the repetition period (106). |
| US08411953B2 |
Tagging images by determining a set of similar pre-tagged images and extracting prominent tags from that set
An image can be compared with a set of images, each including pre-existing tags. A similar image set can be determined from results of the comparing. Pre-existing tags can be extracted from the similar image set. Prominent tags can be determined from the extracted pre-existing tags. At least one of the determined prominent tags can be added to a tag set associated with the image. |
| US08411939B2 |
Image noise correction
An image noise correction method is provided. For at least one target pixel having a determined pixel value, for each pixel in a window of pixels surrounding the target pixel, a weighting factor for the pixel is estimated based on the value of the target pixel and at least one pixel value in the window. An average of pixel values for the pixels in the window is calculated, with each pixel value being weighted by the weighting factor corresponding to the pixel. A new value is assigned to the target pixel based on the average of pixel values that is calculated. Also provided is an image noise correction device. |
| US08411938B2 |
Multi-scale multi-camera adaptive fusion with contrast normalization
A computer implemented method for fusing images taken by a plurality of cameras is disclosed, comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of images of the same scene taken by the plurality of cameras; generating Laplacian pyramid images for each source image of the plurality of images; applying contrast normalization to the Laplacian pyramids images; performing pixel-level fusion on the Laplacian pyramid images based on a local salience measure that reduces aliasing artifacts to produce one salience-selected Laplacian pyramid image for each pyramid level; and combining the salience-selected Laplacian pyramid images into a fused image. Applying contrast normalization further comprises, for each Laplacian image at a given level: obtaining an energy image from the Laplacian image; determining a gain factor that is based on at least the energy image and a target contrast; and multiplying the Laplacian image by a gain factor to produce a normalized Laplacian image. |
| US08411937B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method and computer-readable medium
An image processing apparatus includes an analyzing unit, a determining unit and a color conversion unit. The analyzing unit analyzes colors being used in an image. The determining unit determines, based on an analysis result provided by the analyzing unit, as to whether or not the colors being used in the image are converted into one or more limited colors. When the determining unit determines that the colors being used in the image are converted into the one or more limited colors, the color conversion unit converts the colors being used in the image into the one or more limited colors. |
| US08411934B2 |
System and method for depth map extraction using region-based filtering
A system and method for extracting depth information from at least two images employing region-based filtering for reducing artifacts are provided. The present disclosure provides a post-processing algorithm or function for reducing the artifacts generated by scanline Dynamic Programming (DP) or other similar methods. The system and method provides for acquiring a first image and a second image from a scene, estimating the disparity of at least one point in the first image with at least one corresponding point in the second image to generate a disparity map, segmenting at least one of the first or second images into at least one region, and filtering the disparity map based on the segmented regions. Furthermore, anisotropic filters are employed, which have a great smoothing effect along the vertical direction than that of the horizontal direction, and therefore, reduce stripe artifacts without significantly blurring the depth boundaries. |
| US08411932B2 |
Example-based two-dimensional to three-dimensional image conversion method, computer readable medium therefor, and system
An example-based 2D to 3D image conversion method, a computer readable medium therefore, and a system are provided. The embodiments are based on an image database with depth information or with which depth information can be generated. With respect to a 2D image to be converted into 3D content, a matched background image is found from the database. In addition, graph-based segmentation and comparison techniques are employed to detect the foreground of the 2D image so that the relative depth map can be generated from the foreground and background information. Therefore, the 3D content can be provided with the 2D image plus the depth information. Thus, users can rapidly obtain the 3D content from the 2D image automatically and the rendering of the 3D content can be achieved. |
| US08411930B2 |
System and a method for detecting a damaged or missing machine part
A system and a method for detecting a damaged or missing machine part. The system includes an image capturing device for capturing images of the machine and a processor for processing the captured images. The system may further include a sensible output for providing an indication of a damaged or missing machine part. The method includes capturing images of the machine against a background which moves relative to the machine over time, selecting a pair of time-separated images from the captured images, generating a displacement image from the pair of images, comparing the machine from the displacement image with a machine model, and identifying a damaged or missing machine part from the comparison of the displacement image with the machine model. The method may further include providing a sensible output which indicates a damaged or missing machine part. |
| US08411927B2 |
Marker detection in X-ray images
A method for detecting markers within X-ray images includes applying directional filters to a sequence of X-ray image frames. Marker candidate pixels are determined based on the output of the directional filters. Candidate pixels are grouped into clusters and distances between each possible pair of clusters is determined and the most frequently occurring distance is considered an estimated distance between markers. A first marker is detected at the cluster that most closely resembles a marker based on certain criteria and a second marker is then detected at a cluster that is the estimated distance from the first marker. The pair of first and second marker detections is scored to determine detection quality. If the detected marker pair has an acceptable score then the detected marker pair is used. |
| US08411924B2 |
Filtering of image sequences
Method of image processing, the method comprises providing a sequence (2) of images (F) which have contrast modulation (100) along said sequence (2); providing a reference frequency (fm, 10) related to said contrast modulations (100) along said sequence (2); and filtering said sequence of images depending on said reference frequency (fm, 10). According to an embodiment, a windowed harmonic filtering is applied to the sequence of input images to extract fundamental in-phase (122) and quadrature (124) components at a heart beat frequency (fm). The resultant time-signal phase is displayed (34) as image sequence. |
| US08411922B2 |
Reducing noise in images acquired with a scanning beam device
Methods and apparatus for reducing noise in images acquired with a scanning beam device are disclosed. A representative method may include scanning a beam of light over a surface in a scan with a variable velocity. Light backscattered from the surface may be detected at different points in time during the scan at a substantially constant rate. Reduced-noise representations of groups of the detected light that each correspond to a different position in an image of the surface may be generated. The reduced-noise representations may be generated for groups having multiple different sizes. The image of the surface may be generated by representing the different positions in the image with the reduced-noise representations of the corresponding groups. Other methods and apparatus are disclosed. |
| US08411921B2 |
Device and method for synchronizing an image capture device with a pre-operative image data set
The present invention relates to a device and a method for synchronizing an image capture device with a first image data set. The image capture device is used for recording a second image data set of a periodically moving area or object. Each first image data set contains information as to the point in time, relative to the periodically moving area or object, when recording took place. The device additionally acquires periodically recurring, current information of the area as well as information concerning the recording instant of the first image data set. From the periodically recurring information and the recording instant of the first image data set, a triggering instant is derived which controls at least one recording of the second image data set by the image capture device in such a way that the second image data set contains image data synchronized to the first image data set. |
| US08411918B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
A system control unit causes a diagnosis monitor to display a plurality of sample images generated by changing one or more image processing parameters used in image processing of an X-ray image. When an operator designates a mixing ratio, at which the sample images are mixed, after the plurality of sample images are displayed on the diagnosis monitor, the system control unit sets one or more image processing parameters to be used when image processing of an X-ray image is performed based on the designated mixing ratio. An image processing unit performs image processing of an X-ray image input from an image input unit based on the set image processing parameter. |
| US08411917B2 |
Device for determining the 3D coordinates of an object, in particular of a tooth
A scanner is used for scanning an object (3, 4, 5), in particular a tooth or a plurality of teeth or a dental cast. The scanner (1) comprises a projector (2) for projecting a pattern (7) onto the object (3, 4, 5) and a camera which comprises a recording optics and an image sensor (18). To improve such scanner, the recording optics comprises a first imaging optics (9) and a second imaging optics (10). |
| US08411911B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and storage medium for storing program
An image processing apparatus comprises an image capture unit configured to capture an image, a characteristic part detector configured to detect a characteristic part of a face from the image captured by the image capture unit, an outline generator configured to generate a pseudo outline of the face based on positions of the characteristic part detected by the characteristic part detector and a correction unit configured to correct the image based on the pseudo outline generated by the outline generator. |
| US08411909B1 |
Facial recognition
An example method includes initiating an emission, by a computing device, of at least one light beam, receiving, from an image capture device of the computing device, an image of a face of a user, and identifying at least one representation of an eye of the user in the image. The method further includes determining, by the computing device, whether at least one reflection of light from the light beam is associated with a cornea of the representation of the eye of the user in the image. The method further includes determining, based at least in part on the first determination, whether to deny authentication of the user with respect to accessing one or more functionalities controlled by the computing device, wherein the authentication is denied independent of performing facial recognition based at least in part on the image. |
| US08411908B2 |
Imaging apparatus, control method, and recording medium thereof
An imaging apparatus is provided including an imaging unit configured to obtain image data, a display unit, and a communication unit configured to communicate with a plurality of external apparatuses. The imaging apparatus further includes a storing unit configured to store person identification information including at least face image data while associating the person recognition information with information relating to the external apparatuses, a collation unit configured to collate a target in the image data with the person identification information, a detection unit configured to detect an external apparatus that is communicating with the imaging apparatus, and a display control unit configured to display a plurality of pieces of face image data on the display unit each as a candidate of a transmission destination of the image data in an order based on a result of collation by the collation unit and a result of detection by the detection unit. |
| US08411904B2 |
Generating agricultural information products using remote sensing
A method for generating a supplementary index raster file based on a plurality of primary index raster files that are associated with an area of interest (AOI) uses a computer coupled to a remote sensing device via a network, wherein the computer includes an input device, a display, and a memory. The method includes generating the plurality of primary index raster files including at least two independent vegetation index (VI) raster files and a soil brightness index (SBI) raster file, wherein each primary index raster file includes a plurality of pixel values. The method also includes classifying each pixel value of the at least two VI raster files as one of a leafy material and a non-leafy material, generating a leaf pigmentation index (LPI) raster file based on the classified pixel values, storing the LPI raster file into the memory, and selectively displaying the LPI raster file. |
| US08411902B2 |
Providing a visual indication of the content of a video by analyzing a likely user intent
A method for providing a visual indication of a content of a video that reflects a likely intent of a user that acquired the video. The present method enables repurposing of a video into a variety of output forms that are adapted to the likely intent of the user and enables more efficient browsing of a stored video. |
| US08411901B2 |
Method and system for calculating image recognition rate and embedded image processing system
The present invention provides a method and system for calculating image recognition rate, which automatically calculates the recognition rate according to recognizing result obtained from an embedded image processing system whose images are provided by an image controlling apparatus. The image controlling apparatus provides an image frame each time according to a control signal issued by the embedded image processing system. The embedded image processing system receives the image frame and recognizes the same. After a plurality of image frames are recognized, it is capable of calculating the recognition rate according to the recognizing result of the embedded image processing system and the recognition rate is capable of being utilized to be a basis for optimizing the parameters used in recognizing logic of the embedded image processing system. |
| US08411900B2 |
Device for detecting/judging road boundary
There is provided a road boundary detection/judgment device resistant to environmental change and capable of detecting even a road boundary demarcated by a three-dimensional object in the distance. The device is provided with: an image acquisition section having two or more cameras for image-capturing the road area; a distance data acquisition section acquiring three-dimensional distance information about an image-capture area on the basis of an image obtained by the image acquisition section; a road boundary detection section detecting the height of a three-dimensional object existing in the road area on the basis of the three-dimensional distance information obtained by the distance data acquisition section to detect a road boundary; and a same boundary judgment section transforming the image, for a first road area where the height of a three-dimensional object corresponding to a road boundary could be detected and a second road area where the height of a three-dimensional object corresponding to a road boundary could not be detected, and judging whether the three-dimensional object corresponding to the first road area and the three-dimensional object corresponding to the second road area are the same. If it is judged that the three-dimensional objects corresponding to the first and second road area boundaries are the same, the second road area is reset as the first road area. |
| US08411898B2 |
Digital authentication with analog documents
Security of photographic identification documents is enhanced by embedding within the photographic image encoded information that may be correlated to other information pertaining to the individual represented by the image, such other information being, for example, printed on the document adjacent to the photograph. |
| US08411893B2 |
Headphone
There is provided a headphone including: a housing that accommodates a driver unit; a sound guiding tube that protrudes from the housing in a predetermined direction and guides a sound generated from the driver unit to an external auditory canal; and a hanger that rotatably supports the housing via a supporting shaft provided in approximately the same direction as a depth direction of the external auditory canal and in a direction inclined to a protruding direction of the sound guiding tube. According to this structure, by rotating the housing with respect to the hanger via the supporting shaft, the protruding direction of the sound guiding tube with respect to the hanger can be adjusted. Thus, by adjusting the protruding direction of the sound guiding tube according to the inclined angle of the external auditory canal of a user, wearability of a headphone can be improved. |
| US08411892B2 |
Aesthetic linear speaker assembly
A linear speaker assembly including a plurality of speakers in side by side relation within a piece of furniture in such a manner that a horn element, a phase plug and other ancillary speaker structure forms a sound path that communicates from the speakers to the environment and the speaker assembly is partially concealed or camouflaged from the casual viewing of an observer. The phase plug and horn element are elongated and are provided along the entire length of the plurality of speakers which comprise a portion of the linear speaker assembly. The phase plug and horn element visually complement the outer portion of the piece of furniture that the plurality of speakers are disposed within. This permits the piece of furniture or other structure to provide amplified sound from a plurality of speakers in side by side relation in such a manner whereby the speaker assembly is substantially camouflaged or not visible. |
| US08411888B2 |
Hearing aid and a method of managing a logging device
A hearing aid (1) and a method of managing data stored in a logging device in a hearing aid is devised. The method involves obtaining sets of data representing parameters such as the sound environment at a predetermined data acquisition rate and storing the data according to one of a plurality of a set of possible parameter sets in a histogram (15) is having room for a limited number of instances of each particular set of parameters. If the limit for a particular histogram bin is reached when an instance is stored in the histogram, the data acquisition rate is adjusted according to a specified scheme and the number of instances of every parameter set is reduced by a fixed factor. Acquired data in the histogram thus reflects the most recent sound environments experienced by the hearing aid user. |
| US08411883B2 |
Loudspeaker apparatus and speaker system
A loudspeaker apparatus includes a speaker array that has a plurality of speaker units which are arranged on a sound emitting surface of the speaker array, and emits sound beams on a plurality of channels, an angle sensing section that senses an angle change displaced from a previously set reference angle of the sound emitting surface, and an adjusting section that adjusts output angles of the sound beams in response to the angle change. |
| US08411875B2 |
Speaker control via audio connection
Members of a plurality of loud speakers receive control commands or signals via audio communication lines. The control commands, or, signals are responded to by those speakers which have been previously addressed. |
| US08411872B2 |
Adaptive control unit with feedback compensation
An adaptive control unit is described for receiving an analog input signal containing at least an indication of a parameter to be controlled to generate an analog output signal for control of the parameter. The analog input signal contains a fed back component resulting from the analog output signal. The adaptive control unit comprises an analog filter having an adjustable gain, a gain adjuster for adjusting the gain of the analog filter using a feedforward adjustment method, and a filter for compensating for the fed back component in the analog input signal. |
| US08411868B2 |
Intruder traceability for shared security associations
Various embodiments are directed to systems and techniques for shared security associations. In one or more embodiments, a key distribution server provides shared security associations for clients and servers by assigning a group key to a particular client according to a time-based group key assignment schedule. The key distribution server may comprise a recursive codebook including multiple entries corresponding to group key assignments to be selected by the key distribution server with respect to time intervals. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08411867B2 |
Scalable and secure key management for cryptographic data processing
A method and system for secure and scalable key management for cryptographic processing of data is described herein. In the method, a General Purpose Cryptographic Engine (GPE) receives key material via a secure channel from a key server and stores the received Key encryption keys (KEKs) and/or plain text keys in a secure key cache. When a request is received from a host to cryptographically process a block of data, the requesting entity is authenticated using an authentication tag included in the request. The GPE retrieves a plaintext key or generate a plaintext using a KEK if the authentication is successful, cryptographically processes the data using the plaintext key and transmits the processed data. The system includes a key server that securely provides encrypted keys and/or key handles to a host and key encryption keys and/or plaintext keys to the GPE. |
| US08411864B2 |
Method of modifying secrets included in a cryptographic module, notably in an unprotected environment
A method of modifying a set of secrets in a cryptographic module, to ensure that the modifying is either successful or invalid. The module includes readable version numbers for each secret and for the set of secrets. If the version number of the set of secrets is equal to a version number requiring the loading of a set of new secrets, the version number of the set of secrets of the cryptographic module is set to a distinctive number indicating that the cryptographic module is being reloaded. Next, for each secret, if the version number of the secret is different from the version number of the corresponding new secret to be loaded, the new secret and its version number are loaded. Next the version number of the set of secrets of the cryptographic module is set to the version number of the set of new secrets. |
| US08411863B2 |
Full volume encryption in a clustered environment
Full volume encryption can be applied to volumes in a clustering environment. To simplify the maintenance of keys relevant to such encrypted volumes, a cluster key table construct can be utilized, where each entry of the cluster key table corresponds to an encrypted volume and comprises an identification of the encrypted volume and a key needed to access that volume. Keys can be protected by encrypting them with a key specific to each computing device storing the cluster key table. Updates can be propagated among the computing devices in the cluster by first decrypting the keys and then reencrypting them with a key specific to each computing device as they are stored on those computing devices. Access control requirements can also be added to the entries in the cluster key table. Alternative access control requirements can be accommodated by assigning multiple independent entries to a single encrypted volume. |
| US08411860B2 |
Wireless communication system, base station, terminal and wireless communication method
A base station of a wireless communication system includes: a base station side data generation portion generating a number of sets of scramble data which are different from each other while the number of sets of the scramble data is the same as or more than the number obtained by multiplying the number of the sub-channels used in said overall wireless communication system by the number of the subcarriers; a base station side storage portion which stores the scramble data; a base station side upper layer control portion which outputs both transmission data for a terminal at other end of a communication and information of sub-channels; a base station side lower layer control portion which, based on the information of the sub-channels, controls the base station side storage portion to output scramble data corresponding to the sub-channels; a base station side scramble portion which conducts a multiplication operation between the transmission data output from the base station side upper layer control portion and the scramble data output from the base station side storage portion based on a control by the base station side lower layer control portion. |
| US08411857B2 |
Partial multiple encryption
A partial multiple encryption device consistent with certain embodiments has an input adapted to receive a unencrypted video signal. An encryption arrangement produces a partially multiple encrypted video signal from the unencrypted video signal. An output is adapted to provide the partially multiple encrypted video signal. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. |
| US08411855B1 |
Size optimization for large elliptic curve cryptography scalar multiplication acceleration tables
A computer program product and method are provided for optimizing the size of an Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) scalar multiplication table. Steps include (a) receiving, from a user interface, a set of integer multipliers, (b) choosing a subset of a given set of target integers, the chosen subset defining an index set, such that elements of the index set generate all elements of the given set of target integers using a target generation function, and (c) modifying the index set by removing an element from the index set which is not necessary to generate an element of the given set of target integers using the target generation function. Additional steps are also included depending on the embodiment. |
| US08411853B2 |
Alternate galois field advanced encryption standard round
An apparatus having a first circuit and a second circuit is disclosed. The first circuit may be configured to (i) generate second Galois Field elements by performing a first Galois Field inversion on first Galois Field elements, the first Galois Field inversion being different from a second Galois Field inversion defined by an Advanced Encryption Standard and (ii) generate third Galois Field elements by multiplying the second Galois Field elements by an inverse of a predetermined matrix. The second circuit may be configured to (i) generate fourth Galois Field elements by processing the third Galois Field elements in a current encryption round while in a non-skip mode, (ii) generate fifth Galois Field elements by multiplying the fourth Galois Field elements by the predetermined matrix and (iii) present the fifth Galois Field elements as updated versions of the first Galois Field elements in advance of a next encryption round. |
| US08411852B2 |
Diffusion oriented method and apparatus for stream cryptography
The present invention applies with a diffused mechanism, as such, a variable series of diffusion functions embedded within a diffusion-medium, to generate a maximum diffusion-cycle and nonlinear complexity; additionally, it performs in a serial process for simple design, further, in a parallel process for saving time, or even in a hardware architecture, to gain greater acceleration. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in flow chart diagram form, comprising steps of: selecting a diffusion-area A, a diffusion-medium S, and a diffusion mechanism Ft1 100; initializing A by an input password 200; performing Ft1 to obtain a new value of A 300; inputting a plaintext in encryption or a ciphertext for decryption, bit by bit 400; XORing a plaintext bit in encryption or a ciphertext bit in decryption with a certain bit of A for stream output 500; continuing until completing the plaintext in encryption, or the ciphertext in decryption 600. |
| US08411849B1 |
Personal electronic device storage apparatus and associated method
A personal electronic device storage apparatus includes a portable storage case including a body having a divider wall statically seated therein. A first cavity is disposed above the divider wall for containing the personal electronic device therein. A second cavity is disposed below the divider wall. A lead plate seated within the first cavity for preventing electromagnetic waves from passing through the body. First and second retractable cords are rotatably disposed within the second cavity, and first and second holders attached to distal ends of the first and second retractable cords respectively. At least one of the first and second holders may be capable of may be tethered to the personal electronic device. Such a structural configuration provides the unexpected and unpredictable advantage of shielding the personal electronic device from electromagnetic waves while keeping it tethered to the storage case. |
| US08411844B1 |
Method for controlling abandonment rate in outbound campaigns
A method for controlling and correcting abandonment rate in an automated contact center that uses a predictive dialing method for determining a number of calls to generate for dialing. When abandonment rate is close to zero, the method determines a mean agent occupancy that is used by the predictive dialing method. Empirical data is collected on agent occupancy while the predictive dialing method uses the mean agent occupancy to determine a number of calls to generate. The method determines a target abandonment rate and a target agent occupancy, wherein a proportion of the agent occupancy empirical data having an agent occupancy equal to or higher than the target agent occupancy is within a predetermined range of the target abandonment rate. The target agent occupancy is used to adjust the mean agent occupancy used by the predictive dialing method. |
| US08411842B1 |
Intelligent communication routing
A system and method for communicating in a communication network, comprising presenting a communication comprising data over a communications network to a router, said router being adapted to route the communication to one of a plurality of available network destinations; automatically executing a communication targeting algorithm in the router, based at least in part on the data, wherein the communication targeting algorithm operates to contextually jointly analyze a plurality of parameters extracted from the data and a plurality of contextual parameters, to determine an optimum target for the communication, wherein the optimum target varies in dependence on both the data and the context of the communication; and routing the communication in dependence on the algorithm execution. |
| US08411838B2 |
Call amount estimating method
A management server 10 stores past record data regarding the call volume by collecting from an exchanger, classifies the past record data in accordance with segments: a 7-day period in a month starting from the beginning of a month; a day of the week; and a predetermined period of time in a day, for a predetermined term in the past, obtains a multiple regression equation having the call volume as an objective variable, based upon the past record data thus classified, by performing a multivariate analysis for each day of the week, and calculates the call volume in a term that is specified by a user based upon the multiple regression equation. |
| US08411835B2 |
Methods and apparatus to manage conference calls
Methods and apparatus to manage conference calls are described. An example method of managing a conference call includes maintaining a record of participants of the conference call; enabling a first one of the participants to request an adjustment of a volume of a current speaker; and in response to a request from the first participant, adjusting an amplification setting associated with the current speaker in a preference file associated with the first participant. |
| US08411830B2 |
System, method and computer program product for extracting user profiles and habits based on speech recognition and calling history for telephone system advertising
A system, method and computer program product for providing targeted messages to a person using telephony services by generating user profile information from telephony data and using the user profile information to retrieve targeted messages. |
| US08411826B2 |
Voicemail notification server load balancing
A device receives, from a management server, an optimal number of threads, generates a dynamic thread based on the optimal number of threads, and retrieves, from a message store, a message based on the dynamic thread and when the message store is not empty. The device receives a binding from a voicemail server associated with a voicemail user, generates a notification based on the retrieved message and based on the binding, and provides the notification to a user device associated with the voicemail user. |
| US08411819B2 |
Radiation treatment planning and execution that consider the type of critical organ
A method for use in a treatment planning process or in a treatment process includes determining a type of critical organ for healthy tissue, and accumulating dose for the healthy tissue based on the type of critical organ.A method for use in a treatment planning process or in a treatment process includes determining a type of critical organ for healthy tissue, and determining a constraint for the healthy tissue, wherein the constraint is determined based on different movement trajectories and the type of critical organ. |
| US08411813B2 |
Method for carrying out reactor internal
A method for carrying out a reactor internal, comprising steps of: forming a first opening portion in a ceiling of a reactor building at a position directly above an equipment pool in said reactor building; cutting a cylindrical reactor internal surrounding a core in a reactor pressure vessel disposed in said reactor building, at one position in an axial direction; surrounding said cut cylindrical reactor internal with a radiation shield; and carrying out said cylindrical reactor internal surrounded by said radiation shield out of said reactor building through said first opening portion. |
| US08411812B2 |
Wide frequency range delay locked loop
A delay locked loop operates over a wide range of frequencies and has high accuracy, small silicon area usage, low power consumption and a short lock time. The DLL combines an analog domain and a digital domain. The digital domain is responsible for initial lock and operational point stability and is frozen after the lock is reached. The analog domain is responsible for normal operation after lock is reached and provides high accuracy using smaller silicon area and low power. |
| US08411807B1 |
Mid-packet clear channel assessment
A mid-packet detection technique is provided that detects a packet with periodic repetitions of a fixed duration at a point in time of the packet other than a start-of-packet pattern, e.g., a preamble, associated with the packet. The process performs packet detection without detecting a preamble and does not require carrier frequency recovery, timing recovery (synchronization) or channel estimation. In one embodiment, a doubly differential matched filter autocorrelation of the received signal is computed and used as a metric for packet detection when the preamble is not observed or to complement preamble detection. The metric is compared to a threshold to indicate detection of a packet. |
| US08411805B1 |
Joint estimation of channel and preamble sequence for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems
A mobile station (MS) includes an estimation module, a filter module, and a filter selection module. The estimation module receives an input signal having subcarriers and generates first channel estimates based on the input signal. The subcarriers are selectively used by a base station (BS) to transmit preamble sequences when communicating with the MS. The filter module includes first and second filters. One of the first and second filters selectively filters the first channel estimates and generates second channel estimates. The filter selection module selects the one of the first and second filters based on a number of the subcarriers used to transmit the preamble sequences. |
| US08411795B2 |
High power high linearity digital phase shifter
A digital phase shifter suitable for high power RF applications is disclosed. A plurality of MEMs switches selectively couple delay lines into the RF signal path providing adjustable phase shift under digital control. 90 degree hybrid combiners on either side of the MEMs switches allow two signal paths to be used in combination to provide a desired number of phase shift steps with a reduced number of delay lines and switches and with lower power level on each path. |
| US08411792B2 |
Digital predistorter for variable supply amplifier
An adaptive predistorter for applying a predistortion gain to an input signal to be amplified by a power amplifier having a variable supply voltage, the predistorter including: a predistortion gain block adapted to apply a complex gain to a complex input signal; a first table implemented in a first memory and including a 2-dimensional array of cells storing complex gain values, the first table adapted to output the complex gain values based on an amplitude of the input signal and the value of the variable supply voltage of the power amplifier; and a second table implemented in a second memory and including a 2-dimensional array of cells storing gain update values for updating the complex gain values of the first table, the gain update values being generated based on an output of the power amplifier. |
| US08411789B2 |
Radio communication apparatus and method
A radio communication apparatus includes a clock reproducer unit which repetitively detects a symbol timing from a Nyquist point in detection-result data. A symbol generator unit controllably generates or non-generates a to-be-transmitted symbol or symbols at every symbol timing detected by the clock reproducer unit, converts the to-be-transmitted symbol or symbols into modulating data pieces, and outputs the modulating data pieces to a FIFO buffer. A D/A converter reads out modulating data pieces from the FIFO buffer at a predetermined rate and converts the read-out modulating data pieces into an analog modulating signal for use in modulation of a carrier. A controller unit controls a number of the to-be-transmitted symbol or symbols generated by the symbol generator unit at every symbol timing to hold a number of modulating data pieces in the FIFO buffer in a predetermined range. |
| US08411788B2 |
Digital transmitters for wireless communication
Digital transmitters having improved characteristics are described. In one design of a digital transmitter, a first circuit block receives inphase and quadrature signals, performs conversion from Cartesian to polar coordinates, and generates magnitude and phase signals. A second circuit block (which may include a delta-sigma modulator or a digital filter) generates an envelope signal based on the magnitude signal. A third circuit block generates a phase modulated signal based on the phase signal. The third circuit block may include a phase modulating phase locked loop (PLL), a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a saturating buffer, and so on. A fourth circuit block (which may include one or more exclusive-OR gates or an amplifier with multiple gain states) generates a digitally modulated signal based on the envelope signal and the phase modulated signal. A fifth circuit block (which may include a class D amplifier and/or a power amplifier) amplifies the digitally modulated signal and generates an RF output signal. |
| US08411783B2 |
Method of identifying a precoding matrix corresponding to a wireless network channel and method of approximating a capacity of a wireless network channel in a wireless network
A method of identifying a precoding matrix corresponding to a wireless network channel comprises the steps of identifying a capacity metric that includes an identity matrix, approximating the capacity metric using an approximation metric that ignores the identity matrix, using the approximation metric to search over all matrices in a matrix codebook in order to identify a particular precoding matrix that increases a capacity of the wireless network channel, and transmitting across the wireless network channel a matrix index that corresponds to the particular precoding matrix. Additional techniques for identifying precoding matrices are also described herein, as is a method of approximating a capacity of a wireless network channel in a wireless network. |
| US08411778B1 |
Optimal linear equalizer for MIMO systems with HARQ and/or repetition coding
Systems and methods are provided for decoding signal vectors in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, where the receiver has received one or more signal vectors based on the same transmitted vector. The symbols of the received signal vectors are combined, forming a combined received signal vector that may be treated as a single received signal vector. The combined received signal vector may be equalized by, for example, a zero-forcing or minimum-mean-squared error equalizer or another suitable linear equalizer. Following equalization, the equalized signal vector may be decoded using a simple, linear decoder. |
| US08411776B2 |
System and method for quantization of channel state vectors
A system and method for the quantization of channel state vectors is provided. A method for communications node operation includes measuring a communications channel between the communications node and a controller, generating channel state information based on the measurement, computing a bit representation of the channel state information, transmitting the bit representation to the controller, and receiving a transmission from the controller. The computing makes use of tail-biting trellis decoding, and the transmission makes use of the channel state information transmitted by the communications node. |
| US08411771B2 |
Predictive clipping in multi-carrier wireless communication systems
