最新美国发明专利
Document Document Title
US08494305B2 Image filtering by sparse reconstruction on affinity net
A method reduces multiplicative and additive noise in image pixels by clustering similar patches of the pixels into clusters. The clusters form nodes in an affinity net of nodes and vertices. From each cluster, a dictionary is learned by a sparse combination of corresponding atoms in the dictionaries. The patches are aggregated collaboratively using the dictionaries to construct a denoised image.
US08494304B2 Punched hole detection and removal
A method for removal of punched hole artifacts in digital images includes, for a scanned document page, deriving an original digital image that defines the page in terms of a plurality of input pixels. A reduced resolution bitonal image is generated from the original image. The method further includes providing for identifying of candidate punched hole artifacts in the reduced resolution bitonal image and providing for testing the candidate punched hole artifacts for at least one of shape, size, and location. Where a candidate punched hole artifact meets the at least one test, the method includes generating a modified image. This includes erasing the candidate punched hole artifact from the original digital image.
US08494299B2 Method of determining PSF using multiple instances of a nominally similar scene
A digital image acquisition system includes a portable apparatus for capturing digital images and a digital processing component for detecting, analyzing and informing the photographer regarding motion blur, and for reducing camera motion blur in an image captured by the apparatus. The digital processing component operates by comparing the image with at least one other image, for example a preview image, of nominally the same scene taken outside the exposure period of the main image. In one embodiment the digital processing component identifies at least one feature in a single preview image which is relatively less blurred than the corresponding feature in the main image, calculates a point spread function (PSF) in respect of such feature, and de-convolves the main image using the PSF. In another embodiment, the digital processing component calculates a trajectory of at least one feature in a plurality of preview images, extrapolates such feature on to the main image, calculates a PSF in respect of the feature, and de-convolves the main image using the PSF. In another embodiment the digital processing unit after determining the degree of blur notifies the photographer of the existing blur or automatically invokes consecutive captures.
US08494298B2 Apparatus and method for augmenting sight
A method of augmenting sight in an individual. The method comprises obtaining an image of a scene using a camera carried by the individual; transmitting the obtained image to a processor carried by the individual; selecting an image modification to be applied to the image by the processor; operating upon the image to create a modified image using either analog or digital imaging techniques, and displaying the modified image on a display device worn by the individual. The invention also relates to an apparatus augmenting sight in an individual. The apparatus comprises a camera, carried by the individual, for obtaining an image of a scene viewed by the individual; a display carried by the individual; an image modification input device carried by the individual; and a processor, carried by the individual. The processor modifies the image and displays the modified image on the display carried by the individual.
US08494297B2 Automatic detection and mapping of symmetries in an image
A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for determining one or more symmetries in an image comprising a plurality of pixels. A symmetry value may be automatically determined for each of the plurality of pixels. The symmetry value may indicate the strength of one or more symmetries in the image for the respective pixel. The symmetry value may be stored for each of the pixels.
US08494294B2 Apparatus and method for multilayer picture encoding/decoding
Provided is a multilayer picture encoding/decoding apparatus and method for reducing a dynamic range of residual pictures occurring in enhancement layers. The multilayer picture encoding method includes performing format down-conversion on an input picture, and generating a lower layer bitstream by encoding the format down-converted input picture; performing format up-conversion by adaptively or selectively applying a 1-dimensional (1-D) prediction filter to a picture of the lower layer depending on whether a lower layer prediction flag is set or not; and calculating a residual picture between the input picture and the format up-converted picture, and generating an enhancement bitstream by encoding the calculated residual picture.
US08494288B2 Methods for digital image compression
Methods, systems, and compositions of matter are disclosed herein for the compression of digital image(s) and for the expansion of digital images so compressed. In various aspects, the digital images may be compressed and the compressed images expanded substantially without loss of information.
US08494286B2 Face detection in mid-shot digital images
A method for detecting a face in a mid-shot digital image of a person comprises capturing first and second mid-shot digital images of nominally the same scene using different capture settings such that the foreground is differently differentiated from the background in each image, and comparing the first and second images to determine the foreground region of the images. A portion of the foreground region likely to correspond to a face is estimated based upon the geometry of the foreground region.
US08494285B2 Joint semantic segmentation of images and scan data
Systems, methods, and apparatus are described that that increase computer vision analysis in the field of semantic segmentation. With images accompanied by scan data, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional image information is employed for joint segmentation. Through the established correspondence between image data and scan data, two-dimensional and three-dimensional information respectively associated therewith is integrated. Using trained random forest classifiers, the probability of each pixel in images belonging to different object classes is predicted. With the predicted probability, optimization of the labeling of images and scan data is performed by integrating multiples cues in the markov random field.
US08494284B2 Methods and apparatuses for facilitating detection of text within an image
Methods and apparatuses are provided for facilitating detection of text within an image. A method may include calculating an alpha value associated with an image region containing a hypothesized text fragment. The alpha value may be defined as a function of a curved character length distribution, a character width distribution, and an inter-character spacing distribution for the hypothesized text fragment. The method may additionally include calculating a gamma value based at least in part on an interval length distribution determined for the hypothesized text fragment. The method may also include classifying whether the image region is a text-containing region based at least in part on the calculated alpha and gamma values. Corresponding apparatuses are also provided.
US08494283B2 Image quality assessment
Methods and systems for image quality assessment are disclosed. A method includes accessing an image, identifying features of the image, assessing the features and generating subjective scores for the features based upon a mapping of the features to the subjective scores and based on the subjective scores, generating an image quality score. Access is provided to the image quality score.
US08494281B2 Automated method and system for retrieving documents based on highlighted text from a scanned source
An automated method and system for retrieving documents based on highlighted text from a scanned source. Documents that are stored within a multifunction device can be searched and retrieved using highlighted text as keyword. The search of such documents can further be extended towards other networked multifunction devices and also to retrieve information available on the Internet using highlighted text as a uniform resource locator pointer. The matched documents and their respective details are then displayed on a graphical user interface which provides the user with multiple actions to be taken with respect to the documents.
US08494279B2 Method and system for information processing and a handwriting input terminal
The present invention relates to a method for processing information, an information processing system, and a handwriting input terminal. Said information processing system can operate in a handwriting input mode or a click input mode. Such system comprises a plurality of handwriting input terminals, and a data processing center communicatively connected with handwriting input terminals via a transceiver. Said method comprises following steps: S1: configuring a handwriting recognition module and a click position coordinate-key mapping module for the information processing system; S2: receiving information about working mode selection of the information processing system; S3: the handwriting input terminal receives and processes handwriting input signals to obtain coordinate information; S4: selecting the handwriting recognition module or click position coordinate-key mapping module to transform the coordinate information into corresponding character or key information based on the selected working mode. The implementation of the present invention combines the functions of handwriting panel and voting machine (or answering machine), thus achieving either handwriting function or answering function of conveniently sending numbers, letters and symbols of voting machine.
US08494275B2 Information recognition system and method for controlling the same
An information recognition system includes: a display section displaying an image on a display surface at a predetermined display resolution; an image combining section combining a character entry guide with the image, the character entry guide assisting handwritten input to the display surface; an information detecting section detecting handwritten input information at a detection resolution which is higher than the display resolution, the handwritten input information input to the display surface according to the character entry guide; and a character recognizing section performing character recognition based on the information detected at the detection resolution.
US08494270B2 Distributed document processing
A system for document processing including decomposing an image of a document into at least one data entry region sub-image, providing the data entry region sub-image to a data entry clerk available for processing the data entry region sub-image, receiving from the data entry clerk a data entry value associated with the data entry region sub-image, and validating the data entry value.
US08494269B2 Method and system for screening of a to-be-analyzed candidate as a skin-whitening agent
A method for screening of a to-be-analyzed candidate as a skin-whitening agent, includes the steps of: (a) setting a first feature parameter corresponding to a first group of zebrafish that are bred under a predetermined set of breeding conditions; (b) administering the to-be-analyzed candidate to a second group of zebrafish that are bred under the predetermined set of breeding conditions; (c) capturing images of the zebrafish in the second group; (d) determining, from the images captured in step (c), a second feature parameter corresponding to the second group of zebrafish; and (e) concluding that the to-be-analyzed candidate is suitable as a skin-whitening agent if a difference between the first and second feature parameters has statistical significance. A system for implementing the method is also disclosed.
US08494266B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer-readable recording medium
An image processing apparatus includes a separating unit, a setting unit, and a determining unit. The separating unit separates an image into types of partial images other than a specific type, which is likely to be erroneously separated. The setting unit makes setting designating whether or not predetermined two types of partial images of the separated partial images are to be easily determined to be partial images of the specific type. The determining unit determines whether or not at least one of the predetermined two types of the partial images is the partial image of the specific type or not based upon the setting.
US08494260B2 Image processing device, image processing method, program, and imaging device
An image processing device includes: a coordinate conversion unit (142) which calculates a corresponding sampling coordinate on a color mosaic image corresponding to a pixel position of a color image when a deformation process is performed, according to the pixel position of the color image; a sampling unit (143); a sampling unit (143) which interpolates-generates a pixel value in a sampling coordinate for each of color planes obtained by decomposing the color mosaic image; and a color generation unit (144) which generates a color image by synthesizing interpolation values of the respective color planes. Each pixel value of a color image subjected to a deformation process is obtained as a pixel value of the sampling coordinate from the color mosaic image by interpolation calculation, thereby realizing the color interpolation process for generating a color image from the color mosaic image and a deformation process of the color image by one interpolation calculation.
US08494249B2 Paper sheet recognition apparatus and paper sheet recognition method
A paper sheet recognition apparatus recognizes a type of a paper sheet in an input image by matching the input image of the paper sheet with reference images of a plurality of paper sheets. The apparatus includes a candidate selecting unit that selects a predetermined number of candidate types of the paper sheet based on a density feature and direction features of each block acquired by uniformly dividing the input image and the reference images; and a detailed judgment unit that adaptively divides the input image into blocks according to features of a reference image corresponding to each type of paper sheets selected by the candidate selecting unit, and performs a detailed judgment based on matching values between corresponding blocks of the divided input image and each of the reference images.
US08494247B2 Radiographic imaging apparatus and processing method therefor
A radiographic imaging apparatus performs imaging based on an examination order including a plurality of imaging protocols, executes image processing for the captured image based on the imaging protocol used at the time of the imaging, designates a change source imaging protocol and a change destination imaging protocol from the examination order based on an instruction of an operator, and changes the imaging protocol corresponding to the image captured based on the change source imaging protocol from the change source imaging protocol to the change destination imaging protocol. When the change of protocol is made, the apparatus executes image processing based on the change destination imaging protocol for the image before the image processing which is captured based on the change source imaging protocol.
US08494244B2 System and method for blood vessel stenosis visualization and quantification using spectral CT analysis
A system and method for dual energy CT spectral imaging that provides for accurate blood vessel stenosis visualization and quantification is disclosed. The CT system includes an x-ray source configured to project x-rays toward a region-of-interest of a patient that includes a blood vessel in a stenosed condition and having a plaque material therein. The CT system also includes an x-ray detector to receive x-rays emitted by the x-ray source and attenuated by the region-of-interest, a data acquisition system (DAS) operably connected to the x-ray detector, and a computer programmed to obtain a first set of CT image data for the region-of-interest at a first chromatic energy level, obtain a second set of CT image data for the region-of-interest at a second chromatic energy level that is higher than the first chromatic energy level, and identify plaque material in the region-of-interest by analyzing the second set of CT image data.
US08494243B2 Deformable 2D-3D registration of structure
A method for performing deformable non-rigid registration of 2D and 3D images of a vascular structure for assistance in surgical intervention includes acquiring 3D image data. An abdominal aorta is segmented from the 3D image data using graph-cut based segmentation to produce a segmentation mask. Centerlines are generated from the segmentation mask using a sequential topological thinning process. 3D graphs are generated from the centerlines. 2D image data is acquired. The 2D image data is segmented to produce a distance map. An energy function is defined based on the 3D graphs and the distance map. The energy function is minimized to perform non-rigid registration between the 3D image data and the 2D image data. The registration may be optimized.
US08494242B2 Medical image management apparatus and method, and recording medium
A medical-image management apparatus includes: an information obtainment means that obtains information representing a region of a subject represented in a three-dimensional image constructed based on a plurality of slice images captured by a medical-image imaging apparatus, the plurality of slice images being adjacent to each other in a predetermined direction; a reconstruction means that reconstructs, based on the information obtained by the information obtainment means, a plurality of slice images from the three-dimensional image, the plurality of slice images being adjacent to each other in a direction that has been correlated with the region in advance; a recording means that records the plurality of slice images reconstructed by the reconstruction means; and a distribution control means that sequentially distributes, in response to a distribution request for the three-dimensional image input from an external terminal, the plurality of reconstructed slice images from the recording means to the external terminal.
US08494234B1 Video hashing system and method
Methods, apparatuses, and systems directed to video hashing. Video hashing can be used to identify video content in a first video data file with video content of a second video data file. In a particular implementation, video matching or video content identification can be divided into two phases: Feature Extraction and Matching. During a feature extraction phase video material is analyzed and a video fingerprint is generated. The video fingerprint may comprise one video hash or multiple video hashes generated using different video hashing algorithms.
US08494232B2 Image processing method and apparatus
An image processing technique includes acquiring a main image of a scene and determining one or more facial regions in the main image. The facial regions are analyzed to determine if any of the facial regions includes a defect. A sequence of relatively low resolution images nominally of the same scene is also acquired. One or more sets of low resolution facial regions in the sequence of low resolution images are determined and analyzed for defects. Defect free facial regions of a set are combined to provide a high quality defect free facial region. At least a portion of any defective facial regions of the main image are corrected with image information from a corresponding high quality defect free facial region.
US08494223B2 Real-time annotation of images in a human assistive environment
A method, information processing system, and computer program storage product annotate video images associated with an environmental situation based on detected actions of a human interacting with the environmental situation. A set of real-time video images are received that are captured by at least one video camera associated with an environment presenting one or more environmental situations to a human. One or more user actions made by the human that is associated with the set of real-time video images with respect to the environmental situation are monitored. A determination is made, based on the monitoring, that the human driver has one of performed and failed to perform at least one action associated with one or more images of the set of real-time video images. The one or more images of the set of real-time video images are annotated with a set of annotations.
US08494218B2 Light information receiving method, unit and method for recognition of light-emitting objects
A light information receiving method, a method and a unit for the recognition of light-emitting objects are provided. The light information receiving method includes the following steps. A light-emitting object array is captured to obtain a plurality of images, wherein the light-emitting object array includes at least one light-emitting object. A temporal filtering process is performed to the images to recognize a light-emitting object. A light-emitting status of the light-emitting object array is recognized according to the light-emitting object location. A decoding process is performed according to the light-emitting status to output an item of information.
US08494216B2 Image processing device and image processing method and program
An image processing device includes a tracking unit to track a predetermined point on an image as a tracking point, to correspond with a first operation. The image processing device also includes a display control unit to display tracking point candidates, which are greater in number than objects on the image and fewer than the number of pixels of the image, on the image, at an equidistant spacing. Further the image processing device includes a setting unit to set one of the tracking point candidates as a tracking point on a next frame of the tracking unit, in response to an instruction of the one of the tracking point candidates during a display of the tracking point candidates at the equidistant spacing.
US08494215B2 Augmenting a field of view in connection with vision-tracking
The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can employ vision-monitoring techniques to enhance an experience associated with elements of a local environment. In particular, the architecture can establish gaze- or eye-tracking attributes in connection with a user. In addition, a location and a head or face-based perspective of the user can also be obtained. By aggregating this information, the architecture can identify a current field of view of the user, and then map that field of view to a modeled view in connection with a geospatial model of the environment. In addition, the architecture can select additional content that relates to an entity in the view or a modeled entity in the modeled view, and further present the additional content to the user.
US08494213B2 Optimized implementation of back projection for computed tomography (CT)
The disclosure relates generally to a method of three dimensional (3D) tomographic volume reconstruction for computed tomography (CT) using vector processors and more specifically to an optimized implementation which pre-computes back projection weights and perspective geometry data associated with a given CT device as down-sampled tables. The down-sampled perspective geometry data and the weight table are interpolated dynamically as part of the volume reconstruction process for an object scanned using the given CT device.
US08494196B2 System and method for configuring a hearing device
The invention relates to a system and a method for configuring a hearing device by means of an external configuration unit, the hearing device comprising a microphone, an A/D-converter, a processing unit with a memory, a D/A-converter and a receiver, the external configuration unit comprising a programming host, an external processing unit, an interface and a playing device, the method including the steps of processing a sound recording from the playing device with a parameter setting externally, feeding the processed sound recording to the receiver of the hearing device via the interface and the D/A-converter, emitting the processed sound recording through the receiver, repeating steps a) to c) with varying parameter settings until a match between the quality of the signal and the requirements of the user is reached, and transmitting and storing the chosen parameter setting in the memory of the hearing device.
US08494193B2 Environment detection and adaptation in hearing assistance devices
Method and apparatus for environment detection and adaptation in hearing assistance devices. Performance of feature extraction and environment detection to perform adaptation to hearing assistance device operation for a number of hearing assistance environments. The system detecting various noise sources independent of speech. The system determining adaptive actions to take place based on predicted sound class. The system providing individually customizable response to inputs from different sound classes. In various embodiments, the system employing a Bayesian classifier to perform sound classifications using a priori probability data and training data for predetermined sound classes. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents.
US08494192B2 Audio reproducing system and method thereof
An audio reproducing system includes a pair of speaker units, a mounting unit for mounting the pair of speaker units, without being attached to a baffle board, to the vicinity of a listener's ears in a manner such that sounds emitted from the front and back of a diaphragm of each speaker unit are mixed, and an audio signal output unit for virtual sound imaging an input audio signal and outputting the virtual sound imaged signal to the pair of speaker units in a manner such that the listener listens to a sound reproduced by the pair of speaker units feeling as if the sound is emitted from a different speaker device.
US08494186B2 Sound plate and electronic device employing the same
Provided are a sound plate and an electronic device employing the same. The sound plate includes at least one speaker unit disposed within a plate that is configured as a stand of the electronic device. Sound output by the at least one speaker is emitted through at least slit provided in a side surface of the plate.
US08494184B2 Digital data transfer via audio signal conductors
An electro-acoustic transducer or a device into which an electro-acoustic transducer is incorporated has at least two audio signal conductors through which the electro-acoustic transducer or device may be coupled to another device to convey analog audio signals representing sounds at a time when the other device places a relatively low DC bias voltage across the at least two audio signal conductors, and to be operated as a digital serial bus to exchange pieces of digitally-encoded data concerning the electro-acoustic transducer at a time when the other device places a relatively high DC bias voltage across the at least two audio signal conductors.
US08494178B1 Avoiding audio feedback
Methods and techniques to implement a digital signal processor for avoidance of audio feedback are disclosed, in particular, audio signal processing systems that reduce the requirement for physical segregation of sound acquisition and diffusion zones. In a more general aspect, the components and techniques described herein provide a for a sound space and sound processing equipment such that sound travelling electronically in a loop through the sound processing equipment that is output into a physical sound diffusion zone, received at the input to the sound processing equipment, and then re-amplified, etc. is attenuated over that loop by frequency modification. The frequency modification is such that, at least for some signals, on each pass through the loop, the sound processing equipment will attenuate or amplify individual sub-bands of the frequency spectrum of the audio signal that is received at the input of the sound processing equipment. The frequency range of each individual sub-band is modified as it passes through the sound processing equipment, transformed into sound in the physical space, picked up again by the sound processing equipment, and then passes through again, so that the sub-band is attenuated on at least one of those passes through the sound processing equipment. The attenuation can be performed by configuring the sound processing equipment to amplify some input frequencies and shift those frequencies to other frequencies that the sound processing equipment is configured to attenuate.
US08494177B2 Virtual microphone array systems using dual omindirectional microphone array (DOMA)
A dual omnidirectional microphone array noise suppression is described. Compared to conventional arrays and algorithms, which seek to reduce noise by nulling out noise sources, the array of an embodiment is used to form two distinct virtual directional microphones which are configured to have very similar noise responses and very dissimilar speech responses. The only null formed is one used to remove the speech of the user from V2. The two virtual microphones may be paired with an adaptive filter algorithm and VAD algorithm to significantly reduce the noise without distorting the speech, significantly improving the SNR of the desired speech over conventional noise suppression systems.
US08494174B2 Adaptive filters to improve voice signals in communication systems
A clear, high quality voice signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio is achieved by use of an adaptive noise reduction scheme with two microphones in close proximity. The method includes the use of two omini directional microphones in a highly directional mode, and then applying an adaptive noise cancellation algorithm to reduce the noise.
US08494173B2 Integrated circuit with configurable output cell
An integrated circuit includes at least one output cell including a first output cell having a ground pin connected to a ground rail, a first power supply pin connected to a first power rail, a second power supply pin connected to a second power rail, a data pin, at least one voltage select pin, and an output pin wired to the first output pad. The first output cell is configured to operate according to a first mode wherein the output pin has a first voltage amplitude, and according to a second mode wherein the output pin has a second voltage amplitude larger than the first voltage amplitude depending on a control signal applied to the at least one voltage select pin.
US08494167B2 Method and apparatus for restoring encrypted files to an encrypting file system based on deprecated keystores
The present invention provides a computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer program product to restore an encrypted file. A computer receives a command to restore an encrypted file, wherein the encrypted file was previously backed up. The computer identifies a user associated with the encrypted file. The computer looks up a first keystore of the user based on the user, the first keystore having an active private key. The computer determines that a public key of the encrypted file fails to match an active public key of the first keystore. The computer restores a second keystore of the user to form a restored private key, wherein the second keystore was previously backed up. The computer responsive to a determination that the public key of the encrypted file fails to match the active public key of the first keystore, decrypts the encrypted file encryption key based on the restored private key to form a file encryption key. The computer encrypts the file encryption key with the active private key of the first keystore.
US08494165B1 Secure communications between devices using a trusted server
A method of establishing secure communication between a first mobile computing device and a second mobile computing device includes receiving a first request from the first mobile computing device to securely communicate with the second mobile computing device via a Wi Fi hot spot, verifying that the first mobile computing device is trusted, generating a public key and a private key based on a trusted certificate, sending the private key to the first mobile computing device via the Wi-Fi hot spot, receiving a second request from the second mobile computing device to securely communicate with the first mobile computing device, verifying that the second mobile computing device is trusted, and sending the public key to the second mobile computing device.
US08494164B2 Method for connecting wireless communications, wireless communications terminal and wireless communications system
A method for connecting wireless communications, a wireless communications terminal and a wireless communications system are provided. The method includes receiving a first signal including assumed configuration data; determining an availability of a wireless communications connection using the assumed configuration data; sending an association request message, if it is determined that the wireless communications connection is available; and receiving a second signal including connection configuration data, which is different from the assumed configuration data, in response to the association request message.
US08494162B2 Hardcopy document security
A method for securing data in hardcopy documents. The method includes obtaining a page image having a private data item; generating an encrypted version of the private data item; obtaining a decoder identification (ID) value of a decoder; generating, using an encoder, a symbol having the encrypted version of the private data item and the decoder ID value; and generating a hardcopy document by recording the symbol on a physical medium, where the hardcopy document is transported to a subsystem having the decoder, and where the subsystem decrypts the encrypted version of the private data item after extracting the encrypted version of the private data item from the symbol.
US08494158B2 Method of downloading software in digital broadcast receiver
Provided is a method of downloading, by a digital broadcast receiver, a software for upgrade through broadcast signals. According to the method, existence of a receiver software to be downloaded is checked, and a reservation time for downloading of the software is set. After that, a download and upgrade of the software are performed at the set reservation time.
US08494155B1 Method and apparatus of high speed encryption and decryption
An encryption device can include a tweaking value manager that is configured to generate an array of tweaking values corresponding to the array of data blocks based on a tweaking encryption key, a first encryption unit that is configured to encrypt a first portion of the array of data blocks into a first portion of encrypted data blocks based on corresponding tweaking values and a data encryption key, a second encryption unit that is configured to encrypt a second portion of the array of data blocks into a second portion of encrypted data blocks based on corresponding tweaking values and the data encryption key, and a data block combiner that is configured to combine the first portion of encrypted data blocks and the second portion of encrypted data blocks into an array of encrypted data blocks.
US08494153B2 Adaptive mute status reminder
Systems and methods for providing mute status reminders are presented. The system and method includes monitoring a mute status duration upon activation of a mute status at a communication device, outputting a periodic mute reminder having an output period responsive to activation of the mute status, and adjusting the output period responsive to the mute status duration.
US08494152B1 Systems and methods for automated call-handling and processing
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media consistent with the present invention manage multiple telephone calls by managing a session record associated with the call, amending the session record according to a plurality of rules to reflect a plurality of instructed actions, evaluating an amended session record to derive at least one of the plurality of instructed actions, and implementing a derived instructed action on the call under the control of an automated attendant apparatus.
US08494150B2 Computer-telephony integration in a service provider environment
One embodiment of the present invention provides a method and system for handling a telephone call. The method comprises receiving an incoming call at a computer-telephony server located as service provider equipment within a telephone network, followed by setting up a call from the computer-telephony server to a customer location. The customer location has a plurality of agents, each agent having an associated computer workstation. The call is forwarded at the customer location to a receiving agent selected from the plurality of agents. There is now communication between the computer-telephony server and one or more of the agents to allow the computer-telephony server to identify the receiving agent. The computer telephony server uses voice analytics on speech input from the receiving agent to identify the receiving agent.
US08494147B1 System and method for indicating call priority
System and method for providing a telecommunication transmission from an originating device to a terminating device over a telecommunications network. In one embodiment a bit code may be received from the telecommunication network, such that the bit code is extracted from the telecommunication transmission from the originating device. A directory number associated with the originating source may be received and a predefined message may be determined based at least on the directory number and bit code. The predefined message may be displayed on the terminating device.
US08494139B2 System for embedding programming language content in XML
A method for providing an interactive voice response service is provided. The method uses a VoiceXML interpreter in cooperation with a voice/audio application. The voice/audio application uses scripts coded in VoiceXML with embedded Java Server Pages (JSP). The use of VoiceXML along with JSP allows the present invention to provide an implementation that minimizes interaction between the voice/audio application and the VoiceXML server.
US08494136B2 Systems and arrangements for communicating with an automated interactive telecommunications service system
In embodiments, a method, device and/or system allowing for automatic connection through a menu driven communication system by way of a keyed sequence, which may be stored as an XML file, comprising a telephone number and a menu response sequence.
US08494134B2 Method and system for routing calls placed to a telephony identifier associated with a group of identities
A method for processing a call placed to a telephony identifier. The method comprises: obtaining information regarding an origin of the call; identifying a group of identities that is associated with the telephony identifier, each identity designating a party reachable by calling the telephony identifier; determining, based on the information regarding the origin of the call, that the call is intended for a particular identity among the group of identities; and causing routing of the call based on information associated with the particular identity. The party designated by each identity may be a different person. Also provided a system for processing a call placed to a telephony identifier.
US08494129B2 Communication apparatus, integrated circuit, and communication method
A communication apparatus repeatedly outputs a first multi-carrier signal SS during predetermined periods T1, T2, T3, . . . , and outputs a second multi-carrier signal RS whose phase vector is different from that of the first multi-carrier signal SS, at a predetermined timing based on the first multi-carrier signal SS. The communication apparatus further detects the second multi-carrier signal RS output from another communication apparatus, which uses a different communication method from the communication apparatus. Accordingly, both communication apparatuses can differentiate the first multi-carrier signal SS from the second multi-carrier signal RS without performing relatively cumbersome modulation and other processes.
US08494125B2 Voice-messaging with attachments
A network method for using a network telephone voice-mail service, by which a caller may leave a voice-message that includes the identification of an attachment, which may include, as examples only, audio, video, text, programs, spreadsheets and graphic attachments. A video, text, spreadsheet or graphic attachment may be converted to an audible attachment to the voice-mail at the caller's or the voice-mail subscriber's request. Such entries may be made, after receiving an automated prompt for leaving an attachment identifier or conversion request, audibly or by using a keypad entry. A network method is also provided for using a network telephone voice-mail service, by which the voice-mail service may detect an attachment to a voice-mail message and provide access to the attachment to the voice-mail message.
US08494124B2 Notification systems and methods
Notification systems and methods receive a call from a caller and prompt the caller to identify an event. A response is received from the caller which identifies a particular event. The notification systems and methods select an advertisement related to the particular event, the selected advertisement being associated with a second event of the same type as the particular event. The caller is prompted whether a reminder message associated with the second event is desired. A response is received from the caller regarding the reminder message. If the caller desires to receive a reminder message, that reminder message is scheduled.
US08494123B2 On-hold visual menu from a user's communications device
A user equipment communications device is configured to provide personal content to a party to a call with a user of the device, when the user places the party on hold. The device determines that the party has been placed on hold and that the user has enabled sharing of personal content with the party. The device then transmits a visual menu to a communications device of the party via a data network, to allow the party to select a type of personal content to receive from the device while the party is on hold. When the device receives a selection from the party's device indicating the type of personal content, it transmits a personal information asset to the party's device according to the type of personal content indicated by the selection. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US08494121B1 System and method for gathering information at a crisis scene
A system and method for rapidly gathering information at an emergency scene from people located inside the emergency using a telephone call system capable of simultaneously receiving a large number of calls to the same telephone number. People in rooms can be trained to call a posted emergency number. Automatic questions concerning location and situation near the caller can be asked and the responses combined and processed to present a spreadsheet or other presentation to responders so that they have a maximum of information known to those inside the emergency. Questions can be tailored for fire, armed attack and other emergencies. The results can be presented wirelessly to responders either over official communication channels or by means of a secure website. Each call can be time stamped and an ID can be established allowing callback by responders for more information or to give instructions to particular individuals or groups.
US08494120B2 Detecting foreign voltage faults in telephone customer premise equipment
In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes a digital network to telephone interface device having a controller capable of detecting foreign voltage faults without interrupting telephone service. Upon detection of a foreign voltage fault the controller can deactivate the telephone service and initiate a test sequence to confirm the foreign voltage fault. If the fault is confirmed the telephone service remains deactivated and an operator of the digital network is notified. The device will improve the quality of service and save the cost of sending some one to investigate the fault. The operator can take proactive action once the device provides fault analysis and information remotely.
US08494119B2 Radiation window, and a method for its manufacturing
A radiation window membrane and for covering an opening in an X-ray device is presented, as well a method for its manufacturing. Said openings are such through which X-rays are to pass. The membrane comprises a window base layer and a pinhole-blocking layer on a surface of said window base layer. Said pinhole-blocking layer comprises graphene.
US08494115B2 Methods and apparatus for hardware based radiation dose calculation
Disclosed is an example method to calculate radiation dose. The method includes receiving a tissue matrix in which the tissue matrix includes a plurality of voxels. The example method also includes producing a first plurality of transport lines with a direction controller in which each transport line is indicative of a cone of irradiated energy, and calculating at least one radiation dose with at least one deposit engine substantially in parallel with producing a second plurality of transport lines with the direction controller.
US08494113B2 Automated sum-peak suppression in an X-ray fluorescence analyzer
A method of operating an x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to automatically suppress sum-peaks is disclosed. The method includes irradiating a sample to acquire an initial energy spectrum. The energy spectrum is processed to identify a sum-peak that interferes with a characteristic fluoresced peak of an element of interest. A filter is positioned in the emitted radiation path to attenuate radiation that contributes to the identified sum-peak, and a filtered energy spectrum is acquired. In certain embodiments, the filtered energy spectrum is acquired only when a limit of detection (LOD) of an element of interest calculated from the initial energy spectrum does not satisfy a targeted objective.
US08494112B2 System and method for transferring data in a computed tomography apparatus
In a method and system for data transfer in a computed tomography apparatus having a gantry with a rotatable part and a stationary part, at least one device is provided for energy transfer between the rotatable part and stationary part of the gantry and at least one PLC (Power Line Communication) component is provided for data transfer between the rotatable part and the stationary part of the gantry via at least one device for energy transfer.
US08494107B2 Method of suppressing deposition of radioactive isotope
A formic acid aqueous solution that contains Fe (II) ions is produced by dissolving metal iron in a formic acid aqueous solution. Nitrogen is supplied from a nitrogen supply device to a chemical liquid tank and then discharged from a discharge line to reduce the dissolved oxygen concentration in the aqueous solution. The chemical liquid tank is filled with the formic acid aqueous solution sealed with nitrogen, and is transferred from a factory to a nuclear reactor building designated as radiation-controlled areas. Inside the nuclear reactor building, the chemical liquid tank is installed in a film deposition apparatus connected to a reactor water recirculation pipeline. The formic acid aqueous is supplied from the chemical liquid tank to the inside of the reactor water recirculation pipeline, and then a ferrite film is formed on the inner surface of the reactor water recirculation pipeline.
US08494104B2 NICAM decoder with output resampler
A NICAM audio signal re-sampler may include a non-linear interpolator configured to interpolate in a non-linear manner between sequential digital samples that are based on a stream of demodulated NICAM audio samples. A phase differential calculator may be included that compares phase information at different resolutions.
US08494100B2 Device and method for blocking-signal reduction
A processing device (60) for a radio-receiver circuit (20) is disclosed. The radio-receiver circuit comprises an input terminal (22) for receiving an analog input signal, circuitry (50) for generating a compensated analog input signal by subtracting an analog compensation signal from the analog input signal, an analog-to-digital converter (30) arranged to receive the compensated analog input signal on an input terminal of the analog-to-digital converter (30), and circuitry (40, 110) for to generating the analog compensation signal based on a digital compensation signal. The processing device (60) comprises: an input terminal (62) for receiving an output signal of the analog-to-digital converter (30); and an output terminal (64) for supplying the digital compensation signal. The processing device (60) is adapted to: generate an estimate of a blocking signal component in the analog input signal of the radio receiver circuit (20) based on the output signal of the analog-to-digital converter (30); and generate the digital compensation signal based on said estimate such that said blocking signal component is at least partially cancelled in the compensated analog input signal. Embodiments of radio receiver circuit, integrated circuit, electronic apparatus, method, computer program, computer readable medium and hardware-description entity are also disclosed.
US08494093B1 Method and apparatus for generating beamforming feedback
Channel state information (CSI) for a single data stream transmitted via a plurality of antennas is determined in a hardware device. Cophasing angles for the plurality of antennas are determined in the hardware device using the CSI. The cophasing angles are transferred from the hardware device to a controller coupled to the hardware device. When steering vector feedback is to be transmitted, the steering vector feedback is generated in the controller based on the cophasing angles. When explicit CSI feedback is to be transmitted, the explicit CSI feedback is generated in the controller using the cophasing angles.
US08494090B2 Detecting the number of transmit antennas in a base station
Data is scrambled at a transmitter according to one of a number of predetermined scrambling sequences which are associated with a particular one of a number of predetermined transmit antenna diversity schemes (i.e., a specific number of transmit antenna ports). Received data is decoded using one or more of the known transmit antenna diversity schemes and the scrambled data is descrambled according to a corresponding descrambling sequence (related to the scrambling sequence). Based on the descrambled data, the receiver determines which transmit antenna diversity scheme (i.e., the number of antenna ports) is used by the transmitter. In one specific embodiment, CRC parity data is scrambled in the transmitter and the receiver descrambles the recovered CRC parity data according to a descrambling sequence, computes CRC parity data from the received data, and compares the descrambled CRC parity data to the newly computed CRC parity data.
