| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08521731B2 |
Systems and methods for query expansion in sponsored search
The present invention is directed towards systems, methods and computer program products for providing query-based advertising content. According to one embodiment, a method for providing query-based advertising content comprises receiving a web query and generating an ad query associated with the web query, wherein the ad query is generated on the basis of one of a query to advertisement relationship, a query to feature vector relationship, or a rewritten query vector. An advertisement is selected on the basis of the generated ad query. |
| US08521729B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating data quality indicators for relationships in a database
The disclosed methods, systems, and computer-program products allow a business to generate data quality indicators for relationships in a database. In an embodiment, one or more relationships linked to a customer are retrieved from a database to form a set of relationships. A match confidence code is generated for each relationship based on a score generated by the comparison of customer data associated with the respective relationship and corresponding customer data obtained from an external industry database. A link confidence code is subsequently determined for the customer based on a score generated by the scores used to define the match confidence code for each relationship in the set of relationships and on internal data associated with each relationship in the set of relationships. |
| US08521728B1 |
Providing natural phenomena information to users
In one embodiment, a geographical information system provides information describing prominent cities that are susceptible (i.e., at risk) to transient natural phenomena as well as attributes of the phenomena. The geographical information system may provide the information to the user in an online map. Providing information about a transient natural phenomenon allows people to be aware of the phenomenon so as to better prepare for it. |
| US08521726B2 |
File management system and computer readable record medium for the same
Disclosed herein are a file management system for collectively managing a plurality of files stored and managed in at least one file storage device and a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for performing file management. The file management system includes a file search module for designating one or more fields as search conditions and then searching for one or more files, listing found files together with registration information and then displaying this list on a screen, and listing a plurality of files together with registration information and then displaying this list on the screen; a registration information management module for performing entry, deletion and modification of file registration information and addition and deletion of one or more file registration information fields; and a rearrangement module for, using one or more selected file registration information fields as criteria for arrangement, changing a relevant folder structure with reference to registration information of files at selected locations and rearranging files and folders. |
| US08521721B2 |
Custom operators for a parallel query engine
Embodiments are directed to implementing custom operators in a query for a parallel query engine and to generating a partitioned representation of a sequence of query operators in a parallel query engine. A computer system receives a portion of partitioned input data at a parallel query engine, where the parallel query engine is configured to process data queries in parallel, and where the queries include a sequence of built-in operators. The computer system incorporates a custom operator into the sequence of built-in operators for a query and accesses the sequence of operators to determine how the partitioned input data is to be processed. The custom operator is accessed in the same manner as the built-in operators. The computer system also processes the sequence of operators including both the built-in operators and at least one custom operator according to the determination indicating how the data is to be processed. |
| US08521720B2 |
Methods and systems for managing data
Methods and systems and machine readable media for managing data. In one exemplary embodiment, an initial search query is received and examined to determine whether elements within the initial search query are within the same category of data, and a machine interpreted search query is derived in response to the determining. Other methods and systems and media are also described. |
| US08521716B2 |
Interface devices and methods for collection of information related to procedures
An interface device is used to collect information relating to procedures. The interface device is enabled to communicate with a first device, a second device and an information system. The interface device may be configured to receive before, during and/or after performance of each procedure, a set of personal identification information from the first device, the second device and/or the information system, and automatically, during and/or after performance of each procedure, a first set of procedure information from the first device and a second set of procedure information from the second device. The set of patient identification information is matched automatically with the first and second sets of procedure information related thereto for each procedure performed. A database automatically stores, as a record therein, the set of patient identification information and the first and the second sets of procedure information related thereto for each of the procedures performed. |
| US08521715B1 |
System for sending queries to a plurality of websites synchronously
One or more computer systems for using favicons to send queries to searchable webpages and obtaining a search results page for each searchable webpage over a network are provided. |
| US08521714B2 |
Peer to peer search routing algorithm
Technologies are generally described for a peer to peer search routing algorithm and system. In one example, a node in a peer to peer network includes a processor. In some examples, the processor may be configured to receive information regarding a topology of the peer to peer network and generate a first search routing algorithm for the peer to peer network based on the topology. In some examples, the processor may be configured to generate a second search routing algorithm for the peer to peer network based on a search characteristic and the topology. In some examples, the second search routing algorithm is distinct from the first search routing algorithm. In some examples, the processor may be configured to receive a request to search the peer to peer network. In some examples, the processor may be configured to search the peer to peer network using the second search routing algorithm. |
| US08521711B2 |
Providing persistent refined intermediate results selected from dynamic iterative filtering
A persistent filter refining system places a search result comprising objects in a dynamic non-persistent bucket and displays the search result in a dynamic non-persistent bucket display for selection of the objects by a user. The system transfers a selected object from the dynamic non-persistent bucket to a persistent bucket and displays the transferred selected object in a persistent bucket display. The system iteratively provides additional search results to the user for selection and transfer of additional selected objects to the persistent bucket to provide access by a user to take action on the transferred selected object and additional selected objects. In one embodiment, the present system displays one or more additional search results for comparison and selection of objects by the user. |
| US08521709B2 |
Methods for preloading media assets
A method for preloading media assets during playback execution of a multimedia experience is disclosed. The method includes providing a default preloading scheme. The method also includes receiving a custom instruction to preload at least one media asset associated with a multimedia experience and, in response to the custom instruction, loading the at least one media asset so as to override the default preloading scheme. The method further includes playing the least one media asset after loading the at least one media asset. |
| US08521707B2 |
Validating stored copies of data images to load into memory
Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for validating stored copies of data images to load into memory. An image of data is maintained in a memory, wherein the image in the memory includes a generation number. The image in the memory is written to at least two copies of the image to storage locations in response to a first event, wherein the generation number for the image in the memory is stored in the storage locations having the copies of the image. A check generation number is stored in a storage location. The image is loaded from at least one of the copies of the image in one of the storage locations to the memory in response to a second event The generation number for the image loaded into the memory. The check generation number is incremented in response to the second event. The generation numbers for the copies of the image in the storage locations and the check generation number are used to validate the copies of the image. |
| US08521703B2 |
Multiple node/virtual input/output (I/O) server (VIOS) failure recovery in clustered partition mobility
A system and computer program product utilizes cluster-awareness to effectively support a live partition mobility (LPM) event and provide recovery from node failure within a Virtual Input/Output (I/O) Server (VIOS) cluster. An LPM utility creates a monitoring thread on a first VIOS on initiation of a corresponding LPM event. The monitoring thread tracks a status of an LPM and records status information in the mobility table of a database. The LPM utility creates other monitoring threads on other VIOSes running on the (same) source server. If the first VIOS sustains one of multiple failures, the LPM utility provides notification to other functioning nodes/VIOSes. The LPM utility enables a functioning monitoring thread to update the LPM status. In particular, a last monitoring thread may perform cleanup/update operations within the database based on an indication that there are nodes on the first server that are in failed state. |
| US08521698B2 |
Method for safeguarding the integrity of a relational database in case of structural transaction execution
A method enables an administration of resources (content) in web packages. By automatically adding a prefix to a resource name causing a name conflict, even resources having the same name can be handled when installing a new web package by a virtual file system mapping the resources to which a prefix has been added to the physical content required for the web application. |
| US08521697B2 |
Rebuilding data in multiple dispersed storage networks
A method begins by a processing module determining a slice name of an encoded slice to be rebuilt within a first dispersed storage network (DSN). The method continues with the processing module determining whether a corresponding copy of the encoded slice is stored in a second DSN. The method continues with the processing module retrieving the corresponding copy of the encoded slice from the second DSN and storing the corresponding copy of the encoded slice as a rebuilt encoded slice within the first DSN when the corresponding copy of the encoded slice is stored in the second DSN. |
| US08521695B2 |
Database data recovery system and method
The present invention relates to a system and method of data restoration, for instance, after the occurrence of a user error. In particular, snapshot database can be maintained that stores a copy of database data. The snapshot database does not have to store a complete copy of all data on a source database, but rather shares data that is common to both but not necessarily identical. If an error occurs on the primary database then the database can be reverted back to a point in time prior to the error by replacing source database files with snapshot files. Additionally, an undo component can be employed in conjunction with the snapshot to approach an error to a finer grained point in time. In brief, the present invention can restore a database much faster and simpler, while utilizing less space and resources than conventional data restoration technologies. |
| US08521694B1 |
Leveraging array snapshots for immediate continuous data protection
One challenge to continuous data protection (CDP) is the resources required for storage. Typically, when setting up replication, a production volume and replica are set up and initialized to copy data from the production volume to the replica. However, instead of taking a clone of the volume, there are significant advantages to taking an array-based snapshot of the volume and leveraging capabilities inherent to the snapshot to improve data protections systems using CDP. To leverage the benefits of snapshots in a CDP system, as described below, example embodiments of the present invention use multiple snapshots. Bookmarks are created to indicate the point in time each snapshot was create so that a newer snapshot may be used for replication as data is applied to the replica. |
| US08521692B1 |
Storage system and method for controlling storage system
Provided is a storage system which provides a data storage area to an external apparatus. The storage system includes at least a first information apparatus including a first logical storage area constituting the data storage area, and a first data processing part for performing a processing for reducing a storage capacity of the first logical storage area used by backup target data, and a second information apparatus including a second logical storage area constituting the data storage area, and a second data processing part for performing a processing for reducing a storage capacity of the second logical storage area used by backup target data. The second information apparatus is communicatively coupled with the first information apparatus. |
| US08521690B2 |
Using a sparse file as a clone of a file
One embodiment is for using a sparse file as a clone. The method includes creating, by an application associated with a computer system, a snapshot of a file, such as an individual file, a collection of files, file system, directories, and so forth. Further, the method includes requesting, by the application, a clone of that created snapshot. Further still, the method includes generating, by the application, an empty sparse having at least one inode identifying the empty sparse file as the clone and pointing to the snapshot associated with the clone. Thereby, the requested clone is created using the created sparse file, which begins as an empty sparse file. |
| US08521682B2 |
Transfer of data from transactional data sources to partitioned databases in restartable environments
Method, system, and computer program product for transferring data from transactional data sources to partitioned databases are provided. One or more messages from a transactional data source are read. Each message includes one or more records to be inserted into a database comprising a plurality of partitions. One of the partitions of the database in which the one or more records of each message are to be inserted is then identified. A transaction is initiated to insert the one or more records of each message into the one partition and to delete the one or more messages from the transactional data source. The transaction is committed only when insertion of the one or more records of each message into the one partition and deletion of the one or more messages from the transactional data source succeed. |
| US08521680B2 |
Inferring user-specific location semantics from user data
Determining semantics for locations based on user data such as user activities and/or user communications. The user data is captured and analyzed to identify keywords including locations. Location data describing the locations is obtained and associated with the user and keywords. The associations represent user context for the locations. The associations are used to deliver services and/or products to the user at various times such as when user approaches or enters a particular location. |
| US08521679B2 |
Classification recommendation based on social actions
Embodiments are directed towards employing a classifier to determine a classification for target media content using nominally factored social interaction attributes, the classifier being trained using a training dataset that includes at least one nominally factored social interaction attribute. The trained classifier determines a classification of the target media content based on nominally factored social interaction attributes obtained during a monitored social interaction with the target media content and one or more users. The classification may include identifying at least one genre for the media content, as well as predicting whether the media content will go viral or not. The classification may also be used to provide recommendation to the one or more users of other media content. |
| US08521678B2 |
Learning control system and learning control method
A learning control system according to the present invention is one which performs learning of action values of actions in an apparatus which identifies its state as one of predetermined states, and selects an action based on the obtained action values and the identified state. The learning control system includes n action value learning devices including the first to the n th learning devices which perform learning of n action values from Q1 to Qn, assuming that n is a positive integer and an action value determining device which determines the total action value of an action Q of each state based on outputs of the n action value learning devices. In the learning control system, the first target value of the first action value learning device is determined based on the reward r obtained after an action has been carried out by the next state and a total action value Q′ that was prepared for the action selection in the next state, and the first learning device updates the first action value Q1 using the first target value. When n is 2 or more, the n-th a target value of the n th action value learning device is set to the difference between the (n−1) th target value of the (n−1) th learning device and the action value Qn-1, and the n th learning device updates the n th action value Q1 using the n th target value. |
| US08521677B2 |
Artificial intelligence system
An artificial intelligence system and method for interpreting input from a user and generating a response to the user. The input is converted into an array of concepts which are compared to a database of interrelated concepts. A response is generated based on the concepts in the database and their relationship to the concepts in the input array. The system and method may be implemented in a number of electronic or computer devices to interact with humans or computer systems. |
| US08521676B1 |
System to build, analyze and manage a real world model in software of a safety instrumented system architecture for safety instrumented systems in a facility
A computerized system to computer generate, manage, analyze, or combinations thereof, a real world model in software of a safety instrumented system (SIS) architecture for SIS in a facility, wherein the SIS architecture for SIS in a facility comprises at least one instrumented protective function (IPF) and wherein the system to computer generate a software model is in support of process safety lifecycle management. |
| US08521672B2 |
Dependency-based query expansion alteration candidate scoring
An alteration candidate for a query can be scored. The scoring may include computing one or more query-dependent feature scores and/or one or more intra-candidate dependent feature scores. The computation of the query-dependent feature score(s) can be based on dependencies to multiple query terms from each of one or more alteration terms (i.e., for each of the one or more alteration terms, there can be dependencies to multiple query terms that form at least a portion of the basis for the query-dependent feature score(s)). The computation of the intra-candidate dependent feature score(s) can be based on dependencies between different terms in the alteration candidate. A candidate score can be computed using the query dependent feature score(s) and/or the intra-candidate dependent feature score(s). Additionally, the candidate score can be used in determining whether to select the candidate to expand the query. If selected, the candidate can be used to expand the query. |
| US08521671B2 |
Neural network for clustering input data based on a Gaussian Mixture Model
Disclosed are systems, apparatuses, and methods for clustering data. Such a method includes providing input data to each of a plurality of cluster microcircuits of a neural network, wherein each cluster microcircuit includes a mean neural group and a variance neural group. The method also includes determining a response of each cluster microcircuit with respect to the input data. The method further includes modulating the mean neural group and the variance neural group of each cluster microcircuit responsive to a value system. |
| US08521670B2 |
Artificial neural network application for magnetic core width prediction and modeling for magnetic disk drive manufacture
A method for predicting and optimizing magnetic core width of a write head using neural networks to analyze manufacturing parameters, and determining new manufacturing parameters that will provide more optimal magnetic core width results. The manufacturing parameters can include: write pole flare point; wrap around shield dimension; and side gap dimension. |
| US08521665B1 |
Detecting novel document content
A system determines an ordered sequence of documents and determines an amount of novel content contained in each document of the ordered sequence of documents. The system assigns a novelty score to each document based on the determined amount of novel content. |
| US08521661B2 |
Suggesting connections to a user based on an expected value of the suggestion to the social networking system
To suggest new connections to a user of a social networking system, the system generates a set of candidate users to whom the user has not already formed a connection. The system determines the likelihood that the user will connect to each candidate user if suggested to do so, and it also computes the value to the social networking system if the user does connect to the candidate user. Then, the system computes an expected value score for each candidate user based on the corresponding likelihood and the value. The candidate users are ranked and the suggestions are provided to the user based on the candidate users' expected value scores. The social networking system can suggest other actions to a user in addition to forming a new connection with other users. |
| US08521660B2 |
Condensed SVM
The present invent ion provides a condensed SVM for high-speed learning using a large amount of training data. A first stage WS selector samples a plurality of training data from a training data DB, selects an optimal training vector xt among the plurality of training data, and outputs it to the WS manager. After the first stage finishes, a second stage WS selector extracts training data one by one from the training data DB and selects training data xt satisfying optimality and outputs it to the WS manager. An SVM optimizer extracts training data closest to the training data xt selected by the first and second stage WS selectors from the WS being managed by the WS manager, and condenses the two first and second training data to one training data when the distance between these is smaller than a predetermined value. |
| US08521654B2 |
Online method and system for advising customers on service needs, facilitating the scheduling of vehicle service appointments, and checking vehicle service status
One aspect of the present invention is an online method for advising a customer on service needs and facilitating the scheduling of a vehicle service appointment. The method can comprise receiving a service inquiry, receiving input information regarding potential service of the vehicle, transmitting an open appointments request to a dealer management system (DMS), receiving a plurality of open appointments from the DMS, causing display of the plurality of open appointments wherein one of the plurality of open appointments is selected as an appointment request, and transmitting the input information and the appointment request to the DMS to facilitate the scheduling of the vehicle service appointment. The last four steps outlined can be conducted in substantially real-time. |
| US08521651B2 |
Digital content reproducing apparatus and method thereof
A user terminal (110) having a license purchase unit (603) obtaining a license (500) indicating a content usable time (502) of a content data (200) composed of a plurality of elements (203), each of which can be replayed individually. The user terminal (110) also having an availability judgment unit (604) judging whether or not encrypted elements (203) included in the content data (200) are available, based on the content usable time (502) indicated in the obtained license (500), and having a replay/display unit (607) replaying the encrypted elements judged as available. In addition, the user terminal (110) having a use status management unit (608) specifying license-consuming elements, each of which consumes an authorized amount of replay under right, out of the elements that are being replayed, and measuring a content used time (504) consumed by replaying the specified license-consuming elements. |
| US08521648B2 |
Consolidated payment options
A system for making financial transfers between subscribers of a financial transfer service is disclosed. The system may include a receiving subscriber interface (RSI), a sending subscriber interface (SSI), and an agent server (AS). The RSI may be configured to accept a set of invoice information including an identifier of a destination account. The SSI may be configured to accept a set of payment information including an identifier of a source account. The AS may be configured to receive the set of invoice information and create an invoice based on the set of invoice information. The AS may also be configured to transmit the invoice and receive the set of payment information. The AS may also be configured to cause an amount of funds to be transferred from the source account on a source transfer network to the destination account on a destination transfer network via a primary transfer network. |
| US08521645B2 |
Method and system for facilitating switching of financial institution accounts
Techniques for switching a financial institution account for a debit account holder are provided. A request to convert a financial institution account is received from a customer. Information is obtained from the customer and used to identify a list of possible financial institution candidates. The list of possible financial institution candidates includes financial institutions that have an on-going relationship with an existing payment association and are interested in offering a new financial institution account to the customer. A new financial institution account is then established with a financial institution selected from a list of possible financial institution candidates. Then, the new financial institution account is linked to one or more additional accounts. The one or more additional accounts may be an account with the customer's existing payment association or accounts associated with any recurring transactions. |
| US08521644B1 |
Systems, methods. and computer products for directing cash flows associated with mortgage-backed securities
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for directing cash flows associated with a mortgage-backed security to back other securities without collapsing the original mortgage-backed security. A mortgage-backed security/an/or a set of loans is analyzed to identify cash flows from mortgages having specific desirable characteristics, and the cash flows are directed to subgroups or pools that support new mortgage-backed securities. The new securities make the desirable cash flows available to an issuer or prospective investor without collapsing the original mortgage-backed security. |
| US08521639B2 |
Method and apparatus for conducting a transaction
Systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means for conducting a transaction are provided. In some embodiments, a unit is issued to a holder including a forward contract and a note, in which the note specifies an initial capped remarketing, at least a first subsequent capped remarketing, and an uncapped remarketing, the uncapped remarketing performed only if each of the capped remarketings fail. |
| US08521638B1 |
System and method for selecting securities for investment
A system and method for automated selection of securities within an index for purchase or sale. The system and method according to certain embodiments of the present invention select securities within and index for purchase based on the percentage differential of the price of each security within the index and the 52-week high price. A target sell price is determined based on a pre-selected percentage increase of over the purchase price of the selected security. Once the market price of the selected security reaches the target sell price, the system and method according to certain embodiments of the present invention sells the selected security. The proceeds of the sale of the selected security may be reinvested according to the second selected security within the index. |
| US08521637B2 |
Systems, methods, and computer program products for providing real time analytic widgets in a financial trading system
Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for providing real time analytics and monitoring to a user of a securities trading system. In one embodiment, a list of one or more securities may be selected from a trading blotter and a widget engine may obtain one or more analytics for the list of one or more securities based on real time market and/or transaction cost data. The widget engine may display a graphical representation of the analytics in a manner that compliments the workflow of a trader. The graphical representation may be automatically updated based on real-time market data. |
| US08521635B2 |
Method of negotiating trades on an electronic trading system and an electronic trading system
A method of negotiating trades on an electronic trading system is presented. In order to enable an intra-trading-system part-to part negotiation the method comprises the steps of receiving a trade negotiation request with respect to a selected order from a user; forwarding the trade negotiation request to a submitter of the selected order; receiving an accept or a reject to the trade negotiation request from the submitter; and initiating an intra-trading-system part-to-part negotiation procedure between the user and the submitter if the negotiation request is accepted by the submitter. An electronic trading system is also disclosed. |
| US08521634B1 |
System and method for reconciling financial records by matching outstanding trade orders to unmatched transactions
A system and method for financial account reconciliation of a portfolio account system includes, for investments that are not reported as trades once an order to purchase has been placed, using a computer to electrically match investments that are not reported as trades to unmatched transactions of the portfolio account system. In this manner investments that are not reported as trades once an order to purchase has been placed do not create breaks of the portfolio account system. |
| US08521633B2 |
Creating and maintaining a payout-ready portfolio within an investment plan to generate a sustainable income stream
Financial advisory methods and systems for creating a steady lifetime income stream within an investment plan is provided. According to one embodiment, based on an investor's current holdings in the investment plan, a pattern of periodic cash payouts is identified that can be made to the investor from an in-plan payout program implemented with the limited universe of financial products available within the investment plan. The assets of the investment plan are rebalanced to form a payout portfolio and an equity exposure portfolio. The payout portfolio is constructed to create an annuity-like stream of income to support the pattern of periodic cash payouts and includes multiple bond funds. The equity exposure portfolio is constructed to address inflation risk by providing an ability to rise with equities markets. Finally, a periodic cash payout of the pattern of periodic cash payouts is caused to be paid to the investor from the investment plan. |
| US08521632B2 |
Processing securities-related information
Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for improving clarity of disclosure materials provided to investors, by enabling securities issuers, intermediaries and/or other entities to create and disseminate clear and concise summary-level information on individual securities to investors to enable informed investment decisions. The information may include a summary version of the full statutory prospectus (a “summary prospectus”). A summary prospectus may include a concise, “plain English” synopsis and/or representation of certain information contained in the full statutory prospectus, such as a security's investment objectives and strategies, costs, risks and/or other information. |
| US08521628B1 |
Systems and methods for financial assessment specific advice
A financial assessment tool provides a user with specific, actionable advice personalized to the user, based on known and provided user data. In addition to the specific advice, a rationale is provided for the specific advice. Also, resources for additional educational material are provided to help the user understand the context for the advice. The financial assessment tool is available online and uses previously stored data pertaining to the user. |
| US08521625B2 |
Tax refund system
A tax refund system is disclosed in which in exchange for a taxpayer assigning all or a portion of his or her tax refund, a participating provider provides to the taxpayer a spending vehicle with buying power at participating outlets. Tax return data for an individual's tax return is processed by the IRS. A taxpayer consents to using a portion of the tax return data to acquire a spending vehicle from a financial institution of the taxpayer's choosing. Using a portion of the tax return data, the IRS arranges to electronically transfer an amount related to the taxpayer's refund to an account at the financial institution selected by the taxpayer. A taxpayer then receives a spending vehicle such as a credit, debit, or cash card, spending account, coupon, or rebate from a financial institution or other spending vehicle provider such as a retailer, service provider, wholesaler, distributor, or entertainment entity. |
| US08521620B2 |
Systems and methods for RFID supply chain management
According to various embodiments, a supply chain management system may provide dynamic information regarding items in manufacturing, storage, inventory, or retail processes by detecting RFID tags embedded on the items. A supply chain management system may also be configured to determine current inventory and regulate what items are stocked and restocked on displays. A split-screen showing detected items and instructions or information pertaining to the items may facilitate accurate and efficient execution of process steps by an employee or user. Supply chain management systems may also provide for re-tagging items with lost or damaged RFID tags and finding items lost from inventory due to lost or damaged RFID tags. Furthermore, a supply chain management system may include RFID tags affixed to point of purchase displays and include information regarding the point of purchase display within a database. |
| US08521606B2 |
System and method of determining price optimization for distributed demand
The method for reducing vendor bid amounts includes providing a supplier with an invitation to make a bid for supplying a digital print job. The print job is characterized by a demand for a first number of units by a select date. The method further includes determining if a demand condition can be met. The determination includes using historical data to calculate a first commitment quantity for current jobs being provided by the supplier. The first commitment quantity is then used to calculate a second commitment quantity. The second commitment quantity provides an estimate for the number of the units and a date. The second commitment quantity is displayed to the supplier. The method provides the supplier with an option to bid for producing the estimated number of units by the estimated date. |
| US08521605B2 |
Server, information communication terminal, product sale management method, and storage medium and program transmission apparatus therefor
A product retail sales management server for managing the retail sales of a product across a communication network comprises: a retail sales management module for managing the retail sales of the product; a price update module 13 for dynamically setting the price of the product in accordance with rules and the retail sales state of the product and in accordance with the actual retail sales state of the product when managed by the retail sales management module; and an acceptance module 11 for, upon the receipt of an information request via the communication network, furnishing a request transmission source with the information concerning the product and the price of the product, set by the price update module at the time the information request is received. |
| US08521603B2 |
Server, information communication terminal, product sale management method, and storage medium and program transmission apparatus therefor
A product retail sales management server for managing the retail sales of a product across a communication network comprises: a retail sales management module for managing the retail sales of the product; a price update module 13 for dynamically setting the price of the product in accordance with rules and the retail sales state of the product and in accordance with the actual retail sales state of the product when managed by the retail sales management module; and an acceptance module 11 for, upon the receipt of an information request via the communication network, furnishing a request transmission source with the information concerning the product and the price of the product, set by the price update module at the time the information request is received. |
| US08521599B2 |
Charging system, kiosk, and method of reserving a power charging device and supplying current to a power storage device
A charging system for use in supplying current to a power storage device includes a charging device configured to be coupled to the power storage device to perform a charging operation and a kiosk coupled to the charging device. The kiosk is configured to receive pricing data for the charging operation from the charging device, display the pricing data, enable the pricing data to be accepted, and authorize the charging device to initiate the charging operation if the pricing data is accepted. |
| US08521595B2 |
Dynamic interaction mapping for online advertizing
A method and system for dynamic interaction mapping for online advertizing is disclosed in one embodiment. Metric information relating to interaction with a creative is received from a number of user computer from across the Internet. The metric information is correlated to playback time of the creative and position of interaction with respect to the creative. A graphic overlay or heatmap is formulated according to display options, event triggers, playback time and position of the interaction relative to the creative. The graphic overlay is presented in a way that the graphic overlay changes according to playback time. Display options include creative transparency, graphic overlay transparency, selection from a number of interactions and/or events, selection of one or more panels, choosing clicks and/or rollovers, choice of different colors or shading for different interaction, etc. |
| US08521593B2 |
Methods and systems for providing mobile advertising using data networks based on groupings associated with internet-connectable devices
Computer systems and methods for providing mobile advertising using data networks based on groupings associated with Internet-connectable devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, the computer systems and methods may comprise receiving and/or retrieving events; grouping the events into an events group; determining an audience value for a user of the Internet-connectable device based on the events group, wherein the audience value represents an audience segment comprising a subgroup of Internet-connectable device users defined based on at least one criterion; and transmitting an advertisement to the Internet-connectable device, wherein the advertisement is determined based on the audience value. |
| US08521592B2 |
System and method for advertising on the internet
A web site for advertising on the internet. The web site comprises a web based server in communication with the internet. The web-site further comprises an advertiser module adapted to receive a DISPLAY AD and a MESSAGE AD. The advertiser module further comprises a message module having code configured to serve an advertiser host web page to an internet surfer upon activation of the DISPLAY AD by the surfer. The advertiser host page comprises a message box having first and second a message fields and a cell phone number field. The first and second message fields are adapted to receive either a SMS message or a MMS entered by the surfer, respectively. The message module further comprises code adapted to send the SMS or MMS message and the MESSAGE AD. |
| US08521589B1 |
System and method for tracking content through the internet
Server systems and methods to provide targeted advertising use tracking of digital content. The digital content may include real estate content. Responsive to digital content being presented on a client computing platform, information related to browsing activity on the client computing platform is gathered. Digital content (and/or attributes thereof) are associated with either individual ones of the (real estate) search servers through which the digital content is presented, or individual ones of the content providers of the pertinent digital content, or both. Content providers of digital content are compensated based on revenue that is generated through processing and/or analysis of the associations between users and the digital content that has been presented to them. |
| US08521588B2 |
Method for optimum placement of advertisements on a web page
A method and system for placement of graphical objects on a page to optimize the occurrence of an event associated with such objects. The graphical objects might include, for instance, advertisements on a webpage, and the event would include a user clicking on that ad. The page includes positions for receipt of the object material. Data regarding the past performance of the objects is stored and updated as new data is received. A user requests a page from a server associated with system. The server uses the performance data to derive a prioritized arrangement of the objects on the page. The server performs a calculation regarding the likelihood that an event will occur for a given object, as displayed to a particular user. The objects are arranged according to this calculation and returned to the user on the requested page. The likelihood can also be multiplied by a weighting factor and the objects arranged according to this product. |
| US08521587B2 |
Systems and methods for placing advertisements
Systems and methods provide techniques for associating advertisements with relevant content on a user interface. A method for placing advertisements on a user interface includes providing a user interface having a plurality of user interface screens, at least some of the plurality of user interface screens containing user-selectable control objects, and determining which of a plurality of advertisements to display on a user interface screen based on at least one of the following criteria: topical relevance, contextual relevance, path relevance and cognitive prominence. |
| US08521586B2 |
System and method for delivering customized advertisements within interactive communication systems
Customized electronic advertisements are delivered in an interactive communication system. The advertisements are selected based on consumer profiles and are then integrated with content. The communication system may interconnect multiple consumer computers, multiple content provider computers and an advertisement provider computer. Whenever a consumer directs one of the consumer computers to access content on one of the content provider computers, an advertising request is sent to the advertisement provider computer. Upon receiving the advertising request, the advertising provider computer selects an advertisement based on the consumer's profile. The advertisement is then combined with the content from the content provider computer for display by the consumer. A credit is requested from the advertisement provider computer. |
| US08521581B2 |
Interactive text message advertisements
Systems and methods for interactive text message advertising. A response parsing engine can receive a text message response from a device and can identify an indicator associated with the text message response. A text message page server can identify a selected text message page based upon the indicator associated with the response and can provide the selected text message page to the device. |
| US08521576B2 |
Method and system for providing notification of publications
Improved approaches to notifying others of publications are disclosed. These improved approaches enable notifications to be timely and reliably made. In one embodiment, a notifor requests notification of certain publications be performed in an automated and controlled manner, and then notifications for such certain publications are automatically prepared and electronically transmitted to one or more notifees. |
| US08521571B1 |
System, method and computer program product for managing business hours in an on-demand service
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for managing multiple business hours in an on-demand service. These mechanisms and methods for managing multiple business hours in an on-demand service can enable embodiments to provide access to a stored set of business hours for a user to track, at a user level. The ability of embodiments to provide this access may allow users of such on-demand services better insight as to how much time their agents are spending on cases. |
| US08521569B1 |
Method and system for allocating funds over a plurality of time deposit instruments in depository institutions
A method, system and program product, the method in one embodiment comprising: A method, comprising: accessing databases comprising: client information for each of a plurality of respective clients, comprising a balance of funds of the client; a distribution percent value, Xi, for tranches; information for each of multiple government backed-insured aggregated time deposit instruments holding a tranche of client funds, comprising: a rate; an identification of the depository institution; a term; and determining a given client available distribution amount, Di; determining an amount of a client tranche to be deposited in each of Ni depository institutions based at least in part on the percentage, Xi, in order that the client tranches are approximately equal and are insured; determining Ni depository institutions to distribute the client tranches; allocating substantially equally respective client tranches to the Ni depository institutions; generating data for instructions to transfer the respective client tranches; updating, the databases. |
| US08521568B1 |
Mortality progression methods and systems
Methods and systems for preparing improved mortality tables for use with life insurance and other financial products are described herein. The improved mortality tables described herein account for progression over time of insureds from one underwriting class to another, e.g., based on deteriorating health over time. An insured who is in a “preferred” class at the time of initial underwriting might not still qualify for “preferred” status in 5 years, or even the next year. By creating a system of linear equations that predict the composition of a group n years after underwriting, insurance (and other financial products) providers can calculate more definite costs for pricing financial products based on the estimated or expected transition from one underwriting class to another. |
| US08521564B1 |
Collaborative healthcare information collection
Technologies relating to collaborative healthcare information collection are disclosed. A User Interface (UI) provided herein may provide selectable controls for accessing a Patient Information Collection Tool (PICT), an Interactive Patient Education Database (IPED), and/or a Clinic-Oriented Patient Information Collection Tool (COPICT). A PICT may assist in identifying patient goals for healthcare interactions. An IPED may provide interactive articles educating patients about healthcare terminology and materials for systematically helping patients to prepare for healthcare visits by addressing common questions and discussion points. A COPICT may collect patient data for use in tracking clinic patient data and identifying clinic goals for healthcare interactions. |