A method and apparatus for selectively clipping waveforms prior to transmission in a multi-carrier wireless communication system is provided. The design includes estimating peak values of the composite multi-carrier signal, determining a local threshold set including one local threshold for each carrier based on a configurable total threshold representing a maximum aggregate signal level for a sum of all signals to be transmitted over the multiple carriers, and clipping one signal to be transmitted over one carrier when the signal exceeds a corresponding local threshold and a sum of all signals to be transmitted over multiple carriers exceed the total threshold. Alternately, the design may include estimating peak signal values for signals to be transmitted in the multi-carrier system, and selectively clipping any signal wherein at least one peak signal value exceeds a local threshold and peak signal values for a sum of all signals to be transmitted exceed a global threshold. |
| US08411770B2 |
Base station device, mobile terminal device, wireless communication system, and wireless communication method
A wireless transmission device converts signals having been subjected to a first modulation into frequency domain signals, and allocates the frequency domain signals converted to subcarriers for transmission. The wireless transmission device includes: a controller that selects, based on channel qualities of the subcarriers to which the frequency domain signals are allocated, a value satisfying a predetermined communication quality as control information indicative of the number of frequency domain signals included in each of segments into which the frequency domain signals are segmentalized; and an allocating unit that segmentalizes the frequency domain signals into segments, each of the segments including the same number of frequency domain signals as the value selected as the control information by the controller, and allocates the frequency domain signals included in each of the segments to sequential subcarriers. |
| US08411767B2 |
Filter structure for iterative signal processing
The present invention relates to improved multiple access communications. In one form, the invention relates to an improved signal processing method and apparatus for an iterative method of determining the reception of a signal in a multi user packet based wireless OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) communication system. In other forms the present invention provides recursive filtering for joint iterative decoding in a variety of systems and functions such as linear multiple access channel decoders, iterative equalization, iterative joint channel estimation and detection/decoding, iterative space-time processing, iterative multi user interference cancellation and iterative demodulation. In one particular form the present invention provides an iterative decoding circuit for a wireless multiuser communications receiver comprising a first signal processing means for receiving at least one received signal, said first signal processing means comprising at least two linear iterative filters such that the first linear iterative filter provides an estimate of a selected received signal to an estimated signal output and a second linear iterative filter provides estimates of at least one other received signal, delayed by one iteration cycle, to an input of said first linear iterative filter, a second signal processing means for receiving the estimated signal output of the first linear iterative filter and providing a further received signal estimate to the input of the first signal processing means in a succeeding iteration cycle of the decoding circuit. |
| US08411766B2 |
System and method for utilizing spectral resources in wireless communications
A wireless communication system comprises a wavelet analyzer and a wavelet signal generator. The wavelet analyzer is operable to analyze wireless signals within a frequency and time map of a communications spectrum, whereby the wavelet analyzer is adapted to determine one or more available cells within the frequency and time map. The wavelet signal generator is operable to generate one or more wavelet signals for transmission within the determined one or more available cells of the frequency and time map based on the analyzed wireless signals within the frequency and time map. |
| US08411765B2 |
Techniques and systems for wireless communications
Techniques, apparatus and systems for providing radio frequency wireless communications based on time reversal of the channel impulse response of an RF pulse in a transmission channel between an RF transmitter and an RF receiver to enhance reception and detection of an RF pulse at the RF receiver against various effects that can adversely affect and complicate the reception and detection of the RF pulse at the RF receiver. |
| US08411764B2 |
System and method for multi-protocol radio-frequency identification
A system and method for communicating with contactless IC cards of multiple protocols includes transmitting an IC card polling signal and receiving a data transmission from an IC card. A processor is configured to determine whether or not a data transmission is received in response to the polling signal. The processor is configured to decode the data transmission in real-time if it is received in response to the polling signal. The processor is otherwise configured to first store the received data transmission in a memory and then decode the stored data transmission. |
| US08411759B2 |
Multiplexing apparatus and demultiplexing apparatus
The multiplexing apparatus which does not make a user who watches a moving picture feel uncomfortable, the moving picture including: (i) a coding unit (42) for generating one or more coded streams so that no gap occurs at the connection of predetermined two access units in a process of decoding, in sequence, the two access units in all of the access units included in the coded streams; and (ii) a multiplexing unit (18) for multiplexing, with other information, the coded streams generated in the coding unit (42). |
| US08411757B2 |
Apparatus, and associated method, for forming a compressed motion vector field utilizing predictive motion coding
Apparatus, and an associated method, motion compensates coding of video sequences. Motion compensated prediction is utilized in the representation of motion vector fields. Reduced numbers of bits are required to represent the motion vector field while maintaining a low prediction error, thereby facilitating improved communication of, and recreation of, video frames forming a video sequence. |
| US08411755B2 |
Video transmission apparatus and control method for video transmission apparatus
Waiting-for-transmission fragments that cannot be transmitted by a transmission unit due to the interruption of transmission by the transmission unit are stored. In accordance with the waiting-for-transmission fragments, a fragment to be transmitted prior to a first fragment including an intra-coded frame is eliminated from the waiting-for-transmission fragments. The transmission unit is controlled so that the first fragment is transmitted at the resumption of transmission. |
| US08411750B2 |
Global motion parameter estimation using block-based motion vectors
Techniques for estimating global motion parameters based on block-based motion vectors are described. Horizontal and vertical motion parameters are estimated independently. A video processing device, in one example, generates horizontal motion parameter candidates for each row and vertical motion parameter candidates for each column, and selects the median of the horizontal motion parameter candidates as the global horizontal motion parameter and the median of the vertical motion parameter candidates as the global vertical motion parameter. The video processing device may further eliminate candidates by calculating error values for each candidate and remove those candidates with error values below an error threshold. The video processing device may also use pre-calculated values of matrices when calculating each of the candidates to further improve efficient calculation of the global motion parameters. |
| US08411744B2 |
Method and apparatus for decoding/encoding a video signal
The present invention provides a method of decoding a video signal. The method includes the steps of obtaining view information of a picture from the video signal and generating information for reference picture management using the view information. |
| US08411741B2 |
Picture processing apparatus, picture processing method, picture processing program and recording medium
Occurrence of mosquito noise of a macro block that contains even a small plain region is suppressed. One macro block is subdivided into sub blocks each of which is composed of four pixels×four lines. The average value of luminance levels of each sub block is calculated. The absolute values of the difference values between the luminance levels and the average value are obtained for each sub block. The minimum value of the average difference values of the 16 sub blocks of one macro block is selected and decided as an activity of the macro block. Corresponding to the decided activity, a quantizer scale of the macro block is decided. With the decided quantizer scale, the macro block is quantized. According to this method, since the size of each sub block is smaller than the size of a conventional sub block of eight pixels×eight lines, the average difference value of each sub block is more emphasized. Since the minimum value of the average difference values is designated as an activity of the macro block, an activity of a macro block that contains even a small plain portion can be more suppressed. As a result, a quantizer value of a macro block that contains an edge can be decreased. Thus, mosquito noise of a macro block that contains an edge portion of a picture can be suppressed. |
| US08411738B2 |
System and method for identification of vertical scrolling regions in digital video
A vertical scrolling region detector may include a motion estimator that can generate motion vectors between blocks of two or more primary frames of a mixed-mode video sequence. The detector may also include a primary frame motion analyzer that can analyze the motion vectors to detect substantially constant vertical motion of at least some of the blocks between the two or more primary frames. The presence of substantially constant vertical motion may reflect the presence of a vertical scrolling region in the mixed-mode video sequence. Moreover, the detector may also include a consecutive frame motion analyzer that can calculate differences in pixel values between lines of two or more consecutive frames in the mixed-mode video sequence. The differences in pixel values may further reflect the presence of the vertical scrolling region in the mixed-mode video sequence. |
| US08411737B2 |
Transmission of physical layer signaling in a broadcast system
Aspects of the invention provide apparatuses, computer media, and methods for supporting the broadcast of extended signaling data over a network. With an aspect of the invention, all of the extended signaling data may be distributed over multiple data frames. With another aspect, only dynamic signaling redundancy data is distributed over different data frames, where systematic information (for example, configurable signaling data) is transmitted in accordance with traditional systems. In addition, backwards compatibility with traditional systems may be supported, in which extended signaling is contained in an extension field. Error correction code may be applied to the extended signaling in concert with different codes. With another aspect, only extended signaling is supported without backwards compatibility with traditional systems. |
| US08411729B2 |
Method and apparatus for new cell identification in a WCDMA network with a given neighbor set
In a WCDMA network, a communication system may include a baseband processor that enables determination of a primary synchronization position and a plurality of scrambling codes based on received configuration information from at least one base station. The baseband processor may also determine a slot boundary in at least one signal received from the at least one base station based on the determined primary synchronization position. The baseband processor may concurrently apply segments of the plurality of scrambling codes to the received at least one signal. The segments of the plurality of scrambling codes are generated from a plurality of time shifted versions of one of the plurality of scrambling codes. The system may also include a multipath detector that enables unscrambling of the received at least one signal based on the determined slot boundary and at least a portion of the one or more scrambling codes. |
| US08411726B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing signal correlation at multiple resolutions to mitigate multipath interference
A method and apparatus for selecting a signal processing resolution. A received signal is processed using a first resolution. When a multipath condition is detected, the signal is processed using a second resolution. |
| US08411725B2 |
Channel geometry detector
Adaptive reconfiguration of a wireless receiver is enabled based on channel geometry. According to an embodiment, the wireless receiver includes a geometry factor processing module and signal processing modules, e.g. such as but not limited to an SIR estimation module, a power estimation module, a despreading module, a low-pass filter, a combing weight generation module, a coefficient estimation module, a synchronization control channel interference canceller module, etc. The geometry factor processing module determines a geometry factor for the channel over which signals are transmitted to the wireless receiver, the geometry factor being a measure of the ratio of total transmitted power received by the wireless receiver to total interference plus noise power at the wireless receiver. One or more of the receiver signal processing modules are reconfigurable based on the geometry factor. |
| US08411721B2 |
High-precision synchronization of pulsed gas-discharge lasers
Two excimer lasers have individual pulsing circuits each including a storage capacitor which is charged and then discharged through a pulse transformer to generate an electrical pulse, which is delivered to the laser to generate a light pulse. The time between generation of the electrical pulse and creation of the light pulse is dependent on the charged voltage of the capacitor. The capacitors are charged while disconnected from each other. The generation of the electrical pulses is synchronized by connecting the capacitors together for a brief period after the capacitors are charged to equalize the charging voltages. The capacitors are disconnected from each other before they are discharged. |
| US08411718B2 |
Semiconductor light-emitting device
The present invention provides a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device capable of preventing shortening of the device lifetime due to increase in the driving voltage of the device and internal heat generation, and also providing uniform laser characteristics, even if the device has a ridge stripe structure. On a GaN substrate 1, an n-type GaN layer 2, an n-type AlGaN layer 3, an active layer 4, a p-type AlGan layer 5 and a p-type GaN layer 6 are laminated sequentially. On the p-type GaN layer 6, an insulating film 7 and a transparent electrode 8 are formed. A portion of the transparent electrode 8 is formed in contact with the p-type GaN layer 6. A ridge stripe portion D to form a waveguide is configured of a transparent film 9. A region, where the transparent electrode 8 and the p-type GaN layer 6 are in contact with each other, serves as a stripe-shaped current injection region. |
| US08411715B2 |
Semiconductor laser device
The invention relates to a semiconductor laser device comprising a laser bar (2), a flexible conductor support (10), a supporting body (3) of a metal or a metal alloy and a heat sink (4), which is arranged between the supporting body (3) and the laser bar (2), the laser bar (2) being electrically contacted by the flexible conductor support (10) and the supporting body (3) having a thickness of at least 2 mm. The invention further relates to a method for producing the above-described semiconductor laser device, wherein a synchronous soldering process is used to solder the laser bar (2) to the heat sink (4) by means of a hard solder layer (30) and the heat sink (4) to the supporting body (3) by means of a further hard solder layer (31). |
| US08411713B2 |
Process and system for laser crystallization processing of film regions on a substrate to minimize edge areas, and structure of such film regions
A process and system for processing a thin film sample are provided. In particular, a beam generator can be controlled to emit at least one beam pulse. The beam pulse is then masked to produce at least one masked beam pulse, which is used to irradiate at least one portion of the thin film sample. With the at least one masked beam pulse, the portion of the film sample is irradiated with sufficient intensity for such portion to later crystallize. This portion of the film sample is allowed to crystallize so as to be composed of a first area and a second area. Upon the crystallization thereof, the first area includes a first set of grains, and the second area includes a second set of grains whose at least one characteristic is different from at least one characteristic of the second set of grains. The first area surrounds the second area, and is configured to allow an active region of a thin-film transistor (“TFT”) to be provided at a distance therefrom. |
| US08411708B2 |
Dual asynchronous mapping of client signals of arbitrary rate
A network may include an ingress node that is configured to receive a client signal having a client rate that is one of a multiple different client rates, asynchronously map the client signal into a first frame of a first rate, asynchronously map the first frame into a second frame of a second rate, and output the second frame on the network; an intermediate node that is configured to receive the second frame, recover the first frame from the second frame, asynchronously map the first frame into a third frame of a third rate, and output the third frame on the network, where the intermediate node does not recover the client signal from the first frame; and an egress node that is configured to receive the third frame, recover the first frame from the third frame, recover the client signal from the first frame, and output the client signal. |
| US08411705B2 |
Three-stage architecture for adaptive clock recovery
An adaptive clock recovery (ACR) system has a first closed-loop control processor (e.g., a first proportional-integral (PI) processor) that processes an input phase signal indicative of jittery packet arrival times to generate a mean phase reference. The input phase signal is compared to the mean phase reference to generate delay-offset values that are indicative of the delay-floor corresponding to the packet arrival times. The mean phase reference and the delay-offset values are used to generate offset-compensated phase values corresponding to the delay-floor. The ACR system also has a second closed-loop control processor (e.g., a second PI processor) that smoothes the offset-compensated phase values to generate an output phase signal that can be used to generate a relatively phase stable recovered clock signal, even during periods of varying network load that adversely affect the uniformity of the packet arrival times. |
| US08411703B1 |
Method and apparatus for a reduced lane-lane skew, low-latency transmission system
A method and apparatus for a multiple lane transmission system that provides a fixed, low-latency mode of operation with reduced lane-lane skew while process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variation, as well as other sources of variation, occur over time. Multiplexing techniques are utilized within each transmission lane to allow programmably adaptive use of phase alignment circuitry for various modes of operation. As a result, power consumption and semiconductor die area are reduced because multiple copies of phase alignment circuitry within each transmission lane are not required. Also, injection of additional jitter on the serial outputs due to continuous operation of phase alignment circuitry is prevented. Rather, multiplexers within the phase alignment circuitry selectively adapt the timing architecture to that required by the selected mode of operation. |
| US08411699B2 |
Communication method, communication apparatus, and communication system
A communication apparatus communicates with another communication apparatus connected to a transmission channel and sharing a communication band. The communication apparatus includes: a receiving unit that receives, through the transmission channel, data including time information based on a transmission time when a synchronous signal is transmitted to the transmission channel from a synchronous signal transmitting apparatus at a given cycle, the synchronous signal for synchronizing a plurality of communication apparatuses; a transmitting unit that transmits data to the transmission channel; and a transmission control unit that estimates a synchronous signal non-existing period in which there is no synchronous signal on the transmission channel on the basis of the time information received by the receiving unit and the given cycle, and controls the transmitting unit to transmit data within the estimated synchronous signal non-existing period. |
| US08411697B2 |
Method and arrangement for improving media transmission quality using robust representation of media frames
In a method of improved media frame transmission in a communication network. Initially a plurality of “original” or regular media frames are provided for transmission. According to the invention, robust representations of the provided regular media frames are generated and stored locally. Subsequently, one or more of the regular media frames is/are transmitted. The invention detects an indication of a loss of a transmitted media frame, and the idea is to transmit, in response to a detected frame loss, a stored robust representation of the lost media frame and/or a stored robust representation of a subsequent, not yet transmitted, media frame to increase the media quality. |
| US08411695B1 |
Multi-interface compatible bus over a common physical connection
A multi-interface bus allows for different bus standards to be implemented over the same set of physical bus lines. More particularly, in one implementation, the system includes a first circuit board, a second circuit board, and a bus connecting the first and second circuit boards. The second circuit board is configured to communicate with the first circuit board using either a synchronous or an asynchronous bus protocol determined based on a bus protocol used by the first circuit board. |
| US08411689B2 |
Fault-tolerant, frame-based communication system
A packet-switched, fault-tolerant, vehicle communication internetwork (100, 400, 500) comprising port-based VLANs. Two or more VLANs are embodied where a source node (110, 410, 510,610) comprises two or more network interface circuits (130,140, 415,425, 515,525, 630,640), and where looping is precluded via specific VLAN tagging and switch ports (131-134, 200, 300, 420, 430, 435, 445, 455, 465, 535, 540, 545, 560, 575, 585, associated with at least one specific VLAN. A destination node (120, 440, 450, 460, 570, 580, 590, 620) may feedback packets to the source node via a general VLAN tag along pathways associated with the two or more specific outgoing VLAN tags. |
| US08411686B2 |
Method and device for updating a multimedia broadcast conditional access plug-in
A CA plug-in file is divided into file blocks and file pieces in turn, and the file pieces are encapsulated into service data packets and data units in turn; a frame header is encapsulated in a multiplexing frame after the value of a “plug-in update identification” field configured in the multiplexing frame header is set to be valid, and the data unit is encapsulated in a data segment of the multiplexing sub-frame; and the encapsulated multiplexing frame is modulated to an electromagnetic wave of a physical channel sent to the air. |
| US08411683B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing connectivity in a network with multiple packet protocols
Methods and systems are provided for routing or forwarding packet data conforming to two different communication protocols simultaneously in a computer network. The first protocol may be a legacy protocol, such as IPv4, with routing being performed in a manner that maintains legacy behavior and functions. Such functions may include network address translation. The second protocol may be a newer protocol, such as IPv6, with the routing or forwarding being performed through reduced complexity bridging that enables simplified connectivity of second protocol devices. The bridging performed typically requires less memory and processing power than traditional routing techniques such as those implemented for the first protocol. Reduced memory and processing power requirements enable the second protocol routing functions to be added to legacy equipment that would not otherwise be able to support routing of the second protocol packet data. |
| US08411682B2 |
Communication apparatus having a plurality of network interfaces, method of communication by the communication apparatus, and storage medium
A communication apparatus which is capable of performing multicasting or broadcasting using a user-desired network interface. An MFP implementing the communication apparatus includes a plurality of network interfaces and performs multicasting or broadcasting via at least one of the network interfaces. A controller unit provides an application programming interface to an application that operates on the MFP. An operator of the MFP operates an operation unit to set a transmission condition for transmitting a multicast packet and a broadcast packet via a predetermined network interface. When a plurality of active network interfaces are detected, one of the plurality of detected active network interfaces which satisfies the set transmission condition is selected and multicasting or broadcasting is performed via the selected network interface. |
| US08411678B2 |
Method and a gateway for providing multiple internet access
The present invention concerns a gateway and a method at a gateway for providing multiple accesses to an IP based network, the gateway comprising an interface to a first network, an interface to a second network, the gateway being connected to the IP based network with a first network provider on a first connection through the second network. The method comprises the steps of detecting a request from a device located on the first network to connect to the IP based network with a second network provider, setting up a second connection to the IP based network through the second network with a second network provider, and connecting the device to the IP based network with the second connection. |
| US08411675B2 |
Data device to speech service bridge
The present invention provides a data device to speech service bridge. The bridge allows packet-based devices, such as, for example, the PDA and 2.5/3G cellular phone, to access voice services. |
| US08411671B1 |
Loss adjustment control in a tandem media communication network
An originating device coupled to an originating network requests a media call to a terminating device coupled to a terminating network. In between the originating and terminating networks, a tandem network receives a signaling message for the media call transferred by the originating network. The tandem network retrieves and processes numbers for the originating device and the terminating device from the signaling message to determine a loss adjustment for the media call and to select the originating device or the terminating device to make the loss adjustment. The tandem network transfers a loss instruction indicating the loss adjustment to the originating network or the terminating network for delivery to the selected device. The selected device receives the loss instruction and responsively makes the loss adjustment. |
| US08411667B2 |
Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to manipulate packet routing
Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to manipulate packet routing are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes extracting a destination address from a first packet, querying a route table based on the destination address to obtain a first label associated an egress router, querying the route table based on the destination address to obtain a second label associated with an interface of the egress router, forming a second packet from the first packet, the second packet including the first and second labels, and routing the second packet to the egress router based on the first label. |
| US08411662B1 |
Beacon based proximity services
The invention includes additional uses for the SSID of the IEEE 802.11 beacon to include reliable and secure capability encoding. The SSID in the system can be controlled by applications and transmitted with periodic broadcasting or point to point communication, so interoperable communication of application or user preferences/capabilities/membership can be transmitted and quickly determined by peers. |
| US08411659B2 |
Data flow control in WLAN radio connections for the impairment of internet telephony
In a method for controlling the data flow on a radio link between a WLAN base station and a WLAN mobile station, the data rate on the radio link is reduced for in each case one time period (36, 37) at time intervals (35). One preferred field of application for the method is to restrict general or unauthorized transmission of a telephone call via the Internet. |
| US08411656B2 |
Multi-user, multi-mode baseband signaling methods, timing/frequency synchronization, and receiver architectures
A femtocell wireless signaling/data mesh network for multi-user, multi-mode baseband signaling methods, timing/frequency synchronization, and receiver architectures is disclosed. The femtocell wireless signaling/data mesh network includes a plurality of femtocells connected by a plurality of wireless links. A first femtocell of the plurality of femtocells directly communicates with a second femtocell of the plurality of femtocells via a wireless link between the first femtocell and the second femtocell. |
| US08411649B2 |
Bandwidth oriented reconfiguration of wireless ad hoc networks
A first wireless ad hoc network with a certain available amount of bandwidth comprises a plurality of wireless terminals communicating via wireless connections with each other. Each wireless connection requires a certain amount of the available amount of bandwidth. A problem occurs, if a wireless terminal wants to set up a new wireless connection requiring bandwidth or requires more bandwidth for an existing wireless connection and the required amount of bandwidth exceeds the left amount of the available amount of bandwidth of the first wireless ad hoc network. In a state of the art wireless ad hoc network the requested bandwidth cannot be provided and a user application may not be possible. According to the invention, however, the required amount of bandwidth can be provided by splitting the first wireless ad hoc network such that a second wireless ad hoc network is spawned which operates in a different communication channel and thus provides additional bandwidth. The second wireless ad hoc network comprises wireless terminals of the first wireless ad hoc network and/or new wireless terminals. |
| US08411648B2 |
Double linked wireless sensor network being capable of bidirectional communication and method thereof
Provided are a double linked wireless sensor network capable of performing bidirectional communication and a method of transmitting and receiving data. In each of nodes constituting the wireless sensor network, an active duration and an inactive duration are alternately repeated, and the active duration is configured to include an upstream duration, an intermission duration, and a downstream duration. Each of the downstream duration and the upstream duration is configured to sequentially include a second receive slot, a second receive processing slot, a first receive slot, a first receive processing slot, a transmit slot, a transmit processing slot, a first acknowledge slot, a first acknowledge processing slot, a second acknowledge slot, and a second acknowledge processing slot, and wherein bidirectional communication can be performed between the sink node and the terminal node in a single period of the active duration. In the wireless sensor network, a transmit processing duration TXP is maintained in a receiving mode capable of receiving data from other nodes, so that a new node can be easily joined as a terminal node or an intermediate node. In addition, in the wireless sensor network, each of the upstream duration and the downstream duration is provided with consecutive two receiving durations, so that, although links to consecutive two nodes are disconnected, it is possible to simply recover the links. |
| US08411646B2 |
Opportunistic uplink scheduling
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate scheduling uplink transmissions. For instance, a time sharing scheme can be utilized such that differing mobile devices can be scheduled to transmit during differing time slots; however, it is also contemplated that a static scheme can be employed. Pursuant to an illustration, an interference budget can be combined with a time varying weighting factor associated with a base station; the weighting factor can be predefined and/or adaptively adjusted (e.g., based upon a load balancing mechanism). Moreover, the weighted interference budget can be leveraged for selecting mobile devices for uplink transmission (e.g., based at least in part upon path loss ratios of the mobile devices). Further, disparate interference budgets can be utilized by differing channels of a sector at a particular time. Also, for example, a base station can assign a loading factor to be utilized by wireless terminal(s) for generating channel quality report(s). |
| US08411645B2 |
Method, system, apparatus and software product for combination of uplink dedicated physical control channel gating and enhanced uplink dedicated channel to improve capacity
A method, apparatus, system, network element, and software product are used to provide a traffic signal, such as a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) signal, via high speed packet access. The traffic signal is prepared and provided via a high speed transmission, and a control signal is gated to produce a discontinuous transmission. This reduces interference, and therefore increases traffic capacity. |
| US08411637B2 |
Method for dividing a subcarrier permutation zone and an information configuration system
A method for dividing a subcarrier permutation zone in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access system and an information configuration system for dividing a subcarrier permutation zone in the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access system are disclosed in the present invention. Wherein, the method for dividing the subcarrier permutation zone includes the following steps: a configuration unit performing configuration to a subcarrier permutation zone division information, and sending the subcarrier permutation zone division information to a configuration synchronization unit; the configuration synchronization unit calculating a configuration effective frame number, and sending the subcarrier permutation zone division information and the configuration effective frame number to a base station; the base station dividing the subcarrier permutation zone according to the subcarrier permutation zone division information and the configuration effective frame number. With the present invention, it can uniformly configure, in the whole network, the frame in which the subcarrier permutation zone appears and the position in the frame, so as to avoid the co-frequency interference between each of the adjacent zones. |
| US08411635B2 |
Mobile station apparatus and control channel decoding method
A wireless communication base station apparatus that allows the number of times of blind decodings at a mobile station to be reduced without increasing the overhead caused by notifying information. In this apparatus, a CCE allocation part (104) allocates allocation information allocated to a PDCCH received from modulation parts (103-1 to 103-K) to a particular one of a plurality of search spaces that is corresponding to a CCE aggregation size of the PDCCH. A placement part (108) then places the allocation information in one of downstream line resources, reserved for the PDCCH, that is corresponding to the CCE of the particular search space to which the allocation information has been allocated. A radio transmission part (111) then transmits an OFDM symbol, in which the allocation information has been placed, to the mobile station from an antenna (112). |
| US08411631B2 |
Response mechanisms for wireless networks using wide bandwidth
In some embodiments, multiple wireless communication devices that are each transmitting an acknowledgement to the same wide-channel transmission will transmit their acknowledgements simultaneously over different ones of the narrow channels that make up the wide channel, thereby permitting older devices that can't decode the wide channels to determine when the acknowledgement are transmitted. |
| US08411630B2 |
Frame-based, on-demand spectrum contention source resolution
A method and system by which a base station in a Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN), and more generally a transceiver in a cognitive radio (CR) system, can communicate with other transceivers to fairly share transmission and reception of scheduled use (“occupancy”) of frames on a single channel within a frame-based, on demand spectrum contention system. The method and system disclose how the base station can initiate contentions for an increased share of the frames available in the following superframe of the CR system. The method and system assure fair and efficient access to the transmission channel by a random number based contention process. |
| US08411628B2 |
Reducing keep-alive messages in connection with element traversal by relay mechanism
A network element, method and computer program product enable to reduce the need to send keep-alive messages when elements have to be traversed. Specifically, a network element comprises a port allocation request unit configured to request from a server over the transmission control protocol the allocation of a user datagram protocol port having a destination determined to take care of traffic for the network element. The network element further comprises a registration unit configured to create a message for requesting internet protocol registration and to send the message over the transmission control protocol. |
| US08411621B2 |
Method and apparatus of processing non-sticky assignments in wireless communication systems
A method and apparatus for management of Non-Sticky Assignments in a wireless communication system comprising receiving Non-Sticky Forward Link Assignment blocks with a matching broadcast or unicast MACID, determining a value of FLImplicitDeassignEnabled field and determining a TunedAway indication. |
| US08411619B2 |
Method of packet reordering and packet retransmission
A packet reordering method and a packet transmission method to implement reliable data communication are disclosed. The method of transmitting packets at a serving base station in case of a mobile station performing handover include, receiving a series of packets from an upper layer entity, and transmitting the series of packets one after the other to a target base station, wherein a packet of the series of packets includes an information field which represents whether the packet is the last transmitted packet. When the mobile station performs the I-RAT handover, the target serving station pre-reorders PDU packets, and transmits the reordered PDU packets to the mobile station, such that the mobile station can quickly transmit data without reordering the packets. |
| US08411618B2 |
Method of transmitting and receiving frame in a wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system and, more particularly, to a method of transmitting and receiving frame in a wireless communication system.A method for transmitting a frame of a base station in a wireless communication system comprises the steps of transmitting a first region of the frame to a mobile station by using a first traffic to pilot ratio (hereinafter referred to as “TPR”); and transmitting a second region of the frame to the mobile station by using a second TPR, wherein the second TPR is different from the first TPR. |
| US08411617B2 |
Method for transmitting channel information in wireless communication system
A method for transmitting uplink channel information in a wireless communication system is provided. The method comprises transmitting an adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) band bitmap indicating at least one AMC band selected from a plurality of AMC bands with a first transmission period through a plurality of uplink control channels and transmitting a channel quality indicator (CQI) based on transmission of the AMC band bitmap with a second transmission period through any one of the plurality of uplink control channels. |
| US08411614B2 |
Apparatus for mobile satellite communications and method of controlling communications route
A mobile satellite transmission/reception apparatus and a communications route control method using the same are disclosed. The mobile satellite transmission/reception apparatus comprises: a first antenna unit configured to receive a signal along a first communications route; a second antenna unit configured to receive a signal along a second communications route; and a data processor configured to compare cyclic redundancy check (CRC) values with respect to packet streams of signals respectively received by the first and second antenna units, and change communications route to one of the first and second communications routes if packets having the same CRC value are detected. |
| US08411612B2 |
Methods of performing cooperative communication in wireless LANs
Method of performing cooperative communication in wireless LAN includes determining, by receiver, whether cooperative communication is necessary based on transmission request signal provided from transmitter, when it is determined that the cooperative communication is necessary, transmitting, by the receiver, transmission response signal instructing the cooperative communication, overhearing, by a plurality of devices, the transmission response signal instructing the cooperative communication, transmitting, by at least one of the devices, response signal for supporting relaying to the transmitter, selecting, by the transmitter, a relay based on the response signal, transmitting, by the transmitter, data to the relay, and attaching, by the relay, data of the relay to the data transmitted by the transmitter and transmitting result data to the receiver. Thus, average transmission rate of wireless LAN can be improved with minimized overhead, and additional transmission opportunity can be provided to relaying device, thereby properly rewarding relaying device. |
| US08411611B2 |
Method for setting packet transmission path in ad hoc network, and network apparatus using the same
A method of setting a packet transmission path in a wireless communication network and a network apparatus using the same are provided. A method of setting a packet transmission path includes setting N−1 routing regions including at least one node between a source node and a destination node based on a predetermined N number of hops, N denoting an integer greater than or equal to two, and determining a node in each of the routing regions as a relay node based on a channel gain. |
| US08411610B2 |
Method for transmitting multi unicast information within broadcasted information