US08494085B2 Method and system for bandwidth calibration for a phase locked loop (PLL)
Aspects of a method and system for bandwidth calibration for a phase locked loop are presented. Aspects of the method may include generating one or more carrier signals based on one or more corresponding calibration signals. A pre-distortion function may be computed based on the generated one or more carrier signals for the phase locked loop circuit. An output radio frequency (RF) synthesized signal generated by the phase locked loop circuit may be modified based on the computed pre-distortion function and a subsequent output RF synthesized signal generated based on the modified output RF synthesized signal.
US08494079B2 Method for efficiently performing multi-BS MIMO operation in a broadband wireless access system
A method for determining temporary Base Station (BS) Identifiers (IDs) to efficiently set a multi-BS Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission mode and an apparatus for implementing the same in a broadband wireless access system are disclosed. To perform a multi-BS MIMO operation, a Mobile Station (MS) receives a first broadcast message including system information about a plurality of neighbor BSs from a serving BS, receives a second broadcast message including BS set information from the serving BS, the BS set information specifying indexes of one or more neighbor BSs which can be involved in the multi-BS MIMO operation among the plurality of neighbor BSs, and determines a temporary BS ID of each BS included in the BS set information using the specified indexes.
US08494077B2 Method and communication system for transmitting data in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system
Method for transmitting data in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system and communication system for transmitting data in a MIMO system. A method for transmitting data in a communication system is provided. The method includes the steps of selecting a first channel (C1) and a second channel (C2), of receiving by the second receiver (Rx2) of first data and frequency resource information, of performing a non-linear pre-coding for second data (D2) of the second channel (x2) and of sending the precoded second data (D2) from the second transmitter (Tx2) to the second receiver (Rx2) and sending the first non-pre-coded data (D1) of the first channel (C1) from a first transmitter (Tx1) to a first receiver (Rx1) at the same timeframe.
US08494076B2 MIMO wireless data communication system, MIMO wireless data communication method and MIMO wireless data communication apparatus
In a MIMO wireless communication system, the transformation process synthesizes the eigenmodes having a large singular value (i.e. a high effective SNR) and the eigenmodes having a small singular value (i.e. a low effective SNR). Thereby, the former eigenmodes are converted into modes having suppressed effective SNR which do not require a large number of levels of modulation, and the latter eigenmodes are converted into modes having increased effective SNR instead. In a MIMO wireless communication system for eigenmode transmission, a large communication capacity is realized without increasing the number of levels of modulation even in a communication environment capable of achieving a high SNR.
US08494058B2 Video/image processing apparatus with motion estimation sharing, and related method and machine readable medium
A video/image processing apparatus includes a storage module, a motion estimation module, and a plurality of video/image processing blocks. The storage module is arranged for storing a plurality of images. The motion estimation module is coupled to the storage module, and arranged for retrieving the images from the storage module, and generating motion vectors according to the images. The video/image processing blocks are coupled to the motion estimation module, and arranged for performing a plurality of different video/image processing operations, respectively, wherein each of the video/image processing blocks receives the motion vectors generated from the motion estimation module, and refers to the received motion vectors to perform a designated video/image processing operation. By way of example, the video/image processing operations may include frame rate conversion, video decoding, noise reduction, deinterlacing, super resolution processing, video stabilization, multi-frame image noise reduction, camera stabilization, high dynamic range (HDR) processing, and/or rolling-shutter reduction.
US08494055B2 Apparatus and method for frame interpolation based on accurate motion estimation
An apparatus and a method for frame interpolation based on precision motion estimation are provided. The apparatus for frame interpolation may generate an interpolation frame to restore images based on a motion vector which is determined after a motion vector is determined based on a rotation element in addition to forward motion and backward motion between frames.
US08494050B2 Moving picture coding device and moving picture coding method
Provided is a moving picture coding device which makes it possible to suppress deterioration in coding efficiency caused by flickers occurring at a time of high-speed capturing under fluorescent lamp lighting or the like. A moving picture coding device which codes a plurality of pictures obtained by capturing an object, the moving picture coding device including: a luminance information acquisition unit which acquires luminance information which indicates a luminance level of light in an environment where the object is captured; and a coding unit which codes the pictures, using a prediction coding method in which a picture type is applied in the coding of the pictures according to a flicker state of the light obtained from the luminance information.
US08494048B2 Signal adaptive filtering method, signal adaptive filter and computer readable medium for storing program therefor
A signal adaptive filtering method for reducing blocking effect and ringing noise, a signal adaptive filter, and a computer readable medium. The signal adaptive filtering method capable of reducing blocking effect and ringing noise of image data when a frame is composed of blocks of a predetermined size includes the steps of: (a) generating blocking information for reducing the blocking effect and ringing information for reducing the ringing noise, from coefficients of predetermined pixels of the upper and left boundary regions of the data block when a frame obtained by deconstructing a bitstream image data for inverse quantization is an intraframe; and (b) adaptively filtering the image data passed through inverse quantization and inverse discrete cosine transform according to the generated blocking information and ringing information. Therefore, the blocking effect and ringing noise can be eliminated from the image restored from the block-based image, thereby enhancing the image restored from compression.
US08494046B2 Method and an apparatus for decoding/encoding a video signal by performing illumination compensation
A method for recovering transmission errors, comprising: receiving a data packet comprising an error detection code associated to data contained in the packet, wherein the data associated to the error detection code comprises primary data and secondary data, checking the error detection code of the received packet to detect an erroneous state of the associated data, when the erroneous state is detected, determining a finite set of candidate values for the primary data and, for each values of the set: determining a marginal likelihood of the candidate value as a function of the error detection code of the received packet, determining a first correlation between the primary data of the received packet and the candidate value, and selecting a corrected value for the primary data among the set of candidate values as a function of said marginal likelihoods and said first correlations.
US08494045B2 Apparatus and method for coding picture data
A coding apparatus for hierarchically (layering) coding top field data and bottom field data divided from each of a plurality of picture data composing a moving picture image has a first coding unit configured to encode one field data between two field data of the top field data and the bottom field data divided from the picture data, a conversion unit configured to interpolate first predicted image data generated by the first coding unit encoding above one field data and generate a second predicted image data of a scanning position of the other field data between the two field data, and a second coding unit configured to encode the other field data between the two field data based on the second predicted image data generated by the conversion unit.
US08494041B1 Efficient tapped delay line equalizer methods and apparatus
Methods and apparatus are provided for performing equalization of communication channels. In an embodiment of the invention, at least one tap can be selected from a set of feedforward taps of feedforward filter circuitry, where each tap of the selected at least one tap has a magnitude that is greater than or substantially equal to a magnitude of any tap of the set of feedforward taps that is not in the selected at least one tap. In addition, at least one tap can be added to a set of taps of feedback filter circuitry in communication with the feedforward filter circuitry. The invention advantageously allows for more efficient and reliable equalization of communication channels.
US08494039B2 Method and apparatus reporting channel quality indicator of communication system
The present invention provides a method and apparatus reporting a channel quality indicator of a communication system, including: detecting a first measurement reflecting a first communication quality of the communication system; providing a series of thresholds and mapping functions, each mapping functions in association with a bin defined by two adjacent thresholds, so the first measurement is mapped to the channel quality indicator by the mapping function in association with the bin which matches the first measurement; and updating at least one of the thresholds according to a second measurement which reflects a second communication quality of the communication system.
US08494037B2 Complex adaptive phase discriminator
A Complex Adaptive Phase Discriminator (PD), as presented in some concepts of the present disclosure, is an adaptive filter that accurately estimates the instantaneous frequency of a dynamic complex signal. The PD can demonstrate accurate instantaneous frequency estimation and rapid convergence in dynamic complex signal environments, even when the frequency of its input may change rapidly. A direct PD architecture can estimate the instantaneous frequency of a complex primary signal, iteratively adapting a phase of a complex exponential by minimizing the mean squared error of a complex error signal. Instantaneous frequency can be directly estimated from the phase of the complex exponential. In contrast, an indirect PD architecture can estimate the instantaneous frequency of a complex primary signal, iteratively adapting a complex coefficient by minimizing the mean squared error of a complex error signal. Instantaneous frequency can be indirectly estimated by extracting the phase of the complex coefficient.
US08494036B2 Resource adaptive spectrum estimation of streaming data
Streaming environments typically dictate incomplete or approximate algorithm execution, in order to cope with sudden surges in the data rate. Such limitations are even more accentuated in mobile environments (such as sensor networks) where computational and memory resources are typically limited. Introduced herein is a novel “resource adaptive” algorithm for spectrum and periodicity estimation on a continuous stream of data. The formulation is based on the derivation of a closed-form incremental computation of the spectrum, augmented by an intelligent load-shedding scheme that can adapt to available CPU resources. Experimentation indicates that the proposed technique can be a viable and resource efficient solution for real-time spectrum estimation.
US08494034B2 Communication device and communication system
A communication device includes: a reception unit that receives a signal transmitted from another communication device via a transmission path; a transmission unit that transmits a signal to the another communication device via the transmission path; an error rate measurement unit that measures an error rate representing a probability of occurrence of errors in a signal received by the reception unit in a case where a bi-directional communication with the another communication device is performed; and a phase adjustment unit that adjusts a phase of a signal transmitted from the transmission unit to the another communication device based on an error rate measured by the error rate measurement unit.
US08494033B2 Methods providing precoder feedback using multiple precoder indices and related communications devices and systems
Data may be transmitted from a first communications device using multiple antennas to a second communications device based on precoder feedback defining a grid of transmission beams. A first precoder index may be received from the second communications device, and a second precoder index may be received from the second communications device. At least one symbol stream may be processed based at least in part on the first and second precoder indices to generate antenna signals for respective antenna elements of the multiple antennas, and the antenna signals may be transmitted over the multiple antennas to the communications device. Related base stations and user equipment are also discussed.
US08494030B2 Method and system for 60 GHz wireless clock distribution
Aspects of a method and system for 60 GHz wireless clock distribution may include configuring a microwave communication link established between a first chip and a second chip via a wireline communication bus. The configuration may comprise adjusting beamforming parameters of a first antenna array communicatively coupled to the first chip, and of a second antenna array communicatively coupled to the second chip. The first chip and the second chip may communicate a clock signal via the microwave communication link. The microwave communication link may be routed via one or more relay chips, when the first chip and the second chip cannot directly communicate. Control data may be transferred between the first chip, the second chip, and/or the one or more relay chips, which may comprise one or more antennas. The relay chips may be dedicated relay ICs or multi-purpose transmitter/receivers.
US08494028B1 Despreading methods and apparatus
Despreading apparatus with a relatively simple control is described. Plurality of despreading modules are provided in parallel, e.g., one per user. Each despreading module supports a plurality of despreading rates, e.g., ranging from the minimum to the maximum despreading rate that may be assigned to a user. Each despreading module is controlled in a simple manner with the output of the despreading module and despreading rate achieved being determined by a control module controlling a controllable downsampling module such that despreading rate corresponding to the individual user to which the despreading module corresponds is achieved at any given time. MUX control signals are provided to a plurality of MUXes included in the despreading module, and may be stored in a table with each set of MUX control signals corresponding to a different despreading rate. Control is greatly simplified, compared to systems where a set of despreading circuitry is dynamically configured.
US08494027B2 Wireless communications device and method
A wireless device is described that comprises a spread spectrum radio-frequency (RF) communications portion, such as a Bluetooth module, and an ancillary RF receiver portion. The spread spectrum RF communications portion is activated on receipt of a characteristic RF signal by the ancillary RF receiver portion. The ancillary RF receiver portion may consume substantially less power than the spread spectrum RF communications portion thereby allowing a low power standby mode to be implemented. The wireless device may be a measurement probe, such as a temperature probe, for use with machine tools and the like. An interface for transmitting the characteristic RF signal is also described.
US08494025B2 Curved coupled waveguide array and laser
A semiconductor laser that includes an active region, claddings and electrical contacts to stimulate emissions from the active region, where a coupled waveguide guides emission. The waveguide includes a broad area straight coupling region that fans out into an array of narrower Individual curved coupled waveguides at an output facet of the laser. The individual curved coupled waveguides are curved according to Lorentzian functions that define the waveguide curvature as a function of position along the device. The integral length of each individual curved coupled waveguide differs from adjacent individual curved coupled waveguides by an odd number of half-wavelengths. The coupled waveguide array shapes the optical field output of the semiconductor laser such that a large fraction of the power is emitted into a small angular distribution using interference phenomena. A laser of the invention produces high power output with a very high quality, narrow beam shape.
US08494024B1 Beam quality of the monoblock laser through use of a 1.5 micron external cavity partial reflector
A monoblock laser cavity incorporates optical components for a short-pulse laser. These optical components are ‘locked’ into alignment forming an optical laser cavity for flash lamp or diode laser pumping. The optical laser cavity does not need optical alignment after it is fabricated, increasing the brightness of the monoblock laser.
US08494020B2 Semiconductor light emitting device, optical pickup unit and information recording/reproduction apparatus
A semiconductor light emitting device downsized by devising arrangement of connection pads is provided. A second light emitting device is layered on a first light emitting device. The second light emitting device has a stripe-shaped semiconductor layer formed on a second substrate on the side facing to a first substrate, a stripe-shaped p-side electrode supplying a current to the semiconductor layer, stripe-shaped opposed electrodes that are respectively arranged oppositely to respective p-side electrodes of the first light emitting device and electrically connected to the p-side electrodes of the first light emitting device, connection pads respectively and electrically connected to the respective opposed electrodes, and a connection pad electrically connected to the p-side electrode. The connection pads are arranged in parallel with the opposed electrodes.
US08494018B2 Direct modulated modified vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and method
A laser system having separately electrically operable cavities for emitting modulated narrow linewidth light with first, second and third mirror structures separated by a first active region between the first and the second and by a second active region between the second and the third. The second mirror structure has twenty of more periods of mirror pairs.
US08494011B2 Apparatus and method of compensating for clock frequency and phase variations by processing packet delay values
An apparatus and method are described for compensating for frequency and phase variations of electronic components by processing packet delay values. In one embodiment, a packet delay determination module determines packet delay values based on time values associated with a first and a second electronic component. A packet delay selection module selects a subset of the packet delay values based on the maximum frequency drift of the first electronic component. A statistical parameter determination module evaluates a first and a second parameter based on portions of the subset of packet delay values. A validation module validates the parameters when each portion the subset of packet delay values includes a minimum of at least two packet delay values. An adjustment module compensates for at least one of a frequency variation and a phase variation of the first electronic component based on the parameters if the parameters are both validated.
US08494010B2 Data transfer device, data transmitting device, data receiving device, and data transfer method
The change of the transfer mode is notified using a predetermined bit in a header of a packet. Accordingly, the transfer mode can be dynamically switched from a DDR to a SDR, in which power consumption is low, without complicating the configuration. When the transfer mode is the SDR, further power saving is realized by changing the slew rate or stopping some circuits.
US08494008B2 Multiplexing circuit and designing method therefor
The present invention includes two or more bandpass filters, for passing signals of mutually different frequency bands therethrough, including one or more stages of units having coupling devices and resonance circuits coupled, in a tap type, to the coupling device, one end of each bandpass filter is directly connected to a common port, the coupling device and the resonance circuit of the first stage nearest to the port of each bandpass filter has a function of impedance matching means for each bandpass filter, in addition to a function of resonance means, respectively.
US08494007B2 Coding methods of communicating identifiers in peer discovery in a peer-to-peer network
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate identifying peers based upon encoded signals during peer discovery in a peer to peer network. For example, direct signaling that partitions a time-frequency resource into a number of segments can be utilized to communicate an identifier within a peer discovery interval; thus, a particular segment selected for transmission can signal a portion of the identifier, while a remainder can be signaled based upon tones communicated within the selected segment. Moreover, a subset of symbols within the resource can be reserved (e.g., unused) to enable identifying and/or correcting timing offset. Further, signaling can be effectuated over a plurality of peer discovery intervals such that partial identifiers communicated during each of the peer discovery intervals can be linked (e.g., based upon overlapping bits and/or bloom filter information).
US08494005B2 Technique for adjusting a phase relationship among modulation symbols
A technique for adjusting a phase relationship among modulation symbols is disclosed. A method embodiment of this technique comprises the steps of applying to a sequence of modulation symbols a phase ramp that continuously increases over the duration of the symbol sequence, and applying a compensation phase to each modulation symbol to introduce a phase offset between two subsequent modulation symbols. The joint application of the phase ramp and the compensation phase can be used to establish a saw tooth-like phase characteristic over the sequence of modulation symbols. In one embodiment, the phase ramp is applied in the context of impressing a frequency shift on the modulation symbols.
US08494000B1 Intelligent slicing of monitored network packets for storing
A network monitor that segments data packets at variable locations of data packets and stores a subset of the segments for troubleshooting or analysis. The network monitor selects data packets to be stored based on a set of user-defined classifier rules and discards other data packets. Each data packets selected for storage are analyzed up to an application protocol layer to determine start locations and/or end locations of data fields in the data packet. A set of user-defined slice rules are applied to each analyzed data packets to segment the data packets at the determined locations of the data fields. A subset of the data packet segments is stored in the network monitor. By storing relevant portions of data packets and discarding other portions of the data packets, the amount of data of data to be stored in the network monitor can be significantly reduced.
US08493994B2 Random access scheme for user equipment
A method of efficiently processing a random access response message, when a terminal (or user equipment) performs random access, is disclosed. After the terminal transmits a random access preamble to a base station, the terminal may receive a random access response message having a format of medium access control protocol data unit (MAC PDU) including only a backoff indicator subheader in a MAC header of the MAC PDU, from the base station in response to the random access preamble. As described above, the terminal, which has received the random access response message including only a backoff indicator subheader in the MAC header of the MAC PDU, may consider a random access response reception procedure not successful and may perform a subsequent procedure for a random access responses reception failure.
US08493990B2 Cyclical time-based communication system, user in such a system and transmission method
A cyclical time-based communication system, for the transmission of data (DATA) between users, comprising a databus and users connected thereto. The data transmission occurs within cyclical repeating timeframes, each with at least two timeslots. Each timeslot is provided for the transmission of a message (Ni). A message (Ni) comprises at least part of the data (DATA) and each message (Ni) is provided with a code (ID). The bandwidth available for data transmission may be better utilized, if the code (ID) is placed within the message (Ni), each message (Ni) is additionally provided with time information concerning the timeslot which may be extracted from the code, and at least one of the timeslots may be used for transmission of various messages in various cycles. In a preferred embodiment the information relating to the current cycle comprises an ordinal number. In the simplest case the number has two values 0 and 1.
US08493989B2 Network device and data control program
A network device is connected to another network device over a network and performs multicast transmission and reception over the network. The network device stores in a storage unit in a corresponding manner a drop address that uniquely identifies data to be dropped from the network and control data that indicates whether dropped data is to be forwarded or deleted. The network device drops the data based on the drop address, and then either forwards or deletes the dropped data based on the control data.
US08493983B2 Virtual fabric membership assignments for fiber channel over Ethernet network devices
Techniques are provided herein for receiving at a first network device, a virtual local area network (VLAN) discovery frame from a second network device. The second network device is configured to encapsulate Fiber Channel over Ethernet. The hardware media access control (MAC) address or Port World Wide Name (PWWN) of the second network device is extracted from the VLAN discovery frame. A mapping is identified between the second network device and a corresponding virtual storage area network (VSAN) based on the hardware MAC address or PWWN. The mapping identifies a corresponding VLAN for the second network device to use for login in order to communicate with the corresponding VSAN. Information representing the identified VLAN is sent to the second network device.
US08493980B2 Transport networks supporting virtual private networks, and configuring such networks
A layer 2 transport network, and components thereof, supporting virtual network functionality among customer edge devices. Virtual private network configuration can be accomplished with merely local intervention by preprovisioning extra channel (or circuit) identifiers at each customer edge device and by advertising label base and range information corresponding to a list of channel (or circuit) identifiers.
US08493973B2 Method of and apparatus for transmitting digital broadcasting signal in advanced-VSB (A-VSB) system in which transport packet without adaptation field is provided at fixed location in data field slices
A method of processing a digital broadcasting signal includes generating a transport stream including a plurality of transport packets; selecting one of the transport packets as a starting packet to be mapped into a first data segment of an encoded data frame; and constructing deterministic data frames in the transport stream beginning with the starting packet; wherein at least one of the 52 transport packets does not have an adaptation field; wherein all remaining ones of the 52 transport packets do have an adaptation field; and wherein the at least one transport packet that does not have an adaptation field is provided at a fixed location in each of the slices.
US08493966B2 Optimized packet processing architecture for battery powered mobile communication device
A transceiver includes a peripheral device, a first processor configured to control an operation of the peripheral device, at least one second processor configured to transport data between the transceiver and at least one wireless network, and a third processor connected between the first processor and the at least one second processor. The third processor is configured to control the at least one second processor for executing a network operation independently of the first processor.
US08493960B2 Server and system for mapping a temporary IP address of a mobile device to a subscriber identity number
In one embodiment, there is disclosed a system and method for providing access to an IP number or a subscriber identity number associated with a mobile device in a network, the method comprising associating a mobile device with a subscriber identity number; generating a temporary IP number for the mobile device; linking the subscriber identity number with the temporary IP number; storing the subscriber identity number and the temporary IP number in a database; and providing a pull application program interface to extract from the database either the subscriber identity number or the IP address for mobile device when requested by an application program.
US08493958B2 Flexible payload control in data-optimized communication systems
An access terminal (AT) and a data-optimized cellular communication radio network (RN) negotiate a set of packet sizes for use on a reverse link between the AT and the RN. The negotiated set of packet sizes may differ from the default set of packet sizes defined in an existing standard, such as 1xEV-DO Revisions A and B. The packet sizes in the negotiated set may be tailored to provide a good fit with an application transmitting data on the reverse link, such as a voice encoder of a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application. The AT and the RN communicate using the negotiated set of packet sizes. The packet sizes of the negotiated set may be mapped to the same reverse rate indicator (RRI) channel codewords as are defined in systems operating under the standard. Packing efficiency is thus increased, and higher capacity for delay-sensitive applications is achieved.
US08493957B2 Frame based, on-demand spectrum contention protocol vector messaging
Systems and methods are disclosed by which base stations with overlapping service areas allocate frames within superframes of a channel in a cognitive radio communication network. The frames are assigned for sole use by a base station on a frame-by-frame basis using a Frame-Based, On-Demand Spectrum Contention process. The process resolves contentions for use of frames using equally probable random numbers. The results of the process are transmitted and received between base stations using vector messages. Applications of the methods and systems include Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs), including those using the standards of IEEE 802.22.
US08493955B2 Interference mitigation mechanism to enable spatial reuse in UWB networks
Mechanism to mitigate signal interference in ultra wide band (UWB) networks based on spatial reuse of the signal spectrum. Efficient media access control (MAC) in wireless networks is challenging because wireless devices may be affected by signal interference during spatial multiplexing. Wireless ad-hop (multi-hop) networks exploit the limited system bandwidth available via spatial reuse to enhance aggregate throughput. Spatial reuse allows concurrent data exchanges, resulting in higher throughputs.
US08493953B1 Method and device for mitigation of multi-user interference in code division multiple access
A method and apparatus for mitigating multi-user interference in reception of a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal is described. The CDMA signal has a plurality of spread user symbol streams, each spread by a corresponding one of a plurality of spreading codes. Estimated symbols are iteratively improved by forming a reconstructed signal from the estimated symbols, subtracting the reconstructed signal from the CDMA signal to create a difference signal, and adjusting the estimated symbols based on a combination of the difference signal and the estimated symbols.
US08493952B2 Location determination using historical data
Systems and methods for determining a location based on historical data are disclosed. Generally, a location determination component receives a request for information from a wireless device, where the request is associated with at least two network access points (NAPs). The location determination component determines which of the at least two NAPs has a greater precedence and estimates a current location of the wireless device based on a known location of the current NAP and a known location of a previously-current NAP associated with the wireless device.
US08493951B2 Scalable WLAN gateway
A technique for combining transmission bandwidths of several mobile stations (MS1, MS2) is disclosed. A master mobile station (MS1) establishes (7-0) a WLAN base station communicating with WLAN client terminals (CT). One or more slave mobile stations (MS2) may detect a predefined network identifier and join the WLAN network. The master (MS1) assigns IP addresses for the client terminals (CT) and slave mobile stations (MS2). The master also resolves DNS queries in cooperation with external DNS servers. Traffic, including internet packets (IP1-IP4), between the client terminals and various internet hosts (HO) is tunneled over multiple simultaneous transmission paths between the master (MS1) and a multiplexing/demultiplexing computer (SM). The inventive bandwidth combination technique is transparent to the client terminals (CT) and the internet hosts (HO).
US08493947B2 Selecting an access point in a wireless network using a data flow metric
Available access points (AP) are searched in a wireless network for information of each channel between a client and each AP and the information includes at least one network performance metric. A list of the available APs and the information are received at the client and the client has at least one interface used for communicating with each AP. A type of a data flow and a corresponding data flow metric for the type of data flow are also determined. An AP is selected to receive the data flow from the list of the available APs based on the information of each channel and the type of the data flow metric, and the data flow is received at the client from the selected AP in the wireless network.
US08493946B2 Identifying a desired mesh network in a multiple network environment
Network devices in a multi-network wireless mesh network environment identify themselves as members of the network by receiving a broadcast message from a first mesh network device that has joined the wireless mesh network, and identifying that the broadcast transmission has been received such as by actuating a light, playing a sound, or sending an identifying reply message back to a broadcasting mesh network device.
US08493943B1 Geographical communications networking system and method
An ad-hoc network comprising multiple nodes in, each node including a transmitter, a receiver, a tactical database, storing a partition of the geographical area into multiple cells, each cell is associated with coordinates in a geographical coordinate system, storing tactical data the nodes, a geographical cell processor for identifying the geographical position of the node in associating the node with one of the geographical cells, a situation awareness and collision avoidance messages processor for transmitting/receiving situation awareness messages, the situation awareness messages include the node identification representation, the node geographical position and the node protocol information the node, together with additional of the nodes being defined as cell members of the geographical cell, the cell-member is determined a cell-representative for the geographical cell, the cell-representative, transmits cell-representative messages, to nodes that are within a determined distance from the cell-representative including information relating to the cell-members of a geographical cell.
US08493942B2 Interference cancellation in wireless communication
Techniques for recovering transmissions on data and control channels with interference cancellation are described. A receiver derives a first interference estimate for a first channel based on a first channel estimate and cancels the first interference estimate from an input signal. The receiver thereafter derives a second interference estimate for the first channel based on a second channel estimate and cancels the second interference estimate in place of the first interference estimate from the input signal. The receiver may derive the first channel estimate based on pilot symbols and may derive the second channel estimate based on a correctly decoded packet. The second channel estimate may be of higher quality than the first channel estimate.
US08493939B2 Apparatus, and an associated method, for preserving communication service quality levels during hand-off of communications in a radio communication system
A mobile station is configured to transmit a sequence of data packets over a wireless network. The station includes a data sequence expander. The expander receives an indication of a pending hand-off for the mobile station from a first network access point to a second network access point and estimates an amount of time prior to occurrence of the hand-off. The expander inserts a number of delay packets into the sequence of data packets in response to receiving the indication of the pending hand-off. The number of delay packets is determined based on the estimated amount of time prior to the occurrence of the hand-off such that the insertion of the delay packets into the sequence of data packets will cause a delay that corresponds to the amount of time prior to occurrence of the hand-off.
US08493932B2 Method and apparatus for bearer processing
A bearer processing method is disclosed. The method includes these steps: a system border node receives a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request initiated by a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS); the system border node adjusts a Request Bearer Resource Allocation message of a system architecture evolution (SAE) system or the PDP Context Request of the UMTS according to the received PDP Context Request to map the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the SAE system and the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the UMTS. The present invention can map the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the SAE system and the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the UMTS.
US08493931B1 Efficient handover of media communications in heterogeneous IP networks using handover procedure rules and media handover relays
Methods and systems are provided for efficient handover of a media session between heterogeneous Internet Protocol (IP) networks. A mobile device with Internet access can operate a software program to communicate with a corresponding node. The corresponding node may access the Internet through a firewall which may include Network Address Translation (NAT)-routing functionality. The mobile device establishes a media session with a corresponding node via the transmission of a first media stream and receipt of a second media stream, and a media-control channel can optionally be implemented. The mobile device can acquire Internet access through a second IP address, and packets routed between the second IP address and the Internet may traverse a firewall. The mobile device can evaluate a set of network parameters at the second IP address from a stored Local Area Network (LAN) profile. A software routine can (i) evaluate that handover of the media session from the first IP address to the second IP address is preferred and (ii) select an efficient handover procedure according to handover procedure rules.
US08493925B2 Method for communicating in a network, a secondary station and a system therefor
The present invention relates to a method for communicating in a network, comprising a) a secondary station preparing the transmission to a primary station of a message comprising at least a data field for containing data in an allocated resource, said resource comprising a plurality of resource blocks, and b) if the size of the allocated resource is bigger than required for the size of the message, the secondary station dividing the allocated resource in a first portion and a second portion, each portion comprising at least one resource block, c) the secondary station transmitting the message to the primary station in the first portion of the resource, d) the secondary station preventing from transmitting in the second portion of the resource.
US08493920B2 Method for transmitting voice packets in wireless communication system
There is provided a method for transmitting voice packets for VoIP service using semi-persistent scheduling that previously allocates radio resources and performs uplink transmission using the previously allocated radio resources when additional radio resource allocation is not allocated. The method includes allocating radio resources used for talkspurt and radio resources used for silent period, detecting transition from the talkspurt to the silent period or transition from the silent period to the talkspurt, and transmitting a transition indicator that indicates the transition from the talkspurt to the silent period or transition from the silent period to the talkspurt.
US08493915B2 Method for synchronizing between a gateway and base stations and corresponding gateway and base stations
A method for synchronizing between an access gateway and a plurality of base stations is provided. The method comprises: at the gateway, determining a synchronization period corresponding to a packet to be transmitted to the base stations, said synchronization period being used as a scheduling granularity of the base stations, adding information indicating the synchronization period to the header of the packet, and transmitting the packet to the corresponding base stations; and at each of the base stations, obtaining, upon receipt of the packet, the synchronization period corresponding to the packet based on the information in the header of the packet, storing the packet in a buffer, determining, at the time of scheduling, synchronization periods which have terminated before the time of scheduling based on the synchronization periods corresponding to the stored packets, and scheduling packets corresponding to the determined synchronization periods according to a predetermined scheduling strategy.
US08493909B2 Method for the transmission of data field of technology
A method, system and computer program product for the transmission of data from a transmitter to receiver. The present invention is directed to improving data transmission. To this end, the transmission of data is accelerated, and an inband-signaling of information is carried out on an MAC-layer plane, wherein the information is particularly relevant to the base station (BS).
US08493908B2 Method of allocating uplink transmission channels in a communication system
A method of allocating channels in a user equipment is disclosed. In particular, a method of allocating a plurality of Dedicated Physical Channels (DPCHs) and Enhanced Dedicated Channels (E-DCHs) in a user equipment of a multicode transmission system. The method includes determining whether a High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) is configured for the user equipment (UE) and determining a number of codes used by the DPCH and the E-DCH. The method further includes allocating the DPCH and the E-DCH channels to an I branch or a Q branch based on the number of codes used by the DPCH and the E-DCH and the HS-DSCH configuration.
US08493903B2 Method of setting up dynamic multicast and broadcast service zone for providing mobile internet protocol television service
A technology of setting up a MBS zone for providing a mobile IPTV service is provided in which the MBS zone is effectively managed, so that QoS is prevented from being degraded due to the handover delay that is caused by a MBS handover occurring when a user moves between MBS zones.
US08493901B2 Wireless communication system, wireless communication apparatus, and method of control thereof
A wireless communication apparatus, which is capable of operating in an active mode and a sleep mode, comprises an antenna control unit, which controls a half-value angle and a directivity angle of an antenna for communication, and a mode control unit, which controls a change between the active mode and the sleep mode. When the wireless communication apparatus is in the sleep mode, the antenna control unit sets the half-value angle of the antenna to be a larger half-value angle than the half-value angle with respect to the active mode, and sets the directivity angle of the antenna to a predetermined angle.
US08493900B2 Idle mode power consumption reduction in wireless communications
Idle mode power consumption reduction in wireless communications. Within a wireless communication device that is operative to communicate with any one of a number of servicing cells, paging broadcasts from more than one of these servicing cells are received and undergo only a limited amount of processing before being stored for use in subsequent processing that may be performed later. This partitioned processing allows the turning off of certain components that are not needed and/or no longer needed for determining the system frame numbers associated with various servicing cells to effectuate timing synchronization. Certain modules within such a wireless communication device may perform processing using the full capabilities of the wireless communication device to generate initially processed signal, and then after such signals are stored, then only partial processing capability of the wireless communication device may be employed, even though perhaps being slower, to complete the processing.
US08493899B2 Apparatus and method for controlling sleep mode entry in broadband wireless communication system
A sleep mode entry of a terminal in a broadband wireless communication system is provided. A base station includes an adjuster for, when a first terminal requests a sleep mode entry and lengths of requested sleep interval and listening interval do not meet a certain condition, adjusting the lengths of the sleep interval and the listening interval; and a determiner for setting a distribution of the sleep interval and the listening interval according to the adjustment of the adjuster and determining a sleep mode entry time of a second terminal which enters a sleep mode after the distribution of the sleep interval and the listening interval is set.
US08493892B1 Resolving conflicts in distributed systems
A method for resolving conflicts between conference bridges in a distributed conferencing system includes determining that a conflict exists between a first conference bridge and a second conference bridge. The conflict may arise from the first conference bridge and the second conference bridge independently providing a meeting resource for a first meeting. The method also includes determining at the first conference bridge and at the second conference bridge that the meeting resource is to be provided by the first conference bridge. In determining that the meeting resource is to be provided by the first conference bridge, there is a probability of determining that the meeting resource is to be provided by the second conference bridge. The method also includes, providing the meeting resource for the first meeting at the first conference bridge and stopping providing the meeting resource for the first meeting at the second conference bridge.
US08493891B2 Method, network element, and system for counting audience of multimedia broadcast/multicast service
A method for counting the audience of multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) includes: by a first network element (NE), counting MBMS audience on the first NE; and reporting the MBMS audience counted on the first NE to a statistical analysis NE so that the statistical analysis NE gets an MBMS audience counting result. The invention also discloses a statistical analysis NE, a communication NE, and a system for counting MBMS audience. The invention overcomes the waste of resources on audience counting in multicast mode and provides a feasible method for counting audience in enhanced broadcast mode.