| US08521561B2 |
Database system, program, image retrieving method, and report retrieving method
In a plurality of pieces of single report structured data that is stored in a structured database in a diagnosis information database, character information constructing a radiological report describing detailed information of image data is added as metadata for search to the image data. For example, only by designating image data to be read as image (retrieval reference image) data as a reference of retrieval by a reading physician as the user during radiological operation, the character information already added to the retrieval reference image data is set as a keyword. By a keyword search using the metadata, data of a similar image and a related report of the retrieval reference image data are detected from the structured DB. |
| US08521560B2 |
Relief support system
A user desiring to check safety of an individual to be rescued can check safety estimation information, medical insurance information, information about a vital sign, and clinical information about an individual via a portable terminal. A system includes a relief database receiving information recorded on a personal medical database and a vital device and recording the information, a safety condition calculating unit calculating safety estimation information where a safety condition of the individual is estimated by comparing the clinical information and the information about the vital sign recorded on the relief database, and a portable terminal accessing the medial insurance information recorded on the relief database, the safety estimation information, and the information about the vital sign and the clinical information recorded on the relief database and displaying the medical insurance information, the safety estimation information, the information about the vital sign, and the clinical information. |
| US08521550B2 |
System and method for determining the cost of a pharmaceutical
A method for calculating a subscriber pharmaceutical cost that incorporates a discount is disclosed that includes receiving the discount from at least one of a pharmaceutical manufacturer and a pharmacy, and determining a subscriber cost that includes the discount, and that reduces the cost of the pharmaceutical to the subscriber at the point of sale. |
| US08521546B2 |
Dynamic modeling and scoring risk assessment
The invention provides for modeling and scoring risk-assessment and a set of insurance products derived therefrom. Risk indicators are determined at a selected time. A population is assessed at that time and afterward for those risk indicators and for consequences associated therewith. Population members are coupled to client devices for determining risk indicators and consequences. A server receives data from each client, and in response thereto and in conjunction with an expert operator, (1) reassesses weights assigned to the risk indicators, (2) determines new risk indicators, (3) determines new measures for determining risk indicators and consequences, and (4) presents treatment options to each population member. The server determines, in response to the data from each client, and possibly other data, a measure of risk for each indicated consequence or for a set of such consequences. The server provides this measure with regard to each population member, or with regard to population subsets. The expert operator uses this measure to determine either (1) an individual course of treatment, (2) a resource utilization review model, (3) a risk-assessment model, or (4) an insurance pricing model, for each individual population member or for selected population subsets. Information requested by the client, information determined and presented by the server, and responsive measurements, are adapted dynamically to changing population aspects or changing population membership, or of an external environment having relevance to the population. |
| US08521541B2 |
Adaptive audio transcoding
A system and method provide an audio/video coding system for adaptively transcoding audio streams based on content characteristics of the audio streams. An audio stream metadata extraction module of the system is configured to extract metadata of a source audio stream. An audio stream classification module of the system is configured to classify the source audio stream into one of the several audio content categories based on the metadata of the source audio stream. An adaptive audio encoder of the system is configured to determine one or more transcoding parameters including target bitrate and sampling rate based on the metadata and classification of the source audio stream. An adaptive audio transcoder of the system is configured to transcode the source audio stream into an output audio stream using the transcoding parameters. |
| US08521540B2 |
Encoding and/or decoding digital signals using a permutation value
Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices and systems associated with encoding and/or decoding audio data are disclosed. More particularly, the claimed subject matter relates, at least in part, to a data compression/decompression method or technique, such as a lossless, approximately lossless, and/or relatively lossless data compression/decompression method or technique, for example, along with systems or apparatuses that may relate to method or technique. The disclosed techniques and methods may achieve audio data compression ratios that may be comparable to lossless compression processes. In addition, under certain circumstances, such compression ratios may be achieved while also reducing or simplifying the computational complexity of the compression and/or decompression method or technique. |
| US08521539B1 |
Method for chinese point-of-interest search
Techniques disclosed herein include systems and methods of automated speech recognition (ASR) for voice destination entry (VDE) include open voice searching (natural language searching) of destinations. A first part uses a server-based automated speech recognizer. The second part is client-based automatic speech recognition (ASR) processing. Thus, techniques include a hybrid VDE solution that provides users with an accurate and flexible way to use speech recognition technologies. A server-based speech recognizer executes the open-search task, while a client-based recognizer refines the results from the server to deliver an optimized result. This system and method significantly improves recognition accuracy for dictation engine based POI search of Chinese Mandarin input and input from other languages. Moreover, the methods herein largely improve the user experience by allowing users to say a partial POI name, and abbreviation, or even say a POI name in a reversed word order. |
| US08521535B2 |
Biochemical analyzer having microprocessing apparatus with expandable voice capacity
A biochemical analyzer having a microprocessing apparatus with expandable voice capacity is characterized in that a driving module is installed in a data processor and a voice carrier is replaceable. Thereby, increase or decrease of voice files can be easily done by replacing the current voice carrier with an alternative voice carrier storing desired voice files, without the need of replacing the driving module together with the voice carrier, thereby saving costs and reducing processing procedures. |
| US08521534B2 |
Dynamically extending the speech prompts of a multimodal application
A prompt generation engine operates to dynamically extend prompts of a multimodal application. The prompt generation engine receives a media file having a metadata container. The prompt generation engine operates on a multimodal device that supports a voice mode and a non-voice mode for interacting with the multimodal device. The prompt generation engine retrieves from the metadata container a speech prompt related to content stored in the media file for inclusion in the multimodal application. The prompt generation engine modifies the multimodal application to include the speech prompt. |
| US08521530B1 |
System and method for enhancing a monaural audio signal
A method, system, and computer program for enhancing a signal are presented. The signal is received, and energy estimates of the signal may be determined. At least one characteristic of the signal may be inferred based on the energy estimates. A mask may be generated based, in part, on the at least one characteristic. In turn, the mask may be applied to the signal to produce an enhanced signal, which may be outputted. |
| US08521527B2 |
Computer-implemented system and method for processing audio in a voice response environment
A computer-implemented system and method for processing audio in a voice response environment is provided. A database of host scripts each comprising signature files of audio phrases and actions to take when one of the audio phrases is recognized is maintained. The host scripts are loaded and a call to a voice mail server is initiated. Incoming audio buffers are received during the call from voice messages stored on the voice mail server. The incoming audio buffers are processed. A signature data structure is created for each audio buffer. The signature data structure is compared with signatures of expected phrases in the host scripts. The actions stored in the host scripts are executed when the signature data structure matches the signature of the expected phrase. |
| US08521526B1 |
Disambiguation of a spoken query term
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for processing spoken query terms. In one aspect, a method includes performing speech recognition on an audio signal to select two or more textual, candidate transcriptions that match a spoken query term, and to establish a speech recognition confidence value for each candidate transcription, obtaining a search history for a user who spoke the spoken query term, where the search history references one or more past search queries that have been submitted by the user, generating one or more n-grams from each candidate transcription, where each n-gram is a subsequence of n phonemes, syllables, letters, characters, words or terms from a respective candidate transcription, and determining, for each n-gram, a frequency with which the n-gram occurs in the past search queries, and a weighting value that is based on the respective frequency. |
| US08521522B2 |
Audio coding/decoding method and apparatus using excess quantization information
There is provided an audio coding device which appropriately sets the quantization bit number by a small calculation amount in each stage when coding an input audio signal by performing multi-stage normalization/quantization. A quantization information calculation section determines total quantization information idwl0, based on normalization information idsf, and allocates the total quantization information idwl0 for quantization information idwl1 and quantization information idwl2. At this time, the quantization information calculation section limits the quantization information idwl1 by a limiter lim1, and allocates the total quantization information idwl0 for quantization information idwl1. If the quantization information idwl1 exceeds the limiter lim1, the excess is allocated for the quantization information idwl2. A first normalization section and a first quantization section normalizes and quantizes a frequency spectrum mdspec1 in the first stage. A second normalization section and a second quantization section normalizes and quantizes a differential frequency spectrum mdspec2 in the second stage. |
| US08521517B2 |
Providing definitions that are sensitive to the context of a text
Systems and techniques for providing definitions to a user. The provision embodies the context of a text in which the defined term appears. In one aspect, a system includes an electronic device that includes one or more data processing devices programmed to respond to receipt of the user selection of the first term by performing operations. The operations include accessing, from the one or more persistent data storage devices, the characterizations of the contexts of the texts, comparing the accessed characterizations of the contexts of the texts with one or more characteristics of the context of the textual content of a media file, and ranking the definitions of the first term according to respective likelihoods that the definitions appropriately characterize the usage of the first term within the textual content of the media file. |
| US08521508B2 |
Translation apparatus and translation method
A display section displays an obtained character-string written in a first language. A translation unit extraction section divides the obtained character-string into predetermined translation units, and extracts a character-string for each translation unit. A translation unit translates the extracted character-strings in the translation units into a second language. A display control section displays, on the display section, the result of translation by the translation section from the head of the character-string being displayed, in a state of being associated with the character-string. |
| US08521503B2 |
Providing compartmentalized security in product reviews
A mechanism is provided for providing compartmentalized security in product reviews. A central authoritative state module within a compartmentalized security mechanism identifies a clearance level associated with a user that has been authenticated. Responsive to the clearance level of the user being sufficient to access the information, the central authoritative state module determines whether the information requires a simulation to be executed. Responsive to the information failing to require execution of a simulation, a coordination module in the compartmentalized security mechanism retrieves the information. A display and input interaction module on a client system then displays the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user thereby forming displayed information. Displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user has access to. |
| US08521499B1 |
Run-time switching for simulation with dynamic run-time accuracy adjustment
Systems and methods for run-time switching for simulation with dynamic run-time accuracy adjustment. In one embodiment, a computer implemented method performs a simulation of a computer instruction executing on a simulated hardware design by a first simulation model, wherein the first simulation model provides first timing information of the simulation. The first timing information is stored to a computer usable media. A pending subsequent simulation of the instruction is detected. Responsive to the presence of the first timing information in the computer usable media, the computer instruction is simulated by a second simulation model, wherein the second simulation model provides less accurate second timing information of the simulation than the first simulation model. The simulation run time information is updated for the subsequent simulation with the first timing information. |
| US08521497B2 |
Systems, methods and computer-readable media for modeling cell performance fade of rechargeable electrochemical devices
A system includes an electrochemical cell, monitoring hardware, and a computing system. The monitoring hardware periodically samples performance characteristics of the electrochemical cell. The computing system determines cell information from the performance characteristics of the electrochemical cell. The computing system also develops a mechanistic level model of the electrochemical cell to determine performance fade characteristics of the electrochemical cell and analyzing the mechanistic level model to estimate performance fade characteristics over aging of a similar electrochemical cell. The mechanistic level model uses first constant-current pulses applied to the electrochemical cell at a first aging period and at three or more current values bracketing a first exchange current density. The mechanistic level model also is based on second constant-current pulses applied to the electrochemical cell at a second aging period and at three or more current values bracketing the second exchange current density. |
| US08521496B2 |
Systems and methods for improved positioning of pads
Systems and methods for the automated positioning of pads and orienting of slot templates for the pads. The systems and methods also include automated adjustment of well path plans from a pad to selected well targets. |
| US08521495B2 |
Calculating liquid levels in arbitrarily shaped containment vessels using solid modeling
Systems and method for simulating liquid containment behavior. The system comprises a solid modeler and a nonlinear equation solver. The nonlinear equation solver takes as input the solid model representation of the containment vessel from the solid modeler, a desired orientation in space, dynamic conditions (e.g., lateral acceleration) and an amount of liquid. To find the level of liquid in the vessel, the system solver iteratively performs successive Boolean subtractions using an infinite horizontal half-space that represents the liquid level of the vessel. The resulting sliced solid model is used to compute the volume of the liquid at that level. The iterative system solver terminates when the computed volume of the sliced containment vessel matches the specified volume of liquid (e.g., fuel) within a given tolerance. To accommodate dynamic situations, e.g., when acceleration is present, the horizontal liquid plane is replaced with a plane at an angle that corresponds to the total acceleration. |
| US08521488B2 |
Nonlinear function approximation over high-dimensional domains
An algorithm is disclosed for constructing nonlinear models from high-dimensional scattered data. The algorithm progresses iteratively adding a new basis function at each step to refine the model. The placement of the basis functions is driven by a statistical hypothesis test that reveals geometric structure when it fails. At each step the added function is fit to data contained in a spatio-temporally defined local region to determine the parameters, in particular, the scale of the local model. The proposed method requires no ad hoc parameters. Thus, the number of basis functions required for an accurate fit is determined automatically by the algorithm. The approach may be applied to problems including modeling data on manifolds and the prediction of financial time-series. The algorithm is presented in the context of radial basis functions but in principle can be employed with other methods for function approximation such as multi-layer perceptrons. |
| US08521486B2 |
Methods for searching for arrangements of shapes subject to boundary distance constraints among those shapes
This disclosure describes methods for searching for arrangements of shapes subject to boundary distance constraints among those shapes. The first embodiment includes constructing 110 functions that are exact or approximate analytical representations of those constraints. Next is constructing 120 an analytical optimization problem which incorporates the constraint functions of 110. Further is selecting 130 the initial values of one or more optimization variables. And then solving 140 the optimization problem constructed in 120 using one or more analytical optimization methods and one or more of the initial values of 130. Further included is a sequencing structure 150. The second embodiment includes constructing 210 functions that are exact or approximate analytical representations of those constraints. Next is constructing 215 one or more constraint functions. And next is constructing 220 an analytical optimization problem that incorporates the constraint functions of 210 and 215. Further is selecting 230 the initial values of one or more optimization variables. And then solving 240 the optimization problem constructed in 220 using one or more analytical optimization methods and one or more of the initial values of 230. Further included is a sequencing structure 250. |
| US08521484B2 |
Curve matching for parameter identification
Methods and systems for matching a computed curve to a target curve to enable realistic engineering simulations are disclosed. Discrepancies between computed curve and the target curve are measured, and based on the discrepancies, decisions on how to adjust parametric inputs can be made to achieve an optimal result of simulation. Optimization of parameter identification is achieved by adjusting the parametric inputs of a simulation model such that the discrepancy between the two curves is minimized. Because the points on the two curves to be matched are paired, matching of any two open curves, including hysteretic curves, can be handled. Curves that are complete set apart in their original coordinates can be merged to a common coordinate system for parameter identification without the computational instability problems. |
| US08521482B2 |
Simulation of patient drain phase in peritoneal dialysis
A method of modeling a patient's peritoneal dialysis drain phase includes (i) modeling a first segment of a drain phase curve as having a constant flowrate; (ii) modeling a second segment of a drain phase curve as having a decaying exponential flowrate; and (iii) incorporating a switching component into the first and second components so that (a) at a first time the first segment is active and while the second segment is inactive and (b) at a second time the first segment is inactive and while the second segment is active. |
| US08521481B2 |
Method, program product and apparatus for modeling resist development of a lithography process
A method of generating a model for simulating the imaging performance of an optical imaging system. The method includes the steps of defining the optical imaging system and a process to be utilized by the optical imaging system; and defining a model equation representing the imaging performance of the optical imaging system and the process, where the model equation includes a resist performance component, and the resist performance component includes a non-linear model of the resist performance. |
| US08521480B2 |
Managing non-destructive evaluation data
Embodiments of the invention include methods to manage non-destructive evaluation (“NDE”) data. The method includes receiving NDE data for at least a portion of an asset along with inspection information associated with the at least a portion of the asset, and determining at least one alignment algorithm to align the NDE data to a simulated model of the at least a portion of the asset based on at least one of the NDE data or the inspection information. The method further includes automatically aligning The NDE data to the simulated model with the at least one alignment algorithm and analyzing the aligned NDE data on the simulated model to determine coverage of the simulated model by the NDE data. Additional methods include retrieving NDE data that has previously been aligned to the simulated model and determining coverage or determining trends associated with indications thereof. |
| US08521474B2 |
Intelligent system diagnostics for bank note processing machines
A diagnostic system for use in a bank note processing machine, and a method of use. The system includes a plurality of operating condition sensors positioned to monitor areas of interest within the machine. A CPU automatically reads the sensors to obtain an initial baseline reading against which operating data is compared. Decisions are made based upon this comparison. |
| US08521473B2 |
Method of adaptive data acquisition
Methods for adaptive data acquisition are disclosed herein. In one aspect, methods for adaptive data acquisition include performing a first sensing method on a signal having a plurality of components to determine the likelihood that a component is not a relevant signal component, retaining a portion of the signal components sensed using the first sensing method that are above a first threshold, performing a second sensing method on the signal components retained above a first threshold to determine the likelihood that a component is not a relevant signal component, wherein the second sensing method is more reliable than the first sensing method at determining the likelihood that a component is not a relevant signal component, and retaining a portion of the signal components sensed using the second sensing method that are above a second threshold. |
| US08521470B2 |
Form measuring device and method of aligning form data
A form measuring device includes: a measuring unit configured to detect a height at each position in a reference axis direction of a measured object and measure a cross-sectional form of the measured object; and an arithmetic unit configured to synthesize a plurality of form measurement data, obtained by repeated measurements of the form of the same measured object by the measuring unit, and calculate synthesized form measurement data. In the synthesis of the form measurement data, the arithmetic unit is configured to calculate shift amounts in the reference axis direction and a height direction of the form measurement data with respect to the synthesized form measurement data and align the form measurement data in the reference axis direction and the height direction based on the calculated shift amount. |
| US08521469B2 |
System and method for determining an orientation of a device
A relative bearing sensor for determining an orientation of a device. The relative bearing sensor including a ferromagnetic housing, and wherein the ferromagnetic housing includes a ferromagnetic ball configured to roll with respect to an orientation of the ferromagnetic housing, a magnetic flux sensor, a permanent magnet configured to emit a plurality of magnetic flux lines through the magnetic flux sensor, the plurality of magnetic flux lines steered by a location of the ferromagnetic ball, and a processor programmed. The processor is programmed to determine a flux angle of the plurality of magnetic flux lines, compare the determined flux angle with a predefined flux angle, and determine an orientation of the relative bearing sensor based on the comparing. |
| US08521467B2 |
Method for acceleration estimation, acceleration estimating apparatus, and mobile terminal
Acceleration and attitude angles are measured by sensors mounted on a moving object and the measurement results are collected. The measurement results of acceleration are separated into low-frequency acceleration components and high-frequency acceleration components, and a time-rate-of-changes of attitude angles are calculated based on the measurement results of the attitude angles. After finishing extraction of the high-frequency acceleration components and the low-frequency acceleration components, and finishing calculation of the time-rate-of-changes of attitude angles, the rotation contributing acceleration and translation contributing acceleration are estimated based on the high-frequency acceleration components, the low-frequency acceleration components, the attitude angles and the time-rate-of-change of attitude angles. As a result, a translation contributing acceleration which contributes to a translational movement of a moving object, and a rotation contributing acceleration which contributes to a rotational movement of the moving object are estimated with improved accuracy. |
| US08521461B2 |
Apparatus for delivering a process gas
A processing system for delivering a process gas to a reaction chamber using a recipe having a recipe flow rate is provided. The processing system includes a gas flow delivery system configured for delivering the process gas, wherein said gas flow delivery system controlled by a mass flow controller (MFC) to an orifice. The predicted flow rate is previously computed by pressurizing a gas. The predicted flow rate further being previously computed measuring a set of upstream pressure values of the gas via at least one sensor. The processing system also includes a programmed computing device configured for applying a calibration factor of a set of calibration factors to determine the predicted flow rate, the calibration factor being a ratio of an average of the set of upstream pressure values to an average of a set of golden upstream pressure values. |
| US08521459B2 |
Capacitor's remaining lifetime diagnosing device, and electric power compensating device having the remaining lifetime diagnosing device
In an instantaneous voltage drop compensating device, when an instantaneous drop occurs, an electric power transformer (8) performs an inverter action so that the electric power of a side-by-side placed capacitor (7) is DC/AC-converted and fed to a load (3). At this time, a capacitor's remaining lifetime diagnosing unit (100) introduces the DC voltage value, the DC current value, and the temperature value of the side-by-side placed capacitor (7) thereinto, and uses a prestored program for computing a remaining lifetime, thereby diagnosing the remaining lifetime, for which the side-by-side placed capacitor (7) can be used under the state where a capacitor discharge time period exceeds a rated compensation time period. As a result, the remaining lifetime, for which the side-by-side placed capacitor (7) can be used, can be diagnosed under the situations where the discharge time period for the side-by-side placed capacitor (7) to discharge while outputting the rated electric power exceeds the rated compensation time period required as the time period for which an electric power compensating device has to output the rated electric power. |
| US08521453B1 |
Wireless sensor and data management system and method for monitoring the integrity of mechanical structures
A method and apparatus for inspecting a wall of a mechanical structure including obtaining an infinite response from a sample material having a front face, a thickness, and a back wall, by transmitting into a sample material an ultrasonic wave having a frequency and duration and being generated by one or more transducers, wherein the thickness of the sample material is sufficiently great that only a wave corresponding to the front face of the sample is received back; transmitting an ultrasonic wave generated by one or more transducers into the wall of a mechanical structure to be inspected at a time (T), wherein the ultrasonic wave has the same frequency and duration as the ultrasonic wave transmitted into the sample material; receiving a response signal back from the wall to be inspected; and correlating the response signal to the infinite response, thereby creating correlated data. The system can be operated remotely and wirelessly, and data can be transmitted and received via the Internet or local area network, either wireless or wired. |
| US08521450B2 |
Gas/liquid flow rate determination
A method and system is provided for measuring a flow rate of a gas/liquid flow. The method and system for measuring the flow rate include flowing a swirling gas/liquid flow separated into a gas core and a liquid outer layer through a conduit containing a constriction having a reduced conduit cross-section, measuring the differential gas core static pressure between a position upstream of the constriction and a position at the constriction, measuring a further quantity which provides the flow rate of the gas, the flow rate of the liquid, or a correlation between the flow rate of the gas and the flow rate of the liquid, and determining the flow rates of the gas and the liquid from the differential gas core static pressure and said measured further quantity. |
| US08521448B1 |
Structural analysis using measurement of fastener parameters
A computer implemented method is provided for analyzing the health of a structure by measuring the value of preload on each of a plurality of fasteners installed on the structure and correlating the measured values of preload with a set of specifications. A report is generated for each of the fasteners representing the results of the correlations. Groups of the fastener reports are used to infer the health of the structure. |
| US08521447B2 |
Method, system, and computer software code for verification of validity of a pressure transducer
A method that includes comparing a first brake pressure measured at a first transducer that is part of a braking system on a lead powered unit of a distributed power (DP) system to a second brake pressure measured at a second transducer that is part of a braking system on a remote powered unit of the DP system. The method also includes determining whether the second transducer is functioning within designated operational parameters when the DP system is operating in a DP mode based on comparing the first brake pressure to the second brake pressure. |
| US08521446B2 |
System and method of conducting refraction angle verification for phased array probes using standard calibration blocks
Disclosed is an ultrasonic phased array non-destructive inspection system that includes a PA probe, a conventional PA inspection unit and a refraction angle verification unit. The PA inspection unit is employed to emit ultrasonic angle beams into an AWS IIW Block and to receive a set of corresponding echo signals reflected from the calibration block and to provide time-of-flight (TOF) values corresponding to each angle beam. The refraction angle verification unit then provides a true angle for each of the angle beams based on the ultrasonic and geometric characteristics of the block and the measured TOF values. Other calibration blocks such as the DSC and Nayships blocks can also be used for this purpose. |
| US08521445B2 |
Corrosion rate monitoring
Methods and apparatus relate to measuring corrosion rate. Flowing corrosive fluid contacts a metal coupon or object and results in an effluent stream. The effluent stream contains metal from the object due to reaction of constituents in the fluid with the metal. Analysis of the effluent stream measures concentration of the metal therein. Since the concentration of the metal in the effluent stream is indicative of mass loss from the object, calculations provide the corrosion rate utilizing weight of the metal that is eluted, surface area of the object and exposure time of the object with the corrosive fluid. |
| US08521442B2 |
Method and device for measuring the electrical conductivity and/or resistivity of a solution
An exemplary method for measuring the electrical resistance and/or electrical conductivity of solutions, includes: exciting the electrodes with a rectangular shaped, alternating current of a certain frequency fH through a connecting cable; synchronously rectifying a voltage of the electrodes of the measuring cell in response to the alternating current, calculating a first average voltage, dividing the first average voltage by the current amplitude to obtain a first impedance RH; then exciting the electrodes with a rectangular shaped, alternating current of another frequency fL through the connecting cable; synchronously rectifying the voltage of the electrodes in response to the alternating current, calculating a second average voltage, and dividing the second average voltage by the current amplitude to obtain a second impedance RL. Based on a mathematical model, a relation between the resistance R between the electrodes to be measured and the first and second impedances RH and RL, and the ratio n of the frequency fH to fL is established, so as to derive the resistance R between the electrodes. The conductivity of the solution can be derived by incorporating an electrode constant. |
| US08521441B2 |
Method and computer program product for reducing fluorophore-specific bias
A method for fluorophore bias removal in microarray experiments in which the fluorophores used in microarray experiment pairs are reversed. Further, a method for calculating the individual errors associated with each measurement made in nominally repeated microarray experiments. This error measurement is optionally coupled with rank based methods in order to determine a probability that a cellular constituent is up or down regulated in response to a perturbation. Finally, a method for determining the confidence in the weighted average of the expression level of a cellular constituent in nominally repeated microarray experiments. |
| US08521438B1 |
Computer-implemented cellular modeling having parallel pathways
A computer-implemented method for cellular modeling is provided. The computer-implemented method for cellular modeling may include generating a cellular model, the model comprising a plurality of compartments, each compartment comprising at least one reaction, at least one species, or a combination of at least one reaction and at least one species; receiving a selection of at least one compartment for simulation to obtain at least one selected compartment; simulating the at least one selected compartment to obtain a result; and providing an output of the result from simulating the compartment; wherein at least two of the compartments comprise parallel pathways through the cellular model. |
| US08521434B2 |
Moveout correction of seismic data
A method of processing seismic data including pressure data and pressure gradient data to obtain gradients of moveout corrected pressure data, comprising applying a move-out correction function to the pressure gradient data; and adding a correction term dependent on a moveout corrected time-derivative of the pressure data and a spatial derivative of the moveout correction function. The method may be used prior to any data processing algorithm which uses pressure gradient data in which moveout correction is applied prior to the algorithm, either because the algorithm makes a zero offset assumption or because it is beneficial for the algorithm to operate on moveout corrected data to reduce aliasing. |
| US08521428B1 |
Heading determination using sensors mounted on rotatable assembly
A system and method for more accurately and robustly determining the heading of a vehicle by taking measurements of angle rates using rate sensors mounted on a movable mechanical assembly. In a quasi-static state of the vehicle, the mechanical assembly is rotated around axes perpendicular to the tangent plane of the Earth, and angle rates are measured by the rate sensors at different rotational angles of the mechanical assembly. The measurements of the angle rates are then computed to determine the initial heading of the vehicle relative to the true north of the Earth in the quasi-static state of the vehicle. After determining the initial heading, navigation state propagation is performed to determine the heading of the vehicle in non-quasi-static state of the vehicle. By taking measurements of the rate sensors at different rotation angles and performing computation, the heading of the vehicle relative to the Earth's true north can be determined using less accurate angle sensors. |
| US08521425B2 |
Position registering apparatus, route retrieving apparatus, position registering method, position registering program, and recording medium
In a position registering apparatus, an acquiring unit acquires traveling state information indicating a traveling state of a mobile object and a position identifying unit specifies the current position of the mobile object, based on the traveling state information and map information. After the current position of the mobile object is identified to be on a road within a predetermined range from a destination set by a destination setting unit and is then identified to be at a place other than the road, if the parking determining unit determines that the mobile object is parked, a registering unit registers, into a storage unit, a deviation point from the road as an entrance point of a parking lot of the destination. |
| US08521424B2 |
Advanced map information delivery, processing and updating
The illustrative embodiments include update determination programmed logic circuitry operable to determine that a map data tile stored in a vehicle database is in need of updating. The illustrative embodiments further include update qualification programmed logic circuitry operable to qualify the permissibility of an update. Also included in the illustrative embodiments is update provision programmed logic circuitry operable to, contingent on the qualifying, provide an updated version of the map data tile. The update determination, update qualification and update provision programmed logic circuitry are operable to repeat the determining, qualifying and providing for at least all tiles included in a route within a predetermined proximity of a vehicle's current location along the route. |
| US08521422B2 |
Stateful, double-buffered dynamic navigation voice prompting
A navigation system written in J2ME MIDP for a client device includes a plurality of media players each respectively comprising a buffer. A navigation program manages the state of the plurality of media players. The plurality of media players are in either one of an acquiring resources state, and a playing and de-allocating state. The use of a plurality of media players each respectively comprising a buffer overcomes the prior art in which navigation system can cut off a voice prompt because of the time-consuming tasks associated with playing a voice prompt. |
| US08521417B1 |
System and method for navigating a mobile device user interface with a directional sensing device
An electronic mobile device includes a display for displaying a graphical element. A tilt sensor is configured to sense first and second tilt angles of the mobile device. A processor is coupled to the display and the tilt sensor and configured to move the graphical element relative to the display in a first direction based on the first tilt angle, and to move the graphical element relative to the display in a second direction based on the second tilt angle. |
| US08521416B2 |
Vehicle control apparatus and vehicle control method
A vehicle control apparatus includes a first section that recognizes a lane boundary line of a lane in which a vehicle is traveling. A second section recognizes a present position of a predetermined reference point of the vehicle. A third section calculates a predicted position of the reference point, wherein the predicted position is a predetermined interval ahead of the present position. A fourth calculates an imaginary lane boundary line, wherein the imaginary lane boundary line is tangent to the lane boundary line at a point close to the predicted position. A fifth section performs a control of preventing the vehicle from deviating from the lane by controlling the vehicle depending on positional relationship between the vehicle and the lane boundary line. A sixth section selectively permits and suppresses the control depending on positional relationship among the imaginary lane boundary line, the present position, and the predicted position. |
| US08521412B2 |
Method of determining absolute position for a motor vehicle
A method of determining an absolute position for a motor vehicle is disclosed. The method includes steps of receiving information related to the absolute positions of one or more remote sources. The method further includes steps of determining distances to the one or more remote sources. Methods for selecting a subset of remote sources from a set of all available remote sources to be used in determining an absolute position for the motor vehicle are also disclosed. |
| US08521410B2 |
Driving assistance apparatus
A driving assistance apparatus mounted to a vehicle is provided. The driving assistance apparatus includes: an information acquisition component configured to acquire information on at least one of a route condition in a predetermined region of a future travel path of the vehicle, a present vehicle condition, and a past operation condition; a prediction component configured to predict, based on the information acquired by the information acquisition component, whether fuel efficiency of the vehicle is degraded in the future travel path; and a notification component configured to notify an operation for improvement of the fuel efficiency of the vehicle to an occupant of the vehicle in advance in cases where the fuel efficiency of the vehicle is predicted to be degraded in the future travel path. |
| US08521408B2 |
Method for estimating remaining travel distance of electric vehicle
The present invention provides a method for estimating a distance to empty (DTE) from the present amount of remaining fuel (the amount of remaining electricity) in an electric vehicle. In particular, the present invention provides a method for estimating a remaining travel distance of an electric vehicle, which can efficiently and accurately estimate a remaining travel distance by setting the relationship of a DTE with a state of charge (SOC) of a battery which changes in real time under various load conditions, in consideration of the present travel pattern, in addition to the SOC of a battery and accumulated fuel efficiency for the amount of remaining fuel of the electric vehicle. |
| US08521406B2 |
Traveling vehicle system
A traveling vehicle system (100) has a first closed path (131) and a second closed path (132) each being a one-way path, and having exit points and entrance points. The traveling vehicle system (100) includes a storage unit (112) storing an exit point table (113) and an entrance point table (114). When moving from the first closed path (131) to the second closed path (132), the traveling vehicle (200) moves via an exit point of the first closed path (131) and an entrance point of the second closed path (132). The exit point and the entrance point are respectively shown in the exit point table (113) and the entrance point table (114) stored in the storage unit (112). |
| US08521397B2 |
Hybrid drive having valve deactivation
A hybrid drive has at least one internal combustion engine having at least two cylinders, as well as at least one electric machine having at least one electric motor function and at least one generator function. The hybrid drive is arranged so as to operate all the cylinders of the at least one internal combustion engine in a full-load operation and so as to shut down at least one of the at least two cylinders in at least one part-load operation, at least one additional one of the at least two cylinders of the at least one internal combustion engine being operated. In the at least one part-load operation, the at least one shut-down cylinder has pressure applied to it, e.g., an overpressure by a combustion mixture that was combusted last. |
| US08521394B2 |
Vehicle running control apparatus and vehicle running control method
A main ECU (71) for generating an actual acceleration/deceleration running pattern based on a current running situation of a vehicle, generating a corrected acceleration/deceleration running pattern obtained by elongating an actual acceleration/deceleration period of the actual acceleration/deceleration running pattern when an actual acceleration/deceleration period (T1) in the actual acceleration/deceleration running pattern is shorter than a reference acceleration/deceleration period (T0) set in advance, and setting the actual acceleration/deceleration running pattern as a best acceleration/deceleration running pattern when the corrected acceleration/deceleration running pattern is not generated and setting the corrected acceleration/deceleration running pattern as the best acceleration/deceleration running pattern when the corrected acceleration/deceleration running pattern is generated, is provided. |
| US08521388B2 |
Method for setting the clamping force exerted by a parking brake
In a method for setting the clamping force exerted by a parking brake, which force is applied by an electric motor-based braking apparatus and, if necessary, by an additional braking apparatus, during an actuation phase of the electric motor-based braking apparatus, the motor resistance and the motor constant are determined from the present motor voltage, the present motor current, and the present motor rotation speed, and the clamping force achievable by the electric motor-based braking apparatus is ascertained therefrom. If the electric motor-based braking force does not reach a required target clamping force, an additional braking force is generated by the additional braking apparatus. |
| US08521385B2 |
Method of controlling a torque vectoring mechanism and torque vectoring system
A method of controlling a torque vectoring mechanism and an associated torque vectoring system are disclosed. The method can distribute torque between a left non-driven wheel and a right non-driven wheel of a vehicle based on a torque control value. The torque control value can be based on a change in yaw moment about a center of gravity of the vehicle. The change in yaw moment can be determined based on a reduction of lateral force on a driven axle due to both longitudinal and lateral slip on the driven wheels. |
| US08521384B2 |
Turf maintenance vehicle all-wheel drive system
A turf maintenance vehicle all-wheel drive traction control system includes a primary wheel propelling the vehicle. A first motor rotates the primary wheel. A traction control system has a first portion communicating with the first motor to monitor either a first motor current demand or a rotational speed of the primary wheel or the first motor and generates a traction control value. A secondary wheel rotated by a second motor steers the vehicle in a vehicle non-slip condition. A traction control system second portion determines a secondary wheel steering angle value. A speed threshold limit stored in the traction control system compared to the traction control value generates a slippage occurrence message indicative of a primary wheel traction loss event. A second motor drive signal created by comparing the steering angle value and the slippage occurrence message energizes the second motor during the traction loss event. |