A method and apparatus are provided for transmitting a communication frame by a base station which comprises broadcasted information intended for a plurality of subscriber stations (AMSs), wherein that information is broadcasted by using more than one Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS). The method comprises the steps of: a) receiving bandwidth requests' indications from the plurality of AMSs; b) based on these indications, identifying more than one decoding capabilities, wherein each of the identified decoding capabilities is associated with at least one of the plurality of AMSs; c) preparing a Bandwidth Request Acknowledgement Media Access Protocol Information Element (BR-ACK MAP-IE) message in response to the bandwidth requests' indications received; and d) transmitting a communication frame which comprises at least two copies of the BR-ACK MAP-IE message, wherein the number of the copies corresponds to the number of different decoding capabilities identified, and wherein each of the copies is transmitted at an MCS that corresponds to a respective decoding capability that has been identified. |
| US08411608B2 |
Efficient and reliable multicast over a Wi-Fi network
A “Wi-Fi Multicaster” provides a practical and efficient Wi-Fi multicast system for environments having potentially large numbers of Wi-Fi clients. Significantly, the Wi-Fi Multicaster does not require any changes to the 802.11 protocol, or to the underlying Wi-Fi infrastructure. In various embodiments, the Wi-Fi Multicaster uses pseudo-broadcast, and augments it with destination control, association control and optional proactive FEC (forward error correction) to improve multicast performance. More specifically, the Wi-Fi Multicaster system converts multicast packets to targeted unicast transmissions. To minimize the amount of airtime consumed, the Wi-Fi Multicaster uses destination control in combination with various algorithms for association control. Further, in various embodiments, the Wi-Fi Multicaster includes an adaptive, proactive FEC scheme to reduce overall packet losses. Finally, to overcome the challenges posed by encryption protocols such as 802.1x, the Wi-Fi Multicaster uses a “virtual multicast interface” that allows clients to “share” a common key for each multicast. |
| US08411607B2 |
Wireless access point and method for saving power consumption of the wireless access point
A wireless access point (WAP) includes a radio frequency (RF) module, an identifying module, and a controlling module. The RF module is configured for sending and receiving a wireless signal. The identifying module is configured for identifying whether or not the wireless signal matches the frame format of the PCLP sub-layer of the IEEE 802.11 standards, thereby generating an identifying result. The controlling module is configured for controlling the WAP to switch itself to a power-saving mode (PSM) or a constantly awake mode (CAM), according to the identifying result from the identifying module, wherein in the PSM, under the control of the controlling module, the WAP only receives the wireless signal. |
| US08411606B2 |
System and method for incorporating a low power mode in wireless communication
According to one embodiment, a method for wireless communication comprises providing, at a base station, a plurality of endpoints with access to a wireless network. The method also comprises the base station entering a low power mode, wherein the base station ceases to provide the plurality of endpoints with access to the wireless network while in the low power mode. In addition, the method comprises the base station transitioning to an active mode from the low power mode during a first predetermined time, wherein the first predetermined time is identified by the base station and at least one endpoint before the base station transitions to the active mode. Further, if the base station receives a request to access the wireless network from at least one endpoint after transitioning to the active mode during a second predetermined time, the method comprises the base station remaining in the active mode. If the base station does not receive a request to access the wireless network from at least one endpoint after transitioning to the active mode during the second predetermined time, the method comprises the base station transitioning to the low power mode. |
| US08411602B2 |
Radio communication apparatus
A radio communication apparatus performing time division duplex alternately switching a transmission period and a reception period by time dividing an identical frequency, includes the steps of: detecting a transmission signal to be transmitted to the antenna so as to perform radio transmission from an antenna commonly used for transmission and reception; and calculating a deviation time between the detection timing of the detected transmission signal and a preset reference timing, and for controlling switchover timing between the transmission period and the reception period based on the deviation time. |
| US08411594B2 |
Communication manager for providing multimedia in a group communication network
A system and method for providing group communication services is disclosed. Each of a plurality of group communication devices converts media, such as video, audio, image and/or data into data packets suitable for transmission over a data network, such as the Internet. The data packets are selectively transmitted through the data network to a communications manager. The communications manager acts as a configurable switch, allowing communications from any communication device to be selectively routed to the plurality of communication devices based on the types of the communication devices and/or the requests received from the corresponding users. The communications manager further allows users of other communication systems and devices to participate in group communications with each other. |
| US08411586B2 |
Display port compatible interface communications
A computer can control a target device using a packet format described herein. In one example, an extension packet controls the target device in at least one of power consumption, image rendering, and register updating. |
| US08411584B1 |
Wireless resource allocation system and method
According to various embodiments of the invention, systems and methods for resource allocation and a wireless network provide information to other devices within the network such that a desired precondition may be met and the optimized maximal resource is allocated to the route. In particular embodiments, a network device is configured to append information regarding its available resources for a proposed route to a corresponding routing request. A destination node receiving the routing request provides instructions to the network devices constituting the route according to the earlier appended information. |
| US08411580B2 |
Maintaining cached terminal data
A method of maintaining cached Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) terminal capability information at an end user terminal of a telecommunication system, for one or more other end user terminals. The method comprises predefining one or more signalling message properties for signalling messages to be received from peer terminals, and recording the properties at said end user terminal, examining incoming signalling messages received from peer terminals to determine whether or not they possess a predefined property, and if an incoming signalling message does possess a predefined property, reacting by refreshing the cached capability information for the sending terminal. |
| US08411577B2 |
Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to perform root cause analysis for network events
Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to perform root cause analysis for network events are disclosed. An example method includes retrieving a symptom event instance from a normalized set of data sources based on a symptom event definition; generating a set of diagnostic events from the normalized set of data sources which potentially cause the symptom event instance, the diagnostic events being determined based on dependency rules; and analyzing the set of diagnostic events to select a root cause event based on root cause rules. |
| US08411568B2 |
System and method for routing internet traffic over internet links
An apparatus and method for routing IP traffic in real time from at least one network user to a plurality of internet links. Embodiments include assigning different ranks to different internet links based on network monitoring. In one embodiment, a system for routing internet traffic includes an internet route optimizer to generate routing instructions for incoming data packets using financial costs of routing data packets on the internet links and the temporal delay on each of the plurality of internet links. In another embodiment, a method to generate a routing instruction to route an internet data packet on one of a plurality of internet links includes generating a routing instruction for the incoming data packet which identifies the internet link corresponding to a financially least expensive of the plurality of internet links which provides less than a predetermined temporal delay. |
| US08411564B2 |
Architectural framework of communication network and a method of establishing QOS connection
Disclosed herein are an architectural framework (1) of a communication network and a method of establishing QoS connection in a communication network. The architectural framework comprises of a plurality of Autonomous Systems (ASs) (2,3,4,11) connected to one another, each AS (2,3,4,11) being optionally connected to one or more users (5,6) and comprising at least one AS Designated Quality of Service Provider Entity (ADE) (7) and at least one gateway (8) communicating with the respective ADE (7). |
| US08411563B2 |
Apparatus and method for multicast and broadcast service in broadband wireless access system
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for an MBS service in a BWA system. An apparatus of a base station includes a time controller, a CAC processor, and a buffer controller. The time controller manages a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time and generates a broadcast start message at a predetermined time before the actual broadcast start time. Upon receipt of the generated broadcast start message from the time controller, the CAC processor calculates a capacity decrease due to broadcast service and subtracts the capacity decrease from the current available capacity to update the available capacity. Upon receipt of the generated broadcast start message from the time controller, the buffer controller controls the buffer occupation of unicast traffic in order to provide the buffer space required for a broadcast service. |
| US08411557B2 |
Mobile station apparatus and random access method
A mobile station apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive control information; a selecting unit configured to randomly select a sequence from a plurality of sequences contained in one group of a plurality of groups, into which a predetermined number of sequences generated from a plurality of base sequences are grouped and which are respectively associated with different amounts of data or reception qualities; and a transmitting unit for transmitting the selected sequence. The predetermined number of sequences are grouped by partitioning the predetermined number of sequences, in which sequences generated from the same base sequence and having different cyclic shifts are arranged in an increasing order of the cyclic shifts. A position at which the predetermined number of sequences are partitioned is determined based on the control information, and a number of sequences contained in each of the plurality of groups varies in accordance with the control information. |
| US08411552B2 |
Cell search method in OFDM cellular system, frame transmission method thereof, and forward link frame structure thereof
Provided are a cell search method, a frame transmission method thereof, and a forward link frame structure thereof. The cell search method used by a terminal to search a target cell using reception signals received from a plurality of base stations, each base station transmitting a frame of its cell, in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) cellular system comprising a plurality cells to which a cell-specific scrambling code is assigned includes: detecting a hopping pattern of the target cell using reception sync channel symbols, which are signals corresponding to sync channel symbol positions of the reception signals, wherein the frame of each cell comprises M sync channel symbols code-hopped according to a hopping pattern of the cell, where M is a natural number equal to or greater than 2, each hopping pattern containing M sync channel code sequences and respectively corresponding to each code group to which a scrambling code of each cell belongs, and an arbitrary hopping pattern used in the OFDM cellular system differs from a cyclically shifted result of the hopping pattern, other hopping patterns, or cyclically shifted results of the other hopping patterns; and detecting a code group of the target cell based on the detected hopping pattern. Accordingly, a cell search time and the complexity of the cell search can be reduced. |
| US08411550B2 |
Seek and scan probe (SSP) cantilever stop structures
MEMS storage devices and associated systems and structures are generally described. In one example, a micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) storage device includes a substrate, a lateral actuation structure coupled with the substrate, a micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) probe coupled with the lateral actuation structure, the MEMS probe having a first end, a second end having a probe tip, and a longitudinal axis extending between the first end and the second end, wherein the second end can be actuated in a direction substantially normal to a surface of the substrate, and one or more stop beam structures coupled with the lateral actuation structure to restrict motion of the MEMS probe in the direction substantially normal to the surface of the substrate. |
| US08411548B2 |
Optical pickup and optical disc apparatus
An optical pickup includes a light source emitting a light beam, a diffraction element diffracting the light beam to separate it into a main beam and a sub beam, an objective lens focusing the main and sub beams onto a desired recording layer of an optical disc, a lens moving section moving the objective lens in focusing and tracking directions, a light-separating element separating a reflected light beam, formed by reflecting each of the main and sub beams at the recording layer, into multiple beam components and allowing the reflected light beam to travel without rotating an image thereof, and a light-receiving element having multiple light-receiving regions that optically receive the reflected light beam and generating a light reception signal based on the amount of received light to allow a signal processing section to generate a focus error signal and a tracking error signal based on the light reception signal. |
| US08411546B2 |
Information storage medium, record reproducing device, and record reproducing method
Provided is an information recording medium including a plurality of recording layers. Each recording layer may comprise at least one optical power control (OPC) area, and each OPC area is allocated so as not to overlap an adjacent layer in a given radius. |
| US08411540B2 |
Recording and/or reproducing apparatus and control method thereof
A recording and/or reproducing apparatus outputs a loading time of a recording medium through a display to inform a user of the loading time, and a control method thereof. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes a calculation unit to calculate loading time of a recording medium when the recording medium is inserted into the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and an output unit to output the calculated loading time to a display. |
| US08411537B2 |
Systems and methods for recovering information from a defective medium
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for data regeneration. For example, a system for regenerating data is disclosed. The system includes a media defect detector that is operable to identify a potential media defect associated with a medium from which an input signal is derived, an attenuation amplitude detector that generates an attenuation factor, and a data detector. The data detector includes a first data path and a second data path. The first data path includes a bank of two or more selectable noise prediction filters and the second data path includes a fixed noise prediction filter and the attenuation factor. The data detector processes a derivative of the input signal using the second data path when the potential media defect is indicated, and processes the derivative of the input signal using the first data path when a media defect is not indicated. |
| US08411536B1 |
Light delivery guide
A waveguide that includes a first cladding layer, the first cladding layer having an index of refraction, n3; a gradient index layer positioned adjacent the first cladding layer; an assist layer positioned adjacent the gradient index layer, the assist layer having an index of refraction, n2; a core layer positioned adjacent the assist layer, the core layer having an index of refraction, n1; and a second cladding layer, the second cladding layer having an index of refraction, n4, wherein n1 is greater than n2, n3, and n4; and n2 is greater than n3 and n4. |
| US08411531B2 |
Modulation device, demodulation device, and acoustic signal transmission method
A modulation device, a demodulation device, and a transmission system and acoustic signal transmission method using them which can carry out a synchronization process for data signals without using a carrier frequency for a synchronization signal. The modulation device transmits an acoustic signal superposed with a PN sequence set according to a carrier frequency and a data signal. A demodulation device receives the acoustic signal, determines the PN sequence having the highest maximum correlation value with the acoustic signal in a plurality of PN sequences, detects a symbol synchronization point according to the correlation value between the thus determined PN sequence and the acoustic signal, and performs a synchronization process. Thereafter, according to the detected synchronization point and determined PN sequence, an OFDM demodulation processing unit decides the carrier frequency band of the data signal superposed on the acoustic signal and demodulates the data signal. |
| US08411529B2 |
Walkaway VSP calibrated sonic logs
Methods and related systems are described relating to processing subsurface sonic and seismic data. The described techniques use anisotropy estimates derived from a walkaway VSP to calibrate elastic properties derived from sonic logs. An empirical relationship between the sonic derived anisotropy parameters is modified until the upscaled elastic properties from the sonic log data best matches the anisotropy parameters measured with the walkway VSP. The result is a set of elastic constants consistent with the walkaway VSP measurements. |
| US08411524B2 |
Techniques for refreshing a semiconductor memory device
Techniques for refreshing a semiconductor memory device are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for refreshing a semiconductor memory device may include applying a plurality of voltage potentials to a memory cell in an array of memory cells. Applying a plurality of voltage potentials to the memory cell may include applying a first voltage potential to a first region of the memory cell via a respective source line of the array. Applying a plurality of voltage potentials to the memory cells may also include applying a second voltage potential to a second region of the memory cell via a respective local bit line and a respective selection transistor of the array. Applying a plurality of voltage potentials to the memory cells may further include applying a third voltage potential to a respective word line of the array, wherein the word line may be spaced apart from and capacitively to a body region of the memory cell that may be electrically floating and disposed between the first region and the second region. Applying a plurality of voltage potentials to the memory cells may further include applying a fourth voltage potential to a third region of the memory cell via a respective carrier injection line of the array. |
| US08411522B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a memory cell, a bit line coupled to the memory cell, first and second wells arranged adjacently to each other, the first and second wells being different in conductivity type from each other and defining a boundary therebetween, first and second transistors formed in the first and second wells, respectively, and being different in channel type from each other, gate electrodes of the first and second transistors being connected in common to the bit line, and a third transistor formed in the first well such that the third transistor is sandwiched between the boundary and the first transistor, and a gate of the third transistor being supplied with a bit line precharge signal. |
| US08411499B2 |
Recording method for magnetic memory device
[Object] To provide a recording method for a magnetic memory device including a recording layer that is capable of changing a magnetization direction and holds information as a magnetization direction of a magnetic body and a magnetization reference layer that is provided with respect to the recording layer with an insulation layer interposed therebetween and becomes a reference of the magnetization direction, the magnetic memory device being recorded with information by a current flowing between the recording layer and the magnetization reference layer via the insulation layer, the recording method being capable of maintaining, even when a write pulse considerably higher than an inversion threshold value is applied, a write error rate of 10−25 or less that is obtained when a write pulse a little larger than the inversion threshold value is applied.[Solving Means] While taking time of 2 ns or more, write power injected at a time a write pulse falls is reduced gradually. At this time, it is favorable to keep a rate of decline of a voltage of the write pulse at the time of the fall small until the voltage of the write pulse at the time of the fall becomes smaller than an inversion threshold voltage of the magnetic memory device. |
| US08411497B2 |
Method and system for providing a magnetic field aligned spin transfer torque random access memory
A method and system for providing a magnetic memory are described. The method and system include providing magnetic storage cells, bit lines coupled with the magnetic storage cells, preset lines, and word lines coupled with the magnetic storage cells. Each magnetic storage cell includes magnetic element(s). The bit lines drive write current(s) through selected storage cell(s) of the magnetic storage cells to write to the selected storage cell(s). The preset lines drive preset current(s) in proximity to but not through the selected storage cell(s). The preset current(s) generate magnetic field(s) to orient the magnetic element(s) of the selected storage cell(s) in a direction. The word lines enable the selected storage cell(s) for writing. Either the bit lines reside between the preset lines and the storage cells or the preset lines reside between the storage cells and on a storage cell side of the bit lines. |
| US08411496B2 |
Systems and methods for scheduling a memory command for execution based on a history of previously executed memory commands
A memory system is operated by maintaining a queue of memory commands to be executed, maintaining a list of previously executed memory commands, comparing local information associated with the commands to be executed with local information associated with the list of previously executed commands, and selecting one of the commands for execution from the queue of memory commands to be executed based on a result of the comparison. |
| US08411491B1 |
Memory array with distributed clear transistors and variable memory element power supply
Memory elements may be provided that include bi-stable data storage elements based on cross-coupled inverters. A pair of address transistors may be used to implement a differential data writing scheme for the memory elements. One of the address transistors may be coupled between a first data line and a first data storage node in each memory element and another of the address transistors may be coupled between a second data line and a second data storage node. A read circuit may be coupled to the second data storage node. Clear transistors may be interspersed through the array. The clear transistors may help pull the data lines to desired voltages during clear operations. An adjustable power supply may supply a weakened power supply voltage to a pull-up clear transistor and to the first and second inverters during clear operations. |
| US08411489B2 |
Semiconducting devices and methods of preparing
An amic acid or amic ester precursor can be applied to a substrate to form a thin film, and is then thermally converted into a semiconducting layer of the corresponding arylene diimide. This semiconducting thin film can be used in various articles including thin-film transistor devices that can be incorporated into a variety of electronic devices. In this manner, the arylene diimide need not be coated onto the substrate but is generated in situ from a solvent-soluble, easily coated precursor compound. |
| US08411488B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array for storing user data provided by arranging memory cells each having a variable resistive element having a first electrode, a second electrode, and a variable resistor made of a metal oxide sandwiched between the first and second electrodes. The first and second electrodes are formed of a conductive material forming ohmic junction with the variable resistor and a conductive material forming non-ohmic junction with the variable resistor, respectively. The variable resistor changes between two or more different resistance states by applying a voltage between the electrodes. The resistance state after being changed is maintained in a nonvolatile manner. The variable resistive elements of all memory cells in the memory cell array are set to the highest of the two or more different resistance states in an unused state before the memory cell array is used to store the user data. |
| US08411487B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
Regardless of a resistance state of a variable resistance element of a memory cell that is a target of a writing action (erasing and programming actions), an erasing voltage pulse for bringing the resistance state of the variable resistance element to an erased state having a lowest resistance value is applied. Thereafter, a programming voltage pulse for bringing the resistance state of the variable resistance element to a desired programmed state is applied to the variable resistance element of the programming action target memory cell. By always applying the programming voltage pulse after having applied the erasing voltage pulse, a plurality of programming voltage pulses being sequentially applied can be avoided. Further, the memory cell array is constituted of even-numbers of subbanks, and the application of the erasing voltage pulse in one subbank and the application of the programming voltage pulse in the other subbank are alternately performed. |
| US08411484B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and method of writing into the same
A method of writing into a semiconductor memory device, which includes a resistance memory element 14 which memorizes a high resistance state and a low resistance state and switches between the high resistance state and the low resistance state by an application of a voltage; a transistor 12 including a drain terminal connected to one terminal of the resistance memory element 14 and a source terminal connected to a reference voltage; and a transistor 16 including a source terminal connected to the other terminal of the resistance memory element 14. When a write voltage is applied to the resistance memory element 14 via the transistor 16 to switch the resistance memory element 14 from the low resistance state to the high resistance state, a voltage to be applied to the resistance memory element 14 is controlled at a value which is not less than a reset voltage of the resistance memory element 14 and less than a set voltage of the resistance memory element 14 by controlling a voltage to be applied to a gate terminal of the transistor 16 so as to be set at a value which is not less than a total of the reset voltage and a threshold voltage of the transistor 16 and is less than a total of the set voltage and the threshold voltage of the transistor 16. |
| US08411482B2 |
Programmable read only memory
A memory cell includes a fuse and at least one transistor. The transistor is used to control the programming or sensing of the fuse. A program voltage is applied to a stack of first and second conductive layers. A first portion of the stack couples the program voltage to a terminal of the transistor in a cell. A second portion of the stack couples the program voltage to a terminal of the transistor in another cell. |
| US08411473B2 |
Three-phase power supply with three-phase three-level DC/DC converter
A three-phase power supply with a three-phase three-level DC/DC converter includes a full-bridge thyristor converter with three-set four in-series power switch elements, a three-phase isolated transformer, a full-bridge rectifier, a rectifying circuit, and a low-pass filtering circuit. The three-phase power supply is used to deliver power energy from the AC input voltage to the load. The power switch elements, which separated to each other at 120-degree phase differences, are controlled through a phase shift scheme. Therefore, the three-level circuit structure is provided to reduce withstanding voltage of the power switch elements, further the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is achieved by the isolated transformer and the power switch elements to increase the efficiency of the DC/DC converter. |
| US08411469B2 |
Switching power source device and switching power source control circuit
A switching power source device which has main switch elements which switch a current path of the series resonant circuit, and a transformer which induces a current to a secondary side, controls the main switch elements on a primary side. Synchronous rectification switch elements are turned ON and OFF in response to one of the main switch elements. A synchronous control circuit which turns the synchronous rectification switch element ON in synchronization with an ON timing of the main switch element, or a conduction timing of internal diodes in the synchronous rectification switch elements detected by an inter-terminal voltage signal of the synchronous rectification switch element, whichever timing is later, determines a maximum ON width of the synchronous rectification switch element in accordance with a delay time of the conduction timing of the internal diodes with respect to the ON timing of the main switch element. |
| US08411467B2 |
Ultra-low voltage boost circuit
A circuit for boosting the voltage from a very low level voltage source to a higher level voltage output utilizing self-oscillation. |
| US08411460B2 |
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board includes a power layer, a ground layer, a signal layer, and a backboard. The backboard is arranged below the signal layer opposite to the ground layer. A number of vias are formed from the backboard through the signal layer, and then connected to the ground layer. |
| US08411458B2 |
Apparatus capable of selectively using different types of connectors
An apparatus capable of selectively applying different types of connectors to a substrate is disclosed. The memory apparatus includes a substrate having a controller. First and second connector pads may be arranged on edges of top and bottom surfaces of the substrate. A via hole may be arranged between the controller and the first and second connector pads. A first passive device pad may be arranged between the via hole and the first connector pads. A second passive device pad may be arranged between the via hole and the second connector pads. A passive device may be coupled to only one of the first passive device pad or the second passive device pad. |
| US08411456B2 |
Inverter device having separated module terminal
An inverter device is provided with a semiconductor device, an input terminal, an intermediate terminal, an output terminal and an insulated substrate on which the semiconductor device, the input terminal, the intermediate terminal and the output terminal are mounted. Each of the input terminal, the intermediate terminal and the output terminal is a separated module such that one of the input terminal, the intermediate terminal and the output terminal is spatially independent from the other. |
| US08411453B2 |
Motherboard fixing device and computer having same
An exemplary motherboard fixing device is for fixing a motherboard onto a case plate inside a computer case. The motherboard fixing device is fixable on the case plate, and includes a first fixing strip and a second fixing strip. The first fixing strip includes a first, second, and third flat plates. The second flat plate is between the first and third flat plates. The first and second flat plates cooperatively define a slide groove for receiving an edge of the motherboard. The second fixing strip includes a bottom plate and a lateral plate. The third flat plate and the bottom plate include first latch hooks. The first latch hooks is engagable in corresponding through holes of the case plate, such that the first and second fixing strips are fixed on the case plate. The lateral plate includes second latch hooks for being latchable on an opposite edge of the motherboard. |
| US08411451B2 |
Power line communication apparatus
A communication apparatus includes a communication board provided with a Power Line Communication (PLC) signal processor so as to be used in common in other apparatuses. The communication apparatus performs communication through a power line and a transmission medium different from the power line. The communication apparatus includes a power board that is provided with a power supply connected to the power line, an interface board that is separately formed from the power board and is provided with an interface for performing communication through the transmission medium, and a communication board that is separately formed from the power board and the interface board. The communication board is provided with a power line communicator for performing communication through the power line and a connector electrically connectable to the power board and the interface board. |
| US08411440B2 |
Cooled universal hardware platform
Disclosed is an embodiment of a rack system including a cooled universal hardware platform having a frame, a module insertion area on a first side of the rack system and a universal backplane mounting area on a second side of the rack system opposite to the first side, a power bus, a plurality of cooled partitions, a plurality of module bays, two or more service unit backplanes and a coolant source. The power bus may be configured to provide power to the universal backplane mounting area and the plurality of cooled partitions. The rack system may also include a plurality of service units that may be configured to have different functions within the rack system. |
| US08411439B1 |
Cooling diversity in data centers
A data center cooling system is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of computer racks arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows, cooling units associated with the computer racks and arranged in substantially parallel rows to cool air warmed by the cooling racks, and cooling fluid supply and return conduits that are divided by isolation valves into a plurality of cooling sub-loops, wherein adjacent cooling units in a common row are supplied from different sub-loops, and individual sub-loops serve cooling units in multiple rows, so as to provide water-side diversity across the cooling system. |
| US08411435B2 |
Electrohydrodynamic fluid accelerator with heat transfer surfaces operable as collector electrode
In thermal management systems that employ EHD devices to motivate flow of air between ventilated boundary portions of an enclosure, it can be desirable to have some heat transfer surfaces participate in electrohydrodynamic acceleration of fluid flow while providing additional heat transfer surfaces that may not. In some embodiments, both collector electrodes and additional heat transfer surfaces are thermally coupled into a heat transfer path. Collector electrodes then contribute both to flow of cooling air and to heat transfer to the air flow so motivated. The collector electrodes and additional heat transfer surfaces may be parts of a unitary, or thermally coupled, structure that is introduced into a flow path at multiple positions therealong. In some embodiments, the collector electrodes and additional heat transfer surfaces may be proximate each other along the flow path. In some embodiments, the collector electrodes and additional heat transfer surfaces may be separate structures. |
| US08411433B2 |
Flat panel display device
In a flat panel display device according to the present invention, a stand is made up of a base part and a supporting column part erected on the base part, and the stand is fastened to a device main body in a state where a front surface of the supporting column part of the stand opposes a rear surface of the device main body. An approximately horizontal receiving surface for receiving a bottom surface of the device main body is formed more forward than the front surface on the supporting column part of the stand. |
| US08411429B2 |
Mounting apparatus for disk drive
A mounting apparatus includes a chassis, a bracket, a handle, and a sliding component. The bracket is attachable to the chassis and configured to receive a disk drive. The securing component is secured to the bracket. The handle is secured to the securing component, and a latch portion extends from the handle. The handle is rotatable relative to the securing component between an open position where the latch portion is out of the securing component, and a close position where the latch portion is in the securing component. The sliding component is secured to the bracket, and slidable on the securing component between a first position, where the latch portion is engageable with the latch portion, and a second position, where the latch portion is prevented from disengaging from the sliding component. |
| US08411428B2 |
Portable storage device
A portable storage device includes a case, a USB plug, a sliding button, a delete button, a controller and a memory module. The delete button is electrically coupled with the controller. Data stored in the device can be deleted through operation of the delete button without a host device. |
| US08411418B2 |
Vacuum insulated switchgear
The vacuum insulated switchgear includes: a housing enclosing a control compartment, a switch compartment, and a busbar compartment, each of the three compartments being partitioned by a metallic earthing plate; a first busbar and second busbar extended from an adjacent panel, in the busbar compartment; and a first busbar-connecting bushing and second busbar-connecting bushing making the first and second busbars connectible/disconnectible; a double-breaking three position vacuum switch, two sets of earthing switches, the first busbar-connecting bushing, and the second busbar-connecting bushing being integrally molded to form a switch provided on an electrical phase-by phase basis independently, wherein the switches for three phases are arranged in order side by side in the housing. |
| US08411414B2 |
Metal oxide electrode material, and electrochemical capacitor using the same and manufacturing process for producing the same
The present invention relates to a metal oxide electrode material, an electrochemical capacitor using the same, and a method for producing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a metal oxide electrode material substituting a sublattice location of metal for one or more kinds of different metals, an electrochemical capacitor using the same, and a method for producing the same in metal oxides constituting an electrochemical capacitor electrode. |
| US08411410B2 |
Flat Ni particle, laminated ceramic electronic component using flat Ni particle, and production method flat Ni particle
Provided is a flat Ni particle which has a large specific surface area, permitting efficient binder removal when the flat Ni particle is used for internal electrodes of a laminated ceramic electronic component. The flat Ni particle has a thickness t (m), a specific gravity ρ (g/m3), and a radius r (m), and a specific surface area S1 (m2/g), such that the specific surface area S1 is adapted to have a relationship of 1.5×S0 |
| US08411409B2 |
Ceramic electronic component and manufacturing method therefor
When an external terminal electrode of a ceramic electronic component such as a laminated ceramic capacitor is formed by plating, plating growth may be also caused even in an undesired location. The ceramic surface provided by a component main body is configured to include a high plating growth region of, for example, a barium titanate based ceramic, which exhibits relatively high plating growth, and a low plating growth region of, for example, a calcium zirconate based ceramic, which exhibits relatively low plating growth. The plating film constituting a first layer to define a base for an external terminal electrode is formed in such a way that the growth of a plated deposit deposited with conductive surfaces provided by exposed ends of internal electrodes as starting points is limited so as not to cross over a boundary between the high plating growth region and the low plating growth region toward the low plating growth region. |
| US08411406B2 |
Electrical ionizer and methods of making and using
A fluid cooled electrical ionizer assembly includes a stack of honeycomb sheet-like structures of dielectric material with an electrode between each pair of honeycomb sheet-like structures. Alternate electrodes are electrically coupled together to each other and may be coupled to respective terminals of an electrical circuit. Fluid passages in the honeycomb sheet-like structures provide a place for fluid to affect electrical characteristics of the ionizer assembly and/or to provide for cooling. A method of assembling an ionizer assembly includes placing ionizer subunits including a dielectric honeycomb sheet-like structure and an electrode in parallel planar, overlying relation with the honeycomb. A method of cooling an ionizer assembly of dielectric honeycomb structure and electrodes includes directing a fluid through flow channels in the honeycomb structure. |
| US08411398B2 |
Electrostatic discharge protection
An integrated circuit (100) comprising a driver element (108) electrically connected to a pin of a package housing the integrated circuit (100), the driver element (108) being associated with a detection element (128) such that on detection of an electrostatic discharge event occurring at the pin by the detection element (128) a system associated with the integrated circuit (100) can be activated. |
| US08411394B2 |
Magneto resistive effect element with a magnetic film generating spin fluctuation of conduction electrons