US08493890B2 Determining node location in a wireless network
Transmitting nodes broadcast chirped signals on a wireless network. The transmitting nodes are time-synchronized with each other and location of the transmitting nodes is known. A receiver node detects beat frequencies created by pairs of chirped signals from different pairs of transmitting nodes. Time delay differences between chirped signals in respective beat frequency pairs are determined. The receiver node's location is determined in view of the time delay differences.
US08493888B2 Connectivity architecture for service discovery
A system including a billboard that may comprise a common memory space allocated amongst at least two devices. Service nodes created on the billboard may represent services offered by the at least two devices. Service nodes may interact with each other on the billboard in order to perform inquiries for required services. For example, an application residing in the at least two devices may access the billboard in order to locate service nodes pertaining to a desired service. Information available from service nodes may include service property and usable transport information. A direction connection may then be made between the application and the service after a service node is selected.
US08493884B2 Multi-topology and multi-service routing system
A system and method is disclosed for routing a stream between several nodes, Ni, forming a network. The stream is transmitted by a source and is intended for one or more destinations taking account of the mobility requirements of the users and of the network nodes. The network nodes have the following characteristics: a node, Ni, of the network comprises a service module, xSVi, one or more transfer gateways, xTGi, a function LOC suitable for generating for each service a routing table used at the request of the service modules, xSVi. A server LOC is connected, for a given service, via a service node, SNGi, to the other routing modules LOCi.
US08493883B2 Identifying and analyzing network configuration differences
A contextual and semantic analysis of network entities facilitates a mapping and comparison of the entities between network models. The system includes a plurality of refine handler and match handler pairs that use rules that are specific to the type of network entities being analyzed. The refine handler analyzes the network model to identify the entities for which its rules apply, and the match handler processes these identified entities to establish a pairing between corresponding entities in each model. A sequence of refine-match processes are applied to the network models, typically in accordance with a hierarchy of rules until each entity is identified as a matched, added, or removed entity. A difference handler processes the identified pairings to provide a difference analysis that facilitates a meaningful interpretation of the configuration changes, and a user interface provides an interactive environment to view the differences from different perspectives.
US08493880B2 Network system
The network system includes a controller and a plurality of terminals. The controller repeats transmitting a request signal indicative of a predetermined probability. Upon receiving the request signal, the terminal sends, at the probability indicated by the request signal, a response signal including the identification information uniquely allocated to the terminal. Upon receiving the response signal, the controller sends a notification signal with reference to the identification information included in the response signal. The terminal judges whether or not a response has been completed, on the basis of the received notification signal. The terminal sends no response signal in response to receiving the request signal once after judging that the response has been completed. The controller prepares the next request signal indicative of the probability not less than that indicated by the previous request signal.
US08493877B1 Adaptive satellite return link symbol rate determination
A method for determining a maximum symbol rate of a return communication link includes: assigning transmission opportunities at a current symbol rate equal to a first symbol rate to the user terminal; receiving a plurality of messages during the assigned transmission opportunities at the current symbol rate from the user terminal; first determining if a number of messages incorrectly received is less than a threshold number of incorrect messages and second determining if a power amplifier of the user terminal is operating in a linear region; if the number of messages incorrectly received is less than the threshold number and if the power amplifier is operating in the linear region, assigning a channel at the current symbol rate to the user terminal as a home channel for the user terminal; and otherwise, repeating at an updated current symbol rate.
US08493871B2 End-to end analysis of transactions in networks with traffic-altering devices
In a network that includes intermediary nodes, such as WAN accelerators, that transform messages between nodes, an end-to-end path of the messages is determined. The determined end-to-end path is used in subsequent analysis of message traces, to identify timing and other factors related to the performance of the network relative to the propagation of these messages, including the propagation of the transformed messages. A variety of techniques are presented for determining the path of the messages, depending upon the characteristics of the collected trace data. Upon determining the message path, the traces are synchronized in time and correlations between the connections along the path are determined, including causal relationships. In a preferred embodiment, a user identifies an application process between or among particular nodes of a network, and the system provides a variety of formats for viewing statistics related to the performance of the application on the network.
US08493870B2 Method and apparatus for tracing mobile sessions
A method and apparatus for determining a path supporting a mobile session to identify the underlying transport elements supporting the path. In various embodiments mobile session tracing is implemented within a network such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network by determining elements in a path supporting a mobile session of a user equipment (UE) having an specific identifier, such as an IP address or terminal identification number.
US08493868B2 Traffic load management
A node may assist in the management of upstream network traffic in part by managing a contention window used by the node. The node may maintain a list of size(s) of contention window(s) of parent node(s) of the node. The node may set its own contention window to be longer (i.e., a longer period of time) than that of upstream neighbor nodes. With a longer contention window than that of its parent node(s), the node will refrain from using an RF channel needed by a parent node. Accordingly, upstream nodes are better able to transmit any backlog of data before receiving additional data from downstream nodes. This may better distribute data over the network, and may better manage data flow.
US08493866B2 Redundant computers and computer communication networks in a high-voltage power transmission system
A method for sending signals from an active computer in a high-voltage power transmission system including active protection computers and active and standby control computers in a hierarchical structure having at least two hierarchical levels. A high-voltage power transmission system and a control station for at least a part of such a transmission system. In the system all computers on the various hierarchical levels are connected to at least two separate computer communication networks. An active computer sends signals that are to be received by at least one other computer at the same or another hierarchical level simultaneously on the two separate computer communication networks to which it is connected.
US08493864B1 Cable far end port identification using repeating link state patterns
An apparatus including: a first port configured to receive a first end of a cable to provide a communication link between (i) the first port, and (ii) a second port coupled to a second end of the cable. The apparatus further includes a processor configured to, during a time that the first end of the cable is coupled to the first port and the second end of the cable is coupled to the second port, (i) receive a command to identify the second port to which the second end of the cable is coupled, and (ii) in response to the command, repeatedly change the state of the communication link at the first port in accordance with a pattern.
US08493863B2 Hierarchical fabric control circuits
In an embodiment, one or more fabric control circuits may be inserted in a communication fabric to control various aspects of the communications by components in the system. The fabric control circuits may be included on the interface of the components to the communication fabric, in some embodiments. In other embodiments that include a hierarchical communication fabric, fabric control circuits may alternatively or additionally be included. The fabric control circuits may be programmable, and thus may provide the ability to tune the communication fabric to meet performance and/or functionality goals.
US08493857B2 Multiple logical channels for use in network devices
A method for establishing a virtual channel between network devices is disclosed. In the case of a local network device establishing a virtual channel with a remote network device, a virtual channel request message is sent from the local network device to the remote network device. A virtual channel acknowledgement message and a remote capability list are received and a virtual channel resume message and a local capability list are sent. The virtual channel is then enabled. In the case of a remote network device establishing a virtual channel with a local network device, a virtual channel request message is received from a local network device by a remote network device. A virtual channel acknowledgement message and a remote capability list are sent and a virtual channel resume message and a local capability list are received. The virtual channel is then enabled.
US08493855B2 Network retransmission protocols using a proxy node
One embodiment relates to a method for communicating over a transmission medium shared between a plurality of nodes including a source node, a proxy node, and other nodes. In the method, a transmission data unit is transmitted from the source node to the proxy node and to the other nodes. A confirmation is selectively transmitted from the proxy node to the other nodes based on whether a reception data unit corresponding to the transmission data unit is correctly received at the proxy node. Based on whether the confirmation is received at one of the other nodes, a negative acknowledgement is selectively transmitted from the one of the other nodes to the source node. Other methods and devices are also disclosed.
US08493852B2 Packet aggregation
A system includes logic to store multiple descriptors, each of the multiple descriptors to be associated with a different set of multiple Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) packets received by the network controller, each of the multiple descriptors including a count of the number of packets in the set of multiple packets associated with a respective descriptor. For each of the respective receive packets, the system determines a one of the multiple descriptors based on the network source address, network destination address, source port, and destination port of the respective packet; includes the respective packet in the set of multiple packets associated with the determine one of the multiple descriptors; and updates the one of the multiple descriptors by incrementing the count of the number of packets in the set of multiple packets; and provides data from within the packets to the host.
US08493851B2 Method and system for offloading tunnel packet processing in cloud computing
A network device may provide Layer-2 (L2) based tunneling to offload at least a portion of tunneling performed by tunneling gateways. The L2 based tunneling provided by the network device may comprise determining one or more other network devices that may receive traffic packets which may be handled by the tunneling gateways; and communicating at least a portion of the traffic packets to the one or more other network devices directly from the network device, using L2 tunnels established via the network device such that communication of the at least a portion of the one or more traffic packets offloads tunneling by bypassing the one or more tunneling gateways. At least a portion of the L2 based tunnel offloading by the network device may be handled via a network controller. Providing the offloaded tunneling in the network device may be based on determined of traffic type of the traffic packets.
US08493844B2 Method for the reconfiguration of a communications network
A method for reconfiguring a communication network is provided. A first network uses a first network protocol and a second network uses a second network protocol, the two networks being connected by two data links. A first data link is initialized as activated and a second data link is initialized as deactivated. A failure of the first data link is detected by a first bridge of the second network, the first bridge being connected to the first data link. A first data packet is generated by the first bridge and is transmitted to a second bridge of the second network, the second bridge being connected to the second data link. The first data packet is received and processed by the second bridge. The first data packet contains information which initiates a partial implementation of the first network protocol on a port of the second bridge and an activation of the second data link.
US08493842B2 Implementing exchange of failing lane information for fault-tolerant communication links
A method and circuit for implementing exchange of failing lane information for fault-tolerant communication links, and a design structure on which the subject circuit resides are provided. An ordered set for lane and link training includes a novel lane mask field for lane and link training. Ordered sets are exchanged during lane and link training for a fault-tolerant communication link to establish synchronization between a transmitter and a receiver. In a link training step, the bus link layer exchanges an ordered set with a plurality of bits of lane mask information included in predefined bytes, such as bytes 8 and 9 of the lane mask field. Upon receiving the ordered set with the plurality of bits of lane mask information, the transmitter lanes are reconfigured to align with the received mask information.
US08493840B2 Fault-tolerant ethernet network
Fault-tolerant Ethernet is provided through the use of special interfaces providing duplicate ports that may be alternatively enabled with the same network address. A switching between the ports, corrects for single faults in a two-way redundant system without time-consuming reconfiguration of other end devices or the need for complex middleware in the end devices.
US08493839B2 Method and system of teamed network adapters with offloaded connections
A method and system that comprises a central processing unit (CPU) and a first and second network adapter that are teamed together is disclosed. The network adapters in the team may be adapted to offload connections to transfer a plurality of packets. A program, executing on the CPU, may reload an offloaded connection established by the first network adapter onto the second network adapter if one of a plurality of packets associated with the offloaded connection was received on the second network adapter.
US08493838B2 Device management system
When the alternate unit detects the failure of the area unit, the alternate unit obtains the program corresponding to the program type of the area unit having the failure. The alternate unit sets the IP address of the area unit, and obtains the setting information from the management unit belonging to the area same as the area including the area unit having the failure. Then, the alternate unit collects the data from the units which previously communicate with the area unit having a failure and previously communicating with the area unit. The alternate unit performs the initialization and starts the management of the unit. Consequently, it is possible to continuously manage the sub unit being previously managed by the main unit, now having a failure, without stopping the management of the sub unit, even if the main unit is failed.
US08493837B2 Method of transmitting reference signal and transmitter using the same
A method and apparatus of transmitting a reference signal in a wireless communication system is provided. A reference signal sequence is generated by using a pseudo-random sequence. A portion or entirety of the reference signal sequence is mapped to at least one resource block and is transmitted. The pseudo-random sequence is generated by a gold sequence generator which is initialized with initial values obtained by using cell identifier. The reference signal provides low PAPR and high cross correlation characteristic.
US08493836B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting uplink signals using optimized rank 3 codebook
A method for transmitting and receiving uplink signals using an optimized rank 3 codebook is disclosed. The optimized rank 3 codebook includes 12 precoding matrix groups, which are consisted of 6 Tx antenna power balanced precoding matrix groups and 6 layer power balanced precoding matrix groups. Preferably, the optimized 4Tx rank 3 codebook has 20 precoding matrix, two precoding matrixes are selected from each the 6 Tx antenna power balanced precoding matrix groups, considering chordal distance and the number of precoding matrix. And then 8 precoding matrices are selected from the layer balanced precoding matrix groups.
US08493833B1 Slew rate-variation based driver equalization for far-end crosstalk cancellation
A communication system is disclosed. The communication system comprises a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes a plurality of channels; The communication system includes a plurality of receivers coupled to outputs of the plurality of channels; and a plurality of drivers coupled to inputs of the plurality of channels, wherein a slew rate for each of the plurality drivers is dependent on the transitions of its neighboring drivers. The communication system further includes a plurality of slew rate equalizers coupled to the plurality of drivers, wherein a slew rate driver coupled to a victim channel compensates for cross talk from its neighboring aggressor channels by adjusting its slew rate based upon a signal received from the slew rate equalizer of the victim channel.
US08493832B2 Optical storage medium having different dimension of recorded marks and spaces on different tracks
The optical storage medium comprises a substrate layer and a data layer disposed on the substrate layer, the data layer having a mark/space data structure being arranged in tracks, wherein on a first track, the marks are enlarged in length and the spaces are shortened in length, and on an adjacent track, the marks are shortened in length and the spaces are enlarged in length. The track pitch between adjacent tracks is particularly below a diffraction limit of λ/2*NA of a pickup for reading of the data.
US08493831B2 Compatible optical pickup and optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing the same
A compatible optical pickup including an optical unit and a focusing unit. The optical unit emits a short wavelength light for high-density recording media and a long wavelength light for low-density recording media, directs the short and long wavelength light to a recording medium, receives lights reflected by the recording medium, and detects an information reproduction signal and/or an error signal from the received lights. The focusing unit focuses light received from the optical unit to form a light spot on a recording surface of the recording medium, diffracts the short wavelength light into a zero order light and the long wavelength light into a second order light to be used as effective light for recording and/or reproduction. Thus, a high-density recording medium and a low-density recording medium having different thicknesses can be compatibly used.
US08493826B1 Method and apparatus for recording
Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for signal processing. The method includes receiving a tracking signal corresponding to a recording track on a storage medium. The tracking signal is frequency modulated with encoded symbols. Further, the method includes phase-locking an internal signal to the tracking signal to cause a frequency of the internal signal to be locked at a center frequency of the tracking signal, detecting a drift between the internal signal and the encoded symbols, and phase-shifting the internal signal to compensate for the drift.
US08493825B2 Portable information processing apparatus, information processing method for portable information processing apparatus, and program
An information processing apparatus including a display input device in which an image display unit and an operation input unit are integrally formed includes reproduction means for reproducing data recorded on a recording medium, storage means for storing defining data reproduced from the recording medium and defining an operation of the display input device, display control means for controlling the image display unit to display an operator in accordance with the defining data stored in the storage means, determining means for determining an operator for which an operation is input in accordance with an input content input from the operation input unit and a display content displayed on the image display unit, and operation content reading means for reading an operation content of the information processing apparatus stored in the storage means and defined for each operator in accordance with a determination result of the determining means.
US08493824B2 Optical head and optical disc device
A tilt can be detected highly accurately by minimizing the tilt detection error. An optical head includes: an objective lens for converging a light beam from a light source onto an optical disc; a photodetector section receiving the beam, reflected from the disc, at divided areas on its photodetection plane and outputting light detection signals from those areas; and a tilt detecting section for detecting a relative tilt between the lens and disc based on the detection signals. The tilt detecting section generates a first push-pull signal PP1 based on the detection signals supplied from a first group of areas, which are arranged symmetrically to a virtual reference line drawn parallel to a disc radial direction and crossing an optical axis, also generates a second push-pull signal PP2 based on the detection signals supplied from a second group of areas, different from the first group and also arranged symmetrically to the reference line, changes coefficients k according to the location of the lens in a disc radial direction, and generates a tilt detection signal TLT by TLT=PP1−k×PP2.
US08493819B2 Near-field light generating element, near-field light head, and information recording and reproducing device
A metal film is included which is placed between a core and a cladding, propagates a laser beam along an interface between the core and the cladding, and generates a near-field light from the laser beam. The metal film has a base portion placed on one side surface of the core along a propagation direction of the laser beam facing from one end side toward the other end side, and an extending portion extended from the other end side of the base portion to the other end side in the propagation direction rather than the core. The other end side of the extending portion is exposed to the outside, and is formed with a top portion projected toward the core side when viewed from the propagation direction.
US08493818B2 Thermally-assisted magnetic recording head, head gimbal assembly and magnetic recording device
A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head, includes: a pole that generates a writing magnetic field from an end surface that forms a portion of an air bearing surface opposing a magnetic recording medium; a waveguide through which light for exciting a surface plasmon propagates; a plasmon generator that couples to the light in a surface plasmon mode and generates near-field light from a near-field light generating portion on a near-field light generating end surface that forms the portion of the air bearing surface; and magnetic field focusing parts that are able to focus the writing magnetic field generated from the pole and that are disposed on both sides of the pole in a track width direction from a perspective of the air bearing surface side.
US08493817B2 Electronic timepiece
An electronic timepiece that uses electrical power produced by photovoltaic generation as a power source and has a function for receiving microwave signals, including a dial for displaying time information on a front surface thereof, a solar cell that receives light passing through the dial and produces electrical power by photovoltaic generation, and an antenna that is disposed so that at least part of the signal receiving surface opposes at least a part of the back surface of the dial, and receives microwave signals through the dial. The solar cell is not disposed in space between the back side of the dial and the signal receiving surface of the antenna.
US08493814B2 Semiconductor memory device using only single-channel transistor to apply voltage to selected word line
A semiconductor memory device has a memory cell array, a first transistor of a first conductivity type, a second transistor of a second conductivity type and a third transistor of the first conductivity type. A source or drain of the first transistor is connected to each of word lines. A drain of the second transistor is connected to a gate of the first transistor. A source of the third transistor is connected to the gate of the first transistor. The gates of the second transistor and the third transistor are not connected, a source of the second transistor is not connected to a drain of the third transistor, and the gate of the second transistor and the drain of the third transistor have different voltage levels corresponding to opposite logic levels each other.
US08493810B2 Memory circuitry with write boost and write assist
Memory circuitry 2 includes a memory cell 12 coupled to a plurality of bit line pairs 18, 24 providing multiple access ports. Write boost circuitry 36 serves to increase a write voltage applied to write a data value into the memory cell during at least a boost period of a write access. Collision detection circuitry 10 detects when the write access at least partially overlaps in time with a read access. If a collision is detected, then write assist circuitry serves to drive the bit line pair of the detected read access with a write assist voltage difference having the same polarity as the write voltage and a magnitude less than the write voltage with the boost voltage applied. The write assist circuitry drives the bit line pair of the colliding read independently of the write boost circuitry applying the boost voltage such that the boost voltage is undiminished by the action of the write assist circuitry.
US08493808B2 Data flow control in multiple independent port
A system includes a memory controller and a plurality of memory devices connected in-series that communicate with the memory controller. Each of the memory devices has multiple independent serial ports for receiving and transmitting data. The memory controller a device address (DA) or ID number for designating a device that executes a command. Data contained in the command sent by the memory controller is captured by an individual link control circuit, in response to internally generated clock with appropriate latencies. The captured data is written into a corresponding memory bank. The data stored in one of a plurality of memory banks of one memory device is read in accordance with the addresses issued by the memory controller. The read data is propagated from the memory device through the series-connected memory devices to the memory controller.
US08493805B2 Semiconductor apparatus
A semiconductor apparatus includes: odd and even sub word line driving units configured to selectively drive odd sub word lines and even sub word lines among a plurality of sub word lines; a bit line sense amplifier including a plurality of sense amplifier driving lines which are electrically connected with bit lines; a first sense amplifier driving unit formed on one side of the bit line sense amplifier which extends in the same direction as the bit lines, and configured to drive odd sense amplifier driving lines among the plurality of sense amplifier driving lines; and a second sense amplifier driving unit formed on another side of the bit line sense amplifier which extends in the same direction as the bit lines, and configured to drive even sense amplifier driving lines among the plurality of sense amplifier driving lines according to driving of the even sub word lines.
US08493803B2 Auto-precharge signal generator
An auto-precharge signal generation circuit comprises a signal generator, a set signal generator, and an auto-precharge signal generator. The signal generator is configured to generating a control signal and a precharge control signal in response to receiving a first column address strobe signal and an auto-precharge flag signal. The set signal generator is configured to generating a set signal in response to receiving the control signal and the precharge control signal. The auto-precharge signal generator is configured to generate an auto-precharge signal in response to receiving the set signal and a period set signal.
US08493800B2 Three dimensional semiconductor storage device having write drivers under a three dimensional memory cell array
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor storage device includes a three-dimensional memory cell array, write drivers, and a program voltage control circuit. In the three-dimensional memory cell array, memory cells are three-dimensionally arranged. The write drivers are arranged to be distributed under the three-dimensional memory cell array and apply a program voltage to the memory cells during writing in the memory cells. The program voltage control circuit is arranged around the three-dimensional memory cell array and performs control for making the write drivers to generate the program voltage.
US08493797B2 Memory system and method having volatile and non-volatile memory devices at same hierarchical level
A processor-based system includes a processor coupled to core logic through a processor bus. This includes a dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) memory buffer controller. The DRAM memory buffer controller is coupled through a memory bus to a plurality of a dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) modules and a flash memory module, which are at the same hierarchical level from the processor. Each of the DRAM modules includes a memory buffer to the memory bus and to a plurality of dynamic random access memory devices. The flash memory module includes a flash memory buffer coupled to the memory bus and to at least one flash memory device. The flash memory buffer includes a DRAM-to-flash memory converter operable to convert the DRAM memory requests to flash memory requests, which are then applied to the flash memory device.
US08493792B2 Programming method of non-volatile memory device
A programming method includes setting the voltages of bit lines, performing a program operation, performing a program verify operation by supplying a program verify voltage and determining whether all of the memory cells of the selected page have been programmed with a target threshold voltage or higher, counting the number of passed memory cells corresponding to a number of pass bits, if, a result of the program verify operation, the program operation failed to program all of the memory cells of the selected page to the target threshold voltage or higher, and making a determination that determines whether the number of pass bits is greater than the first number of pass permission bits, and raising a voltage of a bit line coupled to a failed memory cell, if, as a result of the determination, the number of pass bits is greater than the first number of pass permission bits.
US08493788B2 Semiconductor memory device and control method thereof
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array, a column decoder, and a control circuit configured to control the memory cell array and the column decoder. The control circuit is configured to load program data from outside, to execute a first data program in a first even-numbered bit line, to execute a second data program in a first odd-numbered bit line, to execute a verify read of the programmed bit lines, to determine whether a value of the verify read is programmed up to a predetermined threshold value, and to change, in a case where the value of the verify read fails to be programmed to the predetermined threshold value, an order of the first and second data programs, to execute the second data program in the first odd-numbered bit line, and then to execute the first data program in the first even-numbered bit line.
US08493787B2 FTP memory device programmable and erasable at cell level
An embodiment of non-volatile memory device integrated in a chip of semiconductor material is proposed. The memory includes at least one sector of a plurality of memory cells; each sector includes a storage region of a first type of conductivity and a further storage region of a second type of conductivity. Each memory cell includes a first region and a second region of the second type of conductivity, which are formed in the storage region for defining a storage transistor of floating gate MOS type of the first type of conductivity; the memory cell likewise includes a further first region and a further second region of the first type of conductivity, which are formed in the further storage region for defining a further storage transistor of floating gate MOS type of the second type of conductivity. The memory cell also includes a common floating gate of the storage transistor and the further storage transistor. The memory device further includes programming means for programming each memory cell individually by programming the corresponding floating gate through the corresponding storage transistor, and erasing means for erasing each memory cell individually by erasing the corresponding floating gate through the corresponding further storage transistor.
US08493786B2 Semiconductor device for short-circuiting output terminals of two or more voltage generator circuits at read time and control method for the same
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a first voltage generator, a second voltage generator, a first MOS transistor, and a controller. The first voltage generator outputs a first voltage to a first node. The second voltage generator outputs a second voltage to a second node. The first MOS transistor is capable of short-circuiting the first node and second node. The controller performs a control operation to short-circuit the first node and second node by turning on the first MOS transistor. The controller controls a period in which the first MOS transistor is kept in an on state based on time.
US08493783B2 Memory device readout using multiple sense times
A method for data storage includes storing data in a group of analog memory cells by writing respective storage values into the memory cells in the group. One or more of the memory cells in the group are read using a first readout operation that senses the memory cells with a first sense time. At least one of the memory cells in the group is read using a second readout operation that senses the memory cells with a second sense time, longer than the first sense time. The data stored in the group of memory cells is reconstructed based on readout results of the first and second readout operations.
US08493779B2 Non-volatile magnetic memory element with graded layer
A non-volatile magnetic memory element includes a number of layers one of which is a free layer which is graded. The graded free layer may include various elements with each element having a different anisotropy or it may include nonmagnetic compounds and magnetic regions with the non-magnetic compounds forming graded contents forming a unique shape such as cone shaped, diamond shaped or other shapes and whose thickness is based on the reactivity of the magnetic compound.
US08493778B2 Non-volatile magnetic memory element with graded layer
A non-volatile magnetic memory element includes a number of layers one of which is a free layer which is graded. The graded free layer may include various elements with each element having a different anisotropy or it may include nonmagnetic compounds and magnetic regions with the non-magnetic compounds forming graded contents forming a unique shape such as cone shaped, diamond shaped or other shapes and whose thickness is based on the reactivity of the magnetic compound.
US08493777B2 Non-volatile perpendicular magnetic memory with low switching current and high thermal stability
A non-volatile current-switching magnetic memory element includes a bottom electrode, a pinning layer formed on top of the bottom electrode, and a fixed layer formed on top of the pinning layer. The non-volatile current-switching magnetic memory element further includes a tunnel layer formed on top of the pinning layer, a first free layer with a perpendicular anisotropy that is formed on top of the tunnel layer, a granular film layer formed on top of the free layer, a second free layer formed on top of the granular film layer, a cap layer formed on top of the second layer, and a top electrode formed on top of the cap layer.
US08493776B1 MRAM with current-based self-referenced read operations
A magnetoresistive memory stores logic values in high and low resistance states of magnetic tunnel junction elements. Instead of comparing the resistance of elements to a fixed threshold to discern a logic state, the resistances of elements are self-compared before and after imposing a low resistance state. A measure of the resistance of an element in its unknown resistance state is stored, for example by charging a capacitor to a voltage produced when read current bias is applied. Then the element is written into its low resistance state and read current bias is applied again to develop another voltage, representing the low resistance state. A comparison circuit using current summing and an offset providing a minimum difference tolerance determines whether the resistance of the element was changed or remained the same. This determines the logic state of the element.
US08493766B2 Semiconductor device and method of driving semiconductor device
The number of wirings per unit memory cell is reduced by sharing a bit line by a writing transistor and a reading transistor. Data is written by turning on the writing transistor so that a potential of the bit line is supplied to a node where one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the writing transistor and a gate electrode of the reading transistor are electrically connected, and then turning off the writing transistor so that a predetermined amount of charge is held in the node. Data is read by using a reading signal line connected to one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the reading transistor so that a predetermined reading potential is supplied to the reading signal line, and then detecting a potential of the bit line.
US08493764B2 High density CAM array architectures with adaptive current controlled match-line discharge
An integrated circuit having a CAM array includes a plurality of CAM cells organized in rows and columns where each row corresponds to an address word and each column corresponds to a bit position, and a match line for each row connected to be shared by CAM cells in that row. The CAM array also includes a feedback circuit for each row connected to limit a discharge voltage for a corresponding match line in that row. In another aspect, a method of operating an integrated circuit having a CAM array includes organizing a plurality of CAM cells in rows and columns where each row corresponds to an address word and each column corresponds to a bit position, and sharing a match line with CAM cells in each row. The method also includes limiting a discharge voltage for the match line.
US08493758B2 Method and apparatus for generating current command value for tracking maximum power point in solar energy generating system
There are provided a method and an apparatus for generating a current command value for tracking the maximum power point of a solar energy generating system. The apparatus includes: a voltage detector detecting a voltage input into the flyback power converter; a first calculator calculating an output power from the detected input voltage; a second calculator calculating a power variation based on the calculated output power and a voltage variation of the input voltage; and a current command value generator generating a current command value for tracking the maximum power point of the solar cell module from the calculated voltage variation and the calculated power variation. Accordingly, a current command value after calculating an output power may be generated with only a voltage detector, without a current detector, thereby reducing the costs of a solar energy generating system by decreasing the costs for a high-priced current detector, and simplifying circuit.
US08493757B2 AC/DC converter with a PFC and a DC/DC converter
Disclosed is a power converter including a power factor corrector and a DC/DC converter and a power conversion method.
US08493749B2 Conforming EMI shielding
This is directed to an EMI shield constructed from a conformal coating. A circuit board can include electronic components for which EMI shielding is required. To provide such shielding in a space-efficient manner, a first non-conductive conformal coating can be placed over the circuit board and the electronic components. A second conductive conformal coating can then be placed over the first such that at least portions of the second coating around the periphery of the electronic components are electrically coupled to the circuit board.
US08493748B2 Packaging system with hollow package and method for the same
A packaging system comprising: forming terminal leads; configuring a cavity by partially encapsulating the terminal leads with a compound; attaching an integrated circuit device, a micro-electromechanical system, a micro-mechanical system, or a combination thereof in the cavity; and bonding a cover to the terminal leads for enclosing the cavity.
US08493746B2 Additives for grain fragmentation in Pb-free Sn-based solder
In one embodiment of the present invention, inert nano-sized particles having dimensions from 1 nm to 1,000 nm are added into a solder ball. The inert nano-sized particles may comprise metal oxides, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal borides, etc. The inert nano-sized particles may be a single compound, or may be a metallic material having a coating of a different material. In another embodiment of the present invention, a small quantity of at least one elemental metal that forms stable high melting intermetallic compound with tin is added to a solder ball. The added at least one elemental metal forms precipitates of intermetallic compounds with tin, which are dispersed as fine particles in the solder.
US08493744B2 Surface mount devices with minimum lead inductance and methods of manufacturing the same
A device according to various aspects of the present invention generally includes a surface mount device having a top side, a bottom side, a plurality of sidewalls, and a circuit comprising one or more layers. The device includes a first conductive surface covering a portion of one of the sidewalls for providing an input to the circuit, a second conductive surface covering a portion of one of the sidewalls for providing an output from the circuit, and a third conductive surface covering a portion of one of the sidewalls for providing an electrical ground to the circuit. When the surface mount device is mounted to a provided mounting surface, at least one layer of the circuit is orthogonal to the provided mounting surface.
US08493743B2 Handheld device
A handheld device includes a body, a back cover and a latch mechanism. The body has a back portion. The back cover coves the back portion. The latch mechanism is disposed between the body and the back portion to lock the back portion to the body. Reliving the lock connection between the body and the back cover performed by the latch mechanism causes the back cover is able to depart from the body.
US08493742B2 Push-button switch assembly and electronic device with same
An electronic device includes a casing, a PCB, a push-button switch assembly, and a protective member. The push-button switch includes a push-button disposed on the casing and a switch disposed on the PCB. When pressed, a main body of the push-button moves towards the PCB to actuate the switch. The protective member is disposed between the main body and the PCB for restricting further movement of the main body as the switch is actuated.
US08493739B2 Lightweight audio system for automotive applications and method
A lightweight radio/CD player for vehicular application is virtually “fastenerless” and includes a case and frontal interface formed of polymer based material that is molded to provide details to accept audio devices such as playback mechanisms (if desired) and radio receivers, as well as the circuit boards required for electrical control and display. The case and frontal interface are of composite structure, including an insert molded electrically conductive wire mesh screen that has been pre-formed to contour with the molding operation. The wire mesh provides EMC, RFI, BCI and ESD shielding and grounding of the circuit boards via exposed wire mesh pads and adjacent ground clips. The PCB architecture is bifurcated into a first board carrying common circuit components in a surface mount configuration suitable for high volume production, and a second board carrying application specific circuit components in a wave soldered stick mount configuration. The major components and subassemblies are self-fixturing during the final assembly process, eliminating the need for dedicated tools, fixtures and assembly equipment. The major components and subassemblies self-interconnect by integral guide and connection features effecting “slide lock” and “snap lock” self-interconnection. The radio architecture includes improved push buttons employing 4-bar living hinge linkage and front loaded decorative trim buttons.
US08493738B2 Cooled electronic system with thermal spreaders coupling electronics cards to cold rails
Liquid-cooled electronic systems are provided which include an electronic assembly having an electronics card and a socket with a latch at one end. The latch facilitates securing of the card within the socket or removal of the card from the socket. A liquid-cooled cold rail is disposed at the one end of the socket, and a thermal spreader couples the electronics card to the cold rail. The thermal spreader includes first and second thermal transfer plates coupled to first and second surfaces on opposite sides of the card, and thermally conductive extensions extending from end edges of the plates, which couple the respective transfer plates to the liquid-cooled cold rail. The thermally conductive extensions are disposed to the sides of the latch, and the card is securable within or removable from the socket using the latch without removing the cold rail or the thermal spreader.
US08493736B2 Device for cooling integrated circuits
The present disclosure is related to a device for cooling the surface of a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit or the like, the cooling device comprising a plurality of channels (3′) which are non-parallel to the surface to be cooled, each channel comprising a plurality of separate electrodes (5) or equivalent conducting areas arranged along the length of each channel, the device further comprising or being connectable to means for applying a voltage to the electrodes or conducting areas in each channel according to a sequence, the sequence being such that a droplet (6) of cooling liquid in a channel may be moved from one electrode to the next, thereby transporting the droplet from the top of the channel to the bottom, from where the droplet impinges on the surface to be cooled.
US08493735B2 Liquid cooling arrangement for electronic apparatus
An electronic apparatus includes, an apparatus casing detachably connected to another electronic apparatus, a heat receiver having a flow passage of a cooling medium and assembled in the apparatus casing, and an cooling-medium input and output unit connecting the flow passage of the heat receiver to a circulatory pathway of the cooling medium, the circulatory pathway including a heat exchange taking heat from the cooling medium outside the apparatus casing.
US08493734B2 Multi-case rack for industrial computer
A multi-case rack for an industrial computer includes a rack body and a plurality of removable cases. The removable case can be installed with either its axial end positioned ahead, thus compatible to both a front circuit board and a rear circuit board. The removable case has an anti-shock HD mount capable of holding either two 2.5″ hard drives or one 3.5″ hard drive. The removable case allows heat-dissipating fans to be installed and positioned in a screw-free, hot-swap manner. The removable cases can be readily installed into or from a rack body.
US08493727B2 Removable hard drive in a small form factor desk top computer
An aesthetically pleasing small form factor desktop computer is described. The small form factor desktop computer can be formed of a single piece seamless housing that in the described embodiment is machined from a single billet of aluminum. The single piece seamless housing includes an aesthetically pleasing foot support having at least a portion formed of RF transparent material that provides easy user access to selected internal components as well as offers electromagnetic (EM) shielding. This simplicity of design can accrue many advantages to the small form factor desktop computer besides those related to aesthetic look and feel. Fewer components and less time and effort can be required for assembly of the small form factor desktop computer and the absence of seams in the single piece housing can provide good protection against environmental contamination of internal components as well as EM shielding.