| US08521381B2 |
Power transfer device and control method thereof, and lock-up clutch device
A device with a stepped automatic transmission to transfer power from a power source to an axle using changeable shift speeds includes an input-side fluid transmission element connected to the power source, an output-side fluid transmission element connected to the transmission input shaft, a lock-up clutch engaging and disengaging the input-side and the output-side fluid transmission elements; a unit adjusting the lock-up clutch; a unit setting, when a downshift is to be performed in response to a predetermined request for a large drive force, a predetermined target slip speed value larger than a non-shifting-time value before a rotational speed of the power source exceeds a input shaft rotational speed after the downshift, and setting the target slip speed to decrease toward the non-shifting-time value along with lapse of time after the power source rotational speed source exceeds the post-shifting input shaft speed; and a unit controlling the engagement force so the slip speed becomes the set target slip speed. The target slip speed is a difference between the rotational speeds of the power source and the input shaft, and the non-shifting-time value is set when no shifting is performed. |
| US08521380B2 |
Shift rail transmission position sensing with tolerance for sensor loss
A number N of position sensors, each associated with one of N shift rails in a shift rail transmission system, wherein the set of N sensors is divided into subsets and each subset is provided a common reference from a control module; and a processing component that determines from data from each sensor whether the shift rail associated with that sensor is in a position of engagement of a first gear, a position of engagement of a second gear, or in a neutral position.Further, providing a first common reference to a first set of shift rail position sensors; providing a second common reference to a second set of shift rail position sensors; receiving sensor data from each position sensor; determining that the data from the first set of position sensors is unreliable; and operating a transmission using only the gears related to the position sensors in the second set. |
| US08521376B2 |
Shift rail transmission position sensing
Receiving sensor data related to position of a gear in a transmission, the sensor data including data from a first sensor and data from a second sensor; determining a first indicated position of the gear from the data from the first sensor; determining a second indicated position of the gear from the data from the second sensor; comparing the first indicated position to the second indicated position; and determining based on the comparison a gear engagement status of the gear. |
| US08521373B2 |
Industrial truck with height-adjustable load bearing means
An industrial truck having height-adjustable load bearing means, lifting height controls in which a plurality of predetermined lifting heights are saved, a lifting height detection system for the load bearing means that detects an actual value of the lifting height and provides it to the lifting height controls, and a control unit that allows the lifting height of the load bearing means to be manually adjusted at different speeds, wherein the lifting height controls move the load bearing means to one of the predetermined lifting heights when the speed for adjusting the load bearing means specified by the control unit falls below a predetermined threshold, wherein the lifting height assumed by the lifting height controls corresponds to the lifting height of the predetermined lifting heights that most closely approximates the actual value of the lifting height in the direction in which the load bearing means is moving. |
| US08521366B2 |
Method for assisted parking in a parking space, and device for that purpose
In a method for assisted parking of a vehicle in a parking space with the aid of a parking-assistance device which guides the vehicle along parking trajectory, the vehicle is guided along a first segment of the parking trajectory up to an intermediate point which is determined in such a way that it is possible to pull the vehicle into either a parallel or a diagonal parking space, and it is identified whether the parking space is a parallel or a diagonal parking space. The vehicle is guided along a second segment of the parking trajectory which is selected depending upon whether the parking space is a parallel or a diagonal parking space. |
| US08521364B2 |
Method and device for assisted parking of a motor vehicle
In a method and a device for assisted parking of a motor vehicle into a parking space or assisted pulling out of a motor vehicle from a parking space, a predetermined maximum speed is given for each parking phase of the single step or multiple step parking or pulling out action consisting of several parking phases, wherein when exceeding the predetermined speed during a parking phase a limitation of the speed of the motor vehicle to the maximum speed allowed for the parking phase is carried out. |
| US08521363B2 |
Driving assist system
A driving assist system assists steering such that a vehicle travels along a set target course. A steering torque sensor detects a steering torque that serves as a steering operation input value generated by a driver. If the steering torque value is equal to or greater than a preset reference value and a direction corresponding to the steering torque is a direction away from another vehicle present ahead in an adjacent lane, then an ECU corrects the target course to a course that moves away from the other vehicle. |
| US08521361B2 |
Ride height control system and method for controlling load distribution at target ride height in a vehicle suspension system
A ride height control system and method may be used to control load distribution at wheel locations in a vehicle suspension system at target ride height. Load distribution may be controlled by adjusting the forces applied by the suspension system at respective wheel locations while maintaining a target ride height. In an exemplary air spring suspension system or hydropneumatic suspension system, the applied forces may be adjusted by adjusting the pressure in the suspension system at the respective wheel locations. The ride height control system and method may determine and establish balanced target ride height forces (e.g., planar forces) to be applied at the wheel locations of the vehicle to prevent a cross-jacking condition. The ride height control system and method may also determine and establish target ride height forces for a vehicle on an uneven surface to prevent imbalances caused by wheel displacement. |
| US08521360B2 |
Accelerator pedal apparatus
An accelerator pedal apparatus including an actuator pedal, a hysteresis generating mechanism which provides a hysteresis pedaling force characteristic having larger pedaling force in a depression direction than that in a return direction, and a reaction force adding control mechanism which adds operational reaction force to operation of the accelerator pedal based on an adjustment force generation command from an upper unit, while the operational reaction force added by the reaction force adding control mechanism is not larger than a hysteresis amount generated by the hysteresis generating mechanism. |
| US08521359B1 |
Application-independent and component-isolated system and system of systems framework
Embodiments of an application-independent and component-isolated system and system of systems framework are provided. In some embodiments, a Distributed Integration Operating Schema (“DIOS”) framework allows integration of disparate software and hardware components and permits addition, removal, modification, failure of, and information exchange among such components. In some embodiments, DIOS uses an information model that comprises a user-defined hierarchy of information objects to facilitate communication of information among agents of a control system. |
| US08521358B2 |
Method for releasing an electrical parking brake
A method for releasing an electric parking brake of a motor vehicle comprises detecting a release command and releasing the parking brake if a detected change in at least one signal precedes by maximally a predefined time interval, the change indicating capacity of a driver to act. |
| US08521350B2 |
Vehicle control device and vehicle control method
A control device for a vehicle includes: a charge control portion that adjusts an upper limit of charging power to a battery to prevent a negative electrode potential of the battery from dropping to a lithium reference potential, based on a charge/discharge history of the battery; a braking control portion that detects a sharing ratio between hydraulic braking force by a braking device and regenerative braking force for desired braking force according to a brake pedal depression amount so that a motor generator generates a regenerative braking force within a range of the adjusted upper limit of charging power; and a setting portion that variably sets, according to the hydraulic response rate detected by the detection portion, a degree of limitation of the upper limit when restricting charging current to the battery by restricting the upper limit. |
| US08521349B2 |
Vehicle steerability and stability control via independent wheel torque control
An independent wheel torque control algorithm is disclosed for controlling motor torques applied to individual electric motors coupled to vehicle wheels in an electric vehicle. In a first range of vehicle states, vehicle steerability is favored so that the operator of the vehicle suffers little or no longitudinal propulsion loss while steering is enhanced. In a second range of vehicle states, vehicle stability is favored. According to embodiments of the disclosure, a desired yaw moment is computed and then may be reduced in magnitude due to system limitations, electrical or friction limits, which prevents the desired yaw moment from being fully realized. |
| US08521348B1 |
Watercraft speed control device
An automatic speed control system that provides desired watercraft velocity over land. The coupled algorithms correct engine speed and torque using inertia based measurements, GPS, and tachometer measurements, and the corrections are augmented and enhanced by velocity/speed and torque/speed relationships that are dynamically and adaptively programmed with real-time data collected during replicated operations of the watercraft in specified conditions. |
| US08521343B2 |
Method and system to autonomously direct aircraft to emergency-contingency landing sites using on-board sensors
A system for autonomous direction of an aircraft to emergency/contingency landing sites incorporates a terrain mapping sensor and an onboard processor receiving terrain data from the terrain mapping sensor. The processor employs software modules for processing the terrain data to produce a terrain map and for creating a landing profile based on the terrain map. |
| US08521342B2 |
Electronic technical logbook
A system, a method, and a computer program are provided for recording technical issues of an aircraft. A server unit is adapted to store and output data related to technical issues of an aircraft. A client unit sends an access request to a server, which receives and processes this request, permits access to the data and restricts the adding or modifying processing of the data to one client unit at a time. For use during flight tests on board of the aircraft, a snapshot of the data may be transferred to a mobile computer, while the data on the server unit is restricted to read-only. After the flight test, the modified data is transferred back to the server unit and the read-only restriction is removed. |
| US08521339B2 |
Method and system for directing unmanned vehicles
A method of remotely controlling an aerial vehicle within an environment, including providing a control station in communication with the aerial vehicle, providing a map of the environment, receiving target world coordinates for the aerial vehicle within the environment, determining a desired velocity vector to direct the aerial vehicle to the target world coordinates at a speed proportional to the distance between the aerial vehicle and the target world coordinates, and directing the aerial vehicle along the desired velocity vector until the aerial vehicle reaches the target world coordinates. |
| US08521338B2 |
Vehicle control system
A vehicle control system capable of improving drivability by reflecting driving environment and driving preference accurately on driving characteristics. The vehicle control system is configured to change an index for setting driving characteristics of the vehicle. When accelerations Gx and Gy are changed, a sportiness index is changed in a different manner depending on a detail of an operation for changing accelerations Gx and Gy executed by a driver, thereby reflecting the driving preference of the driver appearing on the operation can be reflected on sportiness of the vehicle. |
| US08521334B2 |
Method for diagnosing the state of wear of a valve arrangement for controlling the flow of a process medium
A method and valve arrangement are provided for controlling the flow of a process medium through a pipeline. A pneumatic actuator moves a valve element, which is accommodated in a valve housing, and switches the flow of the process medium, in accordance with a positioning control system by means of a control piston, to at least one side of which control pressure is applied in a drive chamber. An electronic evaluation unit connected to the positioning control system monitors the operating state. A pressure sensor measures the pressure in the drive chamber, and the evaluation unit analyzes the measured pressure value with respect to a pressure p and the pressure change dp(t) over time to determine the flow into/from the drive chamber and/or the ratio (V/A) of the drive chamber volume to the effective opening cross section of the valve arrangement as a measure of the operating state of the valve arrangement. |
| US08521333B2 |
Method and apparatus for flue gas recirculation
An improved method and system for flue gas recirculation (FGR) from the ID Fan located downstream of a scrubber (or other Air Quality Control Equipment including cyclones, baghouses, etc., hereafter “AQC equipment”) back to the scrubber (or other AQC Equipment) inlet to maintain the minimum required flue gas throughput during low-load conditions, thereby eliminating the need for a separate booster fan. A flue gas recirculation duct is connected from downstream of the ID Fan to the inlet of the scrubber (or other AQC Equipment). A variable flow restrictor is placed in the duct downstream of the ID Fan for controlling pressure of the recirculated flue gas. The flow restrictor is controlled in accordance to a function of boiler load or flue gas flow to produce the required backpressure that enables the flue gas to flow through the recirculation duct back to the inlet of the scrubber (or other AQC Equipment) at low loads. This side stream of treated gas is recirculated from the discharge of the ID Fan to the inlet of the AQC Equipment to maintain the appropriate gas velocity regardless of boiler load conditions. The pressure differential between fan discharge and the AQC Equipment inlet enables recirculation of a sufficient amount of treated flue gas using only a small duct and simple flow control damper, without using a booster fan. |
| US08521327B2 |
Random access and random load dispensing unit
The present invention provides a random access and random load dispensing unit including a housing, at least one support located in the housing and defining a first axis, a plurality of platforms movable along the support along the first axis, a plurality of bins supported on the platforms, the bins being movable with the platforms, and a shuttle assembly movable along the first axis and further movable along a second axis substantially perpendicular to the first axis between the plurality of platforms to access and retrieve products stored in the bins. |
| US08521322B2 |
Automatic programming method and device for creating multi-path program
In automatic programming for creating a multi-path program for a machine having a plurality of control paths performing one or more machining processes of a machining program for machining a workpiece, the machining time of each of the machining processes is calculated, workable paths are input for each of the machining processes, and then workable orders of the machining processes are input. For each of the machining processes, simultaneously workable machining processes are input if any among other machining processes. On the basis of the above results, machining programs that provide the shortest machining time are selected. |
| US08521320B2 |
Printing system for cured 3D structures
A printing system is provided having at least one printhead for printing material to create a printed product, and an object incorporation device that incorporates inorganic semiconductors into the product being printed while the at least one printhead prints the product. |
| US08521319B2 |
Method of producing a housing shell or ear mold to be worn in the ear
The production of a hearing aid housing shell or ear mold that can be worn in the ear should be simplified and improved. For this, a prefabricated component, such as a frame for holding an electronics module or a receiver adapter, is positioned in a rapid prototyping instrument. There, the component is integrated into the housing shell or ear mold by the subsequent production of the housing shell or ear mold. This avoids connecting the component to the housing shell or ear mold in a further method step after producing the housing shell or ear mold. |
| US08521318B2 |
Toric optic for ophthalmic use
An ophthalmic lens for modifying or reducing non-axisymmetric higher order aberrations includes an optic body disposed about an optical axis having a primary meridian and an orthogonal secondary meridian. The optic body includes a higher order toric shape that is imposed on or added to one of the optic body surfaces. The higher order toric shape also includes a first profile disposed along the primary meridian and a second profile disposed along the secondary meridian that is different in shape from the first profile. The higher order toric shape is characterized by a profile along at least one meridian of the lens that changes with increasing radius from the optical axis raised to a power that is greater than two. |
| US08521317B2 |
Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for designing and manufacturing prosthetic dental items
A dental CAD/CAM system performs structural analysis of a candidate prosthetic dental item that is to be created using design data representing the prosthetic dental item. The dental CAD/CAM system can recommend positioning of a surface of the prosthetic dental item within a volume of a milling block based on the design data and data representing desired aesthetic properties of the prosthetic dental item. The dental CAD/CAM system can generate and display simulated images of the aesthetic properties of the prosthetic dental item using the design data, data representing the surface of the prosthetic dental item, data representing the volume of the milling block, and data representing aesthetic properties of the milling block. The dental CAD/CAM system can be used to form prosthetic dental items having complex aesthetic properties, such as translucent regions and shades of colors that vary spatially. |
| US08521313B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing a media signal
An apparatus for processing a media signal and method thereof are disclosed, by which the media signal can be converted to a surround signal a surround signal by using spatial information of the media signal. The present invention provides a method of processing a signal, the method comprising of generating source mapping information corresponding to each source of multi-sources by using spatial information indicating features between the multi-sources; generating at least one rendering information by using the source mapping information and filter information having a surround effect; and performing interpolation by using neighbor rendering information of the at least one rendering information. |
| US08521311B2 |
Asymmetrical process parameter control system and method
A technique is disclosed for asymmetrically controlling a process parameter based upon the direction of a prediction error between a predicted value determined using an inferential model and a laboratory measurement of the parameter. The present technique provides for the adaptive biasing of the predicted value based upon the direction of the prediction error. In one embodiment, a biasing factor may be determined by filtering the prediction error, such that the prediction error is emphasized more heavily in the biasing factor if the prediction error is in a less tolerable direction and emphasized less heavily if the prediction error is in the opposite direction. The biasing factor may further be determined as a function of a previous biasing factor computed during the process. Asymmetric control of the process parameter may be performed by controlling the parameter using model predictive control techniques based on the biased predicted values of the parameter. |
| US08521310B2 |
Integrated model predictive control of distillation and dehydration sub-processes in a biofuel production process
A system and method are provided for integrated management of a biofuel distillation process and a biofuel dehydration process of a biofuel production process, comprising a dynamic multivariate model-based controller coupled to a dynamic multivariate predictive model. The model is executable to: receive distillation and dehydration process information including biofuel compositions, receive an objective for biofuel production output from the distillation and dehydration processes, e.g., target product composition, production rate, and/or feed rate, and generate model output comprising target values for a plurality of manipulated variables related to the distillation and dehydration processes in accordance with the objective. The controller is operable to dynamically control the biofuel production process by adjusting the plurality of manipulated variables to the model-determined target values in accordance with the objective for biofuel production. |
| US08521306B2 |
Pacing lead for a left cavity of the heart, implanted in the coronary system
A pacing lead for a left cavity of the heart, implanted in the coronary system. One lead includes a telescopic microcable including multiple distinct bare areas that form a network of stimulation electrodes. The microcable includes a diameter providing for insertion of the microcable within smaller portions of the coronary vein system. The diameter may be selected from between 0.5 and 2 French. The microcable includes multiple strands twisted together. At least some strands incorporate either a core of radiopaque material wrapped by a sheath of mechanically durable material, or vice-versa. The bare areas that form the network of stimulation electrodes are provided on outward-facing portions of at least some of the strands. |
| US08521305B2 |
Percutaneous lead with distal fixation
A lead includes an elongated body and an anchor segment disposed between the distal end of the body and electrodes on a distal portion of the body. The anchor segment has lobes which are separated by slits and movable between a collapsed position and an expanded position. A positioning mechanism is disposed inside the hollow interior of the body and at least partially within the anchor segment. The positioning mechanism has a distal positioning portion attached to the distal end of the body and a proximal positioning portion. A control member is connected with the proximal positioning portion to control the positioning mechanism to pull the distal end toward the proximal end so as to move the lobes from the collapsed position to the expanded position and to push the distal end away from the proximal end so as to move the lobes from the expanded to the collapsed position. |
| US08521303B2 |
In vivo implantable coil assembly
An in-vivo implantable coil assembly includes a planar coil having at least one coil layer formed from conductive traces disposed in or on a polymer matrix. A ferrite platelet is bonded to a surface of the polymer matrix. Methods of making and using the in-vivo implantable coil assembly are also disclosed. |
| US08521301B2 |
Thermal treatment system utilizing constructively interfering electromagnetic radiation
Methods and systems enable thermal treating a portion of a subject using microwave or other electromagnetic radiation without harming other portions of the subject. In an embodiment, a plurality of electromagnetic radiation transmitters are positioned within a thermal treatment system and coupled to a control processor. The electromagnetic radiation may be transmitted as a pseudorandom waveform and maybe microwave radiation. The control processor coordinates the transmitters so that emitted electromagnetic radiation constructively interferes within a treatment volume while radiation passing through the rest of the subject randomly interferes or appears as noise. As a result, in a volume in which the electromagnetic radiation waveforms arrive in phase the power of all the transmitters add constructively resulting in a significant temperature rise, while the rest of the subject is exposed to a much lower average power level and thus a lower temperature rise. |
| US08521300B2 |
Lead for implantable cardiac prosthesis with integrated protection against the effects of MRI fields
A lead for an implantable cardiac prosthesis, having an integrated protection against the effects of magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) fields. A protection circuit (26), placed at the distal end of the lead comprises a resistive component (28) interposed between the electrode (E1, E2) and the distal end of the conductor (22, 24) associated with this electrode. A normally-open controlled active switch (34, 36), allows in its closed state to short-circuit the resistive component. A control stage (32) is coupled to the conductors and detects the voltage of a stimulation pulse applied on the conductor(s), and selectively controls by this voltage the closing of the active switch for a duration at least equal to the duration of detected stimulation pulse. |
| US08521297B2 |
Artifact cancellation in hybrid audio prostheses
A system and method are described for determining an estimated neural response in a hybrid acoustic-electrical audio prosthesis. Target nerve tissue such as remaining hair cells and cochlear nerve tissue receive synchronized electric and acoustic stimulation signals which are recorded and processed to determine an artifact canceled estimated neural response. |
| US08521293B2 |
Measurement of patient physiological parameters
A method of determining one or more physiological parameter of a patient by providing a plurality of implantable electrodes proximate a blood vessel of the patient, applying a measurement signal through the plurality of electrodes, the measurement signal having a known parameter, obtaining a resultant signal through the plurality of electrodes, the resultant signal having a resultant parameter, calculating vascular impedance based on the measurement signal and the resultant signal, and calculating a physiological parameter based on the vascular impedance. In some embodiments, the physiological parameter is utilized to modify a therapy signal controlling therapy delivered to the patient. |
| US08521292B2 |
Incontinence therapy objectification
Techniques for managing urinary or fecal incontinence include delivering a first type of therapy to generate a first physiological response and, upon detecting a trigger event, delivering a second type of therapy to generate a second physiological response. The first type of therapy can be delivered on a substantially regular basis, while the second type of therapy is delivered as needed to provide an additional boost of therapy. The trigger event for activating the delivery of the second type of therapy may include input from a sensor that indicates a bladder condition, patient activity level or patient posture, or patient input. In some examples, the therapy is stimulation therapy. In some examples, objective incontinence information is generated based upon the trigger events. The system and/or user may then use this objective incontinence information to adjust therapy or select new therapy programs for improved efficacy. |
| US08521288B2 |
Apparatus and method for temporary treatment of acute heart failure decompensation
A system for providing temporary therapy, such as cardiac resynchronization therapy, to a patient suffering a decompensation event. The system can include a device having an external module for generating electrical stimuli, a first lead coupled to the module and implanted into an atrial region of a patient's heart, and a second lead coupled to the module and implanted into a ventricular region of the patient's heart. The device can also include a storage module coupled to the external module to store data associated with physiological data measured by the device. The external module is configured to temporarily generate electrical stimuli that are delivered by at least one of the first and second leads to provide therapy cardiac resynchronization therapy to the heart. A network can be coupled to the device to allow data stored in the device to be downloaded through the network to a central repository. |
| US08521287B2 |
Power scheme for implant stimulators on the human or animal body
A power scheme for an implant on a human or animal body comprises: a charging circuit to provide power to deliver controlled stimulation currents to a body tissue; a capacitive storage arrangement connected with the charging circuit and charged by the charging circuit; a shunting arrangement to limit voltage on the capacitive storage arrangement; a driver array configured to transfer charges from the capacitive storage arrangement to the tissue; and an electrode array connected with the driver array and the tissue. |
| US08521286B2 |
Lead-carried proximal electrode for quadripolar transthoracic impedance monitoring
An implantable medical device (IMD) provides quadripolar transthoracic impedance measurement capability by forming at least one of the two electrodes associated with the canister of the device on a lead proximate the canister. |
| US08521282B2 |
Implantable medical system with acoustic sensor to measure mitral blood flow
A heart stimulation system comprises an electrode lead comprising at least one stimulation electrode a stimulation pulse generator adapted to generate electric stimulation pulses and being connected to said electrode lead for delivering electric stimulation pulses to at least one chamber of a heart via said stimulation electrode, and a control unit that is connected to said stimulation pulse generator. The electrode lead is a coronary sinus lead adapted to be placed inside the coronary sinus of a human heart and comprises an ultrasonic transducer that is adapted to measure a velocity of blood flow across a mitral valve of a human heart and that is placed on said coronary sinus lead such that the ultrasonic transducer is placed in the coronary sinus or the great cardiac vein when the coronary sinus lead is in its implanted state. |
| US08521280B2 |
Methods and apparatus to increase secretion of endogenous naturetic hormones
A method and apparatus for treatment of heart failure by increasing secretion of endogenous naturetic hormones ANP and BNP such as by stimulation of the heart atria. Heart pacing is done at an atrial contraction rate that is increased and can be higher than the ventricular contraction rate. Pacing may include mechanical distension of the right atrial appendage. An implantable device is used to periodically cyclically stretch the walls of the appendage with an implanted balloon. |
| US08521279B2 |
Implantable cardiac stimulation device and method for measuring intrinsic activity metrics in multi-site pacing
An implantable cardiac stimulation device provides measurement of intrinsic heart activity metrics while sustaining pacing of the heart. The device includes a pulse generator that delivers pacing pulses to a first chamber of corresponding chambers of a heart, and a sensing circuit that senses a conducted evoked response of a second chamber of the corresponding chambers of the heart in response to the pacing pulse to provide an electrical signal representing the conducted evoked response. The device further includes a measuring circuit that measures a metric of the electrical signal to approximate a corresponding metric of an intrinsic electrical feature of the second chamber. |
| US08521276B2 |
Use of significant point methodology to prevent inappropriate therapy
An apparatus example comprises a cardiac signal sensing circuit configured to provide a sensed cardiac signal representative of cardiac depolarization events of a subject, a sampling circuit coupled to the cardiac signal sensing circuit, a therapy circuit, and a controller communicatively coupled to the sampling circuit and the therapy circuit. The controller includes a detection module configured to detect tachyarrhythmia using the cardiac signal and a signal analysis module configured to establish significant points (SPs) of the sampled cardiac signal, estimate heart rate during the tachyarrhythmia using the SPs, and provide an indication of whether noise is present in the cardiac signal using the SPs. The controller is configured to select a therapy for delivery by the therapy circuit in response to the tachyarrhythmia detection and to modify the selected therapy according to the heart rate estimation and the noise indication. |
| US08521275B2 |
Method of dual EGM sensing and heart rate estimation in implanted cardiac devices
A method and apparatus for monitoring a patient's heart rate sense first cardiac events in a heart chamber using a first cardiac electrode pair and sense second cardiac events in the heart chamber using a second cardiac electrode pair. The method includes estimating a first heart rate using the first cardiac events, comparing the first heart rate to a heart rate threshold and estimating a second heart rate using the second cardiac events in response to the first heart rate exceeding the heart rate threshold, determining whether the second cardiac events are unreliable, and setting the second heart rate equal to the first heart rate in response to the second cardiac events being unreliable. |
| US08521273B2 |
Drug delivery devices, kits and methods therefor
Implantable drug delivery devices, and kits and methods incorporating them are described. The devices may, for example, be configured for implantation into an ocular region of a subject. The drug delivery devices may comprise multiple, selectively-triggerable drug reservoirs for administration of sequential or concomitant drug regimens. Some variations of devices may comprise one or more reservoirs that may be triggered by an optical stimulus, e.g., light having a wavelength within a certain wavelength range. The devices, methods, and kits may be useful in the treatment chronic ocular conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration. |
| US08521271B2 |
Brain wave identification method adjusting device and method
In a system having an interface that utilizes an electroencephalogram, there is realized a calibration which prevents overlooking of calibrational stimulations concerning the electroencephalogram and which is highly accurate.An electroencephalogram interface system (1) includes an interface section (100) which acquires an electroencephalogram signal from a user, distinguishes a P3 component of a visual event-related potential contained in the electroencephalogram signal after a manipulation menu is presented, and operates a device based on the distinguished P3 component. An electroencephalogram distinction method adjustment apparatus (10) is used for adjusting a distinction method in the interface section (100). Based on a database (13) defining a correlation between a P3 component of an event-related potential obtained from a stimulation to a modality other than the visual sense and a P3 component of a visual event-related potential and on a P3 component of an event-related potential after a stimulation is presented, the apparatus (10) derives a characteristic quantity of the user concerning the P3 component of the visual event-related potential, and adjusts the electroencephalogram distinction method in the interface section (100) based on the characteristic quantity. |
| US08521270B2 |
Quantitative EEG method to identify individuals at risk for adverse antidepressant effects
Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided for efficiently and accurately identifying individuals at risk for adverse effects from psychotropic or CNS-active treatment. Changes in a brain activity indicator (e.g. EEG cordance) are used to predict the adverse effects of treatment based on an experimentally derived cutoff value. For example, a reliable biological indicator is provided with high predictive capability for identifying, very early in the course of treatment (e.g. <=48 hours after start of treatment), those individuals who are at greatest risk for worsening suicidality and other adverse effects of antidepressant drugs. |
| US08521267B1 |
Methods and systems for trending ST segment changes over time
A method and system are provided for trending a coronary burden such as an ischemic burden or acute myocardial infarction (AMI) for a patient. Trending provides obtaining cardiac data over a period of time, identifying the onset and the termination of coronary episodes based on a ST segment variation within the cardiac data, recording coronary burden information, and presenting the coronary burden information to a user. The coronary burden information may include the number of coronary episodes occurring over a period of time, the time duration of the coronary episodes, and the maximum ST segment variations for the coronary episodes that occur over a period of time. |
| US08521264B2 |
Method for monitoring ICG/ECG signals
An ICG/ECG electrode includes a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein at least one of the first or second electrode senses both an ICG signal and an ECG voltage signal. A physiologic parameter monitoring apparatus includes a set of electrodes, including an electrode for sensing both an ICG voltage signal and an ECG voltage signal corresponding to a patient. The apparatus further includes an ICG monitor for processing the ICG voltage signal sensed by the electrode and an ECG monitor for processing the ECG voltage signal sensed by the same electrode. |
| US08521263B2 |
Method and device for recording an electrocardiogram
The invention relates to a method for recording an electrocardiogram, for example, comprising the steps of: a) receiving electrocardiogram signals from at least two electrodes (2, 3, 4, 5); b) calculating a current electrocardiogram from the received electrocardiogram signals, assuming an arrangement of the electrodes (2, 3, 4, 5); c) determining a deviation of the calculated current electrocardiogram from a reference electrocardiogram; d) repeating the steps b) and c), wherein each repetition assumes a different electrode arrangement; and e) identifying which of the determined deviations is the minimum. |
| US08521259B2 |
Agents that stimulate therapeutic angiogenesis and techniques and devices that enable their delivery
A method including positioning a catheter at a location in a blood vessel; imaging a thickness of a portion of a wall of the blood vessel at the location; identifying a treatment site; advancing a needle a distance into the wall of the blood vessel to the treatment site; and introducing a treatment agent through the needle to the treatment site. A composition including an inflammation-inducing agent and a carrier in the form of microspheres having a particle size suitable for transvascular delivery. A composition including a therapeutic angiogenesis promoter in a carrier and an opsonin-inhibitor coupled to the carrier. An apparatus for delivery of a therapeutic angiogenesis promoter. |
| US08521252B2 |
Method for displaying a hollow space in an object under investigation
The invention relates to a method for displaying a hollow space in an object under investigation, wherein the hollow space has an access point and a target point for a surgical instrument which can be introduced at least partially into the hollow space, and wherein a three dimensional image data set of a section of the hollow space having the access point and/or the target point is determined and spatially displayed. By highlighting the access point and/or the target point in the spatial display of the hollow space section it is possible to make a method available which provides the surgical staff with improved guidance in the object under investigation. |
| US08521247B2 |
Certification apparatus and method for a medical device computer
Provided herein are methods and apparatuses for certifying computers for use in conjunction with medical devices. These methods may be used in conjunction with a computer that includes software for operating the medical device. To certify a particular computer, one or more testing algorithms or routines for processing data, e.g., data representative of a typical output generated by use of the medical device on a patient, may be executed and the results may be compared to an expected result. In particular embodiments, the certification process may use data stored on the device itself to determine certification or may use data stored with or bundled with the software for operating the device. |
| US08521246B2 |
Cable cross talk suppression
Systems, methods, and devices are provided for suppressing cross-talk noise due to capacitive and/or inductive coupling in a medical sensor signal. For example, an embodiment of a patient monitor may include driving circuitry, an amplifier, and transient current discharge circuitry. When the driving circuitry drives an emitter to emit light into a patient, a detector may detect a portion of the light that passes through the patient, generating a detector signal. Cross-talk between the emitter driving signals and the detector signal may generate interference in the form of a transient current in the detector signal. Before the amplifier receives the detector signal, transient current discharge circuitry may discharge the transient current. |
| US08521243B2 |
Biological optical measurement instrument
Appropriate measurement and analysis parameters are set according to cerebral function to be measured. To measure gustatory function, a time period of absence of cerebral activity to be measured is set so as not to contain a period of 60 seconds after start of stimulation, an activity period for analysis for an oxyhemoglobin concentration change signal is set so as to contain a period between an instant after a lapse of 16 seconds, and an instant after a lapse of 25 seconds, after the start of the stimulation, and an activity period for analysis for a deoxyhemoglobin concentration change signal is set so as to contain a period between an instant after a lapse of 28 seconds and an instant after a lapse of 37 seconds after the start of the stimulation. Moreover, a time interval between stimulations is set to 80 seconds or more. |
| US08521242B2 |
Superconducting cable
A superconductive cable with a central superconductive conductor (1), a surrounding dielectric (3) and a surrounding superconductive return conductor (4). The central conductor (1) is formed from a single ribbon carrying superconductive material into a tube with a longitudinal extending slot (2) with the two edges of the ribbon abutting to each other. A ribbon (14) made of semiconductive material is wound around the central conductor (1) with at least one layer. |
| US08521241B2 |
Sliding module and mobile terminal comprising the same
A sliding module for a mobile terminal is provided, comprising: a support plate having a rotating mechanism on a first end thereof; a rotating plate connected with the support plate via the rotating mechanism; a sliding plate disposed on the rotating plate and configured to slide against the rotating plate; and a restricting mechanism disposed on a second end of the support plate opposite to the first end thereof to restrict a pair of first side portions at an end of the sliding plate neighboring the second end of the support plate, wherein the rotating plate may be rotated by a predetermined angle with respect to the support plate via the rotating mechanism when the first side portions slide out of the restricting mechanism. A mobile terminal comprising the same is also provided. |
| US08521237B2 |
Power saving by limiting use of advanced signal processing
Systems, methods, and devices are described for power saving techniques in mobile devices. A signal quality metric of a received wireless signal may be monitored. A determination is made when the signal quality metric exceeds a threshold quality level for a time period. A subset of the signal processing functionality may be de-activated responsive to the determination. There may be different thresholds depending on whether the mobile device is in idle or connected mode. There may also be different thresholds for various signal processing algorithms. |
| US08521236B2 |
Mobile terminal capable of receiving mobile broadcast services and channel control method therefor
A mobile terminal capable of receiving mobile broadcast services and a channel control method for the same are provided. The channel control method includes outputting broadcast data present in a frame received on a current channel during a frame transport interval, scanning, during a sleep interval after the frame transport interval, for at least one frequency corresponding to a preset preference channel, extracting channel information by parsing a frame carried by the scanned frequency, and storing the extracted channel information while updating existing channel information. Hence, the channel search time experienced by the user for viewing channel information may be shortened. |
| US08521230B2 |
Mobile telephone
In the mobile telephone, an image display surface of a display is arranged on a front surface of a casing, and a camera is arranged on a rear surface thereof. The mobile telephone includes: a proximity sensor, and acceleration sensor, and a control circuit. The control circuit includes: a unit that detects that the casing has been placed on the object; a unit that performs a color conversion process for converting a color of each pixel into a complementary color on an image signal obtained from the camera before detection of that the casing has been placed on the object; and a unit that outputs a color-converted image on the image display surface when an incoming call/mail is received after detection of that the casing has been placed on the object. |
| US08521224B2 |
Communication system, internal line managing apparatus, internal phone management method, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium
If an internal line call request is received with respect to a mobile phone that is in a call connection and that is used as an internal phone, the internal line call request is forwarded to a mobile management apparatus. If a called party's mobile phone that makes the internal line call request is in a call connection, the mobile management apparatus provides the same supplementary service as that is provided when a call request is received with respect to a mobile terminal in a call using a mobile phone number. |
| US08521221B2 |
Dual mode RF transceiver and receiving method of the same
A dual mode RF transceiver is provided. The dual mode RF transceiver comprises an antenna, a differential low noise amplifier (LNA), a local oscillator and a dual mode differential mixer. The differential LNA receives an RF signal from the antenna to generate a differential amplified RF signal. The dual mode differential mixer comprises a switch module, a plurality of fundamental mixers and a plurality of sub-harmonic mixers. The fundamental mixers are activated in a first receiving mode to generate a first differential baseband signal according to a multiphase local oscillating (LO) signal from the local oscillator and the differential amplified RF signal. The sub-harmonic mixers are activated in a second receiving mode to generate a second differential baseband signal according to the multiphase LO signal from the local oscillator and the differential amplified RF signal. An RF signal receiving method is disclosed herein as well. |
| US08521215B2 |
Base station apparatuses, terminal unit, radio communication system having those apparatuses, and program to be executed by the base stations
The present invention is to enable reduction of constraint brought by generation of ID codes of reference signals to be used for cooperative reception and the allocation of the reference signals when radio communication is carried out between a plurality of base station apparatuses and a terminal unit.Terminal units UE201 to UE205 are terminal units existing in the cellular zone of a base station apparatus BS200 and are performing communication with base station apparatus UE200. When terminal unit UE201 is located at the edge of cell and its reception characteristic degrades, another base station apparatus, specifically, base station apparatus BS100 also performs cooperative transmission while terminal unit UE201 performs cooperative reception. In this case, in order to demodulate the signal from base station apparatus BS100, an ID code of a reference signal that is different from the reference signal the terminal unit uses to demodulate the signal from a solo base station apparatus is used as the ID code of the reference signal that is transmitted from base station apparatus BS100 and specific to the terminal unit. |