The present invention is to be capable of suppressing magnetic white noises as far as possible. A resonant magneto-resistance effect element includes a first magnetic layer whose magnetization direction is substantially parallel to a film plane, a second magnetic film whose magnetization direction is substantially perpendicular to the film plane, and a non-magnetic layer which is provided between the first and second layers. |
| US08411389B1 |
Disk drive fluid dynamic bearing spindle
Described herein is a disk drive with a fluid bearing having a sleeve defining a bore that extends through a portion of the sleeve along an axis defined by the bore. The sleeve can have a first contact surface that extends in a direction transverse to the axis. A spindle is rotationally received within the bore, and the spindle and the sleeve permit relative rotational movement when the spindle is positioned within the bore. The spindle has a stopper with a second contact surface that extends in a direction transverse to the axis when the spindle is positioned within the bore. A portion of at least one of the first and second contact surfaces includes a softer material than that of the spindle and the bearing sleeve, and the first and second contact surfaces are configured to engage each other upon relative axial movement between the spindle and the sleeve. |
| US08411387B2 |
Injecting processing fluid while writing data
An apparatus and associated method is provided for injecting a processing fluid in a device that operably rotates a disc stack. A fluid injector has a nozzle defining an outlet sized to longitudinally span the disc stack to operably direct the processing fluid toward the disc stack. The nozzle also has a flow rate feature that operably directs a first flow rate of the processing fluid from the nozzle into a space adjacent a storage surface of a first disc of the disc stack and that directs a substantially different second flow rate of the processing fluid from the nozzle into another space adjacent a storage surface of a second disc of the disc stack. |
| US08411386B2 |
Data write control apparatus and data write control method
According to one embodiment, a data write control apparatus includes a magnetic disk, a write controller, and a retry controller. The magnetic disk includes a track in which data is recorded in sector unit. The write controller is configured to execute control to write a sector data block to a predetermined sector in the track. The retry controller is configured to execute control to retry a write process to a predetermined number of sectors to which data has been written and which include a first sector, and to manage the number of retries performed on each sector. |
| US08411385B2 |
Systems and methods for improved timing recovery
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for timing recovery. As an example, timing recovery circuits include: a first digital interpolation circuit, a second digital interpolation circuit, a phase selection circuit, and a sampling clock rotation circuit. The first digital interpolation circuit is operable to receive a data input and to provide a first interpolated output corresponding to a first phase, and the second digital interpolation circuit is operable to receive the data input and to provide a second interpolated output corresponding to a second phase. The phase selection circuit operable to select the first phase for processing, and the sampling clock rotation circuit is operable to move a sampling clock away from the first phase. |
| US08411377B2 |
Optical lens assembly for image photographing
An optical lens assembly for image photographing, in order from an object side to an image side comprising: a first lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface; a second lens element with positive refractive power; a third lens element with positive refractive power having a convex image-side surface; a plastic fourth lens element with negative refractive power having a concave image-side surface, both object-side and image-side surfaces being aspheric, and having at least one inflection point. Additionally, the optical lens assembly for photographing image has an image sensor on the image plane for imaging a photographed object and satisfies specific conditions. Thereby, this invention has a high resolving power and can shorten the total length of the lens assembly for using in camera and mobile phone camera with well photographing abilities. |
| US08411376B2 |
Imaging lens
An imaging lens includes an aperture stop, a positive first lens with a biconvex shape, a negative second lens; a negative third lens, a positive fourth lens, and a negative fifth lens arranged in this order from an object side. When the whole lens system has a focal length f, focal lengths and Abbe's numbers of the first and the second lenses are f1, νd1, f2, and νd2, focal lengths of the fourth and fifth lenses are f4 and f5, a composite focal length of the first lens L1 and the second lens L2 is f12, and a distance from a surface of the first lens L1 on the object side to a surface of the fifth lens L5 on the image side is Σd, the imaging lens satisfies the following conditional expressions: 0.7 |
| US08411372B2 |
Lens barrel and image pickup apparatus
A lens barrel that enables to increase a degree of freedom for selecting positions of grooves on a cam barrel. A lens holding member holds a lens and has a follower part. A rectilinear barrel regulates relative rotation of the lens holding member and has a bayonet convex part. The cam barrel has a cam groove with which the follower part engages and a bayonet groove with which the bayonet convex part engages. The positional relationship between the cam barrel and the rectilinear barrel in the optical axis direction is regulated because the bayonet convex part contacts the wall surfaces of both sides of the bayonet groove in a WIDE position, and because a section between a wall surface of the bayonet groove and the end face of the cam barrel is pinched between the bayonet convex part and a member provided in the rectilinear barrel in a TELE position. |
| US08411369B2 |
Imaging lens, optical apparatus including imaging lens and method for manufacturing imaging lens
An optical system includes, 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; upon zooming from a wide-angle end state W to a telephoto end state T, a distance between the first lens group G1 and the second lens group G2 varying, and the second lens group G2 moving, and the second lens group G2 including a focusing lens group Gf that carries out focusing from an infinity object to a close object, and a decentering lens group Gs that is movable in a direction having a component perpendicular to an optical axis, thereby providing an optical system capable of establishing both of internal focusing and a decentering lens group with obtaining compactness and excellent optical performance, an optical apparatus equipped with the optical system, and a method for manufacturing the optical system. |
| US08411368B2 |
Zoom lens system, interchangeable lens apparatus and camera system
Provided is a zoom lens system including a compact focusing lens unit and having a suppressed change in image magnification at the time of movement of the focusing lens unit. The zoom lens system of the present invention includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit G1 having negative optical power, a second lens unit G2 having positive optical power, a third lens unit G3 having positive optical power, and a fourth lens unit G4 having negative optical power. The fourth lens unit G4 moves to the image side along an optical axis at the time of focusing from an infinity in-focus condition to a close-point in-focus condition. |
| US08411364B2 |
Security document with micro-prisms
A security document including a substrate of transparent polymeric material, and opacifying layers provided on opposing sides of the substrate, the opacifying layers acting to guide light propagating within the substrate, wherein the substrate is formed with at least one micro-prism for diverting light propagating within or entering the substrate. |
| US08411355B2 |
Reflective optical element and method of manufacturing the same
A reflective optical element e.g. for use in EUV lithography, configured for an operating wavelength in the soft X-ray or extreme ultraviolet wavelength range, includes a multilayer system (20) with respective layers of at least two alternating materials (21, 22) having differing real parts of the refractive index at the operating wavelength. Preferably, at least at an interface from the material (21) having the higher real part of the refractive index to the material (22) having the lower real part of the refractive index, a further layer (23) of a nitride or a carbide of the material (22) having the lower real part is arranged. Particularly preferably the material (22) having the lower real part of the refractive index is lanthanum or thorium. Preferably, the layers (21, 22, 23) of at least one material are applied in a plasma-based process for manufacturing a reflective optical element as described. |
| US08411349B2 |
Optical modulator
An optical modulator includes an optical modulation substrate, an electrical length adjusting substrate, a package containing the substrates, and a plurality of input ports for inputting high frequency electrical signals. The optical modulation substrate includes a substrate body made of an electro-optic material, a ground electrode and a plurality of signal electrodes provided on the substrate body, optical waveguides propagating lights interacting with the signal electrodes, respectively, and electrode input ports inputting the high frequency electrical signals into the signal electrodes, respectively. The signal electrode includes an interacting part, an input end part provided between the electrode input port and interacting part, and a terminal part. The electrical length adjusting substrate includes conductive lines connected to the input ports for inputting the high frequency electrical signals, respectively. The conductive lines have electrical lengths different from each other for adjusting the phase differences among the ports. |
| US08411347B2 |
Composition comprising photochromic dyes in an ionic solvent
A photochromic composition that is liquid at 20° C. and includes (a) at least one photochromic dye and (b) an ionic solvent selected from (b)(i) room-temperature ionic liquids (RTIL), (b)(ii) ionic liquid mixtures that are liquid at room temperature, and (b)(iii) room-temperature liquid mixtures of at least one ionic liquid and at least one organic solvent that is miscible therewith. The use of said photochromic composition in optical devices such as ophthalmic lenses is also described. |
| US08411343B2 |
Optical scanning device
An optical scanning device of the invention includes: a substrate; torsion bar portion which is connected to the substrate; a mirror portion which is supported by the torsion bar portion; a drive source which causes the substrate to oscillate; and a light source which projects light onto the mirror portion, where the mirror portion resonates and vibrates in accordance with a vibration imparted to the substrate by the drive source, and the direction of reflection light from the light projected onto the mirror portion from the light source changes in accordance with the vibration of the mirror portion, and a spring constant in a longitudinal direction of the torsion bar portion supporting the mirror portion is distributed along the longitudinal direction of the torsion bar portion. |
| US08411339B2 |
Holographic imaging systems with DC balance
A holographic imaging system includes an electrical addressable spatial light modulator (EASLM) and an optically addressable spatial light modulator (OASLM). A read light is configured to illuminate the OASLM, and a controller is configured to address the EASLM with both positive and negative sub-images and transmit the positive and negative sub-images to the OASLM. The controller is further configured to address the OASLM with an operating voltage, wherein the read light generates a holographic image comprised of diffraction patterns from the positive and negative sub-images. |
| US08411338B2 |
Image's chromatism correction apparatus
A reference pixel PB is specified for a specified pixel P0 whose (luminance) value is below a threshold, for example, in the RGB data obtained in image pickup. The reference pixel PB should be on a straight line passing through the specified pixel P0 and the center O of the image and spaced from the specified pixel P0 by a distance, dr, depending on a reduction or expansion rate of a blue component (or B) image of the optical image corresponding to an optical zoom magnification in the image pickup. Only when the B value of the specified pixel P0 is greater than that of the reference pixel PB, the B value of the specified pixel P0 is replaced with that of the reference pixel PB. By expanding or reducing the blue component image alone for the original RGB data, image data is obtained in which the magnification chromatism is corrected. Thus, a chromatism correction apparatus that corrects a chromatism in the picked-up image without using a special lens in the optical system, and a program for use in implementing such apparatus are provided. |
| US08411333B2 |
Image capturing device
An image capturing device includes: a first base, including a first side edge and a second side edge opposite to each other; a first light-emitting element, located at the first side edge, for emitting a first light source to illuminate a document; a first compensator, located at the second side edge; a first sensing element, located between the first light-emitting element and the first compensator; a first transparent sheet, covering the first compensator; a second base, including a third side edge and a fourth side edge opposite to each other; a second light-emitting element, located at the third side edge, for emitting a second light source to illuminate the document; a second compensator, located at the fourth side edge; a second sensing element, located between the second light-emitting element and the second compensator; and a second transparent sheet, covering the second compensator. |
| US08411331B2 |
Image scanning apparatus, computer readable medium, image management system, and image management methods
An image scanning apparatus includes a scanning unit that scans an image from an image display medium optically and creates image data; a data comparison unit that compares the image data scanned by the scanning unit and image data recorded in a predetermined recording region; and a notification unit that notifies an operator depending on a result of comparison by the data comparison unit. |
| US08411330B2 |
Image processing system, control method, recording medium, and image supplying apparatus
An image processing system is provided in which an image supplying apparatus is connected to a plurality of image processing apparatuses via a network, where at least one image processing apparatus executes processing requested by a user for image data supplied from the image supplying apparatus. The image supplying apparatus includes a determination unit configured to determine whether the image data requests a security condition, a decision unit configured to decide on the security condition, a search unit configured to search the plurality of image processing apparatuses for an image processing apparatus which is capable of executing the processing requested by the user and satisfies the security condition, a display unit configured to display the image processing apparatus detected by the search unit so as to allow the user to select the image processing apparatus, and a transmission unit configured to transmit the image data to the image processing apparatus. |
| US08411328B2 |
Print control apparatus, print control method, and program therefor
Conventionally, during a copy operation, certain advanced mode settings make the extraction of additional security information impossible. In order to solve this problem, the print control apparatus includes: determining unit for determining an interval between a pattern element and a pattern element adjacent to the pattern element from the received image data; and control unit for performing a control so as to scale the image at a magnification specified by a user and have the scaled image printed by a printing apparatus when the product of the magnification specified by the user and the interval determined by the determining unit falls within a predetermined range, and configured to terminate or interrupt the printing of the image by the printing apparatus when the product of the magnification specified by the user and the interval determined by the determining unit does not fall within the predetermined range. |
| US08411327B2 |
Data processing device, image forming device, system, and a computer-readable recording medium for determining whether or not image is properly formed on recording medium
There is provided a data processing device that includes an obtaining unit that obtains a first image data set, a second image data set generated by reading an image formed using the first image data set, and a property data set indicating the properties of a recording medium on which the image is to be reproduced. The data processing device also includes a specifying unit that determines a threshold for a density difference between the first image data set and the second image data set, wherein the threshold depends on the property data set. The specifying unit also determines an error area where the density difference between images expressed by the first and second image data sets is equal to or greater than the threshold. |
| US08411325B2 |
Method for screening color separations of a lenticular image, computer program product and method for producing a lenticular image on a printing material
A method for screening color separations of a lenticular image having a lenticular frequency of lenticular lenses for viewing the image, with a lens width l. An amplitude-modulated halftone image is calculated for each color separation at one screen angle with a rational number tangent and screen frequency. The screen has non-orthogonal screen cells spanned by vectors u, v for a specific color separation. A distance k is defined. Directions of vectors u, v relating to perpendicular direction relative to image strips of the lenticular image are defined for the specific color separation. First (n, m) and second (i, j) pairs of rational numbers are defined, to satisfy a system of equations: n*ux+m*vx=0, n*uy+m*vy=1, i*ux−j*vx=k and i*uy−j*vy=0 for vectors u=(ux, uy) and v=(vx, vy) spanning screen cells. A computer program product is also provided. |
| US08411321B2 |
Printing apparatus, layout adjustment method, program and recording medium
Disclosed is a printing apparatus including an image input unit, a first image narrowing unit, and gives a high weight for image data photographed during a time period in which the number of shots is large, a second image narrowing unit, and gives a high weight for image data photographed during a time period in which the number of shots is large, a weight synthesis unit, a layout decision unit, an image data extraction unit, an image assignment unit, an image color determination unit, and an additional information adjustment unit. The first image narrowing unit counts a group of a plurality of image data photographed at a predetermined time under a specific setting as one group including a number of shots, and calculates the number of shots for each predetermined time period based on the shooting date and time of the image data. |
| US08411318B2 |
Color and monochrome image processing and outputting apparatus
An image processing apparatus able to instantaneously transmit image data on which a color/monochrome judgment and a series of processings have been performed comprising: a color/monochrome judging device for judging if input RGB image data is color or monochrome; a color image correction processing unit for performing color image correction processing on the RGB image data and outputting color image data; a monochrome image conversion processing unit for performing monochrome image conversion processing on the RGB image data and converting the same to monochrome image data; image accumulation device for accumulating color image data and monochrome image data; a network I/F for transmitting the image data accumulated in the image accumulation device to an external network; and accumulation control device for outputting either the color image data or monochrome image data accumulated in the image accumulation device to an external network in accordance with the color/monochrome judgment result. |
| US08411315B2 |
Information processing device, information processing method, and program
An information processing device includes a printer unit configured to perform a printing process, a display unit configured to display an image and display printing information including setting information of the printing process using the printer unit, a position sensor configured to output a detection signal enabling a determination of whether the information processing device is set in an image display position or a printing position, and a control unit configured to receive the detection signal from the position sensor and display the printing information on the display unit when it is determined that the information processing device is in the printing position. |
| US08411313B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image reading method for reading an untargeted page of an original
In an image forming apparatus, a reader reads an image of one page of an original thereby obtaining image data. A determining unit determines whether embedded data has been embedded in the image data. An extracting unit extracts the embedded data, acquires a target page number of a reading unnecessary page based on the embedded data, and saves the page number in a storage unit. A page number determining unit determines whether a page number of a next page of the original matches with the target page number. Upon the page number of the next page matching with the target page number, the reader does not read image data of the next page. |
| US08411312B2 |
Image forming apparatus, imposition method for booklet-shaped prints, and booklet-shaped prints
An image forming apparatus having a function for binding a plurality of sheets, both sides of each of which have been printed, and outputting a booklet-shaped print, the image forming apparatus including: a shifting section which shifts drawing information to be printed on each page of at least one set of spread two pages of the booklet-shaped print so that the drawing information is separated from a bound position; and a synthesizing section which synthesizes drawing information near a bound side of one page of the two pages, information based on the drawing information, or predetermined background information, in a blank portion formed by a shift on a bound side of an other page of the two pages. |
| US08411309B1 |
Integrated circuit and electronic device
An integrated circuit includes IP (Intellectual Property) cores and intermediary circuits. The intermediary circuits are each connected to one IP core among the IP cores, and relay, using an NoC (Network On Chip) scheme, packets transmitted/received between the IP cores. The intermediary circuits are connected to each other. Each of the intermediary circuits replaces, when the intermediary circuit has received flow-control packets which are each transmitted from one IP core to another IP core in order to notify the other IP core of free-space information of a data buffer which the one IF core has, in a case where destinations of the flow-control packets are the same IP core, the flow-control packets with one flow-control packet including the free-space information included in the flow-control packets, and transmits the one flow-control packet to the IP core which is the destination. |
| US08411307B2 |
Image processing device and image forming device
When an image based on RGB image data accepted by the image processing section and the ICU is to be enlarged by the zoom process section of the ICU (or when specification of an area in an image is accepted by the operation section), the leak-preventing identification mark detecting section, the positional relation calculating section and the forgery-preventing identification mark detecting section respectively determine whether patterns respectively representing a leak-preventing identification mark and a forgery-preventing identification mark are included separately in the entire area of the image and in an area to be enlarged (or an area whose specification has been accepted) or not. |
| US08411305B2 |
System and method for identifying a record template within a file having reused objects
A system and method is disclosed for identifying a record template within a file having reused objects. The method discloses: identifying, in the input file, a reused object and a set of pages upon which the reused object is located; computing a page distance between at least two adjacent instances of the reused object; generating an object recurrence pattern for the reused object; and reconstructing a record template, based on the object recurrence pattern, thereby identifying the records in the input file. The system discloses a processor, a profiler module, a pattern identification module, and a template reconstruction module for effecting the method. |
| US08411303B2 |
Method and system for tracking data based on governance rules and policies
A method and system suitable for controlling output capabilities of a plurality of multifunction devices (MFDs), including a data module for analyzing data related to a plurality of tasks sent to the plurality of MFDs by a plurality of users; and a storage station for storing the data gathered from the plurality of tasks sent to the plurality of MFDs; wherein the data is analyzed based on preexisting output governance rules related to the plurality of users and the plurality of MFDs. |
| US08411299B2 |
Approach for managing print errors using a print agent
An approach for managing print errors using a print agent includes a spooler process initiating a print agent in response to receiving error data that indicates that a printing device cannot currently process print data. The print agent provides printing device discovery services that determine other printing devices that are available to process the print data and allow a user to redirect the print data to another printing device. The print agent may also provide error logging functionality that allows the creation of an error log. The error log contains information about the errors that prevented the printing device from processing the print data. The error log aids users and/or administrative personnel in diagnosing and/or addressing the errors. The use of a print agent in this manner provides users with more information about printing errors and also allows users to select an alternative printing device to process print data. |
| US08411297B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming system involving sharing member information and a check image being associated with each other
An image forming system comprises an access control part, a storage part, an extraction part, and an acquisition part. The access control part determines whether to allow or prohibit access to a security image in which a password for access control is embedded. The storage part stores sharing member information which is information on sharing members who are users allowed to share the security image and a check image which is an image for check on the security image, being associated with each other. The extraction part for extracts the check image out of one or more images including the check image on the basis of a determination result on coidentity between the security image and each of the one or more images. The acquisition part acquires the sharing member information associated with the check image. Further, the access control part allows a login user who logs in to the image forming system to have access to the security image without requiring the login user to enter the password on condition that the login user is determined to be one of the sharing members on the basis of the sharing member information. |
| US08411296B2 |
Image processing apparatus that can output copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image, method for controlling image processing apparatus, program, and storage medium
An apparatus includes an original-document-attribute determining unit that determines attribute of an original document image, a form-attribute determining unit that determines attribute of a form image, and a compositing unit that performs sequence of compositing of the original document image, a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image, and the form image, the sequence of compositing being determined based on the determined attribute of the original document image and the determined attribute of the form image. |
| US08411295B2 |
Image forming apparatus for storing image data to a storage device, control method for the image forming apparatus, and storage medium storing the control method
An image forming apparatus which, when storing image data generated from a read original document in a connected detachable storage device, when the storage cannot be continued, associates the image data which is not stored with authentication information and stored the image data in a storage section included in the image forming apparatus. When a detachable storage device is newly connected, and authentication information is entered, the image forming apparatus determines whether image data associated with the entered authentication information is stored in the image forming apparatus. If it is determined that such image data is stored in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus controls the stored image data to be stored in the newly-connected storage device. On the other hand, if it is not determined that such image data is stored in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus controls the stored image data not to be stored in the newly-connected storage device. |
| US08411294B2 |
Image forming apparatus, image forming system, and information processing apparatus
An image forming system or the like may be installed at a public location such as a computer center of university to serve people who want to print for various purposes. Restrictions may be placed on the use of the system. Restriction on the use of the system may be lifted temporarily depending on the circumstances. For example, when a user is desperate to print a document despite the fact that the user is under restriction, the restriction may be lifted temporarily with some conditions. A printing system includes a cancellation requesting section and a printing section. The cancellation requesting section issues a request for cancellation of a print restriction placed on a user. The printing section cancels the print restriction in response to the request. |
| US08411292B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing system, and control method for image data transmission
An image processing apparatus including a reading unit configured to read an image of a document to generate image data based on the read image acquires a process definition file, which defines a content of reading processing to be executed by the reading unit and a content of transmission processing for transmitting image data generated by the reading unit, causes the reading unit to execute reading processing to generate image data according to a definition included in the acquired process definition file, and, when a plurality of process definition files is selected and the selected plurality of process definition files is instructed to be executed, causes the generated image data to be transmitted according to a definition included in each of the selected plurality of process definition files. |
| US08411291B2 |
Image processing program product
An image processing program product enables an image processing apparatus to perform operations including the steps of: storing a plurality of image information to be transmitted by a facsimile apparatus; sequentially outputting the stored image information; reading a mode list from a mode list recording unit on which a list of modes for images to be transmitted has been described; converting an image in accordance with the mode indicated by the mode list; and transmitting the converted image information to the facsimile apparatus. The converting includes a transmission data forming step for adding a transmission destination described in the mode list recording unit to the outputted image information and for forming transmission data based upon the mode of the image described in the mode list recording unit. |
| US08411290B2 |
User interface apparatus, image processing apparatus, and computer program product
In a user interface apparatus, when a selected position of a to-be-processed image displayed on a display screen is detected through an area detecting unit, a menu display unit displays, in response to the detection of the selected position on the to-be-processed image, a link to at least one setting item being displayed in response to the selected position, the at least one setting item corresponding to a setting available for a setting area which corresponds to the selected position, where an order of display priority of the at least one setting item is determined by a size of the setting area. A determining unit determines that the setting item is specified, and an accepting unit accepts the setting corresponding to the setting item for the to-be-processed image. A preview display unit displays a preview indicating a result of processing the to-be-processed image based on the setting item. |
| US08411289B2 |
Optical position detection device
An optical position detection device, includes: a light source adapted to emit at least one detection light beam toward one side in a Z-axis direction; a first detector having a light receiving section directed to the one side in the Z-axis direction; a second detector located at a position on the one side in the Z-axis direction, the position being distant from the light source and the first detector, and having a light receiving section directed to the one side in the Z-axis direction; and a position derivation section adapted to derive a position of a object located in a first space between the first detector and the second detector and a position of a object located in a second space on the one side of the second detector in the Z-axis direction based on a light receiving result in the first detector and the second detector. |
| US08411279B2 |
Remote seismic surveying systems and methods
Remote seismic surveying systems and methods are disclosed. At least some embodiments illuminate a water or ground surface with a beam from a coherent electromagnetic wave source. Reflected electromagnetic energy is focused onto an image plane where it combines with a reference beam to form an interference pattern. Electronics track the intensity versus time for multiple points in the image and derive displacement signals for various physical locations in the survey region. These displacement signals are associated with seismic source firing times and locations before being stored as seismic traces in a survey database. Some variations use the reflected electromagnetic energy to create multiple interference patterns that vary due to different path length differences, thereby eliminating signal phase ambiguities. |
| US08411277B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling quality of a microfluidic device
A method for determining the quality of a microfluidic device, the method including placing a microfluidic device including a valve on a stage; radiating light on the valve of the microfluidic device; detecting light reflected from the valve using a photodetector; opening the valve of the microfluidic device; and comparing a change of the light reflected from the valve when the valve is opened with previously-stored reference data to evaluate a quality of the microfluidic device, wherein the valve of the microfluidic device includes a valve seat, which protrudes into a microfluidic path, and a polymer film, which opens and closes the valve. |
| US08411273B2 |
Multi mode fibre perturber
An optical arrangement comprising a multi-mode fiber (16) for carrying single mode laser light (12); a randomizer (18) for randomizing spatial modes supported by the fiber and means for averaging, out the randomized spatial modes to recover the single spatial mode. |
| US08411272B2 |
Method and apparatus for the analysis of materials
An apparatus and method are presented for the analysis of materials. The apparatus includes two or more similar analyzers, with the output of the analyzers combined to provide improved measurements. The apparatus may be, for example, a differential photometric analyzer, such as the AETHALOMETER®. The apparatus and method includes providing flows to the analyzers such that the rate of accumulation per filter area differs for the two or more analyzers. The output of the apparatus or method may be a concentration, such as the concentration of black carbon particulates. Additionally, the output may be an optical measure of particulates that is useful for characterizing the source or history of the particulates. |
| US08411270B2 |
Monitoring stage alignment and related stage and calibration target
Methods, apparatuses and systems for monitoring a stage alignment in a processing system are disclosed. A method for monitoring a stage alignment in a processing system may include providing a calibration target on a surface of the stage; measuring an angle of incident of a light beam to the calibration target; and monitoring the stage alignment based on the determined angle of incidence. |
| US08411268B2 |
Two material achromatic prism
A spectrometer comprises a detector array and a prism. The prism comprises a first prism element comprising a substantially crystalline crown material, and a second prism element contacting the first prism element, the second prism element comprising a substantially crystalline flint material. The spectrometer further includes optics configured to direct light at least twice through the prism. The prism is configured to disperse light received from the optics at an incident angle therethrough into constituent spectra in visible and infrared wavelength bands that are dispersed from the prism at angles offset from the incident angle. The constituent spectra are directed onto the detector array with approximately equal dispersion across the visible and infrared wavelength bands. Among other things, desirable material selections for the first and second prism elements are also disclosed. |
| US08411267B2 |
Polarimetric hyperspectral imager
A hyperspectral sensor or imager comprising a laser for illuminating a scene and a detector for detecting light emitted by the laser and transmitted through the scene, wherein the laser is a chirped laser arranged to output multiple pulses having different wavelength ranges, the multiple pulses being used to form an extended continuous spectrum for illuminating the scene. |
| US08411263B2 |
Method of evaluating silicon wafer and method of manufacturing silicon wafer
A method of evaluating a silicon wafer includes obtaining first surface distribution information indicating an surface distribution of photoluminescence intensity on a surface of a silicon wafer; after obtaining the first surface distribution information, subjecting the silicon wafer to a thermal oxidation treatment, and then obtaining second surface distribution information indicating an surface distribution of photoluminescence intensity on the surface of the silicon wafer; obtaining difference information for the first surface distribution information and third surface distribution information, with the third surface distribution information having been obtained by correcting the second surface distribution information with a correction coefficient of less than 1; and based on the difference information obtained, evaluating an evaluation item selected from the group consisting of absence or presence of oxygen precipitates and surface distribution of oxygen precipitates in the silicon wafer being evaluated. |
| US08411260B1 |
Light monitor configured to tap portion of light signal from mid-waveguide
The device includes a waveguide on a base. A light-absorbing portion of the waveguide receives a light signal, absorbs a portion of the light signal and guides a transmitted portion of the light signal to the output portion of the waveguide. A light-absorbing portion of the waveguide is partially defined by a light-absorbing medium that has lateral sides that each extends between a top side and a bottom side of the light-absorbing medium. The device also includes a monitor absorption of the absorbed portion of the light signal. The monitor includes field sources that are each configured to serve as a source of an electrical field in the light-absorbing medium. The field sources each contacts one of the lateral sides of the light-absorbing medium. |
| US08411252B2 |
Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a substrate handler
A substrate handler is provided. The substrate handler includes a support surface configured to carry a substrate and a pre-conditioning unit configured to pre-condition the substrate. The substrate handler is configured to move the substrate relative to a substrate table. |
| US08411249B2 |
Surface position detecting apparatus, exposure apparatus, surface position detecting method, and device manufacturing method
An apparatus is provided with a light-sending optical system which makes first light from a first pattern and second light from a second pattern incident to a predetermined surface to project intermediate images of the first and second patterns onto the predetermined surface respectively; a light-receiving optical system which guides the first and second light reflected on the predetermined surface, to first and second observation surfaces to form observation images of the first and second patterns, respectively; and a detecting section which detects position information of the observation images of the first and second patterns on the first and second observation surfaces respectively and which calculates a surface position of the predetermined surface, based on the position information. The light-sending optical system projects the intermediate image of the second pattern as an inverted image in a predetermined direction relative to the intermediate image of the first pattern. |
| US08411245B2 |
Multi-display mirror system and method for expanded view around a vehicle
A multi-display vehicular rearview mirror system (2600) and method includes an electrochromic (EC) glass element (2603) and a plurality of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) (2605a, 2605b, 2605c) positioned behind EC element (2603). A plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) (2610a, 2610b, 2610c) are used for providing backlighting for each respective LCD of the plurality of LCDs such that the LCDs utilize a plurality of imaging devices (2717, 2719, 2721) for forming substantially a single image across the plurality of LCDs (2605a, 2605b, 2605c). |
| US08411239B2 |
Array substrate, liquid crystal display device, electronic device