US08493724B2 Electronic device having hinge mechanism
A hinge mechanism for securing to the body of an electronic device. The hinge mechanism includes a fixing plate. A holding member and two latching members project from the base of the electronic device. An end of the holding member opposite to the base bends toward the at least one latching member to form a latching portion. Each latching member includes a connecting portion projecting from the base, a supporting portion bending from an end of the connecting portion opposite to the base, and a hook arranged at a side of the supporting portion opposite to the connecting portion. The holding member cooperates with the supporting portion to define a clearance for holding the fixing plate, the hooks cooperate with the holding member to secure the fixing plate to the body.
US08493723B2 Display device having cantilevered display unit
A display device of the present invention includes a body stand unit; a display displaying unit; and an arm unit, arranged upright from the body stand unit, for supporting the display displaying unit; where the arm unit is arranged on either left or right end side from a center in a horizontal direction of the display displaying unit, and supports the display displaying unit in a cantilever state.
US08493715B1 Automatically ejecting flight data recorder
An apparatus for holding a flight data recorder in an aircraft includes a housing that defines a compartment enclosing the flight data recorder and a flotation device attached to the flight data recorder. If the aircraft crashes into a body of water and become submerged, one or more releasable fasteners holding the compartment's cover in place are triggered thereby removing the cover over an opening in the compartment and ejecting the flotation device and the flight data recorder out of the compartment. The floatation device then floats the flight data recorder to the surface of the water where it can be located by the rescuers.
US08493712B2 Solid electrolytic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same
Provided are a solid electrolytic capacitor capable of reducing leakage current and a method of manufacturing the same. An aspect of the invention provides a solid electrolytic capacitor that comprises: an anode including any one of niobium and a niobium alloy; a dielectric layer formed on the anode; a cathode layer formed on the dielectric layer, the cathode layer having a work function of 5 eV or larger; and a cathode lead layer formed on the cathode layer.
US08493708B2 Capacitor structure
The disclosure relates generally to capacitor structures and more particularly, to capacitor structures having interdigitated metal fingers. Metal finger capacitors may have at least one layer, the at least one layer including: a first set of fingers, wherein each finger of the first set includes an end integrally connected to a bus segment of a first bus; a second set of fingers interdigitated with the first set of fingers, wherein each finger of the second set includes an end integrally connected to a bus segment of a second bus; an in port integrally connected to the first bus and an out port integrally connected to the second bus; and wherein a width of the first and second bus is non-uniform across a length of the first and second bus.
US08493707B2 Grounding rope guide for a dynamo-electric machine
A shaft grounding apparatus including a grounding rope in electrical contact with ground, and an adjustable rope guide configured to guide the grounding rope on an electrically conductive surface of a rotating shaft of an electric machine. The adjustable rope guide includes a plurality of articulating segments configured to provide the adjustable rope guide with a variable radius of curvature to closely follow a radius of curvature of the rotating shaft.
US08493700B2 ESD protection for high-voltage-tolerance open-drain output pad
A high-voltage NMOS transistor for ESD protection is coupled between a high-voltage I/O pad and a low-voltage terminal, and has a parasitic component between its source and drain. A trigger has an input coupled to the high-voltage I/O pad and an output coupled to the parasitic component. When the voltage on the high-voltage I/O pad raises above a threshold value, the trigger applies a voltage to trigger the parasitic component, so as to release an ESD current from the high-voltage I/O pad to the low-voltage terminal through the high-voltage NMOS transistor.
US08493699B2 Low viscosity electrostatic discharge (ESD) dissipating adhesive
In one embodiment, a system includes a cable comprising a plurality of leads and an ESD dissipating adhesive coupled to the plurality of leads in a coverage area for providing ESD protection to an element of an electronic device. The ESD adhesive comprises a mixture of a polymeric thin film and electrically conductive fillers dispersed in the film, and the ESD adhesive has a resistivity from about 50 to 100 MΩ. In another embodiment, a method for providing ESD protection to an element of an electronic device includes applying an ESD adhesive across exposed leads of a cable and evaporating the solvent from the ESD adhesive. At least some of the leads are coupled to an element of an electronic device. The ESD adhesive comprises a polymeric thin film, electrically conductive fillers dispersed in the polymeric thin film, and a solvent for controlling a viscosity of the ESD adhesive.
US08493697B2 Arrangement for ground-fault detection in an AC circuit and power supply arrangement with ground-fault detection
The invention relates to an arrangement (10) for ground fault monitoring of an AC circuit between, on one hand, a neutral conductor (N′) of the AC circuit and, on the other hand, a protective ground wire (PE) or a ground wire with a series connection of ohmic resistors (R1, R2, R3), which has a first terminal (101) for the neutral conductor (N′) and a second terminal (102) for the protective ground wire (PE) or ground wire, wherein the arrangement includes at least one means for detecting a break of one of the resistors (R1, R2, R3) of the series connection.
US08493694B2 Fabrication of a coercivity hard bias using FePt containing film
The free layer of a CPP-TMR sensor is biased by laterally disposed hard bias (HB) layers that include a seedlayer structure, a magnetic layer structure of high coercivity material and a capping layer structure. The magnetic layer structure is a layer of FePt-containing material, such as FePtCu, while the seedlayers and capping layers include layers of Cr, CrTi, Fe, FeCo or FeCoMo. These combinations enable the promotion of the L10 phase of the FePt-containing material which provides a high coercivity magnetic layer structure at much lower annealing temperatures than in the prior art.
US08493693B1 Perpendicular magnetic recording transducer with AFM insertion layer
A magnetic sensor is configured to reside in proximity to a recording medium during use. The sensor includes a magnetic top shield and a magnetic bottom shield. A top sensor stack is under the magnetic top shield and includes magnetic sensing layers. A bottom sensor stack is between the magnetic bottom shield and the top sensor stack. The bottom sensor stack includes a magnetic seed stack above the bottom shield, an insertion stack above the magnetic seed stack, and an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer on and in contact with the insertion stack. A pinned layer is above the AFM layer. An AFM coupling layer is above the pinned layer. In some aspects the insertion stack may include at least one of Ti, Hf, Zr, and Ta. In some aspect, the insertion stack includes a layer of elemental Ti. In other aspects, the insertion stack includes multilayer structures.
US08493692B2 Position determining system with arm center line crossing expanding/contracting direction of hinged actuator unit
A magnetic head-positioning system to accurately test a magnetic disk and a magnetic head, comprises a plurality of hinges attached on an end portion of a linear driving element and disposed on both sides of a center line of the linear driving element, which is in parallel with an extension-shrinkage direction of the linear driving element, and an arm having a length longer than a distance between a plurality of hinge joint portions, the plurality of the hinge joint portions each of which join the hinge with a root portion of the arm and which are disposed on both sides of a center line of the arm which is in parallel with a longitudinal direction of the arm. The arm has an extremity portion on which a head gimbal assembly is detachably attached and this head gimbal assembly is positioned.
US08493686B2 Low profile hard-disk drive enclosure cover which includes a flange recess for accommodating a SATA connector
A disk-enclosure cover for a low-profile, hard-disk drive (HDD). The disk-enclosure cover includes a substantially flat, plate-like portion that includes a periphery, and a peripheral flange that is disposed at the periphery. The peripheral flange includes a recessed portion that is configured to be recessed from a SATA connector in proximity to the SATA connector. In addition, the recessed portion is configured to allow a top portion of the SATA connector to be disposed in close proximity to the peripheral flange when the SATA connector is seated on a receiving connector of the low-profile HDD.
US08493685B2 Base assembly for motor and hard disk drive including the same
There is provided a base assembly for a motor, the base assembly including: a base body having a disk disposed thereon; an outer wall part defining an outer side of the base body; one or more ribs depressed from one surface of the base body and protruded toward the other surface thereof to thereby improve rigidity of the base body; and one or more blocking parts provided in the ribs to thereby block abnormal air flow due to the ribs at a time of rotation of the disk.
US08493684B1 Calibrating voice coil motors
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, are described for calibrating voice coil motors. In one aspect, a method is provided that includes seeking toward an outer diameter of a machine readable medium from a target servo track to a blank portion of the machine readable medium. A radial velocity of an actuator is determined after accelerating the actuator to a target radial velocity. The radial velocity is compared to the target radial velocity, and a current, that is used to controllably modify the radial velocity of the actuator if the radial velocity is different from the target radial velocity, is calibrated.
US08493682B2 Head wrap procedure
According to one embodiment, a method includes tracking a magnetic tape moving in a first direction using at least one reader of an inner module of a head having at least the inner module and first and second outer modules positioned on opposite sides of the inner module and aligned with the inner module in a tape travel direction, detecting a signal using at least one reader of the first outer module as the tape passes thereacross, moving a guide positioned in front of the first outer module in a direction towards the tape until the signal detected by the first outer module decreases by a predetermined amount, and moving the guide directionally away from the tape to a position to set about a predetermined wrap angle of the tape relative to the first outer module after the signal detected by the first outer module decreases by the predetermined amount.
US08493678B2 Piezoelectric actuator and camera module having same
An exemplary piezoelectric actuator includes a fixed barrel defining a first receiving cavity, a movable barrel in the first receiving cavity for receiving a lens module, a piezoelectric driving module driving the movable barrel to move relative to the fixed barrel along an optical axis of the lens module, and a preloading module. The movable barrel defines a second receiving cavity for receiving the lens module. The piezoelectric driving module includes a piezoelectric member attached on the sidewall of the fixed barrel, and a friction member attached on the sidewall of the movable barrel. The piezoelectric member is opposite to the friction member. The preloading module is arranged between the fixed barrel and the movable barrel. The preloading module is opposite to the piezoelectric driving module for exerting a pressure to the movable barrel, thereby making the friction member resist against the piezoelectric member.
US08493674B2 Positioning unit and alignment device for an optical element
The disclosure provides a positioning unit for an optical element in a microlithographic projection exposure installation having a first connecting area for connection to the optical element, and having a second connecting area for connection to an object in the vicinity of the optical element.
US08493667B2 Lens apparatus and imaging apparatus
A lens apparatus includes a first lens unit and a second lens unit each of which is configured to move in an optical axis direction, a first cam tube that includes a first cam part and a second cam part respectively on an outer circumferential surface and an inner circumferential surface and moves the first and second lens units respectively in the optical axis direction using the first and second cam parts as the first cam tube rotates around an optical axis, and a linearly moving guide tube that is arranged on an inner circumferential side of the first cam tube and configured to guide the first and second lens units in the optical axis direction.
US08493665B2 Zoom lens, imaging apparatus, and information device
A zoom lens includes a first lens group having a positive refractive power, a second lens group having a negative refractive power, a third lens group having a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power, which are disposed in order from an object side to an image side and an aperture stop disposed between the second and third lens groups. When changing the magnification of the zoom lens from a short focal end to a long focal end, an interval between the first and second lens groups increases, an interval between the second and third lens groups decreases, and an interval between the third and fourth lens groups increases. The first and third lens groups are moved so as to be positioned at object side positions at the long focal end relative to positions at the short focal end. The third lens group has two positive lenses. Predetermined conditions of the positive lenses of the third lens group are satisfied.
US08493664B2 Close-up lens, imaging apparatus, and method for focusing close-up lens
Providing a close-up lens with superb optical performance capable of focusing from infinity to a close distance allowing a life-size magnification by an internal focusing system with small moving amounts of focusing lens groups, an imaging apparatus, and a method for focusing a close-up lens. The close-up lens includes four lens groups, and is able to focus an object with an imaging magnification from β=0 through at least β=−0.5, wherein upon focusing, a first lens group and a fourth lens group are fixed with respect to an image plane, and a second lens group and a third lens group are moved along an optical axis.
US08493659B2 Viewer and kit for authenticating birefringent pattern, authenticity-verifying medium and method of verifying authenticity
A viewer for authenticating a birefringent pattern having at least two regions having a different birefringence from each other, wherein the viewer contains a polarizing plate and at least one optically anisotropic layer laminated on the polarizing plate, a front retardation of the at least one optically anisotropic layer is 5 nm or more and the total of the front retardation of the at least one optically anisotropic layer and a maximum value of front retardation of the birefringent pattern is greater than λ/2.
US08493656B2 Objective changer and a microscope
An objective changer for a microscope includes a changing device configured to pendulously swing each of a plurality of objectives into a respective operating position near a focal position.
US08493655B2 Optical module for increasing magnification of microscope
An optical module for increasing magnification of a microscope includes an objective and an eyepiece between which is an optical path for light to travel. The optical includes light diverging elements for dividing the optical path into two parallel light paths after leaving the objective; and several orthonormally-arranged reflective elements including at least a first and a last reflective element, each reflective element having a reflective surface diagonal relative to the orthonormal arrangement of the elements, and also arranged to successively reflect the parallel light paths, from element to element, from the objective when the module is inserted in the optical microscope, beneath the eyepiece. Also included are light converging elements for converging the parallel paths into a single path before producing an image at the eyepiece.
US08493654B2 High-temperature interband cascade lasers
An interband cascade gain medium is provided. The gain medium can include at least one thick separate confinement layer comprising Ga(InAlAs)Sb between the active gain region and the cladding and can further include an electron injector region having a reduced thickness, a hole injector region comprising two hole quantum wells having a total thickness greater than about 100 Å, an active gain quantum well region separated from the adjacent hole injector region by an electron barrier having a thickness sufficient to lower a square of a wavefunction overlap between a zone-center active electron quantum well and injector hole states, and a thick AlSb barrier separating the electron and hole injectors of at least one stage of the active region.
US08493653B2 Multi-stage optical fiber amplifier with high gain and low duty cycle
The present invention relates to an optical fiber amplifying module equipped with a structure for stably attaining a high gain even when amplifying light having a low duty cycle. The optical fiber amplifying module comprises at least three amplification optical fibers successively arranged from an input connector to an output collimator. A bandpass filter is arranged between the first- and second-stage amplification optical fibers. Control means having a structure constituted by optically passive components alone or a feedback structure functions so as to render an upper limit to a gain for input light in the first-stage amplification optical fiber, thereby preventing the deterioration in performances such as destruction of the bandpass filter from occurring in optical components positioned on the upstream side of the final-stage amplification optical fiber.
US08493651B1 Apparatus for optical fiber management and cooling
An apparatus and method that provides management and cooling of an optical fiber by looping the optical fiber around the inner surface of a heat-conductive cylinder and around the outer surface of the heat-conductive cylinder, such that the optical fiber enters and exits the heat-conductive cylinder on substantially the same plane. Some embodiments use a continuous groove on the inside and outside of the cylinder for guiding and managing the optical fiber. Some embodiments use a plurality of protruding fiber guides for guiding and managing the optical fiber. Some embodiments use an integrated tube for guiding and managing the optical fiber. In some embodiments, the optical fiber looped on the inner surface and outer surface are spaced apart substantially equally. In some other embodiments, the optical fiber loops are spaced further apart for portions of the fiber carrying higher power.
US08493650B2 Method and apparatus for suppression of four-wave mixing using polarization control with a high power polarization maintaining fiber amplifier system
A method and apparatus for suppression of four-wave mixing using polarization control with a high power polarization maintaining fiber amplifier system. The apparatus includes a master oscillator (MO) that generates a beam; a polarization controller that receives the beam from the MO and transmits the beam with a desired polarization; a pre-amplifier that receives the beam from the polarization controller, pre-amplifies the beam, and transmits the beam; a high power fiber amplifier that receives the beam from the pre-amplifier, amplifies the beam, and transmits an output beam; and a polarization detector that detects the polarization of the output beam. The polarization detector transmits feedback to the polarization controller to ensure that the output beam components aligned with the principal birefringent axes of the high power fiber amplifier have approximately equal power.
US08493649B2 Method of producing nonlinear optical crystal CdSiP2
CdSiP2 crystals with sizes and optical quality suitable for use as nonlinear optical devices are disclosed, as well as NLO devices based thereupon. A method of growing the crystals by directional solidification from a stoichiometric melt is also disclosed. The disclosed NLO crystals have a higher nonlinear coefficient than prior art crystals that can be pumped by solid state lasers, and are particularly useful for frequency shifting 1.06 μm, 1.55 μm, and 2 μm lasers to wavelengths between 2 μm and 10 μm. Due to the high thermal conductivity and low losses of the claimed CdSiP2 crystals, average output power can exceed 10 W without severe thermal lensing. A 6.45 μm laser source for use as a medical laser scalpel is also disclosed, in which a CdSiP2 crystal is configured for non-critical phase matching, pumped by a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser, and temperature-tuned to produce output at 6.45 μm.
US08493641B2 Image processing device, image processing method, and program for performing direct printing which considers color matching processing based on a profile describing the input color characteristics of an image input device and the output color characteristics of an image output device
An image processing method is provided for an image processing device which processes images of printing data input from a computer device and an image input device via a predetermined communication line or a network. Printing instruction information of the printing data is analyzed, and determination is made as to whether a request for color matching processing based on a profile describing input color characteristics of an image input device and output color characteristics of an image output device is included in the printing instruction information. In the case that a request for the color matching processing is included in the printing instruction information, color matching processing is requested to be performed by the computer device on the network.
US08493640B2 Image reader and image forming apparatus
An image reader includes: a read frame; a read guide; and a seal mechanism. The seal mechanism covers a gap between the read frame and the read guide. The seal mechanism includes a rib standing in parallel with a sliding direction of the read guide and a flexible dustproof sheet having an end that is in contact with the rib.
US08493638B2 Scanner and image forming apparatus having the same
Disclosed are a scanner capable of adjusting the focus distance and an image forming apparatus having the same. The scanner may include a focus adjustment structure that comes into an interfering contact with a scanning unit as the scanning unit moves along a scanning path so as to cause a movement of the scanning unit in the direction perpendicular to the scanning path toward and away from the document to be scanned. With such configuration the focus adjustment can be realized using the scanning movement of the scanning unit along the scanning path.
US08493629B2 Image processing apparatus, method, and computer program
An overlap determining unit determines whether or not it is difficult to read watermark characters by overlap between the watermark characters of the watermark image and pixels having a pixel value of the scan image equal to or more than a predetermined value using image data of a watermark image and image data of a scan image read by a scanner unit when the watermark image and the scan image area overlapped. A watermark image generating unit generates a correction watermark image obtained by correcting the watermark image to improve readability of the watermark characters when it is determined that it is difficult to read the watermark characters. A synthesis image generating unit generates a synthesis image in which the correction watermark image and the scan image are overlapped. A printer unit forms the synthesis image on a printing medium.
US08493628B2 Reproduction of images onto surfaces
Systems and methods of reproducing images onto surfaces are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system includes an image file that digitally produces a planar surface normal to a surface of a master model. The planar surfaces are referenced to a coordinate system of the master model through a series of points. A tracker surfacing system, comprising a tracking instrument, generates and emits a signal as the tracking instrument crosses the planar surface. An output device is actuated by the tracking device as it crosses the planar surface, reproducing the series of points as an image onto a surface, including a flat, curved or compound surface. Both the spatial position and orientation of the output device are detected and adjustments are made so that the image is precisely applied to intended locations on the surface being imaged.
US08493620B2 Image forming apparatus, method and storage medium for selecting different mode to increase a degree of gloss of a print product, based on a predetermined threshold value
An image forming apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire image data, a generation unit configured to generate a histogram based on a signal value of each pixel in the image data acquired by the acquisition unit, a derivation unit configured to derive the number of pixels matching a first condition in the histogram generated by the generation unit, and a selection unit configured to select, according to the number of pixels derived by the derivation unit, one of a fixing processing adjustment mode for increasing a degree of gloss of a print product by adjusting fixing processing and a transparent toner mode for increasing a degree of gloss of a print product by using a transparent toner.
US08493613B2 Apparatus and method controlling zooming process at laser device for high-speed high-resolution double-sided printing without wide-ranged image degradation or banding
An image forming apparatus includes a positioning unit that acquires a misalignment amount of a pixel in a main-scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction, the pixel as a reference pixel for zooming image data, and decides a position of a pixel as a correction target, based on the misalignment amount; a correcting unit that corrects the pixel; a zooming unit that controls the positioning unit and the correcting unit so as to repeatedly perform the positioning process and the correction process on a pixel line; a pattern recognition unit that performs pattern matching on a predetermined pattern and a predetermined pixel line; and a pixel position changing unit that shifts the decided pixel position in the sub-scanning direction, wherein the zooming unit performs the zooming process on the pixel line of the sub-scanning direction including the pixel that is located at shifted pixel position.
US08493611B2 Print job control apparatus, print job control method, and computer-readable storage medium storing a program thereof
There is provided a print job control apparatus including an acquiring unit configured to acquire post-processing function information of a digital printing apparatus, a determination unit configured to reference the post-processing function information and the print job, and determine to use either a post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus or a post-processing apparatus for post-processing, a first generating unit configured to generate a print job to be executed using the post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus, a second generating unit configured to generate a print job to be executed using a post-processing apparatus, and a sending unit configured to send the print jobs generated by the first or second generating units to the digital printing apparatus and the post-processing apparatus.
US08493610B2 Image reading method and image reading apparatus
This invention is made to solve the problem that the conventional method cannot correctly determine whether an original is a halftone. To solve this, a method according to this invention detects, from an original, first and second feature pixels respectively exhibiting first and second features. A first feature pixel to first feature pixel distance and second feature pixel to second feature pixel distance are calculated from neighboring first feature pixels and neighboring second feature pixels, respectively. The average of the first feature pixel to first feature pixel distance and the neighboring second feature pixel to second feature pixel distance is calculated as a feature pixel to feature pixel distance. A histogram is generated by the appearance count of only a feature pixel to feature pixel distance for which the same value successively appears. Whether the read original is a halftone is discriminated based on this histogram.
US08493608B2 Image forming apparatus capable of managing job history, computer-readable recording medium storing job history management program code, and job history management method in the image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a history storage unit, a history writing unit, and a history reading unit. The history storage unit is configured to store a job history that shows a history of a job. The history writing unit is configured to divide that job history into a plurality of histories, add identification information to the plurality of histories for associating the plurality of histories with each other, and write the plurality of histories to the history storage unit. The history reading unit is configured to read that plurality of histories on the basis of the identification information.
US08493605B2 Print control apparatus that acquires user position information of a portable terminal
A print control apparatus in which a plurality of print apparatuses having a hold print function are caused to hold print data, and the print data of other print apparatuses other than a print apparatus print-instructed by a user is deleted, is provided. A print server is connected to the plurality of printers having a hold print function through a network. The print server includes a print data transmission portion that transmits print data received from a PC to printers to cause the printers to hold the print data, and a print data deletion instruction portion that, when a print notification of the print data is received from any one of the plurality of the printers, instructs other printers other than the printer to delete the print data.
US08493599B2 Printing system, printing apparatus, printing method, and program for implementing the printing system and the printing method
A printing apparatus includes a generation unit configured to generate first print data and second print data based on input print data, a printing unit configured to generate first image data by executing image processing on the first print data generated by the generation unit and to print the generated first image data on a sheet, a transmission unit configured to transmit the second print data generated by the generation unit to another printing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus, and a conveyance unit configured, in order to print the second print data transmitted by the transmission unit, to convey the sheet having the first image data printed thereon by the printing unit to the another printing apparatus.
US08493597B2 Image processing apparatus with a change processing section and a change requesting section for processing instructions of change
An image processing apparatus (MFP) stores a print job received from a terminal apparatus even after printing (S201 to S203), setting change operations received from the operation section of the image processing apparatus for the stored print job (S204). Whether the image processing apparatus carries out the processing of updating the data of the print job corresponding to those setting changes in that image processing apparatus itself or makes the printer driver in the terminal apparatus carry it out is judged based on the contents of the setting changes and the processing capacity of the image processing apparatus (S205, S206), and the execution is done in one of them.
US08493596B2 Printer driver, recording medium, information processing apparatus, printing system, and printer driver setting method
Update initial set values set by a manager are able to be obtained each time a printer driver is activated and changing of a setting such as changing of printing conditions due to ecology-printing etc., and changing of an option configuration such as a large capacity cassette is reflected promptly and reliably. The printer driver includes an access portion which accesses an MFP storing initial set values of the printer driver in each activation, a set value comparing portion which compares initial set values set to the printer driver and initial set values stored in the MFP, and a set value selecting portion which selects either initial set values of the printer driver or initial set values of the MFP based on a comparison result.
US08493595B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, program, and storage medium
Each page in document images is divided into regions. Attribute information is assigned to each divided region. Character recognition is performed for a region having a caption attribute, thereby obtaining character information. Metadata of an object is extracted from a region containing an expression synonymous with the character information. Even when the object and metadata exist in different pages, the metadata is associated with the object. The document image is transmitted for each page. Finally, the metadata is transmitted.
US08493594B2 Image processing apparatus, method, and program for performing interruption printing
An image processing apparatus stores user identification information of a first user, and sends a print instruction including the stored user identification information to a print managing server. The apparatus receives print data of the first user managed in association with the user identification information of the first user included in the sent print instruction, and prints the received print data of the first user. The apparatus receives user identification information of a second user while printing of the print data of the first user is being performed and discriminates whether interruption printing of print data of the second user can be performed, and performs interruption printing of the print data of the second user if the interruption printing can be performed. The apparatus restarts printing of the print data of the first user after interruption printing of the print data of the second user is completed.
US08493593B2 Image forming apparatus and image forming system
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that achieves reduction in power and resumption time by selectively resuming a function which a user desires when a storage medium in which identification information for identifying the user is stored is exposed so as to perform resumption from the energy saving state. The image forming apparatus includes: two or more functions of a copy function, a printer function, a scan function and a FAX function; a radio communication portion that performs radio communication with a storage medium in which identification information for identifying a user is stored; and a control portion that when the radio communication portion obtains the identification information from the storage medium in a case where part of the apparatus is in an energy saving state, selects a function to be resumed from the energy saving state according to an exposure state in which the storage medium is exposed to the radio communication portion.
US08493590B2 System and method for transmitting high throughput data between multiple devices
A system for transmitting data directly between a plurality of client network devices in a network is disclosed. The system may include a first client network device having a first client (“STA”) module and a second client network device of the plurality of client network devices where the second client network device includes a Dual Access Point and Station enabled device (“DAS-enabled device”).
US08493589B2 Image forming apparatus which performs a notification of a predetermined adjustment
Disclosed is an image forming system including: a plurality of image forming apparatuses provided in a series so that each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses form an image on a sheet of paper, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses each include: an image forming section; and a control section which, when a predetermined adjustment condition occurs, stops an image forming operation, performs a predetermined adjustment, resumes the image forming operation after the adjustment is complete, and performs a notification that the adjustment is performed to the other image forming apparatus when the adjustment is performed, and when there is a notification that the adjustment is performed from the other image forming apparatus, the control section stops the driving of the image forming section and puts the image forming section in a driving stopped state while the adjustment is performed in the other image forming apparatus.
US08493587B2 Printing device with job cancellation function
A printing device includes a control device configured to receive a cancellation request instruction, receive a confirmation instruction for confirming each printing job to be cancelled or not, set the printing job in the queue to be in a stop condition if receiving the cancellation request instruction, and delete from the queue the printing job if receiving the confirmation instruction for the printing job. The control device further determines whether the job receiving device receives another new printing job during an instruction waiting period from a time when receiving confirmation instruction, and controls the printing device to print the other new printing job prior to printing of the printing job registered in the queue, if the job receiving device receives the other new printing job.
US08493581B2 Electronic document having authentication function
A method of creating an electronic document is disclosed that is able to maintain confidentiality and prevent leakage (unauthorized disclosure) of contents of the electronic document. The method includes the steps of sustaining plural combinations of first data sets and second data sets respectively corresponding to the first data sets in advance; obtaining a first data set and a second data set via a verification data input field provided on a predetermined page of a document opened and displayed in response to an instruction input from in input unit for opening the document; and performing, when the first data set and the second data set are in agreement with one of the combinations, at least one of an operation of not displaying a first object in which content of the document is shielded, an operation of displaying a second object which includes the content of the document, and an operation of loading the input first data set into a third object able to display the first data set, and displaying the third object.
US08493579B2 Wireless printing from a device outside the network
A method for printing an electronic document (ED) using a multifunction printer (MFP), including: obtaining, by the MFP, an image by scanning a screen of a mobile device displaying a graphical code having a unique identifier (UID) of a print job associated with the ED; extracting, by the MFP, the UID of the print job from the image; sending, by the MFP, the UID of the print job to a print server over a first network operatively connecting the MFP and the print server; receiving, by the MFP and in response to sending the UID, the print job associated with the ED over the first network; and printing, by the MFP, a hardcopy of the ED after receiving the print job.
US08493578B2 Pixel clock generator and image forming apparatus
A pixel clock generator includes a frequency divider 4 that generates a pixel clock PCLK based on a high frequency clock VCLK, a comparator 5 that calculates an error Lerr in the time obtained by integrating a cycle of the pixel clock PCLK for a target number RefN from a time when synchronization signals SPSYNC and EPSYNC are detected, a filter 6, and a frequency calculating unit 7 that sets a frequency dividing value M of the frequency divider 4. The filter 6 and the frequency calculating unit 7 calculate an average of a frequency of the pixel clock PCLK based on the error Lerr, determine a reference error value from the error Lerr in N-cycles, calculate offset values of the frequencies of N pieces of pixel clocks PCLK based on a difference between the reference error value and the error Lerr, and calculate the frequency dividing value M based on a result obtained by adding the circularly selected offset values and the average of the frequency of the pixel clock PCLK.
US08493571B2 Laser-optical position detecting module
A laser-optical position detecting module with a laser as a light source is disclosed, which includes a laser mode conversing assembly, having a laser source capable of emitting a time-modulated laser beam; a laser mode conversing unit, used to expand the time-modulated laser beam to a two-dimension sensing plane; a drive control unit, adopted for driving the laser source to emit the time-modulated laser beam; and a detector matrix. The laser mode conversing unit has a phase delay device and a passive optical device capable of reflecting the light; so that, through the laser mode conversing unit, the laser-optical position detecting module can expand the light emitted by the laser source to the two-dimension sensing plane without using any other mechanical scanning.
US08493569B2 Optical encoder readhead configuration with phosphor layer
A device for measuring relative displacement between two members includes a scale grating and an optical encoder readhead comprising a first wavelength light source illuminating the grating. The grating outputs scale light to form a moving periodic intensity pattern at the first wavelength. The readhead comprises a plurality of spatial phase detectors comprising: a periodic spatial filter; a phosphor layer that receives light arising from the first wavelength periodic intensity pattern and outputs second wavelength light, and a photodetector element that receives, and is sensitive to, the second wavelength light. The photodetector element inputs second wavelength light corresponding to a spatially filtered version of the first wavelength periodic intensity pattern and outputs a signal indicative of its spatial phase relative to that spatial phase detector. The spatial filtering may be provided by a mask element, or by a pattern of the phosphor layer and/or the detector element, in various embodiments.
US08493566B2 Method for positioning the mirrors of a triple axis laser gyrometer, in particular when starting the gyrometer
A method and an apparatus to position translatable mirrors in a laser gyrometer device is provided. For example, the method includes prepositioning three mirrors at an initial triplet of predetermined respective positions, simultaneously moving in translation the three mirrors within ranges having an amplitude that is lower than or equal to an intermode of an optical cavity, to ensure that the amplification medium provides a maximum gain. The intensities of the laser waves flowing respectively through each of the optical cavities are measured for each triplet of positions. The method includes determining, from the three triplets of mirror positions, the length of each of the three cavities at which the cavity provides a maximum intensity. The method includes determining a single final triplet of mirror positions for simultaneously imparting to the three lengths at which they provide a maximum intensity. The method includes positioning the mirrors according to the final position triplet.
US08493563B2 Overlay measurement apparatus and method
An overlay measurement apparatus includes a stage on which a wafer comprising first and second overlay measurement keys, which are separated from each other, is placed. A nonlinear medium receives a reference beam and first and second diffracted beams respectively generated by the first and second overlay measurement keys. A detector detects a synthesized beam emitted from the nonlinear medium.
US08493562B2 Optical device with superimposed photonic circuits for coupling to one or more optical waveguides
Optical device with superimposed photonic circuits, for coupling to an optical waveguide.Said device comprises a substrate (44) and, on said substrate, an integrated photonic circuit (46) adapted to be coupled to at least one optical waveguide (48) which transmits a light signal (50) and for processing said signal. According to the invention, the circuit comprises two superimposed elementary integrated photonic circuits (52, 54), each of which is adapted to be coupled to a given polarization state of the signal and to process this state. The invention applies particularly to optical telecommunications.
US08493560B2 Plasmonic enhancement of whispering gallery mode biosensors
A sensor for determining the presence or concentration of a target entity in a medium is described, and includes (a) an optical waveguide; (b) a microresonator optically coupled with the optical waveguide such that light within the optical waveguide induces a resonant mode within the microresonator at an equator region (or a mode volume); and (c) at least one plasmonic nanoparticle adsorbed onto a surface area of the microresonator within the equator region (or the mode volume) such that light inducing a resonant mode within the microresonator also causes a plasmonic resonance in the at least one plasmonic nanoparticle. Detection methods for using such sensors are also described. Finally, methods, involving the use of carousel forces, for fabricating such sensors are also described.
US08493556B2 Distributed brillouin sensing systems and methods using few-mode sensing optical fiber
Some embodiments of a distributed Brillouin optical fiber sensing system employs a sensing optical fiber that supports two or more (i.e., few) guided modes. Pump light supported by one of the guided modes is used to form a dynamic Brillouin grating (DBG). Probe light supported by at least one of the other guided modes interacts with the DBG to form reflected probe light that is received and analyzed to determine a Brillouin frequency shift, a phase matching wavelength between probe and pump light, a reflection location, which in turn allows for making a measurement of at least one condition along the sensing optical fiber. Supporting the pump and probe light in different guided modes results in the optical fiber sensing system being able to simultaneously measure temperature and strain and having a higher spatial resolution than sensing systems where the pump light and probe light share a common guided mode.
US08493549B2 Illumination optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method
An illumination optical apparatus that substantially maintains a desirable profile even when changing the outer shape of light intensity distribution formed on an illumination pupil plane with an axicon system. The illumination optical system illuminates an irradiated surface based on light from an optical source and includes a prism system, which changes the interval along an optical axis between a pair of prisms to change the light intensity distribution on an illumination pupil plane.
US08493548B2 Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
A lithographic system includes a source configured to generate a radiation, the source including a cathode and an anode, the cathode and the anode configured to create a discharge in a fuel located in a discharge space so as to generate a plasma, the discharge space including, in use, a substance configured to adjust radiation emission by the plasma so as to control a volume defined by the plasma; a pattern support configured to hold a patterning device, the patterning device configured to pattern the radiation to form a patterned beam of radiation; a substrate support configured to support a substrate; and a projection system configured to project the patterned beam of radiation onto the substrate.