| US08521214B1 |
Channel condition based signal quality feedback bandwidth allocation
A first amount of bandwidth is allocated to a first wireless device to send signal quality information to a base station. Based on a first indicator of wireless link conditions associated with the first wireless device, and a second indicator of wireless link conditions associated with a second wireless device, a second amount of bandwidth is allocated to the first wireless device to send signal quality information to the base station. |
| US08521213B2 |
Serving sector interference broadcast and corresponding RL traffic power control
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate broadcasting an interference level and adjusting transmit power corresponding to a reverse link in accordance with the interference level. An interference indication can be broadcasted on a broadcast channel in a wireless communication system. In response to the broadcast, mobile devices can adjust transmit power on the reverse link based upon considerations of the interference level. Further, mobile devices can evaluate an initial set point of a transmit power level during periods of inactivity. |
| US08521211B2 |
Communication system, communication station, communication terminal, and method of communication
Upon receipt of a request for retransmission issued from a first terminal, the base station generates a synthesized data by combining retransmission data destined for the first terminal and data destined for a second terminal and transmits the synthesized data, using a single communication resource. |
| US08521210B2 |
Transmission power control method and system for a physical uplink shared channel
The present disclosure provides a transmission power control method for a physical uplink shared channel, including: when there is only uplink control information but no uplink shared channel data sent over the physical uplink shared channel, the transmission power of the physical uplink shared channel is set according to the total number of bits contained in a channel quality indication signaling and its corresponding cyclic redundancy check as well as an amplitude offset. The present disclosure also provides a transmission power control system for a physical uplink shared channel. The method and system described in the present disclosure can ensure the overall performance of a system. |
| US08521209B2 |
Method and apparatus of power increase/decrease request of a user equipment using a plurality of frequencies in a wireless communication system
A method of a power increase/decrease request of a user equipment in a wireless communication system using a plurality of frequencies is disclosed. The method of operating of a user equipment comprises receiving grants for each of the plurality of uplink frequencies from a base station; dividing a maximum power of the user equipment for each of the plurality of uplink frequencies in accordance with the received grants, and selecting a corresponding transport block for each of the plurality of uplink frequencies by considering the received grants; and comparing a remaining power of the user equipment to a power obtained by subtracting a power required to transmit a first transport block selected for a first uplink frequency from a power required to transmit a minimum transport block, which transmits more data than those of the first transport block. |
| US08521207B2 |
Closed-loop power control in multi-carrier high-speed uplink packet access
A method for wireless communications is provided. The method includes applying independent power controls to two or more carriers from a set of high speed packet access signals. The method includes monitoring power across the two or more carriers to determine power levels for the set of high speed packet access signals. The method also includes automatically adjusting at least one of the independent power controls in view of the determined power levels for the set of high speed packet access signals. |
| US08521204B2 |
Signal configuration based transmitter adjustment in wireless communication devices
A method in a wireless communication transmitter including a baseband processor (310) that configures the transmitter for a particular signal configuration, and a headroom controller (350) for adjusting transmitter headroom based on the particular signal configuration. In one embodiment, the headroom is controlled based on a power metric, for example, a 3rd order polynomial or a peak to average ratio (PAR) metric, that is a function of the signal configuration. In another embodiment, the headroom is adjusted using information in a look up table. |
| US08521202B2 |
Mobile station device, wireless communication system, mobile station device control method, and mobile station device control program
A mobile station device, which communicates with a base station device, includes a control signal generator that initiates or terminates a cell search based on a reception quality value of a radio wave transmitted from the base station device, and a moving speed of the mobile station device. |
| US08521201B2 |
Channel assignment optimization method and channel assignment optimization apparatus
The present invention provides a multi-iteration based channel assignment optimization method and a channel assignment optimization apparatus. The channel assignment optimization method comprises a channel assignment optimization path searching phase and a channel switching phase. During the channel assignment optimization path searching phase, the IBS negotiates with neighboring base stations so as to detect a channel assignment optimization path through multiple iterations. Merely after successfully detecting a feasible channel assignment optimization path, IBS and its neighboring base stations initiate a channel switching process, such that useless channel switching may be avoided. Besides, in order to avoid the problem of incapability of timely convergence during the iteration process, a threshold of iteration times is preset. Once the current iteration times is greater than the threshold, the channel assignment optimization path searching process on the current channel will exit and then the process switches to other channel to detect another path. |
| US08521200B2 |
Method and apparatus for autonomous port role assignments in master-slave networks
The application relates to a method for configuring ports of radio equipments connected to an internal network of a base station of a mobile communications network. The application also relates to the corresponding radio equipment and the corresponding radio equipment controller The method comprises: activating at least one port of the radio equipment to become an activated port, changing the activated at least one port to a non-connected slave state in which the activated at least one port listens to a communication on a link of the internal network for a time period, upon detection of the communication on the link changing the activated at least one port to a connected slave state, or upon expiry of the time period changing the activated at least one port to a non-connected master state in which the activated at least one port actively sends data into the link of the internal network. |
| US08521197B2 |
Including information in a message
A method and system are described for including information in a message (200) between an originating and a destination communication terminal. In order to automatically include dynamic information in the message (200) the user may insert one or more predetermined codes (230) in the message body (260). Each of the codes (230) consists of one or more symbols and specifies the information to be included in the message. The specified information is retrieved for example from external servers available on the Internet and is included in the message body. |
| US08521191B2 |
System and method for determining a location for a mobile device
A system for determining a location for a mobile communication device includes a plurality of taps, a multiplexer, and a link aggregator. Each tap includes a pair of connectors that couple to a communication link of a radio access network inline and pass between them a signal received over the communication link. Each tap also includes a multiplexer connector that couples to a multiplexer and a cable connecting the multiplexer connector to the inline connectors. The tap replicates signals passing between the inline connectors and propagates the replicated signals to the multiplexer connector. The multiplexer receives, from each tap, signals replicated by that tap, extracts location data from the received signals, and transmits the location data to a link aggregator. The link aggregator receives the location data from the multiplexer and determines a location for one of the mobile devices based on the received location data. |
| US08521188B2 |
Area event support indication
Systems and methods are provided enabling a terminal to send an area shape capability indication to a location server. Depending on the use case scenario, the location server can perform at least one of the following operations, before sending the area event request to the terminal. The location server can select a shape that is both allowed by the requesting entity and supported by the terminal. Alternatively, the location server can convert the requested shape into a supported one by some approximation function if the requested shape(s) is/are not supported by the terminal. Furthermore, the location server can choose to terminate the session if the terminal does not support any of the requested (allowed) shapes. It should be noted that different priorities can be assigned to or associated with various area shapes as well. |
| US08521185B2 |
Wireless communications with visually-identified targets
A mechanism for initiating contact with someone, via a telecommunications system, who is in the admirer's proximity, but whose identity or telecommunications address (e.g., telephone number, e-mail address, etc.) is unknown. The illustrative embodiments enable the user to use what information he does know about the admired person—the admiring person's distinguishing characteristics—to get a telecommunications address through which the initial contact can be made. |
| US08521175B2 |
Primary serving gateway resolution
Various embodiments relate to a system and related method for handling requests from a user device in a wireless communications network. Various embodiments relate to a Policy and Charging Rules Node (PCRN) attempting to bind an IP-CAN session established in a Packet Data Network gateway (PGW) with a gateway control session established in a serving gateway (SGW). In instances when the IP-CAN session and gateway control session no longer match, the PCRN may wait to receive a subsequent message from the PGW and/or SGW. When the PCRN does not receive the subsequent message containing a matching session, the PCRN may terminate the sessions in all the relevant gateways. This may cause the system to reestablish a new, matching connection instead of remaining in a hanging state. |
| US08521171B2 |
Method of allocating radio resource in broadband wireless access system
A method for allocating resource regions in a wireless access system. This method collectively allocates resources in non-consecutive frames. Specifically, a message, including allocation information used to collectively and non-consecutively allocate identical resource regions, is received from a base station and data is transmitted or received through the allocated resource regions. Since identical resource regions are collectively allocated in multiple frames, it is possible to reduce both the number of transmissions of a MAP message and MAP overhead in a network. |
| US08521166B2 |
System and method for transmitting and receiving a signal using multiple frequency bands in a wireless communication system
Disclosed is a system and a method of signal transmission/reception by a mobile station in a wireless communication system. The method includes: transmitting a first sub-band preparation indicator, which indicates that the mobile station has been prepared for transmission/reception of a signal through a first sub-band, to a base station through a primary band; transmitting a first sub-band failure indicator to the base station through the primary band upon detecting failure in transmitting the first sub-band preparation indicator; receiving sub-band information on a second sub-band, which is different from the first sub-band, from the BS through the primary band; and acquiring synchronization with the second sub-band, so as to enable transmission/reception of a signal through the second sub-band based on the sub-band information. |
| US08521157B2 |
Re-routing calls from mobile stations
Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for re-routing calls from mobile stations. For example, in one embodiment, a call from a mobile station to a non-local number can be re-routed to a local number. The local number can then be used to communicate with a call server to deliver the re-routed call to the non-local number. |
| US08521154B2 |
Portable communications device coupled to first network by way of second network
A portable communications device (PCD) is coupled to a first network by way of a second network. The PCD is normally in radio communication with the first network, and is coupled to the first network by way of the second network when the PCD is out of radio communication with the first network. In particular, the PCD is coupled to the second network, and is caused to leave a first network mode and enter a second network mode. A network connection is established with the first network by way of the second network, and communication with the first network is entered into by way of the second network. |
| US08521151B2 |
Downlink channel transmission method and apparatus and common channel reception method and apparatus in cellular communication system supporting bandwidth scalability
Methods and apparatuses for transmitting and receiving downlink common channels such as synchronization channel and broadcast channel in a cellular communication system supporting bandwidth scalability are provided. The downlink physical data channel transmission method for a base station of a cellular communication supporting bandwidth scalability according to the present invention includes generating a first system information specific to Long Term Evolution (LTE) terminals; generating a second system information specific to LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) terminals, the second system information including information on entire system bandwidth, a number of subbands constituting the entire bandwidth, and subbands on which common control channels are transmitted; transmitting the first information and the second information on a system information channel; and instructing, when a terminal attempts to camp on, a subband on which the terminal to camp. |
| US08521150B2 |
Systems and method for media transfer
Components of a mobile traffic network and components in communication with the network cooperate to confirm whether a mobile station user or account owner has previously purchased media content for a particular mobile station. Media content that has already been purchased by a user can be downloaded by that user to a new mobile station after the initial mobile station is lost, damaged, or upgraded. |
| US08521149B2 |
Frequency control apparatus and method for railway wireless communication
A frequency control apparatus and method for railway wireless communication are provided. The frequency control apparatus includes a variable frequency processor and a fixed frequency processor. The variable frequency processor selects an available variable frequency and wirelessly receives non-safety-related train running information from a base station at the selected variable frequency. The fixed frequency processor wirelessly receives safety-related train running information at a predetermined fixed frequency. |
| US08521140B2 |
System and method for communicating media content
A method for targeted advertising is disclosed. The method includes accessing at least one piece of demographic information associated with a user of a portable device, selecting an advertisement to be delivered to the user based at least in part on the demographic information, and initiating communication of a version of the advertisement configured for presentation at the portable device. |
| US08521138B2 |
Speech to message processing
Voice message processors are configured to produce text representations of voice messages. The text representations can be compacted based on one or more abbreviation libraries or rule libraries. Abbreviation processing can be applied to produce a compact text representation based on display properties of a destination device or to enhance user perception. Text representation length can be reduced based on abbreviations in a standard abbreviation list, a user specific abbreviation list, or a combination of standard and custom lists. In some examples, text length is shortened based on stored rules. |
| US08521134B2 |
Proximity based security protocol for processor-based systems
A security protocol may be implemented on a processor-based system by providing a wireless signal to a handheld device normally carried by the user. If a response is not received, it may be determined that the user is not sufficiently proximate to the device being accessed and that, therefore, the person accessing the device is not authorized. An appropriate security protocol may be implemented as a result. |
| US08521126B2 |
System and method of providing information access on a portable device
A system and method of providing information stored in a memory is provided. The system comprises an information repository for storing information and an access module for providing access to the information in response to a predetermined operation performed on a man-machine interface. The method includes the steps of storing information in a memory and providing access to the information in dependence upon at least one predetermined operation. |
| US08521124B2 |
Enhanced emergency services in fixed wireless networks
A computing device receives a location inquiry for a user device, the location inquiry including an identifier for the user device, and retrieves fixed location data associated with the identifier. The computing device also obtains, from the user device, current geographic location data for the user device and calculates a difference between the fixed location data and the current geographic location data. The computing device selects, from a group of threshold values, a particular threshold value for the calculated difference between the fixed location data and the current geographic location data. The computing device responds to the location inquiry using the fixed location data when the difference between the fixed location data and the geographic location data is within the particular threshold and otherwise responds to the location inquiry using the current geographic location data. |
| US08521119B2 |
Method and apparatus for an equalized on-die termination (ODT) circuit
A method and apparatus for an equalized On-Die Termination (ODT) circuit uses timed switching to reduce receiver power consumption. |
| US08521110B2 |
Multiband communication device for use with a mesh network and methods for use therewith
A communication device includes an RF transceiver for communicating first data with at least one of a plurality of remote communication devices via a first protocol and a first frequency band. A millimeter wave transceiver communicates second data with at least one of the plurality of remote communication devices via a second protocol and a second frequency band. A communication control module coordinates the communication of the first data and the second data with the at least one of the plurality of remote communication devices and for establishing a mesh network between the communication device and the plurality of remote communication devices. |
| US08521105B2 |
Transmitter for transmitting a transmission signal
A transmitter for transmitting a transmission signal is disclosed. The transmitter includes: a gain stage, for receiving an input signal and amplifying the input signal according to a gain to generate an amplified signal; and an output stage, coupled to the gain stage, for receiving a first reference voltage signal and the amplified signal and utilizing the first reference voltage signal to perform a predetermined operation on the amplified signal to generate the output signal. |
| US08521104B2 |
Amplifier structure and amplification method thereof
Provided is an amplifier structure. The amplifier structure includes a delta-sigma modulator, an up converter, a power amplifier, and a band-pass filter. The delta-sigma modulator receives an IF signal to delta-sigma modulate the IF signal. The up converter up-converts a frequency of the delta-sigma modulated signal with an LO signal. The power amplifier amplifies a power of the up-converted signal. The band-pass filter filters the amplified signal of a selected band. The amplifier structure performs the delta-sigma modulation operation on an IF input signal, and thus can considerably decrease a delta-sigma modulation operation speed compared to a typical amplifier structure and moderate the specification in implementing a power amplifier. |
| US08521101B1 |
Extracting clock information from a serial communications bus for use in RF communications circuitry
The present disclosure relates to RF front-end (RFFE) circuitry that includes multiple RFFE circuits, each of which may be provided by a separate integrated circuit (IC), front-end module, or both. As such, the RFFE circuits may be connected to one another using an RFFE serial communications bus. Further, one or more of the RFFE circuits may need an accurate clock source for analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), digital-to-analog conversion (DAC), calibration, sensor measurements, or the like. Instead of including an integral clock source circuit or receiving a separate external clock signal, an RFFE circuit may extract clock information from the RFFE serial communications bus to provide one or more clock signal. The clock information may be associated with one or more serial communications command via the RFFE serial communications bus, may be associated with alternate functionality of the RFFE serial communications bus, or both. |
| US08521100B2 |
Configurable baseband processing for receiver and transmitter and methods for use therewith
A configurable transceiver includes an RF receiver section that generates at least one downconverted signal from a received RF signal. A receiver processing module processes at least one downconverted signal in a plurality of receiver stages to produce a stream of inbound data, wherein the receiver processing module is configurable in response to a control signal to selectively bypass at least one of the plurality of receiver processing stages. A transmitter processing module processes outbound data in a plurality of transmitter stages to produce at least one baseband signal, wherein the receiver processing module is configurable in response to the control signal to selectively bypass at least one of the plurality of transmitter processing stages. An RF transmitter section generates at least one RF signal from the at least one baseband signal. |
| US08521097B1 |
Method and apparatus for tuning a radio receiver with a radio transmitter
An example wireless device includes a radio receiver to measure a signal quality of a data signal independent of a direct frequency measurement, the signal quality correlated to an offset between a transmitter reference frequency and a receiver reference frequency but not indicative of a direction of the offset. The example wireless device further includes a reference frequency generator to determine from the measured signal quality that a previous adjustment to the receiver reference frequency in a first direction has worsened the signal quality, and responsive to that determination adjust the receiver reference frequency in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction. |
| US08521096B2 |
Radio access control utilizing quality of service access windows
A system for managing the operation of a plurality of radio modules (1200), in the same device (100). A controller (600) may receive information pertaining to a plurality of wireless communication mediums being supported by radio modules (1200) in the device. The multiradio controller may formulate an operational schedule for the wireless communication mediums based on this information. Further, a network controller (1202) for a network may provide information related to one or more time periods during which the device may operate. This network information may be received by the device and also considered by the multiradio controller, which may further request that one or more of these time periods be altered, in the device, so as to align with the operational schedule. |
| US08521095B2 |
System and method for intra-cabinet wireless communication
A system, method and apparatus is provided for linking an assembly of electronic components disposed inside a cabinet for wireless communication therebetween. The method consists of (a) selecting a plurality of the electronic components for inter-communication therebetween, and linking each of the plurality of electronic components, directly or indirectly, to a wireless multi-link device, the wireless multi-link device including one or more radiating elements; (b) providing an RF/microwave chamber within or adjacent to the cabinet, the dimensions of which are optimized to promote signal propagation inside the RF/microwave chamber, whereby the RF/microwave chamber is operable to substantially confine signals emitted by the radiating elements within the RF/microwave chamber; (c) confining the radiating elements within the RF/microwave chamber; (d) connecting the wireless multi-link devices to a wireless medium that is operable within an air medium of the RF/microwave chamber; and (e) activating the wireless multi-link devices to inter-communicate via the wireless medium by operation of the radiating elements. The RF/microwave chamber dimensions are optimized so that the minimum cross-sectional dimensions perpendicular to and averaged over each possible signal trajectory within the RF/microwave chamber are greater than or substantially equal to lambda/2. The system consists of a wireless-linking system for enabling electronic components disposed inside, a cabinet to inter-communicate wirelessly, the system including a plurality of wireless multi-link devices and the RF/microwave chamber. A wireless transceiver is also provided for managing wireless inter-connection between the wireless multi-link devices. |
| US08521094B2 |
Power control in cognitive radio systems based on spectrum sensing side information
For cognitive radio systems, the transmit power of a cognitive radio device is controlled so that the cognitive, unlicensed radio device does not interfere with the use of a shared spectrum by a primary, licensed device. Controlling the transmit power includes determining a distance, or a function of the distance, between a primary transmitter of the primary device and the cognitive radio device based on sensing information from a spectrum sensing process. The maximum transmit power of the cognitive radio device is then dynamically controlled based on the distance, or the function of the distance, while considering a worst case scenario of an underlying cognitive radio model, to guarantee a quality of service requirement of the primary device. |
| US08521093B2 |
Wireless communications apparatus, wireless communications method, program, and integrated circuit
A wireless communications apparatus (100) includes: antennas (111, 112, and 113); a threshold identifying unit (141) which measures a first radio propagation environment parameter by using a specific directional pattern, and identifies a threshold, from among thresholds, which corresponds to the measured first radio propagation environment parameter; a directional pattern selecting unit (142) which performs test communications by sequentially switching directional patterns, and selects a directional pattern having an actual throughput, calculated from a measurement value of a second radio propagation environment parameter, greater than the threshold; and a threshold adjusting unit (143) which changes the threshold identified by the threshold identifying unit (141), according to the number of test communications that is the number of the directional patterns used for the test communications performed by the directional pattern selecting unit (142). |
| US08521092B2 |
Wireless transceiver test bed system and method
A system and method for testing wireless transceivers in a virtual wireless environment including emulating an RF environment, creating virtual spectrum users having selectable transmission parameters and physical characteristics and evaluating the operation of the wireless transceiver in the virtual wireless environment. |
| US08521089B2 |
Reducing co-channel interference
A base station may transmit at varied power levels. Subscriber stations receiving the power levels can transmit noise information back to the base station. As a result, co-channel interference can be determined from the varied power transmissions, either in the base station or in the subscriber station. In addition, in some embodiments, the transmissions may include different phases so that the phase of the co-channel interference may be determined as well. |
| US08521087B2 |
System and method for cognitive radio transmission
A method for facilitating radio communications includes receiving, at a first cognitive station (CS) from a cognitive central station (CCS), a message having a candidate list of one or more candidate frequencies, such that each frequency of the candidate list is a frequency at which each of a terminal, the CCS, and a primary station in communication range of the terminal is configured to operate. Further operations include measuring an availability of a frequency of the candidate list to form a first transmission parameter, determining, based upon the transmission parameter, a target frequency list indicating which frequency or frequencies of the candidate list is available for communication between the terminal and the CCS, and providing, to the terminal, an allocation message identifying one or more frequencies of the target frequency list at which the terminal is permitted to communicate with the CCS. |
| US08521084B2 |
Methods, systems and arrangements for wireless communication with near-field communication terminals
A variety of near-field devices, methods and systems are implemented in various fashions. One implementation is directed to a mobile station (102) with an over-the-air (OTA) transceiver (104) for communication with a trusted service manager. The mobile station also has a near-field communications transceiver (112) for communication with a terminal reader using file-identifiers of a first size. A memory (106) is used for storing files arranged according to two different sets of files, the first set of files identified by file-identifiers of a first size and the second set of files identified by file-identifiers of a second size that is a different size from the first size. A processor (108) provides access by the OTA transceiver (104) to the stored files. Access by the near-field communications transceiver (112) is provided to the stored files by running either a Java-based emulator for accessing the first set of files or Java APIs to access the second set of files. |
| US08521082B1 |
Signal boosting and charging system for electronic devices
A signal boosting and charging system for charging personal electronic devices without an electrical outlet and boosting signals for the personal electronic communication device. The system features a signal booster housed in a signal booster base, a support base, and a solar base. Together, the signal booster base, support base, and solar base form a triangular configuration as viewed from a side to prop up the signal booster base. The system also features solar cells on the solar base for providing power. The system also features an antenna operatively connected to the signal booster. The system may feature one or more USB ports and/or a phone jack. |
| US08521081B2 |
Repeating apparatus and method in wireless communication system
A repeating apparatus in a wireless communication system includes: a signal detection unit configured to receive a signal from a base station or a mobile station and detect strength of the signal; a control unit configured to compare the signal strength detected by the signal detection unit with signal strength predetermined by the system and provide comparison information; and an output signal control unit configured to receive the comparison information from the control unit and adjust and amplify gain of a signal transmitted to the base station or the mobile station. |
| US08521080B2 |
Relay station device, base station device, mobile station device, and radio communication system
There is provided a relay station including a base station-relay station resource allocation request-transmission section which transmits a base station-relay station resource allocation request indicating that allocation of a base station-relay station resource is requested, the base station-relay station resource being a resource used by a radio signal transmitted/received between a base station and the relay station, to the base station using a radio signal, a base station-relay station resource allocation response-reception section which receives base station-relay station resource information indicating the base station-relay station resource from the base station using a radio signal, as a base station-relay station resource allocation response which is a response with respect to the base station-relay station resource allocation request, and a base station-relay station resource information storage section which stores the base station-relay station resource information received by the base station-relay station resource allocation response-reception section. |
| US08521079B2 |
Radio service registry
A service registry for a radio broadcasting system includes a memory for storing information relating to services to be provided over the broadcasting system, a processor coupled to the memory, and a core interface for exchanging messages between the processor and a plurality of users, the processor being programmed to retrieve the information from the memory in response to the messages received on the interface, and to output the retrieved information to an importer. A method of broadcasting and a broadcasting system are also provided. |
| US08521078B2 |
Common interface protocol for sending FR-RDS messages in wireless communication systems
Radio Data System (RDS) Interactive Services (IS) combines data feeds and interactivity with programs broadcast on FM channels. An RDS-IS client application on user equipment (e.g., handset) extracts RDS information from the RDS enabled FM receiver, and presents content on a mobile screen in a user-friendly format. Broadcasted RDS message can include special strings or “anchors” for special treatment by receivers. Receivers replace text with visuals to enhance user experience, such as cartoons or photographic icons based on names in RadioText fields. The RDS-IS client application generates specific prompts and composes interactive screens, enables hot keys and decides actions (e.g., voice calls, SMS) on key press, triggers contextual e-commerce by invoking data calls to given URLs, and sends statistics to the operator of a two-way data channel that provides enhanced content (e.g., CDMA reverse link, SMS, wireless access network, etc.) based upon “anchors” or “tags” included with the RDS-IS message. |
| US08521071B2 |
Developer bearing member, developing apparatus, and image forming apparatus
A developer bearing member includes a base body, a surface layer, and a plurality of concave portions provided on the surface layer, wherein a resistance value of the surface layer is 102 Ω·cm to 108 Ω·cm, the number of the concave portions per unit area is 2250/mm2 to 12254/mm2, a major diameter of an opening of the concave portion is 8 μm to 20 μm, a depth of the concave portion is 2 μm to 5 μm, a dimensional tolerance of the major diameter is 0.5 μm or less, and a dimensional tolerance of the depth is 0.5 μm or less. |
| US08521069B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus including the same
A developing device to be installed in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a photoconductor drum that is to have an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface thereof, the developing device comprising: a developer vessel; a developing roller that is disposed in the developer vessel; first and second developer conveying passages; and first and second developer conveying helical members circulatory conveys the developer in the first and second developer conveying passages, wherein at least one of the first and second developer conveying helical members includes an end blade at one end at a downstream side in a conveying direction, wherein the end blade includes a circumferential-direction agitating blade portion whose radial projecting size gradually increases toward the downstream side in the conveying direction; and a helical blade portion integrally wound around an outer periphery of the circumferential-direction agitating blade portion. |
| US08521064B2 |
Image forming apparatus with an opening and closing unit
An image forming apparatus includes: a main body; an opening and closing unit disposed so as to be openable and closable for the main body; a fixing unit fixing the opening and closing unit to the main body; a structure including a component for realizing an image forming function and/or a transfer medium-conveying function, the structure supported movably for the main body; a bias unit disposed between the opening and closing unit and the structure, the bias unit biasing the structure so as to be pushed to a member; a constraining unit constraining the opening and closing unit and the structure against a bias force of the biasing unit when the fixing unit does not fix the opening and closing unit; and a releasing unit releasing the opening and closing unit and the structure from being constrained when the fixing unit fixes the opening and closing unit. |
| US08521063B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a rotary body that includes shaft portions fitted into positioning grooves
An image forming apparatus includes: a rotary body; a rotary body retaining member; pressure members that press the rotary body retaining member along a direction to bring shaft portions of the rotary body into positioning grooves; and an operation member. When an open/shut cover is in an open position, the operation member comes into contact with the rotary body retaining member so as to press the rotary body retaining member in a direction to bring the shaft portions of the rotary body out of the positioning grooves. When the open/shut cover is swung to a close position, the operation member is contacted by the rotary body retaining member pressed by the pressure members, thereby bringing the operation member into contact with part of the apparatus body and keeping the operation member still. The rotary body retaining member and the operation member touch each other through elastic buffering members. |
| US08521059B2 |
Apparatus transportable in a cartridge-mounted state for electrophotography image forming
An inexpensive and stable regulating member which can control, without depending on an open/close cover, movement of a cartridge used for an image forming apparatus transportable in a cartridge-mounted state is provided. The regulating member includes a first contact portion which receives a first force applied from the cartridge to inside of the regulating member and a second contact portion which receives a second force that prevents the regulating member from moving from a regulating position by receiving the first force at a position away from a mounting and dismounting path of the cartridge where the cartridge passes when the cartridge is mounted on or dismounted from the apparatus main body. |
| US08521058B2 |
Image forming device having holder unit with side plates between which photosenstive drums and toner cases are positioned
A plurality of photosensitive drums is positioned between a first side plate and a second side plate of a holder unit. The first side plate is formed with a plurality of openings. Each of a plurality of toner cases supports each developing roller and is positioned between the first side plate and the second side plate. Each toner case has a confronting surface confronting the first side plate. Each of a plurality of developer couplings is provided at the confronting surface at a position in alignment with each opening and receives an input force to rotate each developing roller. A fixing member has a plurality of intervenient portions and a connecting portion integrally linking neighboring intervenient portion together. Each intervenient portion is interposed between each opening and each developer coupling to fix a position of each toner case relative to the holder unit. |
| US08521057B2 |
Developing device having seal member including base member and surface member having side surface disposed inward from side surface of base material
A developing device includes a developer carrier, a developing unit housing which rotatably supports the developer carrier, a side seal member which comes into slidable contact with both ends of the developer carrier, a sheet-like elongated seal member which extends in the axial direction of the developer carrier so as to come into slidable contact with the developer carrier, a side seal attachment surface which is formed in the developing unit housing and to which the side seal member is attached, and a support portion which is formed in the developing unit housing and protrudes toward the developer carrier from the side seal attachment surface to support the elongated seal member. The elongated seal member is attached onto the support portion in a state where both ends thereof overlap the side seal member and are opposite the side seal attachment surface. |
| US08521055B2 |
Developing device provided with thickness-regulation member resistant to abrasion
A developing device includes a casing having an opening extending in a first direction, a developing roller, a thickness-regulation portion, a sealing member and a contact portion. The thickness-regulation portion includes a thin-plate member and a regulating portion. The thin-plate member has a base end portion fixed to the casing and a free end portion to which the regulating portion is fixed. The thin-plate member has a lateral end extending in a second direction. The regulating portion has an end face extending in a direction. The sealing member is disposed on the thin-plate member and in intimate contact with the end face of the regulating portion. The contact portion is fixed on the thin-plate member at a position closer to the lateral end than the sealing member to the lateral end and made of a material whose hardness is higher than that of the sealing member. |
| US08521050B2 |
Image forming device and fuser
A first temperature is obtained based on an amount of infrared rays incident upon a lens of an infrared temperature sensor, and a second temperature is obtained based on a temperature of a thermistor. A system controller performs first temperature control when a detected temperature difference between the first temperature and the second temperature is less than a predetermined temperature difference, performs second temperature control when the detected temperature difference is equal to or greater than the predetermined temperature difference, and activates an alarm when an elapsed time during which the second temperature control is continuously executed has become equal to or greater than a time that is the sum of a first predetermined time and a second predetermined time. |
| US08521045B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image density correction method therefor
An image forming apparatus includes: sensor detecting light intensity and output voltage based on the light intensity; data acquisition part setting reference voltages for the sensor to detect light intensity of bare surface of intermediate transfer member, acquiring, at set reference voltage, voltage output by the sensor on the bare surface as detection data; storage storing the detection data corresponding to the reference voltages; judgment part judging whether to perform image density correction processing; voltage calibration part adjusting output level at light intensity detection; density acquisition part forming toner pattern, and acquiring density data of the toner pattern by causing the sensor having adjusted output level to detect its light intensity; density data correction part reading one piece of detection data referring to output level, and correcting the density data based on the detection data; and image density correction part performing the processing based on the density data. |
| US08521044B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member; a transferring device for transferring the toner image formed on the image bearing member onto a transfer material; a first ambience detecting device for detecting a humidity inside the image forming apparatus and outside the developing device; a second ambience detector for detecting a humidity inside the developing device; and a setting device for setting a transferring current on the basis of results of detection of the first an ambience detector and the second ambience detector. |
| US08521042B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
A first image forming unit includes a first developing unit that develops a latent image, and a second image forming unit includes a second developing unit that develops a latent image. A transfer unit transfers an image formed by at least one of the first and second image forming units onto a recording medium. A controller performs control to form a transfer image on the recording medium through at least one of a first operation and a second operation. In the first operation, images formed by the first and second image forming units are transferred onto the recording medium as transfer images. In the second operation, the image formed by the first image forming unit is transferred onto the recording medium as a transfer image. A stopping unit stops operation of the second developing unit when the number of transfer images formed through the second operation reaches a preset value. |
| US08521036B2 |
Code grouping for optical networks
The invention is directed to code labeling in an optical network. The network includes a transmitting station operable to transmit an optical signal. The network also includes an encoder coupled to the transmitting station operable to label the optical signal composed of a group of codes. A receiving station operable to receive the labeled group of optical codes is also provided. The receiving station is operable to read the optical signal if the label of the received group of codes corresponds to the group of codes assigned to the receiving station. |
| US08521033B2 |
System and method for energy-efficient operation of optical network units based on scheduled payload reception
In a passive optical network, power consumption of the ONU can be reduced by communicating a transmission schedule from the OLT to the ONU that indicates time slots in which the ONU is scheduled to receive payload transmissions from the OLT. Components of the ONU that would normally operate continuously, including processing payloads addressed to other ONUs, are placed in a reduced power state outside of the ONU's allocated time slots. |
| US08521029B2 |
Gravity modulator and gravity-modulation reception
An arrangement of gravity modulator and gravity-modulation receiver where photons or electromagnetic radiation is modulated electronically or mechanically to reach either a solid, liquid or mixed target possibly through or followed by a surrounding medium to produce gravity modulation in the target to effect gravity signaling which is received by a gravity-modulation receiver in or not in physical contact with the target. In the receiver, one or more piezo-electric transducer/s or quartz crystal/s receive the gravity modulation amplified for further signal processing. When not in physical contact with the target, the piezo-electric transducer/s is/are loaded with a resonator mass of natural resonant frequency either equal to, half, one third or one fifth of the frequency of the gravity modulator, the quartz crystal/s is/are gravity biased with a high-density metal piece along one direction of the oscillation mode of the crystal/s with natural resonant frequency similar to the resonator mass. |
| US08521028B2 |
Method and system for high precision GPS applications
A GPS system for obtaining data from a GPS signal received at a plurality of antenna stations, each antenna station being connected to a common receiver station through an optical fiber link. The system includes a light generating module at the receiver station generating an optical reference signal, and an antenna station module at each antenna station. The antenna station modules modulate the optical reference signal according to the GPS signal received, obtaining a twice modulated optical signal, and sending this signal to the receiver station. Finally, an output module is provided at the receiver station, this module being used for extracting the GPS signal and the oscillating reference signal, calibrating in real time the optical fiber links based on a phase comparison, and processing the GPS signal from the antenna stations, taking into account the real time calibration of the optical fiber links. |