An array substrate of the present invention includes: an insulating substrate; a plurality of scanning lines on the insulating substrate; a plurality of data lines each disposed so as to intersect the plurality of scanning lines on the insulating substrate; picture element electrodes each formed in a substantially rectangular shape, the picture element electrodes each being connected, via a switching element, to a corresponding scanning line and a corresponding data line, the picture element electrodes each having a long side disposed along a direction in which the plurality of scanning lines are extended and a short side disposed along a direction in which the plurality of data lines are extended, the picture element electrodes each having cut sections formed by cutting two corners of each of the picture element electrodes, the cut sections being formed so as to serve as alignment dividing means. This makes it possible, regarding an MVA liquid crystal display device, to easily ensure a sufficient process yield as well as improving display quality by ensuring a sufficient aperture ratio in each one pixel. |
| US08411235B1 |
Displays for three-dimensional imaging
A display for presenting a stereoscopic image includes multiple layers of image forming devices configured to provide the stereoscopic image and an etched substrate configured to diffuse light projected through or from the multiple layers of image forming devices. The etched substrate is laminated or bonded to a front surface of the multiple layers of image forming devices. |
| US08411233B2 |
Method for manufacturing a color filter substrate
A light shield member in a LCD unit includes a first shield section that includes a pile of two color filter patterns and separates each effective opening of pixel from an effective opening of the adjacent pixel, and a second shield section that includes a pile of three color filter patterns and shields a TFT area including a TFT and the vicinity thereof. |
| US08411231B2 |
Distortion tolerant pixel design
A pixel architecture for compensating for distortions in a flexible substrate of a flexible display, including: a first layer including a thin film transistor (TFT) on a flexible substrate; a second layer disposed above said first layer including a pixel electrode coupled to said TFT for receiving a signal from said TFT; and a third layer including a color filter for filtering light displayed by said pixel, wherein said third layer is aligned to said second layer such that said color filter is substantially aligned to said pixel electrode, said alignment compensating for distortions in said first layer caused by distortions in said flexible substrate. |
| US08411229B2 |
Backlight unit and liquid crystal display device having the same for improving image quality
Provided is a backlight unit with an extending portion that extends from one of a plurality of sheets included in an optical sheet. The optical sheet is on a light guide plate, and a light emitting diode chip is disposed at a side of the light guide plate. A portion of a flexible printed circuit board, to which the light emitting diode chip is mounted, overlaps a portion of the light guide plate. The extending portion overlaps the portion of the flexible printed circuit board. Thus, the occurrence of lines of light due to light progressing between the light guide plate and the flexible printed circuit board can be prevented, thereby obtaining uniform brightness and improving image quality. |
| US08411228B2 |
Light emitting module, backlight unit and liquid crystal display device
A plurality of LEDs (12) include an LED group (12G) wherein the LEDs are arranged in a row, and at least one LED (12T) not in the row. The position of the LED group (12G) in a row on a light guide plate (41) is specified by bringing the LED (12T) into contact with the light guide plate (41). |
| US08411226B2 |
Flat panel display having integral housing
In a flat panel display having a first housing and a second housing, features of a frame and a plastic support and a top support, which support, position, and fix each component, are incorporated into the outer top and bottom case, such that no additional structure component is needed for the flat panel display. The first housing has supportive parts and side portions for assembling and supporting each component of the flat panel display and the second housing is then assembled to the first housing for completion of the assembling of the flat panel display. |
| US08411224B2 |
Display apparatus with protection plate and manufacturing method thereof
Disclosed is a display apparatus with a protection plate including a display panel including a first transparent substrate, an adhesion layer arranged so as to overlap with an entire screen area of the display panel, the protection plate fixed to the display panel by the adhesion layer in a state where the adhesion layer intervening between the protection plate and the first transparent substrate and a cured bonding layer which directly contacts the display panel and the protection plate and which is provided on a circumference of the adhesion layer, and at least one aperture making a region in one side on which the screen area of the display panel is arranged with respect to the bonding layer and a region in the other side opposite to the one side with respect to the bonding layer communicate with each other is provided in the bonding layer. |
| US08411218B2 |
Pixel array substrate
A pixel array substrate includes a pixel region and a circuit region adjacent to the pixel region. A plurality of display pixel units are disposed in the pixel region and a plurality of dummy pixel units are disposed in the circuit region. Each of the dummy pixel units includes a data line, a scan line, a plurality of switching elements and a plurality of pixel electrodes. The switching elements are electrically connected to the scan line and data line. The pixel electrodes are electrically connected to the switching elements. Particularly, electrostatic currents in the pixel region can be dissipated by the dummy pixel units in the circuit region. The dummy pixel units preserve the continuity of electricity in the pixel array substrate and function as an inner short ring. Therefore, the area of the circuit region on the pixel array substrate is larger. |
| US08411216B2 |
Active matrix substrate, liquid crystal panel, liquid crystal display unit, liquid crystal display device, television receiver, and active matrix substrate manufacturing method
Each pixel region includes first and second pixel electrodes (17a, 17b) and first and second capacitor electrodes (67x, 67y) positioned on a layer where a data signal line (15) exists. The first and second capacitor electrodes are aligned in a row direction in such a manner as to overlap a retention capacitor line (18) via a first insulating film and to overlap the second pixel electrode (17b) via a second insulating film. A drain electrode (9) of a transistor (12), the first pixel electrode (17a), a first connection line (38) connected with the first capacitor electrode (67x), and the second connection line connected with the second capacitor electrode (67y) are electrically connected with one another. A part of the first connection line (38) and a part of the second connection line (39) do not overlap the retention capacitor line (18). This allows increasing production yields of an active matrix substrate based on a capacitive coupling pixel division system and a liquid crystal panel including the active matrix substrate. |
| US08411215B2 |
Active matrix substrate, liquid crystal panel, liquid crystal display unit, liquid crystal display device, television receiver, and method for producing active matrix substrate
Retention capacitor upper electrodes and wires are provided facing a retention capacitor line across an insulating film so as to form a retention capacitor. The retention capacitor line includes a slit penetrating the retention capacitor line in a direction perpendicular to a substrate. The slit is formed so as to overlap regions facing regions in which both wires are formed. This allows for provision of an active matrix substrate capable of repairing defects so that they are less visible, without decreasing an aperture ratio of each pixel. |
| US08411210B2 |
Systems and methods for configuration of a remote control device
A remote control device establishes a bi-directional communication with a television receiver and uploads a set of remote control codes associated with a target component selected by the user. One method includes storing, within a television receiver, a set of remote control codes associated with a corresponding set of component types; presenting a component-selection user interface; receiving a target component type selected from the set of component types presented by the component-selection user interface; determining, from the set of remote control codes, a target remote control code associated with the target component type; and transmitting the target remote control code to the remote control device. |
| US08411209B2 |
Display device and method for labeling AV signal input sources
A method for labeling input sources in a display device includes connecting to a plurality of input sources, at a plurality of input terminals within the display device, and then controlling display of a main input menu listing the input terminals and corresponding ones of the input sources. An image from one of the input sources or input terminals selected from the main input menu is displayed with a name of the input source and a name of the input terminal corresponding to the selection made from the main input menu. The main input menu may not be displayed when the image and names of the input source and input terminal are displayed. |
| US08411203B2 |
Display apparatus and display control method
A rendering control unit determines movie and graphic display modes with reference to a rendering processing command, and acquires maximum speed information indicating the maximum value of a read/write speed allowed for a memory. The rendering control unit decides a speed to be distributed to a read/write speed of the movie data and a speed to be distributed to a read/write speed of the graphic data with respect to the memory, of a maximum speed indicated by the maximum speed information, based on the determination result. The rendering control unit controls a read/write access of an image with respect to the memory based on the rendering processing command, in accordance with the decided speeds. |
| US08411201B2 |
Method for providing a shortcut and image display device thereof
A multifunctional display device displays a menu including shortcut objects. A processor assigns each object to one of a broadcast channel, network address, or an application. The objects may be an alphabetical character, number, symbol, or icon. |
| US08411198B2 |
Electronic apparatus with holding structure of display panel
The electronic apparatus includes an exterior member covering a main body, a protection plate installed to a display window formed in the exterior member, a display panel disposed between the main body and the exterior member and including a display portion and a driving circuit provided in an outer peripheral portion of the display panel, a frame fixed to the main body and holding the display panel, and a reinforcing member fixed to the main body and supporting the exterior member at a position closer to the exterior member than the display panel and the frame. The driving circuit is disposed between a first end of the reinforcing member and a second end of the protection plate in a first direction along the exterior member so as not to overlap with the first and second ends in a second direction extending between the main body and the exterior member. |
| US08411196B2 |
Digital camera with movable mirror for AF in live view mode and optical viewfinder mode
A digital camera of the present invention includes a microcomputer 110 having a live view mode controlling so that image data generated by a CMOS sensor 130 or image data obtained by subjecting the image data generated by the CMOS sensor 130 to predetermined processing is displayed on a liquid crystal monitor 150 as a moving image in real time, wherein when a release button 141 receives an instruction regarding start of an autofocus operation in a live view mode, the microcomputer 110 controls a movable mirror to enter an optical path to measure by an AF sensor 132, and thereafter, allow the movable mirror to retract from the optical path to return the digital camera to the live view mode. Due to this configuration, in a digital camera that includes a movable mirror and is capable of displaying a subject image in a live view through an electronic viewfinder, the operability thereof can be enhanced. |
| US08411193B2 |
Lens module having liquid crystal lens and image pick-up device using same
A lens module includes a liquid crystal lens, a lens barrel and two electrically conductive traces. The liquid crystal lens includes a light incident surface, a light output surface facing away from the light incident surface, and a number of side wall surfaces interconnecting the light incident surface and the light output surface. The liquid crystal lens includes at least two electrode layers. Each of the electrode layers comprising a connection terminal exposed at the corresponding side wall surface. The liquid crystal lens is received in the lens barrel. The two electrically conductive traces are embedded in an outer surface of the lens barrel, and includes a first end electrically connected to the corresponding connection terminal, and a second end for electrical connection to an external circuit. |
| US08411190B2 |
Control apparatus, control method, and computer-readable recording medium
A control apparatus for controlling an image capture apparatus includes a communication unit and a control unit. The communication unit transmits a first command to the image capture apparatus if a predetermined area in a captured image received from the image capture apparatus and a pointer operated by an operation unit are overlapped. The communication unit transmits a second command to the image capture apparatus if a button of the operation unit is clicked in a state that the predetermined area and the pointer are overlapped. |
| US08411186B2 |
Solid state imaging device, imaging apparatus, and AD conversion method
A solid state imaging device includes: an AD conversion section having one comparison section, which receives a reference signal from a reference signal generator that generates the reference signal whose level gradually changes and which compares the reference signal with an analog signal to be processed, and one counting section, which receives a count clock for AD conversion and performs a count operation on the basis of a comparison result of the comparison section, for each of M signal lines to which the signal is supplied and that acquires the signal on the basis of output data of the counting section; an operation period control section controlling an operation period of the counting section on the basis of the comparison result; and a control section performing control regarding which of the signals, which are supplied through the M signal lines, is to be processed and which one of m levels of the signals to be processed is to be processed and controlling the processing order. |
| US08411182B2 |
System for controlling integration times of photosensors in an imaging device
A photosensor chip, such as used in a hard-copy scanner, reads out image data in repeated cycles. With each cycle an on-board counter counts to a predetermined number and resets to zero. When the clock count reaches certain numbers, integration events are initiated with regard to different subsets of photosensors on the chip. The start and stop times of the integrations within each cycle can thus be adjusted via software instructions. |
| US08411179B2 |
Imaging device, method of converting read-out signal, and camera
An imaging device includes: a pixel unit that converts incident light into an electrical signal corresponding to the amount of the incident light; and a read-out unit that reads out a read-out signal from the pixel unit for a first period and a second period, wherein the read-out unit includes a clock signal generating section that generates clock signals having a frequency corresponding to the voltage of the read-out signal, a first counter section that counts the clock signals generated by the clock signal generating section, a second counter section that counts output clock signals of the first counter section, a first correction section that corrects the voltage of the read-out signal to be constant before start of counting of the first and second counter sections for the first period and stops correction of the voltage of the read-out signal after the start of counting of the first and second counting sections for the first period and during the second period, and a second correction section that corrects a frequency of the output clock signal of the first counter section to a frequency that is higher than the frequency of the output clock signal. |
| US08411175B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and image defect correction processing circuit
According to one embodiment, an image defect correction processing circuit includes a signal level comparator circuit and a defect correction circuit. The signal level comparator circuit extracts the maximum signal level and the minimum signal level from a plurality of pixel signals existing around a correction target pixel. The defect correction circuit executes defect corrections with respect to the correction target pixel. |
| US08411172B2 |
Imaging device and image processing apparatus
An imaging device includes an imager, with which an optical image of an object scene is repetitively captured. A first movement detector detects, as to each of a plurality of object scene images according to a time series output from the imager, a movement of a first feature point between the object scene image and the object scene images immediately before, and a clipper performs clipping processing on each of the plurality of object scene images on the basis of the detection result. When a still image recording operation is performed, a CPU changes an exposure time of the imager in such a direction as to shorten the time, and a second movement detector detects a movement of a second feature point between the object scene image immediately after the recording operation (reference object scene image) and the three object scene images being successive thereto out of a plurality of object scene images, and an adder adds the respective three object scene images to the reference object scene image while displacing the same on the basis of the detection result. |
| US08411171B2 |
Apparatus and method for generating image including multiple people
Provided is an apparatus and a method for generating an image including multiple people, in which images are photographed, face images are detected from each of the photographed images, a face score for each of the face images detected from the photographed images is calculated, it is determined whether each of the face scores calculated for each of the face images is at least equal to a predetermined threshold, and each of face images having a highest face score for each of the face images is synthesized, to output the synthesized image as a final image, in order to generate a most satisfactory photographed image for a user. |
| US08411169B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to an image processing apparatus that generates control information related to the generation of image data executed in shooting processing, and generates component information of a special effect, for example, such as a film grain, based on the control information. |
| US08411168B2 |
Imaging apparatus and video data creating method
Image data (still image data) is encoded to create video data. When an interval recording mode is set, a plurality of video data created by an encoder (image compressor 42) are merged, and the merged video data is recorded as a single interval video data. In the interval recording mode, power supply to the encoder is stopped every time an encoding process of the image data is completed. After the stop of the power supply to the encoder, the power supply to the encoder is resumed when an encoding process of the next image data needs to be performed. Continuity information is managed during the stop of the power supply to the encoder. The continuity information is necessary for creating the plurality of video data so that the interval video data constitutes a stream that can be reproduced continuously. |
| US08411165B2 |
Microphone apparatus, reproducing apparatus, and image taking apparatus
A microphone apparatus of the present invention is applied to a camera including a panel type view finder for displaying a picture taken by the camera, a touch panel for pointing a desired position of the picture displayed on the view finder, determining circuit for determining a direction of the real picture in accordance with the position pointed by the touch panel, a microphone device having a plurality of microphone units for collecting a sound that comes from the picture taken by the camera; and directivity generating circuit for generating a sound directivity signal with which the microphone device collects the sound coming from the direction determined by the determining circuit. |
| US08411163B2 |
Auto exposure controlling device and method
An automatic exposure (AE) controlling device and method are provided. According to the method, an electric shutter (ES) value and an analog gain control (AGC) value can be calculated through a proportional integral control method according to a brightness value of an inputted image frame. Then, AE compensation on a present image frame can be performed using the calculated ES value and AGC value. |
| US08411160B2 |
Apparatus including function to specify image region of main subject from obtained image, method to specify image region of main subject from obtained image and computer readable storage medium storing program to specify image region of main subject from obtained image
Disclosed is an image pickup apparatus 100 including a sound obtaining section 6 to obtain a sound emitted from the main subject and a central control section 71 to specify an image region of the main subject based on the sound obtained by the sound obtaining section 6 in order to specify the image region of the main subject from an obtained image. |
| US08411159B2 |
Method of detecting specific object region and digital camera
A digital still camera for photographing an image of an object is provided. A motion vector detector acquires a change of a position of the object in the image between a first picture frame and a previous picture frame recorded prior thereto. A normalizer normalizes the previous picture frame according to a parameter related to the change of the position. A specific object detector detects a specific object region, such as a facial image region, according to image recognition and by comparison between the first picture frame and the normalized previous picture frame. Furthermore, a change of a magnification of the image thereof is acquired between the first picture frame and the previous picture frame recorded prior thereto. The normalizer normalizes the previous picture frame according to a parameter related to the change of the magnification. |
| US08411157B2 |
Solid-state image pickup device and image pickup device
A solid-state image pickup device includes a pixel unit in which pixels are arranged in a two-dimensional manner, the pixels including a photoelectric conversion element, a charge holding unit, a transmission unit, and a first output unit and a second output unit; a second processing unit; and a control unit configured to control exposure of the pixels such that exposure periods for still images of all pixels constituting an area to be read are equal to one another, and control reading of the still image signal and reading of the moving image signal in units of fields, the all pixels constituting the area to be read being divided into a plurality of fields, in such a manner that the still image signal is to be read from both the first output unit and the second output unit in units of fields. |
| US08411153B2 |
Camera unit and multimedia information appliance including camera unit
A camera unit includes an image sensor, an image signal processor, an application processor and a frame memory. The image sensor receives an optical signal from a lens unit and converts it into an electrical signal. The image signal processor converts the electrical signal into an image signal, and includes a first sub block controlling the image sensor and the lens unit and a second sub block receiving and processing the image signal from the first sub block. The application processor receives the image signal from the second sub block and further processes the image signal. The frame memory is connected to the second sub block and the application processor to store the processed image signal. The image sensor and the first sub block constitute a first chip not connected to the frame memory, and the second sub block and the application processor constitute a second chip connected to the frame memory. |
| US08411152B2 |
File management apparatus and control method thereof
When storing an image file in an external recording medium with a communication function that is configured to automatically transfer a JPEG file stored in a predetermined directory, the apparatus stores a thumbnail image obtained by reducing an image size of a primary image in a predetermined directory. The primary image file is stored in a different directory to the predetermined directory. |
| US08411145B2 |
Vehicle periphery monitoring device, vehicle periphery monitoring program and vehicle periphery monitoring method
A vehicle periphery monitoring device includes an image processing target area setting portion (21) configured to set an image processing target area in the captured image based on a distance detected by a radar between object and a vehicle; a directivity extracting portion (22) configured to perform a differential filtering on each of pixels in the image processing target area in a predefined direction; an image processing target area correcting portion (23) configured to extract a feature region having a feature amount of a pedestrian's head and to correct a range of the image processing target area based on a position of the feature region; a contour extracting portion (24) configured to extract a contour of the image portion included in the corrected image processing target area; and an object type discriminating portion (25) configured to discriminate a type of the monitoring object based on the extracted contour. |
| US08411141B2 |
Video processing method for reducing the load of viewing
A video processing apparatus obtains information describing the amount of displacement of images in multiple predetermined units (such as video durations) imaged by an imaging apparatus from an image at steady state, which is a reference, and displays the images in the multiple predetermined units in decreasing order of amounts of displacement based on the obtained information describing the amounts of displacement. |
| US08411139B2 |
Microscope system and method for operating a microscope system
A microscope system includes a microscope, a digital camera and a computer system. The microscope has an automatically adjustable subassembly having an adjustable element. The digital camera acquires image data of an image of a specimen. The computer system has a display and a storage unit configured to store the image data and to store, associated with the image data, data defining a setting of the automatically adjustable subassembly corresponding to the image data. |
| US08411138B2 |
Camera head separated type camera device
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera head separated type camera device including: a camera head; a camera control unit; and a cable connecting the camera head and the camera control unit with each other, wherein the camera control unit includes: a control portion which feeds a predetermined DC (Direct Current) voltage to the camera head, and wherein the camera head includes: an LVDS conversion driver portion which transmits an LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) signal to the camera control unit; a correction control portion which outputs a correction value for the LVDS signal; and an LVDS control portion which controls the LVDS conversion driver portion based on the correction value. |
| US08411135B2 |
Methods to eliminate/reduce the crosstalk artifacts of the retro-reflective auto-stereoscopic 3D display
Crosstalk artifacts in a retro-reflective auto-stereoscopic 3D display system are compensated by providing various methods of directing surface reflections of a screen away from a viewing region, i.e. a region from which the screen is viewed. This is achieved by splitting the screen in two, and tilting the left-side and right-side of the screen either towards, or away, from a projection baseline so as to direct mirror reflections away from the viewing region. Alternatively, the screen is not split, but vertical v-shaped grooves are made along the surface of the screen facing the projection line. The angle of the v-shaped grooves direct surface reflections away from the viewing region, but the grooves are substantially small so that the screen appears flat to an observer. |
| US08411134B2 |
Image signal processing apparatus, image signal processing method, and image projection apparatus
An image signal processing apparatus including a first conversion processing unit performing conversion processing for a left-eye image signal used to display a left-eye image so as to adjust a horizontal and/or vertical size of the left-eye image and correct a vertical bow-like distortion of the left-eye image, a second conversion processing unit performing conversion processing for a right-eye image signal used to display a right-eye image so as to adjust a horizontal and/or vertical size of the right-eye image and correct a vertical bow-like distortion of the right-eye image, and a merging unit obtaining an output image signal by merging a left-eye image signal obtained by performing the conversion processing through the first conversion processing unit and a right-eye image signal obtained by performing the conversion processing through the second conversion processing unit is provided. |
| US08411132B2 |
System and method for real-time media data review
A system is provided for receiving communication data that uses a first amount of bandwidth at a communication computing device. Portions of the communication data are displayed on a display and are provided to at least one speaker. A playback computing device receives playback data via a communication interface. The playback data uses a second amount of bandwidth that is greater than the first amount of bandwidth. A display of the playback computing device displays high-quality video data of the playback data, and a plurality of speakers output high-resolution audio data of the playback data. A talkback device is coupled to both the communication computing device and the playback computing device. The talkback device includes a microphone to provide at least a portion of the communication data and an activating element that, upon activation, mutes the plurality of speakers. |
| US08411131B2 |
Portable pan-tilt camera and lighting unit for videoimaging, videoconferencing, production and recording
The present invention is a portable camera and lighting unit for standalone use in videography to create a high-resolution well-illuminated video feed from a vast array of camera angles and positions, the illumination source always inherently tracking with the camera. The unit may also be used as a satellite in combination with a primary video conferencing and production station (VVPR) for multi-camera production and teleconferencing capabilities. The portable camera and lighting unit includes a portable base, a mast extending upward from the base, and an articulating boom that is fully-pivotable and extendable. A remote control Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera is mounted at the end of the boom for overhead images of healthcare procedures, and an adjustable beam light source is mounted directly on the camera for lighting. The mast is equipped with a color monitor coupled to the camera for operator previewing at the portable unit, and the remote control camera provides a single video feed that can be teleconferenced, recorded, and even mixed with other cameras when used as a satellite adjunct to the primary VVPR, thereby allow full production capabilities for live interactive broadcasts, all in real time by a single operator from a single point of control. The portable unit is mobile and offers more diverse lighting and camera angles than previously possible. |
| US08411127B2 |
Method and apparatus for connecting video call in dual standby mobile communication terminal
A method and apparatus for video call connection in a dual standby mobile communication system are provided. A method for video call connection in a dual standby mobile communication terminal including a dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card includes, when a paging signal requesting a video call is received from a network, identifying a system in which a first SIM card corresponding to the video call is camping, and, when the first SIM card is camping in a 2nd Generation (2G) system, identifying a system in which a second SIM card is camping, and, when the second SIM card is camping in a 3rd Generation (3G) system, requesting the network to forward the video call to the second SIM card. |
| US08411124B2 |
Optical writing device, image forming apparatus, and method and program product for controlling optical writing device
A pixel information acquiring unit acquires multilevel pixel information in which one pixel is expressed in multilevel scales. A line pixel information storing unit stores the multilevel pixel information for each main scanning line. A light emission control unit optically exposes a photosensitive element by controlling a binary light source on the basis of the multilevel pixel information. The photosensitive element is exposed to the binary light source with a period corresponding to N-fold in a sub scanning direction resolution of the multilevel pixel information, wherein N is a positive integer, so that the N times exposures corresponds to an exposure for one pixel in an original resolution. The switch on/off statuses of the binary light source are controlled in the N times exposures for each pixel, on the basis of lighting rate information for converting the multilevel scales into a lighting rate in the N times exposures. |
| US08411121B2 |
Thermal printhead with optimally shaped resistor layer
A thermal printhead having an optimal resistor element shape which is capable of high speed and high quality printing is provided. The thermal printhead for progressively printing a pattern of dots on a thermosensitive paper moving in one direction, includes a substrate, and a plurality of resister elements on the substrate arranged in a substantially straight line extending in a direction perpendicular to a moving direction of the thermosensitive paper, the plurality of resistor elements each corresponding to respective one of the dots constituting the pattern to be printed onto the thermosensitive paper, each of the resistor elements having a heat transfer area that will be in contact with the thermosensitive paper upon printing the dot, wherein at least one of two sides of the heat transfer area that are substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the thermosensitive paper has a sag in a substantially middle portion thereof to adjust a shape of the dot. |
| US08411118B2 |
Flat panel display and method for detecting resolution of image signal thereof
A flat panel display includes a data interface, a scaler control circuit, and a pulse generator configured to provide an independent pulse signal to the scaler control circuit. The data interface is configured to receive an image signal including a vertical synchronization pulse signal and a horizontal synchronization pulse signal. The scaler control circuit is configured to determine a vertical resolution of the image signal by counting a number of pulses of the independent pulse signal respectively between two adjacent vertical synchronization pulses and between two adjacent horizontal synchronization pulses. A method for detecting a resolution of an image signal received by the flat panel display is also provided. |
| US08411117B2 |
Display device having optical sensors
The present invention relates to a display device that has a plurality of optical sensors provided in a display panel and that can be operated by touching a screen with a finger or pen. A liquid crystal panel with built-in sensors (11) includes a plurality of pixel circuits (1) and a plurality of optical sensors (2) which are arranged two-dimensionally. An MPU (18) selects either a mode that detects a shadow image of an object or a mode that detects a reflection image of the object, based on an illumination of outside light. One frame time is divided into a display period and a sensing period. A backlight (14) is controlled to be turned on during the display period in the shadow image mode and during the sensing period in the reflection image mode, and to be turned off during the sensing period in the shadow image mode and during the display period in the reflection image mode. According to the present invention, the detection accuracy for a touch position is increased while the power consumption of the backlight is suppressed. |
| US08411112B1 |
Systems and methods for generating an icon
The subject technology provides a computer-implemented method for icon generation according to one aspect. The method comprises determining a color from a first icon, generating a colored region comprising the determined color, and generating a composite image of the colored region and the first icon to produce a second icon, wherein the second icon is larger than the first icon. |
| US08411111B2 |
Model generator for cardiological diseases
At least one embodiment of the present invention relates to a method, a device and/or a computer program product for creating a (three- or four-dimensional) model from a number of different image datasets from a number of modalities. To this end, in at least one embodiment, the image datasets are fitted into a representation provided, the different image datasets being automatically enriched with contour lines and integrated into the representation. The model is created from this. |
| US08411110B2 |
Interactive image and graphic system and method capable of detecting collision
The present invention relates to an interactive image and graphic system and method capable of detecting collision. A storage device stores a plurality of image data streams. Each image data stream includes a header, which has at least one position coordinate field, and the at least one position coordinate field corresponds to at least one object of the image data stream. An image engine plays a first image data stream of the plurality of image data streams. A graphic engine receives a sprite picture data. The sprite picture data includes a sprite position coordinate. The graphic engine receives the header of the first image data stream. When the sprite position coordinate superimposes over a position coordinate of the at least one object of the first image data stream, the graphic engine drives the image engine to select a second image data stream from the storage device for being played. |
| US08411106B2 |
Converting digital values corresponding to colors of an image from a source color space to a destination color space
Conversion of colors of an image from a source color space to a destination color space by use of both a color profile and an image profile. The source and destination color spaces are respectively represented by source and destination color space transformations associated with source and destination color profiles. Colors in an image are converted from the source color space to a device-independent color space, using the source color space transformation. A gamut mapping is determined from a source color gamut to a destination color gamut, by using a gamut boundary description constructed either from a source image profile which is separate from the source color profile, or from a destination image profile which is separate from the destination color profile. The gamut mapping is applied, and the gamut mapped colors are transformed from the device-independent color space to the destination color space, using the destination color space transformation. |
| US08411103B1 |
Processing global atomic operations using the bending unit datapath
One embodiment of the invention sets forth a CROP configured to perform both color raster operations and atomic transactions. Upon receiving an atomic transaction, the distribution unit within the CROP transmits a read request to the L2 cache for retrieving the destination operand. The distribution unit also transmits the source operands and the operation code to the latency buffer for storage until the destination operand is retrieved from the L2 cache. The processing pipeline transmits the operation code, the source and destination operands and an atomic flag to the blend unit for processing. The blend unit performs the atomic transaction on the source and destination operands based on the operation code and returns the result of the atomic transaction to the processing pipeline for storage in the internal cache. The processing pipeline writes the result of the atomic transaction to the L2 cache for storage at the memory location associated with the atomic transaction. |
| US08411102B2 |
Color look-up table on film
A color look-up table includes a plurality of images recorded on a film. Each of the images being recorded on a separate picture of the film and containing at least a first level and a second level. The first and second levels having different pixel color values and are arranged to form a detectable geometric pattern on each of the pictures. |
| US08411100B2 |
User interface and method for persistent viewing of a user selected folder on a mobile device
A mobile device includes a display having a plurality of display modes including a folder view display mode wherein a plurality of folders are viewable. An input device is operable to change the display mode of the display between the folder view display mode and other display modes. A memory within the mobile device stores a folder that has been previously identified for persistent viewing. A processor controls the operation of the mobile device such that after the folder previously identified for persistent viewing is stored in memory, when the folder view display mode is entered, the folder is automatically displayed on the display. |
| US08411092B2 |
2D imposters for simplifying processing of plural animation objects in computer graphics generation
The technology herein involves use of 2D imposters to achieve seemingly 3D effects with high efficiency where plural objects such as animated characters move together such as when one character follows or carries another character. A common 2D imposter or animated sprite is used to image and animate the plural objects in 2D. When the plural objects are separated in space, each object can be represented using its respective 3D model. However, when the plural objects contact one another, occupy at least part of the same space, or are very close to one other (e.g., as would arise in a situation when the plural objects are moving together in tandem), the animation system switches from using plural respective 3D models to using a common 2D model to represent the plural objects. Such use of a common 2D model can be restricted in some implementations to situations where the user's viewpoint can be restricted to be at least approximately perpendicular to the plane of 2D model, or the 2D surface on which the combined image is texture mapped can be oriented in response to the current virtual camera position. |