US08493545B2 Cleanup method for optics in immersion lithography supplying cleaning liquid onto a surface of object below optical element, liquid supply port and liquid recovery port
An immersion lithography apparatus and cleanup method used for the immersion lithography apparatus in which an immersion liquid is supplied to a gap between an optical element of a projection optics and a workpiece during an immersion lithography process. A surface of an object, which is different from the workpiece, is provided below the optical element, a supply port and a recovery port. During a cleanup process, a cleaning liquid is supplied onto the object such that the cleaning liquid covers only a portion of the surface of the object.
US08493540B2 Display panel and method of manufacturing the same
A display panel comprises a first substrate, a second substrate including a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area, a transistor layer including, formed in the display area of the substrate, at least one transistor connected to a gate line and a data line, at least one color filter formed in a plurality of pixel regions on the transistor layer, a light blocking member disposed between the color filters, at least one pixel electrode formed on the color filter, an opaque spacing part formed on the color filter corresponding to the transistor so as to maintain a cell gap between the first and second substrates. The light blocking member in some embodiments of the invention is not formed on the first and second transistors to allow for inspection of a channel in the transistor.
US08493538B2 Flat display panel
A flat display panel comprises a plurality of driver ICs and one or more flexible printed circuit, a plurality of common wires formed on the substrate to electrically connect the ICs to the one or more flexible printed circuit, and at least one anisotropic conductive film that connects respective connecting terminals of the driver ICs and flexible printed circuit to terminals pads of the common wires. The anisotropic conductive film is laminated over the substrate to cover the terminal pads. The driver ICs and flexible printed circuit are aligned and attached on the anisotropic conductive layer by thermocompression bonding.
US08493535B2 Liquid crystal display device
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display device with a good display quality, and a manufacturing method of such a liquid crystal display device.A liquid crystal display device (10) includes a liquid crystal display panel (11) with a display surface (20) defining a recessed curved surface having curvature of 1/500- 1/50 (1/mm), and with a scattering section which is arranged parallel to the display surface (20), which defines a recessed curved surface having curvature of 1/500- 1/50 (1/mm), and in which a plurality of elongated regions (A-C) having different haze values are arranged in parallel with each other from a middle section of the curved surface toward both end sections in the curving direction. The haze values of the plurality of elongated regions (A-C) arranged in parallel with each other vary in a step-wise manner from the middle section of the curved surface toward the both end sections in the curving direction.
US08493532B2 Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof
A liquid crystal display device has a liquid crystal display panel including pixels each having an active device, a pixel electrode, a common electrode and a liquid crystal layer arranged in a dot matrix array. The liquid crystal display panel has a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer provided between the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate has the active device, the pixel electrode, the common electrode and a first alignment film. The second substrate has a second alignment film. The first alignment film and the second alignment film are respectively a photo alignment film formed by irradiating a photo decomposition type insulating film with light. The second alignment film has a thickness of at least 10 nm and no greater 50 nm and is thinner than the first alignment film.
US08493529B2 Liquid crystal display device
In one embodiment, a liquid crystal display device includes first and second substrates, an active area to display an image, a seal material surrounding the active area, and an intermediate area between the active area and the seal area. In the intermediate area, first and second color filters are formed on the second substrate. An overcoat layer is laminated on the first and second color filters. First and second pillar-shaped spacers are provided between the overcoat layer and the first substrate corresponding to the first and second color filters to form a first and second cell gaps between the first and second substrates, respectively. The first cell gap adjacent to the active area between the first and second substrates is smaller than the second cell gap adjacent to the seal area in the intermediate area.
US08493528B2 Liquid crystal display device
A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal cell including a liquid crystal layer twist-aligned at 90° sandwiched between a pair of substrates, first and second polarizing layers arranged to sandwich the liquid crystal cell therebetween so that their absorption axes set to parallel with directions crossing aligning treatment directions of the substrates at 45°, and viewing angle compensating plates respectively arranged between the polarizing layers and the liquid crystal cell. A total value of retardations in a thickness direction, defined as a value of a product of a phase difference within a plane perpendicular to substrate surfaces of the liquid crystal cell and a layer thickness, of optical layers present between the polarizing layers is set to a value that substantially cancels out a retardation in a liquid crystal layer thickness direction when a saturation voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer.
US08493521B2 Switchable two dimensional / three dimensional display (2D/3D display) comprising a first black matrix disposed in an image control area with a minimum distance from a second black matrix disposed in a non-display area
A switchable two and three dimensional display (2D/3D display) suitable for being viewed by a user is provided. The 2D/3D display includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and a switchable barrier. The LCD panel has a display area, a non-display area surrounding the display area, and a first black matrix extending from the display area to the non-display area. The first black matrix has a number of openings arranged in array and merely distributed within the display area. The switchable barrier has a 3D image control area, a non-display area surrounding the 3D image control area, and a second black matrix merely disposed within the non-display area. The second black matrix surrounds the 3D image control area. An area occupied by the 3D image control area is different from an area occupied by the display area.
US08493520B2 Optical system and display that converts a flat image to a non-flat image
An optical system is provided for use with a display device to convert a flat image from the display device to a non-flat image. The optical system comprises first and second spaced-apart partial reflectors, at least one of which is non-flat. The reflectors, together with polarization optics, provide a light path such that light from the display is at least partially transmitted by the first reflector, partially reflected by the second reflector, partially reflected by the first reflector and partially transmitted by the second reflector so that a viewer perceives a non-flat, for example curved, image. Light which does not follow the light path is prevented from leaving the optical system.
US08493518B2 LCDS with integrated touch panels
An LCD with an integrated touch panel that prevents sensor malfunction by eliminating coupling noises includes an insulating substrate, a plurality of gate lines formed on the insulating substrate so as to extend in a first direction, a plurality of data lines formed in a second direction so as to intersect the plurality of gate lines, a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs), each formed at an area defined by the gate lines and the data lines, a plurality of sensor lines formed in the same directions as the gate lines and the data lines, and a plurality of dummy lines formed in the same directions as the sensor lines.
US08493517B2 Optical component adjustment mechanism, liquid crystal display and projection display
This optical component adjustment mechanism includes support frame 21 for supporting optical compensator 11, optical compensator support 20 having first and second rotary salients 22, 23 projecting outside from support frame 21 in a predetermined axis, holder support frame 31 for rotatably supporting first and second rotary salients 22, 23, setscrew 37 for fixing rotation of optical compensator support 20, and bracket 40.
US08493515B2 Adapter
A television adapter includes first and second conversion circuits, a switch unit, and a high definition television (HDTV) interface. The first conversion circuit includes a digital to analog (D/A) converter and a coupler. The second conversion circuit includes an analog to digital (A/D) converter and a decoupler. When the switch unit connects the first conversion circuit to the HDTV interface, the D/A converter converts a first digital signal from the HDTV interface into a first analog form data. The coupler couples the first analog form data to a first alternating current (AC) voltage. When the switch unit connects the second conversion circuit to the HDTV interface, the decoupler decouples and separates a second AC voltage into a second analog form data. The A/D converter converts the second analog form data into a second digital signal, and outputs the second digital signal to the HDTV interface.
US08493512B2 Digital broadcast receiver apparatus and image display method
In a television display state, a television image is displayed on the whole of a screen. In an intermediate display state, an intermediate launcher image is displayed on the screen. The intermediate launcher image includes an intermediate frame having a perspective shape of the screen. A television image the vertical and horizontal sizes of which are reduced is displayed in the intermediate frame. In a launcher display state, a last launcher image is displayed on the screen. The last launcher image includes a display frame having a perspective shape of the screen. A television image having further reduced vertical and horizontal sizes is displayed in the display frame.
US08493509B2 Digital video formatting scheme for analog format video signals using adaptive filtering
A digital video formatting system operates to format an analog format video signal to within a desired amplitude range using an adaptive filtering scheme which implements flat gain scaling, frequency-dependent gain scaling and adaptive offset correction. The adaptive filtering scheme selects a frequency-independent flat gain scaling mode or a frequency-dependent gain scaling mode based on the characteristics of the active video signal. The filtered video signal is fed back to an adaptive weight computation block to update the offset correction value, the filter coefficients and the mode selection signal.
US08493505B2 Automatic clean device for a surveillance camera
An automatic clean device for a surveillance camera has an automatic cleaner. The automatic cleaner is connected to the surveillance camera directly or via an angle adjusting mechanism and has a housing, and an operating assembly, a driving assembly and a cleaning assembly mounted in the housing. The driving assembly drives the operating assembly to move linearly and turn. The cleaning assembly is mounted on the operating assembly and cleans a lens of the surveillance camera. The cleaning head is not disposed in front of the lens and is disposed away from the lens when the automatic cleaner is not executing its cleaning task. Thus, the cleaning head does not obstruct the surveillance camera so the surveillance camera is able to film complete images.
US08493501B2 Scene-aware automatic-exposure control
A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored.
US08493500B2 Auto exposure blowout prevention
Systems, methods, and a computer readable medium for performing an improved blowout prevention process in an image capture device are provided to compensate for occurrences of exposure “blowouts,” i.e., areas in a captured image where pixel brightness exceeds the sensor's dynamic range of capturing capability. In one embodiment, the captured image's histogram may be analyzed to determine if the image is indicative of the presence of exposure blowouts. Once it has been determined that there likely are blowouts in the image, an exposure bias for the image capture device may be set accordingly. Particularly, the exposure value (EV) for the image capture device may be gradually corrected, e.g., by one-eighth of a stop per captured frame, until the image histogram is no longer indicative of blown out regions, at which point the image capture device's exposure value may gradually be corrected back to “normal,” i.e., non-exposure bias compensated, levels.
US08493499B2 Compression-quality driven image acquisition and processing system
Embodiments of the present invention provide a video encoding system in which a video coding engine establishes coding quality metrics that govern its own operation as well as the operation of a camera and/or a pre-processor. An imaging system may include an image acquisition system, a pre-processor and a coding engine. The coding engine may output a quality indicator identifying, for each portion of a video sequence currently being coded, a relatively level of coding quality that is being achieved. The imaging system further may include an image acquisition controller and a pre-processor controller that impose respective operating parameters upon the image acquisition system and the pre-processor in response to these quality indicators. In this manner, overall performance of the imaging system may be improved.
US08493497B2 Focus detection apparatus with weighting of pixel outputs
The invention provides a focus detection apparatus comprising: an image sensor configured to convert an object image, the image sensor having a focus detection pixel for receiving a light beam that has passed through a partial area, which is a division of an exit pupil of an optical system for forming an object image; addition unit configured to multiply outputs of a plurality of the focus detection pixels included in a predetermined area of the image sensor by a weighting coefficient corresponding to a position of the focus detection pixel, and perform addition; and defocus amount calculation unit configured to calculate a defocus amount based on a pair of phase-difference detection signals generated based on an output of the addition unit.
US08493494B2 Imaging apparatus with subject selecting mode
An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit operable to capture a subject to generate an image, a subject detector operable to detect the subject from the generated image, a display unit operable to display the generated image and a mark indicating the subject detected by the subject detector, an operation unit operable to receive an operation for setting an operating mode to a subject selecting mode in which any position on a screen of the display unit can be selected, and a controller operable to control the display unit to cause the mark to disappear, when the operation unit receives the operation for changing the operating mode into the subject selecting mode in a state that the mark is displayed on the display unit.
US08493484B2 Image capturing apparatus and image capturing system
The present invention provides an image capturing apparatus, which comprises a plurality of photoelectric converter-containing pixels that are positioned horizontally and vertically and a gain circuit, has a gain controller that can control the gain of the gain circuit in N stages (where N is an integer equal to or greater than 2). The gain circuit outputs each of a plurality of signals given by the product of the output signal from one of the plurality of pixels and the gain in each stage of the N stages.
US08493481B2 Solid-state imaging device, manufacturing method for solid-state imaging device, and imaging apparatus
A solid-state imaging device includes a plurality of pixels and a plurality of color filters. The plurality of pixels is formed in a semiconductor substrate in a two-dimensional array arrangement. Each of the pixels has a photoelectric conversion region. The plurality of color filters is stacked on each of the pixels. The photoelectric conversion regions have the same depth irrespective of colors of the color filters stacked on the pixels. The width of a shallow portion of each of the photoelectric conversion regions is differ from a width of the deep portion of each of the photoelectric regions depending on the colors of the color filters stacked on the pixels.
US08493480B2 Image capturing method and apparatus for efficiently processing a digital image
A signal conversion apparatus which converts an input signal x from an image sensor into an output signal y by a function relation represented by Expression 1: y = f ⁡ ( x ) = ∫ b x ⁢ [ 1 / r ⁡ ( ξ ) ] ⁢ ⅆ ξ ( 1 ) where b is a predetermined constant, ξ is an integration variable corresponding to a value of the input signal x, and r(ξ) is a quantization step function before removal of a noise of the input signal x, which determines an increment of the input signal x to an increment of the output signal y.
US08493479B2 Method of eliminating background noise
A method of eliminating background noise from a system for authenticating security markers includes capturing an image of a background of the security marker; illuminating the security marker; capturing a plurality of images of the optical response of the security marker; averaging the plurality of optical response images; smoothing the background image; and subtracting the smoothed background image from the average of the plurality of optical response images.
US08493471B2 Imaging apparatus, recording apparatus, file management apparatus and display apparatus
An imaging apparatus includes an image generation unit operable to generate image signal of a subject, a recording unit operable to record a first type of image file or a second type of image file to a recording medium based on the image signal generated by the image generation unit, and a controller operable to control the recording unit. The controller controls the recording unit to record the first type of image file at a lower level of a first directory in the recording medium and record the second type of image file at a lower level of a second directory in the recording medium, and record in the recording medium information used to analyze a recording order of the first type of image file and the second type of image file in the recording medium, while relating the information to the second type of image file.
US08493462B2 Image processing apparatus, photographing apparatus and control method for compressing images
In an image processing apparatus, a still image immediately before a moving image is photographed is divisionally encoded in correspondence to a slice area of the moving image, and a compression table of the slice area in one frame of the moving image is determined based on a compressed data amount of corresponding divisional encoding of the still image. Thus, the image processing apparatus determines the compression table for each slice area of the moving image so that constant compressed data amount for one entire frame of the moving image is attained without performing a trial compression.
US08493460B2 Registration of differently scaled images
An image registration method involves computing horizontal and vertical integral projection vectors for first and second distorted or partially distorted images. The images are registered by applying a scale factor estimation between the first and second images on the horizontal and vertical integral projection vectors.
US08493458B2 Image capture apparatus and image capturing method
An image capture apparatus including: an image capturing unit; a light emitting unit; a first image capture controller configured to control the image capturing unit to capture a plurality of images at a first timing; a second image capture controller configured to control the image capturing unit to capture an image under a capturing condition illuminated by the light emitting unit at a second timing that is either directly before or directly after the first timing; an addition combination section configured to positionally align the images captured under control by the first image capture controller and to perform an addition combination on the aligned images to generate a combined image; and a combination section configured to combine the combined image generated by the addition combination section with the image captured under control by the second image capture controller.
US08493454B1 System for camera motion compensation
An apparatus including one or more motion sensors, a first circuit, and a second circuit. The one or more motion sensors may be configured to generate motion samples representing motion of a camera. The first circuit may be configured to record a plurality of the motion samples from the one or more motion sensors while capturing image data with the camera. The second circuit may be configured to transfer information about the motion of the camera based on the plurality of motion samples. The information about the motion of the camera may be transferred within a bitstream carrying the image data captured by the camera.
US08493453B2 Image capturing devices using orientation detectors to implement automatic exposure mechanisms
Several methods and apparatuses for implementing automatic exposure mechanisms for image capturing devices are described. In one embodiment, an orientation detector located in the device determines orientation data for the device. The automatic exposure mechanism projects an orientation vector into an image plane of an image sensor. Next, the automatic exposure mechanism adjusts an initial position of a metering area used for automatic exposure towards a target position based on the projected orientation vector. The automatic exposure mechanism optionally dampens the adjustment of the metering area.
US08493444B2 System and method of detecting a blocked aperture in letter or flat mail image sensor
Embodiments include systems and methods of detecting a blocked aperture in an image device. In certain embodiments, the system and method is used in mail processing of letters and flats. In certain embodiments, the image sensor captures an image of the front of an item. If the aperture of the image sensor is obstructed, a void will appear on the image of the item. The system can detect the void and increment an alarm count until a pre-defined threshold is reached wherein the system signals an alarm so that the blockage can be removed and the affected items can be re-introduced for correct processing. In another embodiment, images obtained when the aperture is expected to be clear of any items.
US08493442B2 Object location information
Integrated imaging and GPS network monitors remote object movement. Browser interface displays objects and detectors. Database stores object position movement. Cameras detect objects and generate image signal. Internet provides selectable connection between system controller and various cameras according to object positions.
US08493438B2 Methods and systems for presenting three-dimensional video content
An exemplary method includes receiving, by a three-dimensional (“3D”) adapter subsystem separate from and communicatively coupled to a display device, a 3D video content stream comprising data representative of 3D video content, directing, by the 3D adapter subsystem, the display device to generate and display the 3D video content in accordance with the 3D video content stream, and calibrating, by the 3D adapter subsystem, the display of the 3D video content in accordance with one or more attributes of the display device. Corresponding methods and systems are also described.
US08493434B2 Adaptive HDMI formatting system for 3D video transmission
A system configured to support video formatting without a priori knowledge of video formatting requirements of a display device. The system relies on video information transmitted from the display device to a source device to facilitate determining the video formatting requirements of the display device. The system can be used within any television network, gaming network, and content sourcing network where it may be advantageous to deploy a source device that can support formatting requirements for a plurality of different display types.
US08493430B2 Remote communication apparatus and method of estimating a distance between an imaging device and a user image-captured
A remote communication apparatus for receiving the image of a remote user captured by an imaging device to show the image to another user includes a zoom controller for controlling a zoom ratio defining the angle of view of the imaging device, and an estimator for estimating a distance between the imaging device and the remote user on the basis of the zoom ratio of the imaging device.
US08493428B2 Apparatus and method for providing video telephony service in mobile communication terminal
An apparatus and a method for providing a video telephony service in a mobile communication terminal are provided. The apparatus for providing the video telephony service in the mobile communication terminal includes a controlling unit for receiving preferred video format information from a peer mobile communication terminal during a signaling procedure with the peer mobile communication terminal for the video telephony service and for determining a video format to use in the video telephony service using the received preferred video format, and a video codec for encoding and decoding video data that is transmitted to and received from the peer mobile communication terminal, using the determined video format.
US08493426B2 Light source device and manufacturing method thereof
A light source device and an exposure device are disclosed. A light source device includes: a semiconductor laser; a coupling lens; a holder; a sheet-metal member and a photopolymerizable resin. The coupling lens converts laser light from the semiconductor laser to a light flux. The coupling lens has an optical axis. The sheet-metal member holds the semiconductor laser and the coupling lens. The photopolymerizable rein is cured to fix the coupling lens on the sheet-metal member.An exposure device for forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning light on a photosensitive body includes: a light source device having a semiconductor laser; a coupling lens, a sheet-metal member and a photopolymerizable resin, a deflector and a scanning lens.
US08493425B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus capable of reducing density variation that occurs in an output image when the rotational speed of a polygon mirror is changed. A light source emits a light beam for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum. The polygon mirror deflects the light beam such that the light beam moves on the photosensitive drum in a predetermined direction. A polygon mirror control circuit controls the polygon mirror such that when the toner image is to be formed at a first magnification, the rotational speed of the polygon mirror is made higher than when the toner image is to be formed at a second magnification that is larger than the first magnification. When the toner image is to be formed at the first magnification, the light beam becomes smaller in light amount than when the toner image is to be formed at the second magnification.
US08493421B2 Method and arrangement for manufacturing packages in a digitally controlled process
Packages are manufactured in a digitally controlled process. A digital printing machine (101) produces printed workpieces and a cutting machine (104) cuts packaging blanks (105) from them. A conveyor line (107) transfers the printed work-pieces automatically from the digital printing machine (101) to the cutting machine (104). A digital control system (109) exchanges digital control information with at least the digital printing machine (101) and the cutting machine (104).
US08493420B2 Driving method of a liquid crystal sub-pixel
A driving method for determining target transmittance of a liquid crystal sub-pixel is provided. The liquid crystal sub-pixel has display regions, the liquid crystal sub-pixel displays the target transmittance when liquid crystal voltage applied to each display region is equal to one other and transmittance variation of liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal sub-pixel is S0 when variation of LC voltage ΔVLC occurs. The driving method includes selecting LC voltages in accordance with the target transmittance and area ratio of each display region; and applying each LC voltage to one of the display regions correspondingly, wherein transmittance of each display region is different from the target transmittance, the target transmittance is equal to sum of product of area ratio and transmittance of each display region, and transmittance variation of the liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal sub-pixel is lower than S0 when variation of LC voltage ΔVLC occurs.
US08493417B2 Field sequential image display apparatus and method of driving the same
Provided are a field sequential image display apparatus that reduces flicker and a method of driving the same. The field sequential image display apparatus, which uses a plurality of single color light sources, includes: an image analyzing unit dividing frames of an image signal into fields, whereby the number of fields is greater than the number of single color light sources; an image display panel displaying the fields sequentially; and a light source unit comprising the plurality of single color light sources that are independently driven or driven with other light sources in order to supply lights corresponding to the color components of the fields to the image display panel, wherein an average driving frequency of the single color light sources is higher than a frame rate.
US08493416B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer readable medium
An image processor includes an image accepting unit, an image moving amount accepting unit, an initial estimated image generating unit, an estimated image moving and reducing unit, a unit extracting a difference between an image processed by the moving and reducing unit and the images accepted by the image accepting unit, a unit moving and enlarging, in the opposite direction of the moving and reducing unit, an image processed by the difference extracting unit, a unit adding and accumulating an image processed by the moving and enlarging unit, a unit multiplying a given coefficient by an image processed by the accumulative adding unit, and an iterating unit iterating processing by the moving and reducing unit, the difference extracting unit, the moving and enlarging unit, the accumulative adding unit and the coefficient multiplying unit according to a given condition.
US08493413B2 Apparatus and method for controlling terminal through motion recognition
An apparatus and a method for changing a screen mode depending on a posture and movement of a terminal are provided. A motion sensor measures a value of a three-axis sensor that changes depending on the posture or movement of the terminal, and transfers the measured value to the controller. A storage stores a plurality of screen modes corresponding to the posture or movement of the terminal. A controller determines the posture or movement of the terminal using the value of the three-axis sensor transferred from the motion sensor, and maintains the current screen mode a change in one of three axes is greater than the other two axes which indicates a user did not intended to switch the screen mode.
US08493412B2 Methods and systems for displaying sensor-based images of an external environment
Embodiments include methods and apparatus for displaying images of an external environment, such as an external environment of an aircraft during flight. An embodiment of a display system includes an image sensor and a processing subsystem. The image sensor is adapted to produce sensed image data based on detected electromagnetic energy from a field of view of the external environment. The sensed image data registers within a first area of a display matrix, and the processing subsystem is adapted to identify a feature that registers within the first area. The processing subsystem is also adapted to determine parameters defining a second, smaller area of the display matrix that is positioned in proximity to the feature, and to generate a display signal to include information representing a sensor-based image corresponding to the sensed image data that registers within the second area.
US08493407B2 Method and apparatus for customizing map presentations based on user interests
An approach is provided for customizing map presentations. A map customizing platform determines a degree of interest of a site represented on an image of a map by tracking at least one of a frequency of visit to the site and a time period of visit at the site. The map customizing platform then changes an image size of the site relative to the image of the map based on the degree of interest.
US08493403B2 Color transformation sample point identification
Color transformation sample point identification is described. A subset of points from a superset of points representing a colorimetric relationship is identified. The subset of points defines an initial n-simplex with (n+1) points representing an approximation of the colorimetric relationship, where n represents a number of dimensions. An additional point from the superset of points is selected and added to the subset of points to replace the n-simplex with a set of at least two n-simplices. The additional point is selected such that a volume of an (n+1)-simplex formed by the (n+1) points of the initial n-simplex and the additional point is increased. An error value for the approximation is determined by calculating an error volume between the (n+1)-simplex and the superset of points.
US08493394B2 Method and apparatus for enhancing the graphics capability of a mobile computing device
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a method, which includes the steps of detecting the presence of an external graphics subsystem after the external graphics subsystem is attached to the mobile computing device, transmitting a power enable signal to the external graphics subsystem, and activating PCIe signaling channels after having received a ready signal from the external graphics subsystem to enable data communications between the mobile computing device and the external graphics subsystem.
US08493389B2 3D connected shadow mouse pointer
The invention relates to a system (100) for determining a feedback on a three-dimensional location of a pointer in a three-dimensional region of image data, the system comprising: a display unit (110) for computing a view of the three-dimensional region for displaying on a display; a pointer unit (115) for computing a two-dimensional location of the pointer on the view of the three-dimensional region, based on a pointer location input; a location unit (120) for computing a three-dimensional location in the three-dimensional region, based on a two-dimensional location on the view of the three-dimensional region; and a shadow unit (125) for determining a set of two-dimensional locations for displaying a shadow on the view of the three-dimensional region, wherein the set of two-dimensional locations for displaying the shadow comprises the two-dimensional location of the pointer on the view of the three-dimensional region, and wherein a set of three-dimensional locations, computed based on the set of two-dimensional locations for displaying the shadow, is connected. Typically, the connected set of candidate three-dimensional locations comprising the three-dimensional location of the pointer is comprised in a structure indicated by the pointer. Therefore, the determined feedback on a three-dimensional pointer location on a view of the three-dimensional region of the image data improves clarity and decreases ambiguity of indicating a 3D location on the structure.
US08493388B2 Modular volume rendering using visual programming
The rendering pipeline is divided into multiple components or modules in a scene graph based visual programming environment. Different stages of the rendering pipeline, such as data conversion, transform function, shading, and rendering, are grouped into independent conceptual modules, and each module is implemented by separate nodes in a scene graph. The user may select different nodes belonging to different modules for inclusion into the scene graph to program the rendering pipeline. The visual program is implicitly compiled and run using an application programming interface for hardware acceleration.
US08493385B2 3D image display device
A 3D image display device mainly includes a multi-view image, a view memory, a memory image configuration, combination, and conversion procedure, a display memory, a conversion display controller, a display screen having sub-pixels in Delta configuration, and a view separation device. The memory image configuration, combination, and conversion procedure mainly performs processes of sub-pixel image configuration sequence conversion and multi-view image combination on the multi-view image, and outputs a recovered multi-view combined image. The conversion display controller mainly performs sub-pixel image data configuration sequence conversion on image data on even-numbered or odd-numbered horizontal scan lines of the recovered multi-view combined image, and then outputs the horizontal scan image data. The display screen having sub-pixels in Delta configuration receives the horizontal scan image data and displays the recovered multi-view combined image. The view separation device performs view separation on the recovered multi-view combined image to provide a 3D image.
US08493383B1 Adaptive depth of field sampling
Adaptive sampling alleviates aliasing by partitioning the field of view of an image sample point into depth regions. Portions of the scene are sampled within a depth region using sample rays. If a sample ray is not completely occluded in the depth region, corresponding sample rays are evaluated in adjacent depth regions. Sample rays can be recursively evaluated in further depth regions until all the subsamples intersect opaque objects or a depth limit or transparency threshold is reached. The value of an image sample point is the weighted combination of sample rays. The number of sample rays in each depth region may increase monotonically with distance along a line of sight from an image sample point for effects such as reflection, refraction, and illumination. The number of sample rays in each depth region may increase monotonically with distance from a focal plane for effects such as depth of field.
US08493382B2 Storage medium storing three-dimensional image processing program, three-dimensional image processing apparatus and three-dimensional image processing method
A game apparatus functioning as a three-dimensional image processing apparatus includes a CPU. The CPU executes three-dimensional image processing. When a cursor on a display screen is moved according to an instruction from a user, a gazing point is also moved acceding thereto. At this time, a view volume (cone) is deformed such that a gazing point plane is maintained at an original position. Thus, the gazing point and a vanishing point are overlapped with each other on the display screen.
US08493381B1 Methods and systems for geometry compression
Methods and systems for geometry compression. In an embodiment, the present invention compresses three dimensional geometry by (1) extracting at least one primitive from the three dimensional geometry, where each extracted primitive includes vertices and property indices that associate properties with the vertices; (2) quantizing, for each extracted primitive, the properties to a fixed grid; (3) converting, for each extracted primitive, the properties from a first data type to a second data type; and (4) encoding property indices, where the encoded property indices and quantized and converted properties are transmitted via a communication network in order to display the three dimensional geometry.
US08493379B2 Method of identifying pattern in a series of data
A method and device for generating and/or displaying 3D images include temporarily increasing the depth of content of an image or a part of an image to a high level and afterward the depth of content is decreased to a low level. This temporary increase of the depth of content renders a large 3D effect to the image or the part of the image to which it has been applied. The actual average depth of content can be made relatively low thus reducing fatigue, while the perceived depth of content is relatively high.
US08493373B2 Display driving system with monitoring unit for data driver
A display driving system includes a timing controller configured to receive a data signal composed of image data and generate a control signal such as a clock signal; an interface configured to transmit the data signal and the control signal to a plurality of data drivers; the data drivers configured to receive the data signal and the control signal through the interface and supply received signals to a display panel to display an image; and a monitoring unit configured to feed back LOCK signals indicative of state information of the data drivers to the timing controller such that the data drivers can be monitored.
US08493371B2 Dynamic brightness range for portable computer displays based on ambient conditions
A portable computer system that comprises dynamically adjustable brightness range settings and brightness control for providing improved user readability and prolonged component lifetime of the display screen. The main processor can change the range settings based on ambient light conditions or the user can perform the changes. The brightness level of the display changes according to a user selected setting within the range selected. The time required to implement the brightness change can be set to a value which can be configured by the user.
US08493369B2 Foldable stylus and pen with protective housing
A stylus includes a housing, a stylus body and a first rotating member. The stylus body includes a tip. The first rotating member is coupled between the housing and the stylus body so the stylus body rotatably engages with the housing. The tip moves from one side of the first rotating member to another side of the first rotating member, when the stylus body rotates relative to the housing.
US08493365B2 Optical touch display apparatus
An optical touch display apparatus includes the following. A light distribution adjustment device is disposed in a transmission path of a visible beam emitted by a visible light emitting device. A non-visible light guide module includes a light guide unit and a dichroic unit. A light guide unit is disposed in the transmission path of the visible beam from the light distribution adjustment device. The dichroic unit is disposed on a surface of the light guide unit. A non-visible light emitting device is disposed beside a side surface of the light guide unit. A display panel is disposed beside the light distribution adjustment device. A sensing space is located in front of the display panel, and the display panel is disposed between the light distribution adjustment device and the sensing space. An optical detector is disposed outside the display panel.
US08493361B2 Touch type display device
A touch type display device includes: a flat panel display module; a plurality of infrared light emitting units disposed on a portion or on the entirety of the edge of the flat panel display module; an infrared camera disposed on at least two corners of the flat panel display module; and a band pass filter allowing light of a certain wavelength band in light emitted from the infrared light emitting units to pass therethrough so as to be supplied to the infrared camera.
US08493359B2 Capacitive stylus for a touch screen
A system comprising a sensing device and a capacitive sense array configured to track the position of a stylus and synchronize the capacitive sense array to the stylus transmit signal. The system is configured to track the position of both a stylus and a passive touch object. The system is further configured to track the position of the stylus using self capacitance sensing and track the position of the passive touch object using mutual capacitance sensing. The system further configured to modulate the stylus transmit signal to include additional data to support additional stylus functions.
US08493356B2 Noise cancellation technique for capacitive touchscreen controller using differential sensing
A differential sensing scheme provides a means for detecting one or more touch events on a touch sensitive device in the presence of incident noise. Instead of sensing one touch sensitive channel, such as a row, column, or single touch sensor, multiple touch sensitive channels are sampled at a time. By sampling two nearby channels simultaneously and doing the measurement differentially, noise common to both channels is cancelled. The differential sensing scheme is implemented using simple switch-capacitor AFE circuitry. The originally sensed data on each individual channel is recovered free of common-mode noise. The recovered sensed data is used to determine the presence of one or more touch events and if present the location of each touch event on the touch sensitive device.
US08493349B2 Touch screen panel
A touch screen panel to provide a type touch screen panel that can prevent or reduce a damage of the touch screen panel caused by electrostatic electricity, includes a plurality of first electrode patterns which are separated from each other, and connected by at least one of a plurality of first connection patterns that includes a first portion exposed through at least two first contact holes and a second portion exposed through at least two second contact holes.
US08493347B2 Touch display panel
A touch display panel including a first substrate, a second substrate, a light shielding pattern layer, a touch sensing layer and a display medium is provided. The light shielding pattern layer is disposed on the first substrate or the second substrate. Pixel units are defined by the light shielding pattern layer, each pixel unit has a pixel edge length, and each pixel unit is disposed corresponding to one of the pixel structures. The touch sensing layer is disposed on the second substrate and has a plurality of first touch series and a plurality of second touch series. Each first touch series and each touch series respectively have mesh touch pads serially connected to each other. Each mesh touch pad has a plurality of grid patterns, each grid pattern has a grid edge length, and the grid edge length is ⅛˜⅗ of the pixel edge length.
US08493334B2 Input device, storage medium, information input method, and electronic apparatus
An optical input device has a display screen, a portion of the display screen being shielded from light by an operating member to implement input processing based on a plurality of input modes. The input device includes an input detection unit including a display unit that displays predetermined input information, and a control unit. The input detection unit detects an area and/or brightness of a light-shielded portion formed on the display screen by the operating member by approaching the display unit. The control unit provides display control of the display unit and input control on the basis of the detected area and/or brightness. The control unit compares the detected area and/or brightness with a predetermined threshold value to select a desired input mode from among the plurality of input modes.
US08493333B2 Method of displaying information by using touch input in mobile terminal
A method of displaying information in a mobile terminal having a touch screen is provided. The method includes determining whether a touch input is generated by a touch screen, determining whether a touch area moves, calculating a movement direction of the touch area by extracting a value of the touch area movement, determining a current mode according to the calculated movement direction of the touch area, executing a function of the current mode corresponding to the extracted value of the touch area movement, and displaying, while executing the function of the current mode, at least one of a displacement value generated by executing the function of the current mode and a current mode icon indicating the current mode. Accordingly, when displaying information according to a touch input, changes of information may be displayed distinctively, and thereby user convenience may be improved.
US08493331B2 Touch detection using multiple simultaneous frequencies
The use of multiple stimulation frequencies and phases to generate an image of touch on a touch sensor panel is disclosed. Each of a plurality of sense channels can be coupled to a column in a touch sensor panel and can have multiple mixers. Each mixer in the sense channel can utilize a circuit capable generating a demodulation frequency of a particular frequency. At each of multiple steps, various phases of selected frequencies can be used to simultaneously stimulate the rows of the touch sensor panel, and the multiple mixers in each sense channel can be configured to demodulate the signal received from the column connected to each sense channel using the selected frequencies. After all steps have been completed, the demodulated signals from the multiple mixers can be used in calculations to determine an image of touch for the touch sensor panel at each frequency.