| US08521026B2 |
Registration of device characteristics with optical layer for use in establishing connections through an optical network
Disclosed are, inter alia, methods, apparatus, computer-storage media, mechanisms, and means associated with registration of optical device characteristics of optical network devices with an optical control layer of the optical network for use in establishing compatible connections through the optical network. Especially end network devices and internal network optical devices that regenerate the optical signal register their communication capabilities of their optical interfaces with the optical control layer of an optical network. This registration allows a light path to be established through the optical network which is compatible with the registered capabilities. The optical control layer may be centralized in an optical layer server and/or distributed among optical devices in the optical network, such as on control processors in multiple, optical layer devices. |
| US08521021B2 |
Method and apparatus for switching optical wavelengths
An example embodiment of the present invention is a non-blocking wavelength switching architecture that enables graceful scaling of a network wavelength switching node from small to large fiber counts using fixed size bidirectional 1×N Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS). The architecture uses an intermediate broadcast and select layer implemented using optical splitters and WSSs to eliminate wavelength blocking. |
| US08521018B2 |
Built-in flash pop-out mechanism
A built-in flash pop-out mechanism comprises a shaft member movable along a first axis; an arm member where one end is pivotally fixed at an end of the shaft member about a second axis; a flash-support member pivotally fixed at the other end of the arm member about a third axis; a first biasing member biasing the shaft member along the first axis; a second biasing member biasing the arm member about the second axis; a third biasing member biasing the flash-support member about the third axis. The built-in flash is extended from a camera body with coplanar motions that pop out the built-in flash to increase its distance from an optical axis. The motions include a translation of the shaft member along the first axis and rotations of the arm member and flash-support member about the second and third axes. |
| US08521013B2 |
Temperature sensing device and heating device
A technology to control temperature of a large substrate to be heated. A temperature sensing device is disposed lateral to a region where a radiation heater faces a substrate to be heated inside a heating chamber. A heating device has the heating chamber, the radiation heater, a power-supply device, a substrate-holding device, a control device, and the temperature sensing device. A control program is built into the control device, according to which the power-supply device controls the power applied to the radiation heater to generate heat such that the temperature of the temperature measurement substrate detected by a thermocouple of the temperature sensing device becomes a set temperature. Furthermore, a circulation passage is disposed in close contact with the temperature-sensing device, and with a coolant flowing through the circulation passage, the temperature of the temperature measurement substrate can be cooled from the set temperature to an initial temperature. |
| US08521010B2 |
Content playback unit and electronic device
A content playback unit includes a content management mechanism that plays back a plurality of contents in a predetermined order to display their images on an image display device. The content management mechanism manages the contents by adding numerical information indicative of scheduled playback time to the contents. |
| US08521009B2 |
Systems and methods to modify playout or playback
Systems and methods to modify playout/playback include responding to a trick mode request (e.g., fast forward, rewind). First, a transmission is received at a receiving device. The transmission includes primary content and a secondary information identifier and is stored on a storage device. Next, primary content is rendered to an output device at the receiving device at a normal speed for the primary content. Next, a request is received to render the primary content to an output device at the receiving device at an accelerated speed of the primary content. Next, the primary content is associated to secondary derivative content based on the secondary information identifier. Finally, the secondary derivative content is rendered instead of the primary content, to the output device at the receiving device at a normal speed for the secondary derivative content. |
| US08521000B2 |
Information recording and reproducing method using management information including mapping information
According to one embodiment, there is provided an information playback method, comprising reading out management information used to manage one or more video titles from an information storage medium, the medium storing an advanced content including the management information in which a title timeline indicating playback timings of objects of each video title being individually defined, and playing back objects of each video title in accordance with the title timeline defined in the readout management information. |
| US08520999B2 |
Camera event logger
A camera event logger device coupled to a motion picture camera, including: a data port configured to receive control signals to manage the logger device including a particular receive frequency; a radio-frequency receiver configured to receive time signal of the particular receive frequency to enable fine adjustment of a timecode; a timecode manager including a plurality of timecode readers and at least one timecode generator, a first timecode reader of the plurality of timecode readers configured to receive the time signal from the radio-frequency receiver and make the time signal available to the at least one timecode generator, wherein the at least one timecode generator is configured to generate the timecode by conditioning the time signal, the timecode manager configured to receive camera timecode from the motion picture camera, and to send back adjusted camera timecode adjusted in accordance with the conditioned timecode; a processor configured to receive camera status information from the motion picture camera and the conditioned timecode from the timecode manager, wherein the camera status information is tagged with the conditioned timecode and processed to generate metadata files; and a storage unit configured to store the metadata files. Keywords include logger, timecode, and slate. |
| US08520997B2 |
Fiber optic splitter module
A telecommunications assembly including a housing and a plurality of modules mounted within the housing. The modules includes a rear face in which is mounted at least one fiber optic connector. Within an interior of the housing are positioned at least one fiber optic adapters. Inserting the module through a front opening of the housing at a mounting location positions the connector of the module for insertion into and mating with the adapter of the housing. The adapters within the interior of the housing are integrally formed as part of a removable adapter assembly. A method of mounting a telecommunications module within a chassis. |
| US08520994B2 |
Bandwidth-maintaining multimode optical fibers
The specification describes multimode optical fibers with specific design parameters, i.e., controlled refractive index design ratios and dimensions, which render the optical fibers largely immune to moderately severe bends. The modal structure in the optical fibers is also largely unaffected by bending, thus leaving the optical fiber bandwidth essentially unimpaired. Bend performance results were established by DMD measurements of fibers wound on mandrels vs. measurements of fibers with no severe bends. |
| US08520993B2 |
Multimode optical fiber having improved bending losses
The present invention embraces a multimode optical fiber that includes a central core having an alpha refractive index profile with respect to an outer optical cladding and a depressed trench positioned between the central core and the outer optical cladding. The central core's refractive index at its periphery is the same as the outer cladding's refractive index. Typically, an inner cladding is positioned between the central core and the depressed trench. The optical fiber achieves reduced bending losses without significantly increasing numerical aperture. |
| US08520989B2 |
Fiber optic interface devices for electronic devices
Small-form fiber optic interface devices (20) for electronic devices (200) are disclosed. The device has a ferrule (50) with a body (51) that operably supports at least one waveguide (152) and at least one electrical wire (160). The device has a first electrical contact (90) supported by the ferrule body and a second electrical contact (100) that substantially surrounds the outer surface (57) of the ferrule body front section (56). The ferrule body comprises a dielectric material at least partially interposed between the first and second electrical contacts. |
| US08520988B2 |
Microresonator optical switch having nanoparticles and method of optical switching
An optical switch includes a microresonator comprising a plurality of silicon nanoparticles within a silicon-rich silicon oxide layer. The microresonator further includes an optical coupler optically coupled to the microresonator and configured to be optically coupled to a pump source and to a signal source. A method of optical switching includes providing an optical switch comprising an optical coupler and a microresonator having a plurality of nanoparticles and receiving an optical pulse by the optical switch, wherein at least a portion of the optical pulse is absorbed by the nanoparticles such that at least a portion of the microresonator undergoes an elevation of temperature and a corresponding refractive index change when the optical pulse has an optical power greater than a predetermined threshold level. |
| US08520987B2 |
Method of fabricating an optical transformer
A method of fabricating an optical transformer is provided. A substrate is provided first, wherein the substrate includes a first region and a second region. Then a first material layer is formed on the substrate, and the portion of the first material layer other than in the first region is removed. Then a second material layer is formed on the substrate, and the portion of the second material layer in the first region and the second region is removed. Lastly, a first conductive layer is formed on the substrate and the portion of the first conductive layer other than in the second region is removed to make the first material layer, the second material layer and the first conductive layer have the same height such that the first material layer becomes a part of the optical transformer. |
| US08520986B2 |
Use of fiber optic sensor techniques for monitoring and diagnostics of large AC generators
A method for monitoring the operating conditions of an electric generator for mechanical strain and temperature includes means of distributive fiber optic sensors based on both Rayleigh back scattering techniques and Brillouin frequency shift fiber optic sensor analysis as both Rayleigh and Brillouin scans and allow accurate strain and temperature determinations at all points along standard fiber optic cables of considerable length, which effectively yields thousands of sensors throughout the entire standard fiber optic cable. Raman distributive temperature sensing also has a limited application. Single mode and polarizing maintaining fibers can both be analyzed and read with any Rayleigh or Brillouin distributive fiber optic sensor laser system allowing great flexibility in sensor spatial resolution, total sensed length, resolution and other factors. A sealed fiber collection box located outside the electric generator permits enhanced reliability and reconfiguration into any number of desirable fiber layouts necessary for specific static and dynamic measurements. |
| US08520975B2 |
Methods and apparatus for chatter reduction in video object segmentation using optical flow assisted gaussholding
Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for chatter reduction in video object segmentation using optical flow assisted gaussholding. An optical flow assisted gaussholding method may be applied to segmentation masks generated for a video sequence. For each frame of at least some frames in a video sequence, for each of one or more other frames prior to and one or more other frames after the current frame, optical flow is computed for the other frame in relation to the current frame and used to warp the contour of the segmentation mask of the other frame to generate warped segmentation mask for the other frames. The weighted average of the warpedsegmentation masks and the segmentation mask of the current frame is then computed; this weighted average may be blurred spatially, for example using a Gaussian filter. The initial smoothed mask may be thresholded to produce a binary smoothed mask. |
| US08520974B2 |
Image processing method, an apparatus therefor and a tomographic apparatus for removing artifacts from a sectional image
A tomographic apparatus of this invention includes a dividing unit for dividing a sectional image into a pixel group including artifacts and a pixel group not including artifacts by carrying out an independent component analysis (ICA) of the artifacts, and a pixel group processing unit for applying a smoothing filter as a predetermined process relating to correction only with respect to the above pixel group including the artifacts, whereby a correction process is carried out to remove the artifacts. Thus, the artifacts can be removed stably. |
| US08520973B2 |
Method for restoring transport error included in image and apparatus thereof
In an image transmission error restoring method and an apparatus using the same, a received image frame is divided into a plurality of blocks and each block is divided through a multi-resolution process. After the multi-resolution process, an error-occurred region is searched and the searched error-occurred region is recovered based on information selected from among global pixel information and local pixel information according to complexity of each block. |
| US08520971B2 |
Digital image resampling
Systems, methods and computer program products are disclosed for resampling a digital image. According to an implementation, a source image can be presharpened and upsampled to a first upsampled image having a specified image size and a first level of presharpening. The source image is also presharpened and upsampled to a second upsampled image having the specified image size and second level of presharpening that is less than the first level of presharpening. The first and second upsampled images are deblurred. A binary edge mask image is generated from the deblurred, upsampled images. The binary edge mask image is dilated and blurred to generate a deep mask image. The first and second, deblurred upsampled images are blended together using the deep mask image. |
| US08520969B2 |
Digital image processing apparatus and method
An image processing apparatus suitable for processing a digital image in YCrCb color space, the image having an initial luminance plane Y and two initial Cr, Cb chrominance planes, the processing apparatus including a first block that receives the initial luminance plane Y of the digital image and processes and modifies the initial luminance plane Y in order to provide a modified luminance plane Y in output; a color artifact correction block, operating in parallel with the first block, the correction block receiving the initial planes Y, Cr, Cb of the image and modifying the initial chrominance planes Cr and Cb through a pixel by pixel processing approach with a mobile working window, the correction block having a false colors correction sub-block and a purple fringing correction sub-block, or both, the sub-blocks structured to modify values of the initial Cr, Cb chrominance planes based on information contained in the initial Cr, Cb chrominance planes and also based on information contained in the initial luminance plane Y. |
| US08520968B1 |
Communication signal image suppression for multi-frequency operation
A method and system for image suppression and digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) of a radio frequency (RF) signal is disclosed. In one embodiment, a digital input signal having undesired image spectra is input to two paths. In one path, the digital input signal is phase shifted so that an output of each path are out of phase by substantially 180 degrees at a frequency of the undesired image spectra, so that the undesired image spectra are substantially suppressed. |
| US08520967B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for facilitating generation images and editing of multiframe images
Methods and apparatuses are provided for facilitating generation and editing of multiframe images. A method may include grouping a plurality of images into one or more groups of images. Each group of images may comprise a plurality of images depicting a common scene. The method may further include determining a reference image for at least one of the one or more groups of images. Each reference image may be associated with a respective group for which it was determined. The method may additionally include causing at least one reference image to be displayed to a user such that the user is enabled to select a displayed reference image to enhance using multiframe image processing to generate a multiframe image from a plurality of images from the group of images with which the selected displayed reference image is associated. Corresponding apparatuses are also provided. |
| US08520964B2 |
Image processing apparatus
Provided is an image processing apparatus sequentially performing image processing on multiple pieces of band data composing image data. The image processing apparatus includes a RAM and a JPEG encoding circuit. The RAM has a buffer area of a fixed length. The JPEG encoding circuit sequentially performs variable-length encoding on multiple pieces of band data, sequentially writes the band data subjected to the encoding from the beginning of the buffer area, and writes subsequent band data subjected to the encoding from the beginning of the buffer area if the end of the band data subjected to the encoding is positioned in a boundary area having a certain length including an ending part of the buffer area. |
| US08520954B2 |
Apparatus for detecting lane-marking on road
The image processing ECU periodically acquires road-surface images and extracts edge points in the acquired road-surface image. Subsequently, the ECU determines the operating mode and extracts the edge line when the operating mode is either a dotted mode or a frame-accumulation mode. The edge points are transformed e.g. Hough transform, to extract an edge line that most frequently passes through the edge points. The extracted edge line denotes the lane marking. The ECU outputs a signal to activate a buzzer alert when determining the vehicle may depart from the lane. |
| US08520953B2 |
Apparatus and method for extracting edges of image
Provided are an apparatus and method for more accurately extracting edge portions from an image in various conditions. The apparatus includes: a brightness calculation unit calculating a representative brightness value of the neighborhood of a current pixel; a threshold value calculation unit calculating a threshold value, based on which it is determined whether the current pixel is an edge, by using the calculated representative brightness value; a mask application unit calculating a masking value by applying a mask to an area containing at least the current pixel; and an edge determination unit determining whether the current pixel is an edge by comparing the masking value and the threshold value. |
| US08520947B2 |
Method for automatic boundary segmentation of object in 2D and/or 3D image
Segmenting the prostate boundary is essential in determining the dose plan needed for a successful bracytherapy procedure—an effective and commonly used treatment for prostate cancer. However, manual segmentation is time consuming and can introduce inter and intra-operator variability. This present invention describes an algorithm for segmenting the prostate from two dimensional ultrasound (2D US) images, which can be full-automatic, with some assumptions of image acquisition. Segmentation begins with the user assuming the center of the prostate to be at the center of the image for the fully-automatic version. The image is then filtered to identify prostate edge candidates. The next step removes most of the false edges and keeps as many true edges as possible. Then, domain knowledge is used to remove any prostate boundary candidates that are probably false edge pixels. The image is then scanned along radial lines and only the first-detected boundary candidates are kept the final step includes the removal of some remaining false edge pixels by fitting a polynomial to the image points and removing the point with the maximum distance from the fit. The resulting candidate edges form an initial model that is then deformed using the Discrete Dynamic Contour (DDC) model to obtain a closed contour of the prostate boundary. |
| US08520945B2 |
Apparatus for color interpolation using adjustable threshold
An apparatus for color interpolation using an adjustable threshold is disclosed. The color interpolation apparatus calculates the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the elements of the image data and determines the color interpolation method of the image data depending on the difference to perform the corresponding color interpolation. With the present invention, the improved image quality can be provided because the color interpolation can be performed as a user desires. |
| US08520940B1 |
Automatic city block segmentation in aerial imagery for parallel processing
A computer implemented system and method are disclosed for segmenting aerial and satellite imagery according to pre-defined regions contained in the images such as city blocks. An example system comprises a feature mask generation module, a partition generation module, one or more color map generation modules, a color map reassignment module, and a bounding box generation module. The system and method take aerial image data and vector map data as input and generate a composite color map for a geographic region of interest, wherein the color map comprises a plurality of pre-defined regions in which each pre-defined region can be defined by enclosing road segments. The disclosed system and method provide a convenient and logical way of segmenting large data sets of aerial imagery for use in other applications such as the construction of computer models of surface features of the Earth. |
| US08520939B2 |
Apparatus and method of reproducing preferred color
An apparatus and method of reproducing a preferred color to eliminate or reduce errors caused when converting of colors of an input image in corresponding color regions of a color space, respectively, wherein the colors of an input image are included in a plurality of different color regions. The apparatus includes a region judging unit to judge whether pixels of an input image are included in one or more preset color regions, a color converting unit to execute a color conversion of the pixels in at least one conversion-desired color regions among one or more color regions that include the pixels, and an output unit to output an image formed by the color-converted pixels. |
| US08520938B2 |
Potential field-based gamut mapping
A method for adjusting a color in a color space comprises adjusting the color along a gradient path to a point in or on a color gamut. The gradient path is determined from a potential field derived from the color gamut consisting of gamut points in the color space. The potential field can be derived from one or more points in the color gamut and different functions may be used to determine the potentials due to different points in the gamut. The potential at a point in the color space due to the gamut point can be a function, including an inverse power, of distance of the point in the color space from the gamut point. The gradient path can be determined from the gradient of the potential field by quadric error-based surface simplification of a surface mesh representing a surface of the gamut. |
| US08520929B1 |
Method of sensing defects in the application of hot melt adhesive
A method of sensing defects in the application of hot melt adhesive to a structure. An infrared sensor is used to capture an infrared image of at least the location of the structure where the adhesive is supposed to have been applied. Different areas of the image are separately interrogated by reviewing each area to detect the presence or absence of adhesive. The interrogation is used to determine whether or not the application of the adhesive is of acceptable quality. |
| US08520926B2 |
Method for processing image and volume data based on statistical models
A method for visually displaying and/or evaluating measurement data from imaging methods involve the following acts: a) calculating a parameterized statistical model from example voxel data sets that map different objects of an identical object class; b) carrying out at least one imaging method on an object to be examined of the object class in order to extract real measurement data; c) setting a set of model parameters of the parameterized statistical model; d) determining a difference between the real measurement data and the parameterized statistical model; e) repeating steps c) and d) while changing the model parameters until the difference between the real measurement data and the parameterized statistical model is minimal; and f) visually displaying and/or evaluating the statistical model parameterized in aforementioned manner. |
| US08520924B2 |
Spatio-temporal analysis for automatic contrast injection detection on angiography during trans-catheter aortic valve implantation
A method that includes generating a contrast feature curve for a medical image sequence including a plurality of frames, where the contrast feature curve represents contrast feature values of the frames. The method further includes detecting a peak in the contrast feature curve, and determining whether the peak corresponds to at least one of contrast injection in an aortic root, contrast injection in a balloon, and a non-contrast injected region. |
| US08520919B2 |
Apparatus and method for controlling a multi-color output of an image of a medical object
In a method for controlling a multi-color output of an image of a medical object for assisting medical personnel, the medical object is illuminated with light with an illumination spectrum. By means of an image sensor, image data are acquired for a group of one or more color channels. Image information concerning an additional color channel, which is not among the group of one or more color channels, is generated depending on the acquired image data. An image output device for multi-color output of the image is controlled depending on the acquired image data and the acquired image information. |
| US08520915B2 |
Medical image diagnosis apparatus specifying a spot on a projection image for subsequent 3D imaging
A medical image diagnosis apparatus designates an imaging range of a subject from a projection image for designation of the imaging range, specifies a specific spot on the projection image, performs scanning for generating a three-dimensional medical image of the subject on the basis of the imaging range, finds out a three-dimensional target region from the three-dimensional medical image on the basis of the specific spot, and detects a candidate for an abnormal part in the three-dimensional target region. |
| US08520914B2 |
Authentication apparatus and authentication method
The present invention relates to authentication information using bio information such as fingerprints. Identification accuracy whether a living body or a forgery (non living body) is improved to prevent an authentication error. The present invention particularly relates to an authentication apparatus (a fingerprint authentication apparatus), an authentication method, an authentication program and a recording medium. By detecting characteristics not shown in a living body that a forgery (non-living body) has, the characteristic such as uniform reducing feature by the passage of time of a gummy finger (a false finger) made like a bio finger, whether a living body or a forgery is determined, a determination error of a living body by a forgery is prevented, and authentication accuracy of a living body is enhanced. |
| US08520908B2 |
Systems and methods for person's verification using scans of identification documents produced by a verifier-controlled scanning device
One embodiment of the present invention envisions providing requester with a computer program for a remote computer equipped with a scanning device. The computer program controls the scanning device and prevents alterations to an image produced by the scanning device. The unaltered image of a photo ID is transmitted from the remote computer to the verifier's server computer. The image of the photo ID may further be used to verify the requester by comparing the image to photographs from other sources. |
| US08520906B1 |
Method and system for age estimation based on relative ages of pairwise facial images of people
The present invention is a system and method for estimating the age of people based on their facial images. It addresses the difficulty of annotating the age of a person from facial image by utilizing relative age (such as older than, or younger than) and face-based class similarity (gender, ethnicity or appearance-based cluster) of sampled pair-wise facial images. It involves a unique method for the pair-wise face training and a learning machine (or multiple learning machines) which output the relative age along with the face-based class similarity, of the pairwise facial images. At the testing stage, the given input face image is paired with some number of reference images to be fed to the trained machines. The age of the input face is determined by comparing the estimated relative ages of the pairwise facial images to the ages of reference face images. Because age comparison is more meaningful when the pair belongs to the same demographics category (such as gender and ethnicity) or when the pair has similar appearance, the estimated relative ages are weighted according to the face-based class similarity score between the reference face and the input face. |
| US08520900B2 |
Methods and devices involving imagery and gestures
A portable wireless device (e.g., a mobile phone) is moved or positioned by a user to signal user input. The device takes an action based on such gesture, where the action involves imagery captured by the device. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed. |
| US08520899B2 |
Video object classification
Techniques for classifying one or more objects in at least one video, wherein the at least one video comprises a plurality of frames are provided. One or more objects in the plurality of frames are tracked. A level of deformation is computed for each of the one or more tracked objects in accordance with at least one change in a plurality of histograms of oriented gradients for a corresponding tracked object. Each of the one or more tracked objects is classified in accordance with the computed level of deformation. |
| US08520894B2 |
Background image and mask estimation for accurate shift-estimation for video object detection in presence of misalignment
Disclosed herein are a method, system, and computer program product for aligning an input video frame from a video sequence with a background model associated with said video sequence. The background model includes a plurality of model blocks (820, 830), each one of the plurality of model blocks (820, 830) being associated with at least one mode (821, 822, 823, 831, 832, 833, 834), wherein each mode (821, 822, 823, 831, 832, 833, 834) includes a plurality of frequency domain attributes. The method selects, for each one of the plurality of model blocks, a reference mode dependent upon a mode of the corresponding model block, generates a background reference image (840) comprising the plurality of selected reference blocks (841, 842), and then aligns the input frame with the background model (810), based on the background reference image (810). |
| US08520886B2 |
Speaker having a horizontal former
A speaker includes a frame, a sound radiating surface, and a suspension that couples the sound radiating surface to the frame. A horizontal former is coupled to the radiating surface. The former extends substantially horizontally outward of a peripheral portion of the radiating surface, to a peripheral portion that is separate from the suspension. A coil is coupled to the peripheral portion of the horizontal former. |
| US08520883B2 |
Articulating speaker assembly providing for pivotal adjustment of connected first and second midrange members
An articulating speaker assembly includes a first member pivotally connected to a second member for selectively changing the profile of the speaker assembly. A central driver is positioned between the first member and the second member. The first member includes a first enclosure with a cavity shaped and dimensioned for receiving a first driver, the first driver being secured within the first enclosure. The second member includes a second enclosure with a cavity shaped and dimensioned for receiving a second driver, the second driver being secured within the second enclosure. Each of the first member and the second member includes a central driver aperture and the central driver is mounted within the central driver apertures of the first member and the second member. |
| US08520879B2 |
Gooseneck condenser microphone
Provided is an integrated gooseneck condenser microphone including a microphone unit and an output module which are connected to each other. The gooseneck condenser microphone can improve the connection strength of a microphone housing and prevent the generation of noise due to disturbance electromagnetic waves. The gooseneck condenser microphone includes a connection member 20b which is provided at the rear end of a shielded housing 20a and into which the leading end of a supporting pipe 30 is inserted and an electrical insulating member 6 that is interposed between the connection member and the supporting pipe and electrically insulates the connection member from the supporting pipe. A groove portion 5 is formed in the inner circumferential surface of the connection member along the circumferential direction, and the leading ends of the supporting pipe and the electrical insulating member inserted into the connection member are fitted to the groove portion while the diameters thereof are expanded. |
| US08520871B2 |
Method of and device for generating and processing parameters representing HRTFs
A device for processing parameters representing Head-Related Transfer Functions includes an input stage configured to receive audio signals of sound sources, a determinor configured to receive reference parameters representing Head-Related Transfer Functions and configured to determine, from the audio signals, position information representing positions and/or directions of the sound sources. A processor is configured to process the audio signals; and an influencer is configured to influence the processing of the audio signals based on the position information yielding an influenced output audio signal. |
| US08520869B2 |
Piezoelectric acoustic transducer
Provided is a piezoelectric type loudspeaker capable of reproducing a high sound pressure in a limited space, without increasing a voltage applied to a piezoelectric element in a bass range. A plurality of piezoelectric diaphragms are disposed in parallel, and coupled to one another in a thickness direction of the diaphragms via a coupling member, and a polarity of the piezoelectric element and the applied voltage are defined so as to cause deformations in opposite directions from each other. One diaphragm includes an edge on a periphery, and operates as a sound wave radiation surface. At least one diaphragm is fixed to a housing side via a fixing member. Series resistance is connected to the piezoelectric element on the piezoelectric diaphragm fixed to the housing side. |
| US08520866B2 |
Apparatus, method, and computer program product providing sound-produced tactile feedback
Apparatus, methods and computer program products are provided to produce tactile feedback from sound. The apparatus is a sound cavity apparatus for a portable communication device and includes: at least one loudspeaker; and at least one cavity. At least one surface of the at least one cavity is configured to vibrate. The sound cavity apparatus is attached to the portable communication device and the sound cavity apparatus is configured to transmit vibration to the portable communication device. |
| US08520865B2 |
Display apparatus, projector, and control method
A display apparatus includes an image display device adapted to form an optical image, a microphone jack adapted to connect with an external microphone, and an OSD controller adapted to prepare OSD screen image data about the external microphone to supply to the image display device. |
| US08520864B2 |
Projector and audio output method
A projector includes: a first audio input section adapted to input a first sound signal; a second audio input section adapted to input a second sound signal; a first sound amplifier section adapted to amplify the first sound signal received through the second audio input section to generate a first amplified signal; a second sound amplifier section adapted to amplify the second sound signal received through the second audio input section to generate a second amplified signal; a first audio output section adapted to output a first sound based on the first amplified signal; a second audio output section adapted to output a second sound based on the second amplified signal; and a determination section adapted to determine whether or not the first sound signal is being input. |
| US08520858B2 |
Sound system and method for capturing and reproducing sounds originating from a plurality of sound sources
A sound system for capturing and reproducing sounds produced by a plurality of sound sources. The system comprises a device for receiving sounds produced by the plurality of sound sources and converting the separately received sounds to a plurality of separate audio signals without mixing the audio signals. The system may further comprise a device for separately storing the plurality of separate audio signals on a recording medium without mixing the audio signals and a device for reading the stored audio signals from the recording medium. The system further includes a reproduction system for recreating the plurality of separate audio signals. Also, the system comprises an amplification network which comprises a plurality of amplifier systems, with one or more separate amplifiers in each amplifier system for separately amplifying each of the separate audio signals. The system also comprises a loudspeaker network which comprises a plurality of loudspeaker systems with one or more separate loudspeakers in each loudspeaker system for separately reproducing the plurality of audio signals. A dynamic controller may be used to control the micro relationships of the components within a signal path and the macro relationships among the separate signal paths. The amplifiers and/or loudspeakers for each signal path may be customized based on the characteristics and complexities of the original sound to be reproduced on each signal path. |
| US08520855B1 |
Encapsulation and decapsulation for data disintegration
A configuration for encapsulating data that is unreadable after a predetermined timeout. To encapsulate data a random data key is generated and split into shares. A threshold number of shares are needed to reconstruct the key. The shares are stored at random locations within one or more networks. Each location is configured to delete the stored data after a predetermined time period. Encapsulated data is created by creating a vanishing data object (VDO) comprising the encrypted data, and data sufficient to locate at least a threshold number of key shares from their stored locations. The VDO becomes inaccessible after enough shares of the data are deleted such that the data key cannot be restored. However, if prior to timeout a sufficient number of data key shares are located and retrieved the data key can be reconstructed. The reconstructed data key is then used to decrypt the original data. |
| US08520851B2 |
Wireless communication device with securely added randomness and related method
A wireless communication system which employs cryptographic functions requiring random data input in a mobile wireless device includes provisions for securely adding randomness to the mobile wireless device. Such added randomness can be securely provided during synchronizing sessions with a device user's base computer via secure wired and/or wireless connections. The new random data can be obtained by software and/or hardware random number generators accessible to the user's base computer and/or from accessible secure external sources (e.g., a secure website source of random data). |
| US08520850B2 |
Downloadable security and protection methods and apparatus
Methods and apparatus for control of data and content protection mechanisms across a network using a download delivery paradigm. In one embodiment, conditional access (CA), digital rights management (DRM), and trusted domain (TD) security policies are delivered, configured and enforced with respect to consumer premises equipment (CPE) within a cable television network. A trusted domain is established within the user's premises within which content access, distribution, and reproduction can be controlled remotely by the network operator. The content may be distributed to secure or non-secure “output” domains consistent with the security policies enforced by secure CA, DRM, and TD clients running within the trusted domain. Legacy and retail CPE models are also supported. A network security architecture comprising an authentication proxy (AP), provisioning system (MPS), and conditional access system (CAS) is also disclosed, which can interface with a trusted authority (TA) for cryptographic element management and CPE/user device authentication. |
| US08520847B2 |
Split-key key-agreement protocol
There is provided a method of one member of a first entity generating an intra-entity public key. The first entity has a plurality of members and the one member has a long-term private key and a corresponding long-term public key. The method includes generating a short-term private key and a corresponding short-term public key, computing an intra-entity shared key by mathematically combining the short-term public key of the one member and respective short-term public keys of each other member of the first entity and computing the intra-entity public key by mathematically combining the short-term private key, the long-term private key and the intra-entity shared key. |
| US08520845B2 |
Method and apparatus for expansion key generation for block ciphers
A key scheduler performs a key-expansion to generate round keys for AES encryption and decryption just-in-time for each AES round. The key scheduler pre-computes slow operations in a current clock cycle to reduce the critical delay path for computing the round key for a next AES round. |
| US08520844B2 |
Methods and apparatus for providing secure two-party public key cryptosystem
Techniques for an efficient and provably secure protocol by which two parties, each holding a share of a Cramer-Shoup private key, can jointly decrypt a ciphertext, but such that neither party can decrypt a ciphertext alone. In an illustrative embodiment, the secure protocol may use homomorphic encryptions of partial Cramer-Shoup decryption subcomputations, and three-move Σ-protocols for proving consistency. |
| US08520841B2 |
Algorithms for generating parameters for genus 2 hyperelliptic curve cryptography
An exemplary method includes defining a CM field, representing coefficients of a Frobenius element of a hyperelliptic curve over a prime field as non-linear polynomials that are functions of an integer x and selecting a value for x whereby the product of the Frobenius element and its complex conjugate is a prime number. Such a method may further include determining the order of the Jacobian of the hyperelliptic curve, for example, where the order is an almost prime number. Various other methods, devices, systems, etc., are also disclosed, which may be optionally used for cryptography. |
| US08520840B2 |
System, method and computer product for PKI (public key infrastructure) enabled data transactions in wireless devices connected to the internet
A system, computer product and method is provided for PKI enabled data communication at a browser. A PKI enabled browser is loaded one or more network-connected device. The PKI enabled browser requests a web page from a web server. The web page is downloaded to the PKI enabled browser. The PKI enabled browser includes a PKI operation module which conducts one or more PKI operations corresponding to the particular web page downloaded. These operations may include encrypting data, decrypting data, authenticating data, or verifying digital signatures. The invention permits PKI enabled posting of data to a remote computer, including from a wireless device, as well as PKI enabled retrieval of data at a computer from a remote computer, including at a wireless device. The PKI enabled browser of the invention is supported by a web server that includes a web application that facilitates PKI enabled data transactions at the PKI enabled browser. The inventions supports persistent PKI enablement, as well as field level encryption of data throughout the PKI transaction. |
| US08520834B2 |
Method of displaying complex relationships
A method and apparatus are provided for presenting structural relationships in an automatic contact distribution system. The method includes the steps of defining a plurality of structural elements within the automatic contact distribution system, selecting a structural element of the automatic contact distribution system as a root element, identifying any related elements of the plurality of elements that together with the selected element affect contact handling within the automatic contact distribution system and displaying the root element and related elements along with an indicia of the relationship between the root element and related elements. |
| US08520832B1 |
System and method to connect a call
Disclosed are systems and methods to connect a call. The systems and methods provide techniques to receive a call from a caller and determine a call path for the call. The call path is used to connect the caller to a call path destination. The call path destination may vary depending on factors in addition to the call path, such as, for example, a classification of the caller and a classification of the representative to whom the caller is to be connected. |
| US08520831B2 |
Method of unifying control of contact center system
A method and apparatus are provided for processing messages in a networked automatic contact distribution system having a plurality of computer processors. The method includes the steps of a processor of the plurality of processors receiving a configuration message, the processor determining a type of the configuration message from metadata contained within the message and the processor executing a predetermined set of steps based upon the determined type of the configuration message. |
| US08520823B2 |
Mobile, PC, and web enhanced telecommunications environment
Methods and systems for providing enhanced telecommunications services are provided. Example embodiments provide a Enhanced Telecommunications System ETS, which provides less expensive calling and other services by initiating telephone requests using data request packets. In one embodiment, the ETS comprises a client communications device with client code, an ETS portal, an API server, one or more PABX servers, and various billing, payment, and accounting systems. Other systems, such as quality assurance and logging systems may also be available. These components cooperate to provide various telecommunications services. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US08520821B2 |
Systems and methods for switching between computer and presenter audio transmission during conference call
A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to support switching between computer audio and presenter audio during a conference call so that one and only one, not both, of the two audio streams is being transmitted to the rest of the conference at any time. More specifically, a switch engine is adopted, which separately takes one or more audio streams captured by a sound mixing component of the hosting device of a presenter and by a microphone attached to the hosting device as its two inputs, and outputs only one of the two inputs at any time. The selected audio output is then processed and transmitted to the rest of the conference with feedback from other audio sources canceled. |