| US08411085B2 |
Constructing view compositions for domain-specific environments
Visual items may each be constructed and placed in position using logic defined by a view component corresponding to each visual item, where that logic may depend on one or more values populated into parameter(s) of the view component. Some of those parameter values may correspond to known model parameter values. Others, however, may have been solved for using a model that defines analytical relationships between the model parameters. In one embodiment, which of the model parameters are known, and which are unknown, may not be predetermined. Accordingly, a solver might be prepared for multiple solve operation paths even using a single model. The view composition process may be entirely data-driven, and may include a mechanism for canonicalizing input data, and binding canonicalized input data to the model parameters. The view composition framework may operate the same regardless of the domain. |
| US08411083B2 |
Method and device for displaying an indication of the quality of the three-dimensional data for a surface of a viewed object
A method and device for displaying an indication of the quality of the three-dimensional data for a surface of a viewed object are disclosed, wherein overlays are displayed on pixels of an image corresponding to surface points, indicating the predicted accuracy or availability of the three-dimensional coordinates of those surface points. |
| US08411072B2 |
System and method of saving input content
A method of saving input content on an electronic device is disclosed. A setting module sets M bits grayscale per sampled pixel, M is a whole number. A creating module creates a file to store input content. An obtaining module obtains data of the input content. A storing module stores the data in the file and stores M bits grayscale per sampled pixel. |
| US08411071B2 |
Electronic pen
An electronic pen has a casing and a tip to be put on a surface. The pen includes a positioning module for detecting the position of the tip on the surface, and an audio module configured to output signals responsive to the detected position of the tip on the surface. The modules form a unitary component mounting unit contained within the casing. The pen also has: an audio box with a speaker, means for connecting the modules, and a locking arrangement for locking the casing. |
| US08411070B2 |
Infrared sensor integrated in a touch panel
An infrared source is configured to illuminate the underside of one or more objects on or above a touchable surface of a touch panel. Infrared light reflected from the underside of the object(s) is detected by an infrared sensor integrated in the touch panel below the touchable surface. |
| US08411068B2 |
Method for detecting users' pressing action and optical operating unit
A method for detecting users' pressing action is applied to an electronic apparatus which has at least an optical operating unit for an user to operate the electronic apparatus. The method includes the steps of detecting a deformation of a forcing object which forces the optical operating unit; and determining whether the user performs a pressing action according to a deformation degree of the forcing object. Further, an optical operating unit using the method is provided. |
| US08411065B2 |
Touchpad with a double-layer printed circuit board structure
The present invention provides a touchpad with a double-layer printed circuit board structure. The touchpad comprises an upper layer, a bottom layer, a first conductor; and a second conductor; wherein the upper layer is configured to act as a touch-sensitive zone, and comprises a plurality of first conductive units, a first conductive wire and a plurality of second conductive units; the bottom layer comprises a wire connecting zone and a component zone, wherein the wire connecting zone further includes a second conductive wire and a connecting line configured to be electrically coupled to the component zone; and the first conductor and the second conductor are configured to connect the upper layer to the bottom layer; wherein the first and the second conductive units are each serially-connected to form a first touch-sensitive line and a second touch-sensitive line, respectively. |
| US08411064B2 |
Contact detecting device, display device, and contact detecting method
A contact detecting device includes: n driving electrodes that are arranged in a scanning direction; a detection drive scanning unit that selects continuous m (2≦m |
| US08411053B2 |
Dual pen interactive whiteboard system
An electromagnetic interactive whiteboard system includes a first electronic pen (16) constructed and arranged to operate at a first frequency (F1). At least a second electronic pen (18) is constructed and arranged to operate at a second frequency (F2) that is different from the first frequency. An electromagnetic interactive whiteboard (12) has a single conductive grid (14) constructed and arranged to receive electromagnetic signals from the pens due to proximity of the pens to the grid. A circuit (30) separates the first and second frequencies into their respective X and Y component frequencies when the pens are operating simultaneously. A controller (20) receives a signal including the separated X and Y component frequencies of each of the first and second pens to detect each pen and to determine an X and Y coordinate position of each pen relative to the grid based on the X and Y component frequencies. |
| US08411045B2 |
Touch sensitive displays with coplanar capacitive touch and proximity sensor pads and related touch panels
An electronic touch panel includes a plurality of spaced apart touch sensor pads that are arranged in a first direction on a planar layer. A proximity sensor pad is on the planar layer and is electrically isolated from the touch sensor pads. The proximity sensor pad has a greater surface area than a plurality of the touch sensor pads. A position detection circuit is configured to electrically charge the touch sensor pads to generate capacitive coupling to an adjacent user object and to detect therefrom a location of the user object relative to the first direction across the planar layer, and configured to electrically charge the proximity sensor pad to generate a higher level of capacitive coupling to the user object than a plurality of the touch sensor pads and to detect therefrom a proximity of the user object in a perpendicular direction to the planar layer. The proximity sensor pad may extend as a continuous line on the planar layer between adjacent spaced apart columns of the touch sensor pads. |
| US08411042B2 |
Electronic device
An electronic device that has a sensing function with no-hindrance touching is provided. The electronic device includes a casing, a touch display and a processor. The casing has an opening, and the touch display is disposed inside the opening for receiving an operation of an input tool. The touch display has a sensing surface which allows the input tool to slide smoothly over the sensing surface and the casing. The processor is electrically coupled to the touch display, and the user interface displayed by the touch display is determined by the processor. As a result, the convenience of operating the electronic device is increased. |
| US08411038B2 |
Multi-layer integral keypad
A multi-layer integral keypad (10) is provided with a plurality of key tops (20) each having a plastic layer (30) coupled to a display layer (21). A key top support layer (40) integrally couples a plurality of the key tops (20) to one another. A method for producing a multi-layer integral keypad (10) is also provided. |
| US08411037B2 |
Keyboard with touch sensitive zones and corresponding computer user interface
A keyboard key has a key portion that forms a cantilevered beam pivotable about an axis. A switch is disposed relative to the cantilevered beam, such that rotation of the cantilever beam about the axis causes depression of the switch. The switch is offset from an applied force-receiving portion of the key portion. A touch sensitive key also includes a touch sensor detecting contact with the key portion of the key. The invention can be extended such that the key portion is formed of transparent or semi-transparent material. The invention can also be extended to include touch sensitive areas on any portion of an upper case of the computer keyboard. |
| US08411034B2 |
Sterile networked interface for medical systems
One embodiment of a sterile networked interface system is provided comprising a hand-held surgical tool and a data processing system. The surgical tool includes a sensor for sensing a physical variable related to the surgery, a wireless communication unit to transmit the physical variable to the data processing system, and a battery for powering the hand-held surgical tool. The surgical tool sends the physical variable and orientation information responsive to a touchless gesture control and predetermined orientation of the surgical tool. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08411033B2 |
Information input device and method and medium for inputting information in 3D space
An information input device and a method and medium for inputting information in three-dimensional (3D) space are provided. The information input device includes a movement signal input unit receiving a movement signal of the information input device under control of a user in a three-dimensional (3D) space, a movement extent calculating unit calculating an extent of a movement of the information input device by analyzing the received movement signal, a movement identification unit identifying a type of the movement by comparing the calculated extent of the movement with a predetermined threshold, and a signal processor processing the received movement signal so that an instruction corresponding to the identified type of movement is performed. |
| US08411030B2 |
Pointing and control device and method for a computer system
A pointing and control device for a computer system, the device having a body that can be maneuvered by a user; and an inertial sensor fixed to the body for supplying first signals correlated to the orientation of the body with respect to a gravitational field acting on the inertial sensor. The device moreover includes a magnetometer fixed to the body for supplying second signals correlated to the orientation of the body with respect to the Earth's magnetic field acting on the magnetometer and processing modules for determining an orientation of the body in an absolute reference system, fixed with respect to the Earth's magnetic field and gravitational field on the basis of the first signals and second signals. |
| US08411022B2 |
Multiprimary color display with dynamic gamut mapping
The embodiments disclosed herein comprise a plurality of modules and means to provide effect dynamic gamut mapping and backlight control. In one embodiment, a display system comprises: a transmissive display, said display comprising a plurality of colored subpixels wherein one such colored subpixel is substantially wide spectrum bandpass; a transmissive display controller, said display controller providing signals to said transmissive display to set the amount of transmissivity of each said colored subpixel; a backlight, said backlight providing illumination to said transmissive display; a backlight controller, said controller providing signals to said backlight to modulate the amount of illumination provided by said backlight to said transmissive display; peak surveying module for surveying image data and extracting the image gamut hull for providing intermediate backlight data signals to said backlight controller to match said image gamut hull; and a means for normalizing display image data signals according to said intermediate backlight data signals and providing said normalized image data as intermediate display data. |
| US08411017B2 |
Shift register and a liquid crystal display device having the same
A shift register of an LCD device operates based on two clock signals and maintains the gate voltage of an output transistor switch using two pull-down transistor switches. The gate voltages of the pull-down transistor switches are switched periodically between the high and low level of the clock signals. During the output period, the transistor switches have negative gate-source voltages so as to reduce leakage. |
| US08411009B2 |
Liquid crystal display device and method for driving the same
A liquid crystal display device comprises a display area including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix. A driving unit to drive the plurality of pixels each having a pixel switch is connected to signal lines and scan lines. An auxiliary capacitance voltage is interposed to a pixel electrode connected to the pixel switch through auxiliary capacitance lines arranged along the pixels in a row direction. The driving unit includes an auxiliary capacitance line driving circuit to supply a first voltage, a second voltage smaller than the first voltage and a third voltage smaller than the second voltage to the auxiliary capacitance lines. The voltage difference between the first voltage and the second voltage is smaller than that between the second voltage and the third voltage. |
| US08411007B2 |
LCD display visual enhancement driving circuit and method
A pixel in a liquid crystal display panel comprises a first sub-pixel area having a first sub-pixel electrode and a second sub-pixel area having a second sub-pixel electrode. Each sub-pixel electrode is associated with a capacitor. When a gate-line signal and a data voltage is provided to the pixel, the voltage level on the first sub-pixel electrode is substantially equal to or slightly higher than the voltage level on the second sub-pixel electrode and the capacitor associated with each sub-pixel electrode is charged. When the gate-line signal has entirely passed on partially passed, a circuit element causes the capacitor associated with the second sub-pixel electrode to transfer its charge to another capacitor, resulting in a reduction of the voltage level on the second sub-pixel electrode. |
| US08410999B2 |
Organic light emitting display and method of driving the same
An organic light emitting display includes pixels coupled to scan lines, first control lines, second control lines, data lines, and first and second power sources. The organic light emitting display further includes a control line driver for providing a first control signal and a second control signal to the pixels through the first control lines and the second control lines, a scan driver for providing scan signals to the pixels through the scan lines, and a data driver for providing data signals to the pixels through data lines. The control line driver simultaneously supplies a first off control signal to the pixels through the first control lines in a first period, simultaneously supplies a reference voltage to the pixels through the first control lines in a second period, and simultaneously supplies a first on control signal to the pixels through the first control lines in a third period. |
| US08410995B2 |
Configurable imaging system
A method for use in an imaging system having an image source and a plurality of microtile units for generating respective portions of the image is provided, each microtile unit including a self-contained screen and a rear projector for projecting the image on the screen, the method for at least one of self-aligning, colour matching and brightness matching the image portions across successive adjacent microtile units. The screen is over-scanned so that a portion of an edge of each image spills over onto a side wall of the microtile unit adjacent a further one of microtile units. Light from the image is permitted to spill through the side wall into the further microtile unit. The light is detected within the further microtile unit. The image is adjusted in response to detection of the light within the further microtile unit so as to at least one of align, color match and brightness match the image between the plurality of microtile units. |
| US08410991B2 |
Antenna system for mobile vehicles
The present invention relates to an antenna system mounted on a mobile vehicle. In the present invention, a power distributor and a part of a high-frequency module that includes a frequency converter are placed in an external fixed unit that is placed outside a radome. In addition, an active cooler/cooling fin, a heater, and an air circulation fan are placed at an internal bottom plane of the antenna system, and a cooling fin and cooling fan are placed at an external bottom plane of the antenna system. |
| US08410988B2 |
Dual mode rotary joint for propagating RF and optical signals therein
A dual mode rotary joint as described herein can be utilized in an electromagnetic communication system such as a radar system. The dual mode rotary joint can be used to rotatably couple an antenna architecture to its mounting structure. One embodiment of the dual mode joint includes a waveguide configured to propagate radio frequency (RF) signals, and endcaps coupled to the ends of the waveguide. Each endcap is reflective for RF signals and transmissive for optical signals. |
| US08410983B2 |
Wide-band antenna
A wide-band antenna mounted on a circuit board includes a ground plate, a radiating plate perpendicularly connected to two side edges of the circuit board, and a planar antenna element which includes a base plate, an extending plate, and a ground portion. One side of the base plate defines a gap with a first coupling portion being formed, and a slot adjacent to the gap with a first strip being formed therebetween. A second strip is extended perpendicularly from the first strip. The extending plate is extended outward from one end of the base plate. The ground portion is extended outward from the second strip and connected to the ground plate. The first coupling portion and the ground portion have an interspace to form a capacitive coupling therebetween. A groove is formed among the first and second strips and the ground portion to form a simulation inductance thereamong. |
| US08410978B2 |
Shape measurement instrument and shape measurement method
A shape measurement instrument includes a plurality of transmitters 1 to 4 which radiate signals having different waveforms or phases, receivers 31 to 34 which receive signals reflected from an object O, correlation units 41 to 44 which obtain correlation waveforms between waveforms of the signals received by the receivers 31 to 34, and the signal radiated by a transmitter radiating the received signal of the transmitters 1 to 4, and a shape estimation unit 5 which extracts a quasi-wavefront based on the correlation waveforms obtained by the correlation units 41 to 44 and estimates a shape of the object O based on a relationship between the quasi-wavefront and the object O. As a result, a period of time required to measure an object shape can be significantly reduced. |
| US08410976B2 |
Frequency-modulated interrupted continuous wave radar using pulses derived from a frequency-modulated signal in which the rate of frequency change increases at the boundary of a pulse repetition interval
An object ranging system operates by transmitting pulses derived from a frequency-swept signal and determining the beat frequency of a combination of the frequency-swept signal and its reflection from an object. A second (or higher) order harmonic is derived from the combination signal. Accordingly, determination of the beat frequency, and hence object range, is significantly enhanced. The frequency sweep is such that frequency changes occur at a substantially higher rate at the beginning of each the pulse repetition interval than at the end. Accordingly, because the frequency changes are concentrated in the period of pulse transmission, even reflections 'from a close object, where the time delay between the source signal and the reflection is very short, will cause a high beat frequency. |
| US08410973B2 |
Activating motion detectors
A method and apparatus for activating a motion detector. An electromagnetic signal is transmitted in a form of a beam. The beam is configured to activate the motion detector when the beam encounters the motion detector. The beam is moved to a location in which the motion detector is present such that the motion detector activates. |
| US08410962B2 |
Active RC resonators with enhanced Q factor
An active RC resonator includes a first operational amplifier having first and second inputs and first and second outputs, a second operational amplifier having first and second inputs and first and second outputs, a first resistor coupled between the first input of the first operational amplifier and the second output of the second operational amplifier, a second resistor coupled between the second input of the first operational amplifier and the first output of the second operational amplifier, a third resistor coupled between the first output of the first operational amplifier and the first input of the second input of the second operational amplifier, a fourth resistor coupled between the second output of the first operational amplifier and the second input of the second operational amplifier, and at least one of 1) a first capacitor coupled between the first input of the first operational amplifier and the first output of the second operational amplifier, and a second capacitor coupled between the second input of the first operational amplifier and the second output of the second operational amplifier, 3) a third capacitor coupled between the second output of the first operational amplifier and the first input of the second operational amplifier, and a fourth capacitor coupled between the first output of the first operational amplifier and the second input of the second operational amplifier. |
| US08410959B2 |
Variable length codes for coding of video data
A method and system for entropy coding can comprise, in response to detecting a first symbol combination comprising first run information indicating a first number of contiguous zero coefficients is greater than a cut-off-run value, assigning a first codeword to a first symbol combination, wherein the first codeword comprises an escape code from a first-level VLC table; and in response to a second symbol combination comprising second run information indicating a second number of contiguous zero coefficients is less than or equal to the cut-off-run value, assigning a second codeword to the second symbol combination, wherein the second codeword is from the first-level VLC table. The system and method can further comprise collecting coding statistics for a set of candidate symbol combinations and adjusting a mapping between codewords of the first-level VLC table and a subset of the set of candidate symbol combinations based on the coding statistics. |
| US08410958B2 |
Digitizing apparatus, digitizing method and capacitance touch sensing apparatus
A digital apparatus includes a timing control circuit, a period counter, a phase digitizer and a calculation circuit. The timing control circuit generates a first control signal according to a square wave signal and a predetermined value. The period counter generates a first digital value according to a reference clock signal and the first control signal. The phase digitizer generates a second digital value according to a phase difference between the square wave signal and the reference clock signal. The calculation circuit generates an output digital value according to the first digital value and the second digital value. An object of obtaining a high-resolution digitization with a reasonable sampling clock is realized by effectively combining the period counter with the phase digitizer. |
| US08410952B2 |
Methods for forewarning of critical condition changes in monitoring civil structures
Sensor modules (12) including accelerometers (20) are placed on a physical structure (10) and tri-axial accelerometer data is converted to mechanical power (P) data (41) which then processed to provide a forewarning (57) of a critical event concerning the physical structure (10). The forewarning is based on a number of occurrences of a composite measure of dissimilarity (Ci) exceeding a forewarning threshold over a defined sampling time; and a forewarning signal (58) is provided to a human observer through a visual, audible or tangible signal. A forewarning of a structural failure can also be provided based on a number of occurrences of (Ci) above a failure value threshold. |
| US08410950B2 |
Photovoltaic panel monitoring apparatus
A photovoltaic (PV) panel monitoring apparatus includes a monitoring module for measuring parameter values related to PV panel output, comparing measured values against minimum and maximum values saved in the monitoring module, and outputting an alarm signal when a measured value is outside a range defined by the minimum and maximum values. An alarm signal causes a visual indicator to activate and an audible indicator to sound, thereby assisting maintenance personnel in locating a PV panel with an out-of-range parameter value. The monitoring module further includes a PV panel identification memory for saving an identification code for each PV panel in a PV array. The identification code is transmitted with time, date, and parameter data when the monitoring module detects an out-of-range parameter value. Data may optionally be transmitted from the monitoring module through a communications input/output port or through a wireless transmitter to an external monitoring and control system. |
| US08410946B2 |
Thermal measurement system and method for leak detection
A system includes a controller configured to receive a signal from a thermal radiation sensor indicative of a temperature of a region including at least one fluid passage. The controller is also configured to detect a leak within the at least one fluid passage based on the signal. |
| US08410945B2 |
Atmospheric monitoring
Method and arrangement for monitoring an atmosphere includes a sensor system arranged to obtain data about the atmosphere at its location and a communications system coupled to the sensor system for providing data obtained by the sensor system to a monitoring facility, e.g., by wireless transmits, which monitors the atmosphere. A location determining system may be arranged in connection with the sensor system for determining the location thereof. The communication system is coupled to the location determining system and transmits the location of the sensor system along with the data obtained by the sensor system to the remote facility. |
| US08410941B2 |
Animal detection system and method
A system for detecting an animal proximate a roadway is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, there is at least one warning station, a plurality of sensor stations, and a processor. Each of the plurality of sensor stations may have a first sensor and a second sensor. The processor may be configured to detect an animal using information provided by the first sensor and the second sensor, and to cause transmission of a warning signal to the at least one warning station when the animal is detected. |
| US08410939B2 |
Analyte meter including an RFID reader
A glucose monitoring system, includes a glucose sensor strip or package of strips. The strip includes a substrate and a glucose monitoring circuit that has electrodes and a bodily fluid application portion of selected chemical composition. An antenna is integrated with the glucose sensor strip. A RFID sensor chip is coupled with the glucose sensor strip and the antenna. The chip has a memory containing digitally-encoded data representing calibration and/or expiration date information for the strip. |
| US08410938B2 |
RFID tag located on metallic surfaces that have an increased communication range
An RFID tag includes a first antenna on which an IC chip is mounted and a second antenna extending from an end of the first antenna in a direction at right angles to the first antenna. The first antenna has an arbitrarily electrical length and the second antenna has an electrical length of λ/2 or an integral multiple of λ/2. A resin base film having a thickness of approximately 50 μm is disposed on the back side of the first antenna and the second antenna. With this configuration of a tag antenna, the second antenna resonates with the first antenna to exhibit a radio wave amplifying effect. Therefore, a long communication distance can be achieved even if the electrical length of the first antenna is chosen to be short or the thickness of the base film is chosen to be thin. |
| US08410928B2 |
Systems and methods for evaluating chromatography column performance
Methods and systems for evaluating and/or monitoring chromatography column performance are provided. Embodiments apply multivariate analysis (MVA) methods to process data as well as transition analysis data to provide a comprehensive evaluation of chromatography column performance. In embodiments, transition analysis data generated over extended periods of time can be analyzed together with process data to evaluate column performance. Further, embodiments enable a compact and robust tool for combining and presenting performance evaluation results, which allows for time-efficient performance examination. According to embodiments, MVA methods applied on transition analysis and process data provide (1) near real-time ability to comprehensively monitor column packing quality; (2) sensitive detection of column integrity breaches; (3) sensitive detection of subtle changes in column packing; (4) sensitive detection of different types of changes in column packing; (5) sensitive detection of fronting/tailing; and (6) sensitive detection of changes in process performance. |
| US08410926B1 |
Alarm for security tag
A security system can include a tag unit adapted to be secured to an infant via band. The first tag unit can include a temperature sensor, and a capacitance sensor. A temperature alarm can be provided in response to a negative slope of a temperature curve associated with temperature data from the temperature sensor. A capacitance alarm can be provided in response to a comparison to capacitance data from the capacitance sensor to a baseline when the tag unit is not secured to the infant. A resistance alarm can be provided in response to resistance data indicating a spike in resistance followed by a relatively flat line response. |
| US08410924B2 |
Method and system for remote monitoring deformations of a structure
A low-cost and non-invasive method for remote monitoring deformations of a structure (2), which method envisages to couple at least two RFID tags (3) to the structure (2) in its respective points (10a, 10b, 10a-10c), to interrogate at radio frequency the RFID tags (3) so that a resultant electromagnetic field is produced at a certain distance (DINF) from the structure (2), the resultant electromagnetic field ensuing from a combination of the electromagnetic fields produced individually by each RFID tags (3) in response to the interrogation, to measure the resultant electromagnetic field at such a distance (DINF) from the structure (2) for obtaining measurements of the resultant electromagnetic field, and to determine the deformations of the structure (2) as a function of the measurements of the resultant electromagnetic field. |
| US08410922B2 |
Motion sensor with ultrasonic modulation
A dual-technology motion sensor with an ultrasonic sensor element (transducer) and a PIR sensor element is disclosed. The dual-technology motion sensor is configured to modulate ultrasonic radiation emitted from the ultrasonic sensor element when the motion sensor detects a condition under which other wireless devices, especially ultrasound-based wireless devices, are in operation, thereby eliminating problems associated with interference. |
| US08410921B1 |
Vehicle gate status indicator
A wireless device that provides a visual indication to an operator of a pick-up truck sitting in the driver's seat that a tailgate is deployed or unsecured if in a lowered position is herein disclosed. A sensor is installed on the tailgate which will send a wireless signal to an indicator light mounted on a user selected area of the dashboard. Such a system will provide safety and protect the truck from potential damage to its tailgate and bed. |
| US08410918B1 |
Vehicle door opening indicator system
A vehicle door opening indicator system comprises a base unit, a remote unit wirelessly communicating with the base unit, an on-board computer, and door opening sensors. The base unit is placed in a vehicle, is powered from a vehicle battery, and comprises a programmable CPU, a memory, a speaker, an input circuit, and an output circuit. The CPU communicates with the remote unit through the input circuit and with the computer through the output circuit. The remote unit, comprising a microphone and a recorder/player, preprograms the CPU with an individualized message. The door opening sensors are connected to the computer, and the preprogrammed individualized message is reproduced through the speaker upon opening the door. |
| US08410917B2 |
Haptic feedback device for a portable terminal
A haptic feedback device for a portable terminal. The haptic feedback device includes an input member, a vibration member that passes through the input member, and serves as a rotation axis of the input member, and a piezo actuator in contact with the vibration member. As the input member rotates or pivots with respect to the rotation axis, the piezo actuator actuates to vibrate the vibration member. |
| US08410915B2 |
Portable terminal device and method of controlling the same
A portable telephone device (10) includes: a noncontact IC card communication unit (30) that performs a noncontact IC card communication; a vibration alert unit (22) that notifies the user by vibration that the noncontact IC card communication unit (30) is performing the noncontact IC card communication; and an IC card vibration alert control unit (44) that performs the control to regulate the vibration of the vibration alert unit (22) so that the vibration of the vibration alert unit (22) does not affect the communication state of the noncontact IC card communication unit (30). |
| US08410914B2 |
Methods, devices, and computer program products for providing ambient noise sensitive alerting
Methods, devices, and computer program products for providing ambient noise sensitive alerting. The methods comprise receiving ambient noise, converting the ambient noise to an electrical signal, detecting a parameter of the electrical signal which is indicative of ambient noise, sensing an incoming call or message, and controlling the volume of an audible alert in response to the detected parameter of the electrical signal. |
| US08410913B2 |
Enhancing depth perception
Apparatuses and methods enhance depth perception, e.g., the depth perception of a human being using an apparatus worn on the user's head. |
| US08410912B2 |
Printing device
A printing device capable of detecting an error type, that is, at which step in a printing process an error has occurred and capable of performing a simplified procedure for identifying the cause of the error. The printing device includes a reader/writer for writing information into an RFID tag and for detecting errors at a plurality of steps in a procedure for writing the information into the RFID tag and a ROM for storing each of the error patterns at respective steps at which errors have been detected by the reader/writer. When an error is detected by the reader/writer, a control unit reads, from the ROM, one of the error patterns corresponding to a step at which the error has been detected and prints the detected error on an RFID label. |
| US08410909B2 |
Cables and connector assemblies employing a furcation tube(s) for radio-frequency identification (RFID)-equipped connectors, and related systems and methods
Embodiments disclosed in the detailed description include cables and connector assemblies employing a furcation tube(s) for radio-frequency identification (RFID)-equipped connectors, and related systems and methods. In one embodiment, a connector assembly is provided that comprises a cable comprising a cable end, an interior area, at least one communication line, and at least one furcation tube disposed in the interior area. The connector assembly also comprises a connector operably connected to the cable end. At least one antenna wire is configured to be electrically connected to at least one RFID tag to serve as at least a portion of an RFID antenna for at least one RFID tag. At least a portion of the at least one antenna wire is disposed inside the furcation tube in the cable. In this manner, the antenna wire is secured inside the rugged packaging of the cable to protect the antenna wire. |
| US08410907B2 |
Event-driven mobile HAZMAT monitoring
A HAZMAT monitoring system detects a plurality of different hazardous materials and includes first and second pluralities of RSIs. Each RSI of the first plurality forms a node in a first wireless sensor network and is associated with a mobile container and with at least one sensor that is configured to acquire data for detecting a first hazardous material. Each RSI further is configured to receive the sensor data and wirelessly transmit, over the first wireless sensor network, data relating to the received sensor data pertaining to the detection of the first hazardous material. Each RSI of the second plurality is similarly associated and configured. Communications within a respective wireless sensor network do not result in communications within the another wireless sensor network. A gateway is configured to independently communicate with each respective wireless sensor network. |
| US08410902B2 |
Apparatuses, system and method for authentication
It is presented a method for authenticating a candidate individual, comprising the steps of: obtaining candidate biometric data related to the candidate individual; obtaining a first data item related to first reference biometric data from a data carrier, wherein any significant part of the first reference biometric data is not readily available from the first data item; obtaining a second data item related to the first reference biometric data from digital storage, wherein any significant part of the first reference biometric data is not readily available from the second data item; working out a second reference biometric data using the first data item and the second data item; and authenticating the candidate individual (101′) when the candidate biometric data is determined to correspond to the first reference biometric data using the second reference biometric data and the candidate biometric data. Corresponding authentication apparatus, data carrier issuing apparatus and ticket are also presented. |
| US08410898B1 |
Near field communication based key sharing techniques
A computer-implemented technique includes storing keychains in a memory of a computer. A login identifier and a password are received from a mobile device. The login identifier and the password are verified. Subsequent to the verification, one of the keychains is downloaded from the computer to the mobile device. The keychain includes N keys that are each associated with one of M physical locks of M locking devices, where N and M are integers greater than or equal to 1. The M locking devices or another locking device are monitored. Information in a key log is recorded when each of the N keys is used on one of the M locking devices or another locking device. The information includes a locking device identifier and a key identifier. The mobile device is alerted when each of the N keys is used based on the key log. |
| US08410897B2 |
Contact detection device for vehicular use and security device for vehicular use
Disclosed are a contact detection device for vehicular use and a security device for vehicular use that are capable of identifying whether contact is human-induced and that prevent erroneous detection due to raindrops and the like. A security device (10) is equipped with a contact detection device (11) comprising a contact unit (12), a detection unit (13), a standard detection pattern setting means (14) that sets standard detection patterns based on predefined patterns of human-induced contact to the contact unit, a detection signal identification means (15) that compares a detection signal detected by the detection unit (13) and the standard detection patterns that have been set and decides whether these match, and a contact identification signal output means (16), and is further equipped with a lock device (17) and a control device (18). The control device (18) comprises a security mode setting means (19) and a security mode specifying means (20) that specifies a security mode that has been predefined by the security mode setting means (19), and said control device causes the lock device (17) to execute the specified security mode. |
| US08410894B2 |
Method, particularly for manufacturing terminals for electric resistors, and the terminal obtained
A method for manufacturing terminals for electric resistors consists in preparing a piece of substantially pure copper; reducing the thickness, by cold pressing, of the piece so as to obtain from it at least one thick part and one thin part designed to form the tip of an electrical terminal to be obtained; obtaining, by rolling, a groove which is central to the thick part; and tapering, by rolling, the thin portion. |
| US08410891B2 |
Electrical multilayer component
The electrical multilayer component includes a base body with external electrodes and internal electrodes. A ceramic varistor layer is provided with the first internal electrode, and a dielectric layer adjoins the varistor layer. The dielectric layer has at least one opening filled with a semiconducting material or a metal. |
| US08410888B2 |
Method for producing a disk winding and disk winding
An method for producing a disk winding having disks arranged alongside one another, includes winding the disk winding and fitting intermediate insulation between adjacent disks simultaneously, and subdividing the insulation into two sub-areas with a connecting conductor that runs from an end of one disk to a start of an adjacent disk along a diagonal within the intermediate insulation. The sub-areas can include a first intermediate area with a triangular cross-section formed below this diagonal and a second intermediate area which has an opposite triangular cross-section and formed above this diagonal. |
| US08410886B2 |
Multilayer coil component
A multilayer coil component is provided to have high reliability and in which internal stress arising from the difference in firing shrinkage behavior and/or thermal expansion coefficient between ferrite layers and internal conductor layers is alleviated without forming conventional voids between the ferrite layers and the internal conductor layers. A method of manufacturing a multilayer coil includes a step of isolating interfaces between internal conductors and surrounding ferrite by allowing a complexing agent solution to reach interfaces between the internal conductors and the surrounding ferrite through side gap portions from side surfaces of a ferrite element including a helical coil. The complexing agent solution contains at least one selected from the group consisting of an aminocarboxylic acid, a salt of the aminocarboxylic acid, an oxycarboxylic acid, a salt of the oxycarboxylic acid, an amine, phosphoric acid, a salt of phosphoric acid, and a lactone compound. |
| US08410881B2 |
Material magnetizer systems
A system for improved magnetization of flexible magnetic sheet material, such as magnetic rubber. More particularly, this invention relates to providing a system for magnetization of printed or printable flexible magnetic sheet material. |
| US08410879B2 |
Solenoid