US08493328B2 Method of indicating additional character combination choices on a handheld electronic device and associated apparatus
A method and associated apparatus for indicating additional character combination choices from a disambiguation function on a handheld electronic device.
US08493320B2 Display control device, content output system, method for controlling display of image used in retrieval operation, and program
A display control device includes a retrieval image generation unit that generates images used in a retrieval operation which include retrieval condition images and item images arranged on a plane by arranging the retrieval condition images indicating a plurality of retrieval conditions for the plurality of pieces of content data in a first direction on a plane, and by arranging, in a second direction, the item images indicating pieces of content data or folders including pieces of content data categorized based on the retrieval conditions arranged in the first direction, and a retrieval image display control unit that displays the generated images used in a retrieval operation on the display unit, that detects an operation input, and that moves an indicator indicating a selected one of the retrieval condition images and the item images, in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction in accordance with the detected operation input.
US08493319B2 Electronic paper with semiconducting coating
An electronic paper device includes a ground plane, a semi-conducting layer in electrical communication with the ground plane, and an active layer interposed between the ground plane and semiconducting layer. The active layer includes a plurality of microcapsules containing charged pigments. A method for writing to electronic paper is also presented.
US08493318B2 Method and apparatus for driving electrophoretic display
A method and apparatus for driving an Electrophoretic Display (EPD) where the apparatus includes a controller for controlling an overall operation of the apparatus for driving the EPD, determining data to be displayed on the EPD, and outputting a drive signal; a driver for generating a driving voltage pulse for moving black particles and white particles to display the data on the EPD according to the drive signal output from the controller, thereby controlling the EPD; and the EPD for displaying a representation of the data in white or black according to the driving voltage pulse, wherein the driver generates the driving voltage pulse for moving the black particles or the white particles in such a manner that the driving pulse is divided into a predetermined number of subpulses, and an idle period during which a voltage is not applied intervenes between the respective divided subpulses.
US08493317B2 Reflection type display apparatus and driving method thereof
A reflection type display apparatus includes a light modulating layer having a first electrode having a light transmitting property on which an electroplating can be deposited, a second electrode disposed, in opposition to the first electrode, on a reflecting plate for reflecting light of a certain wavelength band, and an electrolytic solution containing a metal ion arranged in contact with the first and second electrodes. According to a density of current at an interface between the first electrode and the electrolytic solution, the light modulating layer controls a light transmitting ratio and a reflection ratio of the electroplating. In addition, a control unit sets a direction and the density of the current for depositing the electroplating of several colors.
US08493316B2 Adjusting backlight intensity based on a progress of a task
A method of a method of adjusting an intensity of a backlight of a display is disclosed. The method includes dimming a backlight that illuminates a display of an electronic device in response to a task initiated by a user. The method also includes, prior to the task completing, automatically adjusting an intensity of the backlight based on a progress of the task.
US08493314B2 Backlight unit and liquid crystal display
Disclosed are a backlight unit and a liquid crystal display capable of improving viewing angle dependency of tint of a liquid crystal display image, thereby obtaining a high-quality liquid crystal display image with no tint when viewed from a slanting direction. A backlight unit 200 of a just-beneath type with a plurality of light sources arranged below a light emission surface 38 includes a light emission spectrum controlling unit 53 for controlling separately light emission spectra in a front direction which becomes a normal direction to the light emission surface 38 and a slanting direction inclined at a predetermined angle from the front direction. The plurality of light sources are a plurality of LED light sources which are different in a light emission color, and each LED light source includes a first LED element with the front direction as an optical axis of emission light and a second LED element with the slanting direction as an optical axis of emission light for each light emission color. The light emission spectrum controlling unit 53 changes light emission intensity of the second LED element for each light emission color.
US08493310B2 Liquid crystal display device having time controller and source driver that can reuse intellectual property blocks
A liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus includes a time controller and a plurality of source drivers. The time controller may receive first data, and output a plurality of clock signals and a plurality of pieces of second data to display the first data. The plurality of source drivers may receive the plurality of pieces of second data and the plurality of clock signals from the time controller, convert the plurality of pieces of second data to a plurality of pieces of analog data, and output the plurality of pieces of analog data to a display panel. The time controller may be connected to the plurality of source drivers in a point-to-point fashion. The second data have a packet data format.
US08493307B2 Display device
To realize a random number generating circuit that is optimum for a liquid crystal display device that is used in a terminal device that includes a display/input component. A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel, a control circuit and a random number generating circuit, the random number generating circuit comprises plural shift registers, an output circuit and a register that stores an initial value, and the random number generating circuit is equipped with plural initial values, whereby the randomness of the random numbers is improved. Further, it becomes possible to increase and output frequencies by the output circuit because it is possible to output respectively different random numbers from the plural shift registers.
US08493306B2 Source driver and method for restraining noise thereof
The present invention discloses a source driver and a method for restraining noise output by a source driver during power on/off of a power supply. The source driver includes a data bus, a plurality of channels, a multiplexer and a plurality of output pads. The channels are connected to the output pads via the multiplexer. Each channel has a latch unit. Data is transmitted on the data bus and stored in the latch units. The source driver is powered by a first supply voltage from the power supply. The method comprises determining whether the first supply voltage is insufficient, and if yes, performing the following steps. First, set the data transmitted on the data bus to be a predetermined value. Then, keep the latch units turned on, thereby the data is sent out from the latch units. Then, keep the multiplexer turned on for outputting a driving voltage based on the data via the output pads.
US08493305B2 Display device
An image processing unit (2 in FIG. 1) discards a high gray level side of input image data (RiGiBi) in accordance with a chroma coefficient (Csc), thereby to generate a signal of lowered chroma, and it expands the signal into output image data (RoGoBo) of full scale. Besides, the image processing unit (2) generates an image adjustment parameter (Th) and performs a control so as to reduce power of backlight (6), in interlocking with the full-scale expansion.
US08493299B2 Image data processing device, liquid crystal display apparatus including same, display apparatus driving device, display apparatus driving method, program therefor, and storage medium
In cases where the amount of gradation transition is greater than a threshold value, a modulation processing section corrects image data D of a current frame by making an interpolation calculation with reference to a look-up table, and output the image data D thus corrected. In cases where the amount of gradation transition is not more than the threshold value, the modulation processing section directly outputs the image data D of the current frame. Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the look-up table contains, as output image data D2 corresponding to a case where the image data D of the current frame is identical to image data D0 of a previous frame, a value which is neither of the image data D of the current frame and the image data D0 of the previous frame and by which output image data D2 corresponding to the inputted image data D and D0 of the previous and current frames is calculated according to the interpolation calculation in cases where the amount of gradation transition is greater than the threshold value. With this, an image display apparatus is realized which can be balanced between a reduction in circuit size and an improvement in display quality at a higher level.
US08493296B2 Method of inspecting defect for electroluminescence display apparatus, defect inspection apparatus, and method of manufacturing electroluminescence display apparatus using defect inspection method and apparatus
A dark spot defect of an EL element is detected based on an emission brightness or a current flowing through the EL element when an element driving transistor which controls a drive current to be supplied to the EL element is operated in its linear operating region and the EL element is set to an emission level. A dim spot defect caused can be detected based on a current flowing through the EL element when the element driving transistor is operated in its saturation operating region and the EL element is set to the emission level. When an abnormal display pixel is detected based on an emission brightness, a pixel which is determined as an abnormal display pixel and which is not determined as a dark spot defect is determined, and the pixel is detected as a dim spot defect caused by the characteristic variation of the element driving transistor.
US08493295B2 Light-emitting device
There is provided an EL light-emitting device with less uneven brightness. When a drain current of a plurality of current controlling TFTs is Id, a mobility is μ, a gate capacitance per unit area is Co, a maximum gate voltage is Vgs(max), a channel width is W a channel length is L, an average value of a threshold voltage is Vth, a deviation from the average value of the threshold voltage is ΔVth, and a difference in emission brightness of a plurality of EL elements is within a range of ±n %, a semiconductor display device is characterized in that A = 2 ⁢ Id μ * C 0 A ( Vgs ( max ) - Vth ) 2 ≦ W L ≦ ( 1 + n 100 - 1 ) 2 * A Δ ⁢ ⁢ Vth 2  Δ ⁢ ⁢ Vth  ≦ ( 1 + n 100 - 1 ) * A * L / W .
US08493290B2 Integrated circuit device, electro optical device and electronic apparatus
An integrated circuit device includes: a segment driver having a plurality of segment signal output circuits for driving a plurality of segment lines; a common driver having a plurality of common signal output circuits for driving a plurality of common lines; and a power supply circuit that supplies a first power supply at a first voltage level, a second power supply at a second voltage level, a third power supply at a third voltage level and a fourth power supply at a fourth voltage level to the segment driver and the common driver, wherein each of the plurality of segment signal output circuits sets a voltage level of a segment signal to the third voltage level in a first transition period from a period in which the voltage level of the segment signal is set to the first voltage level to a period in which the voltage level of the segment signal is set to the fourth voltage level, and sets the voltage level of the segment signal to the second voltage level in a second transition period from a period in which the voltage level of the segment signal is set to the fourth voltage level to a period in which the voltage level of the segment signal is set to the first voltage level.
US08493289B2 Scanning mirror based display system and method
Scanning mirror based display system and method. A method comprises sampling a scanned light provided by a scanning mirror, converting the sampled scanned light into an electrical signal, analyzing the electrical signal to determine a position of the scanned light, and controlling the light source or the scanning mirror based on the analyzed electrical signal. The electrical signal based on the sampled scanned light may be used to ensure proper operation of the scanning mirror display system, such as determining failure of the scanning mirror, proper rendering of colors, determining whether the scanned light is following a desired scan path at a desired scan rate, and so forth.
US08493286B1 Facial movement measurement and stimulation apparatus and method
An illustrative embodiment of a facial movement measurement and stimulation apparatus includes at least one facial movement sensor adapted to sense facial movement in a subject and a device interfacing with the facial movement sensor or sensors and adapted to receive at least one signal from the facial movement sensor or sensors and indicate facial movement of the subject. A facial movement measurement and stimulation method is also disclosed.
US08493285B2 Display system, in particular for an industrial automation device
There is described a display system which is used, in particular, in an industrial automation device. This display system has a first display panel which can be electrically operated and is transparent at least in parts and/or at times. The display system also has a second display panel, wherein the first display panel is positioned with respect to the second display panel in such a manner that the second display panel can be viewed through the first display panel. The second display panel is, in particular, a nameplate.
US08493282B2 Handheld device with secondary screen for soft key descriptors
A handheld electronic device, including a first device including a keypad including at least one soft key, the functionalities of the at least one soft key being indicated by corresponding at least one soft key descriptor, and a second device, insertable within the first device, including a processor for operating in cooperation with the keypad, when the second device is fully inserted within the first device, and a soft key screen for displaying the at least one soft key descriptor, wherein each of the at least one soft key descriptor is displayed proximate the location of its corresponding soft key on the keypad, when the second device is fully inserted within the first device.
US08493279B2 Antenna feed system
A microwave system comprises an antenna, antenna feed, a radio transceiver, and appropriate cabling among the aforementioned. Cost, performance and reliability improvements are achieved with further integration of these elements and with design improvements in the antenna feed. One improvement is the integration of the radio transceiver with the antenna feed. This improvement has many benefits including the to elimination of RF cables and connectors. Another improvement is the incorporation of parasitic radiators and sub-reflectors as part to of the antenna feed. The entire antenna, including the feed design is optimized with 3D finite element method (FEM) software and numerical optimization software. Another improvement is the utilization of the digital cable to power the integrated radio transceiver and a center fed parabolic reflector.
US08493277B2 Leaky cavity resonator for waveguide band-pass filter applications
A leaky cavity resonator that includes a waveguide, the waveguide being filled with a dielectric material, and at least two complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs), the CSRRs residing inside the waveguide parallel to each other placed symmetrically both radially and in height, a leaky resonant cavity being formed between the at least two CSRRs and a wall of the waveguide. A frequency band of the leaky cavity resonator is adjustable by varying a distance w between at least one outside perimeter of at least one CSRR and an interior wall of the waveguide. A frequency band of the leaky cavity resonator is also adjustable by varying a size of the leaky resonant cavity. The at least two CSRRs each have at least one stub connecting to a wall of the waveguide. A frequency band of the leaky cavity resonator is also adjustable by varying a size of the stubs.
US08493276B2 Metamaterial band stop filter for waveguides
A method and apparatus comprising a dielectric structure and a plurality of conductive segments. The dielectric structure is configured for placement in a waveguide. The plurality of conductive segments is located within the dielectric structure. Each of the plurality of conductive segments is configured to reduce a passing of a number of frequencies of electromagnetic signals traveling through the dielectric structure.
US08493274B2 Slot antenna and portable wireless terminal
A slot antenna is provided with at least two conductive plates arranged to face each other. A slot is arranged on one of or both of the facing conductive plates and has a long and narrow opening shape. A power feeding unit is arranged between the facing conductive plates and is electrically and physically connected with the facing conductive plates, respectively. When power is fed to the power feeding unit, the power is fed between the facing conductive plates by the power feeding unit. Thus, excitation with a frequency dependent on the electrical length of the slot is induced at the slot, and a current excited at the slot is distributed entirely over one conductive plate, the current becomes a radiation source, and an electromagnetic wave is radiated from the one conductive plate. At this time, the other conductive plate operates as the reflecting plate of the electromagnetic wave.
US08493270B2 Wireless device
A wireless device, including an antenna different from another antenna included in one of two casings, in a joint part where the two casings are joined together, is capable of reducing deterioration in properties of the antenna included in the joint part. The wireless device (1) of the present invention includes: an upper casing (10), housing a casing antenna (11) that resonates with a first frequency; a lower casing (20), housing a matching circuit (23) of the casing antenna (11); a hinge part (31), joining the upper casing (10) with the lower casing (20), including a built-in antenna (32) that resonates with a second frequency different from the first frequency, and including feeding sections (33) and (34) for coupling the matching circuit (23) to the casing antenna (11); and transmission elements (12) and (22), being disposed on at least any one of a signal path that connects the casing antenna (11) and the feeding section (33) and a signal path that connects the matching circuit (23) and the feeding section (34), the transmission elements (12) and (22) (i) giving passage to a signal having the first frequency and (ii) blocking a signal having the second frequency.
US08493269B2 Magnetodielectric substrate and antenna apparatus using the same
A magnetodielectric substrate includes a first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer, conductive patterns, and a plurality of air vias. The first dielectric layer has a predetermined height, and the second dielectric layer is stacked on the first dielectric layer. Conductive patterns are coated on an upper surface and a lower surface of one of the first and second dielectric layers. A plurality of air vias is formed with a predetermined diameter and a predetermined interval such that they pass through up to the conductive patterns of the upper and lower surfaces from the dielectric layer on which the conductive patterns are coated.
US08493267B2 Method and apparatus for position determination with extended SPS orbit information
A method and system for assisting mobile stations to locate a satellite use an efficient messaging format. A server computes a correction between coarse orbit data of a satellite and precise orbit data of the satellite. A coordinate system is chosen such that variation of the correction is substantially smooth over time. The server further approximates the correction with mathematical functions to reduce the number of bits necessary for transmission to a mobile station. The mobile station, upon receiving the coefficients, evaluates the mathematical functions using the coefficients and a time of applicability (e.g., the current time), converts the evaluated result to a standard coordinate system, and applies the conversion result to the coarse orbit data to obtain the precise orbit data.
US08493265B2 Radar detection method, notably for airborne radars implementing an obstacle detection and avoidance function
A method includes: generating a frequency-modulated continuous signal, an emission sequence being formed of successive ramps centered on a carrier frequency; fixing a modulation band ΔF and the duration Tr of a recurrence in such a way that at the range limit, a reception ramp appears shifted by at least one given frequency with respect to the corresponding emission ramp, on account of the propagation delay for the outward-return journey to a target kTr+θ, k being an integer and θ a duration less than Tr; demodulating the signal received by the signal emitted, the resulting signal including a first sinusoid at the frequency δFdim=(1−(θ/Tr)·ΔF and a second sinusoid at the frequency δFd=(θ/Tr)·ΔF; sampling the resulting signal and performing a first fast Fourier transformation on this resulting signal over the duration of each emission ramp; detecting in the resulting spectrum the spectral lines appearing at the frequencies δFd and δFdim, and performing the vector sum of these two spectral lines after resetting them into phase with respect to one another; and performing a detection by comparing the modulus of the vector sum with a predetermined threshold.
US08493264B2 Terrestrial object information judging image producing method and program
In the case where radar image data obtained from a radar device equipped in a flying body and optical image data of a district taken by the radar device are synthesized to produce a terrestrial object information judging image, the radar image data are approximated to a black and white panchromatic image character. The radar image data approximated to the black and white panchromatic character and the optical image data are aligned in position and then synthesized. As a suitable embodiment, in an approximation processing of the radar image data to the black and white panchromatic image character, histogram conversion processing is carried out in accordance with a histogram characteristic of the radar image data.
US08493258B1 Digital-to-analog converter image suppression with hilbert transform
A method and apparatus for suppressing a first replica of an image spectra and reinforcing a second replica of the image spectra are disclosed. A Hilbert transformer is applied to a first digital signal in a first path. The Hilbert-transformed signal in the first path is converted to an analog signal in the first path. The analog signal in the first path is delayed by an additional 90 degrees to produce a first phase-shifted analog signal. A phase delay is applied to the first digital signal in the second path and the phase-delayed signal in the second path is converted to analog to produce a second phase-shifted analog signal. A combiner combines the first and second phase-delayed analog signals to produce an analog output signal with at least one replica of the image spectra that is substantially suppressed.
US08493252B2 Logarithmic analog/digital conversion method for an analog input signal, and corresponding device
A logarithmic analog to digital conversion method for an analog input signal includes a logarithmic amplification with progressive compression of the input signal delivering a sequence of several secondary analog signals. The trend of the values of at least some of the secondary signals is a function of the values of the analog input signal including regions corresponding to a linear trend of the secondary signals as a function of that of the input signal expressed in a logarithmic scale. The method also includes a comparison of at least some of the secondary signals of the sequence with a common reference signal whose value lies within each of regions, supplying a thermometric code information item, and a generation of a first digital word from the thermometric code information item.
US08493250B2 Comparator offset cancellation in a successive approximation analog-to-digital converter
A successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (ADC) includes an adjustable voltage source that applies an adjustable voltage to an input of a comparator of the ADC to cancel an offset of the ADC. The ADC also includes a control that suspends adjustments of the adjustable voltage when the adjustable voltage converges on the offset. The adjustable voltage source is a digital-to-analog converter.
US08493248B2 Transforming circuit and system between parallel data and serial data
A transforming circuit between parallel data and serial data includes a current source, a clock input sub-circuit, and a parallel data input sub-circuit. The clock input sub-circuit includes a first clock signal terminal and a second clock signal terminal. The transforming circuit between parallel data and serial data also includes a clock control sub-circuit and a serial data output control sub-circuit. The clock control sub-circuit includes four switching elements. A first and a third switching elements are controlled by the second clock signal terminal, and a second and a fourth switching elements are controlled by the first clock signal terminal. The serial data output control sub-circuit includes a fifth switching element and a sixth switching element to speed up the falling edge of the output signal flip, a seventh switching element and an eighth switching element to limit the output signal amplitude. A transforming system thereof is also provided.
US08493246B2 Methods and systems for decoding data
A method of decoding is presented. The method includes the steps of receiving a coded bit stream that is encoded using a Non Return to Zero Inverted (NRZI) code and a 17 Parity Preserve/Prohibit (17PP) code, determining a 17PP modulated bit stream based upon the coded bit stream using a first selected decoding method, and generating a plurality of decisions by processing the 17PP modulated bit stream using a second selected decoding method, wherein the received coded bit stream comprises a plurality of coded bits, and the plurality of decisions are estimates of a plurality of source bits in a source information.
US08493245B2 Determination of long binary sequences having low autocorrelation functions
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for determining long binary sequences having low autocorrelation functions using evolutionary processes are disclosed. Biphase sequences are found with low peak sidelobe values meeting a predetermined criterion, e.g., threshold low auto-correlation function, including application of semidefinite programming in connection with determining an initial population, and evolving the population with an evolutionary algorithm to bits of the biphase sequences including bit flipping. The found biphase sequences can be communicated to a variety of applications, including wireless communications technologies.
US08493241B2 Systems, methods and computer readable media for displaying multiple overlaid images to a pilot of an aircraft during flight
Embodiments for displaying first and second images to a pilot of an aircraft are presented. The embodiments include, but are not limited to, obtaining a first image signal and a second image signal, commanding a display unit to display a first image on a display screen corresponding to the first signal, and computing an image moving velocity of the first image. The method further comprises estimating an image flow velocity for the second image based on the second image signal and comparing the image moving velocity of the first image to the image flow velocity of the second image. After the comparison, the display unit is commanded to display the second image overlaid on the first image, and commanding the display unit to establish an intensity of the second image within a predefined range based upon the comparison.
US08493238B2 Device and method for detecting wheel axles
The invention relates to the detection of wheel axles of a vehicle on a roadway by means of a sensor, which operates according to the light-section procedure and emits at least one fan of light from a first location along the roadway to project a line of light onto the roadway and a vehicle possibly located thereon, and records this line of light from a second location along the same side of the roadway and detects a wheel axle as soon as the recorded line of light exhibits, in its course emanating from the said side of the roadway, a shift-free change in direction differing from its course when the roadway is empty.
US08493235B2 Geobroadcast hazard warning device via a server
A hazard warning for a driver of a vehicle is provided which involves measured values captured by different vehicles or corresponding advance analysis results being evaluated centrally by a server. The server then decides who needs to receive a corresponding warning. In this way, the main computation power can be provided in the server, which relieves the load on the individual vehicle systems. In addition, the data transfer can be minimized, since the messages are sent only to selected receivers.
US08493232B2 Gas shut-off valve with feedback
Disclosed are apparatus and methodology for providing a feedback mechanism to a system operator that provides a positive indication of the position of a valve which controls gas flow to a consumer. Rotation of a stepper motor controlling a valve mechanism is optically monitored and a feedback signal is sent to the system operator indicating positive operation of the valve only when a selected number of rotations of the stepper motor is reported. The stepper motor may be operated in different modes, each associated with different nominal current consumption levels. In a higher current consumption mode, such as a torque-oriented mode, the stepper motor may be stepped a few additional steps after valve closure to ensure seating of the valve.
US08493229B2 Verbal warning systems and other audible warning systems for use with various types of devices, containers, products and other things
Verbal warning labels and other audible warning systems for use with different devices, containers, products and other things in various environments are disclosed herein. An audible warning system configured in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes a device having a standardized textual warning associated therewith, and a sound playback system operably coupled to the device. The sound playback device can be configured to audibly output a verbal warning corresponding to the textual warning. The verbal warning can be provided by at least one of a manufacturer, supplier, distributor or retail vendor of the device, and the verbal warning can supplement or replace the standardized textual warning.
US08493227B2 System and method for optimizing the position of a mobile device
A system and method for providing a visual indicator for optimizing the position of a mobile device when the mobile device is being used in a hands free mode. One or more position components in the mobile device can determine the position of the mobile device. The position of the mobile device can be compared to ideal or predetermined positions for improved performance quality. A visual indicator can be provided to provide an indication on whether the mobile device is in an optimal position. The visual indicator can take several forms including an illustration showing how the mobile device should be moved, an animation showing how the mobile device should be moved, colors providing an indication whether the position is acceptable, or any combination thereof.
US08493224B2 Bowden cable wear detection in a tube clamp system for medical fluids
A system for clamping a flexible tube containing medical fluids includes a cable assembly coupled to a remote driver and a slidable clamp that imparts a clamping force to the flexible tube. An electrical continuity detector is included to measure the wear of an internal insulating layer of the cable between a sliding inner wire and a cable casing member. An indication of the wear to the cable is generated in response to a comparison of the electrical integrity of the insulating layer with a threshold. The wear indication enables the cable to be repaired or replaced prior to a malfunction of the overall tube clamp system.
US08493222B2 Liquid injection device
A liquid injection device includes: a chamber which supply of the liquid and connects with the injection nozzle; a chamber volume varying unit to which driving voltage is applied to reduce the volume of the chamber to a volume smaller than the volume of the chamber before the driving voltage is applied; a driving voltage applying unit which applies the driving voltage to the chamber volume varying unit with the liquid supplied to the chamber; a pseudo noise data memory unit which stores sound data of pseudo noise having audible frequency components contained in driving noise generated when the driving voltage is applied to the chamber volume varying unit; and a pseudo noise outputting unit which outputs the pseudo noise by using the sound data of the pseudo noise such that the sound pressure of the driving noise decreases within the audible frequency range when the driving voltage is applied.
US08493221B2 Filter fouling detection using comparative temperature rise analysis
One embodiment involves detecting the fouling of an air filter used to filter airflow entering a computer system. An expected airflow rate is obtained from a current fan speed. An expected temperature rise between two positions is computed as a function of the expected airflow rate and the power consumption of heat-generating components, such as servers. An actual temperature rise is obtained from temperature sensors. An electronic alert is automatically generated in response to the actual temperature rise exceeding the expected temperature rise by a setpoint. Different setpoints may be used to trigger distinct electronic alerts.
US08493216B2 Generating deportment and comportment cohorts
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for generating deportment and comportment cohorts. Digital sensor data associated with an individual is received. The digital sensor data comprises event metadata describing a set of events associated with the individual. The set of events comprises at least one of body language, facial expressions, vocalizations, and social interactions of the individual. In response to determining description data for the individual is available, the description data is retrieved. The description data comprises at least one of identification information, past history information, and current status information for the individual. A set of conduct analysis models based on the event metadata and the available description data is selected. The set of conduct analysis models process the event metadata describing the set of events associated with the individual to identify and interpret the set of events. The event metadata and the description data is analyzed in the set of conduct analysis models to form a deportment and comportment cohort. The deportment and comportment cohort comprises attributes identifying a demeanor and manner of the individual.
US08493214B2 Method and apparatus for wireless management of articles
The present invention is directed to method and apparatus for wireless management of articles. The method is implemented by a master REID tag. The method includes transmitting at least one first RFID read signal to a plurality of REID tags local to the master RFID tag and receiving a first RFID response signal from each of the plurality of RFID tags in response to the at least one first RFID read signal. Each of the first RFID response signals comprises an identifier associated with an article. The method further includes maintaining an article record indicating at least one expected article that is to be managed by the master RFID tag and comparing each of the identifiers with the article record in an attempt to compile contextual information associated with the article record. The method further includes transmitting a master signal comprising the contextual information associated with the article record.
US08493213B2 System and methods for locating mobile devices using location and presence information
A location based service and method configured to provide recovery assistance for a misplaced or stolen mobile device. The location based system and method is configured to locate (recover) high value mobile devices using location, presence and other IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) based telecommunications network assets. The method includes leveraging location dips performed for other services to drive a recovery process for a mobile device to thereby reduce resource overhead on a location platform; locating the mobile device using the location dips performed for other services; and sending a notification to a subscriber of the location of the mobile device for recovery of the mobile device.
US08493212B2 Passive microwave system and method for protecting a structure from fire threats
An automatic fire suppression system used to provide protection of window glass and other structural elements in aircraft terminals which are exposed to exterior fires caused by natural, accidental, or intentional events comprises a directional passive microwave receiver, a central processor for processing received microwave signals over time and comparing the received signals over time with thermal event signatures stored in memory to selectively actuate a sprinkler system for protecting the window glass in the vicinity of an identified fire event. The memory may further store a model of the aircraft terminal, and the processor utilizes a fire dynamics simulator to simulate a thermal event at the terminal. A related fire suppression process involves the detection of incipient fires through an array of exterior passive microwave heat sensor fire detectors connected to an electronic control processor which identify zones such as 30 to 100 linear foot zones of exterior glass surface and automatically initiates an array of quenching sprinkler heads applying water to the exposed surfaces of glass and other structural elements in response to detection of an identified fire event by its signature.
US08493208B2 Devices and methods for detecting environmental circumstances and responding with designated communication actions
Provided are a wireless communication device and a communication device control method that include a set of templates corresponding to a plurality of potential environmental circumstances. The templates may be stored in a database in the computer readable memory of the communication device. At predetermined intervals, a suite of environmental sensors integral to the communication device may periodically sample the user's environment. The user's environmental circumstances may be derived or inferred by an analysis module based on the output of the suite of environmental sensors and then may be compared to the templates to determine a matching template. An action script is then executed based at least partially on the matching template which may include the contacting of a responding party.
US08493196B2 ACB following distance alert and warning adjustment as a function of forward vehicle size and host vehicle mass
When employing an adaptive cruise-with-braking (ACB) system to control host vehicle following distance, a forward vehicle is detected using one or both of a radar sensor (14) and a camera sensor (82). The radar sensor classifies the forward vehicle as a motorcycle, passenger car, or heavy vehicle by comparing a detected radar signature to reference radar signatures for different vehicles. The camera sensor classifies the forward vehicle as a motorcycle, passenger car, or heavy vehicle by comparing a captured vehicle image to reference pixel and contrast profiles (PCPs) for different vehicles. An adaptive cruise control (ACC) module (12) selects and implements a following distance alert (FDA) protocol for the classified vehicle, where the FDA protocol prescribes following distance limits that inversely proportional to the size of the forward vehicle. Following distance limits can be further adjusted as a function of host vehicle mass.
US08493192B2 Immobilizer circuit
An immobilizer device is configured for communicating with a base station. The immobilizer device includes an antenna circuit including three orthogonally-oriented antennas configured to receive a signal from a field generated by a base station. A power circuit is configured to draw power via the field on each of the antennas, and a communications circuit is configured to communicate with the base station via any of the antennas. The strength of the signals received via the antennas is evaluated and used to select one of the antennas for use in data communications and, if appropriate, as a power supply.
US08493191B2 Vehicle security notification device and related methods
A vehicle security device to be installed in a vehicle of a type including a vehicle audio entertainment system being configurable via a vehicle data communications bus extending throughout the vehicle may include an audio entertainment system content interface. The audio interface may be selectively operable to communicate audio content relating to a vehicle security breach condition to the vehicle audio entertainment system. The device may also include a controller coupled to the audio entertainment system content interface for detecting a vehicle security breach condition. The controller may also be for configuring the vehicle audio entertainment system, via the vehicle data communications bus, so that the audio content related to the vehicle security breach condition plays through the vehicle audio entertainment system based upon detecting the vehicle security breach condition.
US08493189B2 Haptic feedback controller
A haptic feedback controller of the present invention includes: a pointing position detecting sensor which is arranged along a fingertip pointing path and detects a pointing position of a fingertip when a pointing operation is performed along the fingertip pointing path; a haptic feedback imparting device which has a piezoelectric element arranged along the fingertip pointing path and generates vibrations depending on a high frequency voltage when the voltage is applied thereto and an elastic body which is fixed to the piezoelectric element, and imparts predetermined haptic feedback to the fingertip due to vibrations generated by the piezoelectric element; and a piezoelectric element control device which controls the piezoelectric element based on feedback information outputted from controlled equipment. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a haptic feedback controller which is suitable for controlling controlled equipment in response to a pointing operation performed by a user with his/her fingertip and, at the same time, is suitable for equipment such as portable equipment deemed necessary to satisfy demand for reduction of thickness and miniaturization.
US08493187B2 Wireless sensor reader
A wireless sensor reader is provided to interface with a wireless sensor. The wireless sensor reader transmits a narrowband, fixed frequency excitation pulse to cause the wireless sensor to generate a ring signal. The ring signal corresponds to the value of the physical parameter being sensed. The wireless sensor reader receives and amplifies the ring signal and sends the signal to a phase-locked loop. A voltage-controlled oscillator in the phase-locked loop locks onto the ring signal frequency and generates a count signal at a frequency related to the ring signal frequency. The voltage-controlled oscillator is placed into a hold mode where the control voltage is maintained constant to allow the count signal frequency to be determined. The low power, simple circuitry required to generate the excitation pulse allows the reader to be a small, battery operated unit. Alternative methods of frequency determination are also disclosed.
US08493186B2 Reading device, computer program product and reading system
The reader/writer repeatedly reads data, which is stored in an IC tag existing in an area where communication with the reader/writer can be established, from the IC tag in a noncontact method. The reader/writer transmits the read data to the administrative device. The administrative device generates read data which shows the result of reading in chronologic order and generates feature data indicative of the feature of the result of reading on the basis of the generated time series data. An IC tag is sorted as a target tag or an unnecessary tag by sorting the read data as necessary data or unnecessary data on the basis of the generated feature data.
US08493184B2 Method for remote measuring of a physical variable
System for remote measuring a physical variable comprising an RF transceiver arranged for transmitting an RF signal and for receiving a reflection signal derived from the transmitted signal. An RF transponder comprises a dielectric material having a dielectric property which is dependent on the physical variable according to a first function. The dielectric material is exposed to the physical variable to be measured. The transponder is arranged to receive the signal transmitted by the transceiver and to reflect a reflection signal, or the second and/or higher harmonics of it, which is dependent on the actual dielectric property. Processing means are provided for comparing the signal transmitted by the transceiver and the reflection signal received from the transponder and for converting the comparison result, e.g. the phase shift, into a value which is representative for the physical variable to be measured. The transponder may be e.g. a patch antenna.
US08493183B2 Wireless tag and method for producing wireless tag
The wireless tag includes an antenna conductor; a first power-supply conductor which is electromagnetic-inductively coupled with the antenna conductor; and a second power-supply conductor which is loop-shaped and which is electrically coupled with the first power-supply conductor.
US08493182B2 Phase ranging RFID location system
A method and apparatus for phase ranging the distance an RFID tag is from an RFID location system antenna along the interrogation signal beam, based upon the phase readings included in data sets obtained from monitoring reply signals corresponding to interrogation signals at multiple frequencies and a common interrogation signal beam direction; by comparison of measured phase and frequency data sets with theoretical phases calculated with respect to the same frequencies over a range of positions corresponding to a beam extent of the interrogation signal.
US08493179B2 Communication apparatus
A communication apparatus for performing a communication with other communication apparatus by using identification information, includes a housing, a plurality of grounding terminals which are respectively connected to one ends of internal grounding lines provided within the housing for connecting to an external grounding line outside the housing, a grounding line connection detection section which detects a grounding terminal connected to the external grounding line among the plurality of grounding terminals, and an identification information setting section which sets the identification information based on a detection result of the grounding line connection detection section.
US08493176B2 Image data management system
There is provided an image data management system that restricts a user's exit depending on the use of image data containing confidential information. An image data management system includes a management server 1, printers 2, gates 3 and 4, and an IC card 6. The printers 2 generate processing information when the user processes the image data, and store the processing information in the IC card 6. When the user is going to exit a managed area A or B, the gate 3 reads user information and the processing information from the IC card 6. The management server 1 determines whether feature information is present in the processing information. If feature information is present, the user's exit is prohibited. A manager's PC 5 is informed of the prohibition.