| US08520820B2 |
Conference call access
A method for facilitating access to a conference call is disclosed. The method can comprise allowing a prospective participant to join the conference call after the prospective participant provides a personal ID rather than a conference ID. The method can comprise using at least one of a prospective participant's personal ID or voice for authentication, accessing the prospective participant's electronic calendar, presenting conference call choices from the prospective participant's electronic calendar to the prospective participant, and adding the prospective participant to a selected conference call. |
| US08520818B2 |
System and method for modifying package service subscriptions online
A disclosed method allows service subscribers to modify service subscriptions online. Operations within the method may include receiving an order for a service package from a subscriber, wherein the service package includes multiple features. In response to the order, the features in the service package may automatically be cross referenced with a list of existing features for the subscriber to detect any overlap between the features in the service package and the existing features. In response to detecting an overlap, a subscription change request may automatically be computed, wherein subscription change request includes only the features in the service package that do not overlap the existing features. The subscription change request may then be submitted for implementation by a service provider, possibly after receiving confirmation of the change request from the subscriber. |
| US08520810B1 |
Performing speech recognition over a network and using speech recognition results
Systems, methods and apparatus for generating, distributing, and using speech recognition models. A shared speech processing facility is used to support speech recognition for a wide variety of devices with limited capabilities including business computer systems, personal data assistants, etc., which are coupled to the speech processing facility via a communications channel, e.g., the Internet. Devices with audio capture capability record and transmit to the speech processing facility, via the Internet, digitized speech and receive speech processing services, e.g., speech recognition model generation and/or speech recognition services, in response. The Internet is used to return speech recognition models and/or information identifying recognized words or phrases. The speech processing facility can be used to provide speech recognition capabilities to devices without such capabilities and/or to augment a device's speech processing capability. Voice dialing, telephone control and/or other services are provided by the speech processing facility in response to speech recognition results. |
| US08520803B2 |
Multi-segment anode target for an X-ray tube of the rotary anode type with each anode disk segment having its own anode inclination angle with respect to a plane normal to the rotational axis of the rotary anode and X-ray tube comprising a rotary anode with such a multi-segment anode target
The present invention refers to X-ray tubes for use in imaging applications with an improved power rating and more particularly, to a multi-segment anode target (102′) for an X-ray based scanner system using an X-ray tube of the rotary anode type; the X-ray tube including a rotatably supported essentially disk-shaped rotary anode (102) with an anode target (102′) for emitting X-radiation when being exposed to an electron beam (105a) incident on a surface of the anode target (102′), wherein the rotary anode disk (102) is divided into at least two anode disk segments (102a and 102b) having a conical surface inclined by a distinct acute angle (α) with respect to a plane normal to the rotational axis (103) of the rotary anode disk (102), thus having its own focal track width. An advantage of the invention consists in an enhanced image quality compared to conventional rotary anodes as known from the prior art. |
| US08520799B2 |
Analysis method, radiation imaging apparatus using analysis method, and analysis program for executing analysis method
An analysis method for use in a radiation imaging apparatus employing intensity information of interference fringes of radiation rays that have passed through a detected object includes the steps of generating first phase information of the detected object wrapped into a range of 2π from the intensity information of the interference fringes; generating information on an absorption intensity gradient of the detected object from the intensity information of the interference fringes; generating a weighting function on the basis of an absolute value of a gradient in the information on the absorption intensity gradient; and generating second phase information by unwrapping the first phase information by using the weighting function. |
| US08520798B2 |
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for increasing efficiency in computed tomography detection
Methods, computer-readable mediums, and systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method detects at least one faulty X-ray detector signal and adjusts a conveyor speed and/or a gantry speed in accordance with the detection to increase information for image reconstruction. In another embodiment, a method detects a high volume time. Upon detection of the high volume time conveyor speed and gantry speed is increased during the high volume time. After expiration of the high volume time, the conveyor speed and gantry speed is reduced. In yet other embodiments, the computer-readable mediums and systems are also provided which perform similar features recited by the above methods. |
| US08520797B2 |
Medical imaging apparatus, control method, and computer program product
A medical imaging apparatus includes an X-ray imaging apparatus; and a nuclear medicine imaging apparatus. The X-ray imaging apparatus includes an X-ray tube configured to emit X-rays for generating an X-ray CT image. The nuclear medicine imaging apparatus includes a detector configured to detect radiation for generating a nuclear medicine image. At least one of the X-ray imaging apparatus and the nuclear medicine imaging apparatus includes a determining unit configured to determine whether the detector detects the X-rays emitted by the X-ray tube, thereby determining whether there is a failure in the detector. |
| US08520795B2 |
Intermediate end plug assembly for segmented fuel rod and segmented fuel rod having the same
An intermediate end plug assembly for a segmented fuel rod can stably support the fuel rod to the end of its cycle even if an interval between the fuel rods becomes narrow due to application of a dual-cooled fuel rod, and reduce excess vibration induced by flows of interior and exterior channels of the dual-cooled fuel rod for obtaining high burnup and output. To this end, the fuel rod has a segmented structure so as to make its length short. A lower intermediate end plug includes at least one channel hole, through which a coolant flows into an internal channel of the fuel rod, so that a possibility of causing departure from nuclear boiling ratio (DNBR) of the dual-cooled fuel rod is reduced. |
| US08520788B2 |
Receiving device, receiving method and program
A receiving device includes: a buffer temporarily accumulating receive data received through a network; a data processing means for processing the receive data; a short-time variation value acquisition means for acquiring a short-time variation value indicating variation of accumulated quantity of the receive data sequentially accumulated in the buffer in a first unit time; a long-time variation value acquisition means for acquiring a long-time variation value indicating variation of accumulated quantity in a second unit time; and a clock control means for controlling a clock frequency for performing processing of the receive data by the data processing means in accordance with evaluation results of the acquired long-time variation value. The clock control means stops adjustment of the clock frequency when an error of the network or the receive data is detected, and starts the adjustment again after a given adjustment stop time passes from the detection of the error. |
| US08520786B2 |
Programmable discrete digital receiver components
A receiver includes a sample and hold module, a discrete time filter module, and a conversion module. The sample and hold module includes a sample switching module, an impedance module, and a hold switching module. The sample switching module outputs samples of an inbound wireless signal in accordance with a sampling clock signal. The impedance module temporarily stores the samples. The hold switching module outputs a filtered representation of the samples in accordance with a hold clock signal to produce a frequency domain sample pulse train, wherein a filter response of the sample and hold module is in accordance with a ratio between the sampling clock signal and the hold clock signal. The discrete time filter module, which may be programmable, filters the frequency domain sample pulse train. The conversion module, which may be programmable, converts the filtered sample pulse into an inbound baseband signal. |
| US08520780B2 |
Communication units, communication system and methods for modulation and demodulation
A method (500) of demodulation, the method comprising the steps of receiving (510) a radio frequency signal, converting (520) the received radio frequency signal to a baseband signal, performing (530) symbol timing recovery on the baseband signal, and demodulating (540) the baseband signal. The baseband signal comprises alternating symbols spaced therebetween at an alternating first interval length and a second interval length, where the first interval length and second interval length are dissimilar. Communication units and a method of modulation are also described. |
| US08520779B2 |
Method and apparatus for audio noise reduction of frequency modulation (FM) receiver
A method and an apparatus for audio noise reduction of frequency modulation (FM) receiver are described. After receiving FM signal having pilot tone, pilot carrier sync detector performs pilot carrier synchronization detection of FM signal, FM demodulator demodulates synchronized FM signal, multiplex decoder decodes audio signal of demodulated FM signal for outputting the decoded audio signal, and noise reduction controls multiplex decoder for controlling noise attenuation associated with the decoded audio signal according to RSSI, the method comprising the steps: (a) performing phase error detection for detecting phase error of phase-locked loop (PLL) of pilot carrier sync detector; (b) determining whether noise exists by comparing the phase error with threshold value to determine whether noise exists in the phase error; and (c) performing noise reduction step by outputting noise reduction control signal to noise reduction based on determination in step (b) for reducing noise in the noise existence interval. |
| US08520776B2 |
Data recovery system for source synchronous data channels
A high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) receiver recovers high speed encoded data which are transmitted differentially over data channels of a lossy cable, along with a clock. Inter symbol interference, high-frequency loss, skew between the clock and data channels, and differential skew within a differential signal are compensated by analog circuits which are automatically tuned for best performance by observing the quality of the recovered analog signal. Oversampling is used to provide a 24-bit digital representation of the analog signal for determining the quality of the signal. |
| US08520772B2 |
Communication device and power correction method
A communication device that compensates a distortion of a transmission signal, amplifies the compensated transmission signal by an amplifier, and outputs the signal. The device includes a storage unit that stores a transmission characteristic of a transmission power of the communication device, a correcting unit that calculates a power value at a set transmission frequency by referring to the storage unit and that corrects a feedback signal of the transmission signal amplifier by the amplifier based on the calculated power value and a maximum transmission power defined by the communication device, and a calculating unit that calculates a distortion compensation coefficient based on the transmission signal and the feedback signal corrected. |
| US08520771B1 |
WCDMA modulation
This disclosure describes techniques for modulating data. In one embodiment, these techniques include receiving an I or Q value, generating a time-shifted sample of a shaped pulse based on the I or Q value, and providing the time-shifted sample to a digital-to-analog converter. |
| US08520770B2 |
Amplitude suppressing apparatus and signal transmitting apparatus
An amplitude suppressing apparatus includes a differential circuit that calculates a differential value of amplitude of an input signal at a point when the amplitude reaches a predetermined threshold. The amplitude suppressing apparatus also includes an amplitude suppressing circuit that suppresses the amplitude of the input signal on the basis of the differential value calculated by the differential circuit. |
| US08520769B2 |
Transmission method, transmission apparatus, reception method, and reception apparatus
Of any one of transmission method X of transmitting modulated signal A and modulated signal B including the same data from a plurality of antennas and transmission method Y of transmitting modulated signal A and modulated signal B having different data from the plurality of antennas, base station apparatus 201 does not change the transmission method during data transmission and changes only the modulation scheme. Base station apparatus 201 transmits modulated signal A and modulated signal B to communication terminal apparatus 251 using the determined transmission method and modulation scheme. In this way, it is possible to improve data transmission efficiency when transmitting data using the plurality of antennas. |
| US08520767B2 |
Transmission circuit and communication apparatus using polar modulation method
A transmission circuit adjust a difference between signal delay amounts in an amplitude path and a phase path with a low power consumption. An amplitude modulation section amplitude-modulates a phase modulation signal outputted from a phase modulation section with a voltage control signal provided by a regulator to generate a transmission signal for an output of an antenna. Similarly, a feedback signal generation section amplitude-modulates the phase modulation signal with a voltage control signal to generate a feedback signal. The signal is fed back to a delay adjustments sections used for calculating and adjusting the difference between the signal delay amounts in the amplitude path and the phase path. The feedback signal generation section is attained by a power amplifier having the same configuration as the amplitude modulation section and a smaller circuit scale. |
| US08520766B2 |
Transmitter and communication apparatus
Provided is a transmitter which is small in size and operates with high efficiency and compensates a delay error with high accuracy. A signal generation section 11 outputs a PM test signal and an AM test signal. The AM test signal is inputted to a multiplier 16 via a delay adjustment section 12 and a regulator 14. The PM test signal is inputted to the multiplier 16 via the delay adjustment section 12. A power measurement section 17 measures an average power of a multiplication signal which is outputted from the multiplier 16 and outputs a measured value to a control section 18. The control section 18 determines an amplitude delay time and a phase delay time on the basis of the inputted measured value and sets the determined delay times in the delay adjustment section 12. |
| US08520761B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating pre-coding matrix codebook
This disclosure relates a method and apparatus for generating pre-coding matrix codebook. The method for generating pre-coding matrix codebook, comprising: acquiring a universal set of pre-coding matrixes in a first format; acquiring a universal set of pre-coding matrixes in a second format; selecting a first predetermined number of pre-coding matrixes in the first format from the universal set of pre-coding matrixes in the first format; and selecting a second predetermined number of pre-coding matrixes in the second format from the universal set of pre-coding matrixes in the second format, according to the selected first predetermined number of pre-coding matrixes in the first format. |
| US08520760B2 |
Radio reception device, radio transmission device, and feedback method
Provided are a radio reception device, a radio transmission device, and a feedback method which can uniformly guarantee the feedback accuracy of an average channel quality indicator (CQI) even when the transmission band width is different. A channel estimation unit uses a pilot signal to obtain SINR for each RB. A feedback information generation unit converts SINR of each RB into a corresponding CQI. Moreover, as the transmission band width increases, the number X of the quantization bits is decreased when quantizing the average CQI, thereby generating feedback information. A radio transmission unit transmits feedback information from an antenna. |
| US08520758B2 |
Multicarrier digital signal transmission system using filter banks and memory preloading for initialization
A transmission system includes an emitter (100) that includes an iFFT block (101) coupled to a set of memories (102-105) feeding a weighted summation device (106). Switches (113, 114, 115) are introduced at the intput of the memories, in order to load the set of samples provided by the iFFT block when the first symbol is fed to the input of the emitter. This system may also include a receiver (200) that includes a set of memories (202-205) feeding a weighted summation device (206) coupled to a FFT block (201). Switches (213, 214, 215) are introduced at the input of the memories in order to load the set of samples received, corresponding to the first transmitted symbol. A method of transmission with preloading of the memories that is extended to OQAM modulation and MIMO systems is also described. |
| US08520750B2 |
Transmission method and apparatus for cancelling inter-carrier interference
The present invention provides a transmission method and apparatus for cancelling inter-carrier interference in wireless communication systems. Particular carriers are not used for data transmission but carry weighted data to cancel the ici interference of a first group of interfering sub-carriers onto a second group of victim sub-carriers. The weights are inversely proportional to the frequency offset between the interfering sub-carriers and the victim sub-carriers. |
| US08520749B2 |
Interference noise estimation method, reception processing method, interference noise estimation apparatus, and receiver, in multicarrier communications system
To make it possible to estimate interference noise power with high accuracy even when channel variations are present in a frequency domain and a time domain, in a multicarrier communications system in which pilot signals allocated at different subcarrier frequencies in a predetermined transmission frequency band are transmitted, average values between pilot signals received at different symbol timing periods and at different subcarrier frequencies are obtained, and interference noise is estimated based on a difference between the average values. |
| US08520745B2 |
Reverse link power control for an OFDMA system
Techniques for performing power control of multiple channels sent using multiple radio technologies are described. The transmit power of a reference channel, sent using a first radio technology (e.g., CDMA), is adjusted to achieve a target level of performance (e.g., a target erasure rate) for the reference channel. The transmit power of a data channel, sent using a second radio technology (e.g., OFDMA), is adjusted based on the transmit power of the reference channel. In one power control scheme, a reference power spectral density (PSD) level is determined based on the transmit power of the reference channel. A transmit PSD delta for the data channel is adjusted based on interference estimates. A transmit PSD of the data channel is determined based on the reference PSD level and the transmit PSD delta. The transmit power of the data channel is then set to achieve the transmit PSD for the data channel. |
| US08520738B2 |
Video decoder with hybrid reference texture
The present invention relates to a video decoder (DEC) for decoding a bit stream (BS) corresponding to pictures (P) of a video signal, the coded pictures being likely to include macroblocks coded in a progressive and in an interlaced way. The decoder includes a decoding unit (DEU) for decoding macroblocks coded in a progressive way, and a hybrid reference construction unit (HRCU) for constructing, for each reference picture, a hybrid reference texture (HRT) which has the property of representing said reference picture in a frame-based and in a field-based manner. Said hybrid reference texture is used by said decoding unit for decoding interlaced macroblocks. |
| US08520734B1 |
Method and system for remotely communicating a computer rendered image sequence
A method and system for communicating a computer rendered image sequence from a host computer to a remote computer. The method comprises determining, at the host computer, while performing a progressive encoding of an image portion of the computer rendered image sequence, motion of the image portion, wherein the progressive encoding comprises generating a lossy encoding of a frequency transform of the image portion and a first refinement encoding of the frequency transform; generating, at the host computer, a motion vector representing the motion; and communicating, from the host computer to the remote computer, the lossy encoding, the first refinement encoding, and the motion vector. |
| US08520733B2 |
Video coding
A method includes receiving a data signal that includes a plurality of encoded frames in a first access unit, receiving a data message indicative of a similarity between a portion of a first one of the plurality of encoded frames and a portion of a non-successive second one of the plurality of encoded frames in a second access unit, and decoding the portion of the second one of the plurality of encoded frames from the portion of the first one of the plurality of encoded frames when the data signal is corrupted. |
| US08520732B2 |
Adaptive coding of video block prediction mode
This disclosure describes techniques for coding of header information of video blocks. In particular, the techniques of this disclosure select one of a plurality of prediction modes for use in generating a prediction block of a video block of a coding unit, the plurality of prediction modes including unidirectional prediction modes and multi-directional prediction modes that combine at least two unidirectional prediction modes. An encoding device encodes the prediction mode of the current video block based on prediction modes of one or more previously encoded video blocks of the coding unit. Likewise, a decoding unit receives encoded video data of a video block of a coding unit and decodes the encoded video data to identify one of a plurality of prediction modes for use in generating a prediction block of the video block based on prediction modes of one or more previously decoded video blocks of the coding unit. |
| US08520728B2 |
Adaptive data transmission rate control for a wireless display device
A method, a computer readable medium and an apparatus to adaptively control a data transmission rate of a wireless display device. The method includes determining a current data transmission rate capacity of a wireless channel; and controlling a data transmission rate of a wireless transmission device based on the current data transmission rate capacity. |
| US08520726B2 |
Method and apparatus for unequal error protection in transmitting uncompressed video with various type over wideband high frequency wireless system
Disclosed are an Unequal Error Protection (UEP) apparatus and method thereof for transmitting various types of uncompressed video signals in a broadband high frequency wireless system. The UEP apparatus may include a UEP transmission controller to verify a bit separation point of separating a color depth and priority for each pixel element being composed of a video data pixel when video data is inputted, and to control an error correction coding of correcting relatively many errors to be used in information with a high priority for each pixel element, a bit separator to separate the video data pixel through a control of the UEP transmission controller based on the priority for each pixel element, and a channel coding unit to use a corresponding error correction coding through the control of the UEP transmission controller based on the priority for each pixel element. |
| US08520723B2 |
Universal real-time interface for wireless modems
The apparatus and methods described herein are used to provide data between an application and a modem. One method includes providing data in application data units from the application to the modem, transmitting the data from the modem to a receiver, and reporting by the modem to the application, whether each application data unit has been successfully transmitted from the modem to the receiver. |
| US08520722B2 |
IF interface
Systems, devices, and methods may be provided for communicating telemetry signals between a satellite modem and transceiver over an IF receive link. In an exemplary embodiment, a communication system comprises a modem, a transceiver, an IF receive communication link coupling the modem and the transceiver and configured to allow IF communication between the modem and the transceiver, and a transceiver interface module and a modem interface module, wherein the modules are configured to allow telemetry communication between the modem and the transceiver over the IF receive communication link. |
| US08520721B2 |
RSSI measurement mechanism in the presence of pulsed jammers
This disclosure relates to method, device and system for controlling power in a communication system. A plurality of power levels is measured from a received signal that includes a pulsed noise source. The received signal is correlated with a known sequence creating a correlation metric. A signal power is determined based on the correlation metric and the plurality of power levels. An uplink signal is transmitted at a transmit power that is based on the signal power. |
| US08520720B2 |
Spread spectrum communication system, clear channel assessment device and related method
A spread spectrum communication system includes a first and a second antenna, a first and a second radio frequency demodulator, a first and a second analog-to-digital converter, a first and a second filter, a clear channel assessment device, and a selection device. The radio frequency demodulators convert radio frequency signals to baseband signals, respectively. The analog-to-digital converters convert baseband signals to digital signals, respectively. The filters filter the first and second digital signals to generate filtered signals, respectively. The clear channel assessment device generates a channel assessment signal and a path selection signal according to signal characteristics of the filtered signals. The selection device refers to at least one of the channel assessment signal and path selection signal to selectively output one of the filtered signals, or generate no signal output. |
| US08520719B2 |
Multiple-mode correlator
Methods and apparatuses are provided for implementing a multiple-mode correlator within a receiver. The multiple-mode correlator may include at least one pre-multiplier portion and a plurality of correlation portions that selectively process multiply result signals from the pre-multiplier portion. |
| US08520715B2 |
Adaptative multi-carrier code division multiple access
A system for performing adaptive multi-carrier code division multiple access (AMC-CDMA) is provided. The system determines a channel performance metric for each of a plurality of carriers and then determines at least one AMC-CDMA parameter for each of the carriers based on the channel performance metric. Modulator circuitry then modulates the signal on each carrier using the specified AMC-CDMA parameters for transmission over a wired connection. |
| US08520714B2 |
Burner/injector panel apparatus
An apparatus and method for use in metal melting, refining and/or other processing, such as, for example, steel making in an electric arc furnace (EAF), and more particularly, to improved burner/injector panels and related methods for the introduction of various energy sources, such as, for example, chemical energy, oxygen and particulates into an EAF. |
| US08520712B2 |
Laser diode and method of manufacturing the same
A laser diode which realizes NFP with a stable and uniform shape. The laser diode includes, on a semiconductor substrate, an active layer, one or a plurality of strip-shaped current confinement structures confining a current which is injected into the active layer, and a stacked structure including one or a plurality of strip-shaped convex portions extending in an extending direction of the current confinement structure. |
| US08520711B2 |
Optical device and method for controlling the same
An optical device includes: a light source that emits laser beams; a detecting unit that detects the laser beams and converts light amounts of the detected laser beams into voltage values; a first storage unit that stores in advance a light amount to be output for each of the laser beams and the voltage value; a second storage unit that stores in advance a value indicating light use efficiency of an optical system that guides the laser beams to a surface to be scanned for scanning; a calculating unit that calculates a target voltage value for each of the laser beams based on the light amount and the voltage value and also on the value indicating the light use efficiency; and a control unit that controls emission power for each of the laser beams so that the voltage value output from the detecting unit approaches the target voltage value. |
| US08520709B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing the amplitude modulation of optical signals in external cavity lasers
A laser apparatus includes an external cavity laser (ECL) where the optical signal is modulated by an electrical modulation signal for modulating in frequency the laser output signal. The modulation in frequency produces a modulation of intensity (power) of the laser output signal, also denoted amplitude modulation (AM). A method of controlling the AM amplitude of a signal emitted by an ECL includes a gain medium, a phase element with variable transmissivity induced by the modulation, and a spectrally selective optical filter that selects and keeps the AM amplitude below a certain desired value or minimizes such value. A control method and a laser apparatus are also described in which the reduction of the AM component of the output power is achieved by acting on the gain of the gain medium of the ECL. |
| US08520693B2 |
Data processing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium storing program
A data processing apparatus which circulates a packet on a ring bus by connecting a plurality of communication modules to the ring bus and causing each communication module to send the packet to an adjacent communication module in synchronism with a predetermined periodical signal includes a plurality of data process modules each connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of communication modules to process data held in the packet, and an input/output module connected to at least one of the plurality of communication modules to receive/output data from/to the communication module. The number of circulations of data through the ring bus, which is input from the input/output module to one of the communication modules, until the data completes a predetermined processing and is received by the input/output module is acquired. The frequency of the periodical signal is changed in accordance with the number of circulations. |
| US08520690B2 |
Communication apparatus
A communication apparatus stores therein link information indicating a network connection status of an entire hierarchical network, collects link information indicating a network connection status in its own area in predetermined cycles, and transmits the collected link information to another area assigned a level different from a level assigned to its own area. When receiving link information from another area assigned a different level, the communication apparatus determines whether the received link information is new link information newer than link information stored in a predetermined storage unit; when it is determined that the received link information is new link-information, the communication apparatus stores the new link information into the predetermined storage unit and advertises it in its own area; by contrast, when it is determined that the received link information is not new link-information, the communication apparatus discards the received link information without storing and advertising. |
| US08520689B2 |
Network interoperability between IP communications networks or sub-networks
Gateway apparatus for interworking between source and destination communication networks, to solve issues of absence of mutual recognition between the source and destination networks when communication within the networks uses internet protocol (IP). The apparatus comprises a source network front end emulator for emulating front end IP server components of the source network to the destination network; and a destination network front end emulator for emulating front end IP server components of the destination network to the source network. The apparatus, by virtue of the emulators, mediates communications between the source and destination networks. |
| US08520688B2 |
Receiver device, transmission system, and packet transmission method
In a transmission system of transferring a packet input from a first device to a second device via a network, a receiver device comprises a storage module configured to successively accumulate received packets, which are transferred over a multiple transmission paths, in correlation to each of the multiple transmission paths, a packet selector configured to sequentially perform a packet selection process with respect to each of the received packets accumulated in the storage module, where after elapse of a predetermined time period since a receipt time of a first packet received by the receiver device, the packet selection process respectively reads out one packet for each of the multiple transmission paths among the received identical packets, which are accumulated in correlation to each of the multiple transmission paths, and selects one packet with higher reliability out of the read-out packets, and an output module configured to output the packet selected by the packet selector to the second device. |
| US08520682B2 |
System and method for provision of IMS based services for legacy CS UE with home node B access
A system and method for providing user equipment (UE) mobility between a packet-switched system and a circuit-switched system is provided. In an embodiment, handover from a circuit-switched connection via a 3G Home Node B (3G HNB) to a circuit-switched connection via a Base Station System (BSS) is provided. In another embodiment, handover from a packet-switched connection via the 3G HNB to a circuit-switched connection via a BSS is provided. In yet another embodiment, handover from a packet-switched connection via a Long Term Evolution (LTE) access point to a circuit-switched connection via a 3G HNB is provided. Once handover is completed, an Interworking Function (IWF) is provided that acts as a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for translating circuit-switched signaling messages to SIP messages for packet-switched signaling. The bearer path comprises a circuit-switched bearer path to a Media Gateway (MGW), which provides a packet-switched bearer path toward the remote end. |
| US08520678B2 |
Network bandwidth measurement
Technologies for measuring a data throughput rate of a link typically used for transferring media catalogs and media between a media provider and an UPnP Control Point. |
| US08520677B2 |
Method of data rate adaptation for multicast communication
A method to implement an adaptive multicast data rate transmission selection includes determining the lowest signal strength station in a multicast group, using signal strength as an indicator to increase data rate, and determining if the increase in data rate is viable for multicast transmission by determining frame or packet loss using the increased data rate. |
| US08520676B2 |
System and method for managing acknowledgement messages in a very large computer network
A multicast message may be distributed by receiving, at a first node in a multicast network, a multicast message from a parent node of the first node. The multicast message is transmitted to child nodes of the first node in the multicast network. A population of the child nodes to which the multicast message was transmitted is accessed and acknowledgement messages which reveal child nodes that are among an acknowledging subset of less than all of the child nodes of the first node are received. Child nodes revealed by the received acknowledgement messages are compared with child nodes determined to be among the population of child nodes to which the multicast message is expected to be received. Based on results of the comparison, a compressed non-acknowledging subset is identified and transmitted to the parent node. |
| US08520675B1 |
System and method for efficient packet replication
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention provide efficient packet replication in a router in order to multicast a stream of data. Packets are replicated and processed in a multithreaded environment. Embodiments consistent with the present invention implement a two-stage process for packet replication. The first stage thread will recirculate the packet to multiple second-stage threads. These second-stage threads will then create one or more outgoing copies of the packet. In this way, the copies are handled by multiple threads running in parallel. |
| US08520671B2 |
System and method providing fixed rate transmission for digital visual interface and high-definition multimedia interface applications
A system and method transmits graphic data received at varying frequencies at a fixed data rate. The frequency dependent data and associated data clock signal are received and the frequency dependent data is converted to frequency independent data. A ratio of a number of data clock cycles to a number of reference clock cycles is determined and transmitted. The frequency independent data and header data are transmitted, at a fixed rate, to a receiver, the fixed rate being a frequency greater than the frequency of the associated data clock signal. The received the frequency independent data is converted to frequency dependent data based upon the received determined ratio. The communication channel may include an optical fiber and a tension member wherein control data is transmitted along the tension member and graphic data is transmitted along the optical fiber. |
| US08520667B2 |
Internet protocol trunk groups
A system includes a core routing engine operable to receive a call setup request and identify one or more IP trunk groups through which the call setup request can be routed, select one of the one or more identified IP trunk groups and route the call setup request to an internal IP address associated with the selected IP trunk group. The system may further include an IP edge node associated with the internal IP address, the IP edge node in the backbone network and operable to receive the call setup request and route the call setup request to one of a plurality of IP addresses associated with a plurality of carrier edge nodes in the carrier network. |
| US08520665B2 |
Method for completing internet telephony calls
A call between a calling party and a called party, one or both of whom may be subscribers to Internet Telephony (IT) services, commences upon the receipt of a call dialed by the calling party to the Plain Old Telephony Service (POTS) number associated with the calling party. A first hub receives the call and routes it to the called party if that party is not an IT services subscriber that is currently on line. If the called party is an IT services subscriber that is on-line, the call is received at an Internet Services Provider serving the called party. The ISP converts the call to an IT format if the call is not already in that format and thereafter delivers the call to the called party. |
| US08520662B2 |
Location-aware application based quality of service (QOS) via a broadband access gateway
A system and method supporting access to multimedia information based upon user-defined quality of service criteria is disclosed. A broadband access gateway may coordinate network behavior during the transition of an access device among communication pathways having different available capacities. Adjustments in bit rates and levels of compression may be made based upon the user-defined quality of service criteria. The user may be notified when network conditions disallow support for the desired quality of service, and may choose to override selected criteria. The user-defined quality of service criteria may be stored within the gateway and associated with a user, or may be located in the access device and accessible to the gateway. |
| US08520660B2 |
Method and apparatus of sending synchronization signals in TDD systems
The present invention discloses a method and apparatus of sending synchronization signals in TDD systems. The method includes: sending P-SCH signals of synchronization signals on the third symbol of a DwPTS; sending S-SCH signals of the synchronization signals on the last OFDM symbols of time slot 1 and time slot 11. The present invention solves the problem that the P-SCH signal sending interferes with the pilot sending of the first and second antenna in the prior art, guarantees that the location of the pilot in the DwPTS does not change, and reduces the system complexity. |
| US08520658B2 |
Demodulation reference signals for retransmission in wireless communication
Provided is a method for wireless communication which includes transmitting codewords according to an initial transmission rank, receiving downlink transmissions indicating at least one of the codewords to be retransmitted, constructing a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) to be sent with the at least one codeword to be retransmitted, and retransmitting the at least one codeword with the DM-RS according to a retransmission rank. The downlink transmissions may include one or more physical hybrid automatic retransmission request indicator channels and the DM-RS may be constructed based at least in part on information in the downlink transmissions. |
| US08520656B2 |
Partitioning of frequency resources for transmission of control signals and data signals in SC-FDMA communication systems
A method for the partitioning frequency resources used in the transmission of control signals and data signals by user equipments in a communication system. The control signals and data signals are for periodic transmission and dynamic transmission. Also provided is an apparatus and method for user equipments to determine the first frequency unit available for the transmission of dynamic control signals, such as acknowledgement signals associated respective reception of data signals configured through a scheduling assignment by a serving Node B. The utilization of the operating bandwidth is maximized by avoiding fragmentation and facilitates the achievement of reception reliability targets particularly for control signals. |
| US08520655B2 |
Wireless communication system, transmitting device, receiving device and wireless communication method
One object of the present invention is to effectively utilize adaptive modulation and improve stability of wireless communication, without departing from standards, by independently controlling MCSs of retransmission data and usual data and using MCS suitable for each data. In the wireless communication system of the present invention, a frame, in which an error occurs, in both a transmitting device and a receiving device and the error part are specified, and MCS used in the frame is specified. Therefore, it is possible to modulate/demodulate the error part based on desired MCS without loading MCS on HARQ. |
| US08520654B2 |
Method and apparatus for allocating and identifying frequency resources in a frequency division multiple access system
A method is provided for allocating and identifying frequency resources to a terminal in a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system. The method includes receiving from a base station a scheduling message including frequency resource information; and calculating the allocated frequency resource based on relative information if the scheduling message is a Relative Grant (RG) message including the relative information generated on a basis of a currently used channel. The relative information includes one of an identifier of a terminal, or an identifier of a channel in use by the terminal as a terminal ID, state information indicating number of channel that stands for increase or decrease amount of frequency resources on a basis of the currently used channel, and, direction information indicating a direction of the state information. |
| US08520651B2 |
Portable device and method, computer program product and computer readable recording medium for setting operation mode for packet transfer
A portable device configured to be connected to a router via a wireless or wired connection. The portable device includes a first processing section that operates in each of a first operation mode to serve as a bridge functional part and a second operation mode to serve as a router functional part. The first processing section operates in the first operation mode when the portable device is connected to the router. |
| US08520647B2 |
Wireless client position estimating system and method
The present invention comprises a system and method for determining an estimated position of a wireless mobile client device operating in a communications environment covered by a wireless local area network. The received signal strength of the wireless mobile client device is measured by one or more access points serving devices in the communications environment. In a preferred embodiment, the error between the received signal strength measured by the access points and the expected received signal strength at a plurality of locations in the communications environment is calculated. The location of the device is determined from the error. |
| US08520646B1 |
Ranging of wireless communication networks with distant links
A method of operating a communication system is disclosed. The method includes exchanging a first communications between an access node and an antenna node over a first link and processing the first communications to determine a first delay metric, wherein the first delay metric indicates a first time delay associated with the first link. The method also includes exchanging a second communications between the access node and a wireless communication device over a third link, wherein the third link comprises the first link and a second link between the antenna node and the wireless communication device and processing the second communications to determine a second delay metric, wherein the second delay metric indicates a second time delay associated with the third link. The method also includes processing the first delay metric and the second delay metric to determine a third delay metric and timing a third communications between the access node and the wireless communication device over the third link based on the third delay metric. |
| US08520644B2 |
Method for re-direction of uplink access
A method for prompt re-direction of uplink access of a specific user equipment is disclosed. For initial random access to a network, if a user equipment transmits a preamble, which includes information related to random access, to a network node, the network node sends grant/rejection information of the preamble and re-direction information as a response message to the preamble. In comparison with the related art which controls a rush of an access request of the user equipment through a second response message from the network node, since the rush of an access request is controlled by a first response message in the present invention, it is possible to promptly deal with abnormal communication status, thereby improving communication efficiency. |
| US08520643B2 |
Rate control method and apparatus for data packet transmission
Base stations control the transmission rate that is used by UE (user equipment) to forward them information. A UE periodically forwards a rate request to a base station if the UE needs to have its data transmission rate to the base station increased or decreased, and the base station responds with a rate command. An error can occur in the transmission of the rate command, such that a rate Rnb transmitted by the base station and detected by the UE as Rue may not match. Various schemes are proposed for reducing and correcting such transmission errors. A first scheme involves periodically resetting the transmission rate of the base station and UE with a reference rate. Second to fourth schemes involve periodically comparing the transmission rates of the base station and UE, and replacing the rate of the UE if they differ. A fifth scheme involves a filtering of the feedback command in order to reduce the impact of error propagation. A sixth scheme, which may be used separately or in conjunction with any of the foregoing schemes, involves adjusting a power offset with a repetition factor. All of the schemes are modified during a soft handover of the UE from the base station to a new base station. |