The invention refers to a solenoid with a magnet body connected with a tube pipe, wherein means for fastening the magnet body to the tube pipe are provided, and the means have at least one electrically conductive element, which is in contact, on the one hand, with the tube pipe, on the other hand, with the magnet body, for electric connection of tube pipe and magnet body. |
| US08410877B1 |
Electromagnetic contactor and assembly method for the same
There is provided a drive lever incorrect assembly detection portion (9d) and (14) which causes another end portion (9a) of a drive lever (9) to protrude to a position, of a case (4), to which a cover (5) is attached such that the cover (5) cannot be attached to the case (4) in a state where the drive lever (9) is assembled in an incorrect direction. |
| US08410875B2 |
Overload relay switch without springs
The disclosed concept relates to an overload relay and, more specifically, to an overload relay switch having a reduced number of components and less complex components. The reduced number of components includes the lack of a return spring on the manual actuators. Further, the relay switch member, which was typically a snap switch conducting member structured to change its configuration, is a substantially flat blade. Further, a circuit is used to detect an over-current condition and a solenoid actuates the relay switch assembly, thereby eliminating the need for a mechanical over-current detection and switch actuation device. |
| US08410872B2 |
Line filter formed on dielectric layers
Provided is a line filter. The line filter includes a plurality of dielectric layers stacked one another, a plurality of line resonator each comprising transmission lines on at least two of the dielectric layers, and a tuning unit adjusting a binding amount and resonance frequency of the line resonators. Since the line filter includes at least one line resonator on at least two stacked dielectric layers, the integration can be easily realized. Further, since the line filter can be adjusted even after the line filter is manufacture, the line filter has an excellent frequency property. Since the line filter is realized on the plurality of the dielectric layers, the frequency band can be widened. |
| US08410869B2 |
Elastic-wave filter device having a band-pass filter and a band-reject filter
In an elastic-wave filter device that includes a band-pass filter and a band-eliminate filter connected to the band-pass filter, insertion loss in a pass band is significantly reduced and attenuation in a stop band is significantly increased. The elastic-wave filter device has a pass band and a stop band at frequencies higher than the pass band. The band-pass filter and the first band-eliminate filter are connected in series between an input terminal and an output terminal. A first parallel-arm resonator of the first band-eliminate filter includes a first resonance frequency in the stop band. A second parallel-arm resonator includes a second resonance frequency in the stop band, the second resonance frequency being higher than the first resonance frequency. An impedance value of the first parallel-arm resonator is larger than an impedance value of the second parallel-arm resonator. |
| US08410867B2 |
Filter, especially for filtration of electromagnetic interference
A filter for filtering of electromagnetic interference, with a base element, with at least one electrical filter component and with at least two input terminal contacts and at least two output terminal contacts for connection of an electric line, the input terminal contacts being connected to the output terminal contacts by conductor paths located on the base element. In the filter, a simple configuration and flexible use are ensured by each conductor path having at least two longitudinal contacts, via which a filter component can be electrically connected to a conductor path such that the electrical connection of the conductor path leads between the two longitudinal contacts by the filter component, and each conductor path has at least one cross contact so that two conductor paths are electrically connected to one another by way of a filter component when the filter component is electrically connected to the cross contacts. |
| US08410865B2 |
Surface acoustic wave filter and duplexer using the same
A SAW filter includes a piezoelectric body, an IDT electrode on the piezoelectric body, and signal wiring electrically connected to the IDT electrode. The signal wiring has a thickness not less than a skin depth specified based on the frequency of a signal passing through the signal wiring and the electrical conductivity of the signal wiring. As a result, the signal wiring has low propagation loss of the signal passing through it, so that the SAW filter has excellent transmission characteristics. |
| US08410864B2 |
Integrated directional coupler
A coupler including: a first conductive line intended to convey a signal to be transmitted between first and second terminals; a second conductive line, coupled to the first one and having one end intended to provide, on a third terminal, data relative to a signal reflected on the second terminal; and an inductive and/or capacitive impedance matching circuit, interposed between the other end of the second line and a fourth terminal of the coupler. |
| US08410863B2 |
Slow wave transmission line
There is provided a low loss slow wave transmission line that can be miniaturized. A slow wave transmission line of the present invention has a configuration which includes a repeated arrangement of a low impedance line and a high impedance line and in which the high impedance line is longer than the low impedance line in terms of a line length. |
| US08410858B2 |
Electronic circuitry
Electronic circuitry comprising operational circuits of active switching type requiring timing signals, and conductive means for distributing said timing signals to the operational circuits, wherein the timing signal distribution means includes a signal path that has different phases of a drive signal are supplied via active means at different positions about the signal path where that path exhibits endless electro-magnetic continuity without signal phase inversion or has interconnections with another signal path having different substantially unidirectional signal flow where there is no endless electromagnetic continuity between those signal paths and generally has non-linear associated circuit means where the signal path is of a transmission line nature. |
| US08410857B2 |
Apparatus and method for generating a random bit sequence
An apparatus for generating a random bit sequence has a ring oscillator which includes inverting digital devices and on which an oscillator signal can be tapped. An intermediate storage element monitors and stores fluctuating levels of the oscillator signal. At least two controllable switch devices for simultaneously exciting at least two harmonic wave edges of the ring oscillator are provided in a signal path of the ring oscillator. The phasing of the two harmonic wave edges and a potential convergence thereof are subject to statistical fluctuations, which are used as a basis for the random bit generation. A corresponding random number generator can be used in particular as an FPGA for security applications, such as cryptographic methods. The apparatus has substantially digital components, which are easy to produce in a standardized manner. A dedicated regulating circuit is not necessary. The apparatus is also robust toward exterior influences. |
| US08410855B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling power supply of audio amplifier
A method of controlling power supply voltage of an audio amplifier delays an input audio signal; estimates, with a digital signal processor, an audio output level of the delayed input audio signal based on correlations between the delayed input audio signal level and audio level change factors; sets a value of power supply voltage supplied to a power switching circuit unit in correspondence with the estimated audio output level prior to outputting the delayed input audio signal on which the estimated audio output level is based; and amplifies the delayed audio input signal to provide an audio output signal by variably controlling the power supply voltage supplied to the power switching circuit unit according to the set value of power supply voltage. |
| US08410854B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit device
A semiconductor integrated circuit device constituting an inverting amplifier employs a cascode current source as a current source. In the semiconductor integrated circuit device, a high-potential-side transistor of the cascode current source and a low-potential-side transistor constituting an amplification portion are shared. The configuration can not only make an output impedance of the cascode current source high and improve current source characteristics but also make a minimum potential at a minimum potential point of the amplification portion low and ensure a sufficient power supply voltage margin. |
| US08410851B1 |
Switching amplifier with an inductor
pa A switching amplifying method or a switching amplifier for obtaining a linearly amplified replica of an input signal, is highly efficient, and does not have the disadvantage of “dead time” problem related to the class D amplifiers. Said switching amplifier comprises: an inductor means; a switching unit for switching a current from a DC voltage to the inductor means; a controllable diodes unit for blocking a current when the current from the DC voltage to the inductor means is switched on, and conducting the current from the inductor means to a filter unit when the current from the DC voltage to the inductor means is switched off; an amplifier control unit to control the switching unit and the controllable diodes unit according to the input signal; the filter unit filtering the output of the controllable diodes unit for getting an output signal. |
| US08410850B2 |
Signal processing arrangement and signal processing method
A signal processing apparatus for processing an input signal (x) has an adaptive predistorter, an amplifier and a down-converter. The amplifier is configured to amplify a processed signal (y′) to obtain an amplified signal (y″). The down-converter is configured to multiply a version of the processed signal (y′) with a version of the amplified signal (y″), one of the signal versions being phase shifted, to obtain a first down-converted signal (z1, z1′), and to multiply the processed signal (y′) with the amplified signal (y″) to obtain a second down-converted signal (z2, z2′). The predistorter is configured to predistort the input signal (x) according to a predistortion characteristic to obtain the processed signal (y′), the predistorter being further configured to adapt the predistortion characteristic based on the first down-converted signal (z1, z1′) and the second down-converted signal (z2, z2′). |
| US08410848B2 |
Enhanced doherty amplifier with asymmetrical semiconductors
The present disclosures an amplification unit which comprises a first amplifier and a second amplifier connected in parallel, the first amplifier and the second amplifier comprising semiconductor devices that are not the same amplifier design. The present application also discloses a signal input line connected to the first amplifier and the second amplifier. A signal output line is also disclosed which is connected to the first amplifier and the second amplifier. |
| US08410847B2 |
Input common mode voltage compensation circuit
A voltage level shifter for a direct coupling of an external voltage source to a common mode of a circuit may include an amplifier, a voltage-controlled current source, a first and second resistors. A first input of the amplifier may be connected to the common mode. A second input of the amplifier may, via the first and second resistors, receive a voltage indicative of the external voltage source. The output of the amplifier may indicate a voltage difference between the first and second inputs. The voltage-controlled current source may be controlled by the voltage difference to supply a current to a common node of the first and second resistors so that the voltage difference between the first and second inputs may be minimized. |
| US08410844B2 |
Filter device and control method of the same
There is provided a filter device having a function of adjusting the center frequency of a filter. The filter device includes: a filter core unit (102) provided with an adder (109) for outputting an added signal of an input signal and a feedback signal (signal Vf), an AGC circuit for generating an amplification signal in which the added signal is amplified, and a phase shifter (111) for generating the signal Vf by shifting a phase of the amplification signal; an amplitude comparing circuit (101) for comparing the reference amplitude and the amplitude of the signal Vf; a gain control voltage generator (108) for controlling the amplification factor of the AGC circuit (110) based upon the comparison result; a frequency comparing circuit (103) for comparing the reference frequency and the frequency of the signal Vf; a phase shifter control voltage generator (117) for controlling the shift amount of the phase in the phase shifter (111) based upon the comparison result. The gain control voltage generator (108) oscillates the filter core unit (102), while the amplification factor and the shift amount are being controlled. |
| US08410840B2 |
Devices and methods for improving voltage handling and/or bi-directionality of stacks of elements when connected between terminals
Devices and methods for improving voltage handling and/or bi-directionality of stacks of elements when connected between terminals are described. Such devices and method include use of symmetrical compensation capacitances, symmetrical series capacitors, or symmetrical sizing of the elements of the stack. |
| US08410834B2 |
All digital serial link receiver with low jitter clock regeneration and method thereof
An apparatus and method for clock regeneration with low jitter. The method includes the following steps: (a) using a phase lock loop to generate a first clock that is phase locked to a reference clock; (b) using a binary phase detector for generating a phase error signal by detecting a timing difference between the input signal and a second clock; (c) filtering the phase error signal to generate a first control word and a second control word; (d) performing a phase rotation on the first clock by an amount controlled by the first control word to generate the second clock; (e) filtering the second control word to generate a third control word; (f) sampling the third control word to generate a fourth control word using a third clock; and (g) performing a phase rotation on the first clock by an amount controlled by the fourth control word to generate the third clock. Comparable features for performing these steps are provided in the apparatus. |
| US08410832B2 |
Method and apparatus for producing triangular waveform with low audio band content
A triangular waveform generator includes a square waveform clock circuit and an integrating circuit. The integration circuit receives input from the square waveform clock circuit and generates a triangular waveform output. A feedback circuit is operatively connected to the integrating circuit to reduce the audio band noise content in the triangular waveform output. The feedback circuit acts as a DC balance without significant sacrifice in the linearity of the triangular waveform output. |
| US08410828B2 |
Area efficient EMI reduction technique for H-bridge current mode transmitter
The invention relates to a driver circuit used to transmit a digital signal from a source device to a destination device. The driver circuit provides a controlled switching time to improve digital signal quality, while reducing electromagnetic interference. In the circuit, a pair of first switches of a first plurality are coupled in parallel between a first current node and respective ones of first and second output terminals. A plurality of pairs of second switches of a second plurality are coupled in parallel between a respective second current node and the first and second output terminals. Timing circuitry applies input signals to the pair of first switches and successive input signals to the pairs of second switches so as to develop a staggered voltage across a load coupled between the first and second output terminals. |
| US08410826B2 |
Load drive circuit with current bidirectional detecting function
A load drive circuit with a current bidirectional detecting function includes: a current bidirectional switch connected between a first wire and a second wire and through which a first forward current flows in a direction from the first wire to the second wire and a first backward current flows in a direction from the second wire to the first wire; a forward current detecting switch connected to the first wire and into which a second forward current correlated to the first forward current flowing through the current bidirectional switch flows; a backward current detecting switch connected to the second wire and into which a second backward current correlated to the first backward current flowing through the current bidirectional switch flows. |
| US08410824B2 |
Buffer with active output impedance matching
Techniques for designing a buffer capable of working with low supply voltages, and having active output impedance matching capability to optimize power delivery to a wide range of loads. In an exemplary embodiment, cascode transistors are provided in a buffer architecture employing common-source transistors having unequal width-to-length ratios (W/L) and a resistance having a corresponding fixed ratio to the load. At least one of the cascode transistors may be dynamically biased to minimize a difference between the drain voltages of the common-source transistors. In a further exemplary embodiment, the output impedance of the buffer may be actively tuned by selectively enabling a set of tuning transistors coupled in parallel with the load. Further techniques for providing a calibration mode and an operation mode are described. |
| US08410823B2 |
Method and system for an LC resonant current gain boosting amplifier
Aspects of a method and system for an integrated LC resonant current gain boosting amplifier may include amplifying within a chip, via an on-chip LC current gain circuit, an alternating current (AC) generated by an on-chip voltage-to-current converter, and converting within the chip, via an on-chip current-to-voltage circuit; the amplified alternating current to an output voltage. The on-chip LC current gain circuit comprises only passive components, which may include one or more resistors, one or more capacitors, and one or more inductors. |
| US08410822B2 |
Comparator-based buffer with resistive error correction
A comparator-based buffer method and system enhance the driving capability of high-gain amplifiers with switched-capacitor loads. It includes a current source, a comparator, switches, sampling capacitor and overshoot correction resistor. A correction solution using a resistor in the charging path and a correction phase reduces the overshoot of the output voltage while constraining power consumption and minimizing components. Spectre® simulations verify the effectiveness of the invention. |
| US08410817B2 |
Driver circuit
A level switch circuit receives a digital input signal, and generates a level signal having a voltage level that corresponds to the value of the input signal thus received. A buffer circuit receives a level signal, and outputs the level signal via an output terminal thereof. A bias current generating circuit generates a bias current including a DC component having a constant level and a variable component that changes according to the input signal, and supplies the bias current thus generated to a buffer circuit. The bias current generating circuit detects an edge of the input signal, and raises the bias current by a predetermined amount for a predetermined period of time after the edge thus detected. |
| US08410813B2 |
Method and apparatus for a low power AC On-Die-Termination (ODT) circuit
A method and apparatus for A Low Power AC On-Die-Termination (ODT) Circuit using active components reduces receiver power consumption. |
| US08410810B2 |
System for testing power supply performance
A system for testing a DC power supply performance includes a load module electrically coupled to the DC power supply, a switch module electrically coupled to the DC power supply, a control module electrically coupled to the load module and the switch module respectively, and an indication module electrically coupled to the control module. The control module includes a judge module and a comparison module. The judge module is configured for receiving DC voltage signals from the DC power supply; wherein the judge module is capable of turning on when the DC power supply is normal. The comparison module is configured for comparing the DC voltage signals with a reference voltage; wherein the comparison module is capable of outputting a control signal when the DC voltage signals are greater than the reference voltage. The indication module is configured for receiving the control signal and indicating status of the DC power supply. |
| US08410803B2 |
Test apparatus of semiconductor device and method thereof
A test apparatus according to the present invention includes a probe card recognition unit that recognizes positions of at least two probe card marks formed to a probe card and assumes a probe card mark connection line connecting the positions of the probe card marks, a backing material recognition unit that recognizes positions of at least two backing material marks formed to a backing material where a semiconductor chip is fixed thereto and assumes a backing material mark connection line connecting the positions of the backing material mark, a positional relationship recognition unit that recognizes a positional relationship between the probe card and the backing material according to the probe card mark connection line and the backing material mark connection line, and a correction unit that corrects the position of at least one of the probe card and the backing material according to the positional relationship. |
| US08410800B2 |
Method for determining the size and shape measure of a solid material in an arc furnace, an arc furnace, a signal processing device and program code and a memory medium
In a method for determining the size and shape value (M) for a solid material (S), in particular scrap metal, in an arc furnace (1), an electrode flow fed to an electrode (3a, 3b, 3c) for forming an arc furnace (L) between the electrode (3a, 3b, 3c) and the solid (S) is measured (30) and from the measured electrode flow (I (t)), an effective measurement value of the electrode flow is determined (31) and from the measured electrode flow (I (t)) (32), a flow part associated with a frequency range of the measured electrode flow is determined (32), and a quotient of the flow part and an effective measurement value is formed as a measurement of the shape and size value of the flow (M). Thus, a method is provided that enables a property of a fusible element introduced into one of the arc furnaces to be determined. |
| US08410798B2 |
Flexural mechanism for passive angle alignment and locking
A passive alignment structure is provided that includes at least one rigid post being coupled to a top surface and a bottom surface. At least one in-plane clamp is associated with a respective at least one rigid post. The at least one in-plane clamp receives a clamping force to lock the respective at least one rigid post. A plurality of pins allows the top surface to align to the bottom surface. |
| US08410794B2 |
Operator identifying apparatus, operator identifying method and vehicle-mounted apparatus
An operator identifying apparatus, operator identifying method, and a vehicle-mounted apparatus. |
| US08410791B2 |
Impulse immunity test apparatus
The application methods in the related art cannot apply a sufficient voltage with a rectangular wave having a short rise time to an electronic circuit. Furthermore, electrostatic discharge test can apply a sufficient voltage but can only apply an oscillating waveform.A TLP generator is used as a rectangular wave generator. The sum of an injection resistance and a matching resistance is set so as to match the characteristic impedance of a transmission line for transmitting a rectangular wave to a test target. A capacitor is connected to a return line of the applied rectangular wave. With this configuration, stable application can be achieved. An error observation function of an electronic circuit gradually increases a peak value of the rectangular wave and determines the immunity based on an application voltage to cause an error for the first time. |
| US08410782B2 |
Switch testing circuit
A switch testing circuit is configured for testing a switch. The switch testing circuit includes a switch element, a first light emitting diode, and a control chip. The first light emitting diode, the switch element, and the switch are connected in series. The first light emitting diode is configured for indicating connection condition between the switch and the switch testing circuit. The control chip is configured for acquiring a voltage from one terminal of the switch element and comparing the acquired voltage with a comparison voltage to judge whether the switch is qualified or disqualified according to the comparison result. |
| US08410780B2 |
Adaptive signal averaging method which enhances the sensitivity of continuous wave magnetic resonance and other analytical measurements
This method of adaptive signal averaging is used to enhance the signal to noise ratio of magnetic resonance and other analytical measurements which involve repeatable signals partially or completely obscured by noise in a single measurement at a rate much faster than that observed with conventional signal averaging. This technique expedites the signal averaging process because it filters each individual scan in real time with an adaptive algorithm and then averages them separately to provide an averaged filtered signal with less noise. This technique is particularly useful for any type of continuous wave magnetic resonance experiment or any other noisy measurement where signal averaging is utilized. |
| US08410772B1 |
Bias circuit generating bias from supply and threshold voltages
A bias circuit generates a bias voltage. The bias circuit includes a first, a second, and a third detection circuit and a summing circuit. The first detection circuit generates a first characterization voltage that represents a variation of a power supply voltage from a nominal voltage. The first characterization voltage increases as the power supply voltage decreases and the first characterization voltage decreases as the power supply voltage increases. The second detection circuit generates a second characterization voltage that represents a threshold voltage of one or more p-type transistors. The third detection circuit generates a third characterization voltage that represents a threshold voltage of one or more n-type transistors. The summing circuit generates the bias voltage that is the power supply voltage reduced by a weighted sum of the first, second, and third characterization voltages. |
| US08410766B2 |
Power supply circuit with scalable performance and method for operating the power supply circuit
A power supply circuit and a method for operating the power supply circuit are described. In one embodiment, a power supply circuit includes multiple power elements configured to convert an input voltage to an output voltage, a driver circuit coupled to the power elements and configured to drive the power elements, a regulator controller coupled to the power elements and configured to control the power elements for the conversion of the input voltage to the output voltage, and at least one bypass switch coupled to the power elements. The at least one bypass switch is used to bypass at least one of the power elements. Other embodiments are also described. |
| US08410757B2 |
Battery state monitoring circuit and battery device
Provided are a battery state monitoring circuit capable of detecting disconnection of a battery from a power supply terminal or a ground terminal, and a battery device including the battery state monitoring circuit. The battery state monitoring circuit includes voltage detection circuits provided between the power supply terminal and an intermediate terminal and between the intermediate terminal and another intermediate terminal. For example, if a battery (21) is disconnected from a power supply terminal (11), the power supply terminal (11) is pulled down by a constant current circuit (15) to a voltage of a second intermediate terminal (13) so that a voltage detection circuit (34) detects the disconnection. |
| US08410755B2 |
Fault tolerant modular battery management system
A modular battery management system for managing a plurality of batteries and driving a load includes a plurality of battery management control modules; a plurality of bi-directional voltage converter modules respectively connected to the batteries and connected to the battery management control modules, the bi-directional voltage converter modules being connected to each other in parallel; and a plurality of energy storage modules respectively connected with the bi-directional voltage converter modules in parallel and connected to the load. The bi-directional voltage converter modules are configured to transfer electric energy from the batteries to the load or from the energy storage modules to the batteries. The battery management control modules are configured to execute a predetermined program based on the state information of each battery and control the bi-directional voltage converter modules. The batteries, the bi-directional voltage converter modules, the energy storage modules, and the battery management control modules are arranged in a redundant topology so that if any one of the components fails, the other components resume the functions of the failing component. |
| US08410754B2 |
Management unit and method for managing electric energy stored in a battery comprising a number of series-connected cells
A management unit and method for managing electric energy stored in a battery composed of a number of series-connected cells, the management unit having: a main equalizing circuit, which forms the primary of an electric transformer and has a constant alternating-current generator powered by the battery and which feeds alternating current of constant intensity through the main equalizing circuit; and, for each cell of the battery, a secondary equalizing circuit, which forms the secondary of the electric transformer, is connected parallel to the cell, has a one-way electronic device which imposes electric current flow to the cell in one direction only, and is connected to a drive device that can be activated to zero the voltage applied to the cell by the secondary equalizing circuit. |
| US08410753B2 |
Rechargeable hand-held device and charger therefor
A hand-held device has a rechargeable battery, with contacts connected to the battery, and a ferromagnetic body. A charger has contacts complementary to and engageable with the contacts of the device and a magnet capable of attracting the ferromagnetic body of the device and holding the device in a charging position with the contacts of the device engaging the contacts of the charger. |
| US08410742B2 |
Operating a synchronous motor having a permanent magnet rotor
A method of operating a synchronous motor having a stator that includes a set of electromagnets and a permanent magnet rotor. The synchronous motor is controlled by calculating in a flux controller a measure of a flux magnitude, which is the magnitude of the stator flux of the motor and by calculating in a load angle controller a measure of a load angle. Information about a desired motor torque or a reduced motor torque, which is smaller than the desired motor torque, is input to the load angle controller and the load angle controller calculates the measure of the load angle depending on the input motor torque. The measure of the flux magnitude is combined with the measure of the load angle to obtain commands for controlling electric currents of electromagnets of the stator, thereby directly controlling the stator flux. A flux limit value, which depends on a predetermined maximum value of the stator flux allowed for the motor which depends on a maximum value of an electric voltage, which is used to drive the currents through the stator electromagnets and which depends on the actual rotor speed, is repeatedly calculated. During acceleration of the rotor while the stator flux is smaller than the maximum flux allowed for the motor the measure of the flux magnitude is calculated depending on the output of a predetermined function. The output of the predetermined function depends on the desired motor torque and corresponds to the magnitude of the stator flux. |
| US08410736B2 |
Controllable rectification device and electric motor comprising the same
The present invention discloses a controllable rectification comprising an inverter (10), a control panel (20) and a drive panel (30). The inverter (10) may comprise three switch element groups connected in parallel. Each switch element group may comprise at least two switch elements connected in parallel. Each switch element may comprise an upper bridge-arm switch and a lower bridge-arm. The control panel (20) may generate a PWM waveform. The drive panel (30) may generate a drive voltage according to the PWM waveform to drive the upper bridge-arm switch and the lower bridge-arm switch of each switch element to conduct or break respectively, and to make the upper bridge-arms of the same switch element group to conduct or break simultaneously, and to make the lower bridge-arms of the same switch element group to conduct or break simultaneously. The present invention further discloses an electric motor comprising the same. |
| US08410732B2 |
Programmable robot and user interface
A programmable robot system includes a robot provided with a number of individual arm sections, where adjacent sections are interconnected by a joint. The system furthermore includes a controllable drive mechanism provided in at least some of the joints and a control system for controlling the drive. The robot system is furthermore provided with user a interface mechanism including a mechanism for programming the robot system, the user interface mechanism being either provided externally to the robot, as an integral part of the robot or as a combination hereof, and a storage mechanism co-operating with the user interface mechanism and the control system for storing information related to the movement and further operations of the robot and optionally for storing information relating to the surroundings. |
| US08410731B2 |
Actuator
Linear actuator (1) comprising an electric motor connected to a spindle via a transmission, on said spindle is mounted a spindle nut secured to an activation element (2), said activation element (2) being equipped with a front attachment (3). The actuator (1) is further furnished with a rear attachment (4), which is axially displaceable between defined stops. The rear attachment (4) activates a switch (7) in at least one of the displaceable positions of the rear attachment (4). |
| US08410727B2 |
LED lighting device and driving method for the same
It is provided an LED lighting device calibratable to 0 to 100% of wide range about a chromaticity and luminance of a illumination light by a simple configuration, and a driving method for the LED lighting device. The LED lighting device is provided with a first light-emitting unit and a second light-emitting unit differing a color temperature mutually, and a control circuit for executing a cyclic light/quench control of the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit, and for executing a light control of the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit by a PNM (Pulse Number Modulation) control in a fixed cycle so as to have a lighting period Ton for lighting/quenching the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit complementarily, and a quenching period Toff for quenching both the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit. |
| US08410726B2 |
Solid state lamp using modular light emitting elements
A solid state lamp, such as one that can replace an incandescent light bulb, has a base portion having an electrical connector for connection to a source of power, such as an Edison-type connector for connection to the mains voltage. An AC/DC converter in the base converts the mains voltage to a suitable light emitting diode (LED) drive voltage. A plurality of receptacles on the base connects to electrodes of plug-in modules. Each plug-in module supports a plurality of low power LEDs connected in series. The strings of LEDs on different modules are connected in parallel when connected to the receptacles. The modules and base are configured to allow a user to operate the lamp with different combinations of modules to generate a desired light output from the lamp. For example, the user can recreate the lumens equivalent of a 20 W, 40 W, or 60 W bulb by using one, two, or three modules. |
| US08410725B2 |
Lighting system for horticultural applications
Horticultural lighting system comprising a first string (22) of at least one light element (16, 40), a second string (24) of at least one light element (16, 40), both strings being electrically connected in parallel with each other, a power supply unit (12, 50, 60, 70) providing an AC current/voltage to the parallel circuit of the strings, and means for energizing (26, 42) the first string during a first half period of the AC voltage and the second string during a second half period of the AC voltage, so that each string radiates pulsed light, said first string and said second string being arranged such that different areas (32, 34) are irradiated. The lighting system is also to be used in an environment where living organisms are irradiated with light, or a greenhouse for exposing plants to pulsed light. A corresponding method is also claimed. |
| US08410723B2 |
Describing two LED colors as a single, lumped LED color
A light emitting diode (LED) lighting system for producing white light is disclosed. The system comprises sets of LEDs arranged to emit light with different wavelength ranges and associated with different sets of characteristics, and a driving circuit arranged to drive the LEDs. The driving circuit comprises an input for desired light intensity, color rendering index, and color temperature, an input for signals for LED temperature, a model for determining driving currents for said sets of LEDs from said parameters, signals, and characteristics for each of said sets of LEDs; and a current driver for the LEDs. At least one of the sets of LEDs comprises a first subset of LEDs with a first wavelength sub-range and a first set of characteristics, and a second subset of LEDs with a second wavelength sub-range and a second set of characteristics. A lumped wavelength range of the set of LEDs is a range of said first and second wavelength sub-ranges, and the set of characteristics of the set of LEDs is a function of said first and second sets of characteristics. A method for controlling the sets of LEDs is also disclosed. |
| US08410721B2 |
Electronic ballast and method for operating at least one discharge lamp
An electronic ballast for operating at least one discharge lamp may include an input for coupling to an input voltage; a load circuit with an output, the load circuit having a bridge circuit; an intermediate circuit capacitor that is coupled to the input of the load circuit; a transformer that is coupled between the input of the ballast and the capacitor, the transformer having a transformer switch; a control apparatus for driving the switch; and a monitoring apparatus for monitoring at least one value correlated with the input voltage, the control apparatus being designed to deactivate the driving of the switch upon detection of a deactivation criterion; and a voltage measuring apparatus for measuring the intermediate circuit voltage, the control apparatus being designed to reactivate the driving of the switch after a deactivation phase when the sum of input and intermediate circuit voltage has dropped below a prescribable threshold value. |
| US08410718B2 |
Dimmer conduction angle detection circuit and system incorporating the same
A dimmer conduction angle detection circuit, and systems and methods incorporating the same, is disclosed. The circuit receives a gate drive signal from a PFC circuit and provides a dimmer reference level signal representative of a dimmer circuit's dimmer setting in response. The circuit includes a comparator with first and second inputs that provides a pulse-width modulated output in response to comparing signals received at the inputs. The pulse-width modulated output has a pulse width representative of the dimmer circuit's dimmer setting. The circuit also includes an input network, coupled to the comparator, to receive the gate drive signal and to provide an output, in response, to the comparator's first input. The circuit also includes a threshold supply circuit to provide a threshold voltage to the comparator's second input, and a filter, coupled to the comparator, to convert the comparator's pulse-width modulated output to the dimmer reference level signal. |
| US08410717B2 |
Apparatus, method and system for providing AC line power to lighting devices
An apparatus, method, and system are disclosed for providing AC line power to lighting devices such as light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). A representative apparatus comprises: a plurality of LEDs coupled in series to form a first plurality of segments of LEDs; a plurality of switches coupled to the plurality of segments of LEDs to switch a selected segment into or out of a series LED current path in response to a control signal; a current sensor; and a controller which, in response to a first parameter and during a first part of an AC voltage interval, generates a first control signal to switch a corresponding segment of LEDs into the series LED current path; and during a second part of the AC voltage interval, generates a second control signal to switch the corresponding segment of LEDs out of the first series LED current path. |
| US08410716B2 |
Control of multi-string LED array
Apparatus, systems, and methods related to controlling multiple strings of light emitting diodes (LEDs) are disclosed. An apparatus may include internal current limiter circuits that are each coupled in series with an associated string of LEDs and are configured to at least partially regulate the current through the associated string of LEDs. The apparatus may also be configured to control external current limiter circuits that are each coupled in series with a corresponding internal current limiter circuit and the string of LEDs associated with the corresponding internal current limiter circuit. |
| US08410714B2 |
Illuminating device
An illuminating device comprising semiconductor light-emitting devices employing a semiconductor light-emitting element, wherein outputted light is stably combined, separation of light is inhibited, and color tone is variable. Control for operating the light-emitting devices is as simple as possible. It is an illuminating device comprising a light-emitting part comprising a plurality of kinds of semiconductor light-emitting devices which differ in emission color are integrated and arranged, the semiconductor light-emitting devices comprising a semiconductor light-emitting element and a phosphor, and wherein the semiconductor light-emitting devices emit light outward on the basis of an emission from the semiconductor light-emitting element and an emission from the phosphor which is excited by said emission from the semiconductor light-emitting element to fluoresce or on the basis of an emission from the phosphor which is excited by an emission from the semiconductor light-emitting element to fluoresce, wherein the semiconductor light-emitting devices each have an emission color, the deviation duv of which from a blackbody radiation locus being within a range of −0.02≦duv≦0.02, in the uv chromaticity diagram according to UCS (u,v) color system (CIE 1960), and outputted lights from the light-emitting part in which the plurality of kinds of the semiconductor light-emitting devices are integrated and arranged, are mixed together and emitted outward. |