US08493174B2 Apparatus for instantaneous translation of sign language
An apparatus for instantaneously translating sign language in to voice and video is introduced. The present invention uses accelerometer sensors to compute the position and movement of each finger, thereby instantaneously determining the posture of the hand. The location of fingers with respect to body is accurately determined by placing RFID tags at different parts of the body while a single RFID reader is placed on the index finger. Data from accelerometer sensors and RFID reader are multiplexed and sent wirelessly via a controller to a laptop processor where ultimate conversion of sign language to text/voice is achieved. Further, various characteristics of sign language comprising hand position, hand posture, hand orientation and hand movement are detected based on the accelerometer data and RFID data.
US08493173B2 Method of cavity forming on a buried resistor layer using a fusion bonding process
A method of forming a buried resistor within a cavity for use in electronic packages using two glass impregnated dielectric layers, one with a clearance hole, the second with a resistor core, the clearance hole being placed over the resistor core and the assembly fusion bonded. The space remaining around the resistor core is filled with a soldermask material and the assembly is coated with metal. Thru-holes are drilled, cleaned, and plated and then the metal coating is etched and partially removed. The soldermask is then removed and a layer of gold plating is applied to the exposed metal surfaces. The use of glass impregnated dielectric layers and fusion bonding eliminates the fluorinated ethylene propylene resin (FEP) bleed problem associated with previous buried resistor cavity assemblies.
US08493172B2 Variable speed toggle trigger
A variable speed toggle switch that allows a user to reverse a rotational direction of a motor and supply variable amounts of power to a motor, such as in a power tool, for example, a power drill. A trigger can include a gear segment that meshingly engages a gear on a potentiometer to electrically communicate the actuation direction and actuation amount of the trigger to a microprocessor. The microprocessor can then signal to an H-bridge, or to a series of transistors, the actuation direction and actuation amount of the trigger. A motor or other device can be powered by a power source in an amount corresponding to the actuation amount, and in a direction corresponding to the actuation direction of the trigger.
US08493168B2 Asymmetric differential inductor
An asymmetric differential inductor includes first and second conductive wirings spirally disposed on a substrate having a first input terminal, a second input terminal, a ground terminal, and a central conductive wiring. The central conductive wiring has a central contact connecting the ground terminal and a central end away from the ground terminal. The first conductive wiring extends across the central conductive wiring and has a first contact connecting the first input terminal and a first end connecting the central end. The second conductive wiring extends across the central conductive wiring and interlaces with the first conductive wiring and has a second contact connecting the second input terminal and a second end connecting the central end. Corresponding portions of wiring sections of the first and second conductive wirings at opposite sides of the central conductive wiring are asymmetrical to one another to thereby save substrate space and facilitate circuit layout.
US08493164B2 Electromagnetic relay
An electromagnetic relay includes an electromagnetic relay body having an electromagnet and a contact part, the contact part opening and closing along with movement of the electromagnet, a terminal member supporting the electromagnetic relay body, and a base member supporting the terminal member. The terminal member has a connecting part electrically connected to the electromagnetic relay body, the electromagnetic relay body is supported by the connecting part while providing a clearance between the base member and the electromagnetic relay body.
US08493162B1 Combiner/divider with coupled transmission line
A combiner/divider circuit may include a plurality of transmission lines forming a junction, a sum port, a first component port, a second component port, and a difference port. A transmission line may be associated with the difference port and may be formed by inductively coupling a portion of each of two other transmission lines. The difference port may be terminated by a terminating impedance element at a location spaced apart from the junction, with the inductively coupled portions being between the junction and the terminating impedance element.
US08493161B2 Compact excitation assembly for generating a circular polarization in an antenna and method of fashioning such a compact excitation assembly
A compact excitation assembly for generating a circular polarization in an antenna in particular transmit and/or receive antennas such as multibeam antennas comprises a diplexing orthomode transducer and a branched coupler and is characterized in that the orthomode transducer (21), or OMT, is asymmetric and comprises a main waveguide (22) with square or circular cross section and longitudinal axis ZZ′ and two branches coupled to the main waveguide (22) by respectively two parallel coupling slots (25, 26), the two coupling slots (25, 26) being made in two orthogonal walls of the waveguide, the two branches of the OMT being respectively linked to two waveguides (35, 36) of an unbalanced branched coupler (40), the branched coupler (40) having two different splitting coefficients (α, β) that are optimized in such a way as to compensate for the electric field orthogonal spurious components (δy, δx) produced by the asymmetry of the OMT (21).
US08493160B2 Electromagnetic signal power limiter and method of designing the power limiter
The present invention relates to an electromagnetic signal power limiter and its design method. The power limiter for an electromagnetic signal includes at least one transmission line for the signal. The transmission line is made up of a number of passive micro-diodes with ballistic electron transport. The micro-diodes are distributed on the transmission line, and are implemented in a controlled atmosphere. The invention applies notably to radiofrequency or hyperfrequency waves received by detection and communication devices.
US08493158B2 Polar feedback architecture
Polar feedback architecture. A polar modulator, as may be implemented within a transmitter module, of a communication device includes feedback. This feedback involves monitoring of phase information and magnitude/amplitude information of an output signal generated by the polar modulator. The output signal can be a radio frequency (RF) signal such as may be transmitted via a communication channel within a communication system. A baseband processing module processes the monitored phase information and magnitude/amplitude information to perform adjustment of a phase modulator and/or other components within the polar modulator.
US08493157B2 MEMS resonator for filtering and mixing
A method of operating a micro-electromechanical system, comprising a resonator; an actuation electrode; and a first detection electrode, to filter and mix a plurality of signals. The method comprises applying a first alternating voltage signal to the actuation electrode, wherein an actuation force is generated having a frequency bandwidth that is greater than and includes a resonant bandwidth of a mechanical frequency response of the resonator, and wherein a displacement of the resonator is produced which is filtered by the mechanical frequency response and varies a value of an electrical characteristic of the first detection electrode. The method also comprises applying a second alternating voltage signal to the first detection electrode, wherein the second voltage signal is mixed with the varying value to produce a first alternating current signal. The first alternating current signal is detected at the first detection electrode.
US08493155B2 Multiband voltage controlled oscillator without switched capacitor
A controlled oscillator includes, connected in parallel, a capacitor configured to be tuneable based upon a first signal, an inductor, and an active impedance. The active impedance is formed by a pair of cross-coupled transistors connected so as to produce a negative resistive component at the terminals of the active impedance. Circuitry produces a degeneracy tuneable by a second signal in the cross-coupled pair, such that the cross-coupled pair produces a capacitive component tuneable based upon the second signal at the terminals of the active impedance.
US08493151B2 Method and apparatus for programmable gain control useful with digital to analog converter
A programmable gain controller (PGC) useful with a digital to analog converter is coupled to an input node providing a current source that is variable with a level of an input signal such as time sampled audio data, and multiple switches controlled to function as a digital gain control. Each switch is configured to selectively steer a variable fraction of the current provided by a current source to either a current sink node or to an output node of the PGC to provide at least one scaled current. An amplifier is coupled to an output of the PGC. The amplifier is configured to convert scaled current(s) to at least one output signal having an amplitude that is a function of both the input signal level and the digital gain input signal. Controlling the gain by steering current at the analog portion of the apparatus conserves circuit space and reduces noise.
US08493149B2 Amplifier circuit with variable tuning precision
Systems and methods are provided for facilitating variable precision tuning of an amplifier circuit. In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, the system includes an amplifier having multiple tuning stages to set the gain of the amplifier to discrete gain levels. In particular embodiments, the tuning stages are connected in series and each of the tuning stages includes a resistor connected in parallel to a switch, which can be disengaged to cause the amplifier to set the gain to an adjacent gain level. In certain embodiments, the difference in gain between each adjacent one of the plurality of gain levels is more at higher gain levels than at lower gain levels.
US08493148B2 Gain enhancement for cascode structure
Aspects of the present invention provide apparatuses and methods to provide significant gain enhancement for a cascode structure for a differential amplifier. The cascode structure of the differential amplifier can include first and second pairs of output transistors. The second pair of output transistors can be configured to approximately cancel modulation effects of the first pair of output transistors induced by changes in a differential output of differential amplifier, thereby resulting in conditions for providing enhanced gain.
US08493136B2 Driver circuit and a mixer circuit receiving a signal from the driver circuit
A driver circuit for supplying a drive signal to a mixer circuit comprising a first and second circuit branch and an operational amplifier. The first circuit branch receives an input signal and a bias signal. The second circuit branch receives the input signal. The operational amplifier has a first input connected to a junction node of the first circuit branch and a second input connected to a junction node of the second circuit branch. The operational amplifier is arranged to provide an operational amplifier output signal a second component of the second circuit branch so that a voltage at the junction node of the second circuit branch is equal to a voltage at the junction node of the first circuit branch. The voltage is dependent on the input signal and providing the drive signal.
US08493135B2 Semiconductor integrated circuit
A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a pre-charge signal generator configured to pre-charge a plurality of oscillation signals to a certain voltage level in a pre-charge mode, wherein the pre-charge signal generator includes: a first storage unit for storing a first pre-charge oscillation signal in response to a reference oscillation signal, a feedback unit for feeding back a second pre-charge oscillation signal, a second storage unit for storing the second pre-charge oscillation signal corresponding to an output signal of the first storage unit in response to the reference oscillation signal, and a pre-charge signal output unit for outputting a pre-charge signal in response to the first pre-charge oscillation signal and the second pre-charge oscillation signal.
US08493130B2 Reference voltage generating circuit
A reference voltage generating circuit that accurately corrects temperature characteristics of a BGR (bandgap reference) circuit and a regulator. A voltage dividing circuit outputs first and second voltages obtained by dividing a BGR voltage. The regulator includes a differential amplifier, first and second resisters coupled in series between the output terminal of the differential amplifier and the ground. The positive input terminal of the differential amplifier receives the BGR voltage, and the negative input terminal is coupled to a coupled node between third and fourth resistors. The BGR circuit outputs a third voltage varying with a temperature determined by a predetermined amount of current flowing in the BGR circuit and a predetermined resistor. A temperature-characteristics correcting circuit controls a correcting current flowing through the coupled node so that its magnitude varies with the difference between the first and third voltages, and the difference between the second and third voltages.
US08493124B2 Low minimum power supply voltage level shifter
A level shifter includes one PMOS and two NMOS transistors. A source of the first NMOS transistor is coupled to a low power supply voltage. An input signal is coupled to a gate of the first NMOS transistor and a source of the second NMOS transistor. The input signal has a voltage level up to a first power supply voltage. A source of the PMOS transistor is coupled to a second power supply voltage, higher than the first power supply voltage. An output signal is coupled between the PMOS and the first NMOS transistors. The first NMOS transistor is arranged to pull down the output signal when the input signal is a logical 1, and the second NMOS transistor is arranged to enable the PMOS transistor to pull up the output signal to a logical 1 at the second power supply voltage when the input signal is a logical 0.
US08493123B2 Synchronization of remote clocks
A system for synchronizing a first clock and a second clock includes a receiver associated with the first clock, configured to receive a remote pulse from the second clock. The remote pulse has a pulse repetition frequency and spectral characteristics that are known to the local clock. The system also includes a local pulse emitter configured to create a local pulse at the first clock, and optics configured to align the local pulse and the remote pulse. The system further includes an interferometer configured to create an interference pattern between the local pulse and the remote pulse. A controller is provided that is configured to calculate a time delay between the first clock and the second clock based on the interference pattern between the local pulse and the remote pulse.
US08493119B2 Scannable flip-flop with hold time improvements
Embodiments of a scannable flip-flop are disclosed that may reduce data hold time, which may in turn improve the performance of circuits incorporating the scannable flip-flop. The scannable flip-flop may include a slave latch and a master latch including an input multiplexer. The multiplexer may include a number of input ports, for example to receive normal operating mode data as well as scan operating mode data, and the multiplexer may be operable to controllably select one of the input ports and pass the value of the selected port to an output of the multiplexer. For example, the multiplexer may generate individual control signals for the various ports dependent upon both the clock signal and a select signal, such that each of the ports is qualified with the select signal and the clock signal before the multiplexer presents the input data of the selected port as the output of the multiplexer.
US08493117B2 Leakage tolerant delay locked loop circuit device
Leakage tolerant delay locked loop (DLL) circuit devices and methods of locking phases of output phase signals to a phase of a reference signal using a leakage tolerant DLL circuit device are provided. Embodiments include a DLL circuit device comprising: a primary loop and a secondary correction circuit. The primary loop includes a phase detector, an error controller, and a voltage controlled buffer (VCB). The secondary correction circuit is configured to generate and provide secondary error-delay signals to the error controller. The secondary correction circuit includes multiple error generators. Each error generator is configured to generate a secondary error-delay signal in response to detecting a particular edge of an output phase signal from the VCB. The primary loop is configured to control a phase adjustment based on at least one of a first error-delay-increase signal, a first error-delay-decrease signal, and the secondary error-delay signals.
US08493114B2 Temperature compensation circuit and synthesizer using the temperature compensation circuit
A temperature compensation circuit includes: a sensing circuit arranged to sense a temperature to generate a sensing signal; an operational circuit arranged to sample the sensing signal to generate a sample signal during a first phase, and arranged to generate an output signal according to the sensing signal and the sample signal during a second phase; and a capacitive circuit arranged to provide a capacitance adjusted by the output signal.
US08493113B2 PLL bandwidth correction with offset compensation
A method and system for compensating for offsets when measuring parameters of a phase-locked loop (PLL). In one embodiment, a proportional path in the PLL is temporarily shut off, a measurement is made of a real time-to-zero crossing in the PLL to measure a defined parameter of the PLL, the proportional path is switched on, and the defined loop parameter is adjusted based on this measurement. In one embodiment, the real time-to-zero crossing is measured after introducing a phase step into the PLL between a reference signal and an output signal of the PLL. In an embodiment, two phase steps, having opposite polarities, are successively introduced into the PLL, and the time-to-crossing measurements resulting from these two phase steps may be averaged, and this average is used to determine a loop parameter.
US08493106B2 Semiconductor device and method for controlling flip-flop
A semiconductor device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a flip-flop; a clock control circuit that controls a clock signal supplied to the flip-flop; and a controller that supplies a data retention signal to the flip-flop and controls the clock control circuit. When the flip-flop is driven by a negative edge of the clock signal and retains data when the clock signal is at a high level, the controller controls the clock control circuit so as to supply a high-level clock signal to the flip-flop after the input clock signal is fixed and before the flip-flop retains data. This prevents the occurrence of unintended latching of data when the flip-flop having a retention function retains data.
US08493105B2 Injection-locked frequency divider
An injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD) including a signal injector, an oscillator (OSC), and a buffer stage is provided. The signal injector is configured for receiving an injection signal. The OSC is configured for dividing the frequency of the injection signal, so as to generate a first divided frequency signal, where there is an integral-multiple relation between the frequency of the first divided frequency signal and that of the injection signal. The buffer stage is configured for receiving and boosting the first divided frequency signal, and performing a push-push process on the first divided frequency signal, so as to output a second divided frequency signal, where there is a fractional-multiple relation between the frequency of the second divided frequency signal and that of the injection signal.
US08493101B2 Drive circuit with a transmission circuit for capacitively transmitting a signal and associated method
A drive circuit with a circuit for transmitting a signal from a primary side having a first ground to a secondary side having a second ground. The transformer has capacitive coupling between the primary and secondary sides. The transformer has an ON transmission branch and an OFF transmission branch, which each have a first partial branch and a second partial branch. Capacitive coupling between the primary and secondary sides is effected in each partial branch by high-voltage capacitors. In the inventive method, in each transmission branch, the signal generates a current flow through a first HV capacitor of a first partial branch and an inverse current flow through a second HV capacitor of a second partial branch. This respective current flow is detected on the secondary side and is supplied to an evaluation circuit common to the two partial branches and reconstructs the primary-side input signal on the secondary side.
US08493098B1 Systems and methods for compensating the input offset voltage of a comparator
Systems and methods of actively compensating for the input offset voltage of a comparator are provided. A compensation circuit may include a compensation comparator for comparing the comparison signal generated using the output signal of a comparator, to a reference voltage. A first voltage accumulator is coupled to the compensation comparator and produces a first voltage that is related to a first amount of time that the comparison signal spends above the reference voltage. A second voltage accumulator is coupled to the compensation comparator, and produces a second voltage that is related to the second amount of time that the comparison signal spends below the reference voltage. The first voltage and/or the second voltage may be used to provide one or more compensation signals to one or more of the two input terminals of the comparator.
US08493097B2 Current-sensing circuit
In one embodiment, a circuit is provided. The circuit includes a low-ohmic circuit and a a power supply node configured and arranged for providing a supply voltage across the low-ohmic circuit to a load from which current can be drawn. The circuit also includes a current reference circuit, configured and arranged for setting a current reference level that is based on a portion of the current from the power supply node, and a current-sensing circuit. The current-sensing circuit senses and is responsive to current passing through the low-ohmic circuit. The current-sensing circuit operates in a normal mode, in which the current-sensing circuit senses an amount of current passing through the low ohmic circuit that is less than the current threshold level, and in an over-current mode, in which the current-sensing circuit senses an amount of current passing through the low ohmic circuit that is greater than the current threshold level.
US08493094B2 Trigger signal detection apparatus
A trigger signal detection apparatus includes: a clock gating circuit which is supplied with a trigger signal and a clock signal and outputs the clock signal; a trigger signal processing circuit which outputs a first signal only for a predetermined time when the clock signal is supplied from the clock gating circuit; a counter which operates in response to the trigger signal, thus outputting a count value of the clock signal; and a time set-up circuit which outputs a second signal to the trigger signal processing circuit when count value supplied from the counter reaches a preset value, and the trigger signal processing circuit stops outputting the first signal when the trigger signal processing circuit receives the second signal.
US08493088B2 Dynamic voltage and frequency management
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a self calibration unit configured to iterate a test on a logic circuit in the integrated circuit at respectively lower supply voltage magnitudes until the test fails. A lowest supply voltage magnitude at which the test passes is used to generate a requested supply voltage magnitude for the integrated circuit. In an embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a series connection of logic gates physically distributed over an area of the integrated circuit, and a measurement unit configured to launch a logical transition into the series and detect a corresponding transition at the output of the series. The amount of time between the launch and the detection is used to request a supply voltage magnitude for the integrated circuit.
US08493084B2 Apparatus and method for active voltage compensation of electrostatic discharge of a substrate
A voltage compensation assembly adapted for apparatus having a prober for contacting the electronic elements on a substrate is described. The voltage compensation assembly includes a controller connected to the prober and adapted for active voltage compensation, and a voltage measuring unit connected to the controller and for measuring a voltage on the substrate.
US08493082B2 Seating sensing device and method of the same
A seating sensing device embedded in a seat includes: a variable resistance unit generating resistance values corresponding to the circumference of the seat through a plurality of conductive threads installed in the seat; and a signal analysis unit analyzing variable quantities of the resistance values to acquire activity information on one or more of whether a user is seated or not, a seating posture, and a seating posture change.
US08493079B2 Vehicle seat with capacitive occupant detection system
A vehicle seat is provided in combination with a seat heater and a capacitive occupant detection system. The seat heater comprises a seat heating element disposed in the vehicle seat while the capacitive occupant detection system comprises a measurement circuit and an electrode arrangement, which is also disposed in the vehicle seat. The electrode arrangement includes a sensing electrode and a shielding electrode. The measurement circuit is operatively connected to the sensing electrode and to the shielding electrode and configured to keep the sensing electrode and the shielding electrode at substantially the same electric potential during the capacitive measurement. Of the seat heating element, the sensing electrode and the shielding electrode, the seat heating element is closest to a seating region of the vehicle seat and the sensing electrode is arranged between the seat heating element and the shielding electrode.
US08493077B2 Electronic device and method for inductor current measurement
An electronic device includes a circuit for measuring a current in an inductor, wherein the current in the inductor is controlled by alternately switching a first power transistor and a second power transistor each having a first electrode, a second electrode and a control gate. The measuring circuit includes a first sense transistor having a first electrode, a second electrode and a control gate, the first sense transistor having the control gate coupled to the control gate of the first power transistor. A second electrode is coupled to the second electrode of the first power transistor. A second sense transistor has a first electrode, a second electrode and a control gate, the second sense transistor having the control gate coupled to the control gate of the second power transistor and having the second electrode coupled to the second electrode of the second power transistor. An amplifier is operable in a first configuration for providing an output current that is a function of a first current though the first sense transistor during a first period of time or in a second configuration for providing the output current as a function of a second current through the second sense transistor during a second period of time, so as to alternately sense a current through the first power transistor with the first sense transistor and through the second power transistor with the second sense transistor.
US08493076B2 Measuring device
The invention relates to a measuring device comprising a signal unit (20) for emitting a measuring signal (22.1, 22.2) in a measuring frequency range (60, 62, 68, 70) adapted for measurement and an evaluation unit (36) for the spectral evaluation of an evaluation signal (34.1, 34.2) induced by the measuring signal (22.1, 22.2) to a measuring result. According to the invention, the measuring device comprises a signal processing unit (30) adapted to displace a generation signal (26) for generating a measuring signal (22.1, 22.2) in a generation frequency range (48) from the generation frequency range (48) to the measuring frequency range (60, 62, 68, 70).
US08493071B1 Shorted test structure
A shorted test structure and methods for making it are disclosed. A conductive layer is applied over a first surface of a blank substrate. The blank substrate has a plurality of conductive vias that electrically connect solder lands on the first surface of the blank substrate to corresponding solder contacts on a second surface of the substrate. The conductive layer electrically couples the solder lands.
US08493066B2 Magnetic field detection using faraday effect
A magnetometer is provided for detecting a magnetic field of strength B using the Faraday effect. The magnetometer includes a photon emitter, a first polarizer, a prism, a second polarizer, a detector and an analyzer. The emitter projects an emitted light beam substantially parallel to the magnetic field and having wavelength λ. The prism has an interface surface and is composed of a Faraday medium having Verdet value V. The emitted light beam passes through the first polarizer and then the prism, exiting from the interface surface making an incident angle θ0 to normal of the surface and then refracting into a secondary medium as first and second circularly polarized light beams that are separated by a small angular divergence δ. These polarized light beams have average refraction angle θ to the normal and pass through a post-selection polarizer before the detector measures a weak value Aw of a photon having “which path” operator  associated with the polarized light beams. The magnetic field strength is determined as B ≈ - 2 ⁢ ɛ ⁢ ⁢ A w ⁢ π ⁢ ⁢ n 0 ⁢ cos ⁢ ⁢ θ V ⁢ ⁢ λsin ⁢ ⁢ θ 0 . The parameters include n0 as index of refraction of the secondary medium, and ε as amplification factor. The pointer rotation angle Aw can be expressed as A w = ( θ + - θ - ) ⁢ cos ⁢ ⁢ ɛ + [ ( θ + + θ - ) - 2 ⁢ θ 0 ] ⁢ sin ⁢ ⁢ ɛ 2 ⁢ ⁢ sin ⁢ ⁢ ɛ in which θ+ and θ− are respectively right- and left-polarized refraction angles with the average refraction angle such that θ = 1 2 ⁢ ( θ + + θ - ) . The pointer rotation angle Aw can be approximated as Aw≈δ/2ε when 0<ε<<1. A method is provided incorporating operations described for the magnetometer.
US08493065B2 Device and method for inductive measurements—signal reconstruction
Method and device for nondestructive and noncontact detection of faults in a test piece, or electrically conductive particles in a liquid flow, moving past the device, using eddy currents. The test piece or flow is exposed to periodic alternating electromagnetic fields. A periodic electrical signal is detected by a receiver coil. The receiver coil signal has a carrier oscillation whose amplitude and/or phase is modulated by defects in the test piece or by electrically conducting particles and is digitized. A useful signal is produced from the digitized receiver coil signal, and the useful signal is evaluated with an evaluation unit to detect faults in the test piece or electrically conductive particles. When overdriving of the A/D converter stage by the receiver coil signal is ascertained, a part of the receiver coil signal truncated by the A/D converter stage is reconstructed using a mathematical approximation in the digitized receiver coil signal.
US08493064B2 Apparatus, system, and method for maintaining normalcy of a sensor with respect to a structure
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for scanning metallic surfaces. The apparatus, in one embodiment, comprises a shaft and a rotating member. The rotating member may comprise a sensing end and a featuring engaging element. The shaft further comprises a first coupling element and the rotating member further comprises a second coupling element. The first coupling element may be coupleable with the second coupling element such that the rotating member is pivotable at any three-dimensional angle with respect to the shaft to orient the sensing surface parallel to the scanned surface.
US08493063B2 Gearbox position sensor and corresponding gearbox
A motor vehicle gearbox position sensor includes a magnet and a probe for measuring a magnetic field at a sensitive end. The magnet and the probe may be placed facing a moving target connected to an actuating element, which is used to select the gear ratios of a gearbox in order to determine the position of the target in space and, from this, deduce the position. The position sensor also includes at least one ferromagnetic element positioned at the periphery of the sensitive end to trap metallic contaminants. A motor vehicle gearbox includes an actuating element that selects gear ratios, a moving target connected to the actuating element, and a position sensor.
US08493059B2 Shunt sensor and shunt sensor assembly
The present disclosure describes configurations for current shunt sensors and current shunt sensor assemblies having improved electromagnetic cross-talk rejection that can be used in single-phase/split-phase and poly-phase power metering applications. Some embodiments of the current shunt sensors and current shunt sensor assemblies reduce the need for a shielding material around current shunt sensors in single-phase/split-phase and poly-phase power metering applications. Some embodiments of the current shunt sensors achieve improved electromagnetic cross-talk rejection through a substantially symmetrical arrangement of component parts along the primary path of current flow. Some embodiments of the current shunt sensors achieve improved electromagnetic cross-talk rejection by symmetrical configurations that, in operation, induce complementary parasitic currents or voltages that substantially cancel each other out and do not substantially affect primary current flow through the current shunt sensor.
US08493057B2 Electromagnetic wave measuring apparatus, measuring method, program, and recording medium
A detector detects an electromagnetic wave having a frequency of 0.01 THz≦f≦100 THz and transmitted through a device under test (DUT). A changer changes a relative position of an intersection of an optical path of the electromagnetic wave and the DUT, with respect to the DUT. A deriver derives a characteristic value of the electromagnetic wave based on a detection result of the detector, while the characteristic value is associated with an assumed relative position, which is the relative position if the electromagnetic wave is not refracted by the DUT. A corrector changes the assumed relative position to an actual relative position, which is the relative position if the refraction of the electromagnetic wave by the DUT is considered. A corrected deriver derives the characteristic value associated with a predetermined relative position based on an output from the corrector.
US08493054B2 Calibration of non-contact voltage sensors
Calibration of a non-contact voltage sensor provides improved accuracy for measuring voltage on a conductor such as an AC branch circuit wire. In a calibration mode, a predetermined voltage is imposed on a first voltage sensing conductor integrated in the non-contact voltage sensor, while a voltage on a second voltage sensing conductor is measured using a circuit of predetermined input impedance. The capacitance between the wire and each of the voltage sensing conductors may be the same, so that in measurement mode, when the first and second voltage sensing conductors are coupled together, the effective series capacitance provided in combination with the predetermined input impedance is four times as great. The results of the voltage measurement made in the calibration mode can thereby be used to adjust subsequent voltage measurements made in measurement mode with the first and second voltage sensing conductors combined in parallel.
US08493049B2 Converter with crossover frequency responsive to switching frequency
A power converter constituted of: a reference source; a clock generator exhibiting a variable frequency output, the value of the frequency of the variable frequency output responsive to an external resistor value; and an error amplifier in communication with the reference source, the error amplifier exhibiting a gain whose value is responsive to the external resistor value. Preferably the error amplifier is a transconductance amplifier. In one embodiment the power converter further exhibits a current squarer, arranged to produce a squared value of a current whose value is responsive to the external resistor and provide the squared value to the transconductance amplifier.
US08493048B2 Constant on-time switching regulator implementing light load control
A control circuit for a switching regulator implements constant on-time control scheme with synchronous rectification and applies an integrated standard and light load control loop to improve light load efficiency and enhance transient response. In one embodiment, the control circuit includes a reference voltage selection circuit configured to select, based on a low-side current signal, a first reference voltage for standard load condition and a second reference voltage for light load condition as a selected reference voltage. The second reference voltage is greater than the first reference voltage. The control circuit further includes a control loop configured to generate a control signal to turn on the main switch when the feedback voltage is below the selected reference voltage and the minimum off-time duration has expired.
US08493047B2 Constant on-time switching regulator implementing dual control loops
A control circuit for a switching regulator implements constant on-time control scheme with synchronous rectification and applies dual control loops to improve light load efficiency and enhance transient response. In one embodiment, the control circuit includes a first control loop configured to control a one-shot timer to generate a control signal to turn on the main switch when the feedback voltage is below a first reference voltage and a minimum off-time duration has expired. The control circuit further includes a second control loop configured to control the one-shot timer to generate the control signal to turn on the main switch when the feedback voltage is below a second reference voltage and the minimum off-time duration has expired and a low-side current signal has a first state indicative of a light load condition at the output node.
US08493045B2 Voltage regulator configuration
A voltage regulator is configurable to operate in a linear regulator mode or a buck regulator mode. To operate in the buck regulator mode, the voltage regulator is coupled to an inductor. To determine whether an inductor is coupled to voltage regulator, and thus whether the voltage regulator can be configured in the buck regulator mode, a detection circuit determines whether a regulator output of the voltage regulator resists a change in current driven to the regulator output.
US08493044B2 Multi-phase DC-to-DC converter with daisy chained pulse width modulation generators
A multi-phase DC-DC converter is disclosed. The DC-DC converter has a plurality of phases, each with a separate PWM generator for driving a totem pole of transistors. A master PWM generator operates off of a master clock signal. The remainder of the phases are slaved to the master PWM generator.
US08493043B2 Voltage regulator circuitry with adaptive compensation
Voltage regulator circuitry is provided. The voltage regulator circuitry may contain a drive transistor that is controlled by the output of an operational amplifier. The drive transistor may supply a regulated voltage to a load. The operational amplifier may compare a reference voltage and a feedback signal at its inputs. The operational amplifier may include first and second stages. An adjustable resistor may be provided between the first and second stages. Control circuitry may control the resistance of the adjustable resistor based on the amount of current flowing through the load to ensure stable operation of the voltage regulator circuitry. Overshoot and undershoot detection and compensation circuitry may compensate for overshoot and undershoot in the regulated voltage. Voltage ramp control circuitry may be used to control the ramp rate of the regulated voltage.
US08493034B2 Charge control circuit and battery charger including a charge control circuit
A charge control circuit for a battery charger that quickly detects an attachment state of a battery pack. The battery charger starts charging a battery pack and performs first and second temperature estimation processes. Then, the battery charger performs a first attachment detection process and when determining whether a battery is connected performs a third temperature estimation process. The battery charger performs a second attachment detection process and when determining whether the battery is connected performs a fourth temperature estimation process. The battery charger performs a third attachment detection process and when determining whether the battery is connected ends a single temperature scan and then repeats the routine starting from the first temperature estimation process.
US08493031B2 Equalization device, battery system and electric vehicle including the same, equalization processing program, and equalization processing method
An SOC of each battery cell is periodically detected, and an SOCmin and an SOCmax are determined. Battery cells having the SOCs larger than SOCmin+α are selectively discharged. After an elapse of a preset equalization processing time period, discharge of all the battery cells is stopped. The equalization processing time period is set based on a rate of change in the SOC of the battery cell subjected to discharge and a rate of change in the SOC of the battery cell not subjected to discharge such that a magnitude relationship between the SOC of the battery cell having the SOCmin and the SOC of another battery cell is not reversed.
US08493029B2 System and method for dynamic power management of a mobile device
A method of dynamic power management of a mobile device. The method includes monitoring at least one load to determine when at least one of the loads will become active or inactive, determining a minimum required output voltage level to be provided by a single voltage converter based on voltage level requirements of the at least one load that will become active or inactive, converting an input voltage level via the voltage converter to provide the minimum required output voltage level to the output power port in advance of the at least one load becoming active or after the at least one load becomes inactive, monitoring the input voltage level, determining whether the input voltage level is below a first threshold, and when the input voltage level is below the first threshold, reducing the output voltage level provided by the single voltage converter.
US08493026B2 System and method for ad-hoc energy exchange network
A method for facilitating an operation of an ad-hoc energy exchange network is disclosed. The network includes a set of nomadic charging stations (NCSs) and an energy consumer (EC). Upon receiving a request from the EC for an energy exchange, wherein the request includes a current location and a destination location of the EC, an exchange location for performing the energy exchange between a nomadic charging station (NCS) and the EC is determined based on the current location of the EC, the destination location of the EC, and a current location of the NCS. The exchange location is transmitted to the NCS and the EC.
US08493023B2 Charge apparatus and method using the same
A charge apparatus used to regulate the power outputted by a power supply to charge a battery includes a voltage regulating module, a protection circuit, a timing module and a switch control module. The voltage regulating module is configured to connect the power supply to the battery and regulate electrical energy outputted from the power supply to charge the battery. The protection circuit detects a voltage of the battery and generates a triggering signal when the voltage of the battery reaches a preset voltage. The timing module receives the triggering signal to begin a timing process. The switch control module controls the voltage regulating module to stop charging the battery when the timing process ends.
US08493022B2 Automotive vehicle electrical system diagnostic device
An automotive vehicle electrical system diagnostic apparatus includes first and second electrical connections configured to electrically couple to an electrical system of an automotive vehicle which includes a battery. Digital samples are obtained during operation of the vehicle which are related to the system. The digital samples are stored in memory.
US08493021B2 Method and apparatus for providing supplemental power to an engine
A method and apparatus provides supplemental power to an engine. The method and apparatus includes a pair of conductive leads for connecting the supplemental power to an engine electrical system, a battery, a relay connected to the conductive leads, a shunt cable connecting the battery to the relay and a processor for controlling the relay to selectively apply electrical power to the engine electrical system. The method and apparatus includes safety features to reduce the risk of injury to the operator and damage to the apparatus and/or engine electrical system.
US08493020B2 Apparatus and method for charging and discharging photovoltaic PCS integrated battery
There are provided an apparatus and method for charging and discharging a photovoltaic PCS integrated battery applied to a system that includes a first DC/DC converter 110 connected to a solar cell 10, a DC/AC inverter 120, a DC link unit 130 connected in common to output terminals of the first DC/DC converter 110 and the DC/AC inverter 120, and a second DC/DC converter 140 having a bidirectional DC/DC conversion function connected between the DC rink unit 130 and the battery 30. The present invention calculates the amount of photovoltaic power produced by the solar cell 10 based on voltage and current detected in the voltage/current detector 200, determines one of predetermined control modes according to the amount of photovoltaic power and the connection or not of the battery, and controls the first DC/DC converter 110, the second DC/DC converter, and the DC/AC inverter according to the determined control mode.