| US08520641B2 |
Radio communication device and arrival direction estimation method
A receiver having an array antenna estimates arrival directions of multiple paths that arrive with an angular spread. Consequently, arrival direction estimation accuracy can be ensured without increasing throughput even if the power every path is low by estimating an average arrival direction of an entire set of multiple paths having the angular spread from a result of one angular spectrum by multiple correlation operation units that perform mutual correlation operations with pilot signals for baseband signals received by the array antenna, a path detection unit that detects multiple arrival path receiving timings by generating a delay profile based on output of each of the correlation operation units, a path correlation value synthesis unit that synthesizes a correlation operation value calculated in the multiple correlation operation units and an arrival direction estimation unit that collectively estimates multiple path arrival directions using output of the path correlation value synthesis unit. |
| US08520638B2 |
Method and apparatus for media independent handover capability discovery
A first media independent handover function (MIHF) receives a media independent handover (MIH) capabilities discovery request from a second MIHF and generates a MIH capabilities discovery response message, including one or more parameters. Then the first MIHF then sends the MIH capabilities discovery response to the second MIHF. Based on the information contained in the MIH capabilities discovery response, the first MIHF may receive a handover request message from the second MIHF. The one or more parameters included within the discovery response message indicates the specific technologies for which the first MIHF supports a MMB handover. The one or more parameters may include a list of the technologies for which a make-before-break (MMB) handover is supported. For example, a parameter may use a specific bit structure wherein each bit is a Boolean representation of whether MMB handover is supported for a specific type of technology. |
| US08520636B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing handover
A method and an apparatus perform a handover using the X2 interface. A source base station transmits a handover requirement message, for a handover to a destination base station of a user equipment (UE), to a source base station gateway. When a handover command message indicating performing of the handover to a destination base station of the UE is received from the source base station gateway, the handover command message is transmitted to the UE. When a UE context release command message is received from the source base station gateway, a context of the UE is released. And a UE context release completion message, representing that the context of the UE is released, is transmitted to the source base station gateway. The handover requirement message includes a Next-hop Chaining Counter (NCC) and an encryption key for a communication between the UE and the destination base station. |
| US08520634B2 |
Active/standby operation of a femtocell base station
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for operating a femtocell base station of a wireless communication system. A method of the present invention comprises obtaining a list of designated wireless devices capable of communication with the base station; counting the number of designated wireless devices currently within range of the base station; and switching the base station between an active state and a standby state based on the count. The base station may obtain information for counting wireless devices currently within range by monitoring the wireless environment, and/or by monitoring information received through a network interface. |
| US08520633B2 |
Method and system for synchronizing wireless devices with a communication network
A method of operating a communication system comprises performing a plurality of ranging processes to establish a network connection over a wireless link. A time interval is established for a wireless device timer at the wireless device upon establishing the network connection and a time interval is established for an access node timer at the access node upon establishing the network connection. The method also comprises establishing a communication session over the wireless link and network connection. When a repeat request acknowledgement message is received during the communication session, the time interval for the wireless device timer and the time interval for the access node timer is restarted. |
| US08520627B2 |
Method of conducting handover of mobile node, and network system using the same
An apparatus and method relates to transmission of media independent (MIH) handover protocol information, the access point includes a wired interface module to receive, through a wired network, indication information indicating whether an access point that manages a neighboring heterogeneous subnet supports a protocol to conduct a media independent handover (MIH), a storage module to store the received indication information, a frame generating module to generate a frame including the stored indication information, and a wireless interface module to transmit the generated frame to a mobile node. |
| US08520621B2 |
Providing a downlink control structure in a first carrier to indicate control information in a second, different carrier
A mobile station receives a downlink control structure in a first carrier, where the downlink control structure indicates that control information for the mobile station is on a second, different carrier. The mobile station decodes the control information in the second carrier, where the control information specifies resource allocation of a wireless link for the mobile station. More specifically, according to some implementations, the control channel in the first carrier specifies the resource allocation for an extended control channel in the second carrier, where the extended control channel specifies the resource allocation for traffic data of a wireless link for the mobile station. |
| US08520617B2 |
Interference mitigation in heterogeneous wireless communication networks
A method in a wireless terminal transceiver includes receiving a sequence of frames from a first base station, wherein each frame in the sequence contains a first set of time-frequency resources which may be used for scheduling data and a second set of time-frequency resources not used for scheduling data. The transceiver also receives a message from the first base station identifying a third set of time-frequency resources that is a subset of the first set of time-frequency resources, and estimates the channel state based on the transmission received in the third set of time-frequency resources. |
| US08520616B2 |
Method and device for user pairing for uplink multi-user MIMO under coordinated multiple point transmission scenario
A method of pairing users for an uplink multi-user multiple-input-multiple-output (MU-MIMO) system under coordinated multipoint transmission (CoMP) scenario in a communication system, which includes: selecting, by a first cell of the communication system, at least one initial user served by the cell as a first paired user; selecting, by the first cell, a candidate paired user according to the service type of the first paired user; and determining, from the different service types of the first paired user and the candidate paired user, a pairing type to be formed, and determining whether the candidate paired user and the first paired user can be paired into the pairing type to be formed by using a predetermined determination criterion according to the pairing type. It is further provided a device for performing the method. The throughput and communication efficiency of the communication system can be improved with the method and device for pairing users. |
| US08520612B2 |
Method for radio resource control and base station using the same
A method for radio resource control is carried out in a radio communications system including multiple base stations. In this method, a radio resource that can be used by the base stations is divided into multiple first radio resources on the frequency axis. Then one or more of the first radio resources are allocated to a second radio resource for initially transmitting a packet and the other first radio resources are allocated to a third radio resource for retransmitting the packet. |
| US08520610B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving multiple codewords in SC-FDMA system
The present invention relates a method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving data using multiple codewords in a communication system using SC-FDMA (single carrier frequency division multiple access). A transmitter generates the multiple codewords for user data and transmits the generated multiple codewords. A receiver receives the multiple codewords and sequentially performs decoding and SIC (successive interference cancellation) on the received multiple codewords. Therefore, this structure can minimize a PAPR (peak to average power ratio) and considerably reduces interference between symbols in a frequency selective fading environment. |
| US08520609B2 |
Data services roaming without full mobile internet protocol (MIP) support
A method and apparatus for providing an interface between a visited network that supports the Simple Internet Protocol (SIP) and a home network that supports the Mobile Internet Protocol (MIP) includes establishing a SIP compatible tunnel between an access gateway process in the visited network and a Proxy Mobile Node of a local process. An MIP compatible tunnel is established between a Home Agent (HA) in the home network and a Proxy Foreign Agent of the local process. Data packets received at the local process over one tunnel are transmitted over the other using data packet encapsulation. |
| US08520606B2 |
Synchronous spectrum sharing based on OFDM/OFDMA signaling
A system and method for synchronous spectrum sharing for use in a wireless communication system based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signaling is disclosed. The system includes a frame detector configured to detect a frame of a broadcast waveform and extract idle spectrum information for the frame to the secondary user node. The system allows transmitting data from the secondary user node in unused symbol slots identified in the idle spectrum information thereby making efficient use of unused or idle spectrum. Accordingly, secondary users of the wireless communication system can dynamically form ad-hoc mesh network communications in fixed or mobile scenarios. |
| US08520605B2 |
Apparatus for controlling broadband access and distribution of content and communications through an access point
A method of and a system for broadband/infrastructure providers to set, control, operate a coercive/disruptive controller (CDC) to manage and provide broadband content to an end user device. A controller controls broadband content and communication from a broadband network access device to an end user device. The controller utilizes content-specific quality of service (QoS) parameters and operation logic to selectively process broadband content transmitted to the end user devices. The controller operates independently or is dynamically set and controlled by a remotely coupled controller or server. Broadband content is managed and administered according to the QoS parameters, where the QoS parameters are content specific. As such, the QoS parameters are set/reset, assigned/reassigned based on the broadband content, making the QoS related to the broadband content independent of the content provider. |
| US08520596B2 |
Inter-domain coordination for MT and MO calls
A mobility management entity (MME) for setting up a call includes a first network interface which receives a tracking area update (TAU) request from a user equipment (UE). The MME includes a processing unit which translates the TAU request into a location area update (LAU) request. The MME includes a second network interface in communication with the processing unit which sends the LAU request to a mobile switching center (MSC) selected as a tracking MSC thereby establishing the MME as a network node through which the UE is paged. The second network interface receiving a LAU response from the tracking MSC that includes at least information identifying one or more suitable location area identifiers (LAI(s)) to which handover is allowed and Network Resource Identifier (NRI) information where the information indicates that the tracking MSC controls the suitable LAI(s), and the processing unit translating the LAU response into a TAU response which is sent through the first network interface to the UE. |
| US08520595B2 |
Routing to the access layer to support mobility of internet protocol devices
Techniques are provided for seamless integration of wired and wireless functionality packet forwarding in network. A plurality of access switches are provided in each of a plurality of mobility sub-domains that are part of a mobility domain of a network. Each access switch serves one or more Internet Protocol (IP) subnets, each comprising a plurality of IP addresses. An access switch obtains an IP address for a wireless device according to the one or more IP subnets that the access switch serves. The access switch sends an association advertisement message to indicate the IP address of the wireless device and to enable other access switches and routers to compute a path to the wireless device. When a wireless device obtains an IP address, it can keep the same IP address as it roams in the mobility domain. |
| US08520594B2 |
Selectively including allowed closed subscriber group list in page message
Problems caused by interaction between paging optimization and synchronizing closed subscriber group (CSG) information are mitigated by setting a network indication indicating, for example, that a subscriber is no longer a member of a CSG, but the network has not yet received confirmation that an access terminal associated with the subscriber has been informed of this. A timer-based scheme may be employed for removing a CSG identifier (ID) from the subscriber information for a subscriber once it is determined that the subscriber is no longer a member of the CSG. In addition, a temporary member of a CSG may determine whether it is still a member of a CSG upon expiration of a CSG timer. Also, the frequency with which an access terminal registers may be changed based on various criteria. Furthermore, an allowed CSG list may be selectively included in a page message depending on the destination of the page message. |
| US08520587B2 |
Wireless data acquisition network
The invention relates to a device, a method and an apparatus for acquiring data, the device comprising a wireless network including a set of nodes (100), each node (100) including a sender (140) and a receiver (150) for sending and/or receiving and/or relaying data and/or commands, and a satellite positioning system (130), characterized in that each satellite positioning system (130) includes means for providing specific data used for time-stamping the data relative to a common time reference, organizing an access to the wireless network in a perfectly controlled manner, and routing data and/or commands within the network. |
| US08520586B1 |
Discovery and connection coexistence mechanism for wireless devices
Interference can impair communications of collocated wireless devices or wireless devices communicating in close proximity to each other. In implementations where the communications of one wireless device have a higher priority as compared to the communications of the other wireless device, the low priority communications should not impair or interfere with the high priority communications. Functionality can be implemented to control when the low priority wireless device transmits based on a current state (e.g., active/inactive) of the collocated high priority wireless device, a frequency separation between communication channels of the wireless devices, strengths of signals received by the wireless devices, etc. Transmit power of the low priority wireless device may be controlled so that the low priority communications do not impair the high priority communications. |
| US08520585B2 |
Multicast retry in a communication network
Aspects of multicast retry in a communication network includes a terminal device serving as an originator station device within a multicast group configured to provide transmission of one or more protocol data units via a network utilizing a multicast address. Subsequent to transmission of the one or more protocol data units, the terminal device may receive an acknowledgment protocol data unit via one of many destination terminal devices configured to serve as a responder. The received acknowledgment protocol data unit provides a basis to determine whether the transmitted protocol data units were successfully received by one or more destination terminal devices. One or more of the protocol data units may be retransmitted based on the determination. Also, following retransmission, a supplemental acknowledgment protocol data unit may be provided via a destination terminal device of the destination terminal devices exclusive of the responder destination terminal device. |
| US08520579B2 |
Token based radio resource management
The invention relates to a method of globally balancing the transmit power in a cellular radio system with tight reuse of frequencies, to a central controller node, and to an access point that in combination with conventional power control schemes balances the downlink transmission power on reused frequencies in order to balance co-channel interference in a multi-cell environment. The power balancing scheme dynamically assigns a token to or takes a token away from an individual reused radio channel based on quality of, or based on transmission power in the channel. A token, if taken away from the channel, inhibits conventional power control thereby freezing the transmission power in the channel on its current power level. A token, if assigned or re-assigned to channel, re-assumes conventional power control thereby allowing dynamic variation of the transmission power in the channel in accordance with the conventional power control. |
| US08520578B2 |
Integrated wireless distribution and mesh backhaul networks
A wireless network using nodes that perform both distribution and backhaul functions is provided. These nodes constitute the key elements of a wireless network that would be deployed and controlled by a wireless network operator. Each node contains a distribution wireless module which is wirelessly coupled to the wireless end user device using a point to multipoint scheme. Also integrated into each node is at least one backhaul wireless module with a directional wireless antenna. Each backhaul wireless module communicates by way of a point to point wireless link with the backhaul module of one other node. The nodes in the wireless network are interconnected to form a mesh backhaul network wherein data traffic can be routed around obstacles that may prevent line of site links. Furthermore, the mesh network allows dynamic routing of data traffic to avoid congestion points or downed links in the network. |
| US08520574B2 |
Method of translating protocol at translator, method of providing protocol translation information at translation server, and address translation server
A translator is connected to a first network for transferring data in a first protocol, to a second network for transferring data in a second protocol, and to a translation server to which other translators are connected, for retaining translation information for a protocol translation between the first protocol and the second protocol. The translator generates a second address in the first protocol corresponding to a first address in the second protocol provided to a terminal accommodated in the second network. It retains a correspondence between the first address and the second address as the translation information and registers the correspondence at the translation server. |
| US08520573B2 |
Method, base station, and user terminal for implementing uplink resource indication
A method, a base station (BS), and a user terminal for implementing uplink resource indication are provided. The method includes: carrying an uplink resource index in a ul grant, in which the uplink resource index is corresponding to at least one uplink resource in terms of indication; and sending the ul grant. The BS includes an index carrying module and an instruction sending module. The user terminal includes an instruction receiving module, an instruction resolving module, and an execution module. |
| US08520571B2 |
Reconfigurable wireless modem sub-circuits to implement multiple air interface standards
A flexible and reconfigurable digital system (for example, a wireless modem) includes a set of sub-circuits. Each sub-circuit includes a task manager and an amount of configurable hardware circuitry for performing a type of operation on a data stream. The task manager of a sub-circuit can configure and control the configurable hardware of the sub-circuit. A central processor configures and orchestrates operation of the sub-circuits by maintaining a set of task lists in a tightly coupled memory. Each task list includes task instructions for a corresponding sub-circuit. The task manager of a sub-circuit reads task instructions from its task list and controls its associated hardware circuitry as directed by the instructions. A timestamp task instruction and a push task instruction and the task list architecture allow modem sub-circuits to be easily reconfigured to operate in accordance with either a first air interface standard or a second air interface standard. |
| US08520570B2 |
Data communication system, information processing apparatus and storage medium having stored thereon information processing program
Provided is a data communication system including a first communication terminal, a second communication terminal and a connection point apparatus. The first communication terminal includes connection point data transmitting means. The connection point data transmitting means transmits connection point data for communicating with the connection point apparatus. The second communication terminal includes connection point data receiving means and communication means. The connection point data receiving means attempts to the receive connection point data from the first communication terminal. The communication means attempts to communicate with the connection point apparatus by using the connection point data received by the connection point data receiving means. |
| US08520567B2 |
Encoding information in beacon signals
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting at least two different types of information in a single signal, whereby the different types of information can be encoded and decoded independently. Thus, changes to one type of information does not affect a second type of information. |
| US08520559B2 |
Method for routing via access terminals
An access-terminal routing methodology is provided that may be used to enable a wireless, meshed backhaul between base stations using existing wireless-access resources (time, bandwidth, code-space, power), protocols, and base station infrastructure. Accordingly, the invention provides a means to extend the coverage of existing networks by adding standalone base stations without wired or specialized wireless backhaul. |
| US08520557B2 |
Methods and apparatus for peer-to-peer non-simultaneous communication
A method and apparatus for facilitating communication between a plurality of wireless devices is provided. The method may comprise establishing, by a first wireless device, a communication path with at least one of a plurality of wireless devices via a network, wherein the communication path provides for half duplexed direct communication between the first wireless device and the at least one of the plurality of wireless devices, maintaining each established communication path until a triggering event occurs, generating content, in the first wireless device, to be transmitted to at least one of the plurality of wireless devices with the established communication path, wherein the generated content includes non-voice data, and transmitting, from the first wireless device, the generated content through the established communication path to the at least one wireless device of the plurality of wireless devices. |
| US08520556B2 |
Terminal and N-tree constructing method
A terminal apparatus minimizes traffic congestion by reducing end-to-end delay and maximizes the bandwidth available in shared N-tree ALM nodes. In this terminal apparatus, an optimal stream path information table stores N-tree session information for all nodes. A server forwarding table stores bandwidth-fair ALM route information for all nodes in a specific N-tree session. An ALM forwarding table constructor updates N-tree session information stored in an optimal stream path information table using network metrics and heuristic rules stored in a heuristic rule database, executes ALM_N-tree algorithm using updated N-tree session information, and thereby generates bandwidth-fair ALM route information. |
| US08520554B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing a standardized interpretive engine
Implementing a standardized interpretive engine includes externalizing a business requirement into a component class of a data control structure, defining a solution to the business requirement, entering the solution into metadata within the component class, and pulling data from a data warehouse into the component class based upon the business requirement. Pulling the data includes aggregating sub-tending data from the data warehouse. The aggregation is specified to a level requested via the component class. Implementing the standardized interpretive engine also includes performing a calculation on the data in accordance with the business requirement. The data is pulled away from the data warehouse and forward to the component class, such that a single data source associated with the data is usable multiple times for a plurality of component classes. |
| US08520552B2 |
Method for determining mutual and transitive correlation over a wireless channel to form links and deliver targeted content messages
A wireless node configured to store information, discover another wireless node by correlating the stored information with assist information from said another wireless node, and determine whether to establish a wireless link with said another wireless node based, at least in part, on the correlation. |
| US08520550B2 |
Intra-cell and inter-cell interference mitigation methods for orthogonal frequency-division multiple access cellular networks
Various embodiments of a method of mitigating interference in an OFDMA cellular network and a user terminal incorporating various of the embodiments. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) selecting at least one dominant interfering signal, (2) generating estimates of a desired signal and the at least one dominant interfering signal, (3) jointly deciding based on the estimates such that an energy of a residual error is reduced and (4) mitigating interference based on the estimates. |
| US08520549B2 |
Power consumption management in a MIMO transceiver and method for use therewith
A mobile communication device includes a first wireless transceiver that receives a first inbound RF signal and that transmits a first outbound RF signal based on a first power supply signal. A second wireless transceiver receives a second inbound RF signal and that transmits a second outbound RF signal based on a second power supply signal. A processing module generates at least one power mode signal based on first transmit power control data received via the first inbound RF signal. A power management circuit adjusts a first power consumption parameter of the first power supply signal and a second power consumption parameter of the second power supply signal based on the at least one power mode signal. |
| US08520548B2 |
Support for retransmitting a transport block with a different number of layers than a previous transmission attempt
A method of conveying transport block size (TBS) information includes determining TBS parameters for a wireless transmission of data between a first node and a second node based on a first number of transmission layers associated with the wireless transmission. The method also includes generating a control message indicating the TBS parameters and transmitting the control message to the second node. The method also includes transmitting a transport block to the second node in accordance with the TBS parameters indicated by the control message. The transport block is transmitted over a first number of transmission layers. The method also includes retransmitting the transport block to the second node in accordance with the TBS parameters indicated by the control message. The transport block is retransmitted over a second number of transmission layers that differs from the first number of transmission layers. |
| US08520544B2 |
Intelligent reduction of interference to public safety wireless networks
Interference, from fixed wireless terminals, communicating with, for example, an LTE network, can be intelligently reduced for nearby public safety networks. A fixed terminal may, for instance, determine a signal strength of radio signals from a public safety wireless network, and perform a threshold comparison of the signal strength to determine whether the fixed terminal is located in an edge area of a cell of the public safety wireless network. The fixed terminal may reduce transmission power, to the network of the fixed terminal (e.g., the LTE network), when the threshold comparison indicates that the device is located in the edge area of the cell of the public safety wireless network. |
| US08520540B1 |
Remote traffic monitoring through a network
Techniques are provided for receiving one or more packets at a network device in a network. The one or more packets are part of normal network communication traffic. Device specific information associated with the one or more packets is generated that is unique to or available at the network device. One or more duplicate packets corresponding to the one or more packets are generated. The device specific information is encapsulated within the one or more duplicate packets for transmission over the network. The one or more duplicate packets are received at a network analyzer in the network. The device specific information associated with the one or more packets that is unique to the network device is extracted from the one or more duplicate packets and analyzed to determine network metrics for the one or more packets. |
| US08520533B1 |
Storage path management bus view
In large complex multi-path storage environments, knowing there is a problem is extremely valuable. Example embodiments of the present invention include a management framework that provides an easy to use and read graphical perspective that allows analysis of faults in a multi-path storage environment. The architecture is not only responsive, scalable, and robust, but also provides “middleware” services to a broad spectrum of enterprise management applications whose domains may extend beyond storage path management. The management framework includes a consolidator that, along with an agent on the hosts, supports an administrator in: collecting storage path information from hosts; summarizing, aggregating, filtering, and reformatting storage path information to serve enterprise management needs and policies; forwarding an alert regarding storage path information to interested managers; routing storage path management commands from managers to hosts; and reporting command completion status from the host back to the requesting manager. |
| US08520531B2 |
Isolation list creation program, method, and device
An isolation list containing information on a master/slave relation of isolation devices is stored in a history file. A range setting unit sets an isolation range according to a specifying operation with respect to the system diagram of equipment displayed on the screen. A master device registration unit extracts an isolation device present in the set range and registers it as a master device in the isolation list during editing. A slave device search unit successively selects a master device from the isolation list during editing, searches an isolation device which is in a relation of slave device with respect to the selected master device from the history file, and displays a slave device list. A slave device registration unit inserts and places a slave device selected based on the selecting operation of the slave device list after the corresponding master device in the isolation list during editing, thereby completing the list. |
| US08520528B2 |
Wireless service provision
The invention pertains to wireless service provision comprising reception or transmission of wireless signals from/to a communications system not (yet) available for public communications in an environment providing telecommunications services of another communications system. An example embodiment of the invention explores and implements triggering of a user equipment to perform test or measurement of a target network from an originating network, whereas the user equipment triggers establishment of a communications channel in the target network, the target network providing test signals to the user equipment. |
| US08520526B2 |
Method and apparatus of load balancing femtocell cluster access
A method of establishing a communication session between an access terminal and an access network is disclosed. The access terminal and access network may be femtocells based on the EVDO communication standard. The example method of communication may include transmitting a connection request from the access terminal to the access network, and receiving a redirect message or a traffic channel assignment message at the access terminal based on a communication between the access network and at least one other access network. More than one access network may be present communicating as a communication pair system aimed at load balancing access terminals. The method may also include establishing packet data communications between the access terminal and a packet data serving node to provide network communication to the access terminal. |
| US08520525B2 |
Method of transmitting data and communication device
A method of transmitting data is described comprising selecting a transmission mode from at least a first and a second transmission mode, wherein according to the first transmission mode data is transmitted in at least two first time periods using first communication resources wherein the at least two first time periods are separated by a first time interval, wherein according to the second transmission mode data is transmitted in at least two second time periods using second communication resources wherein the at least two second time periods are separated by a second time interval, and wherein the first time interval is longer than the second and the first communication resources allow the transmission of a higher amount of data than the second communication resources; and transmitting data according to the selected transmission mode. |
| US08520524B2 |
Methods and apparatus for making transmitter and/or receiver communications decisions
Methods and apparatus for making communications decisions are described. In some embodiments, a method includes recovering a quality of service level from a transmission request response signal and making a decision whether or not to transmit traffic data based on the recovered quality of service level. In other embodiments a method includes recovering a first quality of service level from a first transmission request response signal which is in response to a first traffic transmission request signal, and making a decision, based on the recovered first quality of service level, whether or not to transmit a second transmission request response signal in response to a second traffic transmission request signal. In some embodiments, the phase of the transmission request response signal is used to communicate the quality of service level. The device transmitting the transmission request response may also transmit pilots which can be used as phase reference signals. |
| US08520520B2 |
System and method for per flow guaranteed throughput, multiple TCP flow bandwidth provisioning, and elimination of packet drops for transmission control protocol (TCP) and TCP-friendly protocols
A software and hardware system that provides for per flow guaranteed throughput and goodput for packet data flows using network transport protocols that have window-based flow control mechanisms or TCP-friendly flow control mechanisms. The system and method for guaranteed throughput of individual flows in turn enables a method for provisioning link bandwidth among multiple flows and provisioning network throughput and goodput at the granularity of individual flows. The invention also eliminates Layer 3 packet drops for a data flow using window-based flow control or TCP-friendly flow control, which in turn obviates congestion collapse and quality collapse scenarios. |
| US08520516B2 |
Communication device and communication method
A communication device according to the present invention includes: a receiving unit which receives a block transmitted by a communication device; a photocurrent measuring unit which measures a reception quality of the received block; a PHY rate determining unit which determines, based on the reception quality, a PHY rate that is used by the communication device for transmitting a next block; a block size control unit which determines, based on the measured reception quality, a block size; and a transmission unit which transmits feedback information including the determined PHY rate and the determined block size to the communication device, and the block size control unit determines the block size to be a value smaller than a maximum value of a block size that can be transmitted by the communication device, when a value indicating the reception quality of the block is within a predetermined range including a PHY rate threshold. |
| US08520514B2 |
System and method for configuration admission control of service instances
A method for configuring admission control of service instances in a network element may include: (i) reading a pre-determined maximum service-idle utilization of a processor approximately equal to maximum utilization of the processor in the absence of services executing on the processor; (ii) reading, for each particular service instance of a desired configuration of service instances, a pre-determined maximum utilization of the processor associated with the particular service instance; (iii) calculating an aggregate maximum utilization for the desired configuration, based on the pre-determined maximum service-idle utilization and the pre-determined maximum utilizations for each of the particular service instances; (iv) determining whether the aggregate maximum utilization is greater than a threshold maximum utilization for the processor; (v) allowing or denying the desired configuration based on the determination. |
| US08520507B1 |
Ethernet automatic protection switching
Preventing a loop in a virtual network that spans at least two rings when there is a failure in a segment shared between the rings. A node connected to the shared segment and the rings detects a failure in the segment to transmit data traffic; and prevents transmitting data traffic between the node and all the rings except for one ring, in response to detecting the failure. |
| US08520506B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for active-standby switchover
The present invention relates to the field of communication technologies and discloses a method, an apparatus, and a system for active-standby switchover. The method includes: copying at least one packet group to a standby board; recording the copied packet group and generating a transmission rule chain table of an active board according to a sequence of copying, so that the standby board generates a transmission rule chain table of the standby board which is the same as the active transmission rule chain according to the sequence of copying; and transmitting the packet group according to the sequence of the transmission rule chain table of the active board. By using the method, resuming transmission from a breakpoint upon an active-standby switchover is enabled. |
| US08520502B2 |
Systems and methods for managing RRC connections in wireless communications
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate selective release of mobile devices using conflicting identifiers when communicating with an access point. The access point can detect the conflicting identifier and transmit a selective release message to the mobile devices. The selective release message can include a disambiguation identifier so the appropriate mobile device can identify that it is incorrectly connected to the access point and can release its connection. The disambiguation identifier can be one or more unique aspects of the correctly or incorrectly connected mobile device, such as an identifier, previous message related aspects, whether a security or context check can be decoded, etc. Thus, connection of the incorrectly connected mobile device can be released without additionally releasing the correctly connected mobile device. |
| US08520500B2 |
Buffered demod and demap functions
An apparatus operable in a wireless communication system, the apparatus may include an FFT symbol buffer and a demapping device. The FFT symbol buffer can feed FFT symbol data derived from received communication signals to a channel estimation device and a shared buffer. The channel estimation device can also provide intermediate data to the shared buffer. The intermediate data may be in tile form and can be derived from the FFT symbol data. Further, the intermediate data can be stored in the shared buffer. The demapping device can extract the intermediate data from the shared buffer in various forms including sub-packet form. |
| US08520499B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for transmitting and receiving information of an uncoded channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system
A method, apparatus and system for efficiently transmitting and receiving channels are provided in a wireless communication system based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). A multiplexing scheme differs according to a channel when a transmitter transmits a packet data channel, a common control channel and a control channel designated for a particular user. Uncoded 1-bit information is broadly dispersed in frequency and time domains using multiplexing technology for maximizing diversity gain in a channel for transmitting information of at least one bit to a particular user like an acknowledgement (ACK) channel. The transmitter converts a sequence obtained by multiplexing multiple bits to be transmitted to a plurality of users to parallel signals, and broadly disperses the parallel signals in the time and frequency domains. When the uncoded 1-bit information is transmitted, reception reliability is improved because channel coding and transmission are efficiently performed using a small amount of resources. |
| US08520498B2 |
Transmit diversity and spatial spreading for an OFDM-based multi-antenna communication system
A multi-antenna transmitting entity transmits data to a single- or multi-antenna receiving entity using (1) a steered mode to direct the data transmission toward the receiving entity or (2) a pseudo-random transmit steering (PRTS) mode to randomize the effective channels observed by the data transmission across the subbands. For transmit diversity, the transmitting entity uses different pseudo-random steering vectors across the subbands but the same steering vector across a packet for each subband. The receiving entity does not need to have knowledge of the pseudo-random steering vectors or perform any special processing. For spatial spreading, the transmitting entity uses different pseudo-random steering vectors across the subbands and different steering vectors across the packet for each subband. Only the transmitting and receiving entities know the steering vectors used for data transmission. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and disclosed. |
| US08520496B2 |
Method and apparatus for rate matching within a communication system
A method and apparatus for rate matching is described. During operation of a transmitter, multiple data streams are received and individually interleaved with a permutation of a same length KΠ. A permutation (πp0) of a second stream is the same as a permutation (πsys) of a first stream and a permutation (πp1) of a third stream is different from the permutation of the first stream. Each element of πp1 is derived from the corresponding element of πsys. The plurality of interleaved streams are multiplexed to form a circular buffer. Finally, data is transmitted from the circular buffer. |
| US08520494B2 |
Precoding method for reducing uplink PAPR and apparatus thereof
A radio communication system is provided. An uplink transmission method of a user equipment in a radio communication system includes performing Fourier transform on one or more data sequences to generate one or more first frequency-domain sequences, applying precoding for multi-antenna transmission to the one or more first frequency-domain sequences to generate one or more second frequency-domain sequences; performing inverse Fourier transform on the one or more second frequency-domain sequences to generate one or more transmission symbols, and transmitting the one or more transmission symbols via multiple antennas. |
| US08520491B2 |
Periodic channel state information signaling with carrier aggregation
A method, an apparatus, and a computer readable medium can be provided for periodic channel state information signaling that employs carrier aggregation. The method can include determining, in an apparatus, channel state information. The channel state information includes channel state information of a plurality of component carriers. The method can also include reporting, by the apparatus, the channel state information including a plurality of reports in an aggregated form. |
| US08520488B2 |
Optical pickup device that forms an oval spot on a disc having a small angle with respect to a radial axis
An optical pickup device, an optical drive using the same, and a method of forming a beam spot are provided. The optical pickup includes a light source system that includes a light source corresponding to at least one of a digital versatile disc (DVD) and a Blu-ray disc (BD). The light source forms a beam spot having an oval shape with a long axis and a short axis on an information recording track of the disc, and the light source is disposed such that the long axis is maintained at an angle ranging from 0° to 30° with respect to a radial direction passing through a rotation center of the disc. |
| US08520487B2 |
Optical element retaining device, optical element transfer device and optical pickup device
An element holding device of the present invention includes: a guide portion engaging with a guide shaft; a lens fixing portion on which to fix a collimator lens; an arm portion; an insertion portion having a hole portion in which to insert a guide shaft; a wire fixing portion made by protruding a side surface of the insertion portion in a −Y direction; and a wire fixed on the wire fixing portion. A bent portion being a leading end portion of the wire is housed in a slit. Thereby, excess deformation of a contact portion is suppressed. |
| US08520486B2 |
Optical pickup device and optical disc apparatus
In an optical pickup device for a simple optical system, a light beam emitted from a laser diode is split into first and second light beams by a polarized beam splitter, an optical disc is irradiated with the first light beam to obtain signal light, and the second beam is reflected by a reflection element to obtain reference light. Light beams of the signal light and the reference light are synthesized into one light beam, the synthesized light beam is separated into four light beams by a phase difference forming unit including a grating, a divided wave plate and a polarization grating, and different phase differences are afforded to the signal light and the reference light in each light beam. The four light beams are detected by one detector to generate the reproduction signal. |
| US08520483B2 |
Method and system for processing information from optical disk layers
A method for processing information is provided. The method includes directing a laser beam to a first track of a first layer of a holographic storage medium. The method also includes recording a base voltage based on a look-up table. The method includes directing the laser beam to a target track in the first layer, based on position information in tracks. Further, the method includes recording an offset voltage for the target track into the look-up table. Still further, the method includes directing the laser beam to a target layer based on position information in vertical wobbles. The method also includes recording an offset voltage for the target layer into the look-up table. Finally, the method includes determining a final voltage based on the look-up table and applying the final voltage to an actuator for moving the laser beam to a final target position in the holographic storage medium for recording and retrieval of information. |