| US08410713B2 |
Lamp end of life (EOL) detection circuit
A lamp driver circuit to selectively energize one or more lamps is provided. The inverter circuit has a transformer with primary and secondary windings to provide voltage to the lamps. A filter is connected to the primary winding to receive a primary winding signal representative of the voltage across the primary winding. The primary winding signal has a frequency spectrum and the filter detects a particular characteristic of the frequency spectrum that is indicative of an end of life (EOL) condition of the one or more lamps. A control circuit is connected to the inverter circuit and to the filter. The control circuit is configured to discontinue energizing of the one or more lamps by the inverter circuit when the particular characteristic of the frequency spectrum of the primary winding signal is detected by the filter. |
| US08410712B2 |
Method and apparatus for curing thin films on low-temperature substrates at high speeds
A curing apparatus for thermally processing thin films on low-temperature substrates at high speeds is disclosed. The curing apparatus includes a strobe head, a strobe control module and a conveyor control module. The strobe control module controls the power, duration and repetition rate of a set of pulses generated by a flash lamp on the strobe head. The conveyor control module along with the strobe control module provide real-time synchronization between the repetition rate of the set of pulses and the speed at which the substrate is being moved under the strobe head, according to the speed information. |
| US08410710B2 |
Light emitting device driving circuit
The invention provides a light emitting device driving circuit, comprising a rectification unit, a current limiting unit and a load. The load comprises a first light emitting device, a reverse voltage providing unit and a second light emitting device connected in serial. When the rectification unit rectifies an alternate current voltage to output a direct current voltage, and the current limiting unit limits the direct current in a predetermined value, the direct current is provided to the first light emitting device or the second light emitting device for operation. The reverse voltage providing unit provides a reverse voltage to reduce the total operating voltage of the light emitting devices in order to enhance the driving efficiency and the power factor. |
| US08410709B2 |
Parallel light-emitting circuit of parallel LED light-emitting device and circuit board thereof
A circuit board of a parallel light-emitting circuit of parallel LED light-emitting device has an electrical insulation board, two wire patterns and at least two power wires. The two wire patterns are oppositely formed on the electrical insulation board. Each wire pattern is connected to the corresponding power wire and has a matrix main loop having closed loops and a plurality of sub-wires formed inside the corresponding closed loop. A plurality of LEDs are respectively mounted on the corresponding closed loop and electrically connect with the two sub-wires of the two wire patterns. When a DC power supply is inputted to the power wires, a current of the DC power supply uniformly flows through the matrix main loop and the sub-wires, so that the LEDs electrically connected to the corresponding sub-wires receive approximately equal current to further emit light with uniform brightness. |
| US08410707B2 |
Duty cycle adjusting circuit of a lighting system and method thereof
The present disclosure relates to a duty cycle adjusting circuit of a lighting system and method thereof for sensing light of a first color and a second color emitted by a light emitting device of the first color and a light emitting device of the second color to generate corresponding intensity values. Then a first pulse width correcting value and a second pulse width correcting value can be calculated for adjusting a first duty cycle and a second duty cycle of a driving current to adjust the illuminating intensity of the light emitting devices of the first and the second colors. Through these adjusting steps, the light of the first and the second colors is within a predetermined range of color temperature. Therefore, light source for stable light in color temperature is provided. |
| US08410703B2 |
Control device for electricity supply to a headlamp
A process, system and procedure of controls of the supply of a vehicle headlamp suitable to supply lighting in high beam function and/or low beam function, comprising the following stages for at least one of the low beam function and high beam functions: determining at least one driving parameter pertinent to the lighting of the vehicle, defining several lighting modes characterized by the value of this at least one parameter, attributing a supply mode of the headlamp to each lighting mode, and storing in memory the supply mode associated with each of the lighting modes. |
| US08410701B2 |
Illumination apparatus having an adapter with a memory for storing driving pulse information
An illumination apparatus can include an adapter that converts alternating power into driving power, and controls one or more of the color, brightness, chroma, and blinking of a light emitting device; and a light emitting device illumination part detachably and electrically connected to the adapter, containing one or more light emitting devices configured to emit light in accordance with the driving power and control. |
| US08410695B1 |
Gas discharge device incorporating gas-filled plasma-shell and method of manufacturing thereof
A gas discharge device having one or more substrates and a multiplicity of gas discharge cells, each cell confined within a hollow plasma-shell filled with an ionizable gas. The device contains inorganic and/or organic luminescent materials that are excited by a gas discharge within each plasma-shell. The luminescent material is located on an exterior and/or interior surface of the plasma-shell and/or incorporated into the plasma-shell. Up-conversion and down-conversion materials may be used. |
| US08410688B2 |
Light-emitting element, light-emitting device, and electronic device
The light-emitting element includes: a light-emitting layer and a layer for controlling the movement of carriers between a first electrode and a second electrode. The layer for controlling the movement of carriers contains a first organic compound and a second organic compound, and is provided between the light-emitting layer and the second electrode. The first organic compound has an electron transporting property, and the second organic compound has an electron trapping property. The weight percent of the first organic compound is higher than that of the second organic compound. The light-emitting layer emits light when a voltage is applied such that the potential of the first electrode is higher than that of the second electrode. The first organic compound having the electron transporting property may be replaced with an organic compound having a hole transporting property, and the second organic compound having the electron trapping property may be replaced with an organic compound having a hole trapping property. |
| US08410683B2 |
Organic light emitting diode display and method for manufacturing the same
An organic light emitting device and a manufacturing method thereof is provided. The organic light emitting device includes a first pixel that displays a first color, a second pixel that displays a second color, and a third pixel that displays a third color. The first pixel, the second pixel and the third pixel together form one pixel. Each of the first pixel, second pixel, and third pixel includes a pixel electrode having a transflective electrode, an organic emission layer on the pixel electrode that displays the first color, a common electrode on the third color organic emission layer, and a transparent supplementary member between the pixel electrode and the common electrode. |
| US08410682B2 |
Organic light emitting display and method of fabricating the same
An organic light emitting display (OLED) and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The method includes forming the OLED having upper and lower substrates that emit different colors from each other, and coupling the upper and lower substrates together. |
| US08410674B2 |
Spark plug with a center electrode having a space-forming portion
A spark plug includes a tubular metallic shell; a tubular insulator in the tubular metallic shell located at a front end of the metallic shell and having an axial hole extending in the axial direction; and a center electrode inserted into the axial hole. The center electrode has a space-forming portion which forms, in cooperation with a wall surface of the axial hole, an annular space open frontward in the axial direction, and a main body portion extending rearward from the rear end of the space-forming portion. The thickness of the insulator is 0.6 mm or less as measured on a cross section and contains the front end of the metallic shell. The axial distance between the boundary portion and the front end of the metallic shell is 0.4 mm or greater, where the boundary portion is formed between the space-forming portion and the main body portion. |
| US08410673B2 |
Spark plug having a ground electrode of specific alloy composition to which a noble metal tip is joined
A spark plug having a center electrode and a ground electrode including a ground electrode main body part having an end thereof facing the center electrode and a noble metal tip joined to the ground electrode main body part at a position facing a leading end of the center electrode, a spark discharge gap being formed between the leading end of the center electrode and the noble metal tip, wherein at least a portion of the ground electrode main body part, to which the noble metal tip is joined, is made of an Ni alloy containing 12 to 45 mass % of Cr, 7 mass % or less of Fe, 0.5 to 5 mass % of Al, 0.3 to 5 mass % of Si and 50 mass % or more of the balance, and wherein the joined portion and the noble metal tip are joined by laser welding or electron beam welding. |
| US08410672B2 |
Thermally conductive mounting element for attachment of printed circuit board to heat sink
An arrangement for heat dissipation for a heat generating electrical component (10) comprising a heat generating electrical component (10) arranged on the printed circuit board (20), in thermal contact with a thermally conductive layer (23) of the PCB. A thermally conductive mounting element (40) is attached to the thermally conductive layer (23) by means of soldering, and has a connecting portion (43) adapted to engage with a recess (31) in the heat sink (30); thereby enabling attachment of the printed circuit board (20) to the heat sink (30); wherein a thermal path is provided, from the heat generating electrical component (10), via the thermally conductive layer (23) and the mounting element (40), to the heat sink (30). By utilizing a thermally conductive mounting element, heat dissipation can be achieved with a PCB provided with a single thermally conductive layer, rather than the multi layer PCB required in prior art arrangements. As no screws and/or adhesives are used to attached the PCB to the heat sink, the PCB may easily be removed, and the problem of bending caused by differences in coefficient of thermal expansion is overcome. |
| US08410670B2 |
Laminate and method of manufacturing the same
A laminate includes a ceramic substrate, a piezoelectric element, and an intermediate layer. The piezoelectric element includes a lower electrode. The intermediate layer is formed between the substrate and the lower electrode of the piezoelectric element. The intermediate layer contains a metal or an oxide thereof as a main component. The metal is different from a metal contained in the lower electrode. The intermediate layer further contains holes. |
| US08410669B2 |
Piezoceramic transducer and method for manufacturing the same
A piezoceramic transducer (PZT transducer) and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The PZT transducer includes a piezoceramic substrate and an electrode unit. The piezoceramic substrate has a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and has a mechanical quality factor (Qm) greater than 1400. The electrode unit has a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode is disposed on the first surface and has a first diameter. The second electrode covers the second surface and extends to cover a part of the surface at a periphery of the first surface, and the part of the second electrode covering the second surface has a second diameter. The ratio of the first diameter to the second diameter is 0.498 to 0.502. The PZT transducer has a large mist amount and a long service life. |
| US08410664B2 |
Method for changing ultrasound wave frequency by using the acoustic matching layer
The method of changing ultrasound wave frequency by using the acoustic matching layer presents a replaceable acoustic matching layer to offer an effective means of filtering the original broadband frequency of an ultrasonic transducer into certain composite discontinuous frequencies. The filtering effect could be improved by connecting the electrodes of the acoustic matching layer when it is made of a poled piezoelectric material. This method may provide novel applications for commercial ultrasonic transducers. |
| US08410656B2 |
Segmented stator assembly
An electric machine and stator assembly are provided that include a continuous stator portion having stator teeth, and a tooth tip portion including tooth tips corresponding to the stator teeth of the continuous stator portion, respectively. The tooth tip portion is mounted onto the continuous stator portion. |
| US08410655B2 |
Stator, motor, and compressor
A stator includes a stator core, which has a plurality of stacked electromagnetic steel sheets, caulking portions configured to fix the plurality of electromagnetic steel sheets to each other, and a plurality of slot portions open toward an inner circumference side and arrayed along a circumferential direction. A number Q (an integer of 1 or greater) of the caulking portions, a number S of the slot portions and a number P of the poles satisfy Q≦S and Q=P×n/2 (where n is an integer of 1 or greater). The stator is preferably part of a motor for a compressor. |
| US08410653B1 |
Magnetic lighting circuit and mounting system
A system for mounting an electrical element and supplying it with a source of electrical power comprises a magnetic circuit base having first and second spaced magnetic elements having an electrical insulator there between. Each of said magnetic elements is electrically connected to a lead of said power source and an element mount comprising first and second electrically conductive mounting portions having an electrical insulator there between. Each of said mounting portions have an electrical lead secured thereto for supplying power to the electrical element, wherein a first mounting portion is electrically connected to the first magnetic element and a second mounting portion is electrically connected to a second magnetic element. |
| US08410651B2 |
Driving device for vehicle units
Disclosed is a driving device for a vehicle unit. Said driving device (10) comprises a pole housing (12) in which at least a portion of the driving motor (14) is arranged as well as a transmission housing (16) in which a transmission device (18) is arranged that can be driven by the driving motor (14). Said driving device (10) is characterized in that at least a portion of or essentially the entire pole housing (12) and/or transmission housing (16) has/have a metal shield. |
| US08410650B2 |
Hydrodynamic bearing assembly and motor including the same
A hydrodynamic bearing assembly includes a sleeve rotatably supporting a shaft, a thrust plate housing portion extending to an upper side of the sleeve in an axial direction so as to house a thrust plate, and a stopper ring housing portion stepped in an upper side of the thrust plate housing portion in the axial direction and housing a stopper ring for fixing the thrust plate. The stopper ring protrudes from the stopper ring housing portion such that an outer circumferential surface of the stopper ring has a larger height than an inner circumferential surface of the stopper ring housing portion. |
| US08410647B2 |
Systems and methods for fluid distribution for cooling and lubrication of electric machines
The invention provides systems and methods for cooling and lubrication of high power density electric machines with an enhanced fluid injection system. A plurality of fluid flow passages may be provided within the electric machine. A method for fluid distribution for cooling and lubrication of the electric machine may comprise providing a fluid distribution manifold with at least one inlet and a plurality of distribution openings leading to a plurality of fluid flow passages within the machine. The fluid within the electric machine may be used to cool and/or lubricate internal components of the electric machine. |
| US08410646B2 |
Motor damping structure for actuator device
A motor damping structure for an actuator device includes a motor housing and a casing. The motor housing includes a drive motor therein. The casing includes an upper actuator case and a lower actuator case to accommodate the motor housing therebetween, the casing including a motor support section formed integrally in at least one of the upper actuator case and the lower actuator case to support the drive motor by contacting an outside surface of the motor housing. The motor support section has an elastic contacting member protruding from the at least one of the upper actuator case and the lower actuator case to contact one of an upper slanted surface and a lower slanted surface of the motor housing. |
| US08410643B2 |
Frameless electric motor assembly
An electric motor assembly including a stator assembly and a rotor assembly extending through the stator assembly. A first end cap is located adjacent to a first end of the stator assembly and includes a bearing insert supporting a first end bearing for receiving an end of a rotor shaft. A second end cap is located adjacent to a second end of the stator assembly. An endbell is formed separately from the second end cap and is positioned within the second end cap. The endbell supports a bearing for a second end of the rotor shaft. An overmold material extends through the stator assembly. The overmold material may form the first end cap, supporting the bearing insert therein, and extends within and substantially fills an annular space within the second end cap. |
| US08410642B2 |
Flat linear vibrator
A linear vibrator is disclosed. The linear vibrator includes a housing having a base and a cover, a number of elastic members connected to the housing, a vibrating unit suspended in the housing by the elastic members, and a coil positioned in the housing. The base has a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls extending vertically from the bottom wall. The vibrating unit has a magnet assembly and vibrates along a direction parallel to the bottom wall. The base further has a block located on the bottom wall. The block is located on a vibration path of the weight contacting the weight during vibration. An effective elastic displacement of the elastic member is not smaller than a distance between the block and a part contacting the block of the weight. |
| US08410641B2 |
Power injector detection
In one embodiment, a signal detector is coupled to an external power source. The signal detector is configured to ascertain whether a predetermined signal was received from the external power source. Control logic is coupled to the signal detector and to the external power source. The control logic is responsive to the signal detector to determine a characteristic of the external power source based on whether the signal detector detected the predetermined signal. The characteristics of the external power supply can be determined based on the frequency, amplitude and duration of a signal received from the power injector. This enables the control logic to determine the power available from an unknown power supply and to configure a device to operate accordingly. |
| US08410640B2 |
Electric power converter
An electric power converter has a semiconductor module and a capacitor. The positive side semiconductor module has a positive terminal and the 1st intermediate terminal while the negative side semiconductor module has a negative terminal and the 2nd intermediate terminal. These terminals are formed in projected forms. The positive terminal and the negative terminal are connected to the capacitor by a positive bus bar and a negative bus bar, respectively. The 1st intermediate terminal and the 2nd intermediate terminal are connected each other by an intermediate bus bar. The positive and the negative side semiconductor modules, the capacitor, the positive, the negative and the intermediate bus bars constitute one closed circuit. The direction of the each current that flows to each of the main part portion, the positive, the negative and the intermediate bus bars opposes the neighboring current when a closed current flows in the closed circuit. |
| US08410639B2 |
Electronic leakage reduction techniques
Electronic leakage reduction techniques are provided, whereby a device is configured to detect characteristics of an appliance and its power supply when the appliance is off or otherwise placed in a mode for reduced power use by said appliance, and whereby voltage and power provided to the appliance are then substantially reduced. In other aspects of the invention, user behavior may also manually control power delivered to the appliance, for example, with a switch. In still other aspects of the invention, a device is configured to detect characteristics of an appliance and its power supply when the appliance is on or otherwise placed in a mode for higher power use by said appliance, and increases power to the appliance. |
| US08410638B2 |
Uninterruptible power supply systems and methods supporting load balancing
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system that includes a multiphase AC output configured to be coupled to a load, an inverter having an output coupled to the AC output and a control circuit operatively associated with the inverter and configured to cause the inverter to compensate for a phase imbalance of a load coupled to the AC output while power is being delivered to the load from an AC power source independently of the inverter. |
| US08410632B2 |
Power adapter having multi-DC power connectors
The present invention discloses a power adapter has a power converter, a power output cable, a first DC power connector and multiple second DC power connectors. The power converter has a casing, a power converting circuit mounted in the casing, and an AC power inlet and DC power outlet electronically connected to the power converting circuit. The power output cable has a DC output and selective connector having two DC power pinholes and multiple selective pinholes surrounding the two DC power pinholes. The first DC power connector has two DC voltage pins and is selectively connected to the DC output and selective connector. Each of the second DC power connectors has a body, a DC plug formed on the body, two DC voltage pins formed on the body and one jumper pin formed on the body and corresponding to the selective pinholes of the power output cable to change voltage of the DC power output from the power converting circuit. |
| US08410630B2 |
Powerline communication control of light emitting diode (LED) lighting fixtures
A powerline communication control system for controlling a lighting unit, such as an LED lighting unit, including a master controller for receiving lighting unit control inputs from a lighting controller and generating corresponding lighting unit command outputs in a lighting system command format and transmission mode and superimposing the lighting unit command outputs onto the power distribution system and at least one lighting slave unit for receiving the lighting command signal, separating the lighting command signal from the power signal and for providing lighting unit control commands to the at least one lighting unit to control illumination thereof. |
| US08410625B2 |
Method for wind turbine yaw control
A method for yaw control for a wind turbine comprising a rotor with a rotor blade, the rotor defining a rotor axis and a rotor plane to which the rotor axis is perpendicular, in which the rotor axis is turned to minimize the yaw angle between the ambient wind direction and the rotor axis is provided, wherein the turning of the rotor axis is performed based on the measurement of a wind speed in the rotor plane at the rotor blade. Furthermore, a wind turbine which comprises a rotor which includes a rotor axis and a rotor plane perpendicular to the rotor axis and an anemometer for measuring the ambient wind speed is provided. The wind turbine further comprises an anemometer which is located such at a rotor blade at a particular distance from the rotor axis as to allow for measuring a wind speed in the rotor plane. |
| US08410623B2 |
Wind power electricity generating system and relative control method
A wind power electricity generating system having a nacelle; a rotary assembly rotating about an axis with respect to the nacelle; and an angular speed detection device having at least one image sensor facing a surface of the rotary assembly. |
| US08410622B1 |
Vertical axis wind turbine with computer controlled wings
An apparatus and method for extracting power from a moving fluid, such as the wind. In an illustrative embodiment, the invention is a vertical axis wind turbine with variable-pitch wings, each turned directly by a servomotor under the control of an on-board computer. The computer is continuously updated from onboard transducers which measure wind direction, wind speed, rotor assembly position and rotor assembly speed and calculates each wing's optimum angle of attack at all times and under all conditions. This angle is then sent as a command to each wing's servomotor and the computer executes the control loop again. |
| US08410620B2 |
Primer resin for semiconductor device and semiconductor device
The present invention relates to a primer resin for semiconductor devices which comprises a polyamide resin represented by the following formula (1): (wherein, R1 represents a tetravalent aromatic tetracarboxylic acid residue selected from the group consisting of pyromellitic acid, 3,4,3′,4′-diphenyl ether tetracarboxylic acid, 2,3,6,7-naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid and 3,4,3′,4′-benzophenone tetracarboxylic acid, R2 represents at least one kind of divalent diamine residue selected from the group consisting of diamino-4,4′-hydroxydiphenylsulfone, 4,4′-diamino-3,3′5,5′-tetraethyldiphenylmethane and 1,3-bis-(aminophenoxy)benzene, and n is a repeating number and represents a positive number of 10 to 1000) and has a lead frame comprising copper or 42 alloy, a semiconductor device having said primer resin layer between a lead frame comprising copper or 42 alloy and a cured product of a sealing resin, and a semiconductor sealing epoxy resin composition containing said primer resin; and said semiconductor device has an extremely improved adhesiveness between said lead frame and a cured product of a sealing resin composition and also is excellent in heat resistance and low moisture absorption. |
| US08410618B2 |
Microelectronic assembly with joined bond elements having lowered inductance
A microelectronic assembly includes a semiconductor chip having chip contacts exposed at a first face and a substrate juxtaposed with a face of the chip. A conductive bond element can electrically connect a first chip contact with a first substrate contact of the substrate, and a second conductive bond element can electrically connect the first chip contact with a second substrate contact. The first bond element can have a first end metallurgically joined to the first chip contact and a second end metallurgically joined to the first substrate contact. A first end of the second bond element can be metallurgically joined to the first bond element. The second bond element may or may not touch the first chip contact or the substrate contact. A third bond element can be joined to ends of first and second bond elements which are joined to substrate contacts or to chip contacts. In one embodiment, a bond element can have a looped connection, having first and second ends joined at a first contact and a middle portion joined to a second contact. |
| US08410617B2 |
Three dimensional structure memory
A Three-Dimensional Structure (3DS) Memory allows for physical separation of the memory circuits and the control logic circuit onto different layers such that each layer may be separately optimized. One control logic circuit suffices for several memory circuits, reducing cost. Fabrication of 3DS memory involves thinning of the memory circuit to less than 50 μm in thickness and bonding the circuit to a circuit stack while still in wafer substrate form. Fine-grain high density inter-layer vertical bus connections are used. The 3DS memory manufacturing method enables several performance and physical size efficiencies, and is implemented with established semiconductor processing techniques. |
| US08410611B2 |
Semiconductor chips having redistributed power/ground lines directly connected to power/ground lines of internal circuits and methods of fabricating the same
Provided are embodiments of semiconductor chips having a redistributed metal interconnection directly connected to power/ground lines of an internal circuit are provided. Embodiments of the semiconductor chips include an internal circuit formed on a semiconductor substrate. A chip pad is disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The chip pad is electrically connected to the internal circuit through an internal interconnection. A passivation layer is provided over the chip pad. A redistributed metal interconnection is provided on the passivation layer. The redistributed metal interconnection directly connects the internal interconnection to the chip pad through a via-hole and a chip pad opening, which penetrate at least the passivation layer. Methods of fabricating the semiconductor chip are also provided. |
| US08410609B2 |
Semiconductor device having carbon nanotube interconnects contact deposited with different orientation and method for manufacturing the same
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device structure and a method for manufacturing the same; the structure comprises: a semiconductor substrate on which a device structure is formed thereon; an interlayer dielectric layer formed on the device structure, wherein a trench is formed in the interlayer dielectric layer, the trench comprises an incorporated via trench and a conductive wiring trench, and the conductive wiring trench is positioned on the via trench; and a conductive layer filled in the trench, wherein the conductive layer is electrically connected with the device structure; wherein the conductive layer comprises a conductive material and a nanotube/wire layer surrounded by the conductive material. Wherein, the conductive layer comprises a conductive material and a nanotube/wire layer surrounded by the conductive material. The conductive layer of the structure has better thermal conductivity, conductivity and high anti-electromigration capability, thus is able to effectively prevent metal ions from diffusing outwards. |
| US08410608B2 |
Interconnect structure device
According to one embodiment, a device includes an insulating layer with a first trench, a first interconnect layer in the first trench, the first interconnect layer including copper and includes a concave portion, and a first graphene sheet on an inner surface of the concave portion. |
| US08410605B2 |
Extended under-bump metal layer for blocking alpha particles in a semiconductor device
An integrated circuit (IC) has an under-bump metal (UBM) pad disposed between a solder bump and a semiconductor portion of the IC. A UBM layer is disposed between the solder bump and the semiconductor portion and includes the UBM pad and a UBM field. The UBM pad has a contact perimeter formed with the solder bump. The UBM pad extends beyond the contact perimeter a sufficient distance to block alpha particles emitted from the surface of the solder bump from causing an upset event in the semiconductor portion. The UBM field is separated from each UBM pad by a gap extending from the UBM pad to the UBM field so as to electrically isolate the UBM field from the UBM pad. |
| US08410603B2 |
Semiconductor device and package
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having an upper surface, a lower surface, a first side and a second side, wherein the lower surface has a slope so that the first side is thicker than the second side, and a circuit pattern including a bonding pad on the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. |
| US08410601B2 |
RF package
An RF package includes a substrate mountable on a base plate, a non-conductive cover overlying the substrate, and quasi-serpentine stepped source leads attached to an upper surface of the substrate and extending from at least one of a pair of opposite sides of the upper surface of the substrate to tapered lower surfaces of the cover. The cover includes a recess to receive the substrate. The recess includes stress distribution surface areas to engage and press outer edge portions of opposite sides of the substrate against a base plate or heat sink. The tapered lower surfaces of the cover engage with and press against the stepped source leads when securing the RF package to the base plate or heat sink using one or more fasteners or bolts. The cover includes structural features to improve preferential deformation when a mounting force is applied. |
| US08410599B2 |
Power MOSFET package
A power MOSFET package includes a semiconductor substrate having opposite first and second surfaces, having a first conductivity type, and forming a drain region, a doped region extending downward from the first surface and having a second conductivity type, a source region in the doped region and having the first conductivity type, a gate overlying or buried under the first surface, wherein a gate dielectric layer is between the gate and the semiconductor substrate, a first conducting structure overlying the semiconductor substrate, having a first terminal, and electrically connecting the drain region, a second conducting structure overlying the semiconductor substrate, having a second terminal, and electrically connecting the source region, a third conducting structure overlying the semiconductor substrate, having a third terminal, and electrically connecting the gate, wherein the first, the second, and the third terminals are substantially coplanar, and a protection layer between the semiconductor substrate and the terminals. |
| US08410595B2 |
Semiconductor device with chip mounted on a substrate
A semiconductor device is disclosed. At least one semiconductor chip is mounted on a substrate and is contacted to contact elements of the substrate. The encapsulation of the semiconductor chip includes the substrate, a cover and a pocket within the connected substrate and cover. The pocket is able to fix the chip in its position, and the cover is composed of the same material as the substrate. |
| US08410594B2 |
Inter-stacking module system
An inter-stacking module system is provided by mounting an integrated circuit on a first substrate, the first substrate having a first bond pad, mounting an inter-stacking module substrate over the integrated circuit, forming an inter-stacking module bonding pad on the inter-stacking module substrate, and connecting bond wires between the inter-stacking module bonding pad and the first bond pad. |
| US08410593B2 |
Process and system for manufacturing an encapsulated semiconductor device
A process for manufacturing a semiconductor device envisages the steps of: positioning a frame structure, provided with a supporting plate carrying a die of semiconductor material, within a molding cavity of a mold; and introducing encapsulating material within the molding cavity for the formation of a package, designed to encapsulate the die. The frame structure is further provided with a prolongation element mechanically coupled to the supporting plate inside the molding cavity and coming out of the molding cavity, and the process further envisages the steps of: controlling positioning of the supporting plate within the molding cavity with the aid of the prolongation element; and, during the step of introducing encapsulating material, separating and moving the prolongation element away from the supporting plate. |
| US08410591B2 |
Semiconductor module with multiple semiconductor chips
A semiconductor module (1) which has semiconductor chips (2) each with one power supply electrode (6, 7) on its back, respectively for applying a supply potential (4, 5) and each with a power output electrode (8, 9) on its top side, respectively for transferring an output current to power outputs (10, 11, 12) of the semiconductor module (1). Furthermore, the semiconductor chips (2) have control electrodes (14, 15) for switching the semiconductor component. The semiconductor module has on its underside leads with supply leads on which the semiconductor chips (2, 3) are arranged with their power supply electrodes (6, 7). In addition, output leads (22, 23, 24) are effectively connected to the power output electrodes (8, 9). Finally, signal leads (25, 26, 27), which are effectively connected to the control electrodes (14, 15) or the power output electrodes (8, 9) are arranged on the underside of the semiconductor modules. |
| US08410590B2 |
Device including a power semiconductor chip electrically coupled to a leadframe via a metallic layer
A device including a power semiconductor chip. One embodiment provides a power semiconductor chip having a first electrode on a first surface and a second and a third electrode on a second surface opposite to the first surface. A leadframe includes a carrier and a first lead, the power semiconductor chip placed over the carrier with the first surface of the power semiconductor chip facing the carrier. A metallic layer includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The metallic layer is placed over the second surface of the power semiconductor chip with the first surface of the metallic layer facing the power semiconductor chip. The second surface of the metallic layer and a surface of the first lead lie within a common mounting plane. |
| US08410587B2 |
Integrated circuit package system
An integrated circuit package system includes a leadframe with leads configured to provide electrical contact between an integrated circuit chip and an external electrical source. Configuring the leads to include outer leads, down set transitional leads, and down set inner leads. Connecting the integrated circuit chip electrically to the down set inner leads. Depositing an encapsulating material to prevent exposure of the down set inner leads. |
| US08410581B2 |
Silicon device structure, and sputtering target used for forming the same
There is provided a silicon device structure, comprising: a P-doped n+ type amorphous silicon film formed on a silicon semiconductor, and a wiring formed on the P doped n+ type amorphous silicon film, wherein the wiring is formed of a silicon oxide film which is formed on a surface of the P doped n+ type amorphous silicon film and is also formed of a copper alloy film, and the copper alloy film is a film obtained by forming a copper alloy containing Mn of 1 atom % or more and 5 atom % or less and P of 0.05 atom % or more and 1.0 atom % or less by sputtering. |
| US08410580B2 |
Device having conductive substrate via with catch-pad etch-stop
An electronic device (50) having a conductive substrate via (70) extending between a conductor (39) on a rear face (22) and a conductor (58) over the front surface (23) of the substrate (21) includes a multi-layered etch-stop (56, 56-2) beneath the front surface conductor (58). The etch-stop (56, 56-2) permits use of a single etchant to penetrate both the substrate (21) and any overlying semiconductor (44) and/or dielectric (34) without attacking the overlying front surface conductor (58). This is especially important when the semiconductor (44) and dielectric (34) are so thin as to preclude changing etchants when these regions are reached during etching. The etch-stop (56) is preferably a stack (63, 73) of N≧2 pairs (62-i) of sub-layers (62-i1, 62-i2) in either order, where a first sub-layer (62-i1) comprises stress relieving and/or adhesion promoting material (e.g., Ti), and the second sub-layer (62-i2) comprises etch resistant material (e.g., Ni). In a further embodiment, where the device (50) includes field effect transistors (52) having feedback sensitive control gates (30), the etch-stop material (56) is advantageously used to form gate shields (76). |
| US08410579B2 |
Power distribution network
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit (IC) is presented. The IC includes first and second sets of power distribution lines formed in the IC. The IC includes first and second capacitors formed in one or more layers of the IC. A first plurality of vias couple a first input of the first and second capacitors to the first set of power distribution lines, and a second plurality of vias couple a second input of the first and second capacitors to the second set of power distribution lines. The first capacitor and the first plurality of vias and the second plurality of vias coupled thereto having an equivalent series resistance greater than an equivalent series resistance of the second capacitor and the first plurality of vias and the second plurality of vias coupled thereto. |
| US08410578B2 |
Method of manufacturing a semiconductor component and structure
A semiconductor component and methods for manufacturing the semiconductor component that includes a monolithically integrated passive device. In accordance with embodiments, the monolithically integrated passive device includes an inductor formed from damascene structures. |
| US08410572B2 |
Bipolar transistor with emitter and/or collector contact structure forming a Schottky contact and method of production
A base contact connection, an emitter structure and a collector structure are arranged on an n-layer, which can be provided for additional npn transistors. The collector structure is arranged laterally to the emitter structure and at least one of the emitter and collector comprises a Schottky contact on a surface area of the n-layer. |
| US08410570B2 |
Photodiode with interfacial charge control and associated process
A photodiode includes a first doped layer and a second doped layer that share a common face. A deep isolation trench has a face contiguous with the first and second doped layers. A conducting layer is in contact with a free face of the second doped layer. A protective layer is provided at an interface with the first doped layer and second doped layer. This protective layer is capable of generating a layer of negative charge at the interface. The protective layer may further be positioned within the second doped layer to form an intermediate protective structure. |