US08493018B2 Fast switching for power inverter
An apparatus includes an inverter including a high-side switch coupled to a low-side switch, the inverter generating a time-varying drive current from a plurality of drive control signals, a positive rail voltage, and a negative rail voltage wherein controlling the switches to generate the time-varying drive current produces a potential transitory overshoot condition for one of the switches of the inverter; a drive control, coupled to the inverter, to generate the drive control signals and to set a level of each of the rail voltages responsive to a plurality of controller signals; and a controller monitoring one or more parameters indicative of the potential transitory voltage overshoot condition, the controller dynamically adjusting, responsive to the monitored parameters, the controller signals to reduce a risk of occurrence of the potential transitory voltage overshoot condition.
US08493009B2 Surgical motor control device, surgical drive system and method for controlling a surgical drive unit
A surgical motor control device for controlling a surgical drive unit comprises a sensorless electric motor with M motor windings. The motor control device is configured to perform a method for controlling the drive unit. The motor control device be configured to control the drive unit using a multiphase PWM method.An improved method for controlling a surgical drive unit and an improved surgical drive system are also proposed.
US08493008B2 HVAC adjustment module
A heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is provided. The system includes an integrated motor including a plurality of operating speeds and an input for selecting one of the plurality of operating speeds. The system further includes a system controller and an adjustment module. The adjustment module includes a plurality of operating modes each associated with one of the plurality of operating speeds and the ability to manually vary associations between the plurality of operating modes and the plurality of operating speeds. The adjustment module selects one of the plurality of operating modes on the basis of control commands received from the system controller and setting programmed or manually entered into and stored in the adjustment module and controls the integrated motor according to the operating speed associated with the selected operating mode.
US08493005B2 Luminaire system and method
A device comprising a solid state or mechanical switch coupled to a first connector and a second connector and at least one lighting device such as an LED light source wherein when power is applied to the first connector, the switch is operable to direct power to the lighting device and to a portion of the pins of the second connector. By constructing the connectors as similar, but with opposite genders, the connectors can be disposed on a circuit assembly to allow for daisy chaining a series of luminaire assemblies together. The connectors may be Ethernet connectors and the switch may be operable through control signals coupled to the Ethernet connector such that a smart power controller operating using power over Ethernet (POE) can operate to control the light sources.
US08493004B2 Ilumination device comprising multiple LEDs
A light generating device (20) comprises: —a rectifier (23) rectifying an AC input voltage and providing a rectified AC output voltage (Vin); —a controllable current source (40); —a switch matrix (30) comprising a plurality of controllable switches (S1-SN); —a plurality of n LEDs (D1, D2, . . . Dn) connected to output terminals of the switch matrix (30); —a controller (50) controlling said switches and controlling the current generated by the current source dependent on the momentary value of the rectified voltage (Vin). The controller is capable of operating in at least three different control states. In a first control state all LEDs are connected in parallel. In a second control state all LEDs are connected in series. In a third control state at least two of said LEDs are connected in parallel while also at least two of said LEDs are connected in series.
US08493001B2 Control circuit and light emitting diode driver and method using thereof
A control circuit applied in a light emitting diode (LED) driver includes a counter, a sample circuit, and a signal source. The counter counts a parameter indicating the duty cycle width of a dimming signal in response to a front edge of the dimming signal. The sample circuit obtains a sample signal by means of sampling the most significant bit (MSB) of the parameter in response to the rear edge of the dimming signal. The duty cycle width is determined to be greater than a threshold value and smaller than that when the sample signal corresponds with a terminal value and an initial value, respectively. The signal source provides a reference voltage corresponding to first level and that corresponding to second level, higher than the first level, to drive a boost converter of the LED driver in response to the terminal value and the initial value, respectively.
US08492999B2 System and method for controlling electrical power of LED and LED projector having the same
A method for controlling electrical power of light emission diodes (LED) is provided. The above method comprises steps of providing a supply voltage to the LED driver; providing a driving current to the LED by the LED driver; obtaining an operating voltage of the LED; and adjusting the supply voltage according to the operating voltage of the LED.
US08492997B2 Driving circuit of light-emitting element and method of generating driving signal therefor
A driving circuit includes a first delay circuit, a rise-detection circuit, a fall-detection circuit, a first filter, a second filter, and an adder. The first delay circuit delays an input signal. The rise-detection circuit detects a rise of the input signal. The fall-detection circuit detects a fall of the input signal. The first filter gives a first gain-frequency response to an output signal of the rise-detection circuit. The second filter gives a second gain-frequency response to an output signal of the fall-detection circuit. The adder adds an output signal of the first filter and an output signal of the second filter to an output signal of the first delay circuit.
US08492989B2 Switched-mode power supply, LED lighting system and driver comprising the same, and method for electrically driving a load
The present invention is related to a switched-mode power supply. It is also related to a LED lighting system and driver which comprise such a switched-mode power supply. In addition, the present invention is related to a method for electrically driving a load. According to the present invention, the switched-mode power supply is switched from a charging state, in which an energy storage is charged, to a discharging state, in which the energy storage feeds a load, when a current limit has been exceeded. This current limit is set proportional to an instantaneous voltage outputted by the rectifier.
US08492982B2 Current drive circuit for light emitting diode
A pulse width modulated dimming pulse signal PWM is input to a control input terminal P5. A standby terminal P6 receives a standby signal STB that indicates switching between a standby state and an operating state of a current drive circuit 8. A burst dimming terminal BS is provided to each of eight respective channels. Each burst dimming terminal BS receives a voltage at one terminal (cathode) of a corresponding LED string 6. When the voltage level of the standby signal STB is included in a first voltage range, a burst controller 9 is set to an all channel common mode, and when it is included in a second voltage range, the mode is set to a phase shift mode φSHIFT. The burst controller 9 set to the phase shift mode φSHIFT automatically sets the phase shift angle according to the number of connected LED strings 6.
US08492980B2 Methods for calibrating RF power applied to a plurality of RF coils in a plasma processing system
Methods for calibrating RF power applied to a plurality of RF coils are provided. In some embodiments, a method of calibrating RF power applied to a first and second RF coil of a process chamber having a power divider to control a first ratio equal to a first magnitude of RF power provided to the first RF coil divided by a second magnitude of RF power provided to the second RF coil, may include measuring a plurality of first ratios over a range of setpoint values of the power divider, comparing the plurality of measured first ratios to a plurality of reference first ratios, and adjusting an actual value of the power divider at a given setpoint value such that the first ratio of the power divider at the given setpoint matches the corresponding reference first ratio to within a first tolerance level.
US08492979B2 Plasma generation apparatus
Provided is an apparatus, such as an arc mitigating device, which can include a first plasma generation device and a second plasma generation device. The second plasma generation device can include a pair of opposing and spaced apart electrodes and a low voltage, high current energy source connected therebetween. A conduit can be configured to direct plasma between the first and second plasma generation devices, such that the second plasma generation device receives plasma generated by the first plasma generation. The plasma from the first plasma generation device can act to reduce the impedance of an area between the pair of opposing electrodes sufficiently to allow an arc to be established therebetween due to the low voltage, high current energy source.
US08492978B2 Dual element switched electron gun
The invention provides an apparatus and method of switching more than one bias voltage within an electron beam tube in order to achieve electron beam cutoff. The invention is particularly useful for high-perveance electron tubes in which a large change in focus-electrode-to-cathode or anode-cathode voltage might otherwise be needed to achieve cutoff. In one embodiment of the invention, the cathode and anode bias voltages are both switched by magnitudes well within the capabilities of standard high-voltage switches to achieve beam cutoff.
US08492975B2 Organic light emitting diode display
An OLED display includes a pixel substrate including a pixel area at which an organic light emitting member is located, and a peripheral area surrounding the pixel area, a pixel protective layer located in the pixel area, a peripheral protective layer separated from the pixel protective layer and located in the peripheral area, a sealing substrate opposite to the pixel substrate, a moisture absorbent between the pixel substrate and the sealing substrate, and on and overlapping the peripheral protective layer, and a sealing member between the pixel substrate and the sealing substrate, and located at an outer side of the moisture absorbent.
US08492971B2 Electronic appliance and light-emitting device
An EL element having a novel structure is provided, which is suitable for AC drive. A light-emitting element of the invention is provided with material layers (material layers each having approximately symmetric I-V characteristics with respect to the zero point in a graph having the abscissa axis showing current values and the ordinate axis showing voltage values) between a first electrode and a layer including an organic compound and between the layer including the organic compound and a second electrode respectively. Specifically, each of the material layers is a composite layer including a metal oxide and an organic compound.
US08492969B2 Organic light emitting diode display and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The OLED display includes: a display panel assembly including a first substrate having a display area and a mounting area, a second substrate coupled to the display area of the first substrate, and an integrated circuit chip mounted in the mounting area of the first substrate; a cover window disposed opposite the second substrate and the integrated circuit chip and covering the display panel assembly; and an adhesive layer which fills up a space between the second substrate and the cover window, and a space between the mounting area of the first substrate and the cover window.
US08492967B2 Light emitting device and display panel
A light emitting device includes a substrate, a patterned light-scattering layer, and an electroluminescent device. The patterned light-scattering layer is disposed on a portion of the substrate. The patterned light-scattering layer has a bottom surface in contact with the substrate, a top surface opposite to the bottom surface, and a plurality of sidewalls connecting the bottom surface and the top surface. The electroluminescent device is at least disposed on the sidewalls.
US08492966B2 Symmetric field emission devices using distributed capacitive ballasting with multiple emitters to obtain large emitted currents at high frequencies
Field emission devices utilizing capacitive ballasting are described with possible uses in industry. The preferred device utilizes opposing electrodes, each with a dielectric layer and a plurality of conductive islands which serve to exchange electrons, generating an oscillatory current. Ideally these islands are dome-shaped and made of a refractory metal such as tungsten of molybdenum. Through proper use and selection of materials, electrical fields with densities of 1014 A/m2 are capable of being generated.
US08492961B2 Heat sink assembly
A heat sink assembly (216) includes a heat sink (218) having an upper surface (220), a lower surface (222), a non-metal-core circuit board (224) disposed in register with the upper surface (220), and at least one solid state electronic component (SSEC) (226) electrically coupled to the circuit board (224) such that an underside (228) of each SSEC (226) is not in confronting relationship with the circuit board (224). A first thermal interface material (232) is disposed between and thermally coupled to the underside (228) of the SSEC (226) and the upper surface (220), the first thermal interface material (232) being electrically and thermally conductive. A second thermal interface material (236) is disposed in thermal communication with the lower surface (222) and spreads heat to the second heat sink (104), the second thermal interface material (236) being electrically insulating and thermally conductive.
US08492960B2 Lamp with heat sink and lamp cover mounted on the heat sink
A lamp includes a heat sink and a lamp cover mounted on the heat sink. The lamp cover includes a connecting portion. The heat sink includes a plurality of clamping portions. The plurality of clamping portions surrounds the lamp cover and is spaced apart from each other along a circumferential direction. The plurality of clamping portions each defines a recess facing the lamp cover. The recesses communicate with each other along the circumferential direction whereby an annular engaging groove is defined in the heat sink by the recesses. The connecting portion is engaged in the engaging groove whereby the lamp cover is connected with the heat sink.
US08492958B2 Device for converting thermal power into electricity
A device for converting thermal power into electric power including a plurality of bimetallic strips disposed between a rigid support and a plate of a resilient plastic material; and on the side of the plate of a resilient plastic material opposite to the strips, a layer of a piezoelectric material connected to output terminals, wherein the rigid support is capable of being in contact with a hot source, and the plate of a resilient plastic material is capable of transmitting to the piezoelectric layer the mechanical stress due to the deformations of the bimetallic strips.
US08492957B2 Apparatus for generating electric energy
An apparatus for generating electric energy comprises a vibration plate, a supporting board, at least one side-wall unit and at least one piezoelectric substrate having a first- and a second end surfaces covered with a first- and a second electrodes, respectively. They all together form at least one cavity resonator. If a sound pressure from the outside arrives at the vibration plate, an acoustic vibration is excited in the vibration plate, and thereby a resonance vibration is induced in the cavity resonator. In this time, the piezoelectric substrate responds collectively to the resonance vibration. Thus, a resonance energy occurred in the cavity resonator is converted into an electric energy, which is delivered through the first- and second electrodes.
US08492954B2 Ultrasonic sensor
Disclosed herein is an ultrasonic sensor including: an epoxy molding part: a piezoelectric ceramic stacked on an upper portion of the epoxy molding part; a sound absorbing material contacting sides of the piezoelectric ceramic and spaced apart from an upper portion of the piezoelectric ceramic to thereby enclose the piezoelectric ceramic and absorbing vibration; a case spaced apart from sides and a lower surface of the sound absorbing material to thereby enclose the sound absorbing material and having a shape in which a bottom surface including the epoxy molding part stacked thereon protrudes upwardly; and a molding material filled on an upper surface of the sound absorbing material and between the sides and the lower surface of the sound absorbing material and the case.
US08492951B2 Segmented stator assembly
A stator assembly includes a segmented stator having stator portions. Each stator portion includes a support structure and dovetails, each coupled to the support structure by adjustable elements. The stator portion also includes stator laminations, where each of the laminations has openings to engage with the dovetails. Connectors are provided to connect the stator portions of the segmented stator together.
US08492950B2 Rotor assembly for traction motor
In one embodiment, a rotor for an induction motor comprises a punching assembly, a plurality of conductive bars, and an end-ring. The plurality of conductive bars may be substantially parallel to an axis of the rotor and connected to the punching assembly at a periphery of the punching assembly. Each conductive bar includes an end connected to the end-ring. The end-ring comprises a punching side having a surface facing the punching assembly and a housing side having a surface opposite the punching surface. The end-ring may be thicker on the punching side than the housing side. In this manner, the peak end ring stresses may be reduced at higher speeds and the mean time between failures of the rotor may be increased. Alternatively, the threshold speed may be increased and the top-speed of the off-highway vehicle may be increased for a given expected mean time between failures of the rotor.
US08492945B2 Starter-generator
A starter-generator is provided for a motor vehicle that has a drive train (1) with a drive machine (4), a torque-transmission device (8) and a transmission. The starter-generator (20) has an external rotor (22) and a stator (21). To simplify the manufacture of the motor vehicle, the starter-generator has a rotor flange (28) connected in a rotationally fixed fashion to an input component (16) of the torque-transmission device (8) and extends from the rotor (22).
US08492944B2 Step motor
Provided is a step motor including a rotor in which a lead screw is coupled with a magnet; a stator in which the rotor is rotatably inserted and which applies a magnetic field to the rotor; a thrust bearing which supports an end of the lead screw; a housing in which the stator is received, and a guide part opened at one side thereof is protruded, and the thrust bearing is inserted into the guide part; a plate spring which is provided at an opened portion of the guide part so as to apply elastic force to the thrust bearing and thus inhibit deviation of the lead screw and the thrust bearing; and a plate spring guide which is fixed to an outside of the guide part of the housing so that the plate spring is inserted therein.
US08492938B2 Linear vibration device
Disclosed herein is a linear vibration device. The linear vibration device includes a stator including magnets, a bracket, and a case having an inner space formed therein and coupled with the bracket; and a vibrator including coils facing the magnets, a weight body coupled with the coil, an FPC coupled with a top portion of the weight body, and an elastic member of which the one end is coupled with the case and the other end is coupled with the coil, the vibrator being accommodated in the case, wherein the magnets include a first magnet and a second magnet facing the first magnet, coupled with a top surface of the bracket, and including a magnetic fluid applied to a bottom portion and a side portion thereof.
US08492935B2 Lithographic apparatus having a Lorentz actuator with a composite carrier
An actuator is configured to produce a displacement force between a first and a second part to displace the first and second parts relative to each other. The Actuator includes a first magnet subassembly, attached to one of a first and a second part, and an electrically conductive element, attached to the other one of the first and second part and placed near the first magnet subassembly. The first magnet subassembly includes at least one set of at least two adjacently placed magnets oriented such that their magnetic polarizations are substantially mutually opposite, and a back mass made out of a magnetic flux guiding material and connecting the magnets to guide a magnetic flux there between. The first magnet subassembly includes a carrier made of a non-magnetic-flux-guiding material, the carrier including at least one recess in which the at least one set of back mass and magnets is embedded.
US08492934B2 Coil variations for an oval coil planar motor
Methods and apparatus for providing an efficient oval coil planar motor are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, an electromagnetic actuator includes at least a first coil group, at least a second coil group, and a magnet array. The first coil group includes at least a first coil that is of an elongated toroidal shape. The first coil has a first coil length and a first coil width that is approximately equal to a multiple of three times the first coil width. The second coil group includes at least a second coil that is of an elongated toroidal shape. The second coil has a second coil width and a second coil length that is approximately equal to a multiple of three times the second coil width. The second coil group is approximately adjacent to the first coil group. The magnet array is configured to cooperate with the first and second coil groups, and includes a plurality of magnets. The magnets have an associated magnet pitch, and the first coil width and the second coil width are a function of the magnet pitch.
US08492929B2 Device, system and method for directly generating alternating current electricity from photovoltaic cells
A method utilizing a device and/or system presented herein for generating alternating current (a/c) electricity directly from photovoltaic cells utilize an array of photovoltaic cell pairs that are each connected in anti-parallel to form an a/c junction. The system, device and method mechanically gradually exposes and shades photovoltaic cell pairs to sunlight to generate alternating current electricity at an a/c junction of the solar cell pairs. Gradually and alternately exposing and shading the two anti-parallel connected solar cells of each solar cell pair causes the amplitude and polarity of the electricity at the a/c junction to gradually rise and fall to produce alternating current electricity. The gradual, alternating exposure and shading of the two anti-parallel solar cells is accomplished by mechanically covering and exposing the solar cell pairs. This is efficiently accomplished by a rotating segmented disc positioned over an array of solar cell pairs.
US08492922B2 Power supply apparatus activating method
The two ends of a battery circuit (18), in which a first power supply (11) is connected in series to a second power supply (12), are connected to the respective first and third lines (L1 and L3), while a junction (18a) between the first power supply (11) and the second power supply (12) is connected to a second line (L2). The two ends of a switching circuit (33) are connected to the respective first and third lines (L1 and L3). An end of a reactor (34) is connected to a junction between first and second switching elements (31 and 32), while the other end of the reactor (34) is connected to the second line (L2).The power supply apparatus (10), when activated, executes an operation in which, while the ON state of the first switching element (31) is inhibited, only the second switching element (32) is alternately turned ON and OFF with the ON state duration changed such that the ON state duration has a tendency to become longer. Thereafter, the power supply apparatus (10) executes an operation in which the switching elements (31 and 32) are alternately turned ON.
US08492921B2 Rotary magnus energy harvester
An energy harvester capable of providing motion from fluid flow, which comprises at least one Magnus cylinder driven to rotate by the movement of the fluid past a fin device. This causes the Magnus cylinder to rotate, and further interactions between the rotating Magnus cylinder and the moving fluid generate a Magnus lifting force. A channel or system may be also provided to direct the fluid flow to the Magnus cylinder. This rotating Magnus cylinder configuration is integrated into a mechanical device that is designed to transfer the Magnus lifting forces into a rotary mechanical motion to drive an electric generator. The device can be utilized in either air or hydraulic environments. A modification of the energy harvester can also be configured to utilize the generated electricity to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells, or for combustion.
US08492919B2 Wind power generator equipped with a cooling system
A wind power generator has a nacelle; a hub rotatable about an axis of rotation with respect to the nacelle; at least two blades fitted to the hub; an electric machine which is fitted to the nacelle, is bounded by an inner surface extending about the axis of rotation, and has a rotor and a stator; and a cooling system for airflow cooling the electric machine, and which has a deflector body for defining a gap between the deflector body and the electric machine and guiding the airflow into the gap.
US08492910B2 Underfill method and chip package
A method of fabricating a chip package is provided. The chip package includes a laminate, a chip and conductive elements interposed between the chip and the laminate by which signals are transmitted among the chip and the laminate. The method includes dispensing a first underfill in a space defined between opposing faces of the chip and the laminate and dispensing a second underfill at least at a portion of an edge of the chip, the second underfill including a high aspect ratio material.
US08492906B2 Lead frame ball grid array with traces under die
A package includes a first plated area, a second plated area, a die attached to the first plated area, and a bond coupling the die to the second plated area. The package further includes a molding encapsulating the die, the bond, and the top surfaces of the first and second plated areas, such that the bottom surfaces of the first and second plated areas are exposed exterior to the package. Additional embodiments include a method of making the package.
US08492898B2 Printed circuit boards
A printed circuit board to which a localised solder connection is to be made, the surface of said printed circuit board having a continuous or non-continuous coating of a composition comprising a halo-hydrocarbon polymer at a thickness of from 1 nm to 10 μm.
US08492897B2 Microstructure modification in copper interconnect structures
A metal interconnect structure and a method of manufacturing the metal interconnect structure. Manganese (Mn) is incorporated into a copper (Cu) interconnect structure in order to modify the microstructure to achieve bamboo-style grain boundaries in sub-90 nm technologies. Preferably, bamboo grains are separated at distances less than the “Blech” length so that copper (Cu) diffusion through grain boundaries is avoided. The added Mn also triggers the growth of Cu grains down to the bottom surface of the metal line so that a true bamboo microstructure reaching to the bottom surface is formed and the Cu diffusion mechanism along grain boundaries oriented along the length of the metal line is eliminated.
US08492896B2 Semiconductor apparatus and semiconductor apparatus unit
A semiconductor apparatus including: a substrate 12; a plurality of electrode pads 20 formed on a surface of the substrate 12; and a protection film 14 having a plurality of through holes 16 formed in one-to-one correspondence with the electrode pads 20, and covering circumferential edge portions of the electrode pads 20 and the surface of the substrate 12 except for areas under the electrode pads 20. An inner wall of each through hole 16 is a slant surface 22 slanted toward outside of the through hole 16. A plurality of metal layers 24 have been formed, each covering an exposed part of each electrode pad 20 not covered by the protection film 14 and an area of each slant surface extending from the exposed part up to a middle of the slant surface. A plurality of bumps 18 have been connected one-to-one with the metal layers 24.
US08492895B2 Semiconductor device with grounding conductor film formed on upper surface of dielectric film formed above integrated circuit
A semiconductor chip such as an MMIC is provided. The semiconductor chip has: a Si semiconductor as a substrate; and a low-loss transmission line, and can be easily connected to a circuit board on which the semiconductor chip is to be mounted and can ensure a stable GND potential. The semiconductor chip is a flip-chip semiconductor chip, and includes: a Si substrate; an integrated circuit manufactured on a main surface of the substrate; a dielectric film formed above the integrated circuit; and a conductor film for grounding formed on an upper surface of the dielectric film. The integrated circuit includes a wiring layer including a signal line which transmits signals for the integrated circuit. The signal line, the dielectric film, and the conductor film constitute a microstrip line.
US08492891B2 Cu pillar bump with electrolytic metal sidewall protection
A copper pillar bump has a sidewall protection layer formed of an electrolytic metal layer. The electrolytic metal layer is an electrolytic nickel layer, an electrolytic gold layer, and electrolytic copper layer, or an electrolytic silver layer.
US08492890B2 Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing thereof
A semiconductor device which includes a first semiconductor chip, a second semiconductor chip flip-chip bonded to the first semiconductor chip, a resin portion for sealing the first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip such that a lower surface of the first semiconductor chip and an upper surface of the second semiconductor chip are exposed and a side surface of the first semiconductor chip is covered, and a post electrode which pierces the resin portion and is connected to the first semiconductor chip, and a manufacturing method thereof are provided.
US08492889B2 Semiconductor package
A semiconductor package includes a substrate, a first semiconductor chip module attached to the substrate, a conductive connection member attached to the first semiconductor chip module, and a second semiconductor chip module attached to the conductive connection member. The first and second semiconductor chip modules are formed to have step like shapes to and extend laterally in opposite directions so as to define a zigzag arrangement together.
US08492887B2 Integrated circuit packaging system with leadframe and method of manufacture thereof
A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: providing a leadframe strip system, having a stress relief slot and a leadframe unit, the stress relief slot is at a frame corner of the leadframe strip system and spans adjacent sides of the leadframe unit, the leadframe unit includes a paddle, a tie bar therefrom, and a lead finger; connecting an integrated circuit and the lead finger; forming an encapsulation covering the integrated circuit; and singulating the integrated circuit in the encapsulation from the leadframe strip system with a package corner of the encapsulation free of micro-cracks with an inspection of the package corner at least 50× view.
US08492886B2 3D integrated circuit with logic
An integrated circuit including a first layer of logic circuits, and a second layer of logic circuits overlaying the first layer, wherein the first layer includes a multiplicity of flip-flops wherein each of the flip-flops has at least one connection to the second layer, and wherein the second layer includes at least one logic circuit with inputs including the connection and with at least one output connected to the first layer.
US08492884B2 Stacked interposer leadframes
A stacked leadframe assembly is disclosed. The stacked leadframe assembly includes a first die having a surface that defines a mounting plane, a first leadframe stacked over and attached to the first die, a second die stacked over and attached to the first leadframe; and a second leadframe stacked over and attached to the second die. The leadframes have die paddles with extended side panels that have attachment surfaces in the mounting plane.
US08492874B2 High density metal-insulator-metal trench capacitor
Higher capacitance density is achieved by increasing a surface area of a capacitor. A larger surface area may be obtained by forming isotropic ball shapes (a concave surface) in the trenches on the semiconductor die. The concave surfaces are fabricated by depositing bilayers of amorphous-silicon and silicon oxide. Openings are patterned in the silicon oxide hard mask for trenches. The openings are transferred to the amorphous-silicon layers through isotropic etching to form concave surfaces. Conducting, insulating, and conducting layers are deposited on the concave surfaces of the trenches by atomic layer deposition.
US08492873B1 Integrated circuit guard ring structures
An integrated circuit is provided with guard rings that form ring-like reverse-biased p-n junctions around circuitry. Capacitors may be integrated into the guard rings. Power supply lines may be connected to the guard rings and the capacitors. The capacitors may stabilize power supply voltages on the power supply lines. The power supply lines may be arranged such that they are parallel to each other. The power supply lines can form one or more parallel plate capacitors that stabilize the power supply voltages on the power supply lines.
US08492871B2 Electrical fuse and method of making
A semiconductor fuse and methods of making the same. The fuse includes a fuse element and a compressive stress liner that reduces the electro-migration resistance of the fuse element. The method includes forming a substrate, forming a trench feature in the substrate, depositing fuse material in the trench feature, depositing compressive stress liner material over the fuse material, and patterning the compressive stress liner material.
US08492866B1 Isolated Zener diode
Disclosed is a Zener diode having a scalable reverse-bias breakdown voltage (Vb) as a function of the position of a cathode contact region relative to the interface between adjacent cathode and anode well regions. Specifically, cathode and anode contact regions are positioned adjacent to corresponding cathode and anode well regions and are further separated by an isolation region. However, while the anode contact region is contained entirely within the anode well region, one end of the cathode contact region extends laterally into the anode well region. The length of this end can be predetermined in order to selectively adjust the Vb of the diode (e.g., increasing the length reduces Vb of the diode and vice versa). Also disclosed are an integrated circuit, incorporating multiple instances of the diode with different reverse-bias breakdown voltages, a method of forming the diode and a design structure for the diode.
US08492864B2 Solid-state imaging device and electronic equipment
A solid-state imaging device includes: a substrate; a wiring layer formed on a front side of the substrate in which pixels are formed; a surface electrode pad section formed in the wiring layer; a light-shielding film formed on a rear side of the substrate; a pad section base layer formed in the same layer as the light-shielding film; an on-chip lens layer formed over the light-shielding film and the pad section base layer in a side opposite from the substrate side; a back electrode pad section formed above the on-chip lens layer; a through-hole formed to penetrate the on-chip lens layer, the pad section base layer, and the substrate so as to expose the surface electrode pad section; and a through-electrode layer which is formed in the through-hole and connects the surface electrode pad section and the back electrode pad section.
US08492861B1 Beta voltaic semiconductor diode fabricated from a radioisotope
In one preferred embodiment, a semiconductor diode includes a first layer formed with a p-type semiconductor, a second layer formed with an n-type semiconductor, and a third active depletion layer contained between the first and second layers. The third layer is formed with a radioisotope of the p-type and n-type semiconductors (preferably Si 32) such that initial emission of beta particles begins in the active depletion region and substantially all of the emitted beta particles are contained within the first, second and third layers during operation. The p-type and n-type layers each have sufficient depth to contain substantially all of beta particles emitted from the depletion layer. The depth of each of the p-type and n-type layers is substantially equal to or greater than the maximum beta emission depth of the radioisotope.
US08492859B2 Magnetic tunnel junction with spacer layer for spin torque switched MRAM
A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) includes first and second magnetic layers; a tunnel barrier located between the first and second magnetic layers; a first spacer layer located between the first magnetic layer and the tunnel barrier, the first spacer layer comprising a non-magnetic material; and a first interfacial layer located between the first spacer layer and the tunnel barrier.
US08492858B2 Magnetic tunnel junction device and fabrication
A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device and fabrication method is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a method of forming a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device includes forming an MTJ cap layer on an MTJ structure and forming a top electrode layer over the MTJ cap layer. The top electrode layer includes a first nitrified metal.
US08492857B2 MEMS diaphragm
A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) diaphragm is provided. The MEMS diaphragm includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and a first dielectric layer. The first conductive layer is disposed on a substrate and having a plurality of openings. The openings have the same dimension, and the distance between the adjacent openings is gradually increased toward the edge of the first conductive layer. The second conductive layer is disposed between the first conductive layer and the substrate. The first dielectric layer is partially disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, so that a portion of the first conductive layer is suspended.
US08492854B1 Integrated circuit having raised source drains devices with reduced silicide contact resistance and methods to fabricate same
A structure has at least one field effect transistor having a gate stack disposed between raised source drain structures that are adjacent to the gate stack. The gate stack and raised source drain structures are disposed on a surface of a semiconductor material. The structure further includes a layer of field dielectric overlying the gate stack and raised source drain structures and first contact metal and second contact metal extending through the layer of field dielectric. The first contact metal terminates in a first trench formed through a top surface of a first raised source drain structure, and the second contact metal terminates in a second trench formed through a top surface of a second raised source drain structure. Each trench has silicide formed on sidewalls and a bottom surface of at least a portion of the trench. Methods to fabricate the structure are also disclosed.
US08492852B2 Interface structure for channel mobility improvement in high-k metal gate stack
A gate stack structure for field effect transistor (FET) devices includes a nitrogen rich first dielectric layer formed over a semiconductor substrate surface; a nitrogen deficient, oxygen rich second dielectric layer formed on the nitrogen rich first dielectric layer, the first and second dielectric layers forming, in combination, a bi-layer interfacial layer; a high-k dielectric layer formed over the bi-layer interfacial layer; a metal gate conductor layer formed over the high-k dielectric layer; and a work function adjusting dopant species diffused within the high-k dielectric layer and within the nitrogen deficient, oxygen rich second dielectric layer, and wherein the nitrogen rich first dielectric layer serves to separate the work function adjusting dopant species from the semiconductor substrate surface.
US08492844B2 Fully depleted SOI device with buried doped layer
The present invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a semiconductor device by providing a first substrate; providing a doped layer in a surface region of the first substrate; providing a buried oxide layer on the doped layer; providing a semiconductor layer on the buried oxide layer to obtain a semiconductor-on-insulator (SeOI) wafer; removing the buried oxide layer and the semiconductor layer from a first region of the SeOI wafer while maintaining the buried oxide layer and the semiconductor layer in a second region of the SeOI water; providing an upper transistor in the second region by forming a back gate in or by the doped layer; and providing a lower transistor in the first region by forming source and drain regions in or by the doped layer.
US08492840B2 Semiconductor device having an oxide semiconductor layer
An object is to provide a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor, which maintains favorable characteristics and achieves miniaturization. The semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, a gate electrode overlapping with the oxide semiconductor layer, and a gate insulating layer provided between the oxide semiconductor layer and the gate electrode, in which the source electrode and the drain electrode each include a first conductive layer, and a second conductive layer having a region which extends in a channel length direction from an end portion of the first conductive layer.
US08492836B2 Power semiconductor device
In a semiconductor device according to the present invention, a p-type well region disposed in an outer peripheral portion of the power semiconductor device is divided into two parts, that is, an inside and an outside, and a field oxide film having a greater film thickness than the gate insulating film is provided on a well region at the outside to an inside of an inner periphery of the well region. Therefore, it is possible to prevent, in the gate insulating film, a dielectric breakdown due to the voltage generated by the flow of the displacement current in switching.
US08492832B2 Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including an active region defined by a device isolation layer, a trench extending across the active region, a buried gate filling a part of the trench and including a base portion, a first extension portion, and a second extension portion extending along an inner wall of the trench, and having different heights at sides of the base portion, and a capping layer formed on the buried gate and filling the trench.
US08492831B2 Vertical non-volatile memory device and method of fabricating the same
A vertical non-volatile memory device is structured/fabricated to include a substrate, groups of memory cell strings each having a plurality of memory transistors distributed vertically so that the memory throughout multiple layers on the substrate, integrated word lines coupled to sets of the memory transistors, respectively, and stacks of word select lines. The memory transistors of each set are those transistors, of one group of the memory cell strings, which are disposed in the same layer above the substrate. The word select lines are respectively connected to the integrated word lines.
US08492830B2 Multiple channel fin-FET and its manufacturing method
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor substrate having a gate groove and first to third grooves, the first to third grooves being formed on a bottom surface of the gate groove and the third groove being formed between the first and second grooves, and a gate electrode having a first gate portion formed in the first groove, a second gate portion formed in the second groove, a third gate portion formed in the third groove, and a fourth gate portion formed in the gate groove. A cell transistor having the gate electrode has a first channel region formed in the semiconductor substrate between the first and third gate portions and a second channel region formed in the semiconductor substrate between the second and third gate portions.
US08492828B2 Vertical-type non-volatile memory devices
In a semiconductor device, and a method of manufacturing thereof, the device includes a substrate of single-crystal semiconductor material extending in a horizontal direction and a plurality of interlayer dielectric layers on the substrate. A plurality of gate patterns are provided, each gate pattern being between a neighboring lower interlayer dielectric layer and a neighboring upper interlayer dielectric layer. A vertical channel of single-crystal semiconductor material extends in a vertical direction through the plurality of interlayer dielectric layers and the plurality of gate patterns, a gate insulating layer being between each gate pattern and the vertical channel that insulates the gate pattern from the vertical channel.
US08492826B2 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device and manufacturing method thereof
A non-volatile semiconductor device includes an n type well formed in a semiconductor substrate having a surface, the surface having a plurality of stripe shaped grooves and a plurality of stripe shaped ribs, a plurality of stripe shaped p type diffusion regions formed in upper parts of each of the plurality of ribs, the plurality of stripe shaped p type diffusion regions being parallel to a longitudinal direction of the ribs, a tunneling insulation film formed on the grooves and the ribs, a charge storage layer formed on the tunneling insulating film, a gate insulation film formed on the charge storage layer, and a plurality of stripe shaped conductors formed on the gate insulating film, the plurality of stripe shaped conductors arranged in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the ribs with a predetermined interval wherein an impurity diffusion structure in the ribs are asymmetric.
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