| US08520482B2 |
Optical tape drive movable planarizer subsystem and method for minimizing damage to an optical pickup unit
In an optical tape drive system, a movable planarizer subsystem includes a tape planarizer support structure for supporting an optical tape planarizer. The support structure is moveable between an operational position and a non-operational position. The movable planarizer subsystem also includes an actuator for moving the support structure and the optical tape planarizer between the operational position and the non-operational position. The operational position of the support structure positions the optical tape planarizer to permit reading/writing of information from/to an optical tape via an optical pickup unit (OPU), and the non-operational position of the support structure positions the optical tape planarizer to permit passage of a tape leader through the tape drive system without damage to the OPU. |
| US08520467B2 |
Using seismic sensor transfer functions for high fidelity seismic imaging
A technique includes deploying seismic sensors to perform a seismic survey and during the deployment of the seismic sensors, testing each of the seismic sensors to determine an associated sensor transfer function. The technique includes determining an associated operator to apply to seismic data acquired by each of the seismic sensors in the seismic survey based at least in part on a frequency dependent variation between the associated sensor transfer function and a nominal response for the seismic sensor. The technique includes processing the seismic data, including applying the associated operators to the seismic data. |
| US08520461B2 |
Row address code selection based on locations of substandard memory cells
A memory device identifies memory blocks that contain substandard memory cells. The memory device then determines row address codes to apply to the memory blocks during refresh operations. The row address codes determine which memory blocks of the memory block are refreshed together. The row address codes are designed to ensure that memory blocks having substandard memory cells, which must be refreshed more frequently than other cells, are refreshed together, while memory blocks without substandard memory cells are refreshed together. |
| US08520459B2 |
Method for storing data into a memory
A method for storing data into a memory is provided. In this method, at first, data desired to be written into the memory is provided, wherein the data comprises a plurality of data records. Then, a memory space of the memory for storing the data is provided. Thereafter, a data-writing step is performed to write the data into the memory. In the data-writing step, at first, it is determined that if the values of all the data records of the data are cleared values to provide a first determined result. Then, it is determined that if the data matches an erasing unit of the memory to provide a second determined result. Thereafter, the contents of the memory space are erased, when both the first determined result and the second determined result are yes. |
| US08520458B2 |
Phase change memory cycle timer and method
A phase change memory (PCM) cycle timer and associated method are disclosed. A system includes at least one reference phase change element (PCE). The system also includes a circuit that performs a write operation on the at least one reference PCE and substantially immediately thereafter continuously senses and returns a value of a resistance of the at least one reference PCE throughout a settling time of the at least one reference PCE. |
| US08520456B2 |
Semiconductor memory apparatus for reducing current consumption
A semiconductor memory apparatus may comprise: an input buffer block configured to receive a write signal and a reference level signal, compare a the write signal with a the reference level signal to generate a first write control signal, and delay the first write control signal by a predetermined time to generate a second write control signal; a first decoder block configured to combine the second write control signal inputted from the input buffer block with externally inputted command signals, and generate a first write command signal; a clock control block configured to generate a clock control signal for determining determine a level of an internal clock signal in response to a level of the first write control signal outputted from the input buffer block; and a write signal control block configured to generate an internal write command signal according to a level of the first write command signal inputted from the first decoder block and the clock control signal inputted from the clock control block. |
| US08520455B2 |
Method and apparatus for training a DLL in a memory subsystem
A method and apparatus for training a DLL in a memory subsystem is disclosed. In one embodiment, a memory subsystem includes a memory coupled to convey data read therefrom on one or more channels. Each memory channel may include a delay locked loop (DLL) configured to apply a desired amount of delay to a data strobe signal received from the memory during a read operation. Upon detecting a read request, a controller may initiate a training procedure in which the DLL is trained to the desired delay. During the training procedure, an input clock signal may be provided to the DLL. The delay within the DLL may be adjusted until an output clock signal has a desired phase relationship with the input clock signal. Once the desired phase relationship is attained, the training procedure may be terminated and the DLL input may be switched to receive the data strobe signal. |
| US08520453B2 |
Device for generating a test pattern of a memory chip and method thereof
A method of generating a test pattern of a memory chip includes generating and outputting a pattern enabling signal according to a first pattern signal and a second pattern signal, generating and outputting a first pre-input-output signal and a second pre-input-output signal according to a memory bank signal, a section signal, and the pattern enabling signal, executing an exclusive-OR logic operation on a third input-output signal and the second pattern signal to generate and output a first enabling signal, generating and outputting a first input-output signal and a second input-output signal according to the first enabling signal, the first pre-input-output signal and the second pre-input-output signal, and writing a predetermined logic voltage to each memory cell of the memory chip according to the first input-output signal and the second input-output signal. |
| US08520446B2 |
Method of erasing a memory including first and second erase modes
A memory device includes a memory cell array including a plurality of memory blocks, each memory block including a plurality of memory cells, a plurality of word lines coupled to rows of the plurality of memory cells, a plurality of bit lines coupled to columns of the plurality of memory cells, and a control unit controlling an erase operation so that erase data is simultaneously written in the plurality of memory cells corresponding to an erase unit. A first erase mode may include a first erase unit and a first erase data pattern. A second erase mode may include a second erase unit and a second erase pattern. At least one of the first and second erase units and the first and second erase data patterns are different. |
| US08520444B2 |
Nonvolatile memory and method for verifying the same
A nonvolatile memory device includes a cell string including a plurality of memory cells connected in series, a bit line connected to the cell string, a voltage sensing unit configured to apply a verify precharge voltage to the bit line in response to a voltage of a sensing node before a verify operation, a voltage transmission unit configured to apply a voltage of the bit line to the sensing node in a verify operation, and a page buffer configured to determine a voltage of the sensing node in response to data stored therein before a verify operation and to change the data in response to a voltage level of the sensing node in the verify operation. |
| US08520442B2 |
Method of operating semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device is operated by reading data stored in LSB and MSB pages of a first word line in response to a read command and storing the read data in first and second latches of a page buffer, outputting the data stored in the first latch externally and transferring the data, stored in the second latch, to a third latch of the page buffer, resetting the first and second latches, reading data stored in LSB and MSB pages of a second word line, and storing the read data in the first and second latches, and sequentially outputting the data stored in the first latch and the data stored in the third latch, resetting the third latch, and then transferring the data stored in the second latch to the third latch. |
| US08520439B2 |
Memory array and method for programming memory array
A method for programming a memory array is provided. The memory array includes a memory cell string composed of a first transistor, a plurality of memory cells and a second transistor connected in series, and the method for programming the memory array includes following steps. In a setup phase, a switching memory cell in the memory cells is turned off, and a first voltage and a second voltage are applied to a first source/drain and a second source/drain of the switching memory cell. In a programming phase, a bit line connected to the memory cell string is floating, and a ramp signal is provided to a word line electrically connected to the switching memory cell. |
| US08520438B2 |
Program method of nonvolatile memory device
A program method of a nonvolatile memory device includes applying a program voltage to a selected word line, applying a first pass voltage to at least one word line adjacent to the selected word line, applying at least one first middle voltage lower than the first pass voltage but higher than an isolation voltage to at least one word line adjacent to the word line receiving the first pass voltage, applying the isolation voltage to a word line adjacent to the word line receiving the first middle voltage, applying at least one second middle voltage higher than the isolation voltage but lower than a second pass voltage to at least one word line adjacent to the word line receiving the isolation voltage, and applying a second pass voltage to at least one word line adjacent to the word line receiving the second middle voltage. |
| US08520433B1 |
Magnetoresistive element and magnetic memory
A magnetoresistive element according to an embodiment includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, and a first nonmagnetic layer provided between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer, at least one of the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer including a magnetic film of MnxAlyGez (10 atm %≦x≦44 atm %, 10 atm %≦y≦65 atm %, 10 atm %≦z≦80 atm %, x+y+z=100 atm %). |
| US08520432B2 |
Magnetic memory with separate read and write paths
Magnetic memory having separate read and write paths is disclosed. The magnetic memory unit includes a ferromagnetic strip having a first end portion with a first magnetization orientation, an opposing second end portion with a second magnetization orientation, and a middle portion between the first end portion and the second end portion, the middle portion having a free magnetization orientation. The first magnetization orientation opposes the second magnetization orientation. A tunneling barrier separates a magnetic reference layer from the middle portion forming a magnetic tunnel junction. A bit line is electrically coupled to the second end portion. A source line is electrically coupled to the first end portion and a read line is electrically coupled to the magnetic tunnel junction. |
| US08520431B2 |
Devices and methods to program a memory cell
Subject matter disclosed herein relates to memory devices and, more particularly, to programming a memory cell. |
| US08520425B2 |
Resistive random access memory with low current operation
A memory cell in a 3-D read and write memory device has two bipolar resistance-switching layers with different respective switching currents. A low current resistance-switching layer can be switched in set and reset processes while a high current resistance-switching layer remains in a reset state and acts as a protection resistor to prevent excessively high currents on the low current resistance-switching layer. The low and high current resistance-switching layers can be of the same material such as a metal oxide, where the layers differ in terms of thickness, doping, leakiness, metal richness or other variables. Or, the low and high current resistance-switching layers can be of different materials, having one or more layers each. The high current resistance-switching layer can have a switching current which is greater than a switching current of the low current resistance-switching layer by a factor of at least 1.5 or 2.0, for instance. |
| US08520424B2 |
Composition of memory cell with resistance-switching layers
A memory device in a 3-D read and write memory includes memory cells. Each memory cell includes a resistance-switching memory element (RSME) in series with a steering element. The RSME has first and second resistance-switching layers on either side of a conductive intermediate layer, and first and second electrodes at either end of the RSME. The first and second resistance-switching layers can both have a bipolar or unipolar switching characteristic. In a set or reset operation of the memory cell, an ionic current flows in the resistance-switching layers, contributing to a switching mechanism. An electron flow, which does not contribute to the switching mechanism, is reduced due to scattering by the conductive intermediate layer, to avoid damage to the steering element. Particular materials and combinations of materials for the different layers of the RSME are provided. |
| US08520423B2 |
Non-volatile memory device
A non-volatile memory device for performing a sensing operation using a current signal includes a cell array, a current-voltage converter, and a sense amplifier. The cell array includes at least one unit cell so as to read or write data. The current-voltage converter converts a sensing current corresponding to data stored in the unit cell into a sensing voltage, outputs the sensing voltage, receives a feedback input of the sensing voltage, and adjusts a level of a current applied to an input terminal of the sensing current in response to a level of the feedback input sensing voltage. The sense amplifier compares the sensing voltage with a predetermined reference voltage, and amplifies the result of comparison. |
| US08520419B2 |
Current controlled power converter
A current controlled power converter includes a converting part configured to convert a three-phase ac voltage into a dc voltage or converts a dc voltage into a three-phase ac voltage, ac side current detection portions configured to detect an ac side current of the converting part, dc side current detection portions configured to detect a dc side current of the converting part, and a control section configured to control the converting part by pulse-width modulation using a spatial vector modulation method based on the ac side current detected by the ac side current detection portions and the dc side current detected by the dc side current detection portions. The control section corrects an amplitude error of the ac side current detected by the ac side current detection portions, and an offset error of the ac side current detected by the ac side current detection portions. |
| US08520418B2 |
Power source circuit efficient in conversion from alternating current to direct current
A power source circuit which includes input portions, a limiting resistor connected to one of the input portions, a rectifier connected to the limiting resistor, a sampling resistor connected to the rectifier, output portions connected to the rectifier, a control circuit, and a switch circuit connected to the control circuit. The control circuit is connected to the two ends of the sampling resistor and the switch circuit is connected to the two ends of the limiting resistor. The control circuit is configured to output a first signal to the switch circuit if the current in the sampling resistor is greater than a predetermined value. The predetermined value is less than the level of current being consumed by a load in normal operation. The switch circuit is configured to isolate the sampling resistor when the first signal is received. |
| US08520416B2 |
Current reference generating circuit and a constant current switch mode power supply control circuit and method thereof
A current reference generating circuit including a first multiplier module, configured to receive a rectified voltage waveform signal of a switch mode power supply and an output signal generated by an average current loop, and to generate a sinusoidal half-wave signal having the same frequency and phase as the rectified voltage waveform signal, the sinusoidal half-wave signal varies with the output signal generated by the average current loop. A second multiplier module, configured to receive the sinusoidal half-wave signal and a control signal to generate a pulse signal. An average current loop for comparing the average of the pulse signal to a predetermined average current loop reference signal. The circuit can generate a self-adapted reference signal that follows the primary-side current signal of main circuit of the switch mode power supply, which is then supplied to the constant current switch mode power supply control circuit with high power factor. |
| US08520410B2 |
Virtual parametric high side MOSFET driver
A power supply apparatus and method of regulating is provided. A converter circuit includes a primary switching element and an auxiliary switching element. The auxiliary switching element is for transferring a reflected voltage signal. A transformer includes a primary and a secondary, the primary is coupled with the converter circuit. The converter circuit comprises a primary and an auxiliary switch for selectively determining a resonant frequency. The auxiliary switch is enabled by a driver having an independent power source so as to allow as strong a driver as necessary to drive a large auxiliary switch. |
| US08520408B2 |
Cable management arrangement for a telecommunications cabinet
A telecommunications system including a frame to which telecommunications equipment is mounted. The frame defines a patch panel region and an active equipment region. Patch cords are interconnected between the patch panel region and the active equipment region. The system further includes a slack storage panel that stores patch cord slack. The slack storage panel defines a single cable routing pathway. The patch cords are routed through the slack storage panel such that no portion of the length of each patch cord overlaps itself. In systems including both copper and fiber cables, the copper cables are routed separately from the fiber cables. |
| US08520406B2 |
Electromagnetic interference shielding structure including carbon nanotube or nanofiber films
A composite material for electromagnetic interference shielding is provided. The composite material comprises a stack including at least two electrically conductive nanoscale fiber films, which are spaced apart from one another by at least one insulating gap positioned between the at least two nanoscale fiber films. The stack is effective to provide a substantial multiple internal reflection effect. An electromagnetic interference shielded apparatus and a method for shielding an electrical circuit from electromagnetic interference is provided. |
| US08520404B2 |
Fixing member for fixing blindfold plate and method of fixing blindfold plate
A fixing member for fixing a blindfold plate to a support post where a fixing hole is formed, the fixing member includes: a deformation portion that is attached to the blindfold plate, and is inserted in to the fixing hole while being deformed and stays in the fixing hole in a deformed condition when the blindfold plate is fixed to the support post. |
| US08520401B2 |
Motherboard assembly having serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module
A motherboard assembly includes a motherboard and a serial advanced technology attachment dual-in-line memory module (SATA DIMM) module with a circuit board. The motherboard includes an expansion slot and a storage device interface. An edge connector is set on a bottom edge of the circuit board to be detachably engaged in the expansion slot, and a notch is set on a bottom edge of the circuit board to engage in a protrusion of the expansion slot. A SATA connector of the circuit board is connected to the storage device interface of the motherboard. |
| US08520399B2 |
Stretchable electronics modules and circuits
An electronics module has a flexible substrate having conductors, an array of functional components on the substrate, the functional components arranged to contact at least one conductor, and perforations in the flexible substrate, the perforations arranged to increase stretchability of the flexible substrate, the conductor arranged around the perforation and the functional components arranged to one of reside between the perforations or partially cover the perforations. A method of manufacturing a flexible electronics module involves mounting at least two functional components onto a flexible substrate, forming electrical interconnects configured to provide connection between the two functional components, and perforating the flexible substrate with cuts configured to increase stretchability of the substrate. |
| US08520397B2 |
Waterproof electronic equipment and assembly method thereof
Seal surfaces in three directions of a base and a cover are mutually fitted as a first seal part in combination of concave threads and convex threads, and sandwich three sides of a circuit board between an innermost peripheral part convex thread at the base side and an innermost peripheral part concave thread at the cover side. A connector member having a second seal part is fixed to one side of the circuit board, a concavo-convex seal surface between the base and the connector member is located on a low step surface, and the concave and convex threads on the seal surface of the connector member provided on the base pass the concave and convex threads of the seal surface in the three directions each other to be continuous. |
| US08520385B2 |
Server rack
A server rack includes a cabinet, at least one fan, and at least one circuit board, in which the cabinet has a first side surface and a second side surface arranged along a first direction and opposite to each other. The fan is installed on the first side surface of the cabinet and blows an airflow in the first direction, the circuit board is installed in the cabinet along the second direction, and the second direction and the first direction are perpendicular to each other, so the airflow generated by the fan is blown to the circuit board, thereby performing heat dissipation. |
| US08520384B2 |
Heat dissipating device
The present invention relates to a heat dissipating device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a heat dissipating device in which an air flow is directed to a heat dissipating member by alternating rotation of blades within a preset range of angle for making a driving unit and a device thereof smaller, and improving heat dissipating efficiency. |
| US08520382B2 |
Electronic device with deployable air flow enhancing support
An electronic device includes a body portion such as, for example, a laptop chassis, and a deployable support coupled to the bottom surface of the body portion. The deployable support can be moved between a stowed position relative the bottom surface of the body portion and a deployed position in which support is positioned in spaced relationship to the bottom to create an airflow path beneath the body portion. |
| US08520370B2 |
Audio visual enhancement apparatus
An apparatus of the present disclosure enhances the audio/visual experience of a portable digital device, and comprises a lens positioning slot, a lens storage compartment, a passive audio amplifier, a receiving station. |
| US08520369B2 |
Method and protecting apparatus for disassembling electronic device
The disclosure provides an electronic device assembly, a method for disassembling an electronic device, and a protecting apparatus. The electronic device assembly includes an electronic device and a protecting portion. The electronic device includes a main body and a cover panel. The main body includes a bottom panel and a side panel extending from the bottom panel. The cover panel is mounted to the two side panels. The cover panel includes an elastic securing piece elastically abutting an inner surface of the side panel. The protecting portion contacts an outer surface of the side panel to prevent the elastic securing piece from scratching the outer surface when the elastic securing piece moves out of the main body. |
| US08520368B2 |
Gas insulated switchgear
An object is to provide gas insulated switchgear that is able to inhibit heat generation of a pressure container. Electrically-conductive members that are non-magnetic and have higher electric conductivity than that of the material of which the pressure container is made, are provided on the inside and on the outside of the pressure container, while being positioned along a main bus and being attached via a flange of the pressure container. Thus, eddy current that occurs when an electric current flows through the main bus are caused to flow through the electrically-conductive members having higher electric conductivity than that of the pressure container. Also, a current return path for the eddy current is formed by a flow path including the electrically-conductive members. Consequently, it is possible to reduce the eddy current flowing on the pressure container and to inhibit an increase in the temperature of the pressure container. |
| US08520367B2 |
Method of manufacturing lithium ion capacitor and lithium ion capacitor manufactured using the same
Provided are a method of manufacturing a lithium ion capacitor and a lithium ion capacitor manufactured using the same. The method of manufacturing a lithium ion capacitor includes forming a lithium thin film on one surface of a separator; making the lithium thin film in contact with an anode, and alternately disposing the anode and a cathode with the separator interposed therebetween to form an electrode cell; and enclosing the electrode cell and an electrolyte into a housing, and pre-doping lithium ions to the anode from the lithium thin film. |
| US08520360B2 |
Electrostatic chuck with wafer backside plasma assisted dechuck
An electrostatic chuck assembly useful in a plasma processing chamber, comprising a support surface on which a semiconductor wafer is supported during processing of the wafer in the chamber, at least one electrostatic clamping electrode which applies an electrostatic clamping force to the wafer on the support surface when an electrostatic clamping voltage is applied to the clamping electrode, at least one outlet in the support surface which delivers a heat transfer gas to an underside of the wafer, at least one gas passage connected to a source of heat transfer gas operable to supply heat transfer gas at a desired pressure to the at least one gas passage, and at least one cavity and plasma generating electrode along the at least one gas passage, the plasma generating electrode operable to form a dechucking plasma in the cavity, the dechucking plasma being effective to neutralize charges on the underside of the wafer and support surface of the electrostatic chuck and thereby reduce a residual sticking force between the wafer and the support surface. |
| US08520358B2 |
Lightning-resistant fastener, cap, and method of mounting lightning-resistant fastener
There are provided a lightning-resistant fastener and a cap, which, while assuring sufficient insulation properties, provide improved workability and highly stable quality to thereby enable a reduction in the manufacturing cost of an airframe, and a method of mounting the lightning-resistant fastener. A hole 32 is formed in a cap 30, and a screw groove 32a is formed in the hole 32. The configuration enables the cap 30 to be reliably and easily positioned and installed on a fastener member 24 and reliably prevents the cap 30 from coming off after the installation thereof. This improves the workability to reduce the production cost while assuring sufficient insulation properties and enables the cap 30 to be installed with stable quality irrespective of workers. Preferably, the cap 30 is made of a resin in view of mass producibility, weight reduction, and the like. |
| US08520354B2 |
Multilayered board semiconductor device with BGA package
In a lamination type semiconductor device, in the case where a power source plane is wrapped by a closed area to prevent the needless radiation from being leaked to the outside of the semiconductor package, a planar conductor for shield having an area intersecting with the respective layers is required. However, in a device for manufacturing the lamination type semiconductor device, a process for manufacturing the above-mentioned conductor cannot be realized ordinarily. In order to make the process possible, it is required to modify or replace a manufacturing apparatus of the semiconductor device, and accordingly a manufacturing cost will be considerably increased. In the present invention, a guard ring is arranged in an surrounding area of a power source plane. The guard ring is connected to a GND plane of another layer through a via. Consequently, the RF radiation occurs between the power source plane and the guard ring. |
| US08520342B1 |
Constant impedance and variable bandwidth traces for an integrated lead suspension
An integrated lead flexure includes a base region and a gimbal extending from the base region and having a slider mounting region. A conductive assembly, which is configured to carry current between the slider mounting region and the base region, includes a current carrying structure electrically connected with a pattern of conductive lossy material. The pattern of conductive lossy material is configured to reduce a bandwidth of the current carrying structure. |
| US08520340B2 |
Magnetic head suspension and manufacturing method thereof
A magnetic head suspension includes a supporting part, a load bending part, a load beam part and a flexure part, and is configured so that a condition of L1≦0.3*L and 0.6*L≦L2 is satisfied assuming that a length of the leaf spring in a suspension lengthwise direction that extends from a distal edge of the supporting part to a proximal end portion of the load beam part is represented by “L”, a distance in the suspension lengthwise direction from the distal edge of the supporting part to the proximal side-bending line is represented by “L1” and a distance in the suspension lengthwise direction from the distal edge of the supporting part to the distal side-bending line is represented by “L2”. |
| US08520339B2 |
Slider design for diverting airflow away from a transducer
This disclosure is directed to air-bearing sliders used in magnetic storage systems that employ a trench arranged between a transducing head connected to a slider body and a leading edge of the slider body. The trench is configured to divert air passing over an air-bearing surface of the slider body away from the transducing head. |
| US08520330B2 |
Lens barrel part, lens assembly, imaging device, and lens barrel part manufacturing method
Provided are a lens barrel part and a method of producing the same, such that the generation of grinding debris due to friction with lenses is suppressed while maintaining the air permeability of porous ceramics. Those areas of a lens barrel part 1 which are in contact with the lenses are ground in the water by a polishing tool 25, with the result that in those regions of surfaces in contact with the lenses where fine projections exist, protection film portions 28 consisting of hydrates or oxides are created due to the generation of tribochemical reactions, and that in those regions of surfaces in contact with the lenses which are other than the regions where fine projections are present, there exist porous portions 29 where no tribochemical reaction occurs and where a porous state remains. |
| US08520322B2 |
Lens system
A lens system includes, in order from an object side to an image side: the first lens element with negative refractive power having a convex object-side surface and concave image-side surface, the second lens element with refractive power, the third lens element with positive refractive power having a convex image-side surface, the fourth lens element with negative refractive power having a concave object-side surface, the fourth lens element connected to the third lens element, and the fifth lens element with negative refractive power. By such arrangement, the aberration of the lens system can be corrected. The photosensitivity of the lens system can be effectively reduced while retaining high image quality. |
| US08520321B2 |
Imaging lens and imaging device
An imaging lens includes an aperture stop, a first lens having positive refractive power, a second lens having negative refractive power, a third lens having positive refractive power, and a fourth lens having negative refractive power. Both surfaces of the first lens, both surfaces of the second lens, both surfaces of the third lens, and both surfaces of the fourth lens are formed as aspheric surfaces. The following condition expression (1), condition expression (2), and condition expression (3) are satisfied. −1.09≦f2/f≦−0.81 (1) −1.62≦f2/f1≦−1.42 (2) 0.65≦f3/f≦0.97 (3) in which f1: the focal length of the first lens f2: the focal length of the second lens f3: the focal length of the third lens f: the focal length of the lens whole system. |
| US08520318B2 |
Zoom lens and imaging apparatus
A zoom lens including first, second, and third lens groups having positive, negative, and positive refractive powers, respectively, which are arranged in that order from the object side to the image side such that, when zooming from wide-angle to telephoto, the first lens group moves to the object side, and spacings between the lens groups change. The third lens group has at least two lenses including a first lens, which is a positive lens arranged closer to the object side than the other lenses of the third lens group. Blur correction is performed by moving the first lens perpendicularly to the optical axis. The third lens group is configured such that the following conditional expression is satisfied: 0.3<(1−βkFW)·βkRW<1.9, where βkFW and βkRW are the lateral magnifications at wide-angle of, respectively, the first lens and the remaining lenses of the third lens group. |
| US08520316B2 |
Wide-angle zoom lens system
A wide-angle zoom lens system includes a first lens group with negative refraction power, a second lens group with positive refraction power, and a third lens group with positive refraction power. The first lens group, the second lens group, and the third lens group move along an optical axis of the zoom lens system in focusing. The wide-angle zoom lens system satisfies the formulas: 0.77<|f2/f1|<1.1; and 0.7 |
| US08520315B2 |
Zoom projection lens
A zoom projection lens includes a first lens set and a second lens set arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side of the zoom projection lens. The first lens set has a negative optical power. The second lens set has a positive optical power. The first lens set has a first lens. The second lens set has a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, and an aperture stop disposed between the second lens and the third lens. The first lens is an aspherical plastic lens. One of the third and fourth lenses is an aspherical glass lens. The zoom projection lens satisfies: 1.463<|tt/lt|<1.505, in which, tt represents an overall length of the zoom projection lens, and lt represents a length of the zoom projection lens from the object side of the first lens to an image side of the fourth lens. |
| US08520314B2 |
Zoom lens
The zoom lens of the present invention includes a variable focus lens and a stop. The variable focus lens is disposed on the light incident side of the stop, and where a distance from a first surface to an image plane of the zoom lens is defined as Ta, and a distance from a variable refractive power surface closest to the stop of the variable focus lens to the stop is defined as Tb, the condition of Tb/Ta<0.22 is satisfied. |
| US08520311B2 |
Laser optics and diode laser
Laser optical system for shaping at least one laser beam bundle made up of a plurality of laser beams generated respectively by an emitter, the emitters being offset relative to one another in a slow axis of the laser beams and at a distance from one another, with at least one plate fan located in the beam path of the laser beam bundle, which (plate fan) consists of several plates made of a light transmitting material, which (plates) are arranged offset in the direction perpendicular to their surface sides and are arranged with their surface sides in planes which enclose the beam direction and the fast axis of the laser beams, the plates forming respectively one first preferably flat plate narrow side for one beam entry and opposite this side one second preferably flat plate narrow side for the beam exit. |
| US08520310B2 |
Image display device, head-mounted display and head-up display
Light outputted from a laser light source (12) of an image generating section (11) is two-dimensionally deflected and permitted to perform scanning by means of a reflecting surface (13a) of a deflecting device (13), diffused by means of a diffusion unit (14), and then diffracted and reflected by an HOE (23) of an eyepiece optical system (4), and guided to an optical pupil (E). Deterioration of qualities of an observing image can be eliminated by setting the optical pupil (E) and the reflecting surface (13a) of the deflecting device (13) to have an optically conjugated positional relationship. Furthermore, since a prescribed conditional equation is satisfied and the diffusion unit (14) has positive power, even when the optical pupil (E) and reflecting surface (13a) of the deflecting device (13) are set to have the conjugated positional relationship, the distance between the reflecting surface (13a) and the diffusion unit (14) can be short, and the image generation section (11) can be prevented from being large in size. |
| US08520308B2 |
Optical arrangement for tracking detector
A system and method of reducing turbulence sensitivity in a laser spot detector. Embodiments may include using beam splitters, reflectors, and beam deviators. The reflectors may be trihedral reflectors and the beam deviators may be segmented wedge plates having predetermined physical angles and angle directions in each wedge segment designed to produce opposing blurs for each segment of the aperture. A predetermined blur introduced into each line of sight eliminates the need for de-focus, thereby mitigating effects such as centroid shift caused by turbulence or dirty/damaged sensor apertures. |
| US08520307B2 |
Optical integrator for an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus
The disclosure relates to an optical integrator configured to produce a plurality of secondary light sources in an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus. The disclosure also relates to a method of manufacturing an array of elongated microlenses for use in such an illumination system. Arrays of elongated microlenses are often contained in optical integrators or scattering plates of such illumination systems. |
| US08520304B2 |
Diffractive optical element and optical system including the same
A diffractive optical element includes a diffraction grating portion including a first diffraction grating and a second diffraction grating, the first diffraction grating and the second diffraction grating being formed of different materials and being stacked so that grating surfaces thereof are in contact with each other, in which the first diffraction grating is formed of a first grating material having at least three kinds of materials mixed therein, and the following conditions are satisfied: nd1 |
| US08520302B2 |
Stand for a microscope, in particular a surgical microscope
The present invention relates to a microscope stand (11), in particular a stand for a surgical microscope, including a pivot support (12) and a mount (22) for mounting the microscope (16) to the microscope stand (11). The mount (22) is supported about a first axis of rotation (23) so that it is rotatable relative to pivot support (12) and capable of being braked, the mount being connected via braking force transmission means (30) to a brake (26), which defines a second axis of rotation (27) extending parallel to first axis of rotation (23). The braking force transmission means (30) include two transfer levers (31; 36), whose two ends (32, 33; 37, 38) are connected without play to the mount (22) and the brake (26), respectively, by respective pivot points (41, 46, 51, 56), which are radially spaced apart from their respective axes of rotation (23, 27). |
| US08520298B2 |
Tightly coiled amplifying optical fiber with reduced mode distortion
Systems and devices enabling a highly compact design for a fiber-based lasing and/or amplifying system are disclosed. In some instances, a tightly-coiled active optical fiber may be coupled with a seed source and a pump source for optical amplification and other applications. Such systems can be disposed in a small footprint package such as a butterfly package or a high heat load package. In some instances, the tightly-wound active optical fiber may further include a fiber Bragg grating adapted to accommodate bends in the active optical fiber. The active optical fiber may further utilize a cladding shaped to maintain an orientation of the active optical fiber in relation to a bend in the fiber. |
| US08520295B2 |
Reflective displays
A reflective display includes a first transparent substrate and a second transparent substrate. First and second electrodes are connected to each of the first and second transparent substrates, and define a space between the first and second transparent substrates. The geometry of the first and second electrodes creates a substantially uniform electric field when a voltage is applied to the first and second electrodes. |
| US08520292B2 |
Electrophoretic display and process for its manufacture
This invention relates to an electrophoretic display comprising a plurality of cells, each of said cells comprises: a) partition walls; b) an electrophoretic fluid filled therein; c) a polymeric sealing layer to enclose the electrophoretic fluid within the cell; and d) an interface between the electrophoretic fluid and the sealing layer. |
| US08520289B2 |
Display element comprising a reflector
The invention relates to a display element for the display of a plurality of a colors and a method for their display.For this purpose, the invention teaches a display element 1 based on one or more color-producing surfaces 2 which can be oriented parallel to the viewing direction 3 of an observer, for example, so that the observer views only the narrow edges of the surfaces 2. The actual content is perceptible only because a movable reflector 4 is also provided in which the color-producing surface 2 is reflected.The display element claimed by the invention has a particularly good aperture. In the case of static images, the power consumption of the display element is very low. In one preferred embodiment, the display element also makes possible the presentation of a large color space and can be independent of the presence of ambient light. |
| US08520284B2 |
Diaphragm device for projector
A diaphragm device for projector includes a first gear unit, a second gear unit and two diaphragm plates. The first gear unit includes a partial circular arc portion and a gear portion with partial no tooth. The second gear unit includes a circular arc portion corresponding to the partial circular arc portion, and a pinion and a gear corresponding to the gear portion with partial no tooth. When the partial circular arc portion abuts on the circular arc portion, the gear does not rotate. When the partial circular arc portion does not abut on the circular arc portion, the gear portion with partial no tooth meshes the gear to transmit rotation of the first gear unit to the gear. The two diaphragm plates each on which a rack meshing the pinion is formed, moves in directions opposed to each other according to rotation of the pinion. |
| US08520276B2 |
Color management for selectable gloss applications
Methods and systems are disclosed which are capable of efficiently performing color management of a variable gloss color printing system. The methods and systems select at least one set of the linear color values corresponding to the color profile for the printing device (at the nominal gloss condition). The linear color values selected comprise those obtained from color values corresponding to each node of the color profile at the nominal gloss condition. In a colorimetric embodiment, the linear color values can comprise: tristimulus values XYZ; red, green, blue (RGB); or luminance component Y, and two chromatic components C1 and C2 (YCC). In a reflectance embodiment, the linear color values comprise reflectance spectra. This exemplary method adds an offset term to each of the linear color values to produce a corresponding set of modified linear color values, and generates a color profile for the printing device at the desired gloss condition based on the modified linear color values. |
| US08520275B2 |
Methods for generating an inverse mask
Methods for generating an inverse mask image are provided. In one aspect, image data is determined for an image to be printed said image data having color data for a first set of colors used in a first color model; and, an inverse mask toner image is generated using color data for one of the first set of colors. The inverse mask image is generated based upon the color data for a selected one of the first set of colors so that the inverse mask pattern can be generated without first determining of color separation toner images that define amounts of color toner to be applied to a receiver to form the image. |
| US08520273B2 |
A4-size scanner having function of scanning A3 document and scanning method thereof
An A4-size scanner capable of scanning an A3 document. The A4-size scanner includes a scanning part, a transferring roller member that is disposed at an upper side of the flat glass to be orthogonal to a length direction of the automatic document feeding unit and the scanning sensor so that the document having a double size of a scanning capacity of the scanning sensor and introduced onto the flat glass in the length direction of the automatic document feeding unit and the scanning sensor is transferred to a transferring roller, and a transferring roller member driving motor that is connected with the transferring roller which dividedly scans the document having a larger size than the scanning capacity of the scanning sensor; and an image processing part which performs an image processing for composing two images which are dividedly scanned through the scanning part. |
| US08520269B2 |
Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus provided with the same
An image reading apparatus includes: a pair of pulleys between which a belt is stretched, and a pin that rotatably supports a driving pulley, of the pair of pulleys; a mount for fixing the pin; a housing; at least two first fastening parts, respectively including first bosses that extend vertically from a bottom portion of the housing and first fastening members that are inserted into the first bosses via the mount to fix the mount to the housing; and a second fastening part disposed on an opposite side to, the first fastening parts with respect to the pin in the scanning direction, including a second boss that extends vertically from the bottom portion of the housing and has a different height from the first bosses and a second fastening member that is inserted into the second boss via the mount to fix the mount to the housing. |
| US08520265B2 |
Engraving processing apparatus and image forming apparatus
An engraving processing apparatus includes a laser engraving unit configured to perform engraving processing for forming a recessed portion on a sheet by irradiating a laser beam onto the sheet, and a controller configured to control an engraving processing operation of the laser engraving unit. |
| US08520264B2 |
Information embedding method, information obtaining method and apparatus
According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method of embedding information into an image comprises dividing the image into a plurality of blocks, providing a plurality of embedded blocks corresponding to the plurality of blocks, respectively, each of the embedded blocks having the same size as each of the blocks when each of the blocks is smaller than a predetermined size, each of the embedded blocks having the predetermined size and being placed at the center of each the block when each of the blocks is not smaller than the predetermined size and selectively modifying the characteristic value of each of the embedded blocks in accordance with the information to be embedded